Inside a box wagon, floating in the depths of Chaos, lay several unconscious bodies. The wagon, a cage really, drifted peacefully, though every now and then, the wards inscribed on its walls flared as a crosscurrent nudged it, imposing heavier pressure than the wooden construct could have taken. But the runescript weaving repaired any damage to the material, even while it fed on and converted ambient Chaos to protect it against the outside forces.

One of the unconscious bodies started to stir when the wagon jolted, and the next moment, he shot up with a loud gasp.

“Where… what…?” Kato Mishala Davar gasped as his hands reached up to his head. The last thing he remembered was being struck then blacking out. How long…? Caera? His eyes darted to his sides and landed on the unconscious form of his fiance, Caera Eurielle Sawthner.

He couldn’t help but gasp in surprise and distress. Caera was thin, emaciated, even. Actually, everyone in the chamber was. His eyes danced from body to body, counting an even dozen others aside from the two of them. He froze when he saw his wrist too. Bone and sinew covered in a thin layer of skin.

His throat was dry, and his earlier words were painful. He crawled over to Caera and checked her. She had a pulse. He heaved a sigh of relief. Her breathing was nearly imperceptible.

“Caera…” Kato shook her lightly, desperately. He tried that before and she didn’t wake. It made their escape impossible.

“Uhn…” A groan and a snore.

Kato’s eyes widened. Caera had been unresponsive the entire time, but now… The warmth of hope filled his heart and he shook her shoulder again. This time, Caera batted his arm away, then blinked away.

Her eyes dilated and darted about, taking in their surroundings. Though he could feel that they were in a wagon, he remained uncertain as the entire thing was enclosed with no windows, and the door barred shut.

“Ka…to…?” Caera mumbled as her gaze caught his. Her eyes widened and she blurted out, “What happened to you?”

Kato couldn’t help but snort. “Take a look at yourself first.” A little humour in the face of adversity to keep their morale up.

Caera did so and turned even paler. “What happened to me?”

“You were captured,” Kato said softly. “And ensorcelled. I tried to rescue you, but failed and was captured in turn. That was the last I remember.”

She sat up and clutched at him. “Where are we?”

“I just woke up.”

“Please find out.”

“Alright.” Kato pecked her on the cheek and she returned a hug.

The wagon was large, for a wagon, but as a room it was barely enough for the fourteen of them to lie down in a row. As it were, they were squished together, with barely any wiggle space. He was at the end, near the door.

The wagon shifted and swayed gently, reminding him of being on a boat. That did not bode well. At the opposite end were a stack of crates and barrels, then a closed wall. He gingerly made it across the unconscious bodies, though he absently took note of them. Most were actually youths, just at their majority or maybe a few years younger. Students or fresh graduates? Their clothes weren’t uniforms, but a mishmash of civilian fashion.

He could reach the wagon’s ceiling if he stood up. Once he was next to the crates, he gingerly opened one, hoping that it contained supplies. Unfortunately, it looked to be a pile of fabrics. The barrels were filled with ale, so at least there was water.

Ah, one of the crates was filled with ration bars. Enough to feed all of them for several weeks, maybe a Season. That was a relief.

There was a small, shuttered window opposite the door, which would look out towards the wagoneer’s seat. But when Kato was about to open it, he was beset with the feeling of mortal peril so strong that he broke out in a cold sweat. Instead of opening it, he latched it shut.

Caera had gotten up and tried to wake the other prisoners. In the meantime, Kato picked up a ration bar from the crate, unwrapped it and nibbled. His physique was tougher and more robust than an unawakened human, but starvation and dehydration could still lay him low. He wasn’t sure if hunger sickness would still affect him, but it paid to be careful. Besides, ration bars were packed with everything needed to survive.

“Caera,” he said as he tossed another bar at her. “Don’t eat it all at once.”

His fiance clumsily caught the bar and glared at him in a huff, but she followed his lead and only nibbled. He looked for mugs or glasses for the ale, but found nothing. He was of the mind to whittle cups from the crates, but he should find out their situation first. He pressed a hand against the little window and tried to project his Animus through it. Carefully, and lightly. He threaded his Animus through the wood, and the surprising runescript wards woven into it. It took him several minutes, but eventually, he managed to get his Animus thread past the material.

Only for it to get squished, twisted, then annihilated.

Kato hastily cut his connection to the thread as the wards flared in resistance to whatever it was that tried to follow his thread into the wagon.

He panted his fright and not a little bit of fatigue. He stood there for several minutes before he regained his composure. When he turned around, he saw that Caera managed to wake the others and give them some food.

Most were Apprentice or Journeyman levels, Kato thought. Their emotions were still muted and they ate mechanically. Caera walked up to him and pulled him into a hug.

“What’s the matter?” She whispered.

Kato shook his head, and said, “I think…I think we’re no longer in a plane. We’re in the Chaos Sea.”

He felt his fiance shudder, but then, she looked up at his eyes with unwavering trust. “You found us, and we’re still alive. I know you’ll bring us to safety.”

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Kato could only nod and smile, but inside, despair had long since crushed that glimmer of hope.

___________

Yuriko was dressed in black, from top to bottom. A modest dress that fell to her knees, cinched at the waist. Black stockings and leather shoes. A dark hat and veil. The dress’s sleeves were short, especially for the Season of Water, but she barely felt the cold. The Rumiga plane, what was left of it, had its climate swing to extremes now.

She settled the veil across her face and checked the mirror. The silhouette of her face could still be seen through it, which was the prescribed style. She pulled on a pair of hand gloves, snow white, to complete the mourning dress.

Her room in their house at Faron’s Crossing had been dusty when she first returned after the dreadful battle. Cleaning had simply been a matter of gathering all the dust with her kinesis and tossing it out. It had taken less than a minute to do the same for the rest of their home.

But despite how clean and cosy it became with Da’s return, and Mum staying over, Kato’s absence was felt. A warm home that had turned slightly colder despite the fact that her second brother had barely lived here the past five years.

Her recollections returned to that battle, as it was wont to do every now and then.

All had been lost and they were getting ready to cut and run, but for the ultimate sacrifice. Those few minutes of unrivalled power…

In the aftermath, she hadn’t quite blacked out. Instead, her true body emerged from the Divine Shard and absorbed the puppet Damien had used. It resulted in a minor improvement over her Radiant Body Refinement. Nothing truly important, at least not for what he paid for.

The Legates and Mum had questions, of course, and she answered to the best of her ability. Though that came later. Instead, the shattered core was the most important, even after it had stabilised. The four of them rushed back to the surface and faced a cataclysm. She still couldn’t wipe the memory of seeing the land between Faron’s Crossing and Haveena City breaking away.

The Shillogu Woods had been bisected too. Later, she found out that the border had been where Fri’Avgi’s tomb was located, and what was north of that had broken off. The Zarek Mountains nearly collapsed, but she was sure that was for the better. At least now the divide between Western and Eastern Rumiga had disappeared. Ah, but most of the refugees rushed towards the west anyway, and now the east had the more frontier feel.

Faron’s Crossing had been dubbed the planar capital, too, and the plane’s orientation was in flux. Even now they were still mostly untethered from the rest of the Empire and only…

Tock, tock, tock.

“Come in,” she called out, and Gwendith entered, clad in the same manner as Yuriko.

“It’s about time.” Her dear friend said. Gwendith stepped up to her and took her hand.

“Yes.” Yuriko sighed. It was time.

The memorial of the dead.

It had been pushed back so that critical work could be done to secure the remnants fo the plane. But Legate Jiro Segawa and Legate Iola Brygos had finally settled on the date. It also coincided with the Empire’s Founding Day, the 5th Day Water.

Letting Gwedith pull her along, she exited her room and walked sedately down the stairs. Her younger brother, Rami, was already in the living room. Annoyingly, he had already grown taller than her, even if it was only by a fraction of an inch!

“Big sis, Miss Sharine.” His voice broke in the middle and he reddened.

Yuriko patted his shoulder and nudged him towards the front door. Da, Marron, Niamh, and Mum were already at the square since they were involved in the preparations.

The three of them walked towards the town centre, along with the rest of the neighbourhood. Yuriko’s childhood friends, Krystal, Mikel, and Heron, made their way across the street to join them. Her bound Chaos Lord, Desire, had remained at home, and she didn’t know where Saki was. Ryoko, her handmaiden, had been given the day off to do her own preparations.

They soon arrived at the square, which held most of the population of the central district. Not the militia or the legionnaires, but many of the old nobles from Rumiga City had taken over the town’s eastern district. They were holding their own memorial.

The central square was filled with people clad in black. The town’s Alderman, Ferell Rivos, and the Celebrant of the Church of Everlasting Order, Elder Karr Ramus officiated the ceremony. Yuriko barely heard the words as her mind wandered.

Many had died in the war, though her family had mostly been untouched for the majority of it. Kato…her connection to him still existed, but she could only tell that he was alive. Nothing else. Something obscured it, and while Mum made the request to search for him using the Fateweaver Loom, word came back that the Progenitor had secluded herself and it was unknown when she would emerge.

The threads connecting them was cold comfort and she dearly wanted to go look for him. But there were too many things to do. Infrastructure, food, and most importantly, protecting the plane’s broken Veil from Chaos.

“...let these weary ones, those who were lost, find solace in the grace of the Ancestors and the Empress. They, who committed the final sacrifice to safeguard the weak. Let them be blessed in their journey through the paths of reincarnation, and may they return to the Empire when they are born anew…”

“Reincarnation…” Yuriko murmured, half cocking her head to listen to the voices in her head. But the familiar voice of her Ancestor was no longer there, and the silence was deafening.