Odessa woke up with a start.

"It's, it's -"

"Yeah, a bell. Don't wear out that statement. Youonly said it aloud the entire night," a tired voice said from the side.

Odessa shook her head. "It's not just a bell! It's one of Peter's personal weapons!"

She turned toward the voice, but not before realizing something was wrong. It was far too cramped and dark for it to be her room. Even if it was a border Healer Hall, she had demanded a certain level of acceptability and comfort since she would be here for an unknown amount of time. And a closet like this was no way for a Grand Healer to live!

But before she could take account of the room, a slight chill raced through her. Looking down at her bare arms, she flushed as she realized she was half naked. And she was certainly not in the same clothes she was wearing the day before. She ran through her memory, but she was certain she wouldn't have changed into these ill fitting clothes.

Her face reddened and she jerkily looked toward the voice and realized who she was talking to and who had most certainly changed her clothes for her.

Imperial Servant Paige sat in a chair surrounded by both pillows and blankets. A miniature fortress of bedding sat piled in a chair, and somehow she made it look comfortable.

Odessa ignored her embarrassment with grace as she pulled her bedding tighter around her. It was rather chilly in the clothes she was wearing, and it was rather tight around her chest as well.

"My clothes?" she asked.

"Getting cleaned. I'm not letting you sleep in my bed in those clothes, especially after fainting in the streets. That's gross." Paige said tiredly.

Her face heated with shame again as she remembered yesterday. It was a rather poor showing for her, especially in front of Apprentices.

"Well, it was… just surprising to see, that's all."

"No, it's surprising to see your color choices," the woman muttered to herself, just loud enough for Odessa to hear. "But what is this about a bell being a personal weapon?"

"...clothes. Please?"

Paige rolled her eyes before reluctantly leaving the room.

Odessa took the chance to gather her supposed regal look, before she realized that… looks were deceiving. In fact, as she sat there in the quiet, chilly morning, she slowly sank back down into the bed and sighed in contentment as her eyes explored the room.

The room was cramped, yes, but everything in the room revolved around one concept: comfort. The bed sheets, while plain white, were like lying on a fluffy cloud that was surrounded by lavender. It even retained body heat, which is why she got so cold, and made more sense why the Servant Paige had changed out of her clothes. Even her pillow was nicer than the one she had in her own room! It was filled with some type of liquid that supported her head just right, and even though her hair was in a ponytail, she could hardly feel the ornamental piece holding her hair together.

Her eyes peeled out of the sheets and stared around. It was sparse in the room, a single desk and chair that was piled high with blankets, a dresser cabinet that was well worn, but looked well cared for. It was large enough for a dress to fit in, but would hardly fit more than six outfits. Farming tools were hanging on racks to the side of the cabinet. The handles were wrapped in some sort of soft fabric that Odessa longed to feel, but the metal blades were in such good shape that she wondered if they had even been used. Sure, her current identity was a Farmer, but it was hardly convincing with the state of her tools. Steel shouldn't be that shiny.

As the sun peeked out of the clouds, the window erupted into a storm of rainbows. She turned to look and saw a dizzying array of jewels covering the window. Thin shards, but a jewel was a jewel, and that instantly meant expensive. The pattern… when she looked at it directly, it made her eyes sting for some reason, but the rainbow reflection of the room was lovely.

Paige walked in and and cringed a bit as she held up her uniform. "Okay, well, your clothes are fine. I, uh, air dried it, so hopefully you didn't have any magic laced into it. ... I'll get Zenith to lace it back if it was."

That piqued Odessa's interest. Magic infused clothes? How advanced was this party of Servants? Besides the thin plates she sometimes wore while traveling, her clothes were just that.

Odessa smiled. "I'll make sure to thank Zenith. You asked about the bell? It is one of Peter's greatest weapons. It's official name is the Bellweather, and it was last seen during the sixty day war!" Her face drained suddenly. "But then what is protecting that area?"

"...what area?"

"The Southern Desert! The bell was the only defense against the Dragons!"

Paige frowned. "It's just a few dragonkins. No Dragon would dare cross the border."

Odessa stared in shock. Surely everyone would remember those great beasts attempting to storm the Capital. There were depictions of the famous Dragon storm everywhere in the capital. Well, the focal point was always on Peter, but you couldn't downplay the situation he was facing either.

Odessa watched carefully as Paige's eyes flickered with something. "Well, regardless, Peter himself had the bell here to protect the school. Maybe the one back there is a fake?"

Protect the school? Odessa knew from stories that Peter had some reservations about the rest of the Imperial Family, but this was beyond overboard. Her look of disbelief must have told the Servant something, but Young Tyler's injuries made more sense now that she knew they were fighting against Imperial Servants. Imperial Servants did not mess around, even against Apprentices. Or commoners in general, really. In fact, they were revered across the Empire at large, so what did the kids do to antagonize them? All something to look into in her free time, but there was something more important to focus on right now. "But what is protecting the Southern Desert? The bell was the only line of defense."

Odessa waited in silence. This was far above her role as a Grand Healer. In fact, Paige would probably have to contact her Scion for advice. Then she could finally see who was advising them from the shadows. "...well… I, uhh, have something that could help. But I need something in return."

Odessa started. She had a way to solve that problem? "Something like…"

"I need first edition copies of Peter's exploits. And some reparation to be sent out. Some of the Servants... didn't deserve to die yesterday. It was just bad luck that they ended up in range of Peter's area of attack formation."

Odessa slowly nodded. She had no intentions of interfering in Imperial politics, but reparations were a sort of healing, at least for the families of the dead. It would be… hard not to show favoritism. But if she could get something out of it… like some formations… or some new bedsheets…

"The first will be easy. But the second… I need a favor, Imperial Servant Paige."

"Just Paige. Or Farmer Paige. I'm rather busy, Odessa…"

"I just need something to leverage my authority back home. I don't want to be seen as taking sides, especially when it has to do with a part of Peter's legacy."

Paige thought for a moment before narrowing her eyes. "And if you can solve the issue of protecting the, uh, Southern Desert. How much political maneuvering will that allow you? Enough to issue statements of apology to a few dozen people?"

"That… yes?"

Odessa hesitated. Everything she was taught about Servants was contrary to what she was experiencing now. Not that she had much interactions with Imperial Servants before, but she was certain that they shouldn't have this much autonomy. Or did the Scion backing her have that much faith in her?

"...I have something that can help. Or, at the very least it won't hinder you any."

Odessa nodded. She blinked as Paige took out a shiny red ring. The dimensional artifact.

Oh, what Odessa wouldn't give for one of those! Sure, her Uncle Glenn had one, but that was a rarity, even within the Capital.

Paige released her mana and whispered something, and soon a smooth, large shield appeared in front of her.

It was shaped funny, with the edges of it slightly dulled, as though it had gotten less shine than the middle had.

"...okay, so what exactly is that, and how is it supposed to help?"

Paige smiled as she took an inkwell from her table. She wrote something on the back before she started wrapping it in a bedsheet. What a waste of a bedsheet! "Well, I was owed a favor, and I intend to collect it. Hmm, fifty year ceasefire, at a minimum. That'll do it, Odessa. Now, you just have to send someone to take it over and not mess up the traditional greeting."

"...to who?"

"Why silly, the Council of Dragons. Or is it called a nest? Roost? Roost of Dragons? Whatever, old Elzri owes me a favor, so I’ll call it in."

Odessa blinked and laid back down in the bed. She must be having a dream. She closed her eyes as the scratching of the pen on the shield continued. The Dragons hated humanity, especially Peter, after their disastrous defeat in the former breadbasket of humanity. That land was now a testament to both sides’ hatred too, as it was inhospitable to almost every living creature. But Paige continued on talking. “...and there. I’ll wrap it up nicely. Gold leaf? Hrm, tricky. Nah, that would be too gaudy. But it also has to look expensive. Greedy dragons and such.”

Odessa cracked an eye and watched with surprise as Paige grabbed a bar of steel and flattened it with her hands. Moving her hands steadily, she covered the bedsheet in a coating of steel, and even created a little bow made of such thin steel she was afraid it would break with just a slight jostle. “What type of Skill is that? Must be a rare Skill,” Odessa mumbled under her breath. She thought she had said it quietly enough, but either Paige had exceptional hearing or her voice echoed within the quiet room.

“Hm? [[Craft Modification]]. Most useful Skill for any craftsman, really. Pretty cool seeing it in action, huh? One in a hundred usually learn this Skill. Or so I was told.” Paige smiled.

Odessa stayed quiet. She made a mental note of the skill name before she looked at the wrapped object Paige was holding. Who was she really? And why wasn’t she coordinating with her Scion for all of her actions?

“Anyways, I’ll teach you their traditional greeting so that your messenger won’t melt the moment you meet them. Kinda like the Elves, really, with all their pomp and circumstance. Make sure you send someone who can replicate what I teach you. Now, how good are you at meowing?”

“Huh?”

________

"Remember, rawr! Like a kitten playing!"

"R,R,R,R,Rawr!" Paige chuckled playfully as Odessa cried, tears in her eyes. She was close to a panic, and by the looks of it, she was nervous to boot as she pretended to be a kitten.

That was the scene Zenith came to as she wearily came into the room.

Paige wiped the smile from her face and became serious as she handed Odessa a rather large package. "Remember, give it to one of your honor guards. And the saying has to be done perfectly, or else the consequences will be unimaginable. And not a word to anyone!" She thrust a rather gaudy, but expensive looking package into Odessa’s hands and pushed her past Zenith.

"Zenith, hel-"

Paige slammed the door shut before turning around.

Zenith could already feel a headache coming on. "... and that was?"

"Oh, nothing. Really! Just trying to get one of her honor guards killed. Or perhaps out of the picture at least." Paige explained as she straightened up her room. She took down a stained glass mural from her window as she moved her bedding to her bed. It was pretty to look at, though, without direct sunlight it was almost impossible to make out the pattern.

"Care to explain?"

"I'm rather busy, Zenith."

Zenith took that in and barked a short laugh. "Hah! Your idea of being busy is not having enough time to do what you want! And before you go do your morning routine, what was that about?"

Paige tched as she cleaned up her room. "I asked Odessa for a favor, so I'm calling one in myself."

"A favor?"

"Yeah, in exchange, the Healer Hall will placate a few families back in the Capital. No reason for us to deal with the fallout."

"And that ridiculous scene I just witnessed?"

"... The gift is for someone who’s…he's, uhh, unique. Yeah. That’s a good word for it."

Zenith sighed to herself, a mixture of relief and frustration. On one hand, Paige was doing something. The other, it was mostly her fault to begin with. And that reason… well, she did say she had visited the far east part of the Empire, so maybe she knew a Half-Beast that owed her a favor.

Reasons aside, she had a specific reason for coming. "I know you said the Imperial Family had interfered, but how can we prove that? You also claimed that their bodies were destroyed. Was anything left? Proof-wise, that is?"

She already knew that the school was biased, but it didn't take a genius to figure out where that many Imperial Servants had appeared from. 'So much for being biased against the Imperial Family,' she thought to herself.

Paige drummed her hand idly on her table. "Actually, Zenith, there is one piece of evidence."

"Oh?"

That was already suspicious for Paige. She usually left no room for interpretation, especially in regards to her own faults. A hole in the ground? Boary. A few dead bodies; a sacrificial ritual. Hell, even the harvest ritual had been carefully worded to keep the fault off of her. And now she left proof of something she had done? There had to be a catch somewhere.

And her face matched her suspicions, so Paige raised her hands carefully. "I told you earlier, Peter did it."

Zenith closed her eyes and counted to ten. Of course, it was all her dead brother’s fault.

"No, really Zenith! Did you ever wonder why the border guards were so laxidasical? And why there are farmlands everywhere?"

She could hear Paige attempting to cover herself, but she still took the bait. “One, because they had to feed the entire school, and there are more kids than adults here. Gluttonous, growing young adults,” she amended after a moment. But since Paige wasn’t being forthcoming, she begrudgingly responded as she sat on the edge of the bed. "Okay, I'll bite. What did Peter, your brother, do exactly?"

Zenith narrowed her eyes. It had better be a good explanation, one that she was going to send Nick to verify. It was one thing to make up a reasonable story, but it was far, far harder to hide your mistakes on the go. "I thought more about what had happened when the Imperial Servant used his authority," Paige began. "It appeared to be a large scale, focused formation. The moment the Imperial Servant had pulled out his… shardstone, it had gone off and killed him, his party and allies. Maybe that was the condition to begin the formation?"

That… could be possible, actually. So long as it was attuned to something, Zenith supposed what Paige said was technically possible, especially if the formations were focused to activate if an item appeared. And seeing as Peter had thrown together formations around the school, it wasn't a far stretch to assume the same about the surrounding farmlands. After all, all the Imperial Family had to do was control the food supply and they'd be able to manipulate the school. And if it was attuned to only Imperial Servants… Zenith looked up. "And the focus tool? What item was so conveniently placed that it activated in the middle of nowhere."

"...well, since it was Peter's personal weapon that killed everyone, I would assume that it was the focus."

Paige had an answer for everything. Was she pinning the blame on her too fast? “Did you manage to keep the weapon?”

Paige hesitated. “...no? No.”

Zenith eyed her warily. Suspicious, but if Paige said no, then she usually meant it. She didn’t have the weapon. Not that she could hold a weapon, as far as she knew. Hell, she was using her hoe during the testing exam! Well, Zenith conceded, at least she had a good idea on what to report to the school if she was questioned. She’d take a page out of Paige’s book and deflect everything back to the parties in question; Parties that will most certainly try something once school begins in earnest.

She stood up to go before Paige motioned her to sit a moment longer. “I have a question to ask.”

“If it’s about Claire, Nick and I haven-”

“No no, well, I do want to ask about it, but it’s about Nimi.”

“Oh?” She raised a brow. ‘That was intriguing,’ Zenith thought. Paige didn’t usually show interest in anyone.

Paige looked away, a sure sign of guilt as any. “She, uh, might create some issues at the school. Not a big problem, bu-”

“Please tell me her last name isn’t Alduit,” Zenith chuckled. Her smile faded as Paige sat there, not even looking close to her direction.

“...”

Zenith’s headache grew in earnest as she thought about the ramifications she was going to deal with. ‘Great. A Princess, half elf, and an Alduit all in one! How the hell did that even happen? I mean, the Twenty Day war was over nine… hundred years ago.’ Her mind chucked out all the unimportant information, like what would happen if her identity was revealed while she was still in school.

This was important. She turned to Paige, her eyes brightening as she talked. “Why isn’t she older? Elves grow slowly, yes, but that’s only after puberty.” That wasn’t the only problem, Zenith knew. “And her magic affinity is terrible, even for a half elf. Elves are naturally attuned to mana, so it is theoretically impossible for her to have such a bad affinity.”

Paige shrugged. "I have a few things in mind as well, but the biggest question really is, what is the benefit? Sure, the pregnancy might account for some time, and technically an Elf can stop labor from happening until whatever conditions are needed for their star alignment and whatnot, but decreased mana affinity is a steep cost for any condition."

That was a good question as well. but in her mind, there was only one thing that could do something like this. A ritual. Paige must have been thinking the same, since she nodded slowly.

“I was going to ask you about that, Zenith. Besides what we went through… are there any spells that could do that? Slow time, that is? After the incident at Alun Tep, the Elves closed up their borders soon after that incident, so there should be no way for Peter to meet up with Selena after that point in time.”

She parsed through what she knew, but nothing readily came to mind. ”The autobiography is missing parts?”

“There were more than a few, uh, incidents, that weren’t mentioned. Not everything I did was publicized, and some of it was… sensitive. Things that the Imperial Family definitely would not want to spread around the Empire. I can say for certain that he didn’t kill as many people as I did. Overall, his steps broadly matched mine, but I can’t say for certain what he did or didn’t do.”

That was as good as knowing nothing, then. Zenith hesitated. There were still a lot of unknowns surrounding the ritual they went through. But as far as magic went… “I knew a lot of the theoretical magic that Appealte was trying to create breakthroughs in, but time magic wasn’t one of them. It was deemed too dangerous overall. There was always a balancing of scales at the end, and smart researchers were deemed more important than results in magic creation.”

“Agreed. Living longer as a High Class is already breaking some sort of limit for sure, and even then, you have to fight to survive. I can’t imagine someone creating a spell that can do the same thing.”

“How many battles do you have to do to stay young, Paige? I haven’t had that problem yet,” Zenith asked.

Paige looked away. “That’s a story for another time. IF you could get me a more complete biography set, I could start narrowing down some of my more extreme options. And if the ritual had nothing to do with Nimi’s situation.... then we should look into Elves… Dragons, and Beast Kings as well. Farfetched options, but might as well look into it since we have the time.”

Zenith could feel her eye twitching. That was still leaving most of the research work to her! And it sounded like Paige was grasping straws more than having a set idea in mind. But, she did have a wider worldview, so maybe she really did know something? “Paige, I’m not sure we’ll even find a book on them here.”

Paige just shrugged. She could mentally hear her stating the obvious, ‘If you can’t find the book, then no skin off your bones’, even though it was her time that would be wasted. Though, talking about books… “Everyone says that the school Is holding Peter’s legacy. Perhaps that’s the place to start?”

“Great! See, I knew you could figure things out!”

Paige’s optimism aside, Zenith hesitated. Did this really solve any of their issues? “I’ll look into it, Paige. But what are you hoping to find?”

Paige got up and paced her small room. “It’s… just a hunch I have. Nimi’s situation should be related to us, but if it’s not… Then we have much bigger problems to worry about.”

“The battlefield you keep alluding to?” Zenith asked. That was a big issue, and one she knew Paige wasn’t keen on even contemplating on sharing what she knew. "...We haven't met a lot of Scions. That right there is a major problem, Zenith."

Zenith cocked her head. "I thought you would want it that way, Paige. From what I've seen, everything related to them is trouble."

"Yeah, but for the bigger picture, the more Scions there are, the less we have to do later on." Paige smiled sadly. "And I'm itching to kill some of the more troublesome ones. Just the fact that I haven't heard of them is worrying. I'd ask about them, but I'd be drawing more attention to us if I did."

Zenith used the time as Paige cleaned up her room to think. There were a lot of unknowns now, and school hadn't even started in earnest yet. Teaching classes was going to keep her busy now, and that wasn't even adding the kids or the investigation onto her list of things. She looked over and hesitated. It was so hard to ask Paige to do things. Not just because she was far older, stronger, and arguably wiser than her... but enough was enough. "Paige, I'm going to have a lot on my plate. Can you please pick up some of the slack? I can’t do everything by myself."

Paige stilled as she pulled some blankets out of her cabinet. Zenith held her breath as she waited. ‘Please, please, please-‘

“...alright. I can do some stuff,” Paige said, her tone very unwilling. “Direct me to the library and I’ll find the relevant books. And train the kids. And upgrade their equipment, watch Stella and Shavie, an-“

“Thanks so much! Okay, I’ll talk to you after I find the school library. Bye!”

Zenith dashed to the door and shut it tight before Paige could guilt her into doing everything herself. It was her tone of voice that somehow made her think she was doing Paige a favor if she did it herself instead of the other way around. She leaned her head back and sighed with relief. That went remarkably better than she had expected! Barring Nimi’s last name, Paige had even remembered her promise from yesterday, and volunteered to do more!

A slight scuff of a foot from outside her view attracted her attention. She smiled as Markus walked out his room, a familiar book in his hand. “Reading the student manual? I’m glad you have some good habits, unlike a certain person we know.”

“Yeah, Uncle Tyler needs to learn to come home more often. Such a bad habit to stay away from family,” Markus said as he played along.

She rolled her eyes. “Yeah, both of them need to try to improve themselves. Anyways, have any questions for me before I head to bed? I think Nick is making some lunch if you rested enough.”

Markus rolled his shoulders lightly, as though he was reading on his stomach, a bad habit they both probably needed to fix. “Nah, just wanted to ask Aunt Paige if we’re still training today.” He sniffed the air like a dog as a waft of burning bacon filled the air. “I’ll head down in a few; Tyler snores a lot for a person who is injured. Save some biscuits for me, please?”

“I’ll save some for you.” What a good boy Markus was turning out to be! Zenith rubbed his head, much to his chagrin. Walking down the stairs, she paused as she remembered her quick escape. She said a quick apology to Markus, and went down to eat with her husband.

“Hey, Au-”

“I just want to sleep! Why is that so hard?”

Paige almost broke down into a fit of rage. There were only two times a day she had to herself. Bedtime, and then her morning routine before her morning training routine. And today, both of them were being kept from her!

Not only did she have to give up her bed and clothes to someone who could hardly appreciate nice things, now Zenith had filled her day with useless crap all under the guise of ‘keeping the kids safe’ and ‘investigating’! The latter was an halfway acceptable, but the former? Hell, back when she was their age, she could still remember fighting half naked with only a stick, and still killing some Imperial Servants.

Well, that last part was a stretch, even in her mind. Paige conceded it was mostly from luck, but she still had done it! ‘Maybe Shavie’s training isn’t too bad for them to experience,’ Paige grumbled to herself.

She turned to the newest intruder to her room and scowled angrily. Markus should have known better than to disturb her!

Markus raised his hands in supplication as he moved toward the bed. He hesitated before he sat down, noticing the deathly glare he was receiving. Coughing awkwardly to cover the silence, Paige nodded slowly as Markus offered her the bed instead. Handing him the chair, they exchanged seats before Markus continued. "We missed morning training, so I didn't get to ask about the rewards..." He trailed off as he noticed the lack of recognition. "For the 'training' mission Isabella's aunt put us through. Did we get anything good?"

'I guess we did sleep the day away yesterday,' Paige thought sullenly. "You'll get upgraded equipment and lessons in… apothecary?"

Markus straightened in the chair. "Lessons in Alchemy?"

Paige didn’t miss that glean in his eyes. What was so good about knowing Alchemy? "No, lessons in apothecary. Field healing and antidote creation. You know I don't believe in potions, Markus. Of course, Zenith will be giving supplementary lessons to Isabella to fix that hole in the party. Every Healer should know [[Neutralization]] as a bare minimum."

"But I already know how to identify herbs. And you taught me some basics, remember?"

"Yeah, but Nick and I aren't real experts in it. Go and learn some useful tricks, and we'll compare who knows more afterwards."

Paige leaned back into her bed and sighed with contentment. It was tough finding that Cloud Unicorn, but it was definitely worth it! And not just for her leather armor either. She sunk into her sheets as Markus continued asking questions. Questions that could clearly wait until a later time, that is. She answered half heartedly and started drifting off to sleep and waved Markus to leave. His voice trailed off as he started to leave. “Oh, and I read something in the student handbook that puts a dent in my carefree school life. Seems like you can get replaced as an official student if you skip classes, unless you fight…"

Her mind woke for a moment before she turned over to sleep. Fights? In a place with factions? That was… okay, it was a fair bit of a punishment for an elite school. “Just don’t kill anyone.” She made a mental note to update the girl’s equipment once she woke up. And Tyler’s. Markus though… meh, she’d upgrade his guards and call it a day. He needed to learn to take a few hits sometimes instead of trying to dodge so much! But all that could wait until after she slept.

“How hard should I try?” Markus asked.

“....mhmb, don’t...embarrass...me.”

She sunk into sleep as the door closed. Train Markus. That was the minimum she had to do to shut up the voice in her head. Now it was time to see if the training paid off.