White Strings

Episode 22 - Reforming

"Aste is gone."

Skyr looked at the informant who brought the news but he didn't really care that much. They didn't need Aste's exceptional tracking skills anymore, they were on Kaon's tail for a long time now. If Aste couldn't accept Skyr's lead, then he didn't need her to. He had his army with him, and he was going to avenge his father's pain and his own.

The shame that haunted his mind didn't give him rest. He was played by that mere Viu descent. For years and years he worked so hard to try and restore those memories that were stolen from him. Kaon knew it. Everyone knew that Skyr was going to all kinds of specialists and shamans in an attempt to probe in his mind and find the loophole. All these years he suffered because of that rat, Kaon. He always knew he was right, he always did! That cocky dark descent always had a plan in his head, he was always scheming something. But Elem didn't believe Skyr when he kept insisting something was off about him. He told Skyr to calm down and that he was exaggerating, but Skyr trusted his senses. And now Elem was injured beyond repair, a price he paid for belittling Kaon.

The Viu had to die, he had to. Skyr knew there would be casualties, but it would be worth it. Kaon shouldn't be able to roam free and do whatever he wanted. He had to be repressed and preferably executed for his crimes. Stealing memories was a forbidden technique not many were capable of, that could be enough of a reason to put him behind bars. But he hurt the Lumens' master, this was enough to get Kaon executed. Skyr had to bring him to justice now or he might not be able to do so later.

Further back, Silk's heart paused for a blink as Aste suddenly appeared right in front of her. Shaking off her initial shock, she drew her Gown blades and was ready to battle despite the utter defeat she knew she would face.

"Relax, I am here to talk."

"I don't want to fight, I-" Silk was about to try and convince Aste not to battle with her, but then paused. "Wait, talk?"

"You are being tracked and chased by around ten military watchers. Hop on Garlic and we talk as we ride."

Silk was confused and hesitant, watching the Ardor descent in suspicion. Figuring she had not much chance to reach there in time anyway, she decided to just hop on behind Aste. It wasn't like she could survive a duel against her anyway.

"You have until the river to explain to me what in the Deities' name is happening. If I'm not convinced, I will kill you."

Silk scoffed at the motivational speech Aste had provided, but she then nodded in acceptance. She was a Fides after all, she had a death sentence on her head. Silk had wanted to try and explain her stand anyway, Aste was a good start. She tried to shorten the whole saga as much as possible, only telling Aste the important parts.

"What do you mean your bloodline were temple operators?" Aste caught Silk off right as she got to the end of the tale. "Aren't you a Fides?"

"As I was about to say, Manus were the ones abusing Fides. We used to be their temple operators but somewhere along history something happened. I don't know what, it happened a very long time ago."

Aste stared at the path ahead, her mind going over what she had just heard. "So you are trying to restore Manus temple? And what, help others restore theirs?"

"Blanc said the Veran can help other temples, I don't know how or if it's true. I figured I'd start with what I could find, but Manus doesn't even have a core in its fort. And then Ameru showed me Kaon waiting for you guys to arrive and I got worried."

"I think Skyr is acting on his emotions," Aste murmured. "I told him, there is no way Kaon would stop if he didn't have a plan. He just didn't want to listen!"