"Guess we got here too quick." Celestia murmurs. The three of us crouch, concealed in shrubbery on the side of a large mountain. It was now nighttime, my vision was not remotely as good as the two of theirs so all I could see were the lights of the city, and some lights in the distant forest.

The lights in the forest were presumably the Oliviand camp and it was centered right in the middle of the roadways, so they actually were waiting for us on the main road as Rainel predicted.

"What are we going to do with these bodies?" I ask. The hill we were on was a pretty perfect vantage point for the entire region. So as expected, there were a few enemy soldiers scouting out on top. About a dozen corpses lay behind us, some of their throat's slashed from Rainel, some of their heads caved in from Celestia, a pretty gruesome scene even for my standards.

The three of us stare at the field of blood and bodies.

"We leave them to be buried and mourned when they're found." Rainel nods. "Also, if we come across a situation like this again, we should try to leave one of them alive for information sake."

Celestia and I both glance behind our shoulders at a nearby tree after he says this. Rainel notices this and asks inquisitively. "Don't tell me there's someone hiding there?"

"FUCK!" A man yells hoarsely before desperately trying to scramble away. I raise my hand and create a brief but sharp backdraft, knocking him off his feet. Celestia leaps out from the bush and is on him in a flash pinning him against the ground with one hand.

"Huh, how did you two notice him and I didn't?" Rainel slowly walks up to the scared soldier.

"I replaced the mountain's air with my Tetsu's air a while ago. He was staying pretty quiet for a while but unfortunately no-one can hold their breath forever. " I say to him.

The man cowers in fear. "Well, don't be too scared, we're going to leave you alive after all." Celestia smiles to the whimpering man.

"No you should be scared." Rainel without hesitation draws one of his swords and plunges it into the soldier's calf.

Celestia immediately covers his mouth with her hand to muffled screaming, holding his head steady as he writhes and whips around in pain.

"Man, I thought I was a bad person." Celestia remarks holding the man steady.

"You know we can't let the him go back after seeing the three of us. So I'll take away his ability to walk. Nothing personal."

"I don't mind, I'm interested in what kind of strategies they'll prepare against us." Celestia replies in typical fashion.

"Whatever you say." Rainel looks away, smartly ignoring one of Celestia's many ruses.

Celestia grins then leans down to the soldier's face. "So? What kinda of strategies are they preparing against us?" She then makes an O shape with her mouth after seeing his expression. "Gathered your wits already have ya?"

His eyes were closed shut and his eyebrows were furrowed clearly in anger. "Kill me now." He clenches his teeth in both pain and anger.

Rainel leans down as well. "Alright, I'll throw you a bone. In the next minute, I'll let you escape your fate if you can bite off and swallow your own tongue, go out like a hero huh? If you can't show that much resolve, then I'm afraid we'll have to do our thing my friend."

The man furiously stares at Rainel, his breathing getting faster and more frantic by the second. He opens his mouth, sticking his tongue between his teeth, squeezing his eyes shut. He raises his teeth, hesitates, then drops them before raising them again.

"Thirty seconds have passed." Rainel mentions casually.

"AH!" The man screams in adrenaline and clamps down on his tongue, blood bursting out and dribbling down his chin, but his teeth don't go through, he hesitated, didn't put all of his Anku into it.

The screams of adrenaline quickly turn to pain as the man begins wailing, unable to follow through the entire thing. "No! No, I'll tell you everything I know, please, I want to see my family again." The man says with tears streaking down his eyes.

"Don't we all." Rainel gets up and kicks a branch, thinking about something. "Right, let's get going shall we." Rainel sheathes his sword and begins walking towards the city.

Celestia hoists the soldier off the ground. "You'll be labelled as a traitor if you do this you know? Even if you survive you won't be welcomed back to Oliviand."

"T-That's okay, I'll take my wife and daughter and sail for Zitia, we don't have to worry about anything there."

"Except for the red division." Rainel murmurs under his breath as the three of us begin slowly descending the hill.

"Rainel." After a while, I suddenly speak up after being quiet the entire time.

"What is it?"

"We shouldn't have killed the people on that hill there."

"Are you still caring about that good person bad person clownery?" Rainel raises an eyebrow.

"No, no, I left that a while ago. I learned this from my experiences as a prince. When in war, you should never kill your enemies." I reiterate.

"You sound very naive."

"No, no, that's the thing. What's a bigger burden, an injured soldier or a dead one?"

"What's more dangerous, a soldier who knows he's not going to die going into battle, or one who has the fear of God struck inside him?" Rainel immediately counters back. "If they know that they're going against a bunch of pacifists, they would've already slaughtered us all."

"Oh... well..."

"Look, I've been there before, but people soon discover that their convictions are not as strong as they think it is when they or someone they love is about to die." Rainel sighs.

"I don't think if you're held in such a dire situation that it can really be held against you whether you hold conviction or not." I reply in kind. "People are always reduced to their animal-like instincts. They won't be their true selves."

"The animal-like instincts are people's true selves."

"Gah, this conversation is pissing me off, talk about something else." Celestia interjects with an unexpected level of annoyance in her voice.

"What do you think about it?" I decide on poking the bear.

"I think that convictions make the world boring. They're annoying shits you can't get rid of. Not stuff that's even remotely fulfilling to keep."

"It's true that convictions are a concession of freedom, but if we only acted on our desires and nothing more, we would be no different than animals. Exchanging our short-term happiness for long term fulfillment is what makes us human." Rainel says, surprisingly into this dialogue.

"I'm happy living like an animal. I don't need long-term happiness as long as I stay happy for the rest of my life." Celestia turns her head towards Rainel.

"I'd be surprised if you feel that way forever. Sometimes, it feels good not being a slave to that annoying voice inside your head commanding you to accommodate your desires."

"What the hell even is freedom then?" Celestia snorts.

"I guess... Death is the ultimate freedom." Rainel ends the conversation on a somber note.

I look up to the night sky, thinking about Bythem and Lydia, and then the deserter. I look down at my palm, imagining blood flowing through the fingers, Tetsu circulating around my body. Thinking and pondering, but no matter how I approach the thought process I hit the same brick wall, until I realize something.

What even are my convictions anymore?

Rainel holds up a crest on his hand as we approach the city gates, signifying our allegiances.

"Halt! Wait here for a couple of minutes." A soldier shouts at us from a obscured window above the gate as we get closer. The three of us come to a halt. Celestia lowers the soldier to the ground before plopping down on the dirt ground while Rainel and I stand. The soldier we had captured had been knocked out unconscious. We didn't want him suddenly changing his mind a couple minutes later.

The three of us linger around as a group of armed soldiers, both men and women, come marching out of the gate.

"Mmm, that's probably not enough people to take me down if I had bad intentions." Celestia comments.

"I think you're forgetting two others." Rainel says without any hint of humor in his voice.

"Just hypothetically, don't be weird." Celestia shrugs.

You of all people are really calling other people weird?? I don't say this out loud however.

"Welcome! You three are?... Messengers? The advance party before the rest of the reinforcements come?" The woman leading the procession asks.

"We've come to-" Rainel starts.

"We're the reinforcements." Celestia interrupts him out of nowhere.

The woman raises her eyebrows at Celestia and me before looking at Rainel. "Who are these young people Rainel?"

"Unfortunately, I can't say right here. Information leaks have been an awfully big problem recently, but she's right commander. We are reinforcements."

The woman looks at us long and hard before letting out a big sigh. "I appreciate the gesture, but you two can go, no point in throwing away more lives than necessary."

I close my eyes. Well, Celestia isn't going to take a hit like that to her ego.

I wait for a moment for the inevitable.

But it never comes. Surprised, I look down at Celestia, who still her legs crisscrossed on the ground. She was smiling.

"Well, neither of us mind throwing our lives away for the cause, isn't that right Cain?" She looks up to me.

The second she mentions my name the atmosphere shifts to hostility almost immediately.

"I had heard of what happened." The woman says tensely. "They say you're a murderer and a traitor." She drops her hands closer to her weapon.

"I am one of those things." I nod my head. It stung a little, but there was no point in arguing back anymore.

"Oi, why are you giving out such an important name out in the open like this!?" Rainel half yells. "Please let us in, I'll bring you up to speed with everything that's going on commander." He then leans in and whispers.

The commander closes her eyes. "Well, if a Tetsudo is in the mix then things may be different. Come follow me." She turns around, beckoning the rest of the group to come.

After leaving the hostage with a separate group. We walk through the gates and into the city. I look around at buildings as we head in. Strange that there are two capitals for this country, the architecture here was almost identical to the northern capital. The only difference was the giant cliffside towering over the entire city in the west. Where I learned from Yesenia that they mined for metals and raw materials.

Dozens of soldiers were stationed at every single corner, all of them hanging about by the wall preparing for the confrontation.

"Squadron four, what's the holdup with the arrows? They could attack any moment now." A random commander yells.

I look away quickly.

"Say, which is the true capital, the north or the south?" Celestia echos the thoughts that were on my mind previously.

"Whichever one Mallefard's children are located at." The commander replies. "The only reason we've been able to last this long is because of this deception."

"So there's a decoy Yesenia somewhere around here?" Celestia casually says.

The commander gives her an extremely sharp look. "I'd be more careful with your words if I were you."

"Ah don't mind me, just a young reckless cute woman who never really know what's going on."

"What kind of person calls themselves cute?" Someone close to me murmurs.

"That's the thing, no cute or handsome person ever calls themselves cute or handsome, that's why I like to do it. You know, it's not often you see a beautiful girl like me who calls themselves beautiful." Celestia breaks off from the line and meanders to the soldier who made the comment.

"Oh, um okay." The soldiers rears back, unsure as to how to react.

I walk next to Celestia and lean into her ear. "What are you doing?!" I whisper to her.

"This is pretty great, it's a pretty refreshing feeling when nobody knows who I am." She whispers back.

"Aren't you famous or something?"

"I guess, but it's not like my face is universally known. I'm sure someone will recognize me eventually."

"Then why don't you cover your face if you don't want people to know who you are?"

Celestia suddenly stops and turns around.

"Hmm? What's the holdup?" The commander asks.

"Oh, sorry, just had an idea." Celestia turns back with a cloth now hiding her nose and mouth, pulled out from God knows where.

"Ooo...kay." The commander keeps walking.

Rainel nods and then murmurs something to himself after watching Celestia do that.

"That's what I was thinking!" Celestia says very ironically, causing Rainel frown back.

"You aren't exactly doing a good job of getting people on your side." I say to her.

"I got you on my side when it was necessary no? I'm just having some fun anyways, relax with it."

I shake my head and then continue walking silently, Celestia humming a distinct tune as we walk.

A couple minutes later Rainel raises his voice in concern. "I'm sorry to ask, but why are we walking all the way to the castle? Don't you have full direction of the army here Lapis? Can't you brief us on what you want our roles to be right here and now?" Rainel addresses the commander who's name was now revealed to be Lapis. "Address me by my casual name one more time and you'll be thrown in the mines." The commander replies sternly.

Celestia suddenly turns her gaze towards the commander with an intense pierce. "You aren't telling us something." She flatly says, without any sort of hesitation or doubt in her voice, as if stating it as a matter of fact.

The commander stops walking. "I, haven't, told, you, anything, at all. Not yet. Also, do not disrespect my authority, or you will face severe consequences."

"A wave of guilt washed over you when Rainel was addressing you, why." Celestia uncurls her hand ignoring the commander's threat, revealing a stain of blood on her palms, instantly my skin begins crawling and my blood turns to ice. She begins exuding an crushing atmosphere to everyone around her, similar to the presence she had shown on her first encounter.

"OI!" Rainel grits his teeth, fighting the sensation. He staggers up to Celestia, rearing his arm back.

Celestia only watches, not bothering to dodge as Rainel strikes her in the face. She flinches away causing the spell to break.

"You know, commander, it's really really easy to tell that you guys are the fake leadership." Celestia says in a low voice.

"Arms up." Instantly, all the soldiers draw their weapons, pointing them at Celestia.

I hesitate looking back and forth between Celestia. 'Why do you have to make yourself the enemy every single time?' I mouth to her before raising my palms at Celestia threateningly.

"Who did you bring into our city Rainel? Tell me right now." The commander says sternly.

"She's-"

"My name is Celestia." Celestia speaks up instead of Rainel, allowing the wind to blow the cloth obscuring her face off. A couple of men shift and murmur once hearing her name and seeing her face. "Let me tell you a couple things I've noticed walking through here. One, there are far fewer men stationed near the walls than there should be relative to the size and importance of this city. Two, You are about to enter war, yet I have not felt a hint of nervousness coming from you since coming here. Three, none of these men are actually trained fighters. Their breathing and stances betray their inexperience, so since you have no authority on me right now, tell me what I already suspect."

The commander closes her eyes. "I have to say, I don't find it too hard to believe that you're the strongest person in the world." The commander opens her eyes. "But, we have decided to cut our losses, there is nothing to protect here anymore. I am sorry to disappoint you, but we will not be having a great battle for you to fight in."

"Shit! Shit! Shit! How did I know from the very beginning!?" Celestia stomps around surprisingly visibly upset. "So? How many soldiers are left? How many have already evacuated?"

I'm taken aback a little bit, I never thought I would see Celestia upset.

"All but the nobles and the prince and the princess remain and are about to be evacuated, just about all the citizens who wished to leave have left at this point."

"So? What about all the soldiers still stationed at the wall?"

"Archers, willing to take down as much of the enemy before the walls eventually get overrun."

Celestia closes her eyes and takes a deep breath. "You have forfeit your right to be called a commander a long time ago."

"I did what had to be done, you do not win wars by fighting lost battles. You expect me to lead all my men to death?"

"I expect you to lead your men to victory." Celestia begins walking away, back to the walls.

Rainel looks back and forth between Celestia and the commander. "I will help escort the remaining nobles out of the city along with Cain. I understand your decision." He then says.

... I look down and take a deep breath. I'm supposed to be a tool and nothing more, I'm not supposed to make my own decisions here, so I should be following Rainel and helping escort the fake princess and nobles out of the city.

But...

"Rainel, please allow me to make my own decision here." I grimace, cursing myself. This is the second time I've decided to follow Celestia rather than the actual authority I subjected myself under.

Rainel doesn't respond and blinks a couple of times. "Damn it. You just made it difficult for me as well." He looks around aimlessly.

"Yea, sorry Lapis. I don't agree with your decision one bit either. At this stage of the war, there is no longer any opportunity to fight from an advantage, you must take risks."

The commander watches solemnly as Rainel also turns his back and walks away.

Leaving me.

"So? What are you going to do now Tetsudo?" The commander drops her shoulders and sighs.

“…” I begin walking away as well.

“What I want.”