“Eir,” Iris growled.

Iris felt an uncontrollable anger run through her, a wildfire of fury that threatened to grow out of control. She clenched Helion’s hilt tight until her knuckles went white as she looked at the valkyrie that took her village from her. She didn’t care about the circumstances, but she definitely recognised the woman as Eir, and that only meant Arylos failed.

“No please!” the young valkyrie pleaded. “I don’t want to die! I’m scared!”

“Too late for that,” Iris growled as white flames bathed Helion as it hummed louder. “How many of my people said those exact words? How many of your people laughed as my people were slaughtered?”

“No!” Eir pleaded as she shook her head, frantically trying to move away as tears poured from her eyes.

Iris smiled as she came closer and held her sword high, the flames roaring with an intense heat. Iris felt a bloodlust come to her as she looked at the crying valkyrie. Iris could feel her own eyes moisten as she relished in the woman’s fear, her despair. Iris could not help herself but enjoy this moment as she took payment for everything that was taken from her.

And yet as she stared into the valkyrie’s crying eyes, she couldn’t bring herself to bring her sword down. Something in Iris tugged at her arm, keeping her from doing it. She couldn’t place it, but something was wrong, obviously wrong.

This is definitely Eir, right? she asked herself. This is her, absolutely. It’s not someone that looks like her. But why is she crying? Why is she not fighting?

Iris finally began to wonder how Eir survived and wonder why she was not fighting back. The valkyrie was able to hold her own against Arylos at least for a brief time; cutting down Iris in self-defence would be a simple matter.

And yet this valkyrie did nothing but cry.

“Helion, give me a hand here; this is Eir, right?” Iris called out mentally.

That is correct, the sword answered. However, Eir is a known Templarian; the Spear of Justice. This girl, while her identity matches, is a human.

“Wait, this is Eir, but she’s a human?” Iris asked as her eyebrow rose. “She was definitely a Templarian, right? How the hell is she a human?”

It appears that her divinity has been stripped from her, Helion answered. The power that made her a Templarian is no longer present, resulting in her being a mortal.

Iris lowered the sword as the flames faded away as she took in the information. She remembered what Arylos told her long ago; that wings are a symbol and source of divinity. Bellona, while still a magic wielding warrior, is no longer Templarian due to Arylos taking her wings away.

Arylos didn’t kill Eir; he pulled her wings off and left her as a mortal.

Iris sighed and sheathed the sword. At this point, she was more Templarian than Eir, and that meant she was no different than Eir when she attacked Nageki. She knelt back down towards the crying valkyrie, feeling her anger fade away and be replaced by empathy, sympathy.

“Look, I’m sorry that I blew up on you,” Iris said softly. “I wasn’t thinking clearly and I should have kept my head clear.”

Eir sniffled as she tried to get her breath back but couldn’t bring herself to believe what Iris was saying.

“Are you hungry?” Iris asked while trying to work up a soft smile. “We can get some lunch and talk through this.”

“Why would you do that?” Eir asked while choking on tears. “I destroyed your village, killed your people, took your life away.”

“You did, yes, and I can’t forgive you for that,” Iris explained with a deep sigh. “But I’ve learned that even if I can’t forgive, I can understand. You’re not the first to test me and surely won’t be the last.”

“What do you mean?” Eir asked in confusion.

Iris thought about her response carefully. “You were following orders by Odin, right? You probably didn’t think much of it and yet you recognised Arylos and knew you couldn’t fight him. You were a victim yourself. That doesn’t absolve you, but it means Nageki was Odin’s fault; he knew what he was doing and you didn’t.”

Eir gasped as she wiped her eyes clear, as she started choking on new emotions she couldn’t control.

“So I will ask again; are you hungry?” Iris asked in a soft and yet stern voice.

Eir almost lost control of new tears but retained herself as she tried to clean her red face. “I am, thank you,” she responded softly.

Iris let out a light sigh and rose to her feet as Eir also stood up. She beckoned the valkyrie to follow her as she went back out into the busy street, laughing that no one noticed what was happening or just didn’t care. She saw a noodle bar down the street a little way. She once again beckoned for Eir to follow as she headed towards the small restaurant and went under the cloth curtain as the smell of rich broth and spices filled her nostrils.

“Welcome!” an older man behind the counter called out.

Iris smiled and returned a nod as she spotted a table off in the corner that would be perfect to talk to the Templarian undisturbed. She went over to the table while unstrapping the sword from her back and beckoned Eir to take a seat. Eir complied and silently took a seat, nervously looking down at the table and refusing to make eye-contact with Iris.

“Now then, have you had rhousa before?” Iris asked as she took a seat across from Eir.

Eir rubbed her hands together and looked away. “I don’t know,” she responded softly.

“You don’t know?” Iris asked in confusion.

“I’ve never been to a place like this,” Eir responded while keeping her eyes staring down towards her lap.

Iris felt a little sad, wondering just what Eir went through before as a young woman in an apron came over to the ladies. “Ah, two bowls of shoukairotsu, please,” Iris called out to the young woman.

“Of course,” the woman responded as she went back and joined the older man behind the bar.

“Shyoukhai–?” Eir tried to return the foreign tongue.

“Shoukairotsu, it’s basically smoked pork belly in a rich broth,” Iris responded with a smile. “It’s one of my favourite kinds but Ary–” she stopped herself short, not willing to mention Arylos in front of Eir just yet since he was the one who did this to her. “What happened to you?” she corrected herself to ask.

Eir looked up to Iris for a moment before looking back down to her hands. “After Arylos defeated me, I thought I was as good as dead. I felt everything go dark and cold and fade away. However, I woke up a while later in a pool of my own blood and in pain. All around me, pyres burned but I was still alive. And then…I saw them…” The valkyrie started tearing up again as the imagery was too strong for her.

“Your wings?” Iris asked softly, realising this would be the same if she woke up with her arms amputated.

Eir slowly nodded as she rubbed her eyes. “After that point, I felt cold, hungry. I couldn’t use magic anymore and I couldn’t tell Templarius what happened or where I was. The runes I had to return home wouldn’t work either. I was…stranded.”

Iris couldn’t help herself but to feel sorry for Eir, even if she couldn’t forgive her. “What happened after that?”

Eir rubbed her arms as she tried to work up strength. “What could I do? I was trapped here. My wings held no other magic or power I could use and I had no way to go home. I tried to find work, but that rarely worked out. The culture and the language here is just too different from what I’m used to that I would always screw up and be out in the streets all over again.”

“You mean you don’t have a job?” Iris asked.

Eir slowly nodded, unable to say the words aloud.

“Do you at least have a place to stay?” Iris asked softly while leaning in close.

Eir nodded her head quickly but said no words.

“I mean a house,” Iris corrected. “A place with a bed where you feel safe.”

Eir froze for a moment and opened her mouth but ultimately remained silent and shook her head. “I have a place in the northwest Kousai district, but that’s it.”

“And you have no work or anything like that?” Iris asked while backing away, taking a deep breath.

Eir shook her head once more. “I made a big mistake at a job I tried today, and they kicked me out. I ended up spilling hot water all over the manager and hurting him badly. In the heat of the moment, I tried to use magic to help him but I couldn’t summon anything.”

“Right,” Iris wondered aloud while rubbing her chin. She took all of this in and she couldn’t help but feel that Arylos was a keystone in her life. If Arylos didn’t offer to take Iris along with him, she may have been in a similar situation; going job to job, city to city, just to barely survive on scraps. She lost herself in her thoughts as she considered a few different options and couldn’t help but wonder what was the real punishment here; Eir being reduced to a mortal or Eir being homeless and stranded.

She wondered how Bellona handled herself after a similar situation. Bellona and Arylos are still friends so maybe he did help her, but maybe things were different at the time? Bellona can use magic to some extent and she’s lived for a while after what happened so she still has some kind of immortality left. Was this unique? Iris couldn’t help but wonder if Bellona could help Eir’s situation, or at least help prepare her for a new life on Kaiyumi.

Iris legitimately tried to see through Eir’s eyes. A year of being stranded on a foreign world without the ability to keep herself on her feet must be frightening. Iris was already afraid while following Arylos but that fear has since abandoned her.

Her thoughts were interrupted by the sight of seeing the young woman from earlier approaching the ladies with two large bowls in hand, setting them down in front of the two Templarians.

“Right then,” Iris responded while clapping the thoughts away. “I say let’s eat and then we’ll go from there. You need a hot meal more than anything right now, okay?”

“I can’t afford this,” Eir responded softly.

“I’m paying; don’t worry about it,” Iris answered with a smile. “Just eat. Everything gets better with a full belly.”

Eir’s expression slowly softened as she blinked away new tears while she nodded. Iris couldn’t help but watch the valkyrie nervously try and eat the noodles and wonder if this is what Arylos thought about her. She felt a little warmth come to her while wondering if she could help Eir in some way; maybe this was why he stuck around with Iris.

Back at the house, Arylos couldn’t help but let out a sneeze that came out of nowhere.