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Ash

With that deal made, all the half-demon could do was wait till nighttime. Then, hopefully, she would run into the Arcane\'s daughter and inform her of the arrangement. If she did, maybe this could all go by smoothly. 

"What a strange place," Keiko said as they made their way back to the Manor. "It\'s strange to think that there\'s such a large part of Amber we can\'t even see from up here." 

"Guess so," Ash agreed. 

"Now that that\'s out of the way, though," Keiko said, "what do we do now?" 

"Well, we can get started on those attributes, at least until we..." 

Ash trailed off as the door ahead, leading into the Manor, opened. Zafir walked out, smiling when he saw Ash arriving. The half-demon stopped for a moment, she and Keiko both remaining silent for a few seconds, before the senator walked up to them. 

"Savior, how are you today?" He asked. 

Ash crossed her arms. 

"What do you want?" 

"Ah, cold as always. I was wondering if I could have that talk with you. Just to explain some things to you. I\'m hoping that maybe we\'ll see a little more eye to eye afterward. So, what do you say?" 

"How long is this gonna take?" Ash asked. 

"Just a few minutes," he told her. 

Ash paused. 

Meh, if it\'ll get this asshole to stop bothering me, then sure. 

"Fine." 

"Wonderful. Please, follow me," he said, turning around and walking back into the building. Ash, however, put a hand on his shoulder before he could leave. 

"She\'s coming with me, though," Ash stated, nodding toward Keiko. 

At that, Zafir\'s smile faded. 

"Why\'s that? If I\'m not mistaken, she isn\'t a Savior." 

Keiko appeared to be just as confused. 

"I\'d feel more comfortable with her there," Ash shrugged. "Is that a problem?" 

"No," he quickly answered. "I was merely curious. If you wish for her to join us, she can." 

Then, he continued walking inside. 

"You want me there?" Keiko asked in a low voice.

"Mhm," Ash nodded. "Put your Spirit Eye on. If anything happens, if they try to catch me by surprise or something, you\'d be able to see it coming before I could." 

"Oh, I see," Keiko nodded. "I understand.  Iridos."

And, if he tries anything,  Ash thought as she followed him,  it\'s going to be a short talk. 

With her eyes narrowed, she walked in after the senator and followed him as they moved through the halls. Zafir began speaking to her on the way. 

"Do you know how long it\'s been since the Royal Council last visited Amber personally?" He asked, suddenly.

"No." 

"Neither do I," Zafir answered with a smile. "I have not seen them once since I started my stint as a senator. Isn\'t that curious?" 

He gestured at a room to the left and both girls turned the corner, moving down the hall until they arrived at a set of brown double doors. Here, just before they walked in, Ash gave Keiko a glance, just to see if anything was about to happen, but the Zayama let her know with a look that it was okay. 

So, she entered the room. 

Ash didn\'t know what she\'d been expecting, but there was nothing here except a large table and a couple of torches lit at the corners. She walked in and sat down by the end of the table. Keiko sat right next to her. 

Zafir sat at the opposite side and put his hands together. 

"Well... Where do I start?" He said, more to himself than to the girls. "I remember, when I first started my job here, all I heard was that the empire was in dire straits and that we were included in that. I found that strange, however, throughout my entire life, demons have been dangerous, yes, but no more so than any other monsters. Still, because of those dire straits, Jade continued to take from us. For decades, centuries, maybe even millennia. One day, I asked myself, \'why?\' And, that simple question has remained on my mind ever since. Can you tell me a reason, Ash? Why we should give them our goods, our money, our soldiers, and get nothing in return when we\'re perfectly self-sustaining on our own?" 

"Not really, but like I said," Ash shrugged, putting her feet up on the table. "I don\'t really give a shit." 

"Yes," Zafir chuckled. "I am aware. Which is why I hope you will remain as nonchalant when I tell you that the Arcane and I... We disagreed. See," he leaned forward. "Soon after I joined the Senate I asked him what we were still doing hiding under Jade\'s boot and, do you know what he said? He said that it was how things had always been. That was it. The best reasoning he could give me was one of tradition. One I did not care for. I began to speak with my peers, one by one, I convinced them, and eventually, we decided tradition was meaningless. This city," he stood up all of a sudden. "It needs change. Prosperity is lurking just beyond the horizon, waiting for us to allow it to come closer. And, I wanted to let that happen. So," he paused, "I killed the Arcane." 

"... I think just about everyone guessed that much," Ash muttered. 

"Is that so?" Zafir asked. "I suppose it is understandable. Regardless, doing so has made it so that, now, we have walked well past the point of no return. Now, it is only a matter of time before Jade takes some of those forces they\'ve got fighting the demons and diverts them south to fight us. All I ask, all I am speaking to you for, is that I hope you will remain neutral when that happens. Whatever price on my head they put," he said, "I can match it on theirs. You need only let me know." 

"Okay." Ash nodded. "Is that it?" 

"Yes, yes," Zafir nodded with an easy smile. "I am glad to hear you are so reasonable." 

"Absolutely," Ash replied, standing up and walking out of the door when she sensed that the conversation was over. Keiko followed her out, but Zafir remained inside. 

As the two of them walked away from that room, Ash sighed. 

"So," she looked down at Keiko, "where were we?" 

"Training." 

"Right." 

---

Arianna

Deep breaths...  The rose-haired girl thought.  Deep breaths. Deep... A couple of tears fell down her cheeks as she thought that.

"..." Next to her, to her left, a mage stood by her side, with a solemn expression, looking down at her, as though he was tired. To her right, a couple of people, one man, one woman, waited to see if she would finally break. 

"Again," one of them said, and the mage nodded. 

"Creature of a pathetic existence, rejoice for death is soon to embrace you," Sorcerer Alys said, before placing a hand on her shoulder, wrapped in a black shadow.  And, just a second later, Arianna felt her soul being torn apart as he cast a Dark spell on her. 

If she had a voice to scream with, she was sure it would be echoing throughout the halls of the Manor right now. 

"I believe if I do this again, she might die. It may be a good idea to leave her alone for the rest of the day," Alys said to the two at Arianna\'s right.

"Hm..." The woman looked down, thinking it over, before nodding. "We will cease for today, then. Thank you, sorcerer." 

"Of course," Alys bowed. 

Then, the door opened. 

Zafir, the leader of the senators, walked inside, and Arianna scowled hard at her. 

"Any progress?" He quickly asked, his hands held behind his back. 

"No, sir," Alys replied. "But, we will get those answers soon enough. I can sense her endurance breaking." 

"Good," Zafir nodded, as he walked over to her.  A disgusted expression looked back at Arianna, as he stood in front of her. "Never would I have imagined that someone would be so determined to stand in the way of progress. And yet, here you are. How distasteful." 

"..." Arianna mouthed a quick, "fuck you" to the man. 

"Hmph. Come," he extended a hand at the woman next to her. "Let\'s have dinner. I believe the chef is cooking up some shrimp today. How long has it been since you had a proper meal?" He asked Arianna. "Maybe if you give us one of those spells we\'ll bring you some." 

"You might want to consider doing that already," the woman holding Zafir\'s hand told her. "All this resistance is doing is making your death slower." 

With that being said, everyone soon walked out of the room. Alys was the last one out. As he usually did, he gave her a long look before slowly closing the door. 

And, if the pattern held true, that meant that as per usual, he didn\'t lock it. 

At first, Arianna had wondered if she\'d gotten lucky enough for him to forget. But, as the days went on, she realized he was likely doing it on purpose. For what reason, she couldn\'t tell. But, after her conversation with the half-demon, she was glad. 

Remembering that moment lessened the pain she was feeling right now, just a little. Even if Alys left the door open like this, she doubted she\'d be able to walk out of Amber on her own. However, after running into that woman she had a chance. 

Taking a deep breath, Arianna tried to calm herself down. The stinging sensation from the Dark spell she\'d just received was still in her chest, circling her heart. 

Considering what she\'d learned about Dark magic from her father, and from Alys himself when she was younger, she understood that receiving these Dark spells was likely reducing her lifespan. She wondered how many years of her life had already been taken away as a result of all of this. 

Still, she had to remain strong. At least, for a few more days. 

Maybe, just maybe, there was a chance for her.. Until she found out, she needed to keep those spells locked up in her mind.