"Do you know her?"
Asha just smiled. She had no idea how to respond to that. "Kind of. Not really, though. She just does some side work for me, since I can't go too far away."
Blyke's eyes narrowed. "Like what?" he asked.
Asha glanced away for a second before the smile reappeared. He was like a lost puppy. Cute, but annoyingly persistent. "She keeps me posted on my family and some other… acquaintances I'd met before I came here. Ones that helped me on my journey. I can't protect Luminine and keep tabs on them at the same time."
Blyke's attitude softened. "Your family? What are they like?"
Asha flinched back. Realizing what she did, she quickly laughed. "They're just fine. Typical parents."
"Then why did you leave home?"
"Who said I left home?" Asha asked, raising an eyebrow.
"You got here covered in dirt and mud covering bruises. You looked like an abused animal, shivering, staying far away from people, and your eyes had no life in them. It's not hard to deduce that you left home, especially since you said acquaintances you'd met on your journeys."
Asha looked away.
"ASHA! ASHA?!"
Asha's head snapped up again, and she grinned. "Sorry. Someone's looking for me, but I still have something to do. See you around, Blyke." Asha jumped onto the top of one of the hedges. She was about to jump again, but Blyke shouted, "Wait, Asha! You still haven't explained everything!"
Asha looked over her shoulder at him. The smile faded as she said, "I recommend you don't delve any deeper into my background. If you do, don't blame me for what happens to you next."
Then she was gone.
∽
"Damn that Asha!" Amelia snarled. When Amelia caught her, she was going to rip Asha into tiny little pieces and throw her to the crows.
Amelia had a different approach than Blyke. Instead of using her Amora, Snowlerd's, second form, she sent Snowlerd out to search the other direction.
But so far, Asha had seemed to have vanished off of the face of the planet.
"Any news?" Daniel asked as he rushed past her.
"None," Amelia called back. She was getting close to the forest protecting the back of the school, a confusing an even dangerous maze keeping any students from wandering into the woods. There were legends about that forest. It was one of the Seven Mysteries of Luminine, because no matter how hard a student would try to walk into the forest, they end up walking away from it, with no memory of turning around. Of course, the cadre was an exception, but even they couldn't enter the forest.
They knew Asha's "Queen" facade well, but whatever was behind it… that was still a complete mystery. Everything was a mystery about Asha, everything except for the mask she wore, a mask she wanted to make sure fooled everyone around her. A mask that only the cadre knew was false.
Amelia ran into the maze. "ASHA! ASHA?!"
"AMELIA?"
She grimaced. Of everyone to run into… it had to be the mutt.
Blyke rounded the bend, slowing as he neared Amelia. "I just saw Asha. She headed toward the forest."
Amelia nodded. "Then she won't get far. There's a barrier blocking access to the forest. I've tried getting through it before."
They started running, and Amelia thought how strange it was running with him, instead of Daniel, Rosaria, and Tim. She was Daniel's Jack, meaning she worked with the King and his other Jacks. But Jacks from the Queen very rarely worked with Jacks from the King, especially alone.
"Hurry up," Blyke shouted, speeding up. He was in Shadower's second form, his Amora boosting his agility.
Amelia called Snowlerd, the huge ghostly white leopard jumping over a row of trees, landing next to her. Amelia leaped onto its back, her fingers wrapping around the black collar, keeping her seated. "Too slow, puppy!" she called as Snowlerd shot past Blyke.
But to his credit, he was barely three steps behind when Snowlerd stopped in front of the forest. "What now?" he asked.
"There!" Amelia pointed to the left, where a figure had a hand pressed to a shiny gold barrier. "Asha!"
The figure's hand sank through the gold barrier. Asha looked at Amelia. "Sorry." Asha vanished in the trees.
"What the hell! Asha!" Amelia roared. "You owe us more than that!" She slammed her hand against the barrier, but it refused to budge. How had Asha made it through?
"The barrier only lets people with a high enough mental energy through."
Amelia spun. "Headmaster Randolph."
The Headmaster walked up to her side, letting his hand pass through the barrier. "People who use Amora have spiritual energy, which gives them the power to harness elements and maintain their Amora's form, but there's also mental energy. Typically, a person can use their Amora's abilities once their mental energy reaches ten."
"What are you talking about?" Amelia asked.
"Many are unaware of this leveling, therefore their leveling is much lower than those who know. Mental energy can be raised by concentration exercises, meditation, et cetera." The Headmaster looked at Blyke and Amelia. "I set the barrier at four hundred, the rank of a Spirit Saint or Saintess."
"What level am I?" Blyke asked curiously.
"Probably somewhere in the Spirit Soul stage. Seventh stage perhaps. Every eleven is a stage, and there are ninety-nine levels before a breakthrough."
"A Spirit Soul... "
"That means you're only around level one hundred seventy-seven to eighty-seven. God, for being so all-powerfully stuck-up, you sure are dense."
"Kellar…" Amelia growled, turning to find the person she found the most annoying in the world.
"My Amora is only a level four low tier, but my mental energy is at three hundred eighty-four, a Soul Lord, seventh stage." Zane Kellar, with black hair, light green eyes, and a notorious attitude, walked up to the Headmaster. He pressed his hand against the barrier, and it bent around his hand as he pushed. He still couldn't get through it, but it was less like a wall and more like a sheet.
He sneered at Amelia and Blyke. "What does it feel like to be inferior for once, after getting so used to standing above everyone?"
"Watch it," Amelia snarled, but Randolph stepped between them. "That's enough. Zane, put your glasses on before you hurt someone."
Zane muttered under his breath, but reached into his coat pocket and snapped open a pair of elegant, black-framed glasses. If anything, they accented his eyes, made his features older, more mature and graceful. He glared at Amelia through the clear lenses.
"I'm surprised you could find your way over here without them," Randolph said, laughing lightly.
"I didn't use my eyes. I have sensitive ears. With the noise those idiots were making, it would be shameful if I couldn't find my way over here." Zane looked through the barrier. "Dammit. Old Man, it looks like you're the only one in the school who can look for her now. Not even Silvia can get through this yet." Zane's gaze hardened to something aggressively cold. "I will speed up my training immediately. I should make the breakthrough in thirty hours. Forty-eight max. I will help you find her once I reach level four hundred. I'll call an old friend, too. She's reaching peak Spirit Empress level." Zane pressed his fingers to his lips, a shrill, wince-worthy whistle echoing over the school.
Only seconds later, a shadow darted past Amelia, the gold barrier rippling as the figure vanished into the trees.
"Who in the name of Artemesa was that?" Amelia sputtered.
"Forget it. She's one of the fastest people I know. She'll have this whole continent covered in a week," Zane said. He pressed one arm to his chest, the other to his back, bowing forty-five degrees. "I will excuse myself."
Amelia gaped after him as he walked away. "What in God's hell was that about?"
Blyke just shook his head. "I'm going to find Ethelyn. I think you should gather with your group, too."
Amelia snarled as Blyke ran off, too. "What am I? Liver? I'm more powerful than you!" She glared at Randolph. "Get your ass into that forest and find her! I don't care if you have higher mental energy or crap. I'm still a God-Amora user, so I can kick your ass from here to Riqu."
Randolph just nodded. "Stay out of trouble. Protect the school while I'm away."
"Don't tell me what to do."
Randolph's face hardened. "You will protect Luminine, Amelia Santhos. You will, because of your position here." Randolph turned with those words, walking straight through the gold barrier and into the forest.
"Dammit," Amelia hissed, running a hand through her hair.
~
Asha walked into Lord Arnold's Castle, ignoring the guards that let her in, stalking through the halls.
"Greetings, Miss Phantomhive," a servant greeted, bowing.
Asha paused, reaching out to her. "Come on," she said, taking the maid's hand. Asha frowned at the uniform, a simple skirt and white blouse, her hair tied up by a black ribbon. Asha reached up into her own hair, shaking loose a silver hairpin with a diamond flower, pinning a stray lock of hair up with it. She started walking, the maid beside her. Between the two items, the maid should have enough money to leave the service of the Baron.
As she slammed the doors of the council room in, she subtly clamped a sapphire and emerald bracelet over the maid's wrist.
Lord Arnold stood from his seat almost immediately. "Young Mistress Asha Phantomhive. Welcome to my residence. I apologize for not being able to greet you at the entrance."
"Is this the Marchioness? Daughter of the Viscount and Viscountess Phantomhive?"
Lord Arnold nodded and bowed.
More than half of the two dozen people there bowed, too, but a few just stood.
"Duke and Duchess Midford," Asha greeted, dipping into an elegant bow. "A pleasure to meet all of you here."
"With all due respect, Mistress Phantomhive, what are you doing here? And where did you come from?" one of the Baronets asked.
"I came because I have some news the King may want to know, and as I currently attend school at Luminine Academy, I am unable to bring him the news myself."
"Leave it to your underlings. After all, why would a child Marchioness born of the Phantomhive line go herself," a Baron whispered.
"Baron Whitney, I would be careful how you smear my family name," Asha said calmly, looking directly into the man's eyes. "I work for the King, and those comments you can't seem to keep to yourself can be charged as treason. Treason to the King and higher aristocracy is punishable by death." Asha smiled a court smile. "Would you like to repeat your statements?"
"O-of course not, Marchioness Phantomhive."
"Good. Now, the news I bring is this: the troublesome Sophon boy is on the move. In Artemesa or Kephri. Be on alert. I'm not sure if he's completely forgiven Artemesa yet."
"Of course, Mistress."
"Good. Lord Arnold Fershod, have you been keeping tabs on my parents as I've requested?" Asha asked, looking at him with piercing sapphire eyes.
"Of course, Marchioness. They are in their manor nearly all day, every day. Nothing out of the ordinary happens, and they seem to be doing quite well. Of course, though, we can't see everything inside, because of the huge gates."
Asha's lip curled in a sneer. "Of course they are, holed up in their glittering mansion. They're like rockfish, though. Most dangerous when their motions are unseen." Asha spun on her heel, her skirt fanning around her, her sapphire eyes glaring straight ahead of her. "Thank you. Good day, gentlemen, ladies."
Asha walked right up to the window directly in front of the doors and jumped onto the windowsill. "Second form."
As huge wings unfurled from her back, Asha jumped through the window, sailing into the chilly Artemesian skies.
She looked down on the city, the houses, the gardens, the bodies of waters rolling underneath. "Nothing ever changes. I should have known better than to hope it would," she muttered. Asha tucked her wings in, letting herself fall. She reached an arm to the sun, her loose hair winding around her fingers, streaming above her. She closed her eyes, blocking out the sun and sky, enveloping herself in the darkness.
Below, she was starting to get close enough to the ground to where the people screamed as they saw the person falling from the sky.
Asha counted the feet as she fell. One hundred, eighty, fifty, twenty… ten.
She was so tired of everything.
And the end could be so, so close.