After the trial was over, Aether and Seraphine were led to a lavish chamber, now their own quarters. Golden lanterns burned with pale fire along the walls, casting soft light across velvet drapes and polished stone. For the first time since the labyrinth, they had a place that felt… permanent.
"Do you really think siding with him was wise?" Seraphine asked once the handmaidens were gone. "Changing Star and Night of Affection are against Gunlaug. Wouldn't it make more sense to back people we know?"
Seraphine asked him as they were left alone in the spacious room.
"Yes, it would have been better and easier if I joined them. However I do not trust Nephis."
Aether proceeded to tell her about the headless corpse he had seen back at the labyrinth. With his abilities he had been able to have a glimpse of his last moments, and he was sure that the kid had been killed by Nephis. The reason stood blurry, Aether did not believe that Changing Star would have done it without a reason, however he would do good wo be wary of her.
"Besides," he added, "I don't intend to support Gunlaug wholeheartedly. He rules his castle well, but he's a coward. With an army like his, there is no doubt he would conquer the Crimson Spire, still he chooses to sat in this forgotten shore."
Seraphine looked conflicted about Aether's decisions. She was not someone who would trust people blindly, her trust needed to be earned.
"As one of his lieutenants your duty was to.."
"Troubleshoot." Aether responded. "I will be solving whatever problem arises within the bright castle." He then gave her a reassuring smile. "You are free to become my subordinate, or leave to the outer settlement. I will not take it as an offence."
Her eyes narrowed as she crossed her arms. "Subordinate? Hmph. I'll give you my answer tomorrow."
"I'll be waiting."
***
Aether decided to go out to explore the bright castle by himself while Seraphine chose to stay behind and rest. As he walked around the huge halls of the castle, he saw Lady Seishan and three handmaidens walking behind her.
He put on his practiced smile as they stopped before him, opening a mind link to glimpse her attributes-
'What?' Aether tried his best to keep his surprise to himself. Seishan held the blood of the beast god.
That would mean that Seishan was from the Song clan just like lady Theola.
'Wait.. why are they not together if they are both from the song clan?'
It clicked suddenly. Was Seishan a spy? Or was Theola the spy? There were also chances of Seishan not being from the song clan, but coming across the blood of a god was a very rare occurrence as a sleeper.
Aether's focused his attention on Seishan once again as she spoke up.
"My apologies for the trouble earlier. Today's events were rehearsed. Lord Gunlaug wished to test your strength before assigning a rank."
Aether tilted his head, smile unbroken. "That is alright. I've taken no offense."
Silence lingered. Her eyes studied him; his smile refused to waver. Even her handmaidens stood too still, too watchful. Aether was aware that they knew his smile was just a performance.
With a nod, Aether turned to head back to his quarters, but Seishan spoke up at that moment.
"May I ask… are you the 'great performer' from the waking world? My sisters always spoke fondly of your shows"
Aether's smile twitched.
***
Tomorrow came.
Seraphine had agreed to join Aether. However he could still see the reluctance that lingered in her mind.
Both of them watched as the group of hunters and pathfinders were assembling to go out on a hunt under the command of Gemma. The duo was joining them too as Gemma had requested their presence to analyze their skills, mostly Aether's since he was the new lieutenant.
The group of ten headed out into the dark city with the pathfinders leading the way. Aether had summoned Zheshi just in case, she was floating above the dark city. Some hunters looked at the ever-changing echo, intrigued by it.
Everyone was alert as they navigated through the large streets of the dark city, they passed through narrow passages and even streets that the pathfinders lead them through. Aether praised their skills internally, the path they were leading the group was almost as safe as the ones Zheshi analyzed for him.
Soon enough, they encountered a monkey like nightmare creature that had spikes protruding from its body.
"Would you like to take the lead, Blasphemer?" Gemma spoke to him with a friendly tone, prompting Aether to nod enthusiastically.
He looked at Seraphine, who had her bow drawn, but was not pointing it at the nightmare creature, who was peacefully devouring one of its prey. However it suddenly looked up as it saw the green strange shapeless thing floating towards it. The monkey hissed, trying to swat Zheshi away, however its hand simply passing through it.
Right at that moment, Seraphine pointed her bow upwards and shot. The arrow with a yellow tip whistled through the air in high speeds as it lodged itself into the head of the distracted monkey. The arrow unfortunately did not sink too deep, not damaging the monkey enough.
The monkey turned their gaze towards them, making every hunter ready their weapons and prepare to fight for their lives.
However in the next second a shockwave emanated from the arrow and blew up its head blood splattered all over the ground as the beast collapsed to the ground.
"One shot..?"
"Was that a memory? Or an aspect?"
Just like that Seraphine killed an awakened monster in a matter of seconds with just one arrow. The other hunters looked at her in awe and whispered amongst themselves, wondering it that was a memory or her aspect ability.
Seraphine could not help but feel smug as people admired her skills.
The only one who was not satisfied was Gemma. He did not wish to see the skills of his new lieutenants lackeys, but only his. He did not show his unsatisfaction though.
The hunting group immediately started to extract the valuables from the monster and they cleaned it afterwards of any blood. It was the right thing to do so as the nightmare creatures had sharp senses.
***
Seraphine slayed some more awakened beasts and monsters alike with the help of Zheshi distracting them. The group had to only confront a beast once, and it was dealt quickly by Aether, who threw and lodged his spear right into the head of the beast. Gaining an interesting memory in return.
Memory: [Poisonous Water]
Memory Rank: Awakened.
Memory Tier: I
Memory Type: Tool.
Memory Description: [Gulp gulp!]
Memory Enchantment: [Poison.]
[Poison] : This cup contains an endless amount of magical alcohol.
"…Alright," Aether muttered.
On the way back, Aether decided to take lead of the hunting group as the pathfinder. It was getting late, so with the help of Zheshi they returned to the Bright Castle safe and sound.
No one was injured nor died under Aether's command. The hunters were in awe, most of their hunts ended up with either one of them getting gravely injured, or someone dying. However with the help of the two new members, they were able to return with no causalities.
All of them wore happy smiles on their faces as they approached the gates of the bright castle. They were welcomed with open arms, the guards were surprised with the amount of loot they have brought back, and with the fact that no one was even injured..
***
Seraphine collapsed onto the couch that was situated in the corner of their quarters.
"My back aches.. you made me shoot too many arrows today.."
Aether gave her the side eye as he sat on the chair. She had not even shot ten arrows today, what was up with the complaints?
Was he going to be subjected to these pointless complaining every day now?
What a cruel punishment. Eternal damnation didn't come with fire and brimstone, it came with Seraphine and her bottomless reservoir of pointless whining.
"Now that you brought the hunting group back without any casualties, and with far more loot than they ever expected, rumors are going to start about you," she said with a lazy yawn, stretching like a cat that had worked far harder than she actually had.
"Not only me," Aether corrected dryly. "You'll be recognized as well. You were the one who killed most of the abominations today." His voice remained even as he added, "Since we've proved ourselves capable, we can start our troubleshooting work tomorrow."
Her head lolled to the side. "Ugh... you're going to overwork me, aren't you?"
Aether's eye twitched. "How did you even survive in the labyrinth while being this lazy?"
He could swear she was a completely different person back then: sharp, deadly, untiring. Now, the moment she found comfort, she had shapeshifted into a whining teenager who thought firing a handful of arrows was enough to warrant sympathy.
'Yes,' he thought darkly. 'I'll overwork her until she goes back to her labyrinth self. That version was useful. This one…'
He sighed.
'…this one is a menace.'