It was official now. This assassin was mocking me... she had been trying to kill me, and now when I wanted death she refused? Perhaps she just wanted to spite me... to cause as much suffering to me as possible? Didn't I already go through enough of that in my life already? Still... perhaps this was mercy. I needed to focus... this was a rather important decision I had to make. What was I going to do if I died anyway? Sure, my last act of defiance would likely be glorious... but then I would never reach my goal. My parents were still out there... I couldn't die just yet.

"Kenneth... contrary to what my sister has likely told you, battling isn't all about blood. Actually I'm rather worried that she seems to enjoy battle so much..." I heard a voice tell me. I was sitting down now... I remember this. I was fourteen years old at the time... a 28 year old mercenary looked at me, extending a hand to help me up. The mercenary had brown hair and brown eyes, as well as an eyepatch over his right eye. I gratefully took the hand... I had been training with the mercenary, Lazlo. I was knocked down again... I never could get a decisive victory over Lazlo or Marielle.

"I'm not going to lie... you're a rather mediocre fighter. Your talents lie elsewhere... more specifically, you're rather cunning and fast. You need to learn when to escape from an enemy... there's no shame in running. Indeed, running is sometimes the best decision. Just try to avoid combat... you'll find out where your true talent lies." Lazlo told me. At the time, I had been rather upset... but now, I knew what he meant.

"I accept." I responded. I had calmed down a lot now... perhaps Lazlo was right after all. I needed to keep a cool head and analyze my options... continuing this fight was only going to lead to my death. I could try escaping, but this assassin could be a useful ally. I realized that if I was going to join Darath, this assassin could be useful... if I was even more fortunate, I could persuade her to join Darath as well... her talents would be very useful I'm sure. I was thinking of stealing something very expensive and giving it to Thereme, but that had multiple risks. Also, if I refused this offer, the assassin could try to take my life again. I was confident in my ability to escape from her, but I had no plans to die just because of overconfidence.

"My name is Kenneth... I'm trying to recover a piece of my past. In any case... I don't suppose you have any bandages on you? This wrist wound is rather deep... don't think it got to any veins though. My shin should be fine... I'll probably need to see a healer when I get to Sabolin though. If we're going to head to Sabolin, then we should find a ship by morning... whether you want to sneak on board or actually pay, I'll go with either idea. However... I need you to do something. You... changed my dagger. Perhaps I'm just being a sentimental fool, but I'd appreciate it if you restored it to its original shape." I said... that was a mouthful. Then again, I suppose an odd introduction like this meant odd conversation.

I listened to his highness Thereme's words carefully. He had, after all, asked a rather important question. I needed to think through my response... it was rather simple, but also complicated. I answered truthfully, just as a paladin should. My family had done a wrong, and I would correct it.

"For over a hundred years now, the Lockswell family has lived in shame because of the action of one person. I wish to restore honor to my family name... to become a hero, just like my ancestor Kane before me. I have spent every waking moment preparing for this day. I am not the first to attempt to restore honor to the Lockswell name... however, my predecessors did not try to join Darath directly. We were far too ashamed to let our faces be seen by our former leaders again... still, that changes now. I hope that time has healed the wounds that were caused... if it has not, then I am all too willing to serve Darath to mend that wound." I responded. I then kneeled down again, this time carefully placing my sheathed rapier and shield on the ground between myself and his highness Thereme.

"The Lockswell family crest is on that shield... I will make an oath now. I solemnly swear to serve Darath... to become a hero, and restore honor to the Lockswell family name. I swear this upon everything the Lockswell family crest represents... honor, loyalty, bravery, justice, valor, and much more. My sword and shield are yours to command your highness." I said. As I said all of this, I thought about everything I had done to get this far... I thought about the stories I had heard about my ancestors, and the tragedy that ruined a once great house. I would make sure that my family had their honor restored... perhaps I would bring even greater honor, but that was rather arrogant to think. Not an attitude befitting of a paladin. I needed to remain humble.

Thereme listened to the words of the paladin. She went on about restoring her family's honor and how she was willing to serve Darath to achieve this goal. Thereme pondered as she spoke. There was no real need to test her loyalty- she was a Lockswell, the family who had always been for Darath, even if they were not entirely honest sometimes. He could tell she was sincere and that she would be a valuable asset. The way she carried herself, the way she spoke- she was a warrior, no doubt about it. He thought about how she could be put to use, and with a flash of inspiration he realized his goals could be accomplished much more quickly than he had previously thought. But first, he had to finish this meeting.

"Well, your intentions are indeed honorable. No doubt you wish to live up to or even surpass the legendary feats of your ancestor Kane. You will have your test soon, I assure you. In the meantime, please kneel before me."

As she did so, Thereme unsheathed the ceremonial sword he carried with him at all times. He placed the sword on her shoulder. "Do you swear allegiance to the nation of Darath, that for the rest of your days your life will be committed to serving your nation in its times of need? Do you swear that you will strive to uphold the glory of this wonderful nation?"
~~~~~

Grylon looked slightly startled at the man's question. He was also a bit irritated that the man wouldn't go into more detail on what he knew. Still, it couldn't be helped. "You mean you haven't heard what happened? Well, a few days ago, our army was finally closing in on a criminal we've been chasing for ages. We were turning the town upside-down, closing in on him. We finally caught him, but he escaped again. We were closing in on him, but what should happen next but an enormous flying contraption unlike any airship I've ever heard of comes flying in to rescue him.

"Really," he said, pausing to stroke his moustache, "it was actually one of our own that caused the damage to the city. The ship was assaulting citizens and destroying property, but we couldn't destroy it. Finally, one of our mages heroically initiated an enormous explosion. It was risky, but it had to be done. We couldn't tell what the ship wanted, but we know it wanted the blood of our people. It even seemed to be kidnapping people. We couldn't allow the ship to fulfill its mysterious goal. The massive explosion that leveled the city was all we could do to get rid of the ship. The damage was extensive, but the ship was successfully destroyed. It was a sacrifice that had to be made to counter a formidable foe."

He sat down in his seat and gestured for Desmyrr to sit across the desk from him. "'Course, now we're making fortifications so nothing like that ever happens again. As for the army, we certainly need some people, but we don't allow just anyone. What do you have to offer us, exactly? Besides these mysterious airship secrets, I mean," he added, with a slight gleam in his eye.

Exa was glad to see she wouldn't have to beat her new ally any further. He was cooperative enough to say a mouthful of things, including his name. Exa would have to reply, of course but she didn't like the idea of doing it out on the street. She didn't want to be heard talking as Cleanse, after all.

Exa turned and started walking, gesturing with her hand for Kenneth to follow. She made sure to keep near the edge of the street as she walked and also kept her head slightly turned in his direction, keeping her eye on him in case he actually was stupid enough to try to run. It was unlikely but it was good to be careful. That was why she was looking for somewhere else before talking, after all. She knew Jeru well so she wouldn't have any trouble finding a secluded place. Until then, Kenneth would just have to bleed a little longer.

I listened to his highness Thereme's words carefully... I was now going to swear my loyalty to Darath... this would be an important moment in my life, and in the journey to restore honor to the Lockswell name. I closed my eyes and thought deeply about this moment... this was certainly a moment I would be looking back on in my later years. For now, I answered his highness Thereme.

"You have my word." I said, looking at Thereme in the eye. It was official now... I had sworn allegiance to Darath. This was an important step in my journey... if I became as great a hero as my ancestor Kane before me, the Lockswell family name would be spoken of highly once more... I wonder what the future has in store for me? No matter what, I would try my hardest. I imagined that my skills would be needed... there was a battle that had taken place not long ago after all, and a war was likely inevitable... I would deliver justice to my enemies then. There was much corruption in the world... I would be able to help stop that through battle. Of course, I knew that the journey would be long and difficult, but my determination will never waver.

I thought about all the stories my grandfather told me about my ancestors... I would do my best to meet the expectations that were placed on me. I had to wonder if Kane felt like this as well when he first swore allegiance to Darath... of course, at the time the Lockswell family name did not mean much, and he started off as a loyal knight, not a successor to a rather renown family. Still, Kane had gotten very far as a war hero, and even became a noble... that journey was surely just as difficult as trying to restore honor to a tainted family name. I had heard many stories about the war accomplishments of the Lockswell house. I would match those accomplishments... this, I swore to myself.

This... was a hero's work. For my parents, my grandfather, my ancestors, and the Lockswell family name... I would try my hardest. My family crest had a story behind it... to make a long story short, the Phoenix represented virtue, while the azure aura represented loyalty and protection. There was a lot of symbolism to be sure, even more in the story that it originated from. A phoenix that was revived by an azure aura and kept coming back to life to save his comrades... that was the general gist of the story, though I had of course left out a lot of detail, and the summary did not do the tale justice. Still, everything the crest represented... that was what I would fight for.

I followed my former assassin... I couldn't really refer to her as anything else since I knew nothing about her. I still didn't know why she had tried to kill me, and what had caused her to change my mind. It was still dark outside. I could be patient for my answers... still, I looked at one of my daggers. I really hope that she would be able to repair it... I still had my other dagger, but it would be very strange to adjust to only one dagger, and I was being somewhat sentimental in any case.

I looked at my arm... I was still bleeding, but I would live. For now, I took my scarf and tied it around the wound... at the very least, that would clean up the blood. What had I gotten myself into anyway...? These past few days were insane... I was likely going insane. I would worry about my mental health later though. At the very least, I was alive... still, I had to wonder what kind of abilities my former assassin had. I could not even damage her in a fight... but just how powerful was she?

The scan was complete. The viewer showed an adaquate amount of soldiers and other, indistingishable life signs. Hmmm... They may be able to help me find Mika and the Defiant.

Jayneway took Voyager back into the clouds for safety, before putting the ship in full stop mode.

She then rose from the helm and walked over to the back computer. "Computer, activate the ECH."

Suddenly, a balding, tall man, in his mid-40s appearance wise appeared behind her. He appeared to be wearing a similar uniform to her own, but without the gold lining. "Please state the- oh, Captain. A pleasure to see you again." he smiled.

"Likewise, old friend." she smiled. The ECH, formally EMH, AKA Doctor, had been the chief medical officier during Voyager's lost years. He had started out as a simply generic medical hologram but he evolved into something new. He became a person.

"I'm going to beam down to the nation below. I want you to keep an eye on things from up here. I may be gone a while, so take good care of her for me." Jayneway told him. 

"Will do, Captain." he smiled at her, with a wink.

With a wave she headed to the teleporter, and one minute later, she had appeared inside the gardens of the massive, intimidating castle.

Wow...

She decided to make her way to the castle. However she kept a hand discreetly on her gun, just in case anyone tried to attack...

Exa saw that Kenneth was following, just as she had suspected. She wondered if he would stay this loyal even if her offer had sounded colder than it already had been. Power seemed like an easy thing to yield to, after all. Still, she would try not to treat him too rough. She suspected Kenneth didn't really like her much presently, considering she had been attacking him earlier. If she was a fair master, perhaps he could shake off such feelings and become loyal out of not just fear but genuine respect.

Exa was wordless until a number of minutes later, when the pair reached an abandoned church in the outskirts of Jeru. She pushed open the oak doors, causing the distasteful whine of the creaking hinges to echo in the building. Exa walked inside and sat down on one of the pews, glancing over at Kenneth as a sign that he should sit.



Yalara was a popular place to live, that was for sure. Perhaps it was because of the breathtaking mountains or the ease of living. For Byeet however, the thing he liked about it was the very fact that it was well populated. Whenever he stepped upon the stage for one of his magic shows, he would amaze the crowds with the marvels he could make them see. Everything they could have ever imagined, amplified, almost real enough to touch. People loved to see it and he loved to perform. He had gained a leigon of fans and planned for it to keep growing.

There was a key difference between Byeet's fans and him, however. The fans loved him. What did Byeet love? Counting his Sones. And when he didn't do that, he bought some more stuff. But that was all it was, stuff. It didn't really mean much to him, he bought it just because he could. It felt good to revel in the experience of spending all the money he so rightfully had earned.

Occasionally, Byeet would go through walks in the mountains of Yalara. To others, it would seem insane but to him, refreshing. He had things easy in everyday life so it was nice to walk through the blisteringly cold winds for a change. Of course, he always wore clothes suitable for such conditions, to the point of being almost completely unrecognisable.

As nice a change as giving himself a hard time was, Byeet had his limits. What he found, he had not ever counted on seeing. It seemed like a perfectly normal walk through the mountains that day but what should the man have found but a giant, metal hunk of a vehicle lying in the snow? There were three sets of footsteps leading out. Byeet's curiousty got the best of him and he ventured inside the strange contraption.

It was a harmless inspection at first. Byeet wandered around the place a bit, no harm done... then regretted his decision.

Byeet sprung back, falling against the wall. A man had been impaled through his limbs, lying dead on the cold floor. This was... nothing short of absolutely horrifying. Byeet could do little more than sit against the wall, his body growing so much colder than when he was out facing the elements, his eyes unwillingly fixated on the corpse.

His mind was asking who could perform such a gruesome murder. His memory replied that the murderers were the same ones who had footprints coming from this strange place. If he just saw their faces, he could commit them to memory and use his powers of illusions to show people what they looked like. They would be caught in no time. It was a scary thought, being amongst killers. That's why he had to get rid of them.

But what if they saw him...? He was still searching for an answer as he found himself crawling over to the corpse. He checked its pulse... definitely dead. He pulled back his gloved hand, disgusted to touch a corpse even if it wasn't directly. His hand brushed against the man's torso as he pulled it back and he felt something solid beneath the body's shirt. Curious, he cautiously lifted the corpse's shirt and saw that before he died, this person liked to carry around a few daggers. He took them with him for self defense in case things went badly on his search for the killers and then off he went...

Jayneway carefully made her way through the gardens and into the castle, being careful not to attract attension. Strangely, the greyness of her uniform seemed to be the only thing preventing her from being noticed. 

She tapped her combadge. Just in case. "Jayneway to Cadenza... come in, Cadenza."

It was no avail. He still wasn't reachable. Oh... Cadenza. Please be okay...

She remembered the times they served together. However, there was always one point, during the Great Intergalatic War that almost stood out to her...

9 years earlier...

Commander Jayneway and Lt. Commander Cadenza were part of the bridge crew on the U.K.S. Edgeworth, NCC-6321-A, a revised Constitution-class vessel. Cadenza was at the tactical helm, Jayneway at navigation. They had been confronted by a massive warship. The Captain had failed to negotiate a way out, and they were in a certain death situation. The warp nacelles had been disabled by an EMP early on, so-
"Escape is out the question!" shouted Mika. "We have to fight it!"
"But how... I-I can't... we should surrender..." whimpered the Captain.
"Sorry, sir. With all due respect, they will most likely torture us." replied Mika. 
The argument continued until the warship fired a plasma bolt, hitting the port nacelle. Sparks shot from the ceiling, and the Captain screamed. 
"Just how did he get through the academy?" mouthed Jayneway to Cadenza. 
"Return fire!!" screeched the Captain.
"With pleasure. Raising shields." Mika uttered.
"Increasing speed. Here we go." followed Jayneway.

The Edgeworth moved quickly, firing several phaser beams at its gigantuan opponant, each only scraping the surface of its shields. Mika fired aft torpedoes while Jayneway took her around, avoiding the blows from the other ship.
The warship retaliated quickly, landind several torpedos on the Edgeworth's saucer section, each blow damaging the shields. Jayneway took her into a 180* spin, Mika firing phasers continuously.
The bridge crew looked on in awe at the display. The two were working together almost seemlessly, the shields still holding and no major damage to the hull.
The whole thing went on for around two minutes until both ships' shields had been depleted, but still firing.
A part of the warship's wing broke off, striking the port side of the saucer and the nacelle, smashing it to pieces. 
The bridge sparked once more, wires coming loose from the ceiling.
But still the two kept going, undeterred.
The warship scored hits from firing at the stardrive, blowing some of the hull on the underside to pieces, before focusing on the saucer, blowing hull plates on that to mere dust. 
Jayneway took the ship forward, the warship chasing them and hurting the stardrive. The bridge was exploding all around them, a couple of unfortunate redshirts being fried from the consoles overloading. Until finally, the warship fired at the bridge, shattering the view screen. The vacuum sucked the unfortunate people out to space, Mika and Jayneway held onto their consoles, the Captain holding his chair, before the forcefield kicked in. 

However, now the ship's weapons had been disabled. And the warship was closing in...

Jayneway came back to reality. It was the last time she ever fought with Mika, before they parted ways, to new ships.
They had stayed in touch until 2 years later when Voyager was lost. The Defiant had been lost about the same time, but a few months later. Of course, Jayneway and her crew made it back. It was now upto her to ensure the same for the crew of the Defiant.

And with that thought, she ran into the castle, in search of the local authority...

I took another deep breath... what had I gotten myself into? These past few days had changed my life... I wonder what would have happened if I never encountered that guard? That guard... when I last saw him, he was bleeding like a pig... I wonder if anyone saw me. Perhaps... I could have remained in Terum if I hid my involvement in his murder? Still, I suppose that there was no sense worrying about what could have happened. I am still alive, and can still recover a piece of my past... and then destroy it. I followed my former assassin for a while... I also made sure to form a plan. In life, it is always best to have a plan to kill every person you meet... being paranoid can save lives, and I would not mind killing this assassin. I had been far too idiotic in my fight... it was dark out there, I could have hidden in the shadows and fought her that way. At least that way, I could easily escape, and probably fight back to some extent. As a thief, I needed to rely more on my strengths... fighting an opponent head-on had gotten me nearly killed twice in the past few days now.

Eventually, we reached a church of some kind... abandoned apparently. I never really went inside churches... there was little point in going there, and I wasn't very religious anyway. Still, it was a rather secluded place, and the assassin seemed to want privacy. She took a seat on the pews, and I followed her example. I decided to speak first.

"Alright... I strongly doubt you'll tell me everything. Still, at the very least, I'd like to know your name... or at least something I can refer to you as." I said to the assassin.

With both of them inside and sitting down, Exa made the doors shut gently behind them using her magic. Part of her was expecting Kenneth to be too scared and confused to talk again but he had. Admittedly, it wasn't anywhere near the length of the earlier mouthful but it was something. Nothing too interesting in the content, however. She had planned to give him something to call her by with or without him asking. It was a nice display of backbone, nonetheless.

"Isn't it obvious, my little minion?" Exa replied "I'm your master, so... mistress should do".

Exa would be lying to herself if she said she didn't want to boast her superiority with this statement and invoke some annoyance. However, it was also true that she didn't want to risk revealing her true name to him. That and it was only proper for a servant to call their master something respectful. Having Kenneth call her mistress would be a good way to establish some loyalty. There was more on her agenda than just getting the name out of the way, however.

"Ok, hand me your daggers" Exa said, holding out her hands "I need to see what shape to make your deformed one".



Byeet knew he had to report this crime. He had been shaking ever since he had seen the corpse and the daggers felt out of place, strapped to one of the many other thick coats underneath his thick coat. He wanted to just go home and do nothing but sit, staring blankly at the wall. But he had to report this. It was an atrocious murder. At least one evil killer was on the loose and he would not rest until he could live in a nation without people like that waiting around the corner.

The closest bit of civilisation was Jopo, which Byeet had stumbled upon in his hikes before. That was where he was headed. He could not only find the killers here if this was where they were seeking refuge-it would make sense, as it was some way down to get back to Yalara-but could report the murder, too. Either way, this was one day he wouldn't soon forget.

Once Byeet actually reached Jopo, things were all the weirder. The place was in disarray. People were running, a few looking absurdly panicked indeed and locking themselves indoors. He didn't even have the chance to ask anyone what was wrong. This day just got better and better.

I resisted the urge to show any signs of anger... this assassin was treating me like some kind of slave, as if I was inferior to her. Still, I would have to cooperate for now. I suppose I was a minion now...? The thought made me feel sick, but there was little helping it if I didn't want to risk getting killed. At this point, I was very certain that I could escape from her... but taking an unnecessary chance wasn't something I planned on doing. She was going to fix my dagger at any rate... I suppose I should be thankful, even if it was her fault that this happened in the first place. Still, for now, I handed both of my daggers to her.

"Be careful with them... thank you, mistress." I said, keeping my voice neutral with some effort. Thankfully, lying and hiding sarcasm was something I had grown used to over the years. I made sure to carefully watch the process that would take place... as an ally, it was best if I knew everything about my former assassin. If we ever became enemies, this information would also come in handy during battle. Something told me that it would be impressive in any case, so I watched. Still, I had to wonder what was going to happen soon... she had previously said that she wanted to go to Darath, but how were we getting there? I had planned on taking a ship to a city near Sabolin, but something told me the assassin didn't want to be seen.

Aaron laughed as the fireball moved closer to its target. Its searing heat would melt the flesh from their bones and kill them instantly. Oh how he would relish that.

Then the both of them dodged it.

The official-looking one suddenly leapt underneath the dragon and let loose a scathing blast. It collided with the relic embedded within him with such force that his vision faded momentarily and he found himself unable to move for several seconds. As the beam collided, everything seemed to shake violently before his eyes.

When he was finally able to move, he let out a weak laugh. "Hah! Information, you say? I'd rather die. But even more than that..."

He tilted his head back and let out a roar. He swung his head down in an attempt to physically batter Mika, as the blow to the core of his body had rendered his fire breath useless.

"I'D RATHER YOU DIED FIRST!"
~~~~~

As Jayneway dashed into the castle, several guards took notice. The guard had changed mere minutes ago, and the rookie door guards were gambling off to the side. Neither noticed Jayneway's entrance.

She ran into the heavily decorated entrance hall, only to be greeted immediately by guards holding spears.

"Halt! Who are you and what are you doing here? Do you have any idea who you are?"

Thereme smiled. He sheathed the sword and sat back on the throne. "I imagine you'll do rather well. The Lockswell family has always been known for bravery and excellence on the battlefield."

He leaned back in his throne. "Anyway, the news about what happened to our city is spreading quickly. I'm sure you've heard about the disaster that befell our Glorious Capital... Truly a nightmare, truly. I am sorry that this mess was all that was there to greet your arrival. However, that is not the issue now. Rebuilding is going smoothly.

"What I am most concerned about is that other countries might see that our city is weak, despite our empire being strong. I fear that one of the other nations may attack us at any time. Our army can take it, but should someone attempt another aerial strike somewhere in our country, it might spark unrest or worse. I will not allow that to happen.

"I have already taken steps to reduce the threat of aerial attack, but I still need to cushion the nation in the possibility of an attack. There is an object that can do just that, which our elite corp of mages has recently discovered."

Thereme stood and gestured to the map painted on the wall. The paint, though very antiquated, had no cracks and looked perfect, albeit slightly faded after all these years.

"I'm sure you're familiar with the geography of our continent. What you might not be aware of is that there is a cave right on the border between Fellum and Darath. This cave contains an ancient relic of great power. Its power should be significant enough to help protect our nation in the event of an attack. I would like you to go there and retrieve this relic, then bring it back here. Be careful, however- it is said to be guarded by a fearsome beast, though I do not know the details. Tread carefully, and come directly back when your task is finished. I will send a detachment of twenty men under your command to accompany you. This should be satisfactory, I think. Any questions?"

Kenneth was behaving himself as usual. Exa knew she couldn't let her guard down though. She kept her eyes on him even while holding his daggers. After all, there wasn't even any need in looking at the daggers. If she was still learning this type of magic, sure but not after all these years, not for a couple of daggers.

Exa mentally concentrated on the dagger which had not had its shape warped, feeling its structure, its every atom with her magic. Then she felt for anything different in the other, deformed dagger and manipulated it to reshape it back into its original form. The overly long, twisted blade of the dagger slithered back to its original shape and length. Within seconds, she was holding two completely identical daggers. Her arms hadn't budged the entire time, so she was still holding the daggers out towards Kenneth.

"There we go" Exa said "You can take them back now".



Byeet trudged further into the village, turning his head to observe the area. For whatever reason, people didn't seem especially interested in hanging around outside today. Byeet could not imagine what could possibly drive everybody to such unaminous fear. He didn't need to, either.

Byeet stopped walking, frozen in a surreal feeling of shock. He had come across a whirlwind, currently concentrated on a particularly large building, towering into the sky. Of all the times for a whirlwind to show up, why did it have to be now? Byeet was shaken, of course but he still couldn't help but sigh.