It was seven in the morning and she’d already been here for an hour and a half.  She hadn’t been imagining that ominous pause when Captain Abel had mentioned physical training.  She’d clearly spent way too much time dealing with paperwork because there was no way she should be so tired already, even taking into account the extra weights.  Finishing her fifteenth lap, Lethe reached for the first foothold.  Mountain/wall climbing to the top, trapezes across the length of the room, and then a free fall to the bottom: woohoo.<br/><div style="text-align: center;">~~~~~~</div><br/>There was a gust of wind as the Wyervia landed on the ground.  One by one, the lights in the machine flickered off before the hatch opened to reveal a mousy brown-haired woman.  Syndra inhaled deeply, enjoying the threads of Sin that curled through the air.  It was nice to be out of that contraption.  She hated being stuck on that metal box, even if she knew how to control it.  Unfortunately, flying wasn't one of her skills.  A scowl formed on her face at that reminder; she'd been so close!  And then Queen Eve had snatched the opportunity away.<br/><br/>The reminder of Lillith’s fate inevitably brought a smile to her face.  Her foolish little sister deserved it, to be stuck as a human.<span style="font-style: italic"> “Impudence is the purview of the strong, little sister . Otherwise it’s just stupidity.”</span>And just as she’d assessed then, her sister was very,<span style="font-style: italic">very</span>stupid.  Maybe she'd check on some of her puppets to make sure the redhead died.  After all, she wouldn't want those skillsets transferred back into such a brainless vessel.  No, much better they be used appropriately.<br/><br/>A vicious grin dominated her face as she opened the door to her dollhouse, eyes roving over the many she'd stored puppets there.  They came in all shapes and sizes, most unfortunately human but some others as well.  She passed by the glassy-eyed peasants and traders, going to the back of the room where her more special bodies were stored.  These had all been set aside for one reason or another: a young man who bore resemblance to the wretched d'Arques, a simulacrum of Elder Eun-ji, and various others.  She stopped at a young female.  Soft black hair, frail frame, overly large slate eyes: it all tugged on the heartstrings and screamed "protect me!"  Unfortunately for this girl, her heartstrings chimed a different way; she’d seen it and captured it immediately.  As she’d thought, it would come in use.  She had planned to infiltrate Lindela, maybe even Gless, with this one now that Victorie had been destroyed.  It would have been a fun way to pass her time.<br/><br/>Alas, the girl was meant for better things now.  Syndra pulled the puppet forward, releasing it from its stasis spell.  She'd have to make some minor adjustments to it before it was presentable, like inputting a personality, but she hoped to have it in front of Queen Eve before Amon suggested any alternatives.  She didn't expect any worthwhile competition, but better to nip that possibility in the bud.<br/><div style="text-align: center;">~~~~~~</div><br/>Valiar whistled cheerfully as he walked through the Grand Cathedral.  Last night’s training had been brutal.  It was like old times!  He clapped a hand on a plodding Cricket, almost sending the purple-haired man toppling to the ground.  Exhausted brown eyes glared at him but the other man was too tired to retaliate.  Valiar only grinned wider.  “Come on! It wasn’t that bad!”<br/><br/>Cricket made a pitiful groan in response.  “How can you be so happy?”  The man whined as they caught up with Adair and YunQiao.  The newcomers appeared to be held aloft entirely by dignity.  Adair was trying to maintain appearances while YunQiao, well, it was YunQiao.  Cricket eyed the brunette enviously; for once the man’s stick up his ass was probably useful!<br/><br/>“This type of training used to be common in the First War!”  Valiar laughed at how Cricket’s and YunQiao’s faces blanched.  “We’re actually doing the mage’s physical training right now.  I had to go through even worse since they thought I was a tank!”  The cleric laughed heartily at his squadmates’ dismay.  His laughter had subsided by the time he reached the door to the training room.  When he opened it, he found Lady QianHua was surveying the room with a smile on her face.  All mirth drained from his face and he about-faced immediately.  His escape was foiled by Cricket who bumped into him.<br/><br/>“Where are you going?”  The purple haired man asked in confusion, staring around the training room blearily.<br/><br/>“Yes,” A saccharinely sweet voice asked from behind him, even as his “oh-shit!” meter went off the charts, “where<span style="font-style: italic">are</span>you going?”<br/><br/>“…home?”<br/><br/>Valiar could only reflect afterwards, as he ran his hundred and sixth lap around the room, that maybe he shouldn’t have phrased that as a question.<br/><div style="text-align: center;">~~~~~~</div><br/>Inhale. Exhale. Inhale. Exhale. Seraphim had no idea what number she was on anymore. She wasn't sure she wanted to know. It was undoubtedly a lot higher than she ever did normally, perhaps ever.  Ex-exhale.  Her stomach burned as she pulled herself up one more time. Inhale. She lowered herself down, slowly. Exhale: back up she went.<br/><br/>Third to last.<span style="font-style: italic">Cool blue eyes peeked through white hair as a hilt dug into her armpit.</span>She had been third to last.<span style="font-style: italic">A sharp pain on the back of her calf and she'd fallen, only to face the tip of a sword when she tried to get back up.</span>How<span style="text-decoration: underline">embarrassing</span>. She was one of the front lines and she’d been the third worst member of the squad.  It was no consolation that Valiar and Leon had been worse: one specialized in healing and the other was the newest member to their squad.  Of the main offensive members, she was the<span style="text-decoration: underline">worst</span>.<br/><br/>“Switch!”<br/><br/>Seraphim pulled herself back up, hands seizing the bar she’d been hanging from.  She pulled herself up so her chin passed the bar.  Third worst.<span style="font-style: italic">I trust your skills… I believe in you.</span>Metal creaked under her fists as she readjusted her grip.  She wasn’t going to screw up this second chance.<br/><div style="text-align: center;">~~~~~~</div><br/>Shopping.  An afternoon of shopping.  Her abdomen contracted, arms and legs snapping up to meet each other at the top.  When she was finally free, she was assigning Captain Abel to an afternoon as bagboy when Cricket went shopping.  Her weight shifted precariously as she tried to regain her balance, limbs still head aloft.  V-ups on a balance beam: had Captain Abel had nothing better to do in his retirement then think up new training exercises?  There was a grunt from Captain Abel and then she almost tipped off the beam when the weight on her legs suddenly increased.<br/><br/>“Fifty more.”  Her arms jerked down when weights were then added to her wrists, threatening to unbalance her once more.  “Hurry and finish.  We’re behind schedule.”<br/><br/>Screw bagboy!  She was telling Cricket that Abel wanted to win a drag queen contest and needed Cricket’s help!<br/><div style="text-align: center;">~~~~~~</div><br/>“First, you have a meeting with the Ministers from nine am to eleven am.  Then you will have open session for the general populace until twelve pm.”<br/><br/>Centienne smiled at her secretary, nodding in the appropriate places.  Why did she have to listen to work during her breakfast?  Being a queen was so much work.  Leather brushed against her hand and she looked up to see a familiar black visor.  She smiled up at it tenderly, pushing away a dangling strap so it didn’t mar the face.<br/><br/>“Lunch with Lady Syndra until two pm.  The tailor will come after your meeting to fit you for your next set of dresses.”<br/><br/>Her fingers followed the curve of his ear and slid along the helmet, stopping at his chin.  She made the jump from the metal to leather, smile widening as she felt lips move to kiss her fingertips.  Familiar leather was brushing her other arm teasingly.<br/><br/>“There’s a charity event…”<br/><br/>“Paige, why don’t we discuss this later?”  Her voice was just a touch breathless and she didn’t bother taking her gaze off the now inquisitively cocked head.  “I know everything that needs to be done this morning.  Surely the rest can wait till later.”<br/><br/>Blue eyes glanced at her assistant who flushed, just realizing her majesty had been, ah, preoccupied with other matters.  The brunette nodded rapidly and then retreated from the room as quickly as she could.  Centienne laughed at the other girl’s reaction.  She was so adorable!  It was the main reason she kept this assistant around.  A soft chuckle to her side told her Paige’s reaction had amused her darling as well.<br/><br/>The queen turned hopeful eyes to her darling.  “Will you take your helmet off now, Verlassen?  It’s only us two now.”  The man chuckled again but shook his head.  “But I miss seeing your face.”<br/><br/>“You just saw it less than fifteen minutes ago.”<br/><br/>“So?”  She pouted and dragged her finger down to fiddle with the intersecting leather that criss-crossed over her darling’s chest.  “I still miss it.  Is it so wrong I like seeing my darling’s face?”  The only response she got was the press of cloth-covered lips to her hair.  There was a girlish squeal from the door and any happiness the kiss had elicited quickly died at that sound.  Why couldn’t her breakfasts be in peace!  She ignored the maid, instead slipping her fingers into Verlassen’s and pressing against him.  There was a reason she now dined at a circular table with a couch rather than cornered tables and chairs like before she married!<br/><br/>When the intruder finally left, her darling spoke up again, “Would you like me to accompany you to your first meeting?”<br/><br/>Her brooding vanished in a wreath of smiles.  “Would you?”  Centienne asked coquettishly, feeling a thrill of pleasure when he nodded.  Appropriately mollified, she returned her attention to her breakfast with gusto, further pleased when his arm wrapped around her waist.  Her dear husband was such a sweetheart!<br/><div style="text-align: center;">~~~~~~</div><br/>Adair panted for breath, barely bringing his shield up in time to block the arrow.  The discharge of electricity as it streamed through his arm and body to the ground told him he was supposed to have dodged that one.  It turned out that Lady QianHua’s smile this morning had been due to the arrival of two former members of the Pure Magic Squadron.  Mei and Ethera had walked into the room an hour after Squad Ten, seemingly nonplussed by their new surroundings.<br/><br/>Now, he and Cricket were working with the former Vice Captain of PMS on what QianHua had dubbed “decision making.”  He dodged out of the way of the next arrow, noting the blue ribbon tied to it.  Crap.  He was supposed to block that one!  His sword struck out but a hand reached out and snagged it.  Cricket tucked it into the quiver on his back: the fifth one so far.  Gallingly, the most recent three had been added in the last ten minutes.<br/><br/>He had thought his training with his brothers had made him better prepared than this.  With Roland, Lesus, and Grisia as older ‘brothers,’ it was impossible to not be better than most.  He had special training from three of the best in their fields, after all.  But somehow he still couldn’t compare to Knights of the Old Generation.  Adair lashed a hand out, getting his shield just in range to stop that one arrow from slipping by.  But now his body was open to attack.  He was able to knock aside two but the third grazed his armor, releasing a flash of ice and numbing his leg.  Cricket was already a good four steps to the right, reaching for the sixth blue ribbon arrow.  Damnit!<br/><br/>The amber-haired Knight forced healing magic through his body.  It was inefficient but quick and he dodged the next arrow with a white ribbon streaming from its tail.<br/><br/>Cricket reached a hand for the arrow, withdrawing when he realized the ribbon on it was white.  QianHua might be a slave driver, but she was definitely an inventive one!  By pitting him and Adair against each other, it forced both of them to do better.  There was a flash of blue and he moved to grab it but there was suddenly blue armor in his way.  With a tch of disgust, he moved back towards the right and away from Adair’s bulk.  His job was to catch the arrows with blue ribbon, silver ribbon, orange ribbon, and yellow ribbon.  Adair’s job was to block those.  Brown eyes focused on the next arrow.  Purple ribbons counted as two for his score but black-ribbon—he ran away from the arrow as far as he could, shouting a warning to Adair.  There was an explosion as the arrow detonated.  Black ribbons went boom.  The sticky residue the arrow released clung to his arms, threatening to lock them stiff.  It had no effect on Adair’s armor and shield, but it clung persistently to flesh.  After all, as Ethera had pointed out with a half smile, Cricket was<span style="font-style: italic">technically</span>supposed to be the backline Adair had to protect.  There had to be some incentive for Cricket to stay close to Adair and this glue would be that motivation.<br/><br/>It was devious.  It was torture!  But it was a disgustingly good training exercise.  Why didn’t the PKA have these?<br/><div style="text-align: center;">~~~~~~</div><br/>“Quickly! Quickly!”  Frantic shouting echoed through the laboratory.  A Sinner went galloping by, frantically pushing a mop along the ground.  “Quickly! Master Amon is coming!”  There was a scramble as instruments were stowed away, papers tidied, and experiments gagged.  When the door opened, all was neat.<br/><br/>The God of Sin’s First Exalted didn’t walk so much as glide into the room.  The cloak billowed but all other features were shrouded from sight.  It stopped at one of the tables, a skeletal hand reaching out to glide along the trail of runes etched on the experiment’s stomach.  The Sinner whose experiment was being evaluated held its breath apprehensively.  The hand lifted and Amon turned away.  The scientist was about to exhale when a monotonous female voice spoke up.<br/><br/><span style="color: gold">“Trash.”</span>Glowing golden eyes glanced at him contemptuously, its luminescence augmented by the grey-blue sclera it floated in.  The demon had kept moving however, so Anrui didn’t waste any more of her time on the failure.   Amon floated through the room, trailed obediently by his first subordinate.  She had been his first victim to survive, some odd hybrid of Sin and human.  Her unusual coloring was all that had saved her from him killing her.  Humans, such detestable beings.  They only looked pretty when they were warped with pain, like this one.<br/><br/>Amon studied the experiment bound in front of him.  An unusual combination of runes inscribed with tainted-thread and fragments of sin crystals placed at key intersections.  He picked up a knife and cut a hole to where the celiac began and placed an unbroken sin crystal there, forcing it to release.  The experiment screamed, thrashing uselessly with its bound limbs.  Its skin turned a pale grey, the runes sewn into it blazing purple, before the figure stilled. Dead.  The demon turned away to begin his meandering again.<br/><br/>Anrui glanced at the results.<span style="color: gold">“It has potential.  When it’s complete, you may request one of the Knights.”</span>With those curt words of praise, she returned to her place behind her master.  When Amon had seen his share, the two left for their own office.<br/><br/>"How are the conversions coming along?"<br/><br/>Anrui shook her head in disappointment,<span style="color: gold">"Slowly, master.  The Reapers were destroyed instantaneously, the pestilence within them didn’t have a chance to be released.  It also appears that the Knights are now aware of the Reapers' origins.  They've been much more diligent about not leaving any of the injured out, making it harder for us to steal any after the skirmishes."</span><br/><br/>There was a thoughtful wheeze in response.  “There were only two experiments showing potential down there.”  The hood turned to face the glass ceiling above.  The four islands were just visible from this room.  “Wretched Light, suppressing true beauty.”  After a pause, the demon continued speaking, “But no matter.  We will soon resolve that oversight.  How is Test 57 coming along?”<br/><br/><span style="color: gold"> “It’s still within its infancy stages, master.  It’s too early to tell if it will be successful.  Test 60 is showing promise, but not yet at the stage we can claim success.  Tests 38, 40, and 49 should be ready for field testing soon.”</span><br/><br/>“Good.”  Amon finally looked down from the ceiling, a grin forming on the skull that was his face.  “Make sure it is successful.  That moron Lillith has gone and upset Eve.  Her essence is available for the taking.”  Fingerbones drummed against each other giddily.  The sound might have been eerie, but Anrui had long grown used to it.  “Eve is demanding candidates.  No doubt she'll make some sort of test for it.”  He stared at her, his voice dropping a notch. "I want it."<br/><br/>And have it he would.<br/><div style="text-align: center;">~~~~~~</div><br/>Lethe slowly pushed herself up away from the ground, arms straining with the weight.  Abel yawned in apparent boredom, the rustling of papers telling her he’d changed pages.  Somehow going back down was even worse.  She was too tired to think anything, to even be annoyed at her former Captain.  Her arms just wanted to fold in on themselves, but then she’d collapse and she wasn’t sure her back could handle falling to the ground with Captain Abel’s fat ass on it.