After this night, Arja was like another person. She became confident and joyful. Even if she was not talking except for a few words to Typhon or the General, the dark shadow around her disappeared.
As time flew by, they did more and more missions together. Arja became good with a saber in her hands and their partnership became more and more respected.
They gained in popularity inside the institution. For Typhon's joy, many girls started to turn around him. He was very happy about it, explaining to them that he already had a partner with great satisfaction.
As for Arja, people learned more and more about her attitude in the battles. They had a feeling of fear and respect for her each time they saw her. She didn't need a lot of time to be known as the Butcher with a saber. This was an amazing contrast between the wind dancer Typhon and her, massive as a rock. She was smashing more than cutting, as proof, her saber was not even sharp. It happened that she had an incredible force that she didn't know about. In her heart, she liked to dream that her heritage may be there somewhere. That the ghost of her parents was there in her blood to give her power. After all, her family had countless generals, kings, and war heroes.
This feeling made her truly happy, each time she was using her weapon, she felt supported by her beloved brother Ulrich. She could feel his hands around hers as she was cutting her enemies.
After one year together, Typhon and she were like two fingers of the same hand. They were using the training place together by night. Arja noticed a woman in a corner, she smiled as she did a sign to Typhon discreetly. Typhon rolled around Arja's sword and whispered.
"Do you think she is jealous?"
Typhon punched and Arja's blade flew after these words. Typhon used this moment to slide behind her and hugged her firmly. The girl in the corner threw her fist into a tree before disappearing. Arja watched him.
"You should not play with their feelings."
He smiled in response.
"I don't play, they all know it."
She placed a little knife under his arm and pressed. He rapidly lost his sword and in a short time, she reversed the situation. She pushed him onto the floor.
"Ok not bad, don't kill me, don't kill me."
He placed his hands on his face simulating fear. She could not resist laughing. He grabbed her hips and pulled her onto the floor beside him.
They were together laying on the grass, watching the stars. She had special attention for her little star, always there. Typhon was brutally nostalgic. His joy disappeared for a moment.
"They say, somewhere in the sky, there is a city of angels."
Arja understood what he meant at the moment, she grabbed her pendant of Yshnaa. The goddess of the pure and nobles. She completed his words.
"They say the nobles and braves will join the city after their death."
He turned his face at her, she could see that his eyes were shiny. She sensed his pain.
He placed his hand on her pendant. Yshnaa was not a goddess revered by the common people. Only the royal blood and war heroes were interested in her protection and had enough resources to purchase such kinds of pendants.
She knew he wanted to ask but he respected her too much for this, questions were burning his lips. She took a deep breath.
"Long time ago, I was a princess. Yshnaa was the goddess I was told to revere to bear a good heir to the throne one day."
She unconsciously put a hand on her abdomen. When she thought of it, she wanted to laugh a bit. All her life she learned how to glorify the goddess, in the end, she could not have children and there was no throne anymore. Typhon opened his eyes wide. He knew Arja wasn't a nobody but he didn't expect that she was so high in the hierarchy.
"Are you… Are you Arja from Faranza? This Arja?"
His words were not assured anymore. His tone varied like he didn't know how to talk anymore. She acknowledged.
"Yes, this Arja, I guess I don't need to pray for Yshnaa anymore. I keep this pendant as he was offered by my brother."
Typhon watched closely the pendant, he realized it was pure gold with two letters engraved on the side. He didn't realize he raised his hand to caress the pendant. She let him do it. When he raised his eyes he saw her stargazing. She said with a melancholic tone.
"I believe this city exists, I believe your sister and my brother are there waiting for us to join them."
He replaced his hand on his chest and watched the little star. He felt transported by her words.
At this time they were doing a lot of missions for the institution. Sometimes they had to kill cadavers in the forest, and sometimes they had to kill humans trying to help the plague to infest the cities.
They went to the mountain in the east to destroy a nest of fresh dead bodies packed there to rot. After five days of travel, they finally found the cave they were searching for.
"I never saw so many of them in the same place"
Typhon was deeply surprised, there were maybe a hundred of them laying there waiting to be raised again.
Arja was vigilant, she had goose skin and the smell gave her slight nausea. The mission was to burn them all. There were many different bodies. Children, men, women. Arja didn't know if burning them was the best solution at this moment but there was no question possible. Typhon started the fire on one side and Arja did the other.
As they were coming back they felt like the plague was gaining forces and was building a true big army. One of the rules of the institution was to not try guessing anything from the world, they had no right to questions, no right to know what happens. The only thing that matters was to obey the direct order in silence. As they were taking a short rest in an inn before coming back they stared at each other in a gloomy mood. They both knew what the other was thinking, they didn't need to talk about it. They knew things would change soon and not for the better. Their missions would be more and more difficult and, maybe, the institution would be involved in some bigger fight shortly. They came back in silence. Typhon, ordinary so joyful and smiling, didn't show any happiness. He directly went to his room and she did the same. Without a word. Maybe, for the first time, they were afraid to lose the other in a future battle that could be too hard for them.