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Chapter 225: Let's Go on an Adventure
🕑 Added 2023-03-04 06:00:02 +0000 UTCShe was placed on academic leave for a month, waking up on the day her friends graduated from Lycée du Soleil. The exact details of her leave of absence were kept tightly guarded, and all most people knew was that she was in a ‘carriage accident’ and got crystal shock trying to protect Gideon and Fabian.
Those two were not allowed to speak of the kidnapping, escape, and Tori’s subsequent overpowered use of terracrystal to anyone. Even when Tori awoke on Anahata Island, the details of the situation that put her in a coma were still hidden, and Tori agreed with the matter.
The kidnapping and attempted murder of the second prince of Soleil was bad enough, but the convoluted plan behind it would spiral public attention into chaos.
“The man called Adrien Rosiek was the youngest son of the Helari tribe’s leader. They are the second largest of the Duraga Tribes and the most powerful of the lot,” Kasen said. He had scarcely left her side since she woke and had been irritated that the one time he went to use the toilet because he ate Piers’ burnt food, Tori had woken up and wandered into the kitchen.
Kasen had found her and Piers in the kitchen, with Piers on his knees clinging on to her. After he pulled Tori away, he carried her back to the greenhouse. Since then Kasen had been the one charged with debriefing her, as Piers, no matter how clingy he was, and Axton had to handle the aftermath of the kidnapping,. Piers had been working from Anahata Island and was forced to return to Horizon after she woke.
Sebastian was charged with dealing with the last of the underground army.
He was still onsite dealing with the mess.
Her brothers had been nearby to help because Kasen had been the agent dispatched nearby to investigate some tunnels. Sebastian had come along claiming he could help collapse a tunnel faster than Kasen’s charms. Axton was convinced that Sebastian was there because he found out Tori was going to Geyser Cliffs with Piers.
Tori remained laying on the selenite slab in a long, simple dress, staring at the clouds slowly moving across the blue sky above. They gave her a pillow and a blanket, but no cushion. Unless she was eating, using the bathroom, or slowly walking around the island to move her body, she had been forced to lay on the selenite to continue recovering from crystal shock.
Compared to the shock she received two years earlier, she was physically much better. She could stand and walk on her own, though lying for a week did make her sluggish. The biggest damage seemed to be her ability to ground and use crystals. Whereas in the past, she’d been unable to ground for several weeks, this time, her ability seemed to have reverted to its original level.
Her original, pathetic level. As her body was healing, she could not do her grounding practices, as Master Ramos was worried that they would aggravate the weakened points and she’d lose her abilities again. Perhaps permanently.
As long as Tori had a chance of recovering to her former peak, she didn’t care if she had to start from stage one again.
“Does the Duraga Federation know he’s dead?” Tori asked.
Kasen paused from where he was seated by a small round table next to the slab. He moved aside some papers he was reading and narrowed his eyes. “They should if they can recognize his head hanging outside the Amber Fortress.”
Tori closed her eyes.
She wondered how long Adrien had been planning and enacting his plan. In order to smuggle in ten thousand soldiers, it must have been done a little at a time. Adrien had numerous properties, connections, and money which were likely funneled into housing, feeding, and training his army.
As for why they weren’t found, Soleil had many uninhabited areas, including the lands abandoned during the drought, where he could hide them. Abandoned villages had fixed resources that could aid a large group of people. The northern Central Corridor and parts of Anlar also had many caves from long empty aquifers that could be utilized.
It was a good idea, as while Soleil had a formidable military, most of it was stationed around the borders and edges of the empire. The Central Corridor had little military presence. A ten thousand strong army could wreak havoc through Soleil’s main agricultural region before the marches on the borders could get to them.
Then there was the other part of Adrien’s plan. It had taken all her discipline not to show any expression when he told her why she was targeted.
Victoria was a weak link in Soleil’s marches. She was known as ill-tempered and reckless, but her family loved her so much that they allowed it. If Gideon were killed, as was Adrien’s plan, even if it was only to deal an emotional blow to the imperial family, blame could still easily fall on Tori as they were supposed to be in the same place at the time.
There would have been many questions surrounding Gideon’s death and any involvement with Tori would strain relations between her family and the imperial family. If she was suspected of killing Gideon, which she doubted most people would believe, then it would create a massive conflict between both families.
Tori wasn’t distantly related to Marquis Guevera; he was her father. Her father loved her so much that Victoria became the spoiled character she was despite growing up in a highly disciplined family. Marquis Guevera would not accept that she’d kill Gideon, and such distrust and resentment against the imperial family could undermine their entire institution.
Tori squinted her eyes and frowned. Undermining the strong symbiotic relationship between the imperial family and the marches to cause internal strife in the empire was a good idea, but the execution was all wrong.
Either Adrien didn’t have as much information on them as he thought, and could thus plan to manipulate them well, or he acted too soon.
Tori would bet money that it was the latter.
Alessa had told her that they’d be too late to stop her when she became Empress. While Tori had no plans to marry, especially any time soon, it wasn’t unheard of for imperial family members to wed after secondary school. Or at the very least, become engaged. The current Emperor and Empress married quite young.
Did they worry she’d marry Piers early? Was Adrien worried that she was becoming too powerful too soon and could cause him more problems? Then, if the opportunity arose to take her out of the picture, it made sense that he’d do so as soon as possible as Tori was not acting according to what Adrien planned.
He must’ve thought he was lucky that she was in the carriage when they kidnapped Gideon. That spectacularly backfired on him.
In the original game, if this had been Adrien’s plan all along and Alessa was just his gaslit puppet the entire time, then his long game paid off. Everything happened in the game exactly as Adrien would have wanted.
The original Victoria was caught, tortured, and died violently and part of the reason was that Gideon had put her in the situation to punish her for what he thought she was doing to Alessa. Even if Adrien owned and controlled that trade house where Victoria was killed, and where he allowed it to happen, Gideon would take most of the blame because he was the one who led Victoria to be captured and didn’t stop them from killing her.
The Gideon of the game was different from the Gideon she knew. At twenty-two and the Crown Prince, the game’s Gideon would have no problem tossing Victoria to her death, especially if he thought she wronged Alessa and they had an awkward, tense history. In the chance that Gideon didn’t mean for Victoria to die, her family would still blame him.
Thus, the game spin offs happened with Kasen and Sebastian turning on the imperial family in revenge, and the subsequent war and fall of her family. The weakened Soleil would not do well against a Duraga Federation that had been growing and waiting for a chance to attack from outside and in.
Throughout the whole game, Victoria de Guevera was a pawn and so was Alessa Hart, who was used to manipulate Victoria.
“Where is Hart now?” Tori asked. She could hear gulls flying around and Alexander, who was next to her, perked up.
“A facility outside the city. It’s heavily guarded,” her brother replied.
Alessa had been arrested at her caravan stop by Piers’ knights. She had pretended she didn’t know what they were talking about until they told her Adrien was dead. To make sure she believed it, as she was in denial, they had shown her his body.
Alessa had snapped.
She had asked them what they were doing, and that Adrien was an agent of the empire. This was a lie to everyone present, but Alessa didn’t know any better. She whole-heartedly believed in Adrien.
When she was told that he was the spy and that he smuggled in an army and was using her, Alessa refused to believe it. After all, she had saved Adrien’s life and he had told her about such secrets in confidence. She had accused them of working for Tori and lashed out when they tried to stop her.
“Has she shown any signs of understanding the situation?”
“As of when we spoke to the facility administrator yesterday, no. She believes you’re a spy and that you killed Adrien.”
“She’s right about that last part.”
“Two stab wounds only started the job. The beam that crushed him finished it,” Kasen said with a slight smirk. He lifted his head and looked at her, his face turning serious. “The way she’s talking...it’s as if she lives in a different reality than we do.”
“She does,” Tori replied. “She’s believed him for so long and did this much thinking she was doing it for the good of the Empire. When she’s told she’s wrong and that she almost got the second prince killed and started a war, how could she easily accept it? The world she thought she understood fell apart.”
“Then, she chooses to believe lies?”
Tori pursed her lips. She wasn’t a psychologist and only knew a little about psychosis. Her only experience with it was while doing volunteer work with a mental health non-profit.
“It may not be a conscious choice. It may be caused by severe mental distress.” She vaguely remembered speaking to a patient and being struck by the incredibly detached-from-reality things they were saying. Even when their voice was even and calm, they were talking about paranoid nonsense. Tori shuddered, remembering feeling helpless to do anything.
“Her father has been trying to see her, but Piers is prohibiting it,” Kasen told her. “The Empress is asking for execution on grounds of treason.”
Tori could believe that. The Empress was not a gentle figurehead asking for mercy; she was also a marquis’ daughter and it was her youngest son who was almost killed. Blood for blood was understandable.
“What other options are there?” Tori asked.
Kasen blinked, appearing surprised. “You don’t want her executed?”
It would be the fastest and likely the most logical way to deal with this, but for everything that had happened, Tori couldn’t ignore the fact that Alessa was a victim. An incredibly stupid and infuriating victim, but a victim none-the-less. And if she were being honest with herself, part of her wanted Alessa, victim or not, to suffer. Death wasn’t enough. Execution would be too fast. Too painless. The feeling of Victoria’s soul crying against her was too fresh in Tori’s mind to allow Alessa to escape with a quick and easy death. Tori gritted her teeth. “I just want to know if there are other options.”
“Soleil does not exile traitors,” Kasen said in a low voice. “There is life imprisonment, but that comes with a price for family members.”
Tori furrowed her brows and turned her head towards Kasen. “She only has one. What will happen to Baron Hart?”
“Mr. Hart. Their titles, land, and possessions have long been revoked,” Kasen told her. “And it is forced sterilization for the prisoner and adults two generations and degrees of separation from them. The immediate family will also be imprisoned with them and imprisonment will be in one of the marches, where they’ll be watched and forced to do labor.”
Tori turned her head back to the sky and nodded. No freedom and no future, just suffering, but at least they were alive. “Has this been discussed with Mr. Hart?”
“He’s been begging for her life to be spared outside the facility, but no one pays him any attention,” Kasen said.
She closed her eyes and took a deep breath. “Do I have any say on the punishment?”
“The Emperor will decide, but if you have something to say, he will hear you out. You did save his son, after all.”
“Then, I want to speak to the Emperor.” She swallowed hard. “And then I want to see Alessa Hart.”
Her brother frowned and sat up straight. “No one is allowed to visit her in the facility.”
“I only want to see that she’s captured. I don’t need to talk to her and hear her deluded ramblings again,” Tori replied in a cold voice. “I destroyed a ten thousand strong army that had infiltrated the empire. Isn’t that worth at least getting a glimpse of her?”
Kasen was quiet for some time. “Then, I will discuss and try to arrange it.”
“When are Ilyana and the others returning?” She wanted to go before they arrived, as once they found she wanted to see Alessa, they would throw themselves at her to keep her from doing so.
“They are cleaning out their dorms today and tomorrow. Lady Ilyana and Miss Sonia are preparing your things and they will be delivered here. At the earliest, they will likely arrive in two days, after all their final arrangements are completed.”
To think, she’d missed her own graduation and couldn’t even move out of her dorm. “Did the final rankings come out?”
“They should tomorrow. Lady Ilyana and the others will check for you.”
It wasn’t really that important in the scheme of things, but she couldn’t help but be annoyed that because she was in crystal shock, she could not take the last set of exams. In fact, they weren’t mandatory and it was rare that the credit on them was required to pass a student and allow them to graduate, but for high ranking students, taking them meant keeping up their rank to the bitter end.
Because she didn’t take them, her rank likely dropped.
She also hoped that her friends weren’t too affected by her situation that they’d score poorly. Kasen and Axton had somehow convinced them that the crystal shock was expected and not as serious as before; that she would awaken soon and would want them not to worry about her.
“They’re going to be mad when they find out what happened.” In order for her friends not to worry, they didn’t know what had happened, unlike the first time she got crystal shock. Tori planned to tell them, but after they returned.
“Then, make it up to them by recovering quickly.”
“My grounding is weak, but my body is fine.”
“For a crystal master, weak grounding is anything but fine.”
Tori scowled. “Try to call the Emperor and arrange for me to visit that facility where Hart is being kept.”
“All right.” Kasen gathered his papers together and stood up. He stepped out of the room and Tori closed her eyes.
It had taken them three days to carry her body back to the delta. As it was crystal shock, Anahata Island was the best place to bring her to heal. She didn’t expect to be treated like a rechargeable battery and put on the selenite slab, but it worked. Different crystals were positioned around her to increase the speed and effectiveness of healing.
Amongst them was the aurora stone. It was the same crystal that was supposed to keep a person’s soul tied to their body.
When she had woken, it felt as if her soul had been inhaled into the physical body to reanimate it. She lifted one hand over the other and gave herself a pinch.
“Definitely alive....”
A few moments later, Kasen returned and gave her an affirmative nod. “He has given you permission to see Hart at the facility, but you are not to interact.”
“Understood,” Tori said. She didn’t plan to speak to Hart, anyway. “Tell them to prepare to leave.”
“Tori-”
“I can walk fine, Kasey. Let me see her and we’ll come back.” Her brother stood in place and seemed to be weighing their options.
“You woke up two days ago,” he said with a hint of warning.
“We’ll come back. If we leave now, we’ll be back by tomorrow morning. If you’re worried, we can bring Dr. Cooper-Fontaine and Master Ramos.” Her determined expression grew a bit tired. “Kasey, I have to go before Ilyana and the others get here. When they arrive and I tell them what happened, they’re not going to let me go.”
Kasen’s eyes bore into her. “All right. But only to the facility.”
It still took another hour for Tori to reach the mainland and get into an imperial carriage Piers had left behind when he returned to Horizon. Four people were in the carriage and both Dr. Cooper-Fontaine and Master Ramos checked her to make sure she was up to travel before they left.
“I suspect that because you used the mem crystal and it is synced with your energy, the crystal shock effects were not as disastrous this time,” Master Ramos said. “The energy is smooth, and the movement is better, wearing down your body less than if you had used the velar or other crystals.”
“Although, she did sleep for a month,” Dr. Cooper-Fontaine told her. The two old men looked at each other and nodded.
“While you were sleeping, as long as the mem was touching you, it seemed to regulate your energy to regain what you had expelled. It’s a fascinating crystal and it may be what helped you survive.”
“It was still working when we found you,” Kasen said from the seat bench next to her.
Tori nodded and lowered her eyes. Kasen had told her that when they reached the village, the ground had sunk, in some places as deep as a house, and most of the buildings had collapsed. The walls Tori had created to circle the village also crumbled down during the tremors caused by the cave collapse, and they’d crushed many men who were trying to escape as a result.
Tori was found easily, as she was lying on a pile of rubble surrounded by violent winds that kept anything from touching her. The wind diverted anything that could fall on her and she almost floated in a bubble. It had taken another few minutes after she was spotted for the winds to lose energy and they were able to retrieve her unconscious body.
Sebastian had made them take her to Anahata Island immediately to recover, but he had to return to oversee the aftermath and removal of bodies.
“My safety bubble charm worked,” Tori said. This could be useful to others, but it may have only worked because of the mem crystal.
Her brother narrowed his eyes, as if knowing what was going through her head. “Don’t think about using crystals until you can properly ground.”
“I can ground now.”
“Ground in a meaningful way.” Kasen frowned. “Everyone is worried about you, Tori. Mama and Papa even said to cancel your trip.”
“No!” Tori sat up and scowled. “I am going! We had it all planned! Constantine is expecting us! We’re just a bit delayed!”
Kasen held up his hand to calm her. “I know. I convinced them to send Sur Plata so that you can travel faster.”
Tori nodded and relaxed a bit. “I’m going to be relaxing while traveling, anyway. I don’t need to ground.”
She heard her brother let out a small scoff. “I’m sure of it....”
Tori huffed and Master Ramos gave her prepared crystals to continue her healing for the remainder of the journey. When they arrived in Horizon, the sun was setting, and by the time they crossed the city and reached the outskirts and the rolling hills just beyond them, it was dark.
The facility where Alessa was being held wasn’t a prison. It was, for lack of a better comparison, an asylum. In her original world, most asylums had long closed down, but she’d still seen them.
The facility was an unassuming manor nestled against rolling hills. If it weren’t for the high wall, tiny windows, and roaming guards, it could’ve passed for any of the other countryside estates dotting the area.
The carriage could only go as far as the front gate. Tori would have to walk up the rest of the way to the front doors, and even then, there was another brick wall and a guard house to let people in and out.
Weapons were not allowed, so she and Kasen walked up the path unarmed. Street lamps lit the brick walkway and as they reached the front gate, Tori saw two men kneeling in a begging posture next to the guard house. One was old with an unshaven gray-speckled blond beard and the other was young in worn clothing. Both were thin and gaunt, as if they had been there for days. They certainly smelled like it.
As Tori arrived, the older man with the beard shot up. His eyes glistened with hope, as if seeing a savior. “Countess Guevera!”
Kasen was in front of her immediately and blocked Mr. Hart from reaching Tori. “Mr. Hart, stand down.”
“My lady, please forgive my daughter!” Mr. Hart prostrated himself on the ground. The corner of Tori’s lip rose as she frowned. “She was misled! Please spare her life!”
“While you’re not wrong, I hardly call collusion for attempted murder forgivable because she was ‘misled’,” Tori said in a low voice.
“Countess Guevera, we’re begging you, please!” The skinny young man who was with the former Baron nearly kissed the ground in front of her. “Please don’t let them execute Alessa!”
“She conspired to overthrow the empire and kidnap the second prince.” That didn’t even count what Alessa did to her or what her actions caused other people. Sir Atienza was half dead when they found him at the attack site. Tori told Piers that if Sir Atienza’s injuries forced him out of the imperial knights, then she wanted him in Cosora. Thinking about the injured knights, two who were in critical condition even now, anger welled in her chest. Her hand clenched at her side, and she turned away from the two desperate beggars. “Miss Hart’s punishment is not up to me.”
Kasen stayed between her and the two men, keeping an eye on them as he and Tori spoke to the guards at the station. One of the guards came out of the station to unlock the gate and escorted them in. They passed a small, but neat yard that was suitable for ‘patients’ to walk through.
There wasn’t anything very dangerous. No ornamental water fixtures, no large trees, or protruding rocks. Just some neatly shaped shrubs and a well-lit lawn. In order to enter the manor house, they had to enter through a heavy, thick wooden door plated with metal strips. Tori couldn’t help but wonder who they were trying to keep in.
The interior was surprisingly bright, but there were no dining rooms, parlors for leisure, or studies like one would expect from the exterior. Instead, there were long halls with thick, metal plated doors that lined them.
Tori took a deep breath as she followed the facility administrator who met them at the door.
“She maintains that the Countess is a spy and that she is deceiving us all,” the middle-aged man said with a look of disappointment. “She keeps demanding to speak to the Emperor, as he would know that Mr. Rosiek was an agent.”
“Will the Emperor refuting Rosiek’s position change anything?” Kasen asked.
“We have tried to tell her that it was Mr. Rosiek who was the spy, but she believes the empire is disavowing him in order to protect his disguise.”
Tori sneered. “Her thoughts don’t make any sense.” She paused for a moment and shook her head. “No, to her they make sense. She just believes the rest of us are wrong and don’t understand anything.” There was no telling if Alessa would ever come back to reality.
They reached a door at the end of the hall. Each door had a small glass window, just enough for half a person’s face to peek through. Tori stood on the tips of her toes and looked inside.
There was a layered cloth mat on the floor and a wooden tray with a wooden plate and spoon. A half-eaten piece of bread and some cheese remained on the tray while sitting against the wall in a long, white nightgown, was a disheveled and thin Alessa Hart. Her rosy cheeks were thin and gray, the brightness in her eyes was replaced with a paranoia, and her long, wavy golden hair had been cut short.
The administrator and Kasen didn’t say a word as Tori stared at Alessa in silence.
A pawn with a shattered mind. Tori took a deep breath. If Alessa had never gotten involved with Adrien, things would have been different, both in this life and in the game. It was pitiful, but not pitiful enough that Tori thought she didn’t deserve where she was.
The original Victoria had been tortured to death. Tori could never forgive that and would never let it pass without retribution.
As she prepared to turn her head away, Alessa’s head snapped towards the door. Her eyes widened as she met Tori’s gaze, and she jumped up. She rushed towards the door with a look of madness and Tori stepped back on instinct. Alessa slammed her body against the door and started pounding it with her fists and kicking it. Tori could see her mouth contorted with screams as her face turned red with fury, but Tori couldn’t hear anything Alessa said.
“You poor, stupid girl,” Tori whispered. Her eyes narrowed. “But everyone has to face the consequences of their actions. You are not innocent because you were ignorant.”
“Have you seen enough?” Kasen asked. Tori nodded her head once. She held Alessa’s deranged gaze as she stepped away from the door echoing with thuds. Soon, there were more sounds of patients hitting the door and various men and women in gray uniforms rushed from the main hall to try to calm them.
“Thank you for allowing me to see her,” Tori said as she gave a small nod of her head to the administrator. “The Emperor’s punishment will come soon, but if Hart is not executed, will she remain here?”
“If her condition does not recover, then yes. It would be too dangerous to send her to a prison camp,” the administrator replied.
Tori nodded. She thanked him once more and followed Kasen back out through the front lawn. When they stepped out of the gate, Mr. Hart and Tom Fields were still prostrated on the ground.
“My lady, please...please spare my daughter! Please have mercy!”
“Mercy, my lady! I beg you for mercy! Imprisonment and exile, we’re begging you. My lady, please do not allow them to kill Alessa!”
Kasen almost stepped over them with a look of disgust on his face. Tori stopped. She looked down at the two men.
“I cannot change the Emperor’s decision once it is made. All I can do is request for her life to be spared and for life imprisonment instead.” Her voice was cold and factual, with no hint of a promise.
Yet, Mr. Hart’s head shot up and looked at her with grateful eyes. “Thank you, my lady-!”
She held up her hand to silence him. “There is a price for you to pay.” Her icy eyes met his with contempt. “As her family, you will also share her punishment and be imprisoned for life.”
Mr. Hart didn’t falter at all. “As long as my daughter is alive, I will pay any price.”
Tori’s expression didn’t falter, either. “Both you and your daughter will also be sterilized to prevent future progeny with your blood.” She narrowed her eyes. “Do you accept this price?”
He let out a low breath and lowered his head, but nodded. “I will accept it. My daughter is all I have left.”
Tori gave him a small nod and then looked at Tom. “Life imprisonment does not allow for any visitors.”
Tom kept his head down and his body low. “Then I will also be sterilized.”
Her brows shot up with surprise. The men around them who heard his firm declaration also looked at him, stunned. “Do you have any idea what you’re saying? You are not a family member, Mr. Fields. This price for her life does not affect you. You do not need to be imprisoned with her nor sterilized.”
“Do you know what ‘sterilized’ means?” Kasen asked with a deep frown.
His dirt caked fingers clawed into the ground. “I swore that I would protect Alessa since we were children,” he said in a breathy voice. “I failed...but I won’t let her suffer alone. I don’t need to have children. I will accompany Alessa.”
“Tom....” Mr. Hart looked at the younger man with a heartbroken expression. “Don’t do this. You still have a future.”
“I will stay with her, my lord.” Tom lifted his head and met the older man’s eyes. “I will keep my oath.”
Tori wasn’t sure what to feel. On one hand, she thought Tom was crazy to give up his freedom and future children to be with Alessa. On the other hand.... The corner of her lip curled up in a wry smile.
“Just what I’d expect from a love interest,” she muttered to herself. She straightened up, set her face back into its cold, distant look, and turned around. “We part ways here,” she said as she walked away from the asylum gates, the mad woman inside, and the two men willing to give up everything for the woman. Tori kept her eyes ahead of her, onto the carriage that would take her back to the delta. “Never show yourselves to me again.”
If she thought Piers was clingy when she woke up, it was nothing compared to Ilyana, who went from scolding her for risking her life, to crying with pent up emotions about the entire ordeal, to wanting to physically fight the second prince and Fabian. Tori had been forced to lay on the selenite slab for two more days to recover under Ilyana’s hawk-like eyes.
She needed an ally to help her calm Ilyana down and while Kasen was the best choice, he was also a useless choice as he supported Ilyana’s fervent determination to keep Tori recovering on the selenite.
She was like a dead fish on a block of ice.
Thank God for Sonia, JP, and Henrik. Ewan and Albert, while they sympathized the most with Tori’s boredom, weren’t completely onboard with her getting up and moving around. They also did not want to fight Ilyana. Tori was fairly sure they were afraid of her.
Sonia and Henrik appealed to Ilyana’s logic while JP nagged Ilyana about respecting Tori’s wishes. It took another week for Tori to leave the delta again and it was only because she needed to get something important at Lycée du Soleil.
Tori arrived earlier than the arranged time, but with a summons letter in hand, the guard at the gate let her in. Entry into the campus when school was not in session was restricted, and the restriction was enforced. Although her friends accompanied her, they were forced to wait at the front gate.
Ilyana had argued with the guard to let at least one of them accompany Tori, but Tori assured them she’d be fine. Being forced to recuperate gave her body time to heal. The selenite slab was surprisingly efficient, too. Tori’s legs felt fine, and she hadn’t tripped or lost her balance in days.
Still, she could feel Ilyana’s heated stare on her back as she walked through the central courtyard. Without any students, it felt bigger, but at the same time, knowing she wouldn’t walk through the courtyard as a student again made it feel small and dreamlike.
She passed the administration building and followed the familiar path back to her dorm. It was locked for the summer, so she stood before the front steps, reminiscing about the day she arrived. There were such negative rumors then, and Ilyana was the only person who wanted to be her friend.
As she burned the image of the dorm into her mind, she could almost see the moment the two of them, dressed in their uniforms, walked out of the building together to find their classes. The corners of her lips rose. Ilyana was even more clingy now and half a head taller.
She chuckled to herself and walked the path to their homeroom. Tori stood where she remembered she’d first run into that idiot second prince and his knight. The two of them had already left for summer training at the naval academy. The looks on their faces when they came to see her on Anahata Island were a far cry from their expressions when they first met.
The haughty disgust and hatred was replaced with concern, respect, and some lingering guilt. They’d been quiet outside thanking her and asking when she’d recover. Tori had told them to make it up to her by not letting her regret saving them if they failed to meet the expectations of the naval academy. Eili would know and tell her if they were slacking.
When I get to King’s Harbor, I’ll stop by the academy to watch them suffer - I mean train. Train.
Tori continued her nostalgic walk around the buildings, stopping by the training grounds and the location where the Sword Association always set up for the Spring Festival. She could still hear the excited shouts and yelling of the students.
This was where she had beaten Ewan.
She muffled her laugh as her eyes crinkled up with mirth. Now, Ewan could beat her without question. He didn’t get accepted into the first-tier knights training for nothing. The boy was so arrogant and now he was humble and thoughtful. Then again, maybe Ewan had always been that way, it was just he didn’t have a good impression of her in the beginning. He always did have a certain thirst to learn and better himself.
She could see the clock tower from where she stood. Headmaster Laurent was expecting her in a minute, so she quickened her speed to return to the administration building. She couldn't help but recall when Sonia slapped Alessa. Sonia had no regrets.
Headmaster Laurent was standing at the top of the steps of the administration building. Albert had told her that when they came to receive their certificates of completion, the graduation ceremony to receive them was held in front of the administration building.
Tori smiled a bit as she took a step on to the path that led to the front steps. Headmaster Laurent was standing up straight, his arms behind his back as he looked at her with a warm, proud look.
“Good afternoon, Miss Guevera.”
Tori bowed her head to him with respect. “Good afternoon, Headmaster Laurent.”
“How are you feeling?” he asked as she stopped in front of him, just a step below where he stood.
Tori took a deep breath. “It’s not as bad as the first time I had crystal shock, but I’ll likely have to work on my grounding and crystal work.”
“Your work with crystals has brought great prestige to the school, but not as much as your work turning a refugee camp into a bustling resort village,” the old man said. He couldn’t seem to stop smiling as he looked at her. “To say you have done well is an understatement and it was disappointing for all of us that you missed the ceremony.”
“I also wish I could’ve attended. It would’ve been good to close this period of my life with my friends and classmates.” She smiled thoughtfully. “But, I suppose that’s what reunions are for. You should come, Headmaster. It’ll be right before the start of the school year at Viclya. JP will send out invitations for us.”
Headmaster Laurent laughed and nodded. “It would be my pleasure. Thank you for letting me know, Miss Guevera.” He straightened up and brought his hands out in front of him. A dark purple dyed leather folio the size of a sheet of paper and with the school’s name, seal, and her name embossed in gold was presented to her with both of his hands. “On behalf of the institution that is Lycée du Soleil, I present to you this certificate stating that you have completed all coursework, successfully completed your Lycée project with highest honors, and thus graduated ranked second in your class.”
Tori’s brows shot up. Her hands were already extended to accept the folio when she heard her rank. “Second? But I didn’t take the final exams.”
“The weight of your Lycée project secured you the rank, as the project is worth more than the final exams,” the Headmaster told her.
Tori nodded her head as she accepted the heavy leather folio with both hands. Ilyana had told her she ranked as expected, so Tori thought she meant in the top five.
With the folio in her hands, she bowed her head. “Thank you, Headmaster Laurent.”
The old man in his suit stood up straight and smiled as his arms went down to his side.
“Congratulations on successfully completing Lycée du Soleil, Countess Victoria de Guevera.”
Her heart skipped a beat at his choice of words. Successfully completing, huh? Tori’s lips pulled into a wide smile. She bowed her head once more. “Thank you. It’s been...fun.”
She brought the folio to her chest and turned around, walking down the steps, and heading towards the gate. She could see her carriage and her friends waiting for her just beyond the iron bars and the metal seal of the school that hung on them.
As she neared the gate, Tori opened her folio to get a good look at her certificate. She saw her name in gold and black.
A wave of emotions swept over her at once. Her heart pounded in her chest as she shuddered with a breath. Her eyes began to water, and she saw the tear drops on the thin glass protecting the paper certificate before she realized she was crying.
Her lips trembled as her hands grew white, tightening around the edges of the folio.
She took one step outside of the gate and before she could take another, Tori grasped the folio against her chest and crouched into a ball, hugging the folio as if it were her lifeline.
At the end of the game, the villainess was kicked out of school.
Victoria de Guevera never graduated from Lycée du Soleil.
In her hands was proof that she graduated. And not only that, at rank two, just behind Ilyana. Broken, choked sobs left her as she hugged her certificate. An unnoticed, massive weight was lifted from her shoulders and for a moment, she felt liberated.
She changed her ending.
If she could change the ending in the original game, then she could change Victoria’s destiny with it. Tori had been so busy dealing with school, the delta, and the Duraga Federation that the possibility of death only lingered in the back of her mind. She ignored the severity of it, but was somewhat resigned if it was inevitable.
She just tried her best, but that didn’t mean that she wasn’t a little scared.
“Tori, what’s wrong?” Ilyana knelt down beside her and gathered her in a warm embrace. “Does anything hurt?”
“Do you want me to carry you into the carriage?” Ewan asked. Sonia grabbed her brother.
“JP, call Dr. Cooper-Fontaine-”
“It’s fine, it’s fine!” Tori lifted her tear-filled face and smiled. “I graduated.”
Her friends looked at her with concern. Ilyana glanced at the others before looking back at Tori. “Yes...yes, we know. And at rank two! Leferve was so mad!”
Tori sniffled. Her eyes were wet. “I graduated....”
She repeated the words over and over, as if saying it would prove to her that it was all real. Ilyana stroked her hair back to soothe her, like Tori often did to calm her.
“Tori....”
She took a deep breath and shook her head. “I’m fine,” she said. She began to stand up and Sonia grasped her arm to steady her. She rose to her feet and shut her eyes tight. “Thank you.”
“Let’s get you back to the delta....” Henrik said in a hesitant voice.
Tori chuckled and let her shoulders relax. She wiped her eyes and then grabbed on to Ilyana and Sonia. She pulled them closer and beckoned for the others.
“Thank you all so much,” she said in a tight voice. “Thank you...I love you, thank you.” Her friends didn’t seem to know what to do with her sudden burst of gratitude, except to move in closer and try to surround her to keep her reassured.
“Tori, are you sure you’re all right?” Sonia asked in a soft voice.
Tori nodded. “I’m fine. Everything is fine!” She couldn’t help but let out a little, giddy laugh. “I graduated!”
Ilyana was also crying, and she nodded. “Yes...congratulations, Tori!”
“No more tests, no more projects,” Albert said.
Ewan nodded his head vigorously. “It’s all over!”
Her heart skipped a beat again. “It’s all over....” She bit her lower lip to hold back her laugh. “It’s over!”
“Tori!” She lifted her head and peered through the space between her friends to see a white horse come to a stop behind her carriage. The man on the horse dismounted and had a shadow of concern on his face. “Are you all right?”
Her friends parted and stepped back. Tori nodded. “I’m fine,” she said. Her eyes crinkled up and she lifted her folio to show Piers. “I graduated!”
He blinked and nodded. “Yes. Congratulations.” Seeing her smile despite her red eyes, he seemed to relax. His eyes softened, growing warm as he walked towards her. He extended his hand. “Have you finished here?”
Tori brought her certificate portfolio to her chest with one arm and reached for his hand as a bright smile filled her face. “Yes. I’ve finished.”
When they returned to Viclya after picking up her certificate, she was ecstatic to find that Henrik had planned a party for her.
Her favorite foods had been prepared; the entire Promenade was decorated. It hadn’t been when they left early that morning. There were live bands the entire night, and as they ate dessert, there were fireworks.
Knowing that she was going to leave at the end of the week for a tour of Soleil, and thus have her birthday outside, villagers and workers stopped by the restaurant to give her gifts. She tried to reject them, insisting that she was not in need of anything, but they insisted.
Tori wore a crown of flowers from school children the entire night proudly.
Unlike other celebrations in the past, the Promenade was alive and entertaining guests the whole night. Even the youngest children didn’t seem to shuffle off to sleep until well past midnight.
Half her friends were playing games, others were running around with classmates and friends, eating Promenade snacks which were half off in celebration of Tori’s graduation. Some people had even taken up night fishing, which was unexpected.
Tori was coaxed to her island, as Piers told her he had something to show her. When she arrived, there was a rather sad single tent with no walls in the center of NE12. It had strings of light crystals around the edge and there were two knights guarding a table.
“Piers....” Tori frowned, suddenly wary. “What is this?” Piers kept her hand firmly in the crook of his arm as he led her to the center of the island. They walked beneath the tent and Tori saw a long and wide folio with a velvet hardcover.
“Tori, this is from my father.”
Tori’s eyes widened and prepared to open the folio when she stopped. “This isn’t more work, is it?”
“No. It is an award.”
“Last time he gave me an ‘award’, I became a countess,” she said in a deadpan voice.
Piers stared at her. “It’s not work.”
She let out a suspicious hum, but opened the folio. She cocked her head to the side as her brows furrowed. “Aren’t these the designs for the Countess’ Manor?”
“These are the latest drafts of the manor that you agreed to before we reached Geyser Cliffs,” Piers told her. “Look behind the designs.”
Tori shifted through the papers and found familiar supply lists, forms, and a budget. “Your father tallied my construction costs?” Was that old man mocking her? He knew she didn’t have money to build a residence yet.
Piers’ eyes crinkled a bit. “He’s paying for the development, construction, and furnishing of the Countess’ Manor on NE12.”
Her eyes widened. “Are you serious? All of it?”
“Yes, from the architectural designs, engineering work, to the construction, supplies, and a budget to furnish the manor. Mother has also said that when the manor is built, you must come to pick out some decorations from the imperial storehouses.”
Tori’s eyes widened. I can bling out my house...for free.
“Do you like it?” Piers asked.
Tori nodded her head excitedly. “Yes! Yes, I love it! Wait, what if I still want to make changes?”
“You have until the end of the summer to update the current designs,” Piers told her.
Tori shook with excitement. She flipped over the designs multiple times. “You should’ve brought a chair.”
Piers was looking out towards the water. The sun was going to rise soon, and the sky was starting to lighten with the dawn, yet she didn’t feel sleepy at all.
“Tori, your graduation present is here.”
“Huh?” She lifted her head. Piers kept looking towards the bay and then gave a small nod.
Sir Dobchek lit a light beacon and raised it in the air, waving it in a wide arch.
“There,” Piers said as he motioned for her to look where he was looking. Tori followed his gaze and watched as light crystals appeared in a line, just past the edge of her island. She squinted and took a step forward as a larger light crystal nearly illuminated that corner of the island.
Her eyes widened as her mouth dropped. “That’s a ship....” She looked at Piers. “It...it doesn’t have masts, is it one of the test cruisers?”
Piers shook his head. “This is not a naval ship, though it does have the newest engine and propellers. It is faster than the naval cruisers that have been modified.” He offered his arm to her. “Do you want to take a look?”
“Of course!” Tori nodded and grabbed his arm. “I haven’t had a chance to see the new ships yet. Is this also a test vessel for a larger ship?”
They walked towards a newly built wooden dock. Tori hadn’t seen it before, and they had arrived from the other side of the island. The dock was built on the east side and jutted quite far, into deeper water. The ship looked to be the size of Sur Oro and Tori looked at it with excitement as she walked past to get to the gangway.
She followed Piers up to the deck and was saluted by a small crew.
“Your Imperial Highness, My lady!”
“Good morning,” Tori said with a small nod as she looked around. “Can I look around the ship?”
The oldest of the men chuckled. “Of course, my lady. This is your ship!”
Tori stopped in mid step and turned around. “What?” She looked from the crew to Piers. Piers tilted his head, signaling for the crew to step off the boat. “Piers, what does he mean? Aren’t we just going for a cruise around the bay?”
Piers waited until they were alone on the deck.
“You told me many years ago that you wanted to travel after school,” he said. She could hear a hint of nervousness in his voice. “To congratulate you on completing Lycée du Soleil, and to assure your safe and swift travel, I commissioned this ship for you. Congratulations. Please accept my gift.”
She gawked at the man as her voice shook. “You commissioned a ship for me?”
Piers nodded. “It has all the latest crystal technology, tried, and evaluated by both Master Ramos and the naval engineers and builders. It will be staffed by retired imperial ship captain, Captain Timothy Dunhaus and -”
“Piers....” Tori walked towards him and held out her arms. “Thank you.”
His face brightened and he walked forward, happy to accept her embrace. “Do you like it?”
She nodded against him and pulled back. “Let’s see what the inside looks like!” Her arms left his side and she scampered to the open door that looked like it led to the lower levels of the ship, leaving Piers standing in his spot, his arms still outstretched.
He followed her below deck as Tori explored every corridor, every room, every little space she could. By the time they returned to the deck, there was a slight sheen of sweat on her forehead from her exploration and the sky was orange and blue.
“Does the ship have a name yet?” she asked as she walked towards the bow to see if anything was written on the side. “Can I name it?”
“It is customary to name a ship before it is released into the water or it is bad luck,” Piers replied.
Tori wrinkled her nose. It was a bit disappointing that she couldn’t name it herself, but she supposed it saved her the trouble of doing so. She placed her hands on the railing and gave him a quizzical look. “Then, what’s its name?”
The morning light washed over the deck of the ship, illuminating the first prince from behind as a faint, gentle smile reached his lips.
“For Whom The Sun Rises.”
She swallowed hard as her mouth opened, but no words came out. Tori looked at Piers just a few paces from her. Everyone said that he was not good with people and didn’t know how to show affection. But sometimes, she thought that Piers knew more than he let on.
This was one of those times. “Piers-”
“Tori!”
“Is this it? He got her a ship?”
“Is this Tori’s ship then?”
“Are we going to get to take it this summer?”
A series of voices pierced her dumbfounded silence and Piers looked down towards the dock. He turned back to Tori with that peaceful smile.
“They are calling you.”
She blinked and turned back to the dock. Her friends were rushing forward, looking at the ship with stunned awe.
“Tori!” Ewan waved his arms in the air to get her attention. “Is this your ship?”
She pulled herself out of her daze and laughed as she nodded. “Yes! It’s my ship!” She looked at Piers with an excited smile. “It has the latest crystal technology-”
“Like the test vessel?” Albert gasped and Tori looked back towards them. Her brows furrowed and then turned back to Piers.
“You told them about the test vessel?”
He looked away. “It is difficult to conceal such an eye-catching thing....”
Tori let out a heavy sigh and looked back at her friends. “Yes, like the test vessel. It’s several times faster than a ship with sails.”
“This one can get to the mouth of the delta twice as fast as a regular ship,” Axton said, following behind the group.
“Then...it’s fast. We should try it...?” JP stood with the others on the dock, by the gangway, appearing to wait.
Tori rolled her eyes. She waved her arm. “Then hurry up and get on board!”
The group burst into smiles and raced up the gangway.
“This is so exciting...your first ship and it’s the most advanced one!” Ilyana clapped her hands together and looked around as she reached Tori. Her bright brown eyes looked at her filled with enthusiasm. “What should we do first?”
Several pairs of eyes stopped where they were and turned towards Tori, all asking the same question.
She felt the smile on her face as her heart quickened. The people she loved were safe and happy. She was alive and had changed her tragic ending and the tragic ending of those she loved.
Tori let out a small laugh as a salty summer breeze swept past her, and looked towards the horizon. Her lips pulled into a wide smile. “Let’s go on an adventure.”
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AN -
See you next Tuesday with Constantine's marking ceremony. :D
Comments
Ryan
Thank you for the great story.
Richard Mitterer
Awesome! Sad that the story is almost over, will need to go read from the beginning again!
