[Chapter 23 part 1] Free – Idia and Torak

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“You’re overreacting.” Lily said. Except for Wise and Hope who were with their instructors, Kate was leading them across the Inner Palace at a rapid, stiff pace. “It’s a only service lift.”

“I can’t believe you never told me.” Kate growled without looking back.

Yup, she’s upset. It was perfectly understandable. There’s what, thirty flights of stairs, up to the Rose Palace? That’s quite a haul. One which Kate had been making every day. A great injustice has been done.

“I assumed you were aware.” Lily rationalized. “Didn’t you explore the Inner Palace?”

Kate pivoted, madness in her eyes, “Of course I did! I knew about that locked door. I figured it was a storage room or the likes. How in the world was I supposed to guess what was in there?”

Kate stomped off again. Behind her, Lily had the look of a child who knew she’d screwed up, “I’ll admit I blundered… but aren’t you exaggerating a little?”

A concerned Silver trailed them both. He has trouble reacting to fury. Lily wasn’t helping by downplaying the situation. This lead to him asking, “How many times have you made the trip up and down?” He wants to calculate the underlying harm.

Sadly, Kate simply bristled and accelerated through the fiery wall to the docks. If this was Rose, we’d be sweltering. Astra’s airship had arrived overnight and hovered in the wide space. My roots have been safely transplanted. Kate was nearby, staring daggers at a metal door. There it is. When they were unpacking earlier, Wise innocently wondered why they didn’t use the elevator. Kate overheard and went ballistic.

“It’s sealed so Sarah can’t access these docks.” Lily explained.

Inside was an small room with a set of double doors. Kate walked in and slammed the button on the wall. As they waited uncomfortably, Lily sighed, “I’ll have Fayla update permissions so it’ll open for all of you… So, can you calm down already?”

“Eventually, I need time.” Kate answered tersely.

“That makes no sense.” Silver frowned coldly. If I didn’t know better, I’d say he’s annoyed. “By letting Kate use this lift, you’ve merely corrected your error. Do you really expect someone to forget years of suffering because you stop hurting them? That’s shameless. You’ve done nothing to compensate her wasted time and effort.”

“And you Kate,” Silver hadn’t finished. “How can you even consider letting the matter slide with just that? I know better than anyone that, if you don’t act angry when you should, people will walk all over you.”

Everyone was thrown off-balance. It’s rare, but sometimes he really nails it.

“Actually, that’s true!” Kate exclaimed. “If you want my forgiveness, you’ll have to earn it.”

“Fine” Lily grudgingly threw her hands up. “I’ll think of something.”

Once they exited at the top, Lily winced, “I’ll go greet Sarah and let her know ninjas will be crossing the Rose Palace. That’ll be fun.”

“Remember Miki is waiting.” Lily added before speeding off.

Kate turned to Silver, “Were you really upset?”

“No, I wasn’t.” He’d returned to his usual demeanor. “Did I over do it?”

“No, it was perfect.” Kate give him a kiss on the cheek. “Thanks for acting angry on my behalf. It made me feel better.”

They both look happier. Free shook her head. It’s a weird relationship, but maybe there’s hope for it.

“Shall we head off?” Free glanced around. We’re in the North Wing. The Rose Palace was built on an incline, divided in three wings two stories apart. They’d arrived in the South one, the Isle’s highest point and Lily’s hub of operations. The Central Wing, which housed the gardens and guest quarters, was where events were held. Finally, there was the center of activity, the North Wing. Sarah’s office is to the east, overlooking the city.

Once outside, Free stopped paying attention as she saw the gatehouse. Knowing my way to the lift is all that matters.

She was in a joyous mood. It’s my turn today. She was meeting her instructor, John Lavinda, at the Church of Idia. He’d served as a combat cleric for two centuries before reaching the Wall of Saints and retiring. When he wasn’t handling emergency care, he spent his time imparting his skills.

I must focus on diseases and other contaminants. She was confident an experienced healer would have all kinds of lethal concoctions on hand. I can’t wait.

She’d long considered adding poisons to her repertoire. Unfortunately, Earth’s End hadn’t provided much to work with. Despite repeated attempts, she’d failed to summon creatures with potent venom, and researching from scratch had proved too frustrating. Without a starting basis, you must rely on trial and error, and I make a poor candidate for experimentation.

They’d all developed a natural resistance to common toxins. Mother aimed to prepare us for every scenario. Astra was fond of repeating ‘a chain is only as strong as its weakest link’. Free fully accepted the mantra.

Yesterday revealed my inadequacy. Hope’s inebriation had been vexing. With more time, I might’ve extracted the alcohol. Instead, she’d resorted to the inelegant solution of supercharging Hope’s liver. I must improve.

Her motivation wasn’t altruistic. I’m not Soul. It was about control. Knowledge is power, regardless of its form. If you can cure any ailment, you determine who lives and dies.

In my own way, I’m as power hungry as Rose. Her sister cared about the human side of things. A reaction to being stifled by an outsized authority. She had no interest in the responsibility that came with that. I understand why Sola let her brother govern.

“… totally psychotic. She Kills people.”

Say what now? Kate’s words jolted Free back to reality. “What’s going on?” she asked. They were in the park between the Rose Palace and the Adventurers Guild. Why’d we stop?

Soul pointed towards the golden buildings, “Do you see the woman on top of——”

“Don’t point!” Kate panicked. “She has keen eyesight.”

Soul lowered his arm, “Anyway, that’s Kara. Kate was warning us about her.”

Free found the woman lounging atop the guild’s coliseum. Is she watching fights? Kara had a dark tan and short red hair. Crimson tattoos covered her body. They were easy to see with the revealing attire.

“She has cat ears too?” Free commented.

“That’s what you notice?” Kate sighed. “Yes, she has them, but she’s nothing like me. I was born in a normal settlement to ordinary parents. Kara comes from an ancient tribe of giant cat people in the Green Hell. Who knows, her features might be hereditary.”

“So, she’s a wild tiger and you’re a house cat?” Free interpreted.

“That’s…” Kate was speechless. “…irritatingly accurate, but besides the point. Stay away from her.”

“Maybe I’m missing something, but aren’t all immortals dangerous to antagonize? Isn’t that common sense?” Light asked.

Kate shook her head. “She’s different. Kara kills regularly, often with little provocation. She’s famous for it. Let me show you.” She held up her wrist and displayed a map of the Isle. “See that?”

A warning scrolled above the projection, ‘Caution! Kara, the Beast of Sanrune, is on-Isle. For your safety, please steer clear’.

“They don’t do that for other immortals.” Kate explained. “She’s beautiful so she’s often approached by the ignorant. She uses the slightest excuse to maim them.”

“So she targets men?” Dawn asked.

Kate eyes widened, “Oh, no, no. It’s not just them. What I mean is…” She took a deep breath, “There are women, ‘feminists’, who try leveraging Kara’s name, since she’s one of the strongest on Enera. Kara tolerates this to an extent, but they often go too far, threatening people using her. Kara hates this. If she’s in a forgiving mood, she gives them a warning and some broken bones. If not, they’re dead.”

“In summary, no one is safe. She’s simply likes ripping people apart.”

“Why isn’t she locked in Tartarus?” Soul asked.

“It’s complicated. Kara can be extremely useful. She’s so battle hungry that she rushes into every crises. When the White Dragon appeared, she was one of the first on the scene. Her actions saved hundreds of thousands. A legend so powerful, with no affiliations, willing to instantly take on any peril, she’s pretty much the only one.”

“Another reason she’s left alone is the cost. Kara once fought the Mask of Xarst to a draw, albeit on terms which heavily favored her. Realistically, it would take an alliance of peak level immortals to take her down. There isn’t the will to organize this.”

“So Kara’s semi-frequent murders are tolerated. In fairness, her ratio of lives saved to lives taken is favorable. Not that it’s any comfort to the families of her victims.”

“Look at this.” Kate displayed a news article whose headline read: ‘Aery declares provoking Kara to be an act of suicide.’ Free skimmed the article. So that’s the recorded cause of death? “This is the current stance of most governments. Immortals get away with a lot, but she gets away with more than most. Power matters.”

“There, have I answered everything? I mean, this is a lot of talking even for me. It’s simple: stay away from her.”

Light, who’d been staring off, declared, “I’m going to talk with her.” He promptly jumped on a runway and raced off.

Kate’s whole body slumped in existential despair, tail and ears included. She lifted her hands, palms up, to say ‘What the hell?’.

On the roof, Light reached Kara. He bowed and spoke while she listened. He turned and gestured towards them. Kate, still lifeless, said, “Now he’s drawing attention to us.”

Once he’d finished, Kara answered, pointing South. Her brother paid respect again and ran back.

Dropping to the ground, he reported, “I introduced myself and asked if she’d seen any assassins. Kate told us she has amazing senses. From her vantage point, I figured she might’ve noticed something.”

“You mean… ?” Rose asked.

“Yes, she showed me their hiding spot. It’s in town near the Shaft. They’re probably taking turns staking out the guild.”

“You could’ve warned us first.” Silver reproached. “You should’ve seen Kate’s face.”

Light apologized, embarrassed, “Ah, sorry. I’m sometimes impulsive…”

Kate returned a deadpan look, “Since you were acting out of concern for Hope, I’ll let it go. But please, try to act ——or at least pretend—— like my words have some meaning…”

“Speaking of which,” Light added timidly. “There’s a message Kara wanted me to relay.”

“A message?” Kate asked surprised.

“Yes, she said ‘I have really good hearing too’.”

Color drained from Kate. She looked towards Kara, who waved back. She then put both hands on her head, crouched behind a nearby column, and softly let out a long, “Nooooooooooooooooo.” That was entertaining.

They continued once Kate recovered, and Free drifted off again. The Green Hell fascinates me. Same as the arctic suited Astra, somewhere teeming with life was meant for her. Channeling creation would be easy, and it’d provide an ideal environment for experimentation. Kara was proof it was possible to survive in the outermost portions. I want to visit. There’d be so many exotic afflictions and wildlife to uncover.

Miki was waiting next to the library, “I trust your trip was without incident?”

“Actually, no. You won’t believe what Light did…” Kate detailed what’d occurred.

(continued in part 2)