« What are you doing? »

« Training. »

« Why? What’s the point? You can’t get out of here with brute strength, they showed us that yesterday. »

« Daddy wouldn’t be happy if I skipped a day. »

« You need to stop, they’ll punish you, you broke your bed. »

« No. Big sis will come and save me, mommy told me, and I want her to be proud of me when she arrives. »

« But… »

« Leave her, there are always some like that at first. After a few months, she’ll understand that it’s better for her not to leave. »

But something in the blue eyes of the little girl disputed that fact, and for a split second, the teenager doubted the words he had just ushered.

At the same moment.

“It is impossible. Lisana isn’t a Touched, dad and I would have…”

Ra’fa put her hand in front of Nay’s mouth.

“You should not talk about this.”

The young Legio instantly understood what she meant. Many onlookers were peeking at their reunion.

“I have to go get her.”

“Yes, but you need a plan.” The cook looked behind the young girl. “Chief, I’d like to take a day off.”

“It will be deducted from your pay.” Responded the man with the handlebar moustache.

Ra’fa grit her teeth but accepted the conditions. “Come with me Nay, let us talk somewhere quiet.

The place where Ra’fa lived was less than ten minutes away from the Palace inn. It was an apartment situated on the fourth floor of a residential building.

The inside was quaint and beautiful, even having a balcony. As she entered though, Nay’s gaze fell upon the clothes scattered on the ground. Her mother hated a mess. On a make-up table with a high-end mirror was a hair accessory, placed there as it would have been on a sacred shrine. Nay looked at the object a short moment, she would have recognized it anywhere.

“There, I put together everything I could about the cathedral.” Ra’fa informed her.

Nay now looked at the room, surprised by its unexpected large size. The mirror on the table was almost an art piece in itself, and the young Legio had spotted the pipes going to another room, proof there was a shower. Add to that the lights on the ceiling, giving out the same strange energy as the one in the rails and the ones in the streetlamps, and Nay had many questions, but one certainty: This was not a place her family could ever dream to afford. And still. Nay finally looked at where Ra’fa pointed. She examined the large double bed, where her mother and sister had most likely been sleeping. It was now littered with parchments and paper pages.

Some raw sketches of people Nay did not know but could recognize as priests, some maps, building blueprints, all clearly about Leïn’s Cathedral, and some lists. Information, hours, guard presence and the paths they took, the most astonishing was a list of the weird runes Nay had seen written over the door.

“You see? The cathedral is mainly secured with enchantments, so our movements will be restrained by the miracles covering the location. It is also its weakness. The guards are very few and in between, and there is few if any other defences...”

“M’a.” Nay had no other desire than the one to rush inside the cathedral and deliver her sister from her jail. But she had to pause. Her mother’s state of mind was like a freezing shower for her own.

“…I believe aiming for a daylight break-in is best, use the priests proposing services to the refugees as an entry point. I thought of going there myself, ask to see Lisana. They should accept my request, definitely bring me to an office at least, try to convince me it is for her own good she is there. While I do that, you’ll…”

“M’a!” Nay interrupted her, her heart clenched in her chest. She hugged her mother. She understood very well what Ra’fa was feeling right now, and it was breaking her heart. “It’ll be alright, it’ll be alright.”

Ra’fa stopped talking, out of it, before starting to cry. “Oh Nay…”

She didn’t say anything else for a while.

“We need to bring her back. They’re wrong. Marke would have told me…”

Nay nodded. “True. Lisana cannot be a God-Touched. Even if she had developed an outward R…powers since you left Gite, I do not believe Cathedral priests to be able to spot it so early.”

“Exactly!” Said Ra’fa loudly. “They always find the apprentices after a ghost miracle. Never before, or by complete chance. Lisana did not cross runic doors, I’m sure of it. So they have to be wrong.”

Nay watched her mother in silence. Her eyes fell back on the multitude of papers on the bed. It reminded her painfully of the way Trinne worked. Ra’fa was a chef, not a certain noblewoman planning for infiltrations and assassinations. But Ra’fa had taught her much more than just the art of cooking. History and politics, how to listen and be discreet, the human body. And now this.

“Mom. How do you know all this? What where you doing, before?”

It wasn’t the first time she had that question cross her mind, but it was the first time she needed the answer.

Ra’fa didn’t answer.

“Mom, I need to know. Not only that, true; there are many things I need to ask, but if we want to get Lisana back, I need to know how you got all of this.”

“…Can’t you just trust me?”

The young Legio took another approach.

“Mom…I found Vestigio, Marke’s…”

“Marke’s master, yes.” Nay peered into her mother’s eyes. She stayed silent, Ra’fa’s expression was telling her a lot, with no need for words.

“Dad always told you everything. He never hid anything from you.”

“He could not if he tried!”

Nay didn’t respond to her mother’s words.

“You are aware of what I am. That I am a monster.” She was convinced of it, especially after she saw her mother’s reaction.

“You are not a monster. Do not say that.” Ra’fa admonished her, in no way looking surprised.

“I am not human, I do not know how old I am and I possess so much magic my death will bring the world asunder. And you and dad just decided to adopt me anyway? It’s not that I don’t trust you, it’s that I don’t understand how you could ever trust me. Why did dad take me as his pupil? Since when do you know? Why save a Firante!? I am lost, M’a.”

Her mother hadn’t reacted to Nay’s revelations. Her eyes were dry, her gaze firmly locked with her daughter’s.

She then talked, with the tone of voice she usually reserved for when she was teaching.

“Marke told me the day we found you. When I left you alone in the kitchen-caravan.”

“What!?”

“I didn’t believe him. If it was true, he would have killed you. You are not aware but a Teller gave Marke two truths, and one of them was…”

“I know.”

“Marke would not have told you.” Ra’fa was sure of herself.

“No, a friend of his in Makaka told me instead.”

“I see. Well, it makes things easier to explain… Little by little I understood he was right, that you were the one he was supposed to have murdered. But despite the Teller’s predictions, he saw a little girl, not a monster.”

“He should have killed me then, my powers were probably still latent at that point, harmless.”

“Ha!? Had he done this; he would never have seen me again. He’d have proven to me that I was right in leaving him to rot in Leïn. The man I love would not sacrifice a child, whatever the reason may be. And that’s what you were, Nay, a child. You may have been born different, born through tragedy, but children are never responsible for their parent’s sins. If that was the case, what to say about Marke’s parents, who abandoned him in the middle of the desert? Or mine, who called justice feeding prisoners of war to their tamed Tertias ?”

“But I am the End! What’s the point in flourished words if the conclusion is the death of all the children in the world? Do they deserve that!?”

“No they don’t, but that won’t happen.” Ra’fa said with a smile. “You’ll live for a long time, won’t you? The miracles in you will keep you going through many ages. Well, I shall believe in you. You’ll find a solution. But, as it will probably happen way after my death, Lisana’s or my future grandchildren's, I honestly don’t see why I should feel responsible, or even care. I promised to never commit the same crimes my clan revelled in doing, and this choice, of taking care of you, is to this day, the best decision I’ve ever made.

“You…you and dad are dumb.”

“Talk respectfully about your parents!” Ra’fa shouted.

“Sorry.” Answered Nay automatically.

“Mhh, now that this has been said, let us save Lisana. She is not aware about Marke. I want you and I to tell her together. You shall also have to take over her training, now that he’s not here anymore.” Her voice cracked as she finished that sentence. As even though Nay could feel in her Rreico that Ra’fa had accepted Marke’s fate, it still covered her heart in a thick fog of sadness, forever there.

“Dad asked me to tell you he loved you, before he…”

But Ra’fa interrupted her with a mocking laugh.

“He never said that.”

Nay smiled as she felt her mother’s Rreico.

“You know what to tell her.” Nay told her the exact words he had left her with.

Ra’fa lowered her head, suddenly silent.

“That’s what he said.” Nay continued.

“…what an idiot. Unable to honestly express himself till the very end.”

For a while, mother and daughter simply hugged.

Then, Ra’fa rose on her feet.

“Lisana.”

Nay nodded. “How do you know all of this? How did you collect all this intel?”

Ra’fa sighed. “You are more stubborn than me and Marke combined.”

“Mom, I need to know your sources. I trust you, but I know you only as a chef, I need to stay objective and realistic if we want to save…”

“Chef was my cover when I worked for the Imperatrix. Well, it became my cover should be more accurate.”

Nay stopped talking.

Ra'fa sighed.

“A long time ago, a servant in disguise was going to become one of the Imperatrix’s jewels. But rumours appeared. About the Imperatrix’s lover supposedly enamoured with the aforementioned servant. It was quite a bad spot to be in, so the servant decided to quit, and leave the city. It was hardly that simple, but I will skip that part. The Imperatrix’s lover, as he was the biggest of idiots, decided to resign from his prestigious position, ended his relationship with the Imperatrix, and followed the servant into a suicide mission to the north of the Unbroken Ones. There. I’ll answer the questions you have, but only after we get Lisana. Got it?”

“…Got it.”

Nay had a lot to digest, but she left her questions unasked. Lisana was waiting for her big sister.

During Ra’fa’s explanation of her discoveries and planning, Nay understood she and Trinne were working similarly. The Duke’s daughter had most likely benefitted from an ex-Jewel’s teaching when she had been younger.

Which made Nay’s work easier. Her mother had made a gargantuan effort, classifying almost everything one could see and know about the Cathedral. Ra’fa was aiming for a break-in during the day, using herself as bait and distraction. Despite the young Legio’s rebuttal at the idea, she had to admit it was the best solution. The location was not organized as a military, and security was full of holes. This had one bad side-effect though: everything could happen. Nay was inspecting a document showing the priest’s traffic in front of the main door. There were no routines, no predictability. One night, the cathedral would have been incredibly easy to sneak into, another, almost impossible. This unpredictability was only happening during the night, as there were some constants with the priests during the day. They would always respond to refugees the same way. If they had money, the refugee would be brought inside, to an office, for a duration of approximatively ten minutes, then brought back. Ra’fa explained that if she asked to see Lisana, the time inside would be extended greatly.

“Why follow a priest?” We could enter the cathedral’s inner sanctum through one of the doors in the central nave, with the crowd, no one would look at us.” Nay asked.

“No, it would not work.” Ra’fa rebutted. “Leïn’s Cathedral is protected by the Gods. Many things are impossible to do inside. Only priests can bring outsiders into the cathedral, and they alone can roam freely inside. Violence and murder are also impossible.”

“That leaves us very few options...why even consider a night infiltration, if we cannot enter at all?”

“Because corrupting and paying a priest is a possibility.” Ra’fa seemed ashamed of such a plan.

“That would leave traces.”

“…going straight back to me.”

Nay scratched her head. “So, we need to convince a priest to let you and me enter, then I need to find a way to get to Lisana and get her out, with no possibility of defending myself or her if we are spotted.”

“Yes. But as I told you, paradoxically, their protections are beneficial to us. They are easy-going in terms of security. After all, what’s the point of security when no one can steal anything or hurt anyone? Well, that isn’t completely true. God-Touched can still use their miracles inside.”

“So, I am completely powerless while the Touched can use their magic freely?”

“There are probably more restrictions for them too, but from what I know, yes, that’s mostly it. You should be able to use your power against them, though. Marke’s master didn’t teach you some miracles…well spells?”

“No. He even made me swear never to use my magic. I risk burning down a whole city just by trying.”

Ra’fa grumbled. “By Lebe, I would have liked a bit of divine help. In any case, you can use the Legio art to infiltrate. I will take care of extending the priest’s invitation to you also, without him realising it. And here, this is the map, you’ll need it. The children are here. Study it.”

Nay clenched her teeth.

“I can only save Lisana.”

Ra’fa sighed. “I am aware. I always hated Leïn’s Cathedral way of doing things, but I understand its purpose.”

“You know a lot about God-Touched.”

“I shall answer your questions later, Nay.”

“I didn’t ask anything.” Retorted the young Legio innocently.

“Kids, the greatest of calamities… One of the Jewel’s purpose is to find and neutralize criminal Touched, or ones corrupted by their power. This is why I know so much.”

“…Nephrite.” Nay remembered the woman she had met in the slaughtered village north of Makaka.

“You met her?”

Nay nodded.

“She is tracking the Empire’s most vicious criminal. A God-Touched having lost his faith. Did she try to arrest you?”

“No, she let me leave.”

Ra’fa shook her head appreciatively. “That’s good. I wasn’t sure she listened to me.”

Nay held her tongue. She was trying to understand what had been revealed to her. All the clues had been there: Ra’fa had spoken of her clan and parents taming Tertias, and Nay had seen the tattoo of the monstrous animal on her mother’s belly numerous times. She had also taught the young Legio many things other than cooking, of which few should have been known by a normal chef. But by a jewel of the Imperatrix? It made much more sense.

“To summarize. I will get to the central nave and ask to see Lisana. They will make me wait, but I should be allowed to see her, in the end. You need to find and get her out before that.”

“Lisana will be able to leave with me? No rules, weird miracles will prevent it?”

Ra’fa seemed to hesitate for a while. “I cannot say for sure. Apprentices were not studied by the Jewels. Honestly, it is likely that they cannot leave.”

Nay sighed. “Then the plan is doomed to fail. If Liz cannot leave the cathedral, all of this would have been for nought.”

“No.” Ra’fa said with certainty in her voice. “If it is the case, we’ll have gotten very valuable intel. And, in any case, the plan doesn’t put any suspicion on me if Lisana is still there.”

“Then what? What’s the point of this information?”

“I’ll redeem an old favour. There are methods to counter miraculous enchantments.”

Nay didn’t like the way her mother had said that.

“Why not use that method now?”

“Because it’ll take weeks to obtain the necessary item.”

“It’ll give time for my broken bone to heal.”

“Bone?”

Nay looked at her mother anxiously, she had not noticed?

“By Ja! Your arm is broken!? Why didn’t you say something?”

“I did, I think, when you crushed me in your arms inside the inn.”

“Argh! Look at that! The bone is set correctly, but what is with this wooden brace!? It barely holds your arm in place!”

Nay sighed under her mother’s critics and let herself be handled like a broken doll.

They continued their talk as Ra’fa was redoing Nay’s cast.

“There are too many unknowns.” Nay decided. “Security, enchantments, my arm, your fatigue…”

“I’m fine, the security is minimal, and the enchantments shouldn’t…”

“… I agree with you mom. Stop. We won’t just abandon Lisana. But, after we get her out, we’ll need to run away. Or they’ll find us again with magic.”

Ra’fa nodded. “No worries on that part. There is a lot of work in the Hymere at the moment. They are constructing a railroad from Leïn to Jarulam and are looking for guards to protect the workers. The jungle will hide our tracks.”

“You are sure of that?”

“Yes.”

“Fine then, we’ll act tomorrow at noon.”

“Today would be best. If you went to the cathedral to buy a localisation spell, they could be aware of who you are already. We need to take them unaware.”

For once, Nay stood firmly against her mother.

“No. You are exhausted like you haven’t had a decent night of sleep in weeks. In your current state, you are a liability. Tomorrow, after a good night’s rest.”

Ra’fa seemed surprised by her daughter’s determination.

“To wait is too dangerous…” She tried.

But Nay did not flinch. “On this, I shall not budge.”

Ra’fa looked at her, then a smile grew on her face, full of pride.

“You grew up, Nay.”

“Not really, my growth spurt is clearly over by now.”

“Ha! Smartass. I’m not talking about that and you know it…Let’s cook something, the two of us, then I’ll sleep.”

Nay could not refuse such a thing, so she and her mother went to cook.