Two Futures Bound

Chapter 1

Grey:
I was relaxing in my room at Central Academy in Alacrya. I never really decided to decorate this room and just left what the previous owner of the room kept as furniture.

This teaching was an odd job, but I accepted it because it would get some suspicion off of me, someone with a nameless Blood who was an Ascender and went around with Caera Denoir, someone of Highblood.

Of course, Caera wasn't originally supposed to be here at the academy, but her family sent her to spy on me, so she became one of my assistants here at the academy.

When I and Caera first met, I looked at her like she was a monster, someone less than human. But over time I've become fond of her presence.

When she was in the Relictombs with me, she was someone I was able to trust down there; dependable was another word you could use to describe it.

Even back in Dicathen during the war, I never really had someone I could fight with and say I had complete trust in...

Bairon might strike me down, Aya was never on the same battlefield as me, Varay was the one I felt I could somewhat depend on, but with her being under the control of Blaine it wasn't safe to completely trust her.

Olfred was a traitor, and I never really had a mission with Mica after the one to Ashber and on that mission, it didn't give me good faith in her ability to be depended on.

Then there was Tess, she was someone I could only somewhat depend on, but it was dominantly a time when I would be her wall to lie on.

When I was dealing with the problem of my father's death, Tess didn't say anything, she just talked about how much she failed her squad.

Tess always had feelings for me, and while most would call me dense or hardheaded, I knew of her feelings for me.

At one point in the war I tried to reciprocate the same feelings for her, but each time I tried, I felt a sword dig into my heart.

I tried to make Sylvie happy, seeing as she viewed Tess as a mother. But even then, no matter how many times I tried, no matter how I attempted to reciprocate her feelings, it always resulted in a complete failure; to me she would always just be my childhood friend.

When I learned Nico was trying to take her I felt... relieved. I hated that feeling; she was a friend, but when someone else tried to take her, I couldn't feel anything other than a weight being removed from my shoulders.

Even though I felt like that I still fought for her safety; not out of love, but more so out of respect for Virion. He had lost everything after Alduin and Merial died and only had Tess.

That was the reason I fought for her; to bring her back. But with my loose efforts, I ended up losing more than I wanted to. I lost Sylvie trying to protect her, I lost my mana core, and I lost my home.

Then came my time In the Relictombs, where I met Regis and Caera. While I missed Sylvie, I still had her egg with me.

I did somewhat miss Tess to a certain degree, but the more time I spent with Caera, the less thoughts of her would surface.

At first, it bothered me, but the more I didn't think about her, the more she just became an old memory.

Tess had somewhat redeeming qualities like being cute and all... but that's just about where it ends.

She was impatient, brash, a bit annoying and unable to read others' emotions. Sure, when she was younger I could understand why, but when she was 17 she still hadn't grown up no matter how much like an adult she tried to hold herself as, she still acted like a child.