ITT: Attis and Darius are married.

[therealkaichan]

Chapter Three



The assignment came as a bit of a surprise to both Kana and Hans. She never expected such thing, and he didn’t expect the ‘push’ to be something this serious.

On a second look, however, things were very clear for Hans. The Director knew that his family was closely linked to the main Church of their country and that religion was a strong weapon when correctly used. Sending someone like Hans, not only used to the rites but also closely connected made quite the sense.

Kana still didn’t have the slightest idea of why she would be chosen for diplomatic things, but her bet was pretty much on ‘maybe someone hates me’.

She would be enlightened about it when she found out about Hans’ family from Aileen, but that left her with about six hours of wild wondering and making excuses up.

Kana wasn’t one to refuse some easy extra credit (after all, why would she even get to do something when it was mostly diplomatics and stuff?) so of course she accepted without question. Hans didn’t seem to have any objections either (mostly because he found this funny) and their departure date was set to two days from the moment of accepting.

Meanwhile, training went as horribly as it had before. Kana still refused to compromise and Hans still refused to sit and do what his partner said he should do. Being close to both, Aileen found it a little funny how even with that, they still refused to call the partnership off. It had become a bit of a competition between them, seeing which one was the first to give in. Or maybe, just maybe, it was but a natural step on any partnership? Aileen, being partnered with her twin who she had known since... Well, forever, had to admit she had no idea of how normal partnerships worked.

After all the necessary preparations were over and done, the group ended up including six people.

There were Kana and hans, a girl and a boy from the fifth year (belonging to the white group, pretty much the elite among the students), one diplomatic that neither Hans nor Kana had met before (some Duke Elijah F. Gadwall the Third, who looked to be twelve years old at most) and finally Mariam Colburn herself.

Well it did explain why she was here (even if it was surprising to find that she was unpartnered).

For Kana, her inclusion meant that the mission had turned a hundred and twenty percent more interesting all of a sudden. Maybe then she would be able to find where she had seen that girl before? Kael had been a bit of a bastard regarding sharing that particular information after all... Had he done this just so she could find out?
That would be so so SO Kael that she could barely think of another option. It was totally the kind of things he did, with his silly philosophy of having her discover those things on her own, even if it took a hundred times longer than it would have if he had helped.

But she knew better than to worry too much now. A short three day trip to get some extra credit, some extra insight and of course some extra chance of hitting something was totally her thing.



The departure was early in the morning as per usual procedure. Kael himself had been there to supervise the correct deployment of the trainees, even when it seemed he was also doing thirty other things (with the Serpent Lady, two teachers and of course Miss Freeman talking to him continuously about other topics).

He let them go with a ‘Have a safe travel, and do your best to be as timely as possible.’ recommendation. Quite informal for a Lieutenant General, but it did a better work than any other type of farewell in these cases.

There Kana had the time to take a look at the rest of the group. There was Mariam, still with hair all over half of her face and her winter uniform, Hans, with a perfect Academy uniform and the very same indifferent expression he usually wore on his grey eyes, the Duke, whose expression was the same as that of a five year old child who was seeing a new place, and the two students (Chloe something-or-other, who looked like a rich girl at first sight, and some Ryan something-else who was her partner, and looked like a perfectly whipped support, the kind that Kana wanted for her).

They were barely a few meters away from the Academy, as the Academy train took them on their way to the bullet train station, when Mariam skipped to where Kana was. It was a little unexpected, as Kana though she’d have to go nuts to get the graduate talking, but there she was. A big big smile on the part of her face that could be seen.
“Hello!”
“Hello, Sergeant.” That was as much politeness as she could muster up. Fortunately for Mariam it was more than fine.
“Mariam is good! No need to worry, even if I’m the boss. Of course you can call me ‘boss’ or ‘your bossesty’, but that sounds more complicated.”
“And a little stupid.”
“Yep.” A pause. “H-hey. You can’t call your superiors stupid!”
“But a stupid nickname is fine?”
“I can’t believe it, you are even better than he said!”
“I pride myself in my lack of respect for authority.”
“Well, you have a lot to take pride on! The last time I saw you I was so worried that you’d be---” There was an abrupt silence at that. “Nevermind!”
“So the doctors got to you too, Mariam?”
“Oh... Yes. They were really scary about me not twisting your memories, so I guess we can’t talk too much about that... But who cares. I we don’t need to talk about the past to have fun, do we?”
“Not at all.”
“Then! Tell me a bit about you!”
“I uh. Get into fights a lot. Also my partner is an asshole.”
“Oh. He looks like the kind of guy that is really popular.”
“He is. It’s because of the pretty face.” Kana shrugged at that last part.
“Kael was pretty popular because of the same thing, back in school... Even if he was a bit of an asshole too.”
“I heard that the nice one was his little brother.”
“Oh Kean was a sweetheart. But probably one of the laziest persons I’ve ever met.”
“A lot of important people came out from your class... Mine only has Hans who is a bastard, and then me, and I’m more like infamous.”
“But isn’t that fun? I was a troublemaker back in the Academy! I kept on getting into things I shouldn’t get into, and messing with all the wrong teachers. It wasn’t healthy, but it was fun. I was never too much into obeying authority.”
“Then why did you decide to stay after you graduated?”
“Because I had things to do. Important things. I think most of us graduates think the same, we’re not into the military thing, but we can get so many things done by being here...”
“Graduates do plenty of community work.” Hans spoke finally, having not responded to any insults as usual. Chloe, who had been until then talking to him, seemed a little startled about him switching topics on her.
“That’s right.” Mariam smiled. “He’s he well informed type too, huh?”
“He’s annoying.”
“Excuse me?” Kana had apparently just incurred in the fury of the girl from the upper class. “If anything you are annoying. You just keep on getting into trouble and getting everyone around you into trouble too!”
“Uhm. Have I met you before?”
“No, but pretty much everyone knows about you.”
“So. What’s your relationship to him? Because you are looking pretty defensive there.”
“Someone has to. Somehow he has decided to let you badmouth him as much as you want.” The more they spoke, the more agitated Chloe seemed to grow. Mariam seemed to be avoiding her duty to stop this, and the Duke was looking out the window, completely uninterested in the people around and more than happy looking at the hills outside.
“Chloe...”
“I’m not sitting here and listening to her ramble about this!”
“Cloe. Step down.” Hans’ voice was like ice. Kana didn’t remember ever having heard a tone that was not that annoying pleasantness, which made this something completely new.
“Fine!” The other new thing was that after that, the girl fell silent immediately with a huff.
“I apologize for her behavior.” His voice was back to the pleasant tone as quick as it had abandoned it, but somehow the silence just kept on growing thicker and thicker until...

“You have a pretty city.” Came the Duke’s voice, and the cold atmosphere that had suddenly appeared in the train, disappeared just as fast. “You must really enjoy being around so much nature.”
“Actually the Central Quarter is the only one surrounded by all this forest and grass. The other Quarters are closer to the main cities, so it’s not possible.” Hans, still as pleasant as ever, was quick to explain.
“It’s much nicer here.” Added Mariam. “It’s also our largest Quarter.”
“I see. I wasn’t aware of our country having such pretty landscapes.”
“Did you not travel much, sir?” Being quite used to these kinds of things, Hans was easily moving the conversation to where he wanted to.
“I did not. My family had severe problems during the war, being that we are mostly traders. Fortunately with peace we were able to get back into business.”
“The war was rough on all of us, Duke.” Said Mariam. “Many of us lost important people to us. That is why we are working hard on preserving the peace.”
“A noble goal, if there is... And hopefully not a vain one.” The Duke sighed, turning his eyes back to the window. “War is so pointless.”

The whole group fell silent once more, this time most of them were probably thinking about the boy’s words. He was probably a child of war. The war was still going when he was born, and it continued a few years afterwards. It was very likely that his parents didn’t let him go out too much to avoid any danger, so it made sense that everything would be new for him.

Quietly conversation on different topics resumed, and after a while everyone was being as loud as they had at the beginning.



The move to the Bullet Train was quick, and of course the trip was as short as it would be expected for a train bearing such name. It wasn’t more than an hour until they had reached their destination, and the group was standing in front of the largest branch of the Church of Remm.

There wasn’t really much time to sightsee, however, as a young nun came out to greet them and usher them in. She asked them to please wait for a moment before quickly running out of the room.
“Are they always in this much of a hurry?” Mariam seemed a little perplexed by the nun’s attitude.
“Only when it’s important.” Said Hans, who was the only person who wasn’t looking around the place.
“Have you been here before, or are you just that boring?” Kana was once more, easily annoyed.
“I have been here before several times. My parents are devout believers in the change that the Church can bring to people.”
“They are nice ones.” The Duke chimed in, a smile on his face. “They helped on the negotiations to stop the war.”
“And if they aren’t nice, at least they are decent enough. They avoid politics and money issues. All of their temples are made with donations, so nobody really gets angry at them for having such a monopoly in religion.” Mariam was as well informed on the politics side as one would expect from a Sergeant.
“That sounds good enough.” Even Kana, who was as interested in religion as a fish is interested on the prices of public transportation, could still appreciate the effort this church did for the people.

It was then that the young nun decided to come in. She quickly paced towards them and bowed.
“The High Priest will meet you now, please follow me.”

And follow they did, though the pace was probably not as quick as the young girl would’ve liked it. Pretty much everyone was too busy watching the arches and the frescoes. There were some clear differences among them, the further inside they went, the more the paitings seemed to have been made by less experienced artists.
“This is much prettier than the temple closer to the Eastern Quarters.” The young Duke was pretty taken with the whole temple, and was running from side to side, trying to look to as many things as possible in the little time they had.
“These are made by the students. Our High Priest quite enjoys the arts, and he has been lending the temple to teachers to use as a classroom since wartime.”
“That Priest had this place built with his own money.” Hans intervened once more. “Also, I was wondering about the silence.”
“The Priest Attendant made sure that the place was clear for your meeting today, so our music students have a free day today.”
“It sounds more comfortable to have a meeting, that’s true.” Mariam smiled. “You do think of everything.”
“We do our best, it’s part of how we are supposed to live, Sergeant.” The nun stopped in front of one of the doors carefully knocking, it looked quite the same as the other doors, so it wasn’t anything noteworthy.
“Come in.” Came the voice from inside. The nun opened the door immediately, and moved aside to let them pass.

The scene in front of them wasn’t particularly what one would expect from the office of the High Priest of any religion ever. To begin with, the place was littered with papers and most of them looked important, and meanwhile, several other papers (drawings made in crayons, apparently by children) were pinned to the walls.
There was a desktop, however, and in the middle of it there was a tea set with eight cups, and a steaming tea pot. There were also some pictures in frames, and some clay sculptures which also seemed to be made by childish hands. There was a chair by the desk, that had a pair of shoes on top, and what seemed to be an overcomplicated robe hanging from the back.
One of the walls was covered by a bookshelf, which seemed to be carefully sorted at first sight. A few of those volumes were older than all the people in the room together.
Finally, but not least important, was the High Priest, currently shoeless and comfortably sitting in the only spot of the floor that wasn’t covered by papers, writing.

“You made them walk too fast, Giselle.”
“I’m sorry sir!”
“It’s fine, it’s fine. Just go and get Darius okay?”
“Sir, the Priest Attendant is finishing the preparations. Should I tell him to come as soon as he is done instead?” She seemed to be agitated, probably at the High Priest’s excess casualness.
“Yes, yes. Don’t worry too much.”
“Excuse me!” And the last e wasn’t out of her mouth before she had left the room.
“I’m sorry, she’s a good girl, but she tries too hard. I wont’ take too long today, I just wanted to welcome you.” He finally stood, the High Priest was a tall, slender man, who seemed to be in good physical form. He had pale skin, and wore glasses, and probably the most noteworthy part was his long silver hair, currently braided and resting over his right shoulder. It was a strange color, for a man that had to not be over thirty five years old. “You’ll be staying her for the next two days, as it was agreed. I have several things I must discuss with you sepparately, I hope you will understand. To round up, once Darius arrives, he’ll tell you about our usual routine, so you won’t feel uncomfortable. I will gladly answer any questions you may have.”

Nobody really thought about saying anything, and it would’ve been pointless if they had. For a man that had just offered to answer any questions, the High Priest sure was good at ignoring them. He was more than happy writing and reading the papers around him, and while the group had no idea of what he could be doing, they didn’t have any questions that were important enough to warrant the man’s possible eternal hatred.

And there they were, awkwardly standing at the door of the office, when a second man arrived, followed closely by a panicking nun that was already becoming familiar to them. He was closer to the group’s age range than to the High Priest’s, and he was well dressed, with his hair (curiously the same silver as the other priest’s) tied up in a ponytail.
He assessed the situation quickly, the High Priest was ignoring the visitors, and the visitors were standing there uncomfortably. He sighed.
“I apologize for making you wait for so long.”
“Oh it’s fine, we just arrived.” Mariam smiled. The new priest was a little shorter than her and she found that really cute. “We didn’t want to interrupt the High Priest.”
“Oh. Hi. Look, the visitors are here.” As if on cue, the man sitting among the papers muttered those words.
“Attis, you should mind your manners.”
“I’m certain they can understand that I’m currently working on important matters.”
“And I’m certain that you can spare a few minutes for the people you had brought here.”
“I will spare plenty. Later.”
Darius closed the door without further word. Attis was just insufferable when he was deep into his research, and he really didn’t want to have to apologize for more of his horrible behavior.
“I apologize once more...”
“It’s okay, we are pretty terrible ourselves.” Kana grinned. The smaller priest was really nice, and she quite liked nice people, so making him feel bad was out of the question.
“If you are fine with it, I can guide you to your rooms. The trip was short, but I’m sure that many of you would like to take a bath and get some rest before we start dealing with business.”
“Yes, please.” Said Mariam, who seemed to be more than comfortable with making choices for all the group.
“This way, please.” The younger priest started walking to one of the closest doors, which led them into a big hall. “We usually have breakfast at eight in the morning. We then have lunch at one, and dinner at nine. I know most of you must be used to different schedules, so we won’t mind saving some food, just let Giselle know and she will let us know.”
“What is the time for the students to arrive?” Asked Hans.
“They will be coming around noon. They usually arrive for lunch and stay to take their classes. Hopefully they won’t be much of a bother to you all.”
“Can I see the classes?” The Duke seemed to be quite eager about seeing those other children who apparently studied in the Church.
“We would love to have you join. Maybe we can discuss what kind of class you wish to assist to?”
“I’d like that, yes. Thank you.”

The Priest guided them to another corridor, and after a while stopped.
“You can feel free to use any room in this corridor. I ask that you please try to keep your voices low after midnight, as the High Priest does most of his work at those times, and he’s currently investigating and translating some ancient texts... Once more I apologize for his behavior, but he can really get into his work.”
“He was funny.” Said the Duke in a dismissive tone, not really worrying about it at all.
“And he did talk a bit and welcome us, so it’s not as bad.” Added Kana, shrugging a bit.
“I’m glad to hear so. If you need anything, my name is Darius and I’m the Priest Attendant. Just ask any of the nuns for me, and they will guide you. We should have lunch in about two hours as usual, in case of any of you wanting to join us... Please feel at home here.”

And as each of the travelers disappeared into a different room, he bowed politely and left with no more words.


Kana was a little surprised about the nice priest. She hadn’t met many men of the religion before, but the few she had met had been really weird, very abrasive and insistent on having her convert. Finding a priest like this one in such a high position was refreshing.
Even the High Priest, as much as he had ignored them, seemed to be an okay guy. He had, after all, donated all the money used to make the temple and other things that usually people in high postions did not do.

She wondered what would come next... After all things were getting more and more interesting lately.




Afternoon came fairly quickly, and nobody really worried too much. If the High Priest had his things to talk about, he would surely reach for them before they left, so somehow this had become a small vacation for the people involved in the mission.

Mariam had disappeared not too long after the rooms were assigned, so the boss at least wouldn’t be giving out any orders. That pretty much meant that they could do whatever they wanted. With that on mind, and after taking a shower, Kana had gone out of her assigned room to see the place.

Most of the place was the same as what they had seen on the beginning, art in the walls, lots of arches, and lots of windows. It was very different from what they were used to see in the Academy (which was mostly straight lines and boring blank walls), but somehow it was easy to get used to it.

She wasn’t expecting to find the Priest Attendant around, since he seemed to be a really busy man, but there he was, talking to a few of the nuns. Kana decided to turn around, so as to not bother him, but the young man caught up with her before she could leave.
“Private Katherine Ahlgren, right?”
“Just Kana is okay, if you don’t mind.”
“It’s fine, Kana.” He smiled, a nice kind smile of those that one in a Military Academy rarely saw coming from someone older.
“I didn’t want to interrupt, sorry.”
“It’s fine, I was just making sure that dinner would be in place in time for all the guests.”
“So do you usually get that many guests here?”
“Not so much, at least not for dinner. We do prepare lunch for all our students, so we do have many of them around at those times, but it gets much quieter in the afternoons.”
“That’s nice.”
“It’s mostly thanks to the High Priest that we can do these things. He has been paying most of these things out of his own pocket for a while.”
“Is he that rich?”
“I can’t tell for sure. He always says that he inherited some important amount of money from his parents, but I don’t want to bother him too much by asking about it. It seems to be a sensitive topic, so I’d be thankful if you did your best to be polite about it as well.”
“Yeah, sure. I don’t mind it at all.”
“If you want to, I can show you the rest of the temple.”
“Yeah, that’s okay. I wanted to take a look anyway, and it’ll be easier if I don't get lost a lot.”
“Then come this way, please, we’ll start with the southern wing, where the classroms are.”
They walked in silence for a while, before Kana’s curiosity was simply too strong to hold in.
“So... Did you meet him long ago?”
“We met during the war. I had just started as a Priest, and he was one of the investigators in our main branch. He was different during that time, but then again, war changed all of us in different ways...”
“It looks like you care about him a lot.”
“I do. We’ve been working together for a while, so it’s only natural, right? During war we depended on each other to survive... Those are the kinds of things that bring people closer even faster.”
“I guess... My old partner was really nice and all, but we didn’t really get to be that close...”
“And do you know why?”
“I think it was because we didn’t do many things together. Like hanging out, or going to places and stuff. We liked different things, so we mostly met to train. I still liked her, but it wasn’t like a real friendship.”
“Maybe you two would have grown closer if you had more time to meet each other more deeply.”
“Yeah. Evie was nice and sweet to everyone... I guess we would have after a while.”
“But you have a new partner now, right?” The Priest smiled knowingly.
“Yeah. He’s different, that’s for sure, I’m always having trouble with him and he’s annoying and a bastard and sometimes I hate him.”
“That’s something that happens, and sometimes, the longer you spend with that person, the angrier you get at them...”
“Yes, that’s totally it!”
“But then... Eventually you come to realize that it isn’t that easy. You may be angry at them, but you still love them in a way.”
“Well, I don’t love that asshole.”
“But you don't dislike him that much either, do you?”
“... Yeah, kind of.”
“You two would be simply incompatible if you did. It’s impossible for a person to transfer mana to another if they don't have some kind of bond...”
“I remember that from my classes.”
“And the stronger the bond is, the easier the process becomes.”
“I remember things were kinda easier with Evie, yes. Her mana had a different feeling than his.”
“That’s because in a way you are refusing your connection. So even if you accept the mana, you do not accept what comes with it.”
“He’s weird.”
“How so?”
“He doesn’t care about anything or anyone. I saw it one time when we fought.” She let her words trail off, and took a look around before resuming talking. “It’s as if he were a hollow shell.”
“A person who doesn’t have a reason to move on, yet keeps on moving, isn’t it?”
“I guess... I’m usually not that good at telling people’s thoughts or feelings, but I have good instincts.”
“I have met people like that before... Some of them never truly find a reason, but even then, they can keep walking.”
“It’s like walking a zombie. It’s awkward.”
“But you still refuse to give up on him, do you?”
“It’s because even if he’s weird, he’s okay. He is more decent than I thought he was, even if he is a bit of an asshole and has no reservations on it.”
“Then don’t deny that. Give it time, learn to compromise a little, and have patience...”
“But he’s the worst ever.”
“I know it’s difficult, but with time you will understand.” He continued. “He may never become the most important person to you, you may never even love him or see him as a friend... But he will be your partner. And that is something that cannot be taken away, he will be the heart pumping the blood of your magic. And then you’ll realize that you need him as much as he needs you.”
“That’s... weird.”
“Bonds are forged with time... A bond is already growing between you two, but you must accept it. Not as a bond of friendship or love, if you do not wish for that, but still a bond. A heart does not choose which brain it sends blood to, does it?”
“I think I get it...”
“True partners must learn to think as one. To feel as one. In that way, they can grow and move forward in their studies of magic.”
“So it’s okay to just have him be my partner, right? I don't have to like him or anything... I just have to work with him. That’s what you mean, right?”
“That is correct.”
“I get it. I think I can do that.”
“There is no hurry. We are in times of peace, and we shouldn’t put that much pressure on our young.”
“It’s okay, sir. I can handle it, I think.”
“Then please, do your best.”
“I will.”

The conversation didn’t take to long to drift to other, slightly more comfortable topics, and as the walk continued, Kana couldn’t help but think that maybe, just maybe, this was what Kael had intended to show her with this trip.




“It’s been a while.”
Hans, who had shut himself up in the church’s library since after lunch, looked up to find the High Priest in front of him.
“Since the engagement party, yes.” He smiled, as pleasant as ever, and the priest chuckled.
“As expected, you haven’t changed a bit.”
“You would know about that.”
“There would be no point in changing, would it?” With a smile that told more than it would be correct to say at that moment, the older man moved to one of the shelves, apparently looking for something in particular. “You are comfortable like that.”
“I’m not uncomfortable, and that’s more than enough for us, who want nothing, is it not?”
“Certainly, certainly. And yet, you’ve found such a driven partner... Would you call that coincidence or would you call it fate?”
“Someone like you believing in fate sounds ridiculous. Are you playing with words once more, dearest High Priest?”
“Can you call it a play on words, when the definition is left to your choice?”
“It’s unfamiliar territory, using words without a fixed meaning... But if fate is something we create, then we could call it fate.”
“Yet, you didn’t choose her.”
“No. So I guess fate still works for the traditional acception?”
“And even then won’t you pick ‘coincidence’?”
“There are no such things as coincidences.” Hans chuckled, looking at the page where he had stopped reading. “You know that, right? All is ‘fate’.”
“Written by those before us, and by those above us, yes.” The priest took one of the books, quickly going trough the pages, and closing it just a little after that. “Like a book.”
“That is why I don’t care. If it has been written, then there is no need for me to do anything but read it.”
“When faced with such knowledge, most would fight to make their lives go their own way... Yet, you comfortably accept it without caring. A twisted one, aren't you?”
“Yes, that much is true. You would know, since you are the same, aren’t you?.”
“Indifference is always eating at our hearts, yet we don’t have the heart to care.” Attis laughed, walking to the room’s exit, book held tightly on his right hand.
“What’s the point of caring, if nothing will change? Fighting fate sounds boring, and I have more than enough ‘boring’ in my life.”
“I suppose it is correct to say that that is what we do, right? Escape boredom.”
“Working to escape would be too much effort, however.”
“I don’t feel like adding quote unquote to each thing I say. You are more easily entertained than you would like to admit lately, aren't you?”
“Maybe I am. But I don’t think there are that many entertaining things anyway.”
“Then let me give you some homework, for old time’s sake.”
“I’m listening, teacher.”
“Think about the things that are not boring. You’ll notice that there are way more than you think.”

With that the High Priest abandoned the room, taking his book with him. Hans chuckled, reaching back to his book. Perhaps his old teacher was right, wasn’t he? There had been far more interesting things since meeting that girl...
And now there was a feeling... It was something he hadn’t felt in a long while, and he had been a little shocking when he found himself actually looking forward to see what fate had in store next.

And he wondered if that was how Attis had felt about that priest attendant he had. If he also looked forward to see what came next. It was a fun thought, but he had no hurry to find the answer. It would come when ‘fate’ decided it.




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TL;DR.

TL;DR everywhere.

I'm going to get kicked out of my novel if I don't start really unveiling the plot instead of giving horrible subtle hints xD