Checkmate.

Those were words she never wanted to hear again. Their fight was far faster than last time. The girl before her had matured, blossomed into something more. She was a full blown bloody lily that drank the blood from the battlefields. Hati looked up and saw the golden eyes of her opponent staring down at her. It was as if she was an inferior being.

No… No! I… I am not inferior! I was blessed with the power of the Gods! My body proves it! This! This inferior lifeform who received a mere fraction of God’s power dare harm me! The closest entity to a God!

Valentina narrowed her eyes. A black and pink aura had begun wafting off Hati’s body.

“Checkmate? There is no checkmate!” Hati lunged at Valentina, talons splayed and poised to disembowel her.

Valentina stepped back. If those claws got a hold of her, her body would be reduced to piles of flesh and her organs would be strewn across the street. Hati’s claws drew near. There was no way out of this.

Hati cackled. This would be her win.

Only, she never made contact. Her hands froze mere inches from Valentina’s torso.

Valentina narrowed her eyes and jumped back. She raised her hand and slammed her palm on the ground. Ethereal blue chains erupted from the ground and snaked in on Hati, hoping to constrict her within their coils.

Hati dodged the chains, jumping back and landing next to Sigrun.

“We need to go,” Sigrun said.

Three massive energy signatures had made their way here. Their powers far eclipsed that of the Valkyria before them. A white blur landed next to Valentina.

“Sage Eschamali,” Hati muttered.

The dust was blown away by an immense amount of energy that radiated from Mizore’s body. The tranquil sage’s face was filled with fury. Her icy blue eyes glowed with ungodly power. Ice slowly crept its way across the street and the winds blew with the strength of a typhoon. All nine of her tails were swaying and glowing white. She looked like a God that descended from the Heavens to dole punishment on mortals.

“You two…” Mizore’s voice was soft but exuded a pressure far greater than any of them had ever felt. “Valentina. Were they the ones responsible for the plague in Alfheim?”

“No. The signature of their Arts is different from the ones I met. But, from the files I stole during my time infiltrating and fighting them, that woman right there is Hati. She has a World Painting Arts called Devouring. That rabbit-kin next to her is named Sigrun. Her Arts is classified as Energy Transformation and is known as Erosion. They’re both affiliated with the ones in Alfheim,” Valentina said.

“Is that so? I see. Well then, all we need is one?” Mizore asked.

Valentina nodded.

She took a step towards them. As soon as she did, the energy around her flared and blew both of them back. This was a fight the two could not hope to win. What could mere mortals do against a God?

“Looks like your instincts are right… again, Sigrun,” Hati said. “We may have lost but allow us to leave you with a parting gift.”

“Parting gift?” Mizore asked.

Hati raised her hand. The ground shook violently as Hati ripped an entire building off the ground. She held her hand above her head, holding the building afloat in the air.

“Which way?” Hati asked.

Sigrun nodded in the direction of the barracks.

Valentina’s eyes widened in horror.

“You asked what the gift was right? Let me box it for you. You can unbox it when you…” she threw her hand forward and launched the building at the barracks, “get there!”

“Embla!” Valentina yelled. She jumped after the soaring structure.

“Valentina! Wait!” Mizore yelled, reaching out for her. “Damn it!” She looked back towards the spot where Hati and Sigrun were. The two had vanished without a trace. “Damn it! Lilim, you’re right! When her sister’s involved…” Mizore held her hand out towards the building. The building froze mid flight. She closed her fist. Space contracted around the structure, crushing it from the immense pressure of matter, light, and gravity being compressed into a single point. With a violent and loud crunch, the building was reduced to nothing, vanishing as if it had never existed in the first place.

“So that is the legendary Central Master… what a terrifying Arts,” Azalea said in awe. She held her arm and shuffled towards the Sage. “Milady, I shall mobilize the Knights and-”

“No. Those two are long gone by now,” Mizore said. “Just have the Knights aid in repairs and relocation. The people here have suffered from the actions of those two.”

Azalea performed a curtsy and walked off.

“Arts…” Mizore muttered.

Yuki sat in a bed, having a line of fluids running into her arm. She looked at the bed next to her. Red slept peacefully, having had all his wounds healed by the Army Healer. Pandora sat against the head of her bed, touching the bandages on her torso. The healer had told her that it wouldn’t scar and that she would be fine.

“Em, he’s going to wake up,” Yuki said.

“I know,” Embla said, sitting next to Cal’s bed. She grabbed Cal’s hand and squeezed it tightly.

“Geez, you’re fussing over my own brother even more than I am,” Pandora said, crossing her arms and puffing her cheeks.

“I- I’m not! I’m fussing over everyone equally!” she protested.

Pandora smirked upon seeing the blush forming on Embla’s face. “Sure, sure.”

Cal groaned.

“Cal?” Embla turned around quickly. His eyes were beginning to slowly flutter open.

“Em…”

“Cal?”

“Your hand. It’s holding mine too tightly. I think you’re going to rip it off.”

Embla’s face flushed once more in embarrassment. Was she really holding his hand that tightly? She yanked her hand away, placing them on her lap. Embla watched as Cal slowly sat himself up, wincing from the pains his body remembered. The beating he had suffered at the hands of Sigrun had dealt him were non-fatal but it would take some time to get over. Even with Healing Magic, his wounds were severe enough to warrant multiple sessions. At least for now, the wounds were closed.

“What…!? That woman! Where is she!?” Cal asked. Reality had dawned on him and he began frantically looking around for any signs of their assailant.

“Cal. Cal!” Embla grabbed his hand, calming him down.

He stopped thrashing around but was still visibly shaking. His anxious jitters and eye movements unnerved her.

“She’s gone. The Knights fought her off. We’re in their barracks receiving medical attention. We got beat pretty badly,” Embla said.

“Barracks?” Cal’s eyes scanned the room. It wasn’t the hospital nor their house. The room they were in was a pure white room, akin to that of the hospital. However, it possessed none of the homey comfort that hospitals tried to implement for their patients. All Cal could see were other beds and a shelf with medical supplies on one of the walls. He looked to the bed on his left. Red was lying in it, still sound asleep and his twin Pandora was on the left of that bed.

“What the hell happened to you?” Cal asked, seeing his twin sister’s bandages.

“I got stabbed by tentacles,” Pandora said. “You?”

“I got…” Cal went deep into thought. “That woman… Sigrun right? That’s what she called herself. Her strength was unreal. Even with my Arts and Red, we weren’t able to lay so much as a single scratch on her. Every wound she received just went away like it was nothing. And… her Arts. Her Arts was able to negate mine. We were lucky to even survive her attacks. Red was the first to go down. She ran her sword through his torso then went for me next… and she, she…”

“You don’t have to tell us anything if it’s too painful for you to remember,” Yuki said softly.

“No, no, I’m fine. She slashed my back and slammed my skull against the cobble. I think that’s what knocked me out,” he replied, looking at his hands.

“We thought you guys were goners when she showed us your bodies. Good thing the Knights Headquarters was close enough to the Hospital,” Embla said.

“And Embla was holding onto your hand the entire time they healed you. She was like ‘Cal! Cal! Please don’t die! I can’t live without you! Cal! Cal! I lo-” her voice was silenced by a pillow and Embla’s impeccable aim.

The girl had her arm outstretched. Her face was completely red. Pandora’s statements had affected her far more than the elf had realized. She took a deep breath and calmed herself. There was no need to get flustered over some teasing.

Unbeknownst to her, Cal had a faint blush dusting his cheeks. He looked down at his bed, remembering the warm sensation of Embla’s hand. How rough and delicate it felt against his own.

“How could you!? Cal, do something! She threw something at an obviously injured patient!” Pandora yelled.

“Well, if you have the strength to come back and complain, I doubt you’re that injured,” Cal said, shrugging his shoulders.

“How cruel! I’m your twin sister! Everything I feel you can feel too!” Pandora said. She pinched her forearm, causing Cal to yelp in surprise.

“Hey! Two can play at that game!” Cal exclaimed. He pressed his thumb against one of his recently healed cuts. Pandora howled in pain, causing her to fall off the bed. Cal’s head throbbed, feeling the sensation of having his skull hit a tile floor.

“Enough! You two, calm down, jeez. We need to gather the facts of what just happened to us,” Yuki said. “Red’s not awake yet so I’ll fill him in later.”

The twins nodded and got back into their beds.

“First of all, we know that the woman who attacked me… no, us. Her target was obviously me but when we entered the rotunda of the Knight’s Headquarters, she appeared to have shifted her objective from me to someone else,” Yuki said.

“Someone else?” Cal asked.

“Embla. She said she wanted Embla now right?” Pandora said.

“Why would they want her?” Cal asked.

“That’s what I want to know but… the reason she shifted target appears to be because Embla possesses an Arts,” Yuki answered.

“Embla? An Arts? That’s…” Cal trailed off, looking down at his sheets. The more he thought about it, the more he realized how far-fetched he would be if he denied Yuki’s claim. And he himself noticed something was off about Embla ever since her fight with Kaguya. Her body had changed. There was something new within it.

“Cal?”

He looked up and saw the occupant of his thoughts looking at him with her concerned ruby red eyes.

“It’s nothing. So, Embla has an Arts?”

“Yes. While you and Red were asleep, we tried to get her to summon whatever she just did during our scuffle with that Sigrun woman. Nothing we tried worked,” Yuki said. “Her Arts appears to respond to her emotions.”

“So she has no control over it,” Cal asked.

“Pretty much. I can’t use that red energy beam or make those blue constructs. I tried everything but I got nothing. Zip. Zilch. Nada. This power that I apparently have doesn’t even want to cooperate with me,” Embla said, shaking her fists.

“Alright, we’ll deal with that later. Cal can teach you how to use an Arts. He’s pretty much self-taught,” Yuki said.

Embla nodded.

“Next, that woman. She had the same vial I saw back in Alfheim. The one Will had on him the night he became infected and turned into one of those monsters,” Yuki said.

“You think they’re connected somehow?” Embla asked.

“Possi-, no, I know they are. This isn’t a mere coincidence. The tournament. Those… Draugr. What happened back in Alfheim. It can’t all be chance. This incident and that has to be connected somehow. We need to-”

Their conversation was interrupted by the sound of a door opening. A knight walked in and headed towards Embla. They all watched in anticipation. The knight bowed before Embla and offered her his hand. “Young Miss, the Valkyria would like to see you.”

“Valkyria? Val? She wants to see me?” Embla asked.

“Yes but just you. She wants to meet with you in the Grandmaster’s office in private,” the knight said.

“Wait, what about what’s happening outside?” Yuki asked.

“It’s been taken care of. The Valkyria, the Vice-Grandmaster, and the Sage Eschamali have taken care of the situation. Right now, we’re still on high alert so please be careful on your way home, Your Majesty.”

Yuki nodded.

“Well. Come on,” Embla said, standing up.

Valentina leaned back in her chair and sighed. She wanted to go see her sister right after the whole ordeal with Hati and Sigrun had ended. However, Azalea had placed a massive stack of paperwork on her desk. She wanted to refuse but Valentina was not ready to open that can of worms. Azure Dragonkin were known to be rather peaceful but it seemed that Azalea was the exception. The woman’s anger could make even Sage Antares quiver in his boots.

“Haah! What’s taking them so long?” Valentina complained. The Knight she had called to escort her younger sister to her office had yet to arrive. She clenched her fists. What would she even say to Embla? It had been seven years after all. Did Embla resent her?

“It doesn’t matter if she does… I’ll accept the full weight of her hatred,” Valentina muttered.

A knock on the door snapped her out of her thoughts.

“Ma’am. It’s me. I have her with me.”

“That’s fine. Just open the door and let her walk in.”

The door opened and Valentina caught sight of her precious little sister for the first time in years.

Embla closed the door behind her and stood in front of it. Her eyes drank in the sight of her older sister, who she had not seen in seven years.

Valentina stood up and walked over to her. She stopped a few feet from her sister and gripped her right arm with her left. “Embla, I…” Valentina trailed off. “What I mean to say is that… Um, I…” Words kept dying in her mouth. She wanted to apologize so badly. To let her know that she didn’t mean to. That she had no choice. That she was doing all this so she could live. “Embla, I’m so-”

She was cut off by a sudden weight running into her. Hot tears fell on her uniform, staining them. Valentina looked down and saw Embla’s face was buried in her chest. Embla’s arms were wrapped tightly around her torso, constricting as if she thought she would disappear.

Valentina frowned when she heard light, muffled sobs coming from her sister.

“Embla,” Valentina whispered, wrapping her sister in a gentle hug. She kissed the top of her head softly. “Shhh, it’s okay. Everything’s going to be okay. I’m home, Em. I’m home. And I’m never going to leave you ever again.”

Embla said nothing and continued to cry lightly into her sister’s uniform.

And the two stayed like that for the longest time, savoring their time together. Two sisters properly reunited for the first time in seven years.