It Who Stills the Seas sat in a room, globes of water floating around it. Flickering images danced across the spheres, each one showing a different one of the incarnations the Void creature had sent out.

The ground at its feet was littered with artifacts. Grand swords, beautiful daggers, chalices made of glittering gold and studded with gems – all discarded like trash. Their magic had been shattered and warped, their beauty lost forever.

It Who Stills the Seas raised a gilded sphere and narrowed its eyes. Water condensed from the air and twirled around it in a cocoon. Crackles of gray light poured out of the artifact in its hand and it shattered with a bang.

The air around the old man shuddered and the world shifted, two overlapping versions of it splitting apart. The first was fully grayscale, and the other color. Then there was a sharp pop and the worlds slammed back together.

Void magic shot back down It Who Stills the Seas’ arm, throwing the monster across the room and slamming it into a wall. It pressed its lips together, rising back to its feet as the smoking remains of the artifact joined the pile on the floor.

“You are a tenacious creature, Moon. I felt your death, and yet you continue to vex us. I’m sure that you would feel pride were you still alive, but I – we – are inevitable. Your defenses will not hold forever. With every strike, I feel you weaken further. How many more, I wonder? I am almost curious to see what your face would look like had you realized that the Cycle will continue and that your death was for naught.”

A spark of fire lit in the corner of the room. It expanded, forming into a tall, lanky man with sharp eyebrows and smoldering red eyes.

“Speaking to yourself again?” the man asked, adjusting the lapels of his bright orange suit.

“It Who Burns the Sky,” Seas said, its voice flat. “Why are you here? You have a task to be doing.”

“I am doing it,” Sky replied. It brushed its hair back and examined its face in one of the floating globes of water. Seas flicked a hand, pulling the globe away from the other Void creature.

“Then why are you here?”

“The Corruption is interfering with my efforts. I’ve located one of the Seeds.”

“Kill it, then. There is no purpose for your presence here.”

“I tried,” Sky replied. “Second has been hard at work. This Cycle has gone on for far too long. The Seed has been consuming matter for who knows how long – perhaps years. Its powers are significant enough that it was able to kill my clone, and it would be dangerous to risk my true body.”

“We cannot allow Second to harvest the Seed,” Seas said, flicking its fingers. The globes vanished and the monster turned to face its companion. “Bring another one of our brethren with you.”

“We all have tasks to be doing.” Sky’s face was flat. “It Who Shatters the Earth is attempting to restart the Cycle, just as you are. It has gone through eighty seven artifacts, but the defenses that Moon put into place are holding strong. It maybe years before we can break through them.”

“And you have made no progress on determining what the source of the interference is? Moon’s magic should not be able to hold strong now that he has died.”

“No more than you have.” Sky leaned against the wall and adjusted its lapels once more. “But a few years are not an issue, provided we can maintain our current speed and keep the Corruption from doing irreparable damage to the Cycle in the meantime.”

“With the state of the Seed you found, is that a likely circumstance?” Seas asked, flicking its fingers. Water coursed, forming into a disk before it. It peered into the churning liquid, then dismissed it. “Second blocks my attempts to see into his territory.”

“It is not,” Sky admitted. “When my clone met the Seed, it was defeated in seconds. Considering its current rate of growth, it is likely that the Cycle will cease to exist in under a year.”

Seas drummed its fingers on its knee. “Unless Moon’s defenses fall, our progress cannot be sped up. Therefore, we must slow the Corruption. The mortals attempt to stop us both – aid them in finding the Seed, so that they may stall Second for us.”

“I had come to the same conclusion,” Sky said. “I have just been confirming the course of action with those of us who remain before executing it. We have lost too many to the Corruption already – our strength is not what it once was. You and Earth are the only other remaining Void creatures on this plane. It Who Heralds the End of all Light has turned against us.”

“We will be enough,” Seas replied. The globes of water erupted around it once more, effectively ending the conversation. Sky bowed its head, flame consuming its body and burning away until nothing was left.

***

One Month Later, in Kingsfront

Sylph vaulted over a swinging axe blade, twisting her body to avoid a spike trap in the ceiling. She hit the ground in a roll and a scythe erupted from her back, swinging up and knocking aside a heavy sword.

The armored knight wielding it staggered and swung his other fist at Sylph. She leaned back, vaulting onto her hands and kicking the man in the chin. His helmet flew off and his head snapped back.

Sylph launched off her hands, spikes emerging from her fingertips as she latched onto the man’s armor, the spikes piercing clean through it. He reached for her, but she had already thrown herself over his head. A second scythe emerged from her back, curving around to rest at his neck.

“That’s the match!”

Sylph dropped down from the knight’s back and her body reverted to normal. She brushed herself off as floating lights snapped to life in the air, illuminating the circular stone room around her.

One of the walls shimmered and vanished. A tall man wearing beautiful gold and purple armor that was only a step away from gaudy emerged from behind it. A short, slightly round girl followed behind him. She wore the same colors, but her armor was more restrained and her long blonde hair hung low behind her shoulders.

“Well done, Sylph,” the man said, stopping before her. “That was a beautifully executed fight. When you said you didn’t think I could teach you much about physical combat, I thought you were arrogant, but I’m starting to think you were correct.”

“Thank you, Professor White,” Sylph said. “You’ve had some points I never considered, though. Kingsfront’s fame isn’t for nothing.”

“I’m glad you approve,” White said. “Ralph, get up. You aren’t that injured.”

The fallen knight groaned, sitting up. He worked his jaw, rubbing it with a gauntleted hand. “Does this mean the loss isn’t my fault? If she already knows all the fighting stuff, you can’t expect me to win against her.”

“You will fight opponents stronger than you in life,” White replied, helping Ralph to his feet. A spark of golden light passed from White’s hand into Ralph’s face and the bruise vanished. “Prepare for it. You did not perform well, but not everything was a mistake. We will go over what you can improve in tonight’s review.”

Ralph sighed and nodded. “Yes, Professor.”

“Are we going again, Professor White?” the female student asked.

“No, Darla. We’re done for this lesson.” White pulled a book out of the holster on his waist and flipped it open. “You and Ralph both have to get to Professor Zed’s class. He was pretty displeased with me when I made you late last time.”

Both of them blanched.

“We’ll be on our way, then,” Ralph said, still rubbing at his jaw despite there no longer being an injury. “See you later today, Professor.”

He and Darla strode off through the section of the wall that had vanished, leaving Sylph and Professor White alone on the circular training room.

“Thanks for the lesson, Professor,” Sylph said, following after them. White fell in step alongside her.

“It’s my job,” he replied. “But you’ve been an excellent student. I may have to adjust my notions about the mages Blackmist puts out. I am slightly ashamed to admit that I was under the impression you were all brutes.”

Sylph failed to keep a grin from flickering across her face. “Actually, you might not want to change that too fast.”

White laughed. “Perhaps not. You have earned some respect, though. It’s hard to believe you’re just a Year Two. The growth I’ve seen you undergo over the course of this month is nothing short of incredible.”

“The Corruption is an excellent motivator,” Sylph replied as they reached the end of the dark hallway and started up the staircase leading out of the underground arena. “And Kingsfront has some great teachers. I didn’t think I’d be able to learn much about Artifact seeking in such a short time, but I’m very pleased with my progress.”

“Good, good,” White said. “I’m glad that we’re able to maintain our prestige. With Blackmist’s recent successes, some of us were starting to worry that the teachers there had figured something out to eclipse us.”

“I suppose there’s something to be said for being in constant risk of dying and knowing your teacher is probably at fault for it.”

They stepped out of the stairwell and into a sunny courtyard trimmed by large, golden-leafed trees. It looked like the garden of a nobleman, not the entrance to a training arena. Then again, that was all of Kingsfront. They were nothing if not over the top, but Sylph couldn’t deny they were effective. The school had earned its reputation as being the best for a reason.

“I’ve got a class to get to shortly,” White said, snapping his book closed with a shut and putting it back into its holster. “I’ll be honest with you. I don’t think you’re going to learn much more from me in this class. It’s meant to show mages how to fight in close quarters, but you’ve already mastered that.”

Sylph frowned. “I see. I was enjoying the class, but if you don’t think there’s anything else I can improve on, then there would be no point to continue.”

“Oh, you misunderstand. There’s always more you can learn, but I need to keep the class at a pace that fits all the students. This is already the advanced version, and I can’t go any faster. You would be better off practicing yourself against a more capable opponent rather than attending this class.”

“That makes sense,” Sylph said with a nod. “I’ll look into finding a partner, then.”

“Do that,” White said. “Of course, I don’t want to shortchange you out of a class. Considering your interest in Artifact seeking, I can put you in contact with Vaugh, a Professor that specializes mental energy control. Sensing an artifact falls under his realm, so it should hopefully be a good addition to your other class.”

Sylph’s eyes lit up. “That would be very helpful. Thank you, Professor.”

“Not a problem at all, Sylph. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I need to run.”

He did just that – the professor broke into a full sprint, dashing out of the garden and making a sharp turn onto the gold-paved path in the direction of his next class. As Sylph turned to head back to her temporary lodgings, Yui stepped into the garden.

Despite attending the same school, Sylph hadn’t seen much of the princess since arriving at Kingsfront. When she did meet her, Yui was always surrounded by her admirers and guard. This time, there was no sight of Gaves or Bella.

“Ah, Sylph. What a coincidence, I’ve been hoping to run into you,” Yui said in a tone that gave Sylph zero doubt that it had been a coincidence in the slightest.

“It’s nice to see you again,” Sylph said politely. The less time she spent with her former target, the better. “I’m sorry, I’m pretty sweaty. I just finished up training with Professor White’s class. I should get back to my dorm.”

“Nonsense. We both know that isn’t a serious problem for either of us. People talk after long fights all the time. I’ll go ahead and drop the pretense – we need to talk.”

“Do we?”

“I’m afraid so. I hate to burden you, but I find myself in a serious conundrum and you’re the closest person I know that would be able to help me.”

“You have an entire entourage.” Sylph cocked her head to the side and squinted. “Why can’t they help you? I’m not really interested in getting involved with politics, if it’s all the same to you. Damien has already gotten pretty tangled up there, Princess. I don’t want to get pulled in any further.”

“Please, just call me Yui,” the princess said with a weary laugh. “And the entourage is the problem, I’m afraid. Not all of them, of course, but they restrain me just as much as they aid me.”

“I see,” Sylph said diplomatically, trying to search for a good excuse to just leave. She couldn’t think of one that wouldn’t just flat out insult the princess. “I suppose I could hear your request out, but I can’t make any promises.”

“That’s fine with me,” Yui said. She nodded at one of the benches between the trees and walked over to it, sitting down. Sylph reluctantly joined her. It was a few moments before Yui spoke again.

“You know about the situation with Nolan and house Gray, right?”

“Yes.”

“Well, my mother is still determined to find me a match. I’m just as pleased as Nolan to be out of that particular agreement, but I’m afraid he’s the only one that has truly escaped.”

“Your m – the Queen is trying to set you up with someone you don’t like?” Sylph guessed.

Yui grimaced. “With a lot of people I don’t like. Men, women, everything in between. The problem is they’re all in it for the power, Sylph. I might play games just like the rest of the Nobles, but I’m still a woman. I don’t want to marry some bastard that’s only in it for the power and control, but my mother is only interested in strengthening the kingdom. I really have no way to know which of my suitors is actually interested in me and which one just wants the position of King.”

“How am I supposed to help there?” Yui asked. “And why can’t all the people following you around do something about it? This feels like something that Gaves or Bella could easily investigate.”

Yui brushed her hair out of her face and looked up at the trees above them with a groan. “That’s the problem. They aren’t really my friends, Sylph. They’re my guards. They report to my mom, not me. Just like most of the other people I know.”

“Is that really a problem, though?” Sylph asked. “I mean, would the Queen object to you liking the person you get betrothed to?”

“No, probably not. The problem is that she wants me to take the partnership with the strongest Noble house I can get. She still thinks I’m looking for the strongest match as well, but if I was to tell anyone I wanted more than just a politically powerful partner, she’d take steps to remove the decision for me.”

“I see. I’m sorry.” Sylph pursed her lips. “I can see why you wouldn’t be able to ask anyone about that. But how am I…”

She trailed off, barely managing to stop the horror from flashing across her features. Yui nodded, her face turning red.

“A lot of nobles are in Kingsfront right now, and many of them would be suitable. I want you to try to figure out which ones might actually be worth my time.”

“That’s a fancy way of saying you want me to play matchmaker for a Princess.”

“So it is,” Yui said, her lips quirking up in a grin. “Will you help me?”