"Forcing a gentleman like me to raise his voice, how outrageous!"

As the newcomer complained with obvious annoyance, Tristessa watched as Aurelia slowly lowered her weapon, surprise replacing some of the inhuman rage that had been building within her.

"What are you doing…? You! Wraith!" the woman growled, causing the hopeful, gray-eyed girl to focus on her savior. Or, rather, the person she had brought with her. "What does this mean?! Who asked you to bring that meddler here?!"

The black bird— the stormcrow from Stormfall Dominion— contrasted with the shadows in the hall's entrance against Vektra Malak Nergal's porcelain mask. With her hood down and both hands inside her black garb, the assassin made no other movement than to stand firmly by the right-hand door.

Her companion, the two-meter-tall man, was bathed in the light of the candelabras as he took his first steps into the hall. He was in his forties or fifties. Coppery colored skin; long, straight hair that reached his shoulders, and red eyes that shone with that typical Nekromian charm. A mischievous smile was almost hidden beneath his abundant goatee.

"How disrespectful..." The owner of the powerful voice sighed with feigned disappointment. He showed no fear in the face of the She-Dragoon, unlike Tristessa. He was someone who had no reason to feel intimidated, someone of higher status and rank than the Governor of the Dominion herself. "Sometimes I think you'll never stop being that ill-mannered, bad-tempered girl who hated reading and studying, my dear Aurelia."

"I wasn't talking to you, interferer." Striking the ground with the tip of her glaive, the woman with dark blue hair glared at the newcomer. The sharp, metallic sound made Mystia snarl with hateful rage, slumped against the wall between two suits of armor from bygone eras. "I asked you a question, Wraith! Why did you bring him here?!"

Silence. She awaited orders that, with the tall man present, were of little consequence if they came from Aurelia. And this defiance from the Imperial assassin only enraged Aurelia further, while the four guests exchanged glances, unsure whether to lower their guard or not.

"Just in time…" Tristessa heard Auron whisper to her. "Your girlfriend brought a big shot to save our skins."

"G-girlfriend?" Feeling a wave of heat spread across her cheeks and ears, the young woman refused to let that mockery obscure an important detail. "That man…Is he someone important?"

"Important is an understatement," Astoria added, the fingers of her right hand still close to the hilt of her weapon, refusing to relax.

"Yes. It's impossible not to recognize the symbol on his cloak," Severus chimed in, conveniently forgetting that Tristessa had no way of knowing that information. "He is…"

Before the thaumaturge could continue, the newcomer spoke again, his commanding voice impossible to ignore.

"Vektra, my dear, bring us chairs, please," he ordered, without looking back to confirm that the Wraith had indeed bowed her head and left the hall. He stopped a few feet away from Aurelia and the visitors. "Please excuse Aurelia's discourtesy. She never cared about learning manners, much less how to treat guests."

"You're treading on thin ice, old man…"

"And what will you do about it? Cut me to pieces with your terrifying glaive?"

"…"

If Tristessa learned anything in those dread-inducing minutes, it was that there was always, without exception, a bigger fish. She had seen Aurelia Eramisaptor overcome an adversity like the Evil Dream and dispatch the four of them with ease. She herself had even come to believe she was going to be arrested, or worse, before the appearance of that individual who was above her in rank. Someone capable of responding with dignity to the She-Dragoon, leaving her speechless, seething with anger as she gripped the shaft of her weapon tightly.

Vektra returned right away, accompanied by a couple of Imperial guards carrying chairs for everyone—solid black wood with high, curved backs. They positioned them in the middle of the room, and the assassin made sure to place the two she had brought near Tristessa.

A convenient excuse to remain there near her, standing still as a statue. She no longer had any reason to hide the role her attraction to Tristessa had played in the unfolding of this audience. Now, it was clear and obvious to Aurelia's grim eyes.

"Tell me, Stormcrow. Did she convince you to be her errand girl with her sick and disgusting Discord?" the woman asked, a malicious taunt that Vektra -apparently- ignored. "Would you do anything just to sniff her ass like an animal in heat?"

"Come now, a lady like you shouldn't be so vulgar," the tall man scolded her, thanking the soldier who left the chair next to him and bowed before withdrawing. "Please take a seat."

The four obeyed. Tristessa, Auron, Astoria, Severus, and the tall man sat in that order. In the middle of the room, they formed a circle so they could all see each other. Only Aurelia remained standing, so angry that even if she had wanted to, she couldn't have stayed still, leaving her chair empty between the tall man and Tristessa.

"Don't let your guard down… Don't do anything stupid… Vektra got the help he promised, let's not waste it," Tristessa thought, certain that her companions were in the same inner crusade as her. "I hope this doesn't backfire."

The plan was going well; it was imperative not to make the slightest mistake that could ruin everything. And since the red-eyed man was someone Tristessa had never encountered in past loops, the difficulty of navigating this situation had just increased exponentially.

It was to be expected, but of the four, only Tristessa knew what it was like to fall into the unknown. The darkness of a rabbit hole. Finding a mind-breaking, terrible Death at the bottom.

"Perhaps you recognized me from the newspapers. I am Jonas Youngblood," the man introduced himself, standing cross-legged with his cane resting horizontally in his lap. "Imperial Advisor, and I represent the aspect of the Shield of Ill-Omen."

Astoria, Auron, and Severus knew who that man was, a fact evident from the moment he entered the hall of the bereft throne.

"Ill…Omen?"

But hearing that title made Tristessa unable to hide her obvious confusion. Visible enough for the man in the suit and tie to easily notice.

"Is something wrong?" The sudden but friendly-sounding question from Jonas Youngblood filled the young woman with discomfort. "Tristessa, isn't it? Vektra told me about you, of course. I thought she exaggerated about your soul being so rich in Discord… You must at least own a Divinity. Or am I wrong again?"

"No, no, you're not wrong, but my Divinity is… It's confusing, and I don't understand it. I'm sorry…," she said, glancing at her quiet, close, secret lover. To avoid looking at the fixed gaze of Aurelia, full of suspicion even though she was telling the truth. After all, Tristessa was thinking about her [Divinity of Death and Resurrection], and its full mechanics were still a mystery for her. "Please forgive me for my vague answer, or if I appear ignorant of your identity."

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"Excuse me?"

"She suffers from amnesia, Lord Youngblood. She remembers almost nothing about her life. Parents, friends, important milestones…," Auron hastened to explain, eliciting a surprised reaction from the Advisor and a snort of irritation from Aurelia. "Even until a few days ago, she couldn't even remember our governor's name."

"Oh, please…" Letting out that grunt under her breath, Aurelia shook her head, with no chance of her anger being quelled. Especially since Auron was telling the truth. A partial truth.

"…"

All eyes were on Tristessa, who focused on the rasping sigh she heard Stormcrow release, sounding deeper behind his mask.

"How terrible. I'm sorry to hear that, young lady," the red-eyed man said. Empathetic, he understood Tristessa's condition instantly. "Don't you know any scholars or healers who may know how to treat her condition, Mr. Malak Drakan?"

"I-I…? I don't have many contacts, and personally, well… I've had a few ideas about how I might be able to help her." Stammering, Severus hadn't expected Jonas to consult him, catching him completely off guard. It was an almost tender reaction, melting Tristessa's heart; especially because of the revelation that he cared about her mental state. "But first, I want her to help me save the Mercer-Archeos."

"Ha! You're cruel, elf…" Aurelia sneered, walking around the circle of chairs behind him. A smirk, almost a smile, formed on her beautiful face. "Don't you have any pity for a child who hit her head so hard?"

"It's only fair, Lady Eramisaptor…" Severus glanced at her sideways, with that atypical coldness of his, unique to the current loop from Tristessa's perspective. "You must already know how much I care for the Mercer-Archeos."

"Oh, of course… You're the only one in the city who threw yourself into the fire of their burning house to salvage their belongings, right?" Tristessa felt the tension rising, reaching an extreme peak as she watched Aurelia place her free hand on Severus's shoulder, completely unconcerned by the supernatural, infernal heat emanating from him. "I always wondered: didn't it occur to you about extinguish the flames with thaumaturgy? Or are you truly so incompetent that you don't know how to channel magical energy to make it rain?"

"Damn bitch…!"

"SEVERUS!"

When the blood elf tried to rise and give Aurelia an excuse to slaughter him with her glaive, Astoria stopped him with a powerful roar that startled Tristessa in her seat.

Not only did she manage to make Severus reconsider and sit back down, but she also earned a new expression of animosity from the ruler of the Dominion.

"Thank you, Miss Silverthorn." Taking advantage of the moment of silence afforded by the platinum-haired knightess, Jonas turned his attention back to Tristessa. "I'd have liked to learn more about you, Miss Irandell. I can't even begin to imagine what it must be like not to remember your entire life."

"W-well, it's… Not knowing who I am makes me feel very lonely," she stammered, noticing that her words slipped, sliding across a frozen ocean of sadness that represented the barrier blocking her memories. Blending into the frost that kept her mind palace, her refuge, her consciousness, all locked. "But luckily Astoria, Auron, and Severus are here with me. I value that greatly."

"I'm glad to hear that. It can't be easy having to deal with someone like me. Someone you don't know… You see, as one of the Imperial Advisors, my role is to be the Emperor's representative here in End-World. I'm the eyes and ears of His Imperial Majesty, [Valerion Andromalius Nightbane]."

When he pronounced the names and surname of the Emperor, Janos was overflowed with deep admiration, a reflection of a loyal subject.

"My job is not only to help Aurelia manage her Domain, but as the Shield of Ill-Omen, I also ensure that all citizens of the Empire know perfectly well, without a shadow of a doubt, the nature of what we have been facing for the last five hundred years. And what our fate will be if we fall to that vile, relentless evil that has caused us so much pain and despair… So that they never lower their guard, not even when the coming winds don't seem to bring storms."

With his explanation, Jonas made Tristessa understand the immense political authority he wielded. Enough to place him above even the ruler of a Dominion, and how critical his mission was to keep a broken, depressed, and almost hopeless society on high alert.

A constant fight against that nihilistic pessimism she had saw in every social stratum, from civilians like Tiara Archeos to lords like the very woman who watched them closely, never lowering her glaive for a second.

"I'm usually in my study, doing all the paperwork and bureaucratic tasks required by the local government," Jonas continued. "Vektra informing me about this meeting was the perfect distraction to break the routine."

"Is the wraith your Hidden Shadow, Lord Youngblood?" Auron asked, making Tristessa imagine a mischievous smile behind his handkerchief as he glanced briefly to the side, in her and Vektra's direction.

"Oh, no, not at all. I chose her to come with me to this region for purely strategic reasons. I want her to learn from Aurelia's Hidden Shadow; perhaps so that in the future she can take the place of the current guardian when he is no longer able to serve."

"…is it appropriate to discuss Sylas Roy Khan when he is not present, my lord?" Vektra asked, breaking the silence she had maintained since her life-saving arrival. "And releasing information that civilians like them shouldn't know?"

"I hate to admit it, but I agree with the dung-eating bird," Aurelia added, walking behind her. The edge of her glaive passed very close to the assassin's neck, who didn't flinch. "You're giving away too much, old man."

"Don't be rude." Jonas leaned forward slightly, annoyed. "Wasn't this an audience to ask for your help, Aurelia? When you negotiate, there has to be an equal exchange of goods, you know that well. If I offer our new friends some information, they'll be motivated to loosen their tongues a little more."

Hearing Jonas say that sent Aurelia into a rage.

"They're criminals helping an exiled family return to where they were banished from!" she bellowed, slamming the end of her glaive into the floor again.

"GRAAA!" Mystia roared in response to the metallic clang and clawed at the floor with her sharp talons, slicing through the marble as if it were paper, just like the scraps scattered around the table. "GRAAAA…!"

While the lesser demon was causing her own scene, Aurelia grabbed the empty chair and hurled it backward, her superhuman strength sending it flying to the other side of the room. It shattered into pieces, but no one cared. Not as Aurelia stepped through that imaginary circle to confront the Imperial Advisor.

"You mustn't give the enemy any information at all! They will…!"

"Enemy?"

One word. One question. That was enough to stop the She-Dragoon in her tracks. To freeze her in time and space, right in front of that man who didn't raise his staff in defense, didn't shift his position in his seat, didn't do anything but remain calm. Unlike Tristessa and the others, who felt the tension around them so heavy it almost made them lower their heads.

"You dare say that to my face? To me, the avatar against the Ill-Omen?

"…"

"No citizen of the Empire of the Night's Watch is an enemy, Aurelia Eramisaptor. You are the Ruler of End-World; your job is to ensure the well-being of all its inhabitants. Remember that well…," he warned her, his red eyes expressing a determination that very few things in Nekrom could break, and this paralyzed woman before him was not one of them. "We have already lost too many good people. We cannot afford to keep building more morgues than academies, and more necropolises than cities. Thanks to the Dark Lady, more Imperials are dying than are being born. You know it, and you get to see it every day."

"His words are powerful…!"

Tristessa had no other way to describe it, and the natural command they all felt in the atmosphere could soon be attributed to the very tenacity of his spirit.

As if his mere presence compelled those present to bow in respect. To lower their gaze, knowing they were in the presence of someone to whom the Emperor had given the authority to act in his name.

Jonas Youngblood. The one who had warned of Nekrom's impending collapse, ended up leaving another lesson for the slightly awestruck Aurelia Eramisaptor:

"If you choose to aim your weapon at your brothers and sisters, if you continue to divide your people, the day will come when there will be no one left to bury our dead. Thus, you will have helped the Shadow Queen bring forth our absolute destruction and cast our tortured souls into the timeless darkness."

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