It took Yuriko most of the evening to convince the attendant in the Temple’s infirmary to let her go home. She didn’t feel weak or infirm and she certainly wasn’t wounded. Other than having a bit of her long, golden hair snipped off by a Hunter, Yuriko had survived the ordeal with the Wyldling Wave physically untouched. Her Anima, however, was another thing entirely.

At her meeting with Elder Ramus, he told her that her Anima had been injured when she used the artefact greatsword, Fri’Avgi. She didn’t feel any worse for wear but made note to carefully inspect her Anima during her meditations later in the evening.

When she returned to the recovery ward, Fri’Avgi immediately drew her eye. It was resting flat on the floor at the foot of her bed, the red gem in the cross-guard giving off a soft glow that was quite obvious even before she palmed the light switch on.

She had her discharge papers in one hand, hard-fought as they wanted her to remain for at least another night for observation. She promised to return the next morning for another quick check anyway. She left the papers on the table and headed to the bathroom to wash her face. Her midsection was still feeling strange. As if something was pinching her but on the inside instead of her skin.

“Do I have to go through this every four weeks?” she muttered sourly.

She stared at the bathroom mirror, easily spotting where her hair was uneven. It wasn’t really bad and, by altering how she braided her hair, it was easy enough to conceal. With another sigh, she did the rest of her business before walking out.

Her elder brother Kato had just entered the room and was scanning the discharge papers.

“You sure about this?” He asked.

“I’ll go crazy with nothing to do here,” she groused.

“Oh. Well, it's safe enough to go home.”

Yuriko’s eyes narrowed. “Why, what do you mean?”

Kato stared at her with some surprise before he gasped, “Oh, right. Faron’s Crossing didn’t weather the Wave easily.”

Yuriko felt her heart climb up her throat.

“How bad?”

Her emotions were a strange, uncomfortable mix. She felt guilt, sadness, and anger. But some part of her felt as if this was nothing in the grand scheme of things. People died, property was destroyed. Wyldlings were killed on sight and it was a turnabout that they did the same thing to humans.

“The Central District is mostly untouched. The outlying districts were hit bad. A lot of houses and establishments were damaged.” Kato shrugged. “There were few casualties or injured. Relatively anyway. It's the other villages that were hit worse.”

“Oh.”

“Anyway, here. I’ll get your things. I suppose you’ll have to cart this thing with you. Oh, the Legion will want to debrief you too.”

Yuriko perked up, “When?”

“They’ll send a summons. It’s not all that urgent compared to clearing the rest of the swarmlings.”

He started gathering her things which were mostly still in her backpack. She had to return that to the Watchtower, she thought. Her side-blades were inside the closet, too, but her Plasma Caster wasn’t there.

“Where’s my rifle?” she asked.

“It needs repairs,” Kato said flatly.

Yuriko gulped. “We were under attack.”

“Not an excuse.”

She looked down to the floor, scuffing her shoes on the wooden panels. “...sorry.”

“You’ll have to say that to Da,” Kato sighed. “You broke your side-blade too.”

“At least that was on the enemy’s body!” she exclaimed.

“If you say so.”

“It was a Hunter!”

She could swear Kato’s eyebrows rose all the way to his hairline. “You’re telling me a group of Novices like you managed to take down a Hunter?”

“Well, two, actually. Or one and a half. Shillogu killed the one we wounded.”

“Huh. You’ll have to tell me about it later.” Kato shook his head, “If you weren’t my sister and couldn’t lie to save your life, I wouldn’t believe you.”

“What do you mean by that?” Yuriko snarled.

“Nothing, nothing.” He picked up the white gown that had the reddish-brown stain she had changed out of a few hours ago. “You want to take this home to commemorate this milestone?” His smirk said it all, at least until Yuriko threw her shoe at him. Chuckling even as he rubbed his forehead, he tossed Yuriko’s sneaker back while she fumed.

There wasn’t really much left in the room. Taking a deep breath, she hesitantly reached out to Fri’Avgi, not quite sure what to expect.

The last moments before she blacked out were hazy at best. She had been quite delirious at that time, and the only things she could recall clearly were her emotions. She distinctly remembered her wildly fluctuating mood, spanning from anger to hope, apathy and then mania. That was incredibly unlike her. She thought she had a firmer grasp of her feelings than that. Da always said, “When you fight in anger, you die in anger”; some of the tricks he had drilled into all of them had to do with keeping calm.

When her finger touched the hilt, she felt an accepting warmth and a hint of eagerness. Laughing softly, she grasped the hilt firmly in both hands and pulled the weapon up from the floor. The red gem flared brightly once, then faded away.

“Tsk. My li’l sis turned into a musclehead.”

“Shush you.”

After they were packed, Yuriko and Kato walked out of the Temple after Kato handed the discharge papers to the chief attendant. From what Kato said, Yuriko expected Faron’s Square to be filled with militiamen or families of the injured so she wasn’t surprised when the space was filled to the brim with people. However, they were decorating the square with green silk ribbons, tall poles decorated with wildflowers, golden wheat, and deep green leaves.

The decor was familiar, of course. It was put up every year for the celebration of the Harvest Moon. That time of the year was particularly special in that, instead of the Dark Moon, they would see a halo of light around it while the rest remained black.

“Who are you going with to the festival? Caera Sawthner?” Yuriko idly asked.

Kato coughed and choked, “Where did you hear that?”

“Rami.”

“Nosy brat,” Kato muttered. He gave her a sidelong glance, “Who are you going with?”

“Probably with Krys and Miki.”

“I doubt that. But that’s good. Good.” He had a small smile on his face.

The decorations were being put up around the blocks near the square too. The lamp posts had been topped with coloured glass figurines, some of dancing couples, others of pine trees, and even another of a cornucopia. The men and women doing this had determined smiles on their faces but even Yuriko could tell that it was somewhat forced.

The people they passed all gave them surprised stares. She could feel their gazes on her back, but it was quite understandable. It wasn’t every day a girl her age carried a golden sword taller than she was on her shoulder. She kept shifting her grip on Fri’Avgi, nearly beaning Kato a couple of times until he barked at her to stick to one position. People just had to stay away from her. Fri’Avgi didn’t have an edge anyway, so if she did hit anyone accidentally they would only be bruised.

Honestly, not the most reassuring thought but she needed a way to carry the thing if she was to make use of Fri'Avgi.

Her thoughts wandered toward the long dream she had while she was in her coma. Among other things, the way the Golden Silhouette drew and sheathed the weapon in and out of thin air was what she wanted to learn the most. Unfortunately, the scene didn't show how that could be accomplished. Maybe she should ask when she activated her Facet before she slept?

It wasn’t long before they arrived home. The street curved in such a way that after a couple of hundred paces, they could no longer see Faron’s Square. In most of the residences, people were cleaning their yards and putting up decorations. Some only placed ribbons on their front door while others put up small versions of the harvest poles where their walkways met the sidewalk.

The Davar household was undecorated. Yuriko stared at Kato who shifted guiltily.

“We didn’t have time to decorate.”

Yuriko sighed. Ever since Marron entered the militia and Kato, Agaza Academy, it had mostly been up to Rami and her to decorate. “What’s Rami doing?”

“Last I heard, he was still screaming about your wounds,” Kato said with a smirk.

Yuriko felt her face heat as she rolled her eyes. “Whatever.”

The sun was nearing the western mists, and the Season’s heat had well and truly started. She didn’t find herself too warm though. The sun’s rays felt nice on her bare skin and she wanted to soak up a bit more. Kato ushered her in the house before too long.

“Little Yuri, you’re back!” Matron Rosie waved from her front porch. Her house had the miniature pole and she was stringing a long ribbon between that and her front door.

“Good evening!” Yuriko yelled back while waving.

The front door opened before either of them could touch the knob and Rami looked up at both of them with a serious look. He glanced down Yuriko’s front and seeing nothing, heaved a sigh of relief.

Thonk!

“Owie!”

“That was incredibly rude,” Yuriko said stiffly while Kato snickered behind her.

“Bully!” Rami sniffled while rubbing his head. He wobbled back into the living room and then pointed at the kitchen. “And I made dinner too!”

Yuriko reached out and ruffled his hair. “Good job.”

Rami smiled brightly up at her and she found her anger dissipating.

“Big brother Marron is busy,” Rami said while Yuriko took her bag from Kato. She brought it and Fri’Avgi up to her room, dumping the bag on her bed and laying the greatsword next to her windows.

Her tummy was rumbling and she headed back down quickly. In the kitchen, Rami laid out a bunch of bowls and ladled stew into a ceramic serving bowl. The bread, not quite fresh, was already on a platter at the centre of the kitchen island.

She filled up a pitcher with cool water from the tap and picked up a trio of glasses from the cupboard. Kato pulled out a bunch of salad greens from the chiller and a small wooden box of dressing.

The stew smelled wonderful and Yuriko had to surreptitiously wipe drool from the corner of her mouth. Only three place settings were there: Rami and Yuriko's side was closer to the door while Kato’s was on the opposite side. Da’s setting was usually beside Kato’s or Marron’s, while at the head was where her mother would sit on the rare occasions she was home. Most of the time, that place was filled with spices, garnishing, and table napkins.

“The Legion gave Kadrac beef to everyone,” Kato said. “I wonder where they got that much. Well, it certainly drove up morale. Hey, leave some for me!”

It was too late, of course. While he was talking, Rami and Yuriko had fished out the biggest chunks of meat from the stew, leaving him the ragged bits floating in the sauce.

“Ya yak, ya miss out,” Yuriko mumbled over her spoon.

Kato groused while he dipped his bread on the stew. Still, they polished off all of it while Yuriko wiped up every little drop in her bowl with bread. She still wasn’t full and stared wistfully at the pot.

“That’s all of it,” Rami said when she asked.

Yuriko helped clean the dishes, already missing how convenient Orrin’s Facet was when it came to this. It only took some Animus and the dishes and the pot would be sparkling clean. Afterwards, she drew up a hot bath and soaked in it for what seemed like hours until the water turned completely tepid.

When she settled for bed in her pyjamas though, she found herself restless and still energized. Considering that she had slept for more than a week, she could understand her body and mind’s reluctance to rest.

So instead, she sat on the floor cradling Fri’Avgi. She still had some reservations, but the bond couldn’t be denied. She envisioned her Anima and observed her core and the pattern of her Facet. Aside from the illuminated lines, the rest of her Heritage was completely dark. She could make out the unused terminus points and could vaguely see the path she could take should she continue with the process.

Continuing to inlay the Heritage beyond the initial Facet was how everyone in the Empire advanced their Anima Strength. She learned some of this during the first part of the training camp, though admittedly she had been too preoccupied with completing her initial inlay to pay much attention. Another aspect was her Animus Cap, but when she first awakened, she had already surpassed the threshold to reach Apprentice level. To advance, she only had to modify her initial inlay or open up another aspect of her Heritage in the form of another Facet.

That said, she had hardly mastered her first Facet. Even now, the only thing she could do with it was activate it and observe…though what was it that happened before she blacked out? Fri’Avgi’s gem pulsed with a soft red light, almost pink, as if it was trying to reassure her.

There is no need for fear. We are bonded. We are one.

Yuriko shook her head as words she barely understood crossed her mind. Were those her thoughts? She honestly couldn’t tell. It sounded like her but the words weren’t things she would think of. Fri’Avgi?

The red gem had dimmed.

Yuriko sat still long enough for her legs to grow numb. She didn’t feel ready to see the Golden Silhouette yet. Maybe tomorrow when she felt a bit better. Her Animus reserves were full though, and it would be waste to leave it be for the night.

‘Oh, I could use that!’ she thought.

The Golden Silhouette’s version of Strengthen Physique used up a lot of her Animus. This would be the second time she used it and even though depleting her reserves was dangerous, she was at home with her brothers. What could go wrong?

She returned Fri’Avgi to the floor near her window and sat in a meditative pose on her bed. With a deep breath, she started the cycle. Her Animus drained away and with a start, she felt it reach for something inside her and, finding nothing, it spiralled out of control.