Iris stared at the large mansion, enamored by its stone walls and ancient facade. She clutched the strap that held the sword of Helion to her back, trying to keep herself grounded in some way as she admired the ancient masonry. Yet as her eyes ran along the walls, she kept coming back to the banners of the winged sword, finding the emblem unfamiliar. A part of her wanted to ask, but she knew better than to ask even more questions.

“Come now, my dear; we can’t keep our hosts waiting,” Arylos said with a laugh as he walked towards a decorative iron gate in the fence and pushed it open with ease, all the while Iris took a moment to process everything.

“Hosts? Who exactly am I meeting? Some kind of Templarian royalty?” Iris asked nervously while staring at the gate.

“You already have, don’t you remember Anoron?” Arylos said with a laugh as he waved towards Iris.

“Shut up you,” Iris warned as she quickly ran up behind Arylos as he approached the front door. Iris admired the solid wooden door with patterned glass inlaid into the door in crystalline shapes.

“Let’s let them know we’re here, shall we?” Arylos said with a smirk while moving his staff to his left hand.

“What do you mean?” Iris asked nervously, wondering how she could knock on such a pretty door.

Arylos chuckled while reaching for Iris’s hand and placing it on the door. Iris felt the air hum as she watched the runes branded into Arylos’s arm begin to glow a dull orange. She then felt a burning sensation run up her arm like she struck a nerve. She watched as similarly shaped runes began to appear on her arm, glowing a soft blue under her skin and she could feel the runes carve themselves into her flesh. Before she could pull her arm away, the latch of the door clicked loudly and Arylos pulled her hand from the door, yet he kept a tight grip as he turned her arm towards him and he glared at the smoldering runes in her skin as their blue light began to fade, leaving the runes as red burns in her skin.

“What the hell was that?” Iris asked, examining the runes burnt into her skin and realizing they looked eerily similar to the runes on Arylos’s skin.

Arylos slowly lifted his head as his eyes darted around like he was searching for an explanation. “I-I don’t know,” he said softly while re-reading the runes on Iris’s arm. “All I did was run a little of my power through your arm to make you appear divine to dispel the ward,” he explained while looking back at the door.

“Do you think it has something to do with me being a hybrid?” Iris asked out of curiosity.

“It would not explain how you got Vlajhilsen’r runes seared into your arm,” Arylos explained while lifting her arm to show Iris the otherworldly scars.

“Vlajhilsen’r? As in this is the language of the Titans?” Iris asked in a frightened awe.

Arylos nodded before lowering Iris’s arm and looking back towards the door, hearing footsteps approaching from the other side. “Keep this between us until I can learn more, okay?” he instructed softly.

Iris nodded and moved her arm behind her back, gently rubbing the scars with her other hand and feeling the raised skin where the runes appeared. Before she could think to herself, she heard another latch in the door click and it opened with a soft groan. Iris locked eyes with a young pale girl with long scarlet hair draped over her shoulders in a thick and loose ponytail and looking at Iris with gentle sage green eyes that appeared iridescent in the Templarian twilight. Iris felt taken aback, realizing that the girl appeared younger than her and looked better in a flowing black and white dress with ribbon coattails and black stockings that left her upper thighs exposed before the dress hid the rest of the skin under a white lace apron.

“Vyn’jhahe Vahsmornyr,” the girl said in the cryptic Templarian language with a low bow.

Arylos bowed his head slightly before pointing towards Iris. “Korosys Maryn; Kaijhume’nid serevyr’nkai?” Arylos returned in the otherworldly language.

“Kaijhume’nid?” the girl asked before turning towards Iris, who couldn’t help but to chuckle softly. “I can use it, but isn’t this the Incarnate?” she asked in a familiar formal Kaiyumian tone while gesturing towards Iris.

“I’ll bring you up to speed later,” Arylos said nervously while turning towards Iris and taking his staff into his other hand. “Iris honey, this is Maryn. She’s one of the last caretakers of the house of Helion Rhamiel.”

“The house of…Helion…?” Iris asked slowly as the realization came to her from what Arylos told her; that she was descended from a long line of ancient Templarians.

“Yes, and all of his descendants including the Incarnate,” Arylos explained with a proud smile before turning back towards the red-haired girl and nodded.

“So this is…my house?” Iris asked softly as she looked once more at the stone walls of the large mansion.”

“And here you thought I was going to buy the first house we see again,” Arylos said with a proud smile.

Maryn laughed while bowing once more to Iris. “As Vahsmorn’r said, I am Maryn Ivyrnhest, and I serve as housecarl for the house of Rhamiel. We hope we kept the house in satisfactory condition.”

“Housecarl? Are you like a servant or something?” Iris asked while raising an eyebrow.

“Sworn servants bound by vows to serve on Rhamiel’s behalf,” Arylos said with a sigh as he realized he had more to teach. “They have the ability to act with your authority in your absence; handling legal matters, caring for the house, going to the markets, everything.”

A smile came to Iris’s face as she realized that she did not need to get involved in Templarian politics and that her inability to speak the language no longer applied. “So you’re telling me that if I have to sit through a boring council meeting or sign paperwork that I can’t read, I can send her to do it for me and make the decision for me?”

“Exactly; they have a seal just for themselves that lets them sign on your behalf with the authority you give them,” Arylos explained while gesturing with his head for Maryn to let them in, to which the girl stepped aside and let the hulking Titan through the doorway. “They only have the authority you give them and legally their signatures are their own just with your authority so they can’t backstab you as easily.”

“That will be useful,” Iris said in a low voice as she followed Arylos into the foyer of the house. She took in the dark cherry wood walls separated by stone pillars and various tapestries of foreign art. A rich and floral smell of incense filled her nostrils as she gazed at the various ancient art. In the middle of the room, a large staircase greeted her that went up and to the opposing wings with a large tapestry hung proudly in the middle of the landing; displaying a tall imposing man against a sea of white and blue flames wearing stunning silver armor with blue accents and a large orange cape with gold trim. The man’s long silver hair flowed like a waterfall behind him as he rested proudly against his long sword that pierced the ground; a sword that was eerily familiar to Iris as she clutched once more to the sword strapped to her back.

Yes the man’s gaze looked forward to a never ending horizon; deep blue eyes that could pierce any wall that stood in his way. His eyes looked like small suns in his eye sockets that even in this woven two-dimensional form was as sharp as a well-honed blade. He looked mighty and powerful and the beard that flowed from his face to nearly his waist gave him the aura of a wise old king that has seen endless wars.

Helion Rhamiel, the ancient god of light himself, looked like he could give the Elder Titan of Fire a tough fight.

Iris felt in awe at the depiction of the ancient god and Arylos could tell from her hanging jaw that she could not believe what she was seeing. “That’s your ancestor,” Arylos reminded her with a chuckle, yet Iris waved him off with an annoyed groan.

Before Iris could get a word in, she heard footsteps coming down the stairs and when she turned, she saw a young man coming from one of the wings and walking down the staircase. Iris recognized his long scarlet red hair tied into a low ponytail behind his neck and a burnt orange glow from his eyes that contrasted against Maryn’s green eyes and stood out against his black jacket with a pearl white shirt covered in various buttons and small chains coming from his pockets and attaching to his jacket. Unlike Maryn, this young man wore sterling white gloves that would stand out against any shadow.

“Vyn’jhahe, Auer’makyr hid Vahim’kahest,” the man said in a soft yet stern voice that sounded cold like a winter wind.

“‘Vahin…kahesuto?’” Iris asked while tilting her head.

“He means ‘Incarnate’,” Arylos cut in quickly while clearing his throat.

“Kaijhume’nid ynkai?” the man asked in a confused voice, catching Arylos switching to the mortal tongue.

“Yes, Kaiyumian please,” Iris said in her native tongue, realizing that ‘Kaijhume’nid’ referenced something about Kaiyumi.

The man looked at Iris for a moment before clearing his throat and bowing. “My apologies, dear Incarnate,” he said in a formal tone of Kaiyumian; more formal than what Maryn used. “My name is Kitarys Ivyrnhest, stewart of the house of Rhamiel.”

“Ivyrnhest? Are you two related?” Iris asked, looking back towards Maryn.

“Twins in fact,” Kitarys answered, drawing Iris’s attention back to him.

“Twins?” Iris asked in disbelief while quickly looking between the siblings, their pale skin, clothing, and red hair being the only thing similar between the two.

“Don’t get onto them too heavily,” Arylos said jokingly before turning towards Kitarys. “This is Iris Nashonaru, Incarnate of Helion. She’ll be staying here to help Anoron in the battle against the Eikons.”

Kitarys nodded towards Iris before approaching Arylos with a stern look. “On that note, I believe there are things for the two of us to discuss about the situation, if you please.”

“I’ll take whatever information you can get me,” Arylos said with a smirk while lowering the hood of his cloak, showing Iris his fanged smile.

“I’ll take the missus to her room while you two discuss politics,” Maryn interjected nervously while taking Iris by the hand and pulling her away from the plotting men. Iris couldn’t help but to laugh while being pulled along by Maryn as the Templarian stewart guided Iris up the staircase and down a hallway away from the foyer, walking past lines of fine art hanging on the walls. “I prepared your room for you; my brother should have Vahsmorn’r’s room ready by now.”

Iris’s face turned bright red while she chuckled nervously. “A-Actually, as much as I hate his snoring sometimes, separate rooms aren’t needed; he’s my husband after all.”

Maryn stopped for a moment before quickly turning around and grabbing Iris’s hand with a sparkle in her eyes. “You’re the Titan of Fire’s bride?!” she asked excitedly with a big smile.

“Uhh, yeah; we’re newlyweds really so I guess this is our honeymoon, as depressing as that is,” Iris said nervously with a soft laugh.

Maryn had disbelief on her face until she locked eyes with Iris’s dark black ring as the Templarian began to blush. She let go of Iris’s hand and slowly regained her composure as she continued down the hall. “I-I’ll make sure the stay is worth your while; no honeymoon should be accompanied by war.”

“Are you really that interested in my love life?” Iris asked sarcastically but with a smile.

“Maybe a little,” Maryn said while tempering her excitement. “The last Titan and the last Rhamiel incarnate; it kind of makes me wonder what the future holds for the house if your descendants share blood with a Titan.”

Iris’s smile slowly faded as she looked down at her hands, staring at the Titanic runes burnt into her arm. “We actually can’t have children. We’ve been together for around seven years in total now and no children yet so I don’t think it’s something we can do.”

“Oh, I’m sorry,” Maryn said softly yet with disappointment heavy in her voice. “Does that mean this is the end for the Rhamiel bloodline?”

Iris finally looked away from the runes on her arm and sighed. “I didn’t want to think so, but I don’t really see any other option.” She began to feel conflicted yet she knew that even if she could, it was beyond her.

Even if Arylos’s body would give her a child, she would not live long enough to carry it.