Kire sighed. "I feel the same way. I mean, I would have still done the same thing, if it meant saving people. But what if it had been the last dragon? The more I thought about it, the more it confirmed to me that it was a test of some sort. I guess I passed it." She looked at the reflection of the setting sun in the water, remembering how it felt to behold those fiery, reptilian eyes.

His next question though made her turn sharply towards him. "Point?" She frowned, though she bit back most of her temper. "I've been empress for sixty years. I've received proposals ever since. Every single one of those people who tried to arrange a match for me all have some idea or other about what I 'have' to do, what I 'ought' to do, who to do it with. Like every move I make, every relationship has to have some 'point'." She huffed. "Can't we just--maybe just see where this goes first?"

When she turned sharply toward him, Ruli froze, realizing right away he'd stuck his foot in his mouth and fucked up their chemistry. Tense, he watched her face as she answered, understanding, in part, her words on having her life pushed and pulled by others. "I'm sorry." He said, looking away again. "No, I ... I mean, sure. We can see." Which made him all the more uneasy. What if he developed feelings for her? And she turned around to bed someone else, someone of her class, her world? Ruli watched the water, already feeling the walls in his head rise to protect himself.

After another pause, he sighed again. "We should probably head back to Úvano. Someone's bound to have noticed we're gone at this point." He was suddenly very intrigued by his thumbnail, using his fingernail to clean the non-existing grime beneath it.

When he turned away and fumbled through an apology, Kire stared at him a bit longer. She could almost see the moment he had decided to retreat. Even when he said he agreed with her about seeing where things go, why did it seem more like a kind of resignation than an openness to see where this would lead? She faced the ocean again. Why did it have to be someone from a different world? And why did it have to be him?

"Yes. We should head back," Kire said, standing up with a grunt, picking her boots up. She sighed. "Can't have anyone thinking we're just having fun while we can, right?"

Yeah, he'd ruined it. Kire all but jumped up, and Ruli felt guilt wash over him. Still, he remained sitting, teetering between trying to explain or letting herbert annoyed.
"I don't," Ruli began, then hesitated. So what? He didn't have to invest. He could toss up his defenses and entertain her when she needed it. What was the worst he'd get out of it? More relaxed now and then?

Defeated, Ruli got up, offering his hand to her.

When they were back in Űvano, standing outside of the house offered to her. "I told you, I'm no good at this." He excused apologetically. "Getting involved isn't my thing." He took a step back, toward the steps that would lead through the cliff to home. "Goodnight, Kire."

They emerged in front of the house they fixed up for her. She let go, turned towards her door, brow creased. She sighed, hands in her pockets, head tilted up. "Yeah, you told me. Envy told me," she muttered. "I was just too thick-headed."

She looked back at him, offered a smile that didn't quite reach her eyes. "Goodnight, Ruli. Thanks for dinner. And for trying, anyway. " She turned to her door and stepped inside. She leaned against the door once shut, sighing.

"Kire, you idiot."

By sundown, Ruli had rested very little, unable to settle the pit in his stomach that argued with his brain all night. He felt it stupid to be so caught up with a woman he barely knew, despite finding her incredibly intriguing. And, despite wanting to learn more, he saw no reason to. Not when she was so far out of his reach in every sense of the term.
He finally gave up on focusing on any packing and bathed, pulling what little hair would obey into a tail at the back of his head -a style he'd seen Zeke wear and actually liked. It never hurt to have his hair pulled back when the sea invited wind so often here.

Dressed, with his pack, sword, and supplies in tow, Ruli made his way to the caves to find the others, crossing paths with Ysaryn first. The instant grin on her face told him she'd noticed their absence. "Not now." He sighed.
"Oh, not ever." She purred back, falling into step with him. "Where did you leave her?"
"Her house. And don't you go-"
It was no use, Ysaryn was already bouncing up the steps toward Kire's house. Ruli shook his head and went to find Gavin and Envy.

"Kirai?" Ysaryn pounded on the door. "You are back, yes? Not inside with your pants down, are you? That won't deter me." She added with a teasing laugh.

The door swung open, and Kire was on the other side, having already bathed and dressed to leave half an hour prior, her scarred arm free of the bandage. The irritation in her eyes showed that she had tossed and turned all night, too, and had, to her own displeasure, woken up earlier than intended. After a couple of moments, though, Kire put on an amiable expression. "Good morning. Ready to leave?" she asked, ignoring the elf's teasing.

She walked beside the elf on the way back to the caves. "We had a nice dinner, then a chat. At some point, we both realized there's just too many things stacked against us," Kire said bluntly, knowing the elf was probably chomping at the bit for juicy details. Kire shrugged. "Or, more accurately, he knew it, and I simply caught up. It is what it is. Nothing else happened. I suppose we're probably better off just friends." She looked at Ysaryn and smiled. "Better to nip it in the bud before things get too hard. But! Enough about trivial matters," she said, waving a hand.

--
Gavin, too, hadn't slept well, but he had risen in a much better mood than the other two. After finding a small pouch for the charmed pebble yesterday, he had packed quickly, then, wondering if he had forgotten something, undid his packing and repacked again. The knife Kire gave him, which he had religiously kept polished, he wore at his hip now. Gods, he was so excited, anticipation and anxiety combined, that he felt like he had drunk a whole jug of coffee.

He grabbed some bread to nibble on for breakfast, not wanting to eat too much in anticipation of the discomfort of the portal. After that, his pack in tow, he headed to Envy's chambers. "Envy?" He called.

Ysaryn arched her eyebrow, noting Kire's avoidance, the elf chasing her up the stairs. She was in her combat leathers, the fabric wrapped around her again. Despite Kire's words, Ysaryn could tell she was bothered by the exchange, and likely disappointed in the conclusion they had arrived to. She rolled her eyes when Kire wasn't looking at her, wondering how long until the two of the realized they were wrong. "If you insist." She replied indifferently, strutting into the caves with the empress.

~

"Come in." Envy invited. Already awakened by Ruli nearly a half hour before, Envy was sitting on his large bed, which had finally been upgraded from the pile of straw and blankets. Envy turned his head when Gavin approached, his hair unbound. Ruli, sitting in one of the strange cushions in the corner, nodded in greeting.
"We're going over the finer details." Ruli informed the lad. His eyes fell on the dagger at his hip, and his expression hardened.
"Your charm?" Envy asked pointedly.

“Finer details, huh,” Gavin noted, stepping inside, a little relieved Ruli had already arrived and, presumably, been the first to wake the Kartaian. At Envy’s question, Gavin pulled out the small pouch with the pebble inside. After retrieving the pebble, he stepped closer to place it in Envy’s hand. “I’ll keep it on me at all times,” he promised. “Where are the women?”

“’The women’, huh?” Kire said. “May we come in—” she cut herself off when Ysaryn sauntered into Envy’s chambers, shaking her head a little with a smirk. She spotted Ruli sitting by the cushions and, after a deep breath, raised a hand briefly in greeting before turning to Gavin and Envy. “Gavin, before we go, just to be clear: at any time you feel you aren’t up to it, if it’s too dangerous or too much for you, you don’t have to tell me the reason, I will take you back here. Granted, I’ll do that, myself, anyway, but just know the option is there.”
Gavin nodded. “I will.” He slipped the charm back into the pouch and secured it in his pocket.

“That goes for you two,” Kire said, looking at Ysaryn and Ruli, before turning to Envy. She wasn’t sure how Envy felt about her now, after everything. Going behind his back with Ruli, and roping Gavin into this. “I’ll bring them back,” she promised.

Ruli met Kire with the same nondescript expression, nodding again to greet her in return. Ysaryn leaned against one of the rocky walls of Envy's chamber, folding her arms over her chest. And when Kire pointed out that she would be happy to bring them back at a single word, both she and Ruli arched their eyebrows and glanced silently to one another.
"Like hell that will happen, Chieftess." Ysaryn said with a wicked smile. Ruli smirked.

Envy sighed. At least the offer was there for them, he thought. "Ruli and I were discussing the wards, and what could be used to ensure the Gemini do not break it so easily. He reminded me that, when you broke the gate, they had a sort of sequence to theirs. After some discussion, we have our own idea."
"This would lock the ward if they tried tampering with it." Ruli said. "It would need to be undone in a very specific order, or it will become increasingly difficult until their tampering is undone and the correct way followed."
"Smart." Ysaryn voiced. "Are we really to bind Kirai to it? What if she dies?"
Ruli swallowed. Leave it to the elf to ask the blunt question. His blue eyes went to Kire, as did Ysaryn's fuchsia ones. "She won't." Ruli answered. "Wyverns are hard to kill."
"Yes, but-"
"No buts." Envy interrupted. "Kire is forbidden to die."

Of course she’d say that, Kire thought with a grunt. Kire listened to them explain the safeguards they would work into the wards and nodded, remembering that frantic moment when the Gemini mage instructed them to destroy the ward in a specific sequence. She began entertaining another possibility then of perhaps having such a ward permanently around the Palace, or even the Capital, for protection. Because of the Gemini, there had been a ban on such magic, and there wasn’t much guarantee it would work, but if they pulled this off, Kire would seriously consider it now.

The question about her death gave her pause, though she did smile, amused, when Envy forbade her to die. If it were only that easy. “I can’t die. Who’ll send your sorry asses home?” She smirked at them, though only briefly. Joke though it may be, it was still an uncomfortable truth. If she fell, the three of them couldn’t go back, not unless they found some other errant gate to take them home. “Either way, whatever is necessary for the wards to work, I’ll do it. I wouldn’t have had much of an issue with my own magic being negated within the wards, but I’d rather have the option open in case an emergency happens.”

“Hang on,” Gavin put in, “just to clarify, if the ward’s intent is to negate the magic inside, does that mean you two can’t Shadow Walk, either?”
That definitely was a cause for concern. “My assumption would be that once the wards are set, the rest of our forces would enter, and the heaviest fighting would be directed at the army,” Kire put in, “the infiltrators should ideally be in and out. But we’ll hash out the details when we’ve met up with the others. As for how much or how little you’ll be involved, we’ll have to discuss whether or not you’ll even need to be anywhere near this.”
Gavin frowned at that, but decided that whatever objections or details needed to be discussed might be better when they everybody else was gathered. “Fine.”
Kire sighed. “Alright. If we’re ready. Let’s go.” She wanted to say more, some words of comfort or promise to Envy that she would do all in her power to make sure all three were returned whole and safe. But she knew the only real comfort would come once this is all over. “Thank you, Envy.”

When they emerged in Elva’s manor, Gavin doubled over, clutching his head. “Need a bucket?” Kire asked. Gavin shook his head, then closed his eyes, the movement making his motion sickness worse.
“I was wondering when you lot will show up,” Elva said, entering the great hall, her eyes on Ysaryn and Ruli, before settling on Gavin. She looked at Kire, her gaze questioning, pipe between her teeth, which told Kire she had been anxious while waiting.
“Elva, this is Gavin,” Kire said simply. Elva’s brows raised for only a moment before she smiled.
“Ah. I see.” She stepped closer, observing him, and Gavin stood ramrod straight before giving a well-practiced bow.
“Good day, my lady,” he said before straightening up; the healer blinked, not expecting the sudden formality.
“Huh. Well. Good day to you, too, Gavin.”
Kire could see that Elva didn’t quite know what to make of this young man yet. She wondered if the lad’s age had anything to do with it, especially given how Earnest had been that age, or roundabouts. Elva cleared her throat and turned to Ruli.
“Daryll is in the library. We’ve put together everything in the list we talked about.” She glanced at Gavin. “Is he going to join us?”
“Yes,” Kire said, a hand on Gavin’s shoulder. “He’s agreed to help us. Did my request arrive?”
“Ahh,” Elva said, grinning at Ysaryn. “It’s in the armory.”
--
“Ed isn’t here, he’s currently where the war council will be held,” Kire said, leading her to the armory, “we’ll see him and Maika too. Now, here we are.” She went inside, towards one of the tables, “I know you only asked for blades, but if you need anything else, like armor or shields, you’re welcome to it. Now this is for you.” She unfolded something wrapped in leather, revealing two sabers, slightly more curved and slenderer than Ruli’s. The handle had the same level of intricacy, with a stylized wave motif winding around the hilt. But the blades themselves were impressive even without the handle, whorls forged into the metal. “Are they satisfactory?” Kire asked, grinning.
--
Daryll looked up as Elva, Ruli, and Gavin entered. “You’re back. And that’s him, then?” He said, gesturing at Gavin.
“Mmhmm,” Elva said. She had put out the embers in her tobacco before she had entered the library, though now she was itching to smoke more. Daryll stepped closer, extending his hand to Gavin, who took it.
As soon as he did, Daryll pulled him closer, his hand tight around Gavin’s. “You better not screw us over,” he muttered.
“Daryll,” Elva warned.
Gavin kept steady, though his voice trembled slightly when he spoke. “I promise you, I want them to bleed.”
Daryll let him go. “Well. If this works. There will be plenty of that.”

Ruli and Ysaryn both stiffened upon their arrival to Amria, each looking slightly uncomfortable, but not to the extent of Gavin. Ysaryn breathed deep and ran her hands through her hair which, hanging loose, fell to her shoulderblades, the ends still stained a deep black. Envy had told her it would be permanent until she cut the damaged strands off, but Ysaryn had refused, deciding it was a reminder.
When Kire introduced Gavin, Ruli looked up, standing behind the younger man, watching the mistress of the manor carefully. While he hadn't been present for Narda's assault on Gavin, he had heard about it. Granted, Elva was far more a gentler soul until provoked, he decided. Proven when she simply observed him.

As Elva pointed out where Daryll was, Ruli perked, budging Gavin's arm and jerking his head to invite him along, with Elva leading the way. Ysaryn followed Kire to the armory, a glint in her eyes that made Ruli glad she wasn't coming with them. He nodded to Daryll in greeting, turning to look at Gavin as Daryll asked.
"Oi." Ruli barked as Daryll yanked on Gavin to threaten him. "Daryll, I am obligated to tell you that he is under my protection. Any harm comes to him I have Envy's permission to tear throats." Ruli opened his mouth wide in a wicked grin akin to Ysaryn's, displaying his sharp molars. It was quick, his smile vanishing in a heartbeat. "It would be a pity, because I actually like you."

His expression fell after that, Ruli uncomfortable even with the words. Envy hadn't given him any such instructions, knowing that Ruli loathed being used as a guard animal, but he couldn't deny that words here would at least make a point. Gavin was young, and nothing but helpful and eager.
Still, he stood beside Gavin as he set his supply pack on the table, his clothing pack he dropped by his feet. "Okay, so Envy had some ideas." Ruli explained before beginning to repeat that they'd discussed briefly this morning.

~

Ysaryn hid her disappointment about Ed well, knowing she'd see him eventually. Truth be told she was far more excited about the blades she was on her way to see, anyway. As they entered the armory, she paused and whistled her approval, her eyes roaming the racks of weapons, the dummies of armour, the steel, the engravings, the jewels. She licked her lips, itching to say she needed it all just to have an excuse to touch it or steal it. "I near only leathers." She made herself say instead. "Although Rulitus suggest a ... male?" She said, uncertainly. "I am not sure of -oohhh!"

She crooned as Kire revealed the blades. Gently, she reached up and took one, the weight of it beautifully balanced in her hand. Firm, but not too heavy. The handles were intricate and unique, and the blades a sort of smithing she'd never seen before. "Satisfactory, indeed, Kirai." Ysaryn purred, lifting the other one and inspecting it all the same. "They are beautiful. Fit for a Chieftess."
Setting the sabers down, she unbuckled the two sheaths at her hip to replace them, turning and bending to see how well the new ones felt and moved with her, then again with the sabers contained within. "Perfect." She smiled viciously. "Dangerous." Ysaryn turned to Kire and wrapped her arms around her in thanks, squeezing gently. "I will kill many for you, I promise."

Daryll held Ruli’s gaze steadily, even as the man threatened him, flashing his sharp teeth. “A pity, indeed,” he said simply, before catching Elva’s eye.
“What was that?” the healer said, gesturing at him.
Daryll shrugged. “Just trying to see what sort of boy he is.”
Elva arched an eyebrow, smirking. “My dear, you are full of surprises lately. Looks like the Wyvern blood is waking up in you.” Daryll snorted at that, before turning his attention back to Ruli. On a table nearby were loose leaves of parchment with writing on it, as well as notebooks, all of them with Daryll’s near-unintelligible scrawl. Not that Ruli or Gavin would have been able to read it, even if his penmanship had been neater than it currently was. He grabbed one notebook and started writing, following along with Ruli.

“That’s bloody brilliant,” Daryll said, grinning, putting down the notebook and going to one of the shelves, pulling out a large rolled parchment from a protective cylinder. Elva cleared one of the other tables and together she and Daryll unfurled it, revealing a map of the Palace grounds. Already, various scrawls filled the marginalia of the map, written in his handwriting. “The thing about the Palace is that it’s on a raised hill, and consists of two major parts: the old and new buildings,” Daryll said, pointing it out in the map. He pointed to its walls, the gardens surrounding it, explaining how large the area was. “And here is where the Red Tower is.” Behind the Palace was an orchard, but towards the edge of it ran an old stone wall, separating the more groomed orchards from the forest beyond it. Not far from the gate of the stone wall sat the Red Tower.
Gavin whistled. “If the Tower’s the one closing the circuit of the wards, that is a lot of ground.” His eyes went over the map, already picturing how the runes should be placed and where, how far apart they need to be, and how many people might be needed to lay them all down as quickly as possible, silent for a few moments. “Have you thought that the Gemini might be counting on Kire walking into a trap?”

The cousins looked at each other, before turning their gaze on him. “More than once. I’d be surprised they hadn’t been preparing one,” Elva said. “Especially now that our armies are closing in on them, and that we’ve been capturing the traitor lords who had allied themselves with them.” She sighed, drumming her fingers on the table. “Which is the point of this whole scheme, isn’t it? Whatever they might be doing in there, the wards would nullify. And while they may know something of Kire’s Ring, the help of magic-wielders from another world is a wildcard that they couldn’t entirely account for. They could only prepare for so much, just as we are doing now.”
“Why? Do you know something?” Daryll asked. Gavin chewed on his lip, still looking at the map, specifically at the area indicating the location of the Tower.

“Ikegai said something to me,” he began, and the word echoed eerily in the library once he had heard his own voice say the name out loud. “World gates have been an obsession for the Gemini. But he said that the Gemini have this belief, that once, before the magic went to sleep in Amria, they were more common. And you didn’t need all the sacrifices and whatnot to open the gates. Like what Kire does with the Ring. And the goal is to find that lost art where you don’t need that. Without the massive-scale blood rituals, you’d need to tap into the best sources of magic: places where traces of the old magic is strongest, dragon-blood, the blood of magic-users.” He looked back up at them. “What if they want Kire there all along? And after that stunt with destroying the gate, they know just how much potential her power has with portals now.”

--
Kire smirked when Ysaryn answered, watching with her own feeling of satisfaction as the elf tested out the weight and feel of them. She grinned at Ysaryn’s compliments on the blades, chuckling as the elf turned to hug her, squeezing her back in a one-armed hug. “They match the new owner, yes,” she said with accented Elvish, winking at her. “Promise me you will also survive, and I will call it even,” she added, before stepping back, going towards the section of the chamber where the armor is stored. “’Chainmail’, is what Ruli was saying, I presume,” she said over her shoulder, beckoning her closer, gesturing at the various kinds of armor. “Most of these are in larger sizes, but I’m sure there should be at least one in your size. You’d probably want something that’s lighter than full-on plate armor, hence his suggestion.”

She stepped back to let Ysaryn have a look at which ones fit her best, nodding in approval once she had found the best option for her. “What Gavin said, about the limitations to Shadow-walking, does that worry you?” she asked, leading her back out the armory.

Ruli peered over the map, awed by the size of the palace grounds. Ziad could easily fit within in. Úvano, as well. It sprawled across the paper, the notations along the edge he couldn't read, but the markings he knew were notes for their task. Zeke often made notes on maps whenever he was worried. Strategy, weakness, ambush potential. While Ruli wasn't sure if Daryll made the exact same notes, he had no doubt they were helpful.

As Gavin asked about it being a trap, Ruli grunted, then realized the cousins glanced at one another. He looked up and between them, seeing the unease on their faces, glad they said they had, indeed, considered it. He looked to Gavin, after, when Daryll asked for what he knew, and felt his chest tighten at the Gemini's answer. With a soft swear in elvish, he leaned on his elbows, peering over the map again. "The way they've been after her blood, too. And Ikegai's obsession with her power, it would make sense." He agreed. "We have two options there, then. To have Kire no where near it, maybe even causing a commotion elsewhere to draw their attention, or we find a way nullify her before hand." Ruli glanced to the cousin. "No one else can use that Ring? Only her, right? Well, what if we were able to replicate her portals? The blue light? A bit of enchantment and a sort of bomb with myself or Ysaryn could work. Make them think she's where she's not?"

~

"I won't make any such promise." Ysaryn said bluntly. "To die in battle is an honour many of my people strive for. It would be an honour here, too. But," Ysaryn smiled, seeing the look in Kire's eye. "If any one enemy takes me down, I will claim a hundred more."

Chainmail. Yes that sounded familiar to the elf. Honestly, she'd tuned Rulitus out when he'd spoken of the battle he'd tossed himself into after Kire's abduction of him, angry that she'd missed out on such an opportunity. When Kire showed her the chainmail pieces, she understood the man's likeness to it. "Oh," She cooed, lifting one of the mail pieces that went from torso, to the elbow, and then down to the knees. "I see!" She exclaimed, holding the item to her chest. "Is loose, I prefer leathers to fit." Her eyes scanned the thousands of closely woven metal rings. Sizing this thing would take ages they likely didn't have. "I wear. I try." She declared, grouping the metal and tossing it over her shoulder like a heavy metal sash.

"No." She answered Kire's next question. "I was fighter long before I learn to Walk." Ysaryn followed Kire, slightly reluctant to leave the collection of weapons. Her old weapons, including Myka's, was tucked in her left hand. "It is unwise to rely on magic. Honest, Rulitus should worry. He never wins in spar."

The mention of 'bomb' made Elva grimace, though Daryll tilted his head in thought. "Could work. Ever since I heard about those exploding dolls the other day, I'd been thinking about how they managed to do that."
"That's why your alchemy chamber smelled especially foul last night, didn't it?" Elva commented. Gavin was sorely tempted to ask to see it but kept this to himself.

Elva looked down at the map."Having her nowhere near would be best. But..."
"Yeah. Good luck trying to tell her that," Daryll muttered, thinking. "Nullify her how?" he asked Ruli. "Suppress or hide her magic? Disguise her?"
"What about the Ring?" Gavin asked. "Maybe it'll be an even bigger distraction if someone else holds onto it?"
Daryll frowned. "Feels risky. While she may be the only person able to use it, I don't like the possibility of losing it to the enemy. Besides, she would never take it off."
Elva hummed in thought. "She did. She mentioned something about needing to take it off when she was looking for Ed. Isn't that right?" she asked Ruli.

--

"Your answer does not surprise me. Very well, I accept your promise," Kire said, smirking. "Ideally, though, you will be alive by the end of it. It would be an honour to me to keep having you as an ally and friend." She walked beside the elf, hands clasped behind her as they made their way towards the infirmary to get to the library. "And I feel the same way about my power. I was Empress and warrior before I received this Ring." She thought about Ruli losing their sparring sessions, which slightly surprised her. She remembered his drug-fuelled rampage against Akuma and wondered just how much of that was the drug and how much was him, or some part of him.

"Where are you in your discussions?" Kire asked as they entered the library. She spotted the map on the table. "Ah, I see."
"We were talking about the possibility of hiding you and your magic," Elva said. "In case the Gemini are actually counting on your presence there."

"They don't have to be like the dolls, just something we can throw that will have a sort of violent reaction. Like an explosive cocktail." Ruli put in, somewhat intrigued by whatever Daryll had been working on in his chambers. "You're not messing with that stuff alone, are you? What if it had gone wrong? Someone should be on the sideline taking notes."
As Elva turned to ask about the Ring and Kire willingness to remove it, he looked surprised. "She's taken it off several times, as far as I know. Everytime she's gone in to -" Ruli paused, then sighed. "Everytime she goes near the Lithilote Court in my world. They don't allow magic, and Kire removed the Ring each time to avoid their restraints. She went all— its hard to describe. Slow, and lethargic. Which may very well happen inside of our ward." Ruli rubbed the bridge of his nose. "She might be able to function well enough to fight if she's within our circle."

Moments later, Kire and Ysaryn walked in, the elf sporting two beautiful sabers. She puffed out her chest proudly. "You look very deadly." Ruli complimented.
Ysaryn only waggled her eyebrows at him.
"Kire, how much of a chance is it that you'll react to our wards here like you did in Lithilote?" Ruli asked, returning to the task at hand. "If this is some sort of trap, we may need you elsewhere, where you're capable of fighting. We were discussing somehow replicating your blue flashes inside. Preferably with magic that they may sense." His gaze fell on Ysaryn, who snorted.
"No. If one of us is to be Kirai, it would be you. Gold hair, blue eyes."
Ruli frowned at her, not sure if she meant to criticize or actually suggest her pretend to be Kire. "I'm a half a foot taller, no one would believe that."
"They not look at you. Only blue light and magic." She answered. "But is pointless. If she cannot use magic, nor can you."
Ruli hissed, rubbing his brow.

Kire grimaced when Ruli asked her about the wards affecting her, remembering the Lithilote wards. “Ugh. I do not want to feel that ever again,” she muttered. “Though that goes for all three of us, I bet. I don’t know if it’ll have the same effect as the Lithilote wards. I haven’t exactly encountered a lot of nullifying magic before. There could be a chance that it does.” At the mention of needing her elsewhere so she didn’t fall into the trap, the cousins looked at her. Kire didn’t look too enthusiastic about the idea, but she didn’t immediately offer an objection. “If I do agree, I won’t be too far,” she said, “I need to be directing the soldiers, anyway.” The mention of trying to deceive the enemy and drawing them away made her frown again, especially after Ysaryn pointed out how all their magic would be compromised. “This isn’t just a slavers’ den where you draw thugs away from us,” she said. “Once the wards are in place and the Gemini can’t use their magic anymore, it will be the army’s job to step in.” She looked at Gavin. “What kind of trap? And what kind of defenses are we expecting, anyway?”

Gavin pursed his lips, thinking it over. “You’ve seen some of them when you fought hi—Ikegai’s dolls. Remember the chamber with the big rune circle? Where she met you?” He glanced up at the three in question before looking back down. “Illusions and hallucinations. If they’re on the retreat too, spells of concealment. Plus the dolls.” He frowned. “They might have booby-trapped the Palace too. Like how the mine collapsed when s-she was killed. Spilling your blood within the net of their wards might be enough for them. So our wards have to be that much stronger. Your blood might be enough for that too, but…” His voice trailed off. He knew what that entailed. When he was setting up the wards for Ikegai, he’d spilled his own blood for that, too.

Kire sensed where he was going with it, and it looked like Daryll could see it, too. “That’s a last resort. My blood may be enough. Seeing as they’re all so hungry for it,” she muttered. “Back to the hallucinations. I remember—it tapped into my fears. My-my shame.” Her lips curled at the memory.
“Stonehollow?” Elva said quietly.
“Stonehollow. And the Storm,” Kire murmured back. “Will everyone within the scope of their power have the same experience?”
Gavin nodded. “Possibly, yeah.”

He was relieved she didn't argue outright about not being in the center of it. He fully expected it, especially considering the reaction of her cousins. "Even if we don't have magic, we're not defenseless." Ruli pointed out. "We're hard to catch." He looked back down at the map as Gavin and Kire spoke, wondering how difficult it would be to add his own loopholes into the wards. Exceptions allowed within, such as Shadow-walking.

But, distracted, he looked up when Gavin mentioned the rune chamber. He so vaguely recalled it, the drugs in his system made most of what happened near Akuma a fuzzy blur. He could only recall the taste of her blood, and the look in her eyes. He knew he'd been different, then. Not quite himself. He didn't want to feel that way again.
It got worse when Kire mentioned her shame and fears, and that anyone stepping into that magic would feel the same. While Ysaryn looked unbothered, shameless and fearless, Ruli paled. "That ... do we know that will be there?" He asked, timidly. "Not if we negate it, right? It'll be in the wards?"
Ysaryn arched her eyebrow at him. "Will these dolls, if inside, they are to be unmoving, yes? Immobilized?"
Ruli shook his head. "Theoretically, no. If they're created in magic, it should stop them once our wards are up. But," he glanced to Kire again, breathing in. "It is sounding more and more like you shouldn't be near this."

Gavin could see the worry in their faces as the illusions were brought up. It worried him, too. “Yeah, if our wards work, it should contain them,” he said, looking back down at the huge sprawl of the Palace. “So our problem now is how wide to make our wards. Right now all we got is guesses for where they’d place theirs.”
“We could still use the bombs for distractions,” Daryll said. “Even if they don’t believe it’s Kire, fire is fire. We could even use it as a signal to let the armies know the wards have been put in place.”
“Are you just looking for an excuse to use explosives here?” Elva said, narrowing her eyes at her cousin.
“Hey, they started it!” Daryll said defensively. “But my point stands.”

“Gods, will the Palace even be standing after this?” Kire asked with a huff. “The last time we saw two wards counteracting each other, the ground started caving in under the pressure. The Palace is sitting on a hill.” She gestured at the map. “And while I understand why, I really, really don’t relish the idea of not being anywhere near this. I already know what it looked like to some of the other lords when I disappeared in the middle of the battle the other day. I know what those same lords might say when they see me hanging back. I’ve heard it before this past year. That I’d been cowed and humiliated by my loss.” She frowned down at the map as if wanting to bore a hole through whichever face she had been picturing saying this slander.

“If the battle goes well this time, it shouldn’t matter.” Elva said gently. “It’s not like every emperor was always on the frontlines of every single war or skirmish. You’ve sort of set a rather high bar for yourself and everyone else, you know.” She smiled softly even as she gently chided her for it.

Kire snorted. “I know. It’s just a delicate time. We’ve only just mended many broken bridges. We can’t afford them losing confidence now.” She looked up at them. “You know I don’t give a shit about whatever falsehoods people say about it. It’s just—this is the battle. For many of these preening fools, image is everything, and like it or not, I need their armies. I won’t be at the front, but I can’t be too far from the fight.”

"I spoke to Elva yesterday about the approximate width of the wards, and how much of the pieces we'll need in relation." Ruli mentioned, glancing at the healer. "We need about one totem per ten feet, so thats ... " He started to trail off and mumble before her heard Daryll. "Hang on, I think my use of the word bomb is too literal. I don't mean fire and explosives... its more —" He broke off to shoot some rapid elvish at Ysaryn who pursed her lips. After a pause, she answered back, and Ruli nodded. "Light bomb."
"Break, light, nothing." Ysaryn echoed.
"Just to replicate Kire's portals. Those don't start fires." Ruli pointed out. As for whether or not the palace would survive, he went quiet, thinking. "Let me work with Daryll, I'll try my best to make sure the ground doesn't cave, or your home isn't destroyed. Give he and I a few hours, with Gavin, and we'll test a few things."

As the conversation moved on to Kire remaining away from the middle of battle, Ysaryn opened her mouth and inhaled, and Ruli shot her a silencing look immediately. He knew without hesitation that the elf was about to announce that Kire shouldn't hide, and that dying in battle for her throne would be honourable, but now was not the time for that.
Ysaryn paused, then cleared her throat. "You are not allowed to die here, Kirai." Ruli's expression softened, and he looked back down to the map. "Envy forbade. Let us do our jobs."