Discordant Note: Crescendo | TBATE

Chapter 166: Mapping

Toren Daen

A smattering of clouds blocked out the stars from my sight as I left Bloodstone Elixirs. It wasn't cold out; far from it. The early summer breeze carried a note of salty sea spray as Aedelgard quieted down. Fireflies flashed intermittently in the sky, attempting to return the starlight.

My body ached in a familiar way. My muscles burned and lagged just as they did so many months ago when I'd first come to this world in the wake of Lady Dawn's training sessions within the Clarwood Forest.

The eyes of what employees remained in Bloodstone Elixirs headquarters had tracked me suspiciously, clearly noting my exhaustion and sweat-drenched clothing after leaving the tempus-warp room in the middle of the night without their master. It certainly did not help that my clothing was covered in cuts.

And one idiot had even given me a thumbs-up and a jaunty grin.

I wonder if he'd like it, I thought with exhausted annoyance as I left the building at last. What I just went through is not nearly as fun as what he's thinking about.

I had a feeling whatever rumors spread around would be exactly what I'd been worried about.

Goddamn Scythe, I thought piteously as I plopped down on a bench. It gave a nice view of the Aedelgard cliffs opening up toward the Vritra's Maw Sea. An endless expanse of water stretched from horizon to horizon, vast in a way that was awe-inspiring. Her and her stupid politics. Should've just taken the Red Light District offer before we tempus warped, I thought crankily, feeling a bit annoyed at how Seris had thrashed me in blade training and needing an outlet to vent.

Though I had a distinct feeling that taking up the alternative offer would have made my training worse. And more painful. I probably would have lost a limb if I did that.

There was just no winning sometimes.

I shifted my arm to try and drape it along the back of the bench, but even that movement sent sharp aches along my deltoid muscles. I opted to just let it lay limp on the seat.

I would have expected some sort of scathing remark by now, I joked tiredly to my bond. Considering your opinions on Renea Shorn. Seris. Whatever.

The Unseen World blanketed my vision, and I turned my head to the side. Through the misty cast to my vision, Aurora's shade was leaning against the bench, her eyes solemn.

"One of the greatest lessons I was ever forced to learn was to change my perspective in the face of contradictory evidence," she said. "It is still difficult to do so."

I looked back at the sea, watching the calm waves as they streamed through the bay. The port of Aedelgard was often called the Vritra's Lip considering how the continent looked from far above. I wondered now if we were not truly crushed in a Sovereign's jaw instead, ready to be swallowed and digested whole.

Most people don't know how to do that, no matter their age, I said, trying to be affirming to my bond.

Aurora held me on the shoulder, her gaze distant. "I told you once that Renea Shorn moved like Agrona. And that is true, Toren. And you must never allow yourself to forget that. But..." The phoenix shade quieted as a firefly drifted near, its light a desperate attempt to match the liquid fire in my bond's eyes.

She raised a gently glowing hand, lifting it as if she were actually holding the tiny insect. She inspected it with sadness in her gaze. "When I fled in fear from the High Sovereign, it was Seris Vritra who rushed to your aid," she said quietly. "When I could not be a mother to my son, it was a child of the Vritra who stood to defend you against their god."