She scoffed, “Deal? Bold of you to suggest, isn’t it?”

Vyra simply smiled back, her eyes brimming with a wickedness that up until this point the pale woman had not seen within the Demi-Human. “Far from it. You went through all of this trouble to bring me here. Hell, even allowed me to strike down two of your toys, three if you include the rotten cow, and I’m still breathing.” She surveyed the pale woman’s face, hoping to see some sort of reaction out of her, but was met with none, “Fine, even I’ll admit that wasn’t in best taste. Perhaps we start over again with some introduction. Your name?”

The woman said nothing at first. With an almost dismissive wave of her hand, the apparitions which held Vyra in place seemed to disappear away. Among the men whom had seemingly fall ill suddenly, sounds of life returned to them as they groggily returned to formation. “Before that, to who would I be giving that?”

The Demi-Human gave a mocking smile, one that attempted to mirror a happy one that the true Vyra might have given, “I’m Vyra. Just as she is. I’m just the angel on her shoulder.”

“Look more like a devil.”

Vyra shrugged, “More in the eyes of the beholder, wouldn’t you say? The world’s cruel. The girl’s too soft for it, so I do what’s best for her.”

“The tavern?”

“You aren’t actually upset about that are you? Lowlife thugs. You should be thanking me than anything else. All I did was what everyone else in their hearts wanted to do. And I kept the girl safe. More than what you can say you did to help her there.”

A brief moment of silence passed before another word was spoken, “You may call me Aegir. Now, what about this deal?”

[304/2000]

A wide grin appeared upon Vyra’s face, “I thought you’d never ask! At the end of the day, I don’t know what you are all about, and to be honest I’m not all that interested, but clearly you’re interested in me. Now I wonder why that may be,” she mockingly tapped the side of her head as though deep in thought, “Could it maybe be our mutual friend?”

Aegir narrowed her eyes slightly as she honed in on Vyra, “Mutual friend? We wouldn’t have any.”

Vyra disapprovingly shook her head, “Oh, oh but we do. It’s the name on the tip of our tongues, the name that even gave you reason to give Vyra a second look in the first place. Come on, surely you know who I’m talking about?”

“I take it then that you don’t share the same regards towards Alisa than your other? Curious. Hasn’t the Blue Pegasus done well for her? Seems healthy, well kept. Jealous are we?” Even Aegir could not help but flash a small smile towards the Demi-Human, finding herself a bit more enjoying of this game being played.

The thought occurred to her lunge at the woman, but Vyra restrained herself, knowing it was exactly what Aegir was hoping for. “My reasons are mine, just as whatever reasons you’d have for being willing to put one of her preferred pets in harm’s way.” She saw the look of indifference on Aegir’s face, the faintest of shrugs to as much validate what she had suspected.

“So how about we work together? Sure, you have your little soldiers and certainly have an impressive Magic, but will that be enough? Aegir versus Alisa and who do you think comes out of that? And what cost? Your life? Maybe. Their lives,” Vyra pointed to the soldiers who remained in formation, watching the dialogue between Aegir and Vyra. “Certainly.”

“Suggesting that it would come to that, shortsighted of you, wouldn’t you say?”

A wide smile appeared on Vyra’s face, “You may say that, but come on, if you could come out of that unscathed, you know you’d jump on it. Anyone would.”

Aegir tilted her head to the side slightly, obviously listening to Vyra whilst trying to wholly decipher the intent behind it, “Let’s assume that, still leaps to go from the idea of a destructive war to what you’re proposing. Or am I missing something?”

“Like I said, Vyra is that bitch Alisa’s little pet. You’ve seen her with that Magic of hers, she has no control over it. Alisa’s seen that firsthand. Now, you think someone as dangerous as that, with me in the background, would be allowed anywhere near her or her precious Guild if she weren’t important to her?”

Aegir closed her eyes and chuckled silently, it finally clicking exactly what Vyra was suggesting, “So, your proposal?”

“Well this little child has been putting up hell of a fight of late, trying to get rid of me. And though I can appreciate her effort, at the end of the day I’m her best option, regardless of how she may feel. So, here’s what I propose, you help me have this body permanently, and I’ll help you destroy Alisa.”

“Two things. One, how do you suggest I help? And two, how do you expect to handle her?” Aegir was skeptical, and rightly so. Vyra’s darker persona was certainly mindful of things, and had a clearly darker intent towards things, but at the moment she was selling nothing more than dreams, nothing that could be realized.

“I don’t think I’ve ever heard of Magic like that little display you put on, or earlier in the street,” She could see Aegir’s eyes widen slightly, the first instance of her showing any sort of vulnerability. “Yeah, I saw that. Vyra may not have understood it, but I certainly did. Something like that, that doesn’t seem like something you just come up with and learn, so I’m sure you have an idea or worst case can find a way to give me this body entirely.”

“That still doesn’t answer my second part…”

Vyra shrugged, “Well once I’m home at the Blue Pegasus building, all I need to do is get close to her – which really shouldn’t be a problem after hearing that Vyra escaped being kidnapped – and then boom! And of course, with whatever extra little skills or improvements you wanna throw onto my Magic, I’m sure that that’ll make it all the easier.”

For a moment, Aegir thought to herself, her chin cupped within her hand as she made mental notes to the suggestion of Vyra, undoubtedly weighing the risk and any other factors that may have played into it. Meanwhile, Vyra simply watched on, curious as to what Aegir would say, but optimistic that she at the minimum had garnered her interest.

“An interesting idea,” Aegir said calmly, drawing Vyra in as she leaned forward a bit more. “It’s something that I’ll take under advisement.” The pale woman then began on her way out, turning her back towards Vyra, “I’ll see to having accommodations made for you.”

Vyra never received a chance to respond as no sooner had the words left Aegir’s mouth did the object come into contact with the back of the Demi-Human’s head, rendering her unconscious.

[1187/2000]

Upon her return, she found herself an unexpected guest awaiting within the private chamber of the compound. Patiently waiting for her return, they had spent their time examining some of the many scattered papers littered throughout the grand table purposefully placed opposite the door and her desk. Consumed with interest towards the various articles written, battle strategies, open bounties, logged minutes of political meetings, they had not noticed Aegir’s return until the woman’s words broke the silence.

“Excellent timing,” she said nonchalantly. Innocent, yet still fully mindful of the pecking order, that she was speaking to a subordinate foremost. “I have need of you to pen a request to our contact in Era-“

“Before that, if I may, a question if you would not mind,” the representative spoke meekly, knowing that Aegir would likely not be thrilled by the question asked, but it seemed one that she had to ask all the same. “Just, I noticed that… that, how do I phase this? Is there a reason-“

“I know what you’re referring to, and yes, her being there is deliberate,” Aegir said, not even having to hear the remainder of the woman’s concern. “And before you ask, she chose that, not I.”

“Why though?”

“The girl intrigues her, I don’t know. I learned to stop wondering what she does and why.” Aegir reached for a handful of papers laid upon the desk, throwing irrelevant documents back onto the desk until only a single paper remained in her hand, then passing it to the redheaded woman. “Now, to what I was saying. Pen a request to Era and see to that our best rider sends it.”

Accepting the paper, the woman looked down with a hint of curiosity, her eyes widening almost with a hint of excitement and curiosity within them. “Prisoner request!? And who is receiving the honor?”

Aegir said nothing initially, simply looking at some miscellaneous papers, seeming to be uninterested in the woman’s question. “Croukte.”

The redheaded woman was aghast, “Croukte!? Surely you’re joking!?”

“Unfortunately not,” Aegir responded, her gaze looking coldly into that of the stunned woman. “The girl is dangerous and I’m not interested in making any deals when I can get what I want.”

“But, what makes you think he would help?” It was apparent that despite Aegir’s remarks, it did not help qualm the woman’s worry.

“A full pardon, of course.”

The woman was speechless, even more surprised by how unaffected Aegir seemed to be by the decision that she had seemed to already come to. “Uh, I.. I, suppose if, if you think it’ll be worth it…”

Aegir took a seat at the desk, staring outwards as she seemed to look out across the entirety of the grand table. “As far as I’m concerned, the end will justify the means. To that as well, I have a task for you.”

At the mention of a request, the redhead seemed to spring to life, a complete inverse to the behavior only moments before, “Anything ma’am!”

“Regardless of how I may feel towards her, no doubt the girl does know Alisa. Find out everything you can from the girl.”

“Anything in particular?”

“Anything that can be of use. Get as much as you can out of her.”

“Of course!”

The redhead gave some sort of salute to the woman and departed out of the room, an exhilarated look upon her face with the file clearly in hand. Aegir meanwhile simply kept her gaze focused outwards, catching the woman as she departed out of the chamber.

[1777/2000]

She awoke with a splitting headache, a pain resonating in her head in a manner once again. To make things worse, how it came to be was completely alien to her. The last thing she recalled was the sight of the creature, something made entirely out of nightmares. What happened after was nothing more than a blur that quickly faded away into nothingness. As she groggily sat up, the world came into focus. Almost immediately she could tell the location were no longer the hellhole that she been in prior, a much healthier amount of light immediately giving that away.

What stood out though were the large bars which seemed to spread out infinitely around, causing the Demi-Human to quickly realize that while the location may have been different, her situation was far from it. In haste, she turned her head from side to side, hoping that what she was seeing was no more than a byproduct of whatever may have hit her in the head earlier. But as she put her hand outwards, taking a firm grip of the cold steel, realizing that it was in fact a reality, she could not help but fall towards despair.

“Why…” She whined, the reasoning and circumstances that affected her being an unknown. Tears began to form and slowly descend down her cheeks. “Why is this happening to me?”

“Are you alright?”

A voice from the unknown startled Vyra, causing her to audibly jump slightly. Turning around, she saw a woman reaching out and extending an arm towards her, a look of concerned interest upon her face. Stunned, equally by the woman’s presence and that she had failed to register her initially, Vyra simply looked on, admiring her physical traits. Dressed in what could only be described as priestly garments, she was an older woman, perhaps closer to Alisa’s age than that of her own, though similar to Alisa there seemed to be no signs of aging. Long hair, magenta in color save for a long strain of crimson in front, complimented a palish complexion which in totality all contributed towards a lovely woman.

The kind that one could not imagine having any business within a cell like this.

“My dear? Are you feeling alright?”

At first Vyra had not figured the woman to be worried for her health or well-being. Up to this point, it seemed what care may have been shown her had been some face ruse to gain her trust. But this woman, it seemed different than the rest. Her concern seemed genuine. “My head, it hurts a little, but I suppose it’s not the worst thing that’s happened to me today.”

“When they brought you here, your body did not seem to react. For a briefest of moments, seemed they were disposing of a corpse. I’m thankful that was not the case. What is your name, my dear?” The woman’s voice was soft, welcoming, almost like that of a mother addressing a young child. The care of it seemed to draw a stark contrast against that of the scenario painted around them.

“Vyra,” she began to speak of a last name, but quickly realized the futility of it. A part of her wanted to use the surname Vollan, but knew that that would have been inappropriate. “My name’s Vyra.”

“Vyra,” the woman repeated, “A lovely name for a lovely girl. My name is Seras. Such a tragedy that you happen to find yourself here amongst these monsters.”

Vyra scoped around the room which housed their cell, noticing multiple of the soldiers taking care of various tasks, every so often one or two of them shooting a glance towards her and the other woman. After watching for a little bit, she came to realize that their cell was placed at the far end of the room, the dark spot that she was not able to make out earlier. This woman had been there the entire time, forced to watch everything they threatened her with, powerless to stop any of it.

“I just don’t understand. If they’re just trying to help people, this doesn’t make any sense at all!” She slumped down against the steel bars, “I just want to go home…”

Seras shook her head softly with a heavy heart, “Oh, no my child, sadly that is not the reality of things. One could only pray that that were the case. No, these are no protectors; they are not here to help people. Far from it…”

“Then what are they?”

Seras looked Vyra right in the eye, a saddened look upon her face, “They’re witch hunters…”

[2544/2000]