The Fortress of Aer is an extremely dense city, with almost 60,000 affinity users living within its walls, counting only those here legally, making the number even higher... at least that’s what she told him.

“So empty…” Ressen couldn’t help mumbling to himself. He looked up at the spiraling towers in the center of the city that seemed to never get closer. They hadn’t seen a single living creature aside from their own horses for the past hour that they had been walking.

Psia had insisted on leaving the rest of the convoy behind, taking along only the wagon with Pii inside. However, when Ressen was preparing to jump in the back, he was quickly shot down by Psia’s stare and was forced to walk alongside the wagon.

He quickened his pace to catch up with her. “So, are you going to explain any of this?” He had been trying to make conversation with a stone-cold Psia sitting at the reins of the wagon for the past hour to no avail. “What happened to the senate? Is something wrong?”

He tried running in front of her line of sight, but Psia turned her gaze away.

“Hey, what happened to the entire promise to show me around town?” He reached for the reins, “This is a pretty lackluster tour y’kno-”

Again Psia ignored him and spurred the horses faster.

Realizing he was about to be left behind, Ressen began running, shouting after her, “Hey, could you at least tell me about Flot? What was with you two?” Ressen was genuinely curious, so he decided to take a shot in the dark.

The wagon suddenly stopped, causing Ressen to crash directly into the wagon’s rear.

“Pii?” A small face poked out of the back of the wagon and down at Ressen who was lying on his back.

“Oh - hey” At least Pii didn’t ignore him.

“Pii!” Jumping down from the wagon, Pii immediately fell on top of Ressen, giving him a lick.

Ressen guessed there was no one around to witness Pii, so he decided to let her ride on his shoulder as he ran up to the front of the wagon, intending to get to the bottom of the Wagon’s sudden stop.

“Hey. Ressen, come here.”

Psia’s voice shocked Ressen as he got closer. She was looking down at her clenched fists holding the reins. “Psia?”

“Flot…” she turned to him “Flot is Senator Titus Aer’s son… not that that name would mean anything to you.” she let out a sigh. “I guess I’ll have to explain some stuff to you anyways.”

Ressen noticed Psia was softening up, and his feet were starting to hurt, so he took a risk. “Can I take a seat?”

Psia looked at him like an idiot. “Huh? You think I stopped for you?” She pointed across the road at a short building to her left. “We’re here, this time bring the dragon.”

“Huh? This wreck?”

Psia shot daggers at him.

♦

Carrying Pii on his shoulder, Ressen and Psia entered a short wooden building that looked out of place in contrast to the stone buildings lining the street outside. However, when they entered the subtle wooden door, he noticed the interior was incredibly well made - two spiral staircases ran up to a second floor, and every wall was covered with bookcases brimming with books and beautifully crafted furnishings fit for a king.

Ressen couldn’t help but be astonished. “This place looks… so different inside.”

Pii was rustling on his shoulder, both trying to examine the surroundings and trying to catch Psia’s attention.

“Of course. Brutus and I spent a long time with what little we had…” she stood at the doorway for a second, taking in the sights before continuing down a hallway in between the two staircases, ignoring Pii who was attempting to re-ignite a staring contest on Ressen’s shoulder.

As they were walking down the hallway, Ressen noticed sets of large portraits lining the walls, all of them with the same three people; Psia, Brutus, and a beautiful woman all growing older chronologically as they walked down the hallway. However, as they neared the door, he noticed the paintings were void of the older woman, peaking his curiosity. “So, are these your parent-”

“No, Brutus isn’t my father.”

“Ah… Hey, where is Brutus anyways? He wasn’t with the wagons when we left them behind.” Considering he had warned him earlier about the dangers of being in the city, it’s ironic how he is nowhere in sight.

Psia turned as she reached the door. “Right… behind you.”

“Wha-?” Ressen spun around face first into a wall of muscle.

“Madam, I would have preferred it if you had stayed silent, however, the past is in the past.”

“Where did you come from?!” Ressen reached for the Ret in shock, and Pii dropped into a battle stance, slightly confused. Brutus was out of his battle armor and axes, and was instead dressed in an impeccably fitting butler’s suit, completely knocking Ressen out of his flow.

“He’s been behind us for the past hour.” Psia pushed open the door revealing a small sitting room with a stout table, three chairs, and a grandfather clock. “Even that dragon knew about him. You really are useless.”

The new Butler-fied Brutus started rushing Ressen to one of the chairs on the opposite end of the room, easily pushing him despite his resistance. “Wait - wait, wait, hold on you haven’t even told me what we’re doing here.”

“I promised you that I’d show you around Aer didn’t I?” She sat down on the chair opposite to him. “Now I’ll just teach you a few things and then you can help me out. Like promised.”

“Alright - alright then. So what abou-”

“Madam, here are the refreshments you requested earlier.” Brutus set down a tea tray that he apparently pulled out from nowhere. On it sat a kettle and a small bowl of round wrapped candies.

“I’ll be upfront. Ressen, I don’t hate you.”

Seriously? This girl was starting to confuse him. “You sure act like you do.”

“I’ve just been told… some disturbing things by the senate.” She began pouring tea. “We’ll be here for a while - so let Pii relax.” Psia looked over at the other seat next to Ressen. “Ah, before that - have one of these. They’re a really expensive brand of chocolate sister gave me.” She unwrapped one of the candies which almost looked like a burnt rock and placed it on the table.

Pii immediately broke guard stance and leaped off Ressen’s shoulder, instantly gobbling the candy, and the entire bowl with a “Pii!” before looking up.

Ressen’s jaw dropped.

Psia flinched.

♦

“Pii! That - wasn’t fo-”

Psia stopped him with a hand. “No, no. No, that’s fine… I was going to offer the dragon one anyways.” She took another breath. “I’ll have Brutus bring… more.” She nodded at Brutus, who walked out of the room.

“So, time to teach you about orbs.” She smiled to herself. “At least I’ll be proving Flot wrong and do something useful.”

Pii jumped off the table into the seat next to Ressen.

“Sorry? What?”

“It’s nothing.” Psia paused and reached into the bag at her waist. “So, where to start…” she pulled out a white orb similar to the one she used earlier during the ambush. “Well, first off there’s seven main attributes of orbs; Aer, Terra, Mentis, Ignis, Industria, Aether, Aqua. Luckily I’ve got all seven types here, although my highest concentrations are all Aer…”

She reached under the table into a drawer and pulled out six more small orbs, each about the size of a fingernail. Each one was far duller in luminosity than the white orb. She lined them up in a circular pattern and pointed to one.

“Red orbs represent Ignis.” Psia picked up the orb and crushed it into dust, causing her eyes to tinge red. She pointed a finger at Ressen.

“W-woah, wait what’re you doing?” This was giving him flashbacks to the three weaponless guards at the village…

“Don’t worry, it’s a low intensity orb. Only really good for tricks.” a small flame shot out of her fingertip like a match catching on fire.

“Just a question…” Ressen looked at the Aer and Ignis orbs. “Your… guards used orbs that had both white and red inside of them when they… you know.”

“Ah, those exist through refining. Aer and Ignis allows users to carry flames using air, creating essentially - fireballs.”

“That sounds… complicated.”

“You can do combinations of practically any affinity, however they’re more difficult to obtain in comparison to pure orbs that are found naturally.”

“So what are the others?”

Psia quickly looked at the grandfather clock behind Ressen. “Well, I’ll run through them quickly, clockwise from Aer.” She pointed at the brown orb. “This represents Terra, or earth and allows for the manipulation of earth and metals. This orange one represents Mentis, or mind and represents both mental and physical strength modification.”

“Hold on, an orb can do that?”

Confused Psia could only reply curtly, “Well yes, it’s Mentis… well, we went over Ignis… next is…” She pointed at a yellow orb. “Ah, Industria, the energy affinity… although it’s an interesting one we don’t know much about.” she looked up at the ceiling and coughed. “This green orb, on the other hand is Aether, or life. It’s very useful for its healing properties and crop growth, and finally this Blue one is Aqua, or water and allows for the control of liquids.”

“That seems… simple.”

“These are just the basics you know, there are dozens of combinations.”

“Ah… how do you combin-?”

Psia interrupted him before he could finish, “Well, carrying on, there’s another factor in the power of an orb aside from the inert concentration.” She stopped and winced. “Flot probably taught you when he performed the test”

“Oh yeah, he mentioned you… never mind.”

“Well, I organized these orbs to display their relationships with each other.

“As an Aer user, Ignis and Industria are complete opposites for me - and are very difficult for us to use.” She rubbed her finger through the dust of the Ignis orb. “A strong Ignis user could actually create an explosion with this same exact orb…”

Psia looked up and flicked the dust off her fingers at Pii who was rolling around on the chair next to Ressen. “Cute.” Psia pointed at the blue and brown orbs. “However, Aer users are more compatible with Terra and Aqua orbs - having similar power outputs as someone dedicated to those affinities. For me, however, since I’m extremely strong with Aer magic and channeling from Aer orbs, any other kind of orb is difficult for me to channel.”

“Okay, but how do you even get these orbs?”

Psia looked uncomfortable while she looked at the clock again. “Well… they typically appear at each respective Fortress that is dedicated to them naturally as ores... Aer generates a large amount of Aer ores.”

Wait, something bothered him. He was pretty sure he knew what ores looked like. Something wasn’t right. “And… what do these ores look like?”

Psia was fully watching the clock now.

“Psia, what do the. ores. look. like.” Ressen looked down at the table where the bowl of candies was turned over, and then looked over at Pii.

The grandfather clock gonged.

Psia let out the breath she was holding the entire time. “I’m sorry. Ressen, but dragons are… are... dangerous.”

Ressen wasn’t even listening to her, but watched as the previously playful Pii froze, staring at him, and the color literally drained from its scales as it fell to the ground.

“Pii?”

“Now it’s time for you to help me out.” Psia nodded, and Ressen noticed a harsh breathing that he hadn’t paid attention to before. It was at that moment Ressen realized Psia wasn’t just looking at the Grandfather clock, but someone behind him.

“You know, you might not hate me - but I just as hell hate you.”

At least that’s all he had time to say before the blunt head of a familiar axe slammed into his skull.

Et tu, Brute?

♦

The scathing sound of a blade entering flesh could be heard echoing through the dimly lit cavern. A black haired boy - after opening the grand entrance to a massive space – heard the sound and looked down at its origin. A large blade, with intricate dark red carvings 12 inches long protruded from the center of his chest. Slick with wetness to the torch light around him, it was a blade he recognized well. He fell to his knees into an ever-growing puddle, clutching his chest as a desperate attempt to slow the life that was ebbing away.

He looked up into the room he had just uncovered. Where he had expected a lavish hall, draped in banners and filled with soldiers standing to attention to a woman sitting opposite to him in a throne, there was only a large dirt cavern devoid of any worldly possessions aside from the flickering light of wall mounted torches. Footsteps sounded from behind him, breaking the silence previously occupied by the crackling of flames as his vision became obscured by the legs of seven cloaked individuals. His Fortresses.

He looked up at the wall of faces hidden by cloaks in the darkness. “Where is she?” was all he could stammer in disbelief.

A figure stepped forwards from the wall and removed its cloak, revealing a luscious flow of crimson hair and pair of red eyes belonging to a beautiful smiling woman. It was someone he cared for… in a unique way. His heart throbbed, or was it the wound? He had no time to think as the owner of the blade stepped forth.

As if he had only realized just realized the existence of the blade within him, his body began to shake. “W-why?”

“Why?” Her soft voice resounded his question. “This is exactly why you’re useless, Ignorant until the very end.”

“Useless?” He balked, his chest beginning to convulse. He stared at the cloaked faces behind her, hoping for an answer.

One by one, each figure removed their hoods.

“Selfish.” The first one stated, revealing his blue hair and young face paired with blue eyes.

“Stupid” Next to him, a small golden haired girl whispered softly, her voice devoid of empathy.

“Ignorant” a large figure with short brown hair smiled. His eyes gleaming hungrily.

“Powerless” A green haired beauty fixated her eyes on the blade.

“Weak” The booming voice of an incredibly muscular man with orange locks echoed through the cavern.

“Gullible” the enchanting voice of a silver-haired woman sliced through the air of the hall like a shockwave, followed by a long silence.

They had nothing else to say.

“Is that what you thought of me this entire time?”

The entire group nodded once.

“After all we’ve been through? Are we not family?”

He looked at the silver haired woman, “Were you not the one that promised to teach me how to get the best deals from the merchants, and not get tricked after I bought that so called ‘legendary’ sword and I promised to never fall for it again?”

No reaction.

He looked over at the orange-haired man with an intimidating stare. “Didn’t you promise to train with me every day so we could get stronger together after I promised to protect you all?”

The man’s gaze continued to pierce him like the blade.

Frantically, he switched his eyes to the green haired girl. “What about all of the times you fed me your poisonous recipes that I almost came up with my own healing magic?”

She continued to stare at the blade.

His anxiety grew continuously as he looked at the brown haired man. “Didn’t you teach me how to craft all of those stupid inventions we came up with as dreams to make peace with the demons?”

The man stared plainly at him.

His voice sped up, desperately looking for resolve. “You…” he looked at the small golden haired girl. “Surely you remember all the things you taught me after I realized I knew nothing about the rest of the world?”

She stayed silent.

He quickly switched his gaze to the blue haired boy. “We laughed about what we would do with the treasures we gained, and how to best use it - right?”

He blinked.

Panicked, he quickly looked at the center of his vision filled with crimson hair. He felt a pain again, this time from the blade. He stared at silence at her. Were these people really his companions that he had spent years with? He was in despair. “Did… didn’t we promise to defeat the queen together? And live together in a small cottage in the countryside in peace?” Tears began streaming down his face, diluting the puddle at his knees. These people were not his companions. His friends. The ones he laughed with, fought with, cried with.

“This is a joke, right? We’re so close to… to saving everyone.”

The red haired girl cut him off. “You still think there’s a demon queen?”

He froze and felt a chill in his body.

“What?”

“The demon queen doesn’t exist. Fabrication, trick, lie, call it what you want, but she never existed.”

The hero stared in silence.

“Do you honestly believe that you so happened to be the one to create the fortresses? That you were lucky enough to stumble across each and every one of us? That you were even able to survive this long without powers?”

“Y – no! we’re destined to save humanity!”

“You’re still going on with that. You really are pathetic.”

She placed her finger on the tip of the blade and began sliding her finger towards his chest against its spine.

“We use you. We needed someone blinded by justice, blinded by the idea to save that world and became a ‘hero’ to help cover up our existence and act as our face as we infiltrated humanity.

Her finger reached the apex between metal and flesh.

“Why do you think we can use magic, something that exists only with demons?”

His eyes opened wide in sudden realization.

“You were selfish, stupid, ignorant, powerless, weak, and gullible enough for us to use your sense of justice as a perfect disguise. You can’t even do anything now that you know the truth.”

Her finger pushed down on the blade, but the hero felt nothing.

“And now that we have gained the trust of humanity by defeating the ‘demon queen’ we can dispose of you.” She turned and signaled towards the empty room. “Welcome to your new home.”

She gave the blade a sharp push, and with a sucking sound, it partially left his body.

“Don’t worry, when we return we’ll sing praises of you sacrificing yourself heroically to save us, hoping that we will ‘lead humanity into a bright future’. You’ll achieve your dream of being a hero, won’t you?”

She pushed herself against the ground, and stood up, looking down at him.

“Although… I do wonder what it must feel like, to find out that those sworn enemies of yours were next to you the entire time.”

The group began exiting the room, one by one extinguishing the flames with a burst of wind.

Not knowing how to respond, the hero said the first thing that came to his mind.

“Wait – don’t forge Re-” he choked, “-tor”

The red haired woman paused before stepping out of the room and turned, smiling at him. “That sword? If you can make yourself useful and survive… maybe you will be worthy enough to hand that back to me.”

She laughed and left the room.

The boom of the great doors slamming together echoed through the small space, leaving the hero in silence, aside from the sound of liquid dashing against the floor faceted by the blade. He was frozen in shock.

They were right. He depended on them. He needed them. The tears that streamed from his face earlier were greeted by an onslaught of liquid, feeding the pool at his knees. He tried moving his body, to stand up and chase after them, hoping that they would turn around and say “Sorry! It was all a joke!”. He attempted to look at the door by turning slightly, and was met with a jolt of unfathomable pain – as if his insides were pouring out of him. No, something did fall out of him he was certain of it.

“I don’t want… to die.” Using the last of his strength, a dark shape fell face forwards into the dirt.