A few hours earlier, the Seer had summoned both Akire and Akira to the Tower, telling them that they were both needed. Rather than order a coachman to take them, Kire chose to walk. Four years living in this world with her, Akira had noticed how the Empress, whenever she could, opted out of the luxuries her birthright had afforded her. It was hard to believe, looking at the tall blonde woman dressed in her knight’s armor, that they were two versions of the same person, born in different worlds. Akira was a short, black-haired, twenty year old, born and raised in some tropical country on an Earth she likely would not see again. This was the farthest from the life she had grown up in as she could think of.<br/><br/>And yet here they were, standing inside the Seer’s chamber, in a Tower not that far from the Palace grounds. Kire’s cousin and scholar of all-things-Paladin lived in the Tower, but the Tower had always been there, even, according to myth, long before the first of Kire’s people even settled in this land. The Seer was already there when they arrived, and now she—he? It? It was hard to tell—was telling Kire to bring her along. “She’s not ready!” the Empress seethed, stepping in between the Seer and Aki. Not that the Wyvern warrior could do anything about it; if this Seer was responsible for making them both Paladins, then Akira doubted there was anything either of them could do to challenge what she said.<br/><br/>“You’re not going. It’s too dangerous,” Kire said the moment the Seer disappeared. Akira furrowed her brow.<br/>“But—you know we were ordered to go.”<br/>“Fuck their orders,” the blonde said with an imperious gesture. Well, that was one thing about being Empress, Akira thought. You’d hate taking orders from anybody but yourself. “I don’t understand why they’d even give you a Ring, when you’ve had no experience in battle, or in magic, or anything. And, as usual, they didn’t tell us where, or why, or what sort of place we’re going to! You’re not going.”<br/><br/>Fast forward to now, where Akira hurtled, screaming, through the barriers between worlds. It was a strange thing, summoning a portal. She could never get used to it. Then again, she’d only been given her Ring barely a month ago. It was like following a thin thread that wound forever into the darkness. Then the thread would stretch taut, tugging at her brain, and suddenly the universe exploded with light as the thread pulled her bodily into the wormhole. Was this what it felt like, to be deconstructed into cells, molecules, quarks, to join the swirling storm of energy? Like falling forever.<br/><br/>But, really, the whole journey only took a few excruciating seconds before it spat her out, putting her atoms back together and sending her crashing into something—weird. Pain was the first thing that registered to her, jagged stabs of sensation all over her body and in her brain. But when the last of the blinding light from the portal faded, she gaped, seeing a monstrous shadow standing over her. “Fuck!” She scrambled to her feet and out of its way, though it seemed to not have noticed her, its eyes trained on a tall woman a few paces in front of her. She caught sight of the armor and yelled, “Kire!” before realizing it wasn’t Akire, but someone else entirely.<br/><br/>Betting that the monster was trouble and the woman was fighting it, Aki did the only thing she could and focused on a pile of rubble at the monster’s feet, hoping there were sizable scraps of metal in there. With as much concentration as she could muster after hurtling through the multiverse and getting hurtled at a ten foot monstrosity, she sent the metallic debris flying. Or tried to. The most it did was distract the demon, hitting it square on the face just before it unleashed a jet of flame at the woman with the sword. “Uh. Shit.” Aki ducked into the hole it had left on the wall just before it directed the blast at her.