The Prophetess was weird.

I mean not like in a bad way, she wasn't mean to me or anything, but it felt like she was kind of messing with me, and I couldn't really tell why.

One moment She was jumping into a pit and practically crushing me against her armor, and the next she was setting me gently on the ground and ruffling my hair like she was trying to praise me.

It was giving me whiplash, and I just couldn't understand what she was thinking.

'And when she asked me about giving the sword to Karsten, I'm… pretty sure that was a test, and I think I passed? Honestly I never thought the prophetess was someone who would be subtle like that, I haven't dealt with any people trying to test me in this life, and dad said she was always really forthright.'

'Maybe dad was just really forthright, and he never noticed she was messing with him.'

I blinked back my confusion as the girl next to me stirred a little bit, her hand twitching, reaching up outstretched.

I jumped a bit in surprise as she grabbed on to my forearm (tight!) And let out a groan.

"Uuurgh…" she mumbled, her eyes blinking open, and then quickly closed, and then open again, and then tears started rolling down her face.

I wasn't sure what to do, though my forearm was king of starting to hurt, so I just kind of reached over and patted her shoulder with my other hand, trying to think of what I was supposed to say to comfort her. I probably looked like a deer caught in the headlights.

"Um… are you alright?" I asked, trying to keep my voice gentle as She shifted, tightening her grasp on my arm.

"O-of course I'm not." The girl growled out, squeezing me tightly even as her eyes, still squeezed shut, let out small streams down her cheeks. There was an anguish in her voice that made me nearly freeze, like she's just had half her soul ripped away. "Grandpa's dead, I'll never see him again!"

I was momentarily stunned as I was dragged into a quite involuntary hug. She wasn't that much older than me, physically anyway, but the girl had a grip like steel. I wasn't sure why I was being hugged though, as far as I could tell this was the first time she had met me.

Still, it wouldn't do to just… not do anything, so I returned the hug despite my crushed lungs, patting her on her back, where her long hair fell down over her fine robe, only slightly singed by battle.

"I-I don't wanna… I don't wanna…" She sniffled, still clinging me to her where she was laying. "Why did you have to go?" She sniffled, before hugging me tighter, making me cough slightly.

"I-I need to breathe…" I choked out.

The girl blushed, and let me go, but I noticed she still had a death-grip on my forearm.

For a moment we just stood there awkwardly, before she reached up and scratched her cheek. "Um… sorry…" she said, still blushing. "I-it's just… grandpa said to come and find you so you'd protect me."

"M-me?"

"Yeah you, of course. I remember you from when you had tea with Grandpa." The girl frowned. "You seemed really short and unreliable, but Grandpa said you were strong enough to keep me safe, before… um…" I saw that she was starting to sniffle again.

"Well, the Prophetess herself is here now, so you should be safe," I said, trying to change the subject. "Um… your name is Augusta right?"

"Hmm." She bobbed her head.

"I'm Abbott, it's nice to meet you, um, well, the actual you," I said offering the hand she didn't have in a death grip.

The girl’s lips formed into a pout. "I knew that already, we already met." She stuck her tongue out at me slightly. "It wasn't just grandpa controlling me you know, we were both in there, you shorty."

I felt a blush spread across my own cheeks this time. "H-hey- it's not very nice to call people names."

"Tough." She said, looking around past me as she got up from the cot she had been sleeping in, hand still latched onto my forearm painfully. "Where are we?"

"Um.. this is the central square."

"Of the city? Then why aren't we drowning in skeletons?" Her eyes started to flashback and forth quickly. We were in a little area walled off by curtains. The holy knights were mostly using it for prayer and rest, though for the moment only Augusta and I were around.

"The curse is broken, as of this morning. There are church forces and adventurer's out clearing the last pockets of the undead out from the ruins."

"R-really?" She asked, blinking. "I-I didn't think that would ever happen. Grandpa couldn't break it, and he told me he tried a lot." She frowned, "so what happens now then? Do I get to rule it?"

"A good question, young lady." I heard the tromp of steel boots behind me, though the voice gave their owner away instantly, as the millennia-old prophetess came trundling up to the two of us. "One that I think will be resolved in the courts of Mirno in the months and years to come, but rest assured that the church is going to back your claim to the city. After all, it was signed to the Silver Prince in perpetuity by all three of the Successor Kingdoms."

I found my hair being ruffled for something like the fourth time this morning, though at least this time I seemed to be sharing that experience with someone else, which put a very distinct pout on Augusta's face as her hair was shifted about. "That's not the way to treat a monarch is it?"

"Ah, but you haven't had a coronation yet." The prophetess said, and I could hear the smile behind her helmet. "And won't until you come of age I should think."

"That's much too long!" Augusta protested, her face suddenly going pale. "Veluca will surely invade by then!"

"There will be a regent of course. A Cardinal or an Abbess I should think, there are a couple with experience in this sort of matter." The Prophetess turned her head slightly, and I thought that her eyes were on me. "By the way… Abbott are you alright? Your hand is going quite pale you know."

I blinked as I felt Augusta promptly release my arm, my nerves returning pins and needles as the girl stomped right up in front of the armored saint.

"N-now listen here. I don't care if you're as old as Grandpa, I'm not gonna be pushed around. Regents are always the bad guys, everyone knows that." She glared up at the woman 1000 years her senior with a determined expression.

I was about to pull her back, you can't just talk to the prophetess like that! But then something even weirder happened, and I heard the prophetess giggle, then snort, then burst out laughing, bending over clutching her stomach like she'd just heard the funniest joke on earth.

The Prophetess was weird. She was really, really weird.

"Very well then… hmm, how about this, Princess, I'll give you an early coronation, when you finish your education." The Prophetess reached up with both hands, and in a smooth moment pulled the helmet from her head.

Platinum blond hair fell down the back of her armor, and as she pulled it from her face, I was just kind of transfixed.

Oh, she was beautiful sure, almost otherworldly at that, but what held me was the light in her eyes, which seemed brighter than the sun in that instant. It was like I could see God through them directly, and I felt my own will grow in response as if called up from the pit of my heart by the call to arms found only in those shining orbs.

I do not think Augusta felt the same, as she just stomped her foot, calling attention back to herself.

"Why should I have to be educated? I learned everything I need from Grandpa." She stated matter of factly.

"Perhaps, but how much practical experience do you have as a ruler in your own right. Or in casting magic without your grandfather's help." The prophetess kneeled, which- wow she was tall. She was still at eye level with Augusta, and still a bunch taller than me! "I'm not trying to boss you around. You're the granddaughter of one of my oldest friends." She turned to glance over at me, and the warmth in her gaze told me she thought just as kindly of me. "So believe me when I tell you that you need to learn from other people too. Building a church or a nation as you figure it out is…" the prophetess made a face like she'd swallowed a sardine. "Unpleasant."

"B-but I…" Augusta frowned, her brow furrowing as if her entire worldview had just been flipped on itself. "W-what going to happen?" She asked after a moment in thought, clearly quite shaken.

"Hmm, well there are a few options for you, but, if you are willing to accept an education, I was thinking of taking you in as my ward." The prophetess said calmly, reaching down with an armored hand to fix Augusta's hair. "You'd accompany me back to Alma, in the holy territory, and you would attend the Magic Academy in Iskalla in a few months when they take on new students."

"Y-you would adopt me?" Augusta asked, blanching. "And how would that help me? My place is here, in my city!"

"You would learn how to rule." The armored woman said simply, shrugging her shoulders. "I am the ruler of the Holy Territory, and of Alma. Moreover, as my ward, you would assist me in my daily life, live with me in my quarters, and have the chance to speak to and learn from some of the most powerful people on the continent. Moreover, I think you could make friends at Iskalla, possibly friends your own age."

I felt her glowing orbs turn my way and give me a wink as she spoke, though I wasn't quite sure what to make of it at the time.

"B-but what of Mirno?"

"It will be overseen by a regent as always, repairs will be undertaken, some of the lands around it will be given over to farming…" the ancient priestess rattled off, using her fingers. "If you'd like I could have the regent send any major policies north for your signature before they are implemented, would that soothe your worries?"

"...a bit…" Augusta looked like she had been forced to eat a sour grape, but after a moment she bobbed her head, in a surprising display of maturity, or maybe trust. Understandable given the Prophetess was the one offering. "O-ok, I'm willing to accept it…"

Then she pointed at me, and I stood stock still as she said her next words.

"But he has to come too!"

I looked at her dumbfounded as Augusta turned towards me, putting her hands on her hips. "Grandpa said to tell you it was your job to make sure nothing happened to me, so that means you've got to be my royal bodyguard."

I blinked.

I blinked again.

"W-what?" I asked, stepping back a little. "I-I'm a priest, I shouldn't be doing s-"

That was about when I noticed the high-pitched noise that the prophetess was emitting, and the scary look on her face, and then suddenly she was moving.

'Oh god she's hugging both of us and it hurts. Why is her armor so hard?'

"Oh, you're both so cute. I can't take it anymore!" She squeed and suddenly all of my preconceived notions of respect for my dad's boss, the first prophetess of God, were crumbling away. "I was going to offer you to come to Alma to study under me anyway, but this is perfect, I can have both of you be my cute little wards and do all the chores and…"

As she trailed off into her own thoughts with a scary expression on her face, I squirmed against her stupidly strong grip. This wasn't the Prophetess at all, she was supposed to be calm, kind, dignified! Had she been being mean to me this whole time just because she thought I was cute.

And the girl next to me grinning triumphantly even though she was clearly getting crushed too, no, stop that.

Well, actually, now that I thought about it…

This was a pretty good deal, huh. Even if the prophetess wasn't uh… dignified, she could still probably teach me a lot about light magic. After all, she had just obliterated that smoke demon with her flurm a few hours ago, and who knew how many people I could help if I had that kind of magic on my hands.

I was distracted from my thoughts as I realized she was talking out loud again.

"And then once we've gone shopping for new clothes we can-"

No that was a false alarm, she was still caught in her head.

I knew the Prophetess never had a husband but had she been suppressing maternal instincts for a thousand years? Maybe this wasn’t such a good idea...

'Scary.'

"Oh, and after you've both graduated I'll make you Archbishop of Mirno too, Abbott."

That was a bit more than a fantasy!

"Umm, do you mean that?" I asked, craning my head up towards her. "Isn't that a really big jump?" There was normally only one Archbishop in a while country, except for Rispany and the Holy Territory where there were more. "I've only even been ordained for a couple of years…"

"Pss, you can use bishop level magic already, by then you'll be chucking around spells like candy." The Prophetess grinned and gave me a wink. "Besides, it’d be unfair if Augusta got to be a princess and you just went back to wandering around afterward."

You know, looking into her glowing eyes was very comforting.

But I really hoped she knew what she was doing like this.

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