After their conversation, Luna finally quieted down and left. Her presence in Truth’s mind faded away slowly, though not wholly. She was still there but resting, as Truth had suggested earlier. Finally, Truth was indeed at peace and could focus.

“What did he have to say?” Her father asked, thinking she had spoken to the Master.

Truth shook her head. “Nothing special,” she lied, and not well either.

Slyran arched his brow but said nothing as Varis approached and touched her shoulder. “Does he talk to you like this all the time?” He asked curiously.

Truth pursed her lips and then shrugged. “Not lately, but he used never to shut up.”

“Kids,” Slyran said, “Lets not talk about this openly.” He waved a finger around towards the terrified citizens and injured.

Truth cringed slightly and rubbed her neck. He was right; she shouldn’t be speaking so casually. “Yeah, sorry.” She nodded as Varis shrugged, stepped back, and looked further down the road.

“Whoa!” Varis exclaimed.

Truth turned to look at him and saw him pointing toward the north, where thick plumes of smoke rose high into the sky. The fire was close, most likely at the park’s northern end. Slyran shielded his eyes as he watched the smoke rise and sighed.

“I don’t think those were from the bombs…”

“And you would be correct,” A familiar voice said from their right.

Turning to look, Isa approached them from the triage tent. She was dressed in a nurse’s gown stained with blood and grime. Her expression was exhaustion, yet a hint of relief could be seen as she looked over them all.

“Isa,” Slyran started and stepped towards her, though the serelli held her hand up before he could say anything.

“What are you doing here?” She asked. “Is everything okay?”

“Momma is asleep!” Varis said, brushing past Truth and running over to Slyran. Isa blinked and looked at the boy, who continued, “She won’t wake up. Luna said they touched and–” He was silenced when Slyran held a hand to his mouth.

“Cailynn is comatosed,” he said simply in a low voice.

Isa’s eyes widened. “What happened?” She whispered, barely loud enough for Truth to hear as she strained to listen.

Truth began to walk closer as Slyran said, “It’s a long story, Luna can tell it to you, but…” He eyed those around them, and Isa took a hint.

“Alright, let us find a more private place. Kegan has me on a break; I can spare some time.” She motioned for them to follow. “Come, I think I know someplace we can talk.”

“Wait,” Truth said, stopping them. “What about mother? We can’t leave her alone in the wagon for too long.”

Slyran nodded. “I’ll stay with her. Luna, go with Isa, tell her everything you told me, okay?”

Truth smiled and was relieved that Slyran would trust her. Of course, he would. You’ve done so much and proven to them that you can be reliable.

“Can I go to?” Varis asked their father.

“Yes, but stay close to your sister and Isa,” Slyran said, returning to the wagon. Varis beamed and looked at Truth, seemingly excited to finally be part of something, even if it was just tagging along.

Truth simply shook her head with a smile and gestured for him to follow close as they trailed behind Isa. Technically, being an employee of Dr. Kegan, going to places where they shouldn’t be wouldn’t be an issue. That is, if Kegan is around to vouch for them if someone tries to stop them.

Nobody tried to stop them. Isa had led Truth and Varis toward another tent further away across the park path from the leading clinic and triage. Truth guessed it was an army tent based on its drab olive color and the military-stamped crates within. Only one guard was stationed outside and questioned Isa briefly when the three approached, but after a brief explanation, Isa could get them inside and away from all those around them who could listen in.

“We only have a few minutes before the guard out there gets suspicious,” Isa said, facing the two children. “What happened out there?” she asked.

Truth took a deep breath and began to explain as best she could for the second time that day. Once again, she left out the events involving Cereb and their fear of the Master instead of leaving the story as her experiencing Cailynn’s memories before being violently ripped back into the material realm.

Of course, having such a short time to retell the story, she paraphrased much of it. Varis, who had heard the extended version of the story, wasn’t so helpful.

“You’re not going to tell her about those alien guys who ruled everything?” Varis asked. “Or how they could build gods?”

“That’s not important right now,” Truth said, annoyed.

“Excuse me?” Isa blinked.

Truth waved her hands dismissively. “I can explain more later. In the end, during my meeting with the Master, Mother came and touched me. Which somehow resulted in her getting sucked into the Cerebellium with me. Our minds merged, and we got shunted out into a void where the Master had to rip us back out. It wasn’t a pleasant experience. Even now I’m still suffering the effects of it.”

“What kind of effects?” Isa asked.

Truth sighed. “My magic hurts me. Whenever I cast a spell, I get a huge migraine, I don’t know why. Whatever it is, I think Mother might be experiencing something similar but far, far worse.”

“Have you tried speaking to the, Master?” Isa asked. “Perhaps he knows what’s going on.”

Truth nodded. “That was the first thing Lu–I did when I woke up.” Isa arched a brow, and Truth bit her lip. Shit, don’t show her that you’re insane already. “He isn’t responding to me again. I don’t know why, perhaps he got tuckered out again.”

Isa shook her head. “For an all-powerful being he really isn’t that strong.”

“Luna says he isn’t a god,” Varis said matter of factly.

Isa glanced at him. “Is that so?”

Truth once again waved a hand dismissively. “That isn’t relevant.” God, I’m starting to sound like Shaed.

Isa glanced at her and then pointed towards Truth’s skirt pocket. “What about the jerk in your caster. They seemed to know a lot about what was going on.”

Truth frowned. Well, shit, we hadn’t thought about them, had we?

“Uh,” Was all Truth could say, and she blushed as she reached into her pocket and pulled out the caster. Surprisingly, it was still in good condition despite being thrown about during the fight with Putinov. “I hadn’t tried it, though. The pulse we released would’ve disabled it…”

But magic is coming back. At least we can cast spells. There’s no harm in giving it a try.

“Should I try it now?” Truth was asked first before going through it.

Isa thought for a second, then shook her head. “No, not here. Too many soldiers and magisters about, if one with ether detection catches you with anything magical in here, they’ll suspect us. We can try later.” Isa turned and grabbed a few bottles off a nearby crate and motioned for Truth and Varis to follow her out of the tent.

Stepping through the flap, Isa nodded to the nearby guard and walked towards the clinic. Varis ran up beside her and looked up at her. “Are you able to help, Momma? Or will Dr. Kegan be able to?”

Isa pursed her lips in thought. “I don’t know, child, what Luna describes is… unprecedented.”

“Unpress–what?” Varis blinked.

“She means she’s never seen it before,” Truth clarified, and Varis frowned.

“Well that’s dumb… people wake up from sleep all the time!” He huffed. “Why can’t Momma?”

Isa sighed and glanced over her shoulder at Truth with a sorrowful expression, one which she shared. “I have a question, though,” Isa said as they stepped back onto the park path but stopped as a wagon carrying injured soldiers rolled towards them.

“And what would that be?” Truth asked as she eyed those onboard. So many children… Why are they bringing them here? Aren’t there other, more proper hospitals they could be going to?

“Has Cailynn been talking in her sleep?” Isa asked, and Truth’s ears twitched.

She looked at the feline. “What? No…” She shook her head. “Why do you ask?”

Isa glanced at her. “I ask because your Aunt Saria was brought here about two hours ago.”

Truth’s eyes widened as Varis gasped. “Aunt Saria is here?” He asked.

Isa nodded. “Oscar brought her here. Like Cailynn, she was unconscious. Except… She was mumbling incoherently.”

The wagon passed, and the three of them began to cross. They cut across the grassy field and walked towards the outdoor section of the triage, where army doctors and nurses worked diligently. Truth gulped nervously and asked, “What was she saying?”

Putinov was manipulating Aunt Saria, but his shell was destroyed. Mother said she didn’t feel anything else controlling her, but… Maybe she was just delusional. Or having a dream, perhaps?

“Nonsense, really,” Isa said. “She’s been babbling numbers.” She shook her head.

Numbers… Huh. Truth frowned at this. “Where is she?” She asked. “Is she outside or inside?”

Isa pointed towards the clinic tent. “Inside, she was one of the last to find an open spot before the flood of patients came.”

“Luna,” Varis said, “We should see her.” He smiled as Truth looked at him. “Maybe you can…” He lowered his voice and jazzed his hands. “Help her? She is family.”

Truth bit her lower lip. Like Luna, she did want to help people. She wanted to wave her hands as Varis did and make all the problems disappear. Except she had to think rationally. Healing the few here would only draw attention to her. More would flock to her, and she would heal them until the issue kept compounding on itself.

She could not and would not heal everyone. It was impossible. The truth is that she couldn’t save everyone.

But we can try… A small part of her that was Luna said. What bit of her that was still conscious, that is.

“I can’t, Varis,” Truth said, her brow furrowing. “I told you guys my skills are… Stunted right now. Using it would harm me, and others might notice me doing it.” Varis pouted and frowned.

“She’s right, Varis,” Isa said as we drew near the triage and walked close to its edge to avoid obstructing those working. “We do not know what is wrong with Luna; secondly, we are trying to avoid people seeing Luna do… y’know.” She glanced at Varis.

The boy huffed. “This is stupid, why try and hide it?”

Truth sighed. “We just have to, please, don’t bring it–” A hand she hadn’t noticed lunged out from one of the triage beds and snatched Truth by her hand.

She yelped and spun to see an older man, bloodied and bruised, looking at her with pleading eyes. The man was familiar. Where had she… Then she remembered. Luna had met him, not directly.

He was one of the Aerin priests with Father Marco…

“Chi-Child…” The man croaked. “Child of Father–An-Angel of Kenchala…”

Truth’s heart began to thump heavily in her chest. “I-I’m sorry,” She said, trying to wiggle her hand out of his grasp. “I-I’m afraid you have the wrong person–”

The man sputtered. “I-It is you, that voice… Blessed Child, savior of–”

Isa stepped forward and pried the man’s hand off of Truth’s. “We’re sorry, but you have the wrong girl.”

“You must help us,” the man pleaded. “My family, our families. Father, I beg for your mercy…” His voice trailed off as Isa pulled them away from him.

She looked at Varis. “That is exactly why Luna shouldn’t use her magic,” she hissed, and he nodded.

Truth returned to her father shortly after the encounter with the Aerin priest. She didn’t want to risk any other incidents with those who may recognize her. Varis, on the other hand, was adamant about seeing Aunt Saria and left with Isa shortly after checking in with Father. During this time, Isa said she would like Kegan to spare time to check on Cailynn.

“Already you’ve become a religious focal point?” Slyran asked jokingly as Truth sat in the back of the wagon with her mother. She kept her head low so those passing by wouldn’t see unless they directly looked into the cart.

“I don’t want to think about that, besides, it was just one guy…”

Slyran cocked an eyebrow at her. “He called you the ‘Angel of Kenchala,’ Luna, a title like that seems pretty big…”

Truth bit her lower lip. “That wasn’t even that long ago, how would people already know about what I did?” She asked.

“News travels fast, dear,” he said, “especially with archeos nowadays. Look at your caster for instance. People probably had some of those in that army camp and sent out word of what you did. Or heck, the wizards there probably sent out ether messages. You healed an entire hospitals worth of people love, not even a powerful priestess could’ve done that.”

Truth didn’t respond to that as she watched over her mother. Even now, bundled in her blankets, she looked so peaceful. Her eyes continued to dance beneath her lids, and she occasionally made a slight sound as if trying to speak. Truth tried to listen in, recalling what Isa had said about her aunt, though what Cailynn made were gibberish words. It was… oddly cute.

She sighed and crossed her arms. Then, her head perked up. “Wait my caster!” She recalled what her father had just said and Isa’s suggestion earlier. Their wagon was parked on the side of the path a little bit away from the clinic, leaving them with some semblance of privacy. Using the caster here wouldn’t alert any soldiers, so she hoped, and therefore, she fished it out of her pocket again.

Slyran looked over his shoulder. “I’ve been meaning to ask about that thing, anyword from that asshole–eh, I mean jerk?”

Truth smirked. “Not yet, I assumed the caster was dead due to that pulse that took out everything.”

Slyran thought for a moment, then nodded. “Yeah, that makes sense.”

Truth opened the locket and stared at her reflection. What she saw caused her to freeze. The person she saw was… different. A girl with exhausted yet hard blue eyes stared at her, her face dirty and scratched, her cheeks thin and hollow. The child before her did not resemble how any kid should look. Truth knew who this kid was. She was Luna—herself. Except she also wasn’t.

Because now, she was Truth. This is us, Truth thought. This girl we see has always been us. She’s different now, but that’s because we’ve been through a lot in such a short period.

A small part of her shivered. It was that faint bit of insecurity that Luna held. The one who always felt anxious when seeing her reflection. The part of her that declined what they saw. The girl in the mirror, that wasn’t them, it never was. Why would they be this cute little thing? They shouldn’t like having this body. This wasn’t really them.

But that isn’t true. Truth reminded herself that this is us, and it always has been.

She smiled, and the exhausted elven girl in the mirror smiled back.

“Admiring yourself?” Slyran asked, pulling her back to the present.

Truth blinked and looked up. “I look like trash,” she said bluntly. Her father started, then snorted with laughter. “You aren’t supposed to laugh at that!” She threw her arms up.

“I-I’m sorry! I-I–” He laughed some more. “I wasn’t expecting you to say that!” He took a few deep breaths. “You’re right though, heh, I’m sorry. You look fine, Luna, nothing a little bath wouldn’t fix right up.”

Truth played it up by puffing her cheeks and returning to the caster. “How would I work this anyway?” She asked. “Oscar explained how to use it, but I don’t know Ami’s real name. That was one we came up with together. Therefore, I don’t know if it’ll work…”

Father frowned. “You’re right, I think…” He rubbed his neck. “And the two best people to ask are out of commission,” he said, looking at her sleeping mother.

Truth began to think. We know one name and a face. We heard Shaed mention them…

She began to recall what Shaed had said: “Cereb?” Shaed mused. “So it has a name now? Venra had warned the construct may develop its own consciousness given time…”

Venra… We’ve never heard a name like that, and Shaed said he worked with a Far Reacher in the past. The one who created Lucien, was that their name? Well, there’s only one way to find out.

“Contact, Ami,” Truth said and watched as her reflection shimmered and rippled like a puddle of water. After a moment, the image settled, and nothing happened, so she sighed. “Didn’t work… as expected.” She shrugged.

Well, it was worth a shot. Time for the next name. Picture the painting of that purple-plated man in Shaed’s memories, then say his name.

“Contact, Venra,” Truth said, picturing the painting Luna had seen of the strange-looking elven man in purple plate standing beside Shaed. Once again, the caster’s reflection of her began to warp and ripple before eventually fading to black.

Truth blinked. “What the hell? Did it…”

Slyran turned to look at her. “Did it work? Who’d you contact?”

“I, uh,” Truth started, then stopped herself when a new voice she’d never heard before came from the archeo device.

Their tone sounded male. It was deep and accented. “Now, Dreamer, this is… Interesting… Did Shaed tell you my name?”

“During times of conflict and or war, signers of this deal agree to never unleash destruction of astral spells or higher upon one another’s nation and people. One who violates this deal shall open themselves to full and equal retaliation in kind.”

Arcane Codes of War – Article I

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