Annabelle’s Bastion

Aria stood by her window, staring at the waves in the distance that were intensified by the storm.

It was a dark day, as was common on the island. Thunder rang every few seconds, and heavy rain thudded against the roof, a sound she could hear all too well since she was on the top floor.

The weather matched her mood.

Running through the meeting she attended in her mind on repeat, thinking of things beyond her… it was all she could do.

She wasn’t allowed to ask any questions to Alisha while attending their meeting. All she learned was that Annabelle had an Apex Sigil and that Alisha didn’t fully understand what it was. The conversations relating to Annabelle ended there. At least, the one she could be privy to.

Aria was removed from the room until their meeting was completed.

Gromak came out graver than he went in, and the rest of them didn’t even look at her.

It wasn’t until Jaxon and Alisha were the only two remaining that Aria was called back. Yet, the only reason she was there was for Alisha to say that she hadn’t heard what her punishment was to be. On the contrary, it seemed people weren’t discussing it yet. Alisha only recommended she avoid attending classes for a few days. As if doing so would remind them.

But that was far from what Aria cared about.

All her queries got her was a promise that they would return to Sorana and that they would find whoever was responsible for it.

Once she returned, she had plenty of time to collect herself.

During the meeting, her emotions clouded her judgment, especially when it seemed that Alisha didn’t care for Annabelle’s safety. But that was most likely just a front; Aria knew her mentor better than that. When she said the people responsible would suffer, Aria believed it.

Alisha tended to get obsessive about things or people she saw as her own. Her emotional state was hidden masterfully, but Aria didn’t believe she wasn’t furious about what happened.

But that did little to assuage her anger at her combat teacher—Jaxon. Unreasonable as they could claim it to be, she could not let it go so easily.

She had never felt so utterly helpless before.

Gromak couldn’t help her, Alisha couldn’t help her, and there wasn’t a thing she could do. Her first thought was to use the teleportation gate to Sorana, but it was destroyed after her usage. The permanent gate was being constructed, but not in the academy and not for finding Annabelle.

That was, of course, half the cause for her worsening mood.

Ashton Wells, Greg, and their cohorts.

She recalled Annabelle’s words before they set into the corruption—that the cowardly man would try something. Then, he tried to get her and Jaxon trapped on the planet.

He had something to do with it. Just that he somehow had a teleportation device meant he was linked to Annabelle’s disappearance; he and his people were all guilty.

When asked, Jaxon said that another teacher claimed he gave Ashton a teleporter because he was his protégé. The teacher will be punished, but they couldn’t do much more to Ashton—his story was verifiable, as the teacher had been too close to Ashton for a while.

Aria’s hand clenched around her katana’s hilt.

When she exited the meeting with Alisha, Gromak was there to take her back. But if he wasn’t there, Aria would have killed the cowardly man who had the arrogance to smirk at her as she walked past them at the bridge.

There could not have been a better confession.

If it wasn’t for Gromak’s hand on her shoulder, a titanic strength holding her back, Ashton would have fallen there.

But that did give her a route, one she had been considering for a while. The risks, the rewards, and the path forward.

Regardless of what happened, it was time to use her Apex Sigil.

Gromak was eager to see how it worked, and he offered to bring her various low-level blades for her to try it on. If her getting the Apex Sigil was acknowledged, such actions wouldn’t have been frowned upon.

But that was a secret only Gromak, Alisha, Jaxon, and Aria knew.

A few harsh knocks sounded from her door, preceding another round of thunder.

“Come in,” Aria said.

As expected, Gromak pushed open the door and turned to fit himself, along with a large wrapping of various weapons. She saw an axe, daggers, various types of swords, spears, and even an odd-looking device she assumed was the gun she enquired about—a tool Annabelle informed her of when they were discussing barrier durability.

“Little help, girlie?” he said.

Aria complied, taking the wrapping full of various types of weapons from Gromak’s hands so he could squeeze through the door.

Once inside, Gromak gently shut her door and smirked at the blades Aria had tossed onto her bed. “See? What did I tell you, girlie?” he chuckled.

“What’s in there?” Aria asked, her vision glued to the edges of the blades she saw poking out.

Gromak abruptly stopped chuckling as his smirk faded. “Girlie… I’ve practically raised you. If you think you can hide what you’re thinkin’ from me, then I’m sorry to say, but you gotta gain a few more years.”

Aria froze mid-reaching for the blades. “I’m not planning anything.”

Gromak snorted as he grabbed the wrapping and pulled them away.

“Why?”

“Girlie,” Gromak sighed. “You think you can just kill people in this academy? Really?”

“I…” she didn’t expect to be caught so quickly. Aria didn’t know how to respond to that—of course, she wouldn’t get away with it. But… somebody had to suffer for what they did to Annabelle.

“I quite liked that girlie, too, you know—”

“She isn’t dead.” Aria glared, her fists tightly clenched. “She’s alive—do not speak like that.”

“Right,” Gromak said, holding his hand up. “I don’t doubt that, not after what Alisha told us.” He shook his head. “But that isn’t my point.”

“What is?”

“Girlie, how do you think this will play out?”

“I don’t care.”

“You’ll be dead by the time she comes back.”

Aria’s hands hurt. “They… can’t get away with this.”

Was he really going to try and stop her? Now, of all times?

Gromak sighed, pushing back the blades. “Thing is, girlie.” He looked into her eyes, his expression warmer than she was ever used to. “I know that, when I leave, whatever I say to you here will mean nothin’. You’re goin’ to go out there and hope things work out.”

He was right, but she just didn’t care.

All she wanted was for somebody to pay for what happened. The masterminds were far beyond her, but she could at least learn why these things happened and punish those who thought themselves untouchable.

“Why—”

“Listen to me,” Gromak interrupted, a smile returning to his face. “I will help you.”

“Wha—” It was like the thunder outside was instead striking in her head. “What?”

“Never seen you look so shocked before.” Gromak briefly chuckled. “By help, I don’t mean I’m gonna go out there with you. But I will stick my neck out for you—I will be your… alibi, as the humans say.”

“Why?”

Gromak had never stuck out for her before—he had too much on his shoulders. He couldn’t even risk joining Alisha’s camp. The Dwarves all relied on him, and he became their representative, their hope for their future within Bastion. If he were to publically take a side, it would irreparably damage all that his people had worked for.

Aria understood that and never despised him for it.

“Because, girlie,” Gromak said while unwrapping the various blades. “I just learned somethin’ that matters more to me and mine than whatever shitty politics rule this place.”

Annabelle.

“Annabelle?”

“Bingo.”

“Why?”

“That’s… a matter of my race, girlie—not me, not my people on this island—but my home world, my race. Girlie…” He paused, sighing gravely as if he regretted what he was about to say. “If others knew what I just learned, war wouldn’t be a thing of the past no more. That woman…” He wryly chuckled. “She is in over her head.”

“Is… is she that important? Why? Tell me about her… please.”

“That understanding will come—”

“No!” Aria’s shouted, her voice sharper than she thought it could get. Gromak stared at her, clearly taken aback—she had never raised her voice like that before. But she couldn’t hold it in any longer. “I’m sick of this… sick of never getting answers. I never get to know why… not from anyone. Not even from the ones I should trust the most—my mentors…” She could’ve stopped, but the words spilled out. “I don’t know why I’m stuck on this island. Why I’m seen as such a dangerous threat. I don’t know why my life is not even in my own hands. Why… why can’t I just live like everyone else? Why must I hold myself back, letting people step on me? And… and Annabelle… I don’t even know why she was brought into my life. And… and why she was taken away from me.”

“Girlie—” Gromak paused.

Aria turned, walking away from Gromak and to the window to once again stare at the ocean.

She never thought she was capable of shedding tears.

Gromak was silent, and Aria took that time to collect herself.

Finally, a rough hand landed on her shoulder. It would normally be comedic since Gromak was a Dwarf and had to reach up to that to her, who was above average in height.

“Girlie— Aria,” he said gently, though it was difficult with a voice as rough as his. “I know how frustratin’ it is for you, believe me.”

“Then…” Aria cleared her throat. “ Then why?”

“Your…” Gromak sighed. “Your existence should be impossible, girlie,” he finally said, turning Aria to look into his eyes. “You came from a place that should not—doesn’t—have life. That world was so wholly eaten by corruption that even steppin’ foot in there would be death for most of us—even me.”

“Is—”

“Let me finish, girlie.” He gestured toward her desk chair. “Sit.”

Aria complied, but her emotions were a mess.

She still recalled her mother, her gentle words when she said that Aria had to go to Bastion. Was that because of the corruption? She knew little about her, having been sent away at a young age. Her mother’s authoritative figure, her mature elegance, but still somehow mischievous glints. Those faint memories were what drew her to Annabelle in the first place.

Was her mother a high-ranking Bastion operative? Perhaps one who deserted and formed something of a group of her own.

Gromak cleared his throat. “We don’t know where you came from or why you arrived here. But, girlie, we did not find you—you found us. On this island. On Earth. Understand?”

“Yes,” she said, barely above a whisper.

She wasn’t brought from whatever world she originated on this island but appeared here instead. Somehow, she was transported from an extremely dangerous world to Earth.

“Earth, to humans and even to some of the other races, is a precious gem.” Gromak stroked his beard as he spoke. He lightly shook his head. “They are weirdly obsessed with it, far beyond it just being their homeworld. Hells, they purposefully keep magic from most of them! No other race is allowed here, no human not from there can enter without permission, using magic outside the island is strictly forbidden, and so many more heavy restrictions to keep the planet as-is, untouched by the worries of the rest of the universe.”

“Why?”

Aria knew Earth was restrictive, but not to the extent that things were being purposefully kept as is. Bastion did recruit from there, and the academy was accepted.

Did Annabelle have something to do with it? It seemed silly, but that was where her mind went.

Was the planet special in some way?

Gromak shrugged. “I dunno. This decree came from the Grandmaster himself and could very well just be a sentimental thing.”

Aria nodded. “Then I am an intruder.”

“Correct,” Gromak said, nodding. “You should not have been able to get here, especially not from where you did. You don’t remember it—purposeful—but you underwent so much investigation that even the Paragon had a look at you.”

She didn’t have words for that.

The Paragon was the only person capable of speaking for the Grandmaster—his voice. Regardless of what the Council or any other person in power wanted to do, if the Paragon spoke, that was to be the word of God.

“She deemed you fine, but that didn’t stop some from wantin’ you gone just because of that risk they could never fully dismiss.”

It all made sense; a decade-long mystery, finally partially solved.

For the first time in her life, she understood why she had to live the way she did. Why some in power were keen on her death. Somehow, knowing made her feel better about it, even though the sword above her head was grim and not one she could ever truly shake away.

“But what about Annabelle?”

“That girlie…” Gromak paused, stroking his beard silently as he considered his response. Finally, he lightly nodded. “I know little, but I’m betting on the possibility. The one that you did hear Alisha mention.”

She did recall those words. They rang on a cycle within her mind, even when she tried to fall asleep. Words she had never heard before, yet she felt the room change when they were mentioned. Even Thagrin became grim.

“Taint, Radiance, Prometheus… and war.”        

“Yes,” he said grimly. However, he shook his head. “I’m sorry, girlie. But you won’t hear about those from me. The school will teach you when it’s finally time for you to experience it by yourself. Not some half-baked expedition where you experienced a tickle of it. But when you qualify as real soldiers for them to send to the frontlines.”

“Fine.”

She could gather the rest herself.

Annabelle was somehow the key to these problems. At least, that is what they hoped. Her importance was on a much grander scale than what Aria anticipated.

But to her, Annabelle was her friend—her partner.

A sometimes mischievous, princess-like character who wanted to help people. The girl who cared for her more than any other she had ever known.

She turned to the blades, her decision only cemented further.

Whoever dared to try and touch what was hers, even if in some delusion that she would bend for them, should suffer the consequences.

“Let me absorb them.”

Gromak smirked. “Good. You're our best bet to find out what's really goin' on. I have a feelin’ we can really shake up this annoyin’ place… get ‘em movin’ again. And you know, girlie…” He grimly chuckled. “Us Dwarves love to hedge big bets.”