The day had finally come to a close and as the moon rose—Leona, Krieg, Kaeli, Robert, Yuna and Setsuna headed inside the cave.
The two trios formed around each leader as they went in, with Robert leading both his daughters ahead of Leona and her group.
"Was the training difficult?" The tactician asked the knight. "I heard from Yuna that yours would be just as exhausting as mine."
"I wouldn't say that it wasn't tiring… but it was indeed intense." He took out the sword from the scabbard and much to Leona's surprise, the blade was shattered near the guard. "According to Lady Setsuna, I was close to an epiphany."
"What happened to it?!"
"Too much mana apparently. Even though I can't use magic at all."
"Mana gates and magic are not intrinsically related." Kaeli explained. "Although one allows you to manifest spells, the other is present in every living being—how each of them 'perceives' and uses them, however, are different."
"You sound just like Yuna." Leona chuckled a bit, but her light hearted smile soon faded as she looked her directly in the eyes. "What happened to you and your sister? Did he…"
Kaeli shook her head.
"No, nothing serious happened." She opened her left hand and let very faint sparks of electricity jump out of her hand. "Well… aside from me losing most of my powers." She had a bittersweet smile on her face. "Never once have I felt this relieved to lose something."
The tactician tilted her head with a raised eyebrow.
"Meaning?"
"I let go of my oath. I'm no longer a paladin."
"Huh?! Why?!"
She had a genuine look of relief in her eyes as she turned forward. She felt like an entirely different person.
"You'll understand soon."
With a smile, she kept going while Leona glanced at Krieg who was just as puzzled.
After walking for a bit, the cave floor started to slant upwards ever so slightly before it began to become flat again and at that point, they had reached the entrance.
The place was completely different from what Leona was expecting. The rocky cave floor gave place to a chiseled and flat ground akin to marble.
Waiting ahead, Tomoe, the waitress who greeted them before, was now standing there with a warm smile on her face as she greeted them.
"Welcome, I hope you enjoy your stay."
Leona stopped on her tracks as she looked at Robert with a raised eyebrow.
"What?" He asked. "They get paid if that's what you're wondering."
"No, I'm just surprised. I wasn't expecting her to be here."
"Neither of them have a place to stay so I decided to let them live here for a while."
"Them?"
"Tomoe and Ren. Oh… that's right, you never met him before." He scratched the side of his face as he walked past Tomoe and patted the waitress' head. "Come on, let's all head inside, the others are waiting."
The interior was lit by dim warm orbs of light that floated around the ceiling which gave, even a cave interior, a rather antique feeling. They reached a wooden double door before Robert placed both hands on each side of it.
"This will be your home for the next month or so." He explained. "Now, let's commemorate your accomplishment of reaching Nara in one piece."
As he swung the doors open, it revealed an enormous well lit room outfitted with all manner of furniture and necessities for a myriad of people.
There was a staircase on each side of the room which led to a balcony that had many bookcases side by side with small tables and chairs along the intricate wooden railing to serve as places to read in peace.
Down on the main floor was a circular wooden table with another round platform on top of it, the entire thing was large enough to accommodate at least twenty people comfortably. On the sides of the room there were slanted holes made through the rock wall of the cave pointing downwards to serve as passage for air, which made the otherwise claustrophobic place very refreshing.
"Woah…"
Leona uttered in surprise. It was practically a mansion inside a mountain. As she was about to set foot inside—she ended up glancing at Tomoe as if about to ask a question, but the waitress preemptively answered with a faint smile of amusement on her face.
"There is no need to take off your shoes here. This is Master's personal household after all."
"I thought it was a cultural thing…"
Robert glanced at her.
"I might be a world traveler but I don't particularly care about culture inside my own house." He tapped his boots a few times to shake off possible dust before stepping inside. "Come, let's get you all situated."
Once inside, Leona noticed there was enough space beneath the wide catwalk to make room for sofas and big cushioned seats. On the very right side of the room, she noticed someone's black hair peeking out from behind a sofa that was angled against a crackling fireplace.
'Is that…?'
Leona couldn't help but go out of the group and walk towards the seated figure. As she got close enough to tell who it was, she uttered.
"Phoebe?"
"Hm?" The high elf tilted her head and saw the tactician. She was wearing a comfortable white cotton shirt. "Oh, welcome back Princess…"
The tone of her voice felt different in a way. As opposed to the confident and indomitable assassin, she seemed a bit meek and dispirited. It bothered Leona slightly which prompted her to ask.
"What's wrong?"
"It's… nothing…"
"We'll have food ready in about ten minutes or so." Robert made sure to raise his voice so everyone present could hear him. "Just rest easy and kill some time before we eat."
He then proceeded to close the wooden double door behind him and head to the kitchen that was on a separate section of the room through another double door made of a different material just beneath the catwalk.
Krieg was accompanied by Setsuna and Yuna to one of the sofas beneath the library while Kaeli decided to head upstairs to read a book. In the meantime, Tomoe took out a piece of cloth from a nearby wooden stool and used it to clean the round table.
Seeing how everyone was just taking their time, Leona turned her attention back to Phoebe.
"It doesn't seem like it was nothing. Is it something that you can't tell me?"
"No it's just… I don't know what to do anymore…" She leaned slightly forward and buried her head between her hands. "After all this time… all this suffering and hatred…"
The tactician wanted to understand what was going on in her mind, so she decided to go around the couch to sit beside her and then it was when she noticed the high elf's lower body.
"Wait… Phoebe, how do you have legs?!"
She was wearing shorts made out of denim fabric which showed her bare legs that were previously dismembered by Jakob back in Londria. Phoebe tilted her head towards Leona, her eyes were void of any light.
"Right… I didn't talk to you after Master did this…" She leaned back and lifted both legs while slowly tilting her feet in circles. "He had two slimes that could morph into different body parts which he used to 'repay' my efforts for bringing you all here…"
"That… that is incredible Phoebe!" Leona rushed to her side and hugged her around the neck with her only arm. Her voice began to crack. "I'm… I'm so glad…"
That made the high elf feel a bit uncomfortable.
"Princess… you don't need to show sympathy for me…"
"No, I'm… I always thought you didn't deserve to suffer such fate…"
She could no longer hold back the tears as she hugged her even tighter.
"Princess, you're hugging me too hard…"
She quickly let go of her.
"Ah, I'm sorry."
It took a while for Leona to calm down and finally sit beside the high elf. The disheartened assassin decided to speak about everything that happened after they parted ways earlier in the day.
"He took both of us to the laboratory where he kept both the slime samples and 'them'." Phoebe was massaging the side of her own left arm with her right hand. "My mother had been alive ever since that day. The day I swore to kill my own sister…"
Leona could almost feel how troubled she was. For someone who devoted their entire life for revenge; to nurture such incredible strength in order to kill someone that shared her own blood—only to discover that said strength was ultimately for nothing and her life-long hatred for her sister was unjustified. It would of course stir emotions in her heart that she never felt before.
"Did Kaeli say anything?"
"No… not really… she was just as surprised as I was." She clenched both hands into tight fists as she pressed them slightly against her thighs. "But I envy her. She never held any hatred for me. No… it was plainly obvious that she loved me all this time but I… I hated her. For the longest time I thought she was the person I had to kill in order to avenge my mother." She opened her hands and both pale palms were slightly red. "But now…? I don't know what I should do…"
"Then, there is only one thing you should do." Leona had a warm smile on her face. "You should spend time with your sister and make up for all this time that you two have been apart."
Phoebe's eyes widened a bit before she eventually averted her gaze.
"Do I even deserve to be by her side after all this time? The hatred I felt for her was the reason why I wore the mantle of an assassin." She glared at her own open palms. "If I killed her then… then what would Mother say?"
"Hey now." Leona gently bumped her shoulder against hers. "You haven't killed her. Don't think of the ifs, but instead the here and now."
"..." Phoebe stared at the floor in front of her feet with a troubled expression. "I can't sort out these feelings inside my chest… this hatred, this anger…" She clenched her hand against her chest. "These feelings are what kept me moving forward but now… it feels like it'll crush my heart…"
Leona grabbed her hand and shook her head.
"Then, let this anger and hatred be what will protect your family from now on. Wield those blades not to kill, but to protect." She had a confident expression on her face. "You kept me safe when I couldn't protect myself. Now you can use that experience to protect your sister from now on."
"Kaeli wouldn't need protection…" Phoebe averted her gaze from her eyes. "She is the most formidable mage I know, there is no point in me wielding my blades to protect someone that can annihilate anyone by just pointing a finger at them."
"She isn't as powerful as before, Phoebe." Leona opted for a more serious tone seeing how she was having a hard time getting to her. "She renounced her oath as a paladin."
The high elf's eyes went wide as she slowly turned to Leona with genuine fear in her gaze.
"What did you say?"
"Wait… she didn't tell you?"
"No. That is…"
At that moment, the door to the kitchen swung open with Robert bringing in plates of food.
"Dinner's ready!" He shouted while carrying a huge pot of steaming hot stew with two other large ceramic dark green plates floating on each side of him. "Come grab a plate and sit down! Tomoe, get two forks, knives and spoons for me please."
"At once."
She bowed slightly before heading off to the kitchen. In the meantime he placed the pot that was almost the size of a watermelon on top of the round table.
Seeing how everyone was getting ready to have dinner, Leona decided to stand up and look around for Kaeli—who was making her way downstairs after leaving a book open on the table to finish it later.
"Ka-"
Leona was about to call out to her but the younger sister grabbed her shirt and shook her head. Kaeli glanced briefly at Leona but then walked past them and headed towards the table.
"I'll… I'll talk to her later." Phoebe whispered to her while averting her gaze as she continued to speak. "Can you… can you help me walk there?"
"Huh?" Leona looked at her legs and realized it might have been difficult for her to walk after only recently recovering her limbs. "Ah. Mmm, no problem."
After kneeling beside her, Phoebe placed her left arm around Leona's neck, who in turn, stood up to shoulder some of her weight. However, contrary to her expectations, the high elf was surprisingly light.
It was clear she wasn't used to having her own legs to walk as each time she took a small step forward, her foot would tremble before she put her entire weight on it.
"Sorry but I need to take it slow. It still hurts a bit to walk…"
"Don't worry, I'm here for you."
She took yet another step forward and her body felt shaky which prompted Leona to squeeze the side of her hip a bit tighter.
"Ugh… thank you Princess."
"You can call me Leona you know." She chuckled a bit. "It feels strange to be called Princess by you after all we've been through together."
"...I'm sorry for everything. Leona."
"Hey now, why are you apologizing?"
"I put my mission above all else and I thought I wouldn't mind if you hated me for my choices but here you are now, helping this ungrateful and snob high elf."
"Don't downplay yourself like this Phoebe." She gave her a light squeeze on her hips. "We all commit mistakes. If I were to treat you badly after all you've done for me, I would be the one being called ungrateful here. I'll help you figure out how to approach your sister."
"Mmhm… thank you, Leona."
Slowly, they made their way to the table. Leona helped her sit down while she grabbed a nearby chair and placed it on Phoebe's right side.
"Ren! Come out of the kitchen!" Robert raised his voice just enough for him to hear it. "Also bring some glass cups!"
"How many?!"
A male voice shouted back from the kitchen. Hearing clearly this time, Leona deduced he was in his mid twenties to thirties.
"Ten! Unless you plan on dropping one on the floor like last time."
"T-that won't happen again!"
Leona chuckled lightly before she asked Phoebe.
"Who is Ren?"
"He is the son of a general that recently passed away while fighting the death angels to the east." Phoebe glanced at Tomoe who was coming out of the kitchen with two sets of cutlery. "She is his childhood friend that was left orphaned by the war against death angels. Lady Yuna told me that she is quite formidable with magic."
"Yuna said so?" Leona kept looking at the waitress who was bringing the cutlery on a tray. "Hmmm… I should ask her for suggestions then…"
Phoebe turned to her with a raised eyebrow.
"Why is that?"
"Oh, I forgot to tell you, I'm training magic under Yuna."
"Lady Yuna is training you personally?" She blinked a few times as if she wasn't believing what she just heard. "Wow… incredible…"
"What?"
"No it's just… Lady Yuna was not one to interact much with strangers. Especially if they aren't directly related to her family, which basically is Master and Lady Setsuna." She seemed genuinely surprised by what Leona had accomplished. "I'm impressed…"
"More like she was excited to talk to me. I don't know what I have done to deserve such attention but I'm thankful all the same."
"I spoke about you to her." Robert butted in as he pulled a chair to sit beside Leona. "The tales of a young princess that saved countless lives by predicting when death angels would come and how to properly deal with them. Any child would find that incredible."
"You… you told her about me?"
"Yes, I couldn't think of anyone young enough that she could look up to, while also being a good influence." He had a nostalgic gaze as he leaned back against the chair. "Contrary to appearances, I had trouble raising those two to be proper ladies."
'Look up to… huh?'
Leona ended up looking at Yuna—who was on the other side of the table setting up a few chairs. When she noticed the tactician's gaze, she simply smiled and gave her a friendly wave with her hand.
The tactician answered with a faint smile while raising her open hand.
"I'm glad you managed to make her open up to you." Robert said as he snapped his fingers and brought forth the half-finished glass of wine out of thin air. "Aside from her sister, Yuna wasn't really keen on talking with strangers."
"Really?" Leona turned to him with a bit of a surprised face. "I wouldn't have imagined her to be like that."
"It all happened after her mother died… it was all thanks to Lastraeous trying to make a point to me." His fingers tightened around the glassware he held, which seemed to be close to cracking. "But enough of that depressing talk. Tonight we are here to celebrate a turning point in history as we know it."
Others joined the table. Leona, Robert, Miyamoto, Setsuna, Yuna, Krieg, Kaeli, Tomoe and finally Phoebe, all of them were sitting with their own plates in front of them.
Only Krieg and Leona had different cutlery beside them thanks to Tomoe's thoughtfulness as the rest of the people were using the more unusual chopsticks.
"Young master!" Tomoe shouted. "Is the rice ready?"
"Yes, a minute please!" The door to the kitchen swung open one last time as a young man of jet black hair, deep blue eyes and somewhat pale complexion showed up carrying a sizable pot full of rice. "Ugh, this thing is heavy!"
"Tsk, tsk." Robert snapped his finger and the pot started to levitate out of his grasp. "You need to put more effort in your mana control, Ren."
"Haha… it's not as easy as you say Master Robert." He was wearing a similar outfit as Tomoe, a white robe tucked within a black long skirt that concealed his entire lower body. Once his eyes passed by the table and noticed Leona, he placed each of his hands on his thighs before bowing low. "It's a pleasure to meet you, Lady Leona."
"Ah." She stood up from her seat. "The pleasure's all mine. Ren."
"Go get a chair for yourself Ren after you bring in the cups." Robert said while slowly bringing the pot of rice over onto the table. Once he placed it down, he glanced at the dark ceramic plate full of cut filets of a pinkish fish and shook his head. "Right… I forgot the soy sauce for the sashimi." He turned to the young man again. "I'll bring the cups, go get the chair for yourself. I'll be back in a moment."
"Ah- thank you sir Robert."
He stood up and went back to the kitchen. Meanwhile Leona sat down and looked at everyone sitting by the table.
Setsuna and Krieg were talking between themselves while Miyamoto seemed to be paying attention to it. Yuna was playing with a paper crane by using magic to levitate it. Tomoe was finishing preparing the dishes with proper utensils to scoop out both the stew and rice while Ren was pushing up another chair between Tomoe and Phoebe.
The two high elf sisters were the only ones not interacting with anybody while avoiding looking at each other.
'I should talk to them after dinner…'
Leona's thoughts were interrupted once Robert appeared beside her seat with an empty plate which was quickly being filled to the brim with slices of fish and garnished with a white shredded vegetable.
"Here you go." He put the plate in front of her. "Enjoy."
She quickly glanced at the strange colored fish slices and questioned him.
"Wait, what are these?"
"Raw fish. You eat it by dipping one side of it in this sauce." He pushed a smaller shallow dark green ceramic dish filled with a black sauce beside the bigger plate. "The pinkish one is salmon and the red one is tuna-"
Aside from his first sentence, nothing else registered in her mind.
"Did you just say raw?"
He was placing down empty glass cups around the table for each one of them.
"Yeah?"
"Isn't it dangerous to eat raw meat?"
"If left for too long, yeah. But this was freshly caught this afternoon and kept alive until a few minutes ago. Just try one, if you don't like it you can just pass it to Phoebe. I'm sure she'll eat every single slice."
"Nngh…" Needless to say she was skeptical. Arcadia was not exactly known for eating fish given the central location in the continent which made even dried seafood a rare sight. "Might as well try I suppose…"
She picked the fork and stabbed a pinkish salmon slice and dipped it into the dark sauce. Phoebe was staring attentively at her as well as Robert from the other side. She looked at both of them before locking her eyes on the piece of salmon.
'Here goes nothing…'
She chomped it down in one bite. At first the slightly cold and unusual soft texture combined with the salty flavor of the soy sauce was off-putting until she sank her teeth into the fish.
Her eyes widened in a pleasant surprise. The delicate savory taste harmonized with the slightly oily flavor and the salty tang of the soy sauce which brought everything together in an ecstatic experience of flavors.
"I take it that you liked it?" Robert had a smirk on his face. "If you mix the shredded daikon with a bit of soy sauce it becomes an even better experience."
"Daikon?"
"Yes, this white radish." He pointed at the jumbled shredded white strings. "It's called daikon."
"Hmm…" She put the fork through the small ball of radish before pulling out a chunk of it. "That's too much…"
Phoebe used her own chopsticks to take some of it off the fork. Leona looked at her with a faint smile on her face.
"Thank you."
"You're welcome."
She stabbed another salmon filet with the fork and dipped both the radish and fish in the sauce before eating it. Unlike the salmon's soft texture, the shredded daikon was crunchy with a peppery taste that burned her tongue ever so slightly.
Once she finished chewing and swallowed, she turned to both Phoebe and Robert.
"This is really good."
"Glad that you liked it." Robert said with a warm smile on his face. He then raised his empty glass cup. "Everyone, a bit of your time if you please." The noise died down as everyone's eyes turned to him. Leona settled down her fork while she listened. "With our combined might, we may yet change the course of history. Too long have this world suffered at the whims of greater beings and today marks the end of it. Let us toast in celebration of this newfound alliance."
He snapped his left fingers and open bottles appeared floating beside each person on the table. Each one had a different flavor of juice, however both Miyamoto and himself had vintage red wine bottles each.
With another flick of his hand, all bottles began pouring its content inside the glass for each person and after everyone was served, he raised his glass once again.
"To us. Cheers!"
Leona reservedly raised her cup as she said with everyone.
"Cheers!"