You're Gonna Know My Name

“Mmm… that really hits the spot.”

Thana was wrapped in bliss, her body soaking in the large tub of the personal suite she’d claimed for herself at the Elysium guildhall. The tub itself was more of a pool, sunken into the ground on the side of her rather luxurious chamber, the hot liquid glowing an eerie and sickly green color from the lacrima lights that lit it from below. Bits of blood and gore dripped into the water from her body, clouding up the clear body of water a bit. She sighed happily, sinking deeper in the pool until it was just her head resting above the surface, her long black hair splayed out in a gentle halo around her skull like some kind of dark mermaid.

She’d been quite the busy bee lately, and was feeling rather satisfied with herself. There was a lot of work to be done for the newest and quickly growing dark guild as one of their aces, but Thana quite enjoyed the responsibility. As the ace of destruction, it was her prerogative to place fear into the hearts of those that thought to deny Elysium its rightful due. While their happy little guild didn’t present itself as brazenly evil as other dark guilds did, they still had one aim and one aim alone, which was complete and utter control, to bring the entire continent -- no, the entire world of Earthland to its knees at their feet. Sometimes such aims required subtlety and allure, something to draw in favor with those who could be persuaded to the cause. But other times… oh, those other times… that was when Thana was called in.

She loved that Janet gave her the freedom to act as she pleased. It made for a wonderful working relationship with the dragoness, which was good because often times Thana could be a bit hard to handle, and very rarely did she ever actually respect or pay any mind to authority. However, Janet had caught her interest with her desire to bring the world together under one rule, and her respect by being so fluid and adaptable with the methods she utilized to achieve that aim. It was enough that Thana was willing to play the part of obedience, if only to sate her curiosity in seeing how things panned out. And so far, Elysium had been growing rather impressively.

Thana played her part in that, of course. She showed up to be the muscle and the element of fear when it was needed, happily razing flesh and culling people by the dozens whenever Elysium desired to flex its power and mark its place in the world. Disobedience would not be tolerated, and in order to take the power Janet wanted they needed to show that they had the power to handle those that did not submit to her rule. Thana was that power, and she greatly enjoyed playing that role. After all, toying with people was her favorite pastime.

And there was no denying that she was building a reputation for just that. As Thana floated in the water, she fondly remembered her encounter with Sivvy, the delicious little clone that had tried to stop Thana from mass murdering a bunch of innocent people at a spa in Hosenka. Thana had been soaking in a bloodied spa, letting the crimson plasma exfoliate her skin, when the pink haired beauty had stumbled into the place, already drained and weary from a prior encounter. It really hadn’t been much of a fair fight. Then again, Thana was rarely interested in fair fights. Sivvy had been all too easy to over power, to warp her mind so Thana could break both her body and her spirit.

Not that she’d done much breaking to the woman’s body. In fact, she’d gone quite the opposite direction. It wasn’t often that Thana went out of her way to bring pleasure to someone other than herself, but Sivvy had been an exception to that rule. The clone had been suffering from feelings of inferiority and abandonment her entire life. There was no way adding more of that to her plate was going to ruin her further. Rather, what Thana realized would fuck the woman up was confusing her, making her long for things that didn’t make sense, make her feel attachment to and desire for things she shouldn’t want, making her question her entire life as she knew it. And that was why Thana had gone out of her way to please the co-guild master of Dies Irae, bringing her the kind of emotions and sensations she never could experience before, the kind that felt pure and intoxicating in the moment but would likely haunt her the rest of her days.

And Sivvy wasn’t the only one. Oh, poor, poor Nathaniel Stratford. Such a kind soul, if not much of an innocent one. Another member of Dies Irae, a guild which was looking all the more appealing to Thana every time she encountered one of its members. The young lad was so smitten with Trinity, but the fool girl had yet to explain to him about her periods of blacking out. Thus, when she’d gone quiet for quite some time, Nathaniel had thought her to be avoiding him, thought he had driven her away by telling Trinity that he loved her. He didn’t know that Trinity had never heard those words before, didn’t know that she didn’t understand their weight nor their implications. Trinity was barely more than a child, intellectually.

Thana had not hesitated to make an opportunity out of the one sided rift, of course. The young man was in a moment of weakness and confusion when Thana had found him and made things worse, making him feel conflicted about his feelings, doing everything in her power to make him yearn for her just as much so he could no longer trust his own heart. The poor boy was so naive that he was easily lured into her machinations, hook, line, and sinker, completely oblivious to who she really was and the kind of game she was playing. At this point, once all the cards fell into place, the entire guild of Dies Irae would likely be gunning for her life even more than they probably already were.

Added to that list was surely the Rune Knights and Fairy Tail. Thana chuckled fondly over her little spat with that darkness mage Mythal, who had been promoted to Director of the Rune Knights in the wake of their battle. By now he surely knew that she was still alive. She had left him plenty of public clues, the most obvious being her fortuitous feature in the Sorcerer’s Magazine recently. She could only imagine that her face had been plastered all over their wanted boards so that every Knight in the country would recognize her on sight. Similarly, it hadn’t been so long ago that she had murdered a long standing member of the Fairy Tail guild. Granted, he had provoked her by attacking first, but that would mean little to the guild that was so notorious for covering for its own. Yes, there was something to be said about the way her life was made, and how she’d come from being some pathetic slave being used to make money in the illegal pits of Bellum.

Yet, it wasn’t enough. Janet had far greater renown than her, having recently acquired the title of a Warlord, a dark mage considered on par with the Gods of Ishgar. Thana was completely certain that she could attain such notoriety and wicked acclaim for herself, but how to do it? What more did she have to do that was greater than the murdering, the raping, the targeting of entire guilds at a time? She had gotten lazy, that’s all there was to it. She had been deemed a Coming Storm, and then had gotten comfortable, letting her flair for showmanship and attention fall by the wayside for the comfort and ease of being in a guild and taking commands.

Perhaps it was time to change that.

You seem to have a scheme floating about in that head of yours. Darius, as perceptive as ever, spoke up to draw attention to her inner thoughts. Why don’t you share with the rest of the class?

Thana grinned, reaching down to idly finger at the crystal shaped gem around her neck that glowed as Darius communicated with her. “Oh, but you already know what I’m thinking, my dear. Isn’t that part of your entire schtick?”

He chuckled. Of course. But that doesn't mean I don’t enjoy listening to you speak your thoughts out loud. Between the three of you, you are by far more interesting than either of your other two counterparts. The more I can do to keep you in control of the body, the longer it will take for me to have to put up with Aeron’s constant nay-saying, or Trinity’s overwhelming naivety.

“I suppose that’s fair. Even I would hesitate to subject someone I didn’t like to either of those fates.” She smirked a bit to herself. Stretching her arms high above her head and releasing a contented sigh, Thana floated gracefully in the water as she explained. “I think it’s time for me to start bringing my name back into the headlines. I’ve become complacent, and Elysium deserves more of my effort than that.”

I see. So what did you have in mind? I’m assuming something big?

“I think this is going to be a multi-step process,” Thana told him, her tone thoughtful. “Fame rarely happens overnight, and I think my approach needs to be thorough. If Janet views me as her destructive force, then the world needs to see me for what I am. I think it’s time I start playing a bit more heavily with the more widely known guilds. Perhaps even piss off a few countries outside of Fiore. The question is simply: Where do I start? Do you have any suggestions?”

Well, if you’re looking to do something big, you can always start a little closer to home.

Thana paused. “Are you suggesting Pergrande?”

It would be a worthy target. They are the largest country on the continent, their government despises mages and magic of all kinds, and it is the only country which shares a border with Sin. There are quite a number of factors that paint them as… alluring.

“Hmm… Conveniently located, enticingly ripe for mischief. Darius, I dare say you have outdone yourself with this suggestion.”

A difficult task for one as brilliant as I am, but I assure you I have my moments.

“Alright, so what do I need to be aware of to make this happen?” she asked as she found her soaps and began to scrub herself clean.

The disembodied wizard thought in silence for a moment, drawing up all the possible knowledge and approaches he needed in order to best advise her on how to move forward. Well, they are insanely hostile toward anyone that they even suspect to be a mage. You cannot get into the country easily unless they believe beyond the shadow of a doubt that you do not possess magic of any kind. That task will be all the more difficult if you are trying to breach the border between sin and Pergrande, because they will not readily trust anyone who is powerful enough to approach from the monster infested wastes. You will either need to be very convincing, come in too strong for their forces to be immediately ready to face, or make the trip into Bellum and get into the country from its main border.

They will still be suspicious of you on that front, as Bellum and Pergrande are natural enemies, but plenty of non-mages pass through Bellum to get to Pergrande. Unlike Sin, which is all but considered a haunted, nightmarish wasteland by the Pergrandians, who would start off suspicious right off the bat of anything coming up from this direction.

Thana considered her options. All three of them had their own merits and shortcomings. Moving up through Bellum would certainly be the path of least resistance to getting into the country, but it was also a longer trip. Either approach from Sin was going to be risky and were likely to result in immediate combat. The notion of that wasn’t necessarily the worst idea to her, of course, but oftentimes a little patience was in order to ensure the best deliverance of results. Coming in hot at the Pergrande and Sin border certainly sounded thrilling, but even she wasn’t so stupid as to think she could break through that border on her own, not when the military posted there was constantly on high alert for monsters. She was certainly powerful and had enough confidence to believe that she could cause quite a bit of damage, but there was no way she would breach the country on that front. Not yet.

Bellum… how long had it been since she’d left her home lands? Close to two years, it seemed. It would be quite the risk. Thana knew that Callahan was still looking for her. He was like a terrier with a bone and nothing, not even time, would convince him to back down from trying to reclaim his lost prized slave. Aeron would absolutely explode on her for going back to that place, but that was part of the fun, wasn’t it? The thrill of not knowing if she’d even make it to her destination before being recognized and apprehended by Callahan’s thugs. They’d already caught up to her once in Seven and nearly accomplished that very goal. Surely, if they could find her outside of the country they could find her within it.

But, she was much stronger now than she had been the last time she saw any of them. Thana had no doubt that if she was caught, she could convince them to leave her alone, so to speak. Besides, it might be nice to catch up with some of her former handlers. With a deep grin, she said, “Alright, then. The Bellum approach it is.”

Excellent. I was hoping you would say that. I am quite interested in seeing what has become of Bellum since I saw it last. And it would be enlightening, to say the least, to see if we run into anyone who recognizes you.

“I’m glad you agree.”

With her plan in mind, she took her time to finish cleaning up, knowing it would probably be some time before she was able to bathe again. Thana scrubbed off all the dirt and blood and grime that she’d accumulated from her morning workout with the beasts of the land, washing out her hair and making herself a clean canvas to paint again later. Once she was done, she toweled herself dry and selected a clean set of clothing. Leaving a message on her door that said she would be gone for a couple days on Elysium business, Thana began her trek to the northwestern coast of Sin south below Bellum.

There were no ships that would take her north, of course. Very few sailors were willing to travel to the dangerous wastelands. However, it wouldn’t be an issue. The sea between sin and Bellum was fairly narrow, and it would only take her a few hours of flying at most to reach the other side on her own. As such, once she reached the ocean a great pair of pixie like wings sprouted from her back and she lifted herself into the air, shooting across the waters back to the place of her birth.

It was strange to be back in her home country only to realize that she really… didn’t recognize it all that much. It didn’t look much like she’d remembered, though in her defense she’d spent all of her growing years more or less being locked away from the community at large, rarely getting to see the world above the surface. The most time she’d spent on the streets of Bellum had been running through them in her wild attempt to gain freedom, fleeing west into Iceburg. That part of Bellum was several hundred miles away from where Thana currently stood, walking casually through the lands that lead the way along the southeastern coast up toward Pergrande. If she had ever been through these parts of the country, it had been a long time ago and she certainly wouldn’t have seen much through the confines of her cage.

So, she decided a detour might be worth her time. It was obvious just from a quick glance that Bellum was a nation that was quite proud of its magic and wealth. Everywhere she looked there was luxury on display, even with the everyday common buildings for the peasants, who flouted their magical abilities and used them to paint themselves in a much richer and more noble light than they probably deserved. These were people who were polar opposites of their northern neighbors, who were devoted and obsessed with their magical abilities that they looked down upon anyone who did not have them. Slavery was quite common in the country, and most of the slaves were individuals without magic, much like Thana herself had once been. Or rather, much like Trinity had been before Thana had come to consciousness.

“Tell me, Darius. Do my parents still live?”

They do, the wizard informed her. Sensing her next line of queries, he continued to offer more information. Matthias and Olivia Foster currently reside in the province of Moressley. They have four children. Three boys and one girl. All four of the children possess magic. They are commoners, but well off for their social status. Matthias is a banker and Olivia is a midwife that is popular among the local nobles.

“So, I have siblings then? How interesting… tell me more about them.”

There was a moment of thought as Darius collected his information. The oldest is Conroy. He’s nineteen years old and is magically bonded to a bear. Next is Genesis, who is eighteen. She possesses the ability to create and manipulate acid. Following her is Roland at sixteen years, a celestial spirit mage. Finally, there is the youngest Jameson, who has stone making magic.

“I see…” There was a lot to unpack here. Or at least, there would be if Thana was anything less than a psychopath. Even if anyone had been standing there with her watching her expression they wouldn’t have been able to tell how the news made her feel, to know that her parents had continued to have more children after they’d sold her into slavery and managed to raise what one could only assume was a normal, healthy family. But, anyone who knew her even just a little could assume that her thoughts were dark, as was evidenced by her seemingly innocent next question. “How far away is Moressley from here?”

Two days travel, and not in the direction you need to go to reach Pergrande, I’m afraid.

“Well, that’s a shame. What about Callahan? Is he or any of his bitch boys loitering about any of the nearby locations?”

Another pause as the disembodied sorcerer collected his facts. “There is, actually. No one you know and no one that would recognize you, but there are two men about forty minutes south of here that work for Callahan. Somewhat newer recruits, only been working for him for seven months. They’re picking up a few slaves to bring back to the arena.

Now, wasn’t that interesting? “I think forty minutes is a plenty reasonable detour,” Thana said pleasantly, a cruel smirk upon her lips. “Why don’t we go play a little with Callahan’s men, set some seeds in motion for me to play with later?”

Sounds good to me.

The men they were tracking weren’t exactly sitting still, so it wound up taking a little longer than forty minutes to reach them. By the time she caught up to them, they had made their way into a thick forest, far away from any public or law enforcing eyes. Thana turned herself invisible when Damian suggested she do so, and quietly moved her way through the woods until she found them in the middle of a slave exchange. Not caring too much about stopping the transfer, she elected to wait for a while to watch the interaction.

There were a total of four people being sold, three adults and one child. All of the adults were bound together in a string of chains around their ankles, wrists, and necks, and they stood in stoney and resigned silence as their handler discussed negotiations with the buyers. The child wasn’t crying, but was clearly confused and scared, trying to cling to his mother’s skirts even as the woman all but ignored him, doing only what it took to keep him quiet. His father stood by, equally as stoic, refusing to look at the boy. Thana didn’t need to inquire with Darius to know that, like her, this child likely had not developed any magic and was thus a stain to his parents’ reputations. Content to listen, she sat idly by, leaning against a tree to observe the exchange and await for an inspiring opportunity to reveal her presence.

She wouldn’t have to wait too long. Both transactions went fairly smoothly, with the majority of the details likely having been hashed out in advance. The adults were sold first, with the handler taking his leave almost immediately upon receiving payment, seeing no reason to linger for the following exchange that had nothing to do with him. It was a lucky move on his part, for if he had stayed he likely would not have survived what was about to happen in mere moments. The parents negotiated a price, with the father being the one to do most of the talking while the mother continued to somewhat distract the child. Despite the fact that she was present and participating in the exchange, and not necessarily being very loving or attentive to the child at her feet, there was a part of her that still seemed more reluctant than her husband following through with the sale. She tried to act disinterested, but there were brief moments when no one was paying attention to her that she would look down at the kid with a bit of uncertainty in her eyes before turning back to the proceedings.

Ultimately, the sale was made. Money was exchanged and pocketed, and the kid was snatched by his collar from his father and practically tossed across the grass at the slaver’s feet. That was when the child finally started crying, as one of the two slavers backhanded him for the noise and slapped a collar around his neck. The father started to walk away, not caring enough about his child to even look back once the money was in hand. The mother, however, lingered if only for a moment. “What is going to happen to him?” she asked, her voice firm with resolution but the question there nonetheless.

Her husband growled. “Come on, Diana. We talked about this. The sooner that magicless disappointment of a child is out of our hair, the better. Let’s go.”

“I understand what we discussed, Stenton. I’m not having second thoughts. I just think that it’s only fair, if we are going to subject our only child to a live of slavery, that we have to live with the knowledge of what will happen to him.”

“Of all the stupid female notions…”

Before an argument could start in full, one of the slavers spoke up. “Listen, lady. It’s a noble thought, but you need to listen to your husband and leave it alone from here. The less you know, the better. He ain’t your problem anymore.”

“Oh, but see I think she has a point,” Thana said, speaking up without dropping her invisibility, causing everyone in the immediate area to jump. Magical auras were activated and weapons were drawn as they all began to turn around in frantic search for the source of the voice.

“Who’s there?” one of the slavers demanded to know. “Show yourself!”

Thana giggled maliciously, letting her invisibility drop the exact moment that no one was looking in her direction. “I think you should tell her, Jepsen,” she said, catching the slaver off guard by speaking his name. “She’s trying to take some responsibility for what she’s done. You would deny her that right?”

Jepsen pointed his sword at her, set in a deep stance. “Who the hell are you, and how do you know my name?”

“You’ll find that out soon enough.” Pushing herself off the trunk that she leaned against, Thana began to saunter her way slowly closer toward the group.

“Stay back! We’re warning you!” the other slaver yelled, even as the parents began to back away from the group.

“Oh, but I’m just trying to help,” she advised in a tone that was falsely sympathetic. “You see, I once was a slave for your very same organization. Callahan was quite happy to have me, in fact. I made him quite a bit of money, and became a bit of a star. I know you two haven’t been there long, but I presume you’ve heard a few rumors.”

Thana gave them a moment to think, and enlightenment dawned on their eyes. “T-Trinity?” Jepsen sputtered.

She smirked at him. “Aw, old Cally’s talked about me. I’m touched.”

The man grinned back. “Yeah, he talks about you a lot. He’s offering a handsome sum of money to whoever can bring you back to him alive. More than enough to retire on.”

“Do you know why he’s offering so much cash?” Thana paused to give him time to think it over. When neither men answered, she said, “It’s because anyone who manages to not just survive against me, but also bring me in, deserves to live like a king for the rest of his days.”

There was something in the way she spoke that managed to send shivers down the man’s spine. He blanched and paled just a bit, taking a small step back even as Thana came to a stop within arms reach of both the slavers and the child at their feet. When it was clear neither of them were going to attack her for the moment, she looked back at the parents, particularly the mother. “I was in your son’s exact shoes once, a long time ago. Sold by my parents so they wouldn’t have to deal with the shame of having a magicless daughter. They sold me to the very same man that you just dealt business with now, in fact. I lived his fate first hand. Would you truly like to know what you’ve signed him up for?”

Fear caused the woman to hesitate, but she quickly found her resolve and nodded. Thana chuckled at the poor woman. What a fool. “Very well. I respect your desire to take responsibility. As such, I will spare no gorey detail. This is what you can expect to happen.”

There was a pregnant pause, and for a moment it seemed like she was perhaps gathering her words, or simply waiting to ensure the woman was paying very close attention. Then, in a matter of little more than five seconds, Thana’s body transformed into the terrifying and menacing figure of her full Dryder form. Everyone in the vicinity was too terrified to do more in those first few seconds except stare in horror and paralysed fear until Thana reached down and plucked the child up. He kicked and screamed and shrieked at the top of his lungs, breaking his own vocal chords with how powerfully he was crying for his mother, who watched on in terror. “You see, Callahan has only one use for the magicless in his arena.”

It was all she said before she bent her face down and bit the child’s head clean off.

The mother screamed as the blood of her son sprayed all over her. Trying to get them out of what was obviously imminent danger, the father grabbed her by the arm and forcefully pulled her to try and run away. Both of the slavers jumped into action to attack her, but they were no match for her. Thana dodged one, using her superior speed in her current form to easily move out of the way while she snatched up the second and took a bite out of his shoulder. Screams filled the woods. Tossing his injured body aside with the dead child, Thana set her sights on the retreating parents and lifted her belly at them. A long, thick line of webbing shot out from her spinnerette, latching onto them both and causing them to become entangled in the sticky substance.

Jepsen swung his sword and cut the line of webbing, which caused Thana to return her gaze to him with a cruel smirk. “Very well. I needed a message bearer. Thanks for volunteering.” She backhanded him so hard his back slammed full force against a tree where she immediately splattered him with webbing to keep him pinned. Leaving him there to watch, she picked up the end of the webbing he’d cut and started pulling the parents back in, who hadn’t managed to free themselves from the substance yet. They screamed and clawed at the ground, begging for their lives even as they were dragged closer and closer to their impending deaths…

Several hours later, Thana was standing just outside the border into Pergrande, pleased as punch with her full belly. She’d made Jepsen watch as she tortured and devoured and killed the parents, their child, and his unfortunate pattern. The other slaves had managed to somehow run away in the midst of the confrontation, securing a chance to live another day. Good for them. Jepsen, too, would live, but not without a number of physical and mental scars. He was sent back to Cahallan, who would surely send out a full force within the next couple days to try and hunt her down upon confirming that she was in the area. But, he would have to wait for a while. For now, she had bigger plans.

The detour to deal with Callahan’s men had taken a little longer than Thana had originally intended it to, but she felt that it was well worth the effort. She knew that her former slaver would waste no effort in gathering his men and his resources to try and locate her the instant he learned that she was back in Bellum. With any luck, by the time she finished whatever it was that she wound up doing in Pergrande, he would be back in this general area and ripe for the antagonizing. For now, however, it was back to her formerly scheduled plans.

Thana was quite covered in gore and blood now, which meant she was probably going to have to get a change of clothing. Normally sticking out like a sore thumb was the kind of thing she liked to do, but there were times where subtlety and manipulation were better suited to her purposes, and while she certainly planned on causing a scene once she got to her destination, Thana had to actually get to her destination first, and that was going to be hard enough without being a walking evidence of murder.

Turning herself invisible again, she made her way back into the more civilized areas of Bellum and stole the first set of clothing in her size that she found, depositing her bloodied ones carelessly in a public trashcan.

“Oh, great. Now what have you done?” It was only going to be a matter of time until Aeron showed up, looking grumpy and on edge as always. Her cerulean eyes glared daggers at Thana and the stained clothing the more cruel personality had dumped. “Seriously, can’t I do anything for like five minutes without having to come back to you drenched in someone else’s blood? I get that you get off on being a serial killer and all, but the least you could do is try not to broadcast it for the whole fucking world to see.”

“Now, what’s the fun in that?” Thana purred, giving her companion a devious smirk. “Beside, as you can clearly see I’ve already cleaned myself up so that I can blend in with the rest of the public. If you’re going to constantly criticize what I do with my free time, the least you can do is acknowledge the times I actually take the steps you want me to in not keeping it on display.”

Aeron sighed in exasperation. “Fine. Thanks for cleaning yourself up.” Shoving her hands in her pockets, the brown haired woman sulked after Thana as the two of them began walking down the more crowded streets headed east. She glowered for some time glancing this way and that to take in the area and the people. “Where the hell are we, anyway?”

Ah, yes. There was the million dollar question that Thana had been waiting for. She grinned at her companion, almost a bit too innocently. “I’m not entirely sure you want me to answer that question.”

The brunette’s glare darkened. “Tell me where we are, Thana,” she said, her tone dangerous with suspicion.

Well, she asked for it. Thana shrugged. “I guess it’s no surprise you don’t recognize it. We grew up much further west of here.”

It took Aeron a second to see where this was going, mostly because she was more irritated at first that Thana refused to just give her a straight answer for once. But then enlightenment struck her like lightning from on high, her eyes flying wide as she stopped in her tracks and looked around in a panic. “We’re in Bellum?!” she all but screamed, doing her best to keep her voice down and still yell at Thana in the same breath. “What the hell are you thinking?! Why in the world did you bring us here?!”

“Because it’s the only sure way to get into Pergrande without being killed on sight or immediately treated as hostile.”

“And what the hell is so important in Pergrande that you felt the need to drag us back here?”

“Oh, I’m not entirely sure yet. I’m going to cause a scene of some kind, but I won’t really know what I want to do until I get there.”

Aeron just stared at her, jaw dropped and flabbergasted. “You’re insane. Like you are actually insane.”

“If you’re already this upset, you really shouldn’t ask yourself whose blood was on those clothes I got rid of.”

“...What did you do, Thana?” Her frustration and anxiety grew as her black haired counterpart didn’t answer right away, only giggled merrily to herself, clearly pleased. “What the hell did you do, Thana?!”

The woman in question inspected her nails casually. “Nothing really. Just checked in with a couple of Callahan’s men that happened to be nearby.”

“YOU DID WHAT?!” Aeron screamed, unable to stop herself from yelling the question at the top of her lungs. Luckily, given that she didn’t actually exist, no one heard the outburst except for Thana and Damian.

Oh, she did not like that.

“YOU STAY OUT OF THIS, DAMIAN. THANA, WHAT THE FUCK WERE YOU THINKING?”

“I was thinking that it might be fun to shake the hornet’s nest a little.”

“WHO DID YOU KILL?”

“No one that really knew us. A mom and dad, and the child they were selling. One of Callahan’s goons. There were some other slaves but they got away.”

“Wait, one of Callahan’s men? There was more than one, and you let them live?”

“Of course. How else would Callahan find out I’d been there if I didn’t leave a witness?”

Aeron was turning a deep shade of purple right before her eyes. Her anger was so deep that Thana was impressed her head hadn’t exploded off the top of her shoulders like a volcano. “We need to leave. Right now. We need to go back to Sin and hunker down for a couple weeks until we kno--”

“Mmm… yeah, that’s not going to happen.”

“Excuse me?”

“It’s just I’ve got shit I want to do in Pergrande first, and then afterward I have to come back to Bellum to go play around with Trinity’s parents and siblings…”

“Oh here we go with this shit again. You are just never going to let that Trinity bullshit go, are you? Am I a fucking joke to you? I’m not that stupid Thana, so just drop it already.”

Wow, she really is in full denial about that, isn’t she?

“NO ONE FUCKING ASKED YOU, DAMIAN. MIND YOUR OWN BUSINESS, YOU SELF-RIGHTEOUS SHITHEEL.”

Well, that’s just rude.

“Extremely.” The grin on Thana’s face couldn’t be wider, and she seemed completely unaware, or uncaring at least, to the dozen of Bellum citizens giving her a number of stares and a wide berth as she seemingly talked to herself. The dark haired woman started walking once more, once again taking up the route to her desired destination. Aeron growled in a seething rage, looking very much like she wanted to strangle the woman. “Are you coming, dear? I’d hate to think what would happen to you out here all by yourself if Callahan caught up here quicker than I’m giving him credit for.”

Suddenly looking a bit more panicked, Aeron hurriedly shuffled after Thana, keeping close to her. While she was certainly livid with the other woman, she at least knew that if anything went down Thana would deal with it. Probably. She’d yet to keep Aeron safe despite her reckless behavior. Maybe safe wasn’t the right word. Alive would be more accurate. Still, as much as she would be loathe to admit it, she was better off keeping close to the psychopath.

With Aeron grumbling the entire way to the border, Thana soon led them to their destination. The gate connecting Bellum to Pergrande was massive, and heavily guarded on the other side. Men and women with weapons stood alert and on edge, watching each person that was admitted into the country with a stern suspicious eye. Thana could see the wards in place that were set to detect magic of any kind. She watched for a moment from a ways away as each individual person was stopped, questioned, checked with peculiar devices, and then subsequently either turned away or allowed in.

“So, how is this going to work, Darius?” she asked, even as Aeron stood idly beside her and shiftily looking around anxiously for anyone expressing too much interest in them.

Well, the devices are there to check for magical items. A mage could walk through just fine and not set off any alarms as long as they weren’t carrying anything on them that emitted a magical signal of any kind. That is why they have the interview, afterward. They will speak with you and ask some basic questions with the use of lie detectors to ensure you are telling the truth. So long as you can convince them you are not a mage and are visiting Pergrande for an acceptable reason, they should let you through.

“What would they consider an acceptable reason?”

Hmm… business and trade, visiting a friend or family member, moving to the country, touring some of the historical sights. There are a number of reasons. Generally speaking, Pergrande is quite welcoming to visitors, just not to mages and magic, nor to individuals looking to cause trouble like our Thana, here.

“Wonderful. And what happens if they catch us in a lie?”

Depends on the lie. It could be anything from simply being denied access, to arrest, or even death. However, that last one is only for extreme circumstances to deal with an immediate danger. I have no doubt that Thana can get us past the interview portion one way or another, so it’s really just the magic item scanners we have to be concerned about.

“Why? We don’t carry any magic items.”

“That’s not correct,” Thana said, speaking up gently and turning to look at Aeron with a smirk. She reached beneath the collar of her shirt and pulled out the chain that Darius’ crystal hung from around her neck, holding it aloft to the shorter haired woman poignantly.

Aeron groaned. “Right. Sometimes I forget that he’s actually trapped in that thing instead of just… I dunno, some voice in our heads.”

Thana chuckled, amused at the irony of the comment. Slipping the crystal back down between her breasts, she returned her gaze to the border ahead. “I assume they will confiscate you?”

If they detect me, yes.

“You say ‘if’ like there’s a chance they won’t. Do they got faulty equipment or something?”

No, their equipment is quite top of the line. Damn near impossible to fool.

There was a bit of a pause as, for once, the spirit of the mage seemed to be uncertain about something. “Do not keep me in suspense, darling. What makes you think we might be able to trick it?”

Well… you. Both of you. You are Daughters of Ataxia.

“Who?” Aeron frowned in confusion and frustration. Even Thana seemed perplexed and curious over the comment.

Ataxia is the goddess of chaos and destruction. It is difficult to explain her, and I’m not entirely sure we have the time to get into it right now. However, you two are both avatars; it is from her that you received your magicks.

“Interesting,” Thana mused aloud, cutting off Aeron in her attempt to ask more questions that surely wouldn’t serve any immediate purpose. The brunette could ask questions all she wanted later, but right now Thana wished to keep up a time schedule. “So, how does being a daughter of Ataxia benefit us in this specific circumstance?”

Because you are the embodiment of chaos. Have you ever noticed that sometimes things simply do not happen the way they should around you? Like that even the very laws of reality make allowances to suit you?

Thana raised a brow. “That’s because of our connection to this goddess? I thought it was because of our magic.”

Well, that’s not entirely incorrect, since you get your magic from Ataxia. But essentially, you have an aura of sorts that disrupts the balance and machinations of nature. And that aura might be enough to fool the machines.

“I don’t like the sound of ‘might be’,” Aeron drawled irritably.

The two women could almost sense the mental shrug from the disembodied mage. Unfortunately, this is one of the very few subjects in which I have no answer to. Because Ataxia’s domain breaks the laws of nature, there is no way for me to divine how her power will affect the course of your futures. I only have the simplest of understandings of how her avatars’ lives are affected, and what could happen.

“So it’s a crapshoot.”

Essentially.

Thana grinned. “Well, I for one find that quite exciting, so how about we stop standing around and give it a shot, eh?”

“I’m not going to be able to talk you out of this, am I?”

“What, you would rather stay here in Bellum and wait for Callahan to track you down?” Aeron’s low growl of resignation was enough of a confirmation for that answer. “I didn’t think so. Just relax and follow my lead.” Without waiting any longer, Thana started making her way over to the gate, getting in line behind the others waiting for their chance to cross the border and patiently waiting her turn.

The wait in line took a little bit of time but not forever. The border patrol spent several minutes with each citizen screening them before either letting them into Pergrande or turning them away, but there wasn’t a huge line to get into the country to begin with. Thana was only standing there for a grand total of maybe twenty minutes before it was her turn, and one of the guards beckoned her forward.

The moment of truth would come sooner rather than later as Thana had to be screened for magical artifacts before anything else, as the interviewers would not speak with anyone that had magical items of any sort on them. Aeron was beyond nervous, her anxiety practically making her sweat, but Thana appeared nothing except calm and collected and confidant. The guard waved for her to lift her arms up like those in line prior to her had done, and she obliged. The stick ran the course of her body, even over her chest, and there was palpable tension from Aeron as the device did it’s thing, all of them waiting to see if they would even get past this first step.

There was no reading from the crystal that the scanner could pick up. It passed over her body with nary a sound, leaving the guard none the wiser about the magical item dangling from the mage’s neck. It seemed Darius’ hunch was correct. He gestured for her to go sit at one of the tables where another guard was waiting to ask questions, and Thana obeyed, taking a seat before a middle aged man with some rough stubble on his face. He seemed to ignore the pleasant smile she gave him, not one to be easily swayed by a pretty face or disarming personality. He placed a couple of devices on her fingers and wrist that were connected by wires to a computer in front of him.

“Name.”

“Eliza Foster,” she said, giving her real name in place of the moniker she’d come to be known as. The device beeped gently, and while Thana couldn’t see the screen she assumed it was a good sound since he didn’t immediately fix a scowl on her.

“Country of birth.”

“Bellum. I have a passport if you’d like to see it.”

He beckoned for her to produce the document and she did, handing the paperwork over across the table. The man flipped through it to verify its validity. With a frown, he asked, “You’re from Bellum but this passport was issued in Fiore?”

Thana nodded. “That’s correct.”

“What were you doing in Fiore?”

“Getting out of Bellum,” she told him simply, continuing to be able to use the truth to her advantage. A part of her wanted to lie the whole way across to see if she could fool the machine that much, but her desire to get into Pergrande was greater than her desire for a challenge. It would be much easier for her to simply use the truth until she had to lie. “I am sure you are aware of Bellum’s general stance toward the magicless. I left the country for my safety and wellbeing.”

The man fixed an eye on her that was still stern and a little suspicious, but there was a speck of curiosity then. “Are you a mage?”

“If I were, I am sure my parents never would have tried to sell me.” Thana did her best to sound a mixture of bitter and sorrowful, and to his credit the man did look like he believed her. Pergrandians were well aware of how children born in Bellum without magic were treated and the kind of lives they were often sold into by parents that did not wish to become social outcasts from their peers. But, his silence was more than enough to convey that he expected a straight answer from her. She sighed softly. “No, sir, I am not a mage.”

The machine beeped lightly, the same tone as before. He glanced at the screen briefly before continuing on with his investigation. Thana could only conclude that the fib had been a success. He scribbled some notes down on his paper and then continued on. “Why are you coming to Pergrande?”

This would be the tricker lie. It was much easier to get away with dishonesty on a simple yes or no question. Something more open ended was going to be more complicated to fool, aura from Ataxia or no. Luckily, she’d been giving this plenty of thought before reaching this point so she could give an easier answer that wouldn’t provoke more questions and thus more subsequent lies. “Well, sir. The truth is that I’m still looking for a place to settle and call home. Fiore isn’t as bad as Bellum when it comes to accepting people like me, but it’s still a country that places great pride and focus on its mages. I’d like to find a place where I don’t feel… well, so isolated.”

“Pergrande certainly welcomes people like you,” he told her after the confirmation beep, contributing the first bit of personality to the conversation since she sat down. The man gave her a small smile that Thana returned.

“That’s what I’m hoping for.”

He nodded and finished up a few bits and pieces on the document before turning it to her to sign. She placed her signature on the paperwork and handed it back to him, where he scribbled his own name and an identification number. Then, he ripped off the top copy of the form and filed it away before giving her the carbon copy. “You’re all set to go, Miss Foster. I hope you enjoy your time in Pergrande and that it suits you enough to consider calling it home.”

“Oh, that’s so kind of you. Thank you so much.” She tucked the document in a pocket and stood, giving him one last smile before walking in the direction he indicated and finally stepping foot into the country.

Very well done, my dear. I am impressed.

“Well, thank you.”

Aeron was shaking her head, still looking a bit jumpy but visibly more at ease now that Bellum was quite literally behind them. “I can’t believe that worked. He was so focused on you that he didn’t even ask me any questions.”

“How strange. I wonder why that was.” Aeron didn’t catch the slight sarcasm in her voice but Darius did, the sound of his light chuckle echoing in her mind. Given how their brunette friend didn’t react, Thana assumed it was only herself that heard the noise.

“So now what?”

Now what, indeed. She’d come this far without much of a game plan. All she knew was that she wanted to draw a lot of attention to herself and cause some havoc. Doing that at the border after having just crossed it was not ideal. Pergrande was almost always crawling with guards, but that went doubly for the country’s borders with Bellum and Sin. She wanted to be a reasonable distance from those areas so she wouldn’t be so quickly caught before her fun was over. Fortunately, Pergrande was huge and as such had a lot more central land than borders. “What do you think, Darius? Where’s a good place for me to spend a little time?”

Hmm… well, there are a couple places that you could certainly cause some trouble, but a lot of them are pretty far away. But, I think you’d like a city called Rodane. It’s about two hours north of here if you take public transportation, and it’s a small city filled with unrest.

“Unrest, you say?”

Indeed. It’s a very impoverished town where the citizens deal with a higher crime rate and more persecution from the government and police.

That sounded perfect. Wasting no time, she sought out directions to the nearest train station and booked a ticket to the town. The ride took a couple hours and by the time she got there it was almost dark. There were plenty of lights on to illuminate the streets, particularly in the market square. Since it was the weekend, there were plenty of people out and about, winding down from their day shifts and easing into the relaxation of having a couple days off. Thana wandered the main road a bit, mostly just observing for anything that might catch her interest. There were still a lot of vendors with their stalls open, full of baked goods, handcrafted jewelry and trinkets, and many other things. A restaurant with an open porch had a live band playing music with people dancing as they ate or drank. All in all, it was quite lovely.

Granted, the rest of the town wasn’t so much. One could tell just by looking at the ramshackled buildings and roads littered with trash that Rodane didn’t exactly suffer from an overabundance of comfort. Dirty children that she could reasonably assume were orphans darted down alleyways, often sneaking goods from the food stalls when the vendors weren’t looking. She saw a number of drug deals happening outside the line of sight of the patrolling guards, and even though the sun hadn’t completely set yet there were already quite a few prostitutes milling about the place.

Settling on the tavern with the live music and large crowd, she found a small unoccupied table along the side and ordered herself a drink. From there, she simply observed the people with curious and patient interest, knowing that if anything crazy were to happen it would do so in an area filled to max occupancy and drowning in alcohol. Aeron sat beside her, grumbling with her own drink and very unhappy about being in a packed public setting.

The two lingered for quite a while, watching the activity of the crowds, enjoying the music, and even ordering a bit of food. It hadn’t been so long since her last, more bloody meal, but if Thana wanted to have a reasonable amount of strength for what was sure to be a rather dangerous task ahead of her, she wanted to get in something to eat now, while she could. Every once in a while a stray man or woman would approach her in friendly fashion, looking to make her acquaintance. Thana was deceivingly polite each time, sure to keep a good impression with the people around her until it was time to strike.

It was a couple hours in, long after the sun had set and the crowd was at its most rowdy, when trouble approached in the form of a couple on duty guards. Despite being on the clock, they appeared to have been drinking recently. They looked the type to not take their jobs too seriously, particularly in this area where they were more likely to get offered bribes and letting things slide. It was immediately obvious that all of the locals knew exactly who the two officers were as there was a sudden shift in tension in the room with eyes suddenly starting to flick over toward them. Thana even noticed a couple of people toward the edges of the tavern pay off their tabs and make a hasty exit rather than stick around.

The guards lingered by the bar for a bit to get more drinks, making the barkeep and the nearby patrons uncomfortable. Both men seemed to be more than aware of the effect their presence was having on the crowd and they were quite satisfied with it, likely enjoying the sense of control they had. Thana was watching them like a hawk, giddy with anticipation and ready for them to act in some kind of capacity that she could intervene.

About twenty minutes in to their arrival, she saw her chance to strike. The guards had made their way to the dancing area and one of them noticed an attractive young woman that caught his eye. He approached her and started dancing with her, except much too close for her liking. The young woman gently tried to put some space between them, only for the man to reach out and pull her closer, and before long there was an open struggle of her trying to get away. Another man tried to step in to help the young woman but was quickly and easily tossed aside by the guard’s partner, who withdrew his sword and used it to keep most of the unarmed crowd cowed and at bay.

Normally, Thana wouldn’t have wasted her efforts to stop a woman from being assaulted. Hell, she’d assaulted more people than she could count. However, this setup was just too juicy for her purposes. Slipping out of her chair and ignoring Aeron’s pleading to leave the situation alone, Thana approached the center of the drama only to be temporarily stopped by the tip of the second guard’s sword. “How about you keep back, little lady. No need for you to worry about any of this.”

She raised a brow, and he was a little taken back for a moment when he realized that she didn’t appear to be as intimidated by his weapon as everyone else was. “Oh, but I do worry,” Thana told him, the entire room watching the confrontation with wariness and apprehension. Even the musicians had stopped playing, allowing everyone to hear her words clearly. “See, here are two young men who are supposed to be charged with protecting and caring for their citizens, and instead here you are, drunk on duty, assaulting your people, threatening them with violence… and here I thought Pergrande was supposed to be better than Bellum.”

Well, that angered the man. He shoved his sword a little closer to Thana’s throat. The action did nothing to make her flinch. “You better watch your mouth, bitch.”

“Why? I see nothing here to be afraid of. You are both severely outnumbered. The people here could take you rather easily.”

“They wouldn’t dare. Assaulting an officer of the Pergranden army is a highly punishable offense.”

“Is it now?” Taking hold of the tip of his sword, everyone watched in shock as she bent the blade backward, curling it in on itself. The guard’s eyes were opened wide with fear and intimidation even as he dropped the weapon like she’d tainted it. He took a couple steps away from her and the first guard finally let go of the woman to face Thana, drawing a gun and aiming it at her.

Rather than approach them, Thana confidently turned to face the crowd. “Is this true? Do these men really have this much power over you that you feel so helpless?”

“The army doesn’t care about us,” another woman piped up. “These men would sooner kill us than arrest us.”

“We have no means of fighting them,” a man told her. “We aren’t trained soldiers, and even if we get away with the first fight they will always come back, with greater numbers.”

“Well, that’s hardly ideal. It sounds like you all could benefit from some additional resources. Tell me: Have any of you ever considered acquiring magic?”

A hushed whisper fell over the crowd, and the first guard cocked his gun. “I think it’s time for you to shut the fuck up. You’re coming in with us.”

“Hm. No, I don’t think I am. See, these people and I are having a conversation and you’re rudely interrupting it.”

He’s going to shoot, Darius warned her.

Thana snapped an arm out across the room without leaving her spot, the limb stretching across the space to snatch the man by the wrist and twist until the gun was pointing up. He managed to fire a very surprised round into the ceiling before she started slowly crushing his wrist in her hand. His partner backed away from him like he’d grown a second head, gasping with the rest of the crowd at the obvious display of power. Thana, on the other hand, had a cruel smirk on her face.

“Do you know why your country decided to try weeding out mages so long ago?” she asked the people as she slowly began to close the distance between herself and the guards. “It wasn’t because magic was evil. It’s simply because it was powerful. A tool that anyone could use to do bad things, yes… but also to protect themselves. It was a blocker to the government having complete control over their citizens. And then through the years they have successfully brainwashed the people into believing that the government’s stance is right. But who does it really benefit? Certainly not all of you.”

“B-but we can’t!” someone spoke up from the back. “They treat us bad enough already. If they suspect we have magic we will all be killed on sight.”

Thana raised a brow. “They will certainly try, much like this man tried to kill me. And yet, I am still here. Because I have magic, and it makes me more powerful than they are. I can protect myself with it. How will they ever kill you if you acquire the means to be more powerful than they could ever fathom?”

“I say, fuck them. They are not here for you or your safety. Don’t you deserve a better life? One where you don’t have to worry about whether or not those who are supposed to protect you will stab you in the back?” There was a long pause. Most people hadn’t even noticed that the second guard had made a break for it, leaving his partner behind to fend for himself. Though if Thana had to guess, he was probably going to get immediate back up.

“Where would we even go? We would be hunted the rest of our lives here.”

“Well, then I have the perfect home for you: Elysium.”

“Wait… like the dark guild? The new one that took its roots in Sin recently?”

“The very same, though I think calling it a dark guild is exceptionally misleading. The only reason we have been deemed such is because the Magic Council wants us to be registered with them. They want to control us, much like your government controls you. We refuse to play by their rules, and as such we have been given the moniker of being ‘dark’. But the truth is, what we are is a home for the wayward souls and outcasts that are rejected by their own societies. Our beautiful and caring guild mistress, Janet, wishes nothing more than to provide a safe haven for those who have been abused and forgotten by the bodies meant to protect them, much like the rest of you have…”

Another long pause permeated the air, even as the people whispered among themselves. “What would we have to do?” a woman finally asked.

“Just follow me,” she told them simply. “I can get you access to the magical weapons and artifacts being confiscated nearby. There should be more than enough there to arm yourselves with. Then, all we have to do is get you to your new home, where you can receive training, claim new homes for yourself and your loved ones, and become a part of our community. What do you say?”

It was deep into the night when Thana and the newest recruits of Elysium found themselves having overtaken an army outpost where a great deal of magical items had indeed been confiscated and sat waiting to be destroyed. The riot she had started had left a number of soldiers dead. What had started as a march with a few dozen angry people had turned into a mob of well over one hundred, having grown as they moved through the towns of Pergrande, gathering more interested followers from others who found the notion of magical freedom appealing. They had left a number of dead and injured in their wake, with Thana leading the charge in full display of her magic as she shifted into terrifying creatures and unleashed waves of nightmarish energy upon anyone who dared get in her way or attack those that followed her.

By the time they got settled in the fort, she knew that all soldiers stationed at noncritical positions throughout the country were being called in to handle what had quickly become a national state of emergency. It would only be a matter of time before they were severely outnumbered with odds that even Thana herself wouldn’t be able to control. Luckily, she had a plan for that. One of the items at the fort was an aircraft that was more than big enough to fit everyone in it. All it took was a bit of quick instruction from Darius on how to work it, and by the time the people had loaded every single piece of magical equipment onto the boat they were ready to go.

Before they left, she did one last thing. It had been some time since she'd left her signature trademark that would make sure there was no question about who had been the cause of this chaos. Thana morphed her body to be the size of a giant. Picking up a dead officer, she ripped his head off and used him like a pencil to write on a nearby wall, using the blood that was pouring from the man's body as the ink. She wrote a single word: Trinity, followed with a little heart beside it. With a satisfied smile, content that all of Pergrande would know who to hunt for to seek revenge on the deaths of so many of its people and members of its army, she shrank back to her normal size and tossed the corpse aside.

Utilizing her magic, she ripped a massive hole in the roof above them, tossing the debris to the side and into the streets around the building, causing all the more damage and destruction. The area was already on fire for miles around, the air thick with black smoke and heat. Once the ship was launched into the air, they could easily see the trail of destruction they had left from their start at Rodane. It was a beautiful sight. Smiling with pleasure, she steered the aircraft around and launched it into the night, satisfied with the carnage from the riot she’d started, as well as with successfully recruiting a lot of new dark mages into her guild. Who knew how many deaths she had caused tonight? Well, Darius probably did, and a part of her was certainly curious to know, but at the same time there was something to be said about the mystery in not knowing, in simply leaving the scale of her misdeeds up to her imagination.

Either way, she had the feeling Janet was going to be quite pleased with her when she returned home.