Don't Destroy the World

Priest Beslen 's expression grew confused as he looked at her. "Um, Sir, do I know you?"

Ember silently swore to herself. She had messed up. Of course, Priest Beslen wouldn't recognize her since she had an illusion covering her. She had been so startled to see him that she couldn't help saying his name.

"No, you don't know me," she quickly said, trying to recover the situation. "I'm a friend of Justine's. We were heading to the temple to bring you her." Ember nodded to the girl huddle next to her mother. "She's the one who went missing."

Priest Beslen's eyes widened. "You have the missing girl? But how? Where are the others?"

Knight Garrick stepped forward, his hand on his pommel. "How do we know you're not the ones who kidnapped her?"

"They're not," Knight Vantosia said, his voice tight. "Knight Garrick, please take the girl to the temple."

Knight Garrick looked surprised but didn't protest. Instead, he stepped forward to get the girl. But the woman whimpered and huddled closer to her mother.

Her mother whispered to the girl and she shook her head. Her mother gave the girl a gentle smile and then turned to Garrick. Ember was about to cut in but Justine beat her to it.

"He'll go with you. The girl is calmer with him." When Justine spoke her voice was scratchy, making her gender hard to figure out. On the other hand, her mother had forgotten to hide her voice.

Her mother looked surprised. Either she had realized she had been talking normally all this time or she was surprised that Justine had volunteered her to go with Knight Garrick. Her mother gave her a questioning look.

Ember smiled reassuringly at her. "It's okay."

Her mother hesitated but she ended up guiding the girl to Garrick and the three of them turned to make their way to the temple. Ember wasn't sure if this was a sign that her mother was beginning to trust that she can handle herself or if it was merely because she felt Ember would be safe with Knight Vantosia and the others.

Knight Vantosia watched them go before turning to look at Ember and Justine with narrowed eyes.

Ember shifted uncomfortably under his gaze.

"So where are the others?" Priest Beslen said, glancing at Vantosia and then away.

"They're safe. They'll be arriving at the temple shortly."

Priest Beslen looked relieved. "I was starting to get worried that something had happened."

Ember blinked in surprised and then realized what was going on. Priest Beslen must've gotten worried when they weren't back in the evening. He must've asked the Knights for help in case something happened to them.

It did leave them in a tricky situation. How much had he told Knight Vantosia? She wasn't sure if Knight Vantosia suspected she was a Seedling or if he simply thought she was an unnaturally talented swordsman.

She glanced at the man to see him staring at her. She quickly looked away.

"We should head back," she said.

"No," Knight Vantosia said.

Ember blinked.

"Why not?" Justine jumped in. "We've had a long night and you've got the girl."

"We'll need to question you about what happened. Please come along."

Justine's jaw tightened. "And if we don't?"

"I'll arrest you," Knight Vantosia said. "But that shouldn't be a problem. You have nothing to hide, correct?"

Justine gritted her teeth and the way she shifted her stance. Ember got the feeling she was getting ready to show the knight just how she felt about that.

"I'll go," Ember quickly said. "You'll only need one of us to tell you what happened? We didn't save the girl but Justine sent us to bring her to the temple."

"Why did she do that?" Priest Beslen said, confusion on his face. "Wouldn't it have been better to come together?"

"Justine was injured," Ember said quickly.

Justine snorted at that but let her continued.

"So they went ahead while leaving the girl to us. They were worried that the injury could slow them down or cause them to become a target by the kidnapper."

Worried and guilt spread across Priest Beslen's face. "Then we should return quickly to make sure they are alright. Thank you..."

"Tom and Jerry," Ember said, going with the first thing that came to mind.

The priest nodded. "Thank you, Mister Tom and Mister Jerry." He then turned to Knight Vantosia, barely holding back his need to rush off. "Shall we go?"

Knight Vantosia nodded and looked pointedly at Ember.

Ember took a step forward before Justine grabbed her shoulder. "One minute."

Ember looked questioningly at Justine as the woman pulled her a bit away from the others. She kept her voice lowered.

"Are you sure you want to go? I can go with Mister Stick-up-his-arse, instead."

Ember gave her a strained smile. "It's better if I go. I really don't know what happened beyond being in the shack. You can report everything in the morning."

Justine frowned. "Maybe it'll be better just to tell them the truth."

Ember thought about it and shook her head. "The less people who know what I can do the better."

"Why?"

Ember paused, opened her mouth and then closed it. She shook her head. "I have to to. We'll talk tomorrow. Okay?"

Justine sighed and nodded.

Ember hurried to join the other two. They three walked in silence. Knight Vantosia was always quiet but Priest Beslen seemed to be too busy fretting to hold a conversation. Ember felt similarly. She was considering her story. She needed to make sure that it stayed as truthful as possible.

The three of them walked at a quick pace which meant that they managed to catch up with her mother and Knight Garrick. The girl, Meri, was weak due to her confinement but refused to allow Knight Garrick to carry her. Her mother didn't have the strength to carry the girl around so it slowed them down.

That turned out to be a good thing because about twenty minutes in their walk there was a snap feeling. Ember jerked and realized that the illusion she had on Justine had broken apart. If they hadn't managed to catch up with Knight Garrick, it was likely the same would've happened to her mother.

Ember couldn't help feeling nervous about that so she moved closer to Meri and brushed against her. The girl stumbled and then a moment later sagged to the ground. Her mother gasped and caught her.

"The poor girl fainted," her mother said, this time remembering to disguise her voice though it was a poor attempt.

Immediately, Knight Garrick scooped the girl up and their pace quickened. Her mother stayed by Ember's side though she kept looking nervously at the unconscious girl.

"Once we get to the temple, you should head out," Ember said to her mother.

Her mother's head whipped towards her. "I can stay."

Ember shook her head. "It's late. Jerry headed back and you should do the same. I promised to talk with Knight Vantosia."

Her mother frowned and then her eyes widened in realization. She took a quick glance at Knight Vantosia who looked firmly ahead though Ember had no doubt that he took in their suspicious behavior. For whatever reason, he was letting it go. It could be because he still had Ember to question or they had gained some small amount of trust due to saving the missing girl.

Her mother nodded reluctantly. Ember knew that a conversation with her and Rowan were long overdue. She needed to tell them about her abilities and at least hint at what she had planned. As to the time loop, she was still on the fence about it. It's not that she didn't trust them with the information. it was more that she wasn't sure how likely they were to believe her.

Still, perhaps she should give them the chance to accept or reject the information. It was her family and if she wanted them to trust her, she needed to explain why they should.

It's decided then.

Tomorrow, she would explain everything to them. She would have liked to wait until they were in their own place so they had more privacy but with her getting involved in the missing cases and possibly more cases in the future she needed to get things settled as soon as possible.

The decision gave her a mixture of relief and dread. She had to keep reminding herself that it was for the best. Tomorrow then. For now, she needed to deal with Knight Vantosia. Honestly, she was exhausted but the sooner she could get the conversation out of the way the better.

When they reached the temple, her mother gave a reluctant look to her and Meri.

"Matron Camila will probably come looking for Meri," Ember said to Knight Garrick. "Justine had sent word for her to be on a lookout for Meri's arrival."

Knight Garrick nodded. "I'll send someone for her when the girl wakes up."

Ember nodded while her mother looked grateful.

With that, her mother gave her another worried glance before leaving with a nod to the knight and Priest Beslen. It was clear she was trying to talk as little as possible in order to not give herself away any further.

Once she was gone, Priest Beslen excused himself in order to go search for Ember and the rest. It was clear the priest was still worried. She felt sort of bad letting him go off when she was standing right there, but she was determined to keep as much of her secrets as she could. Since Priest Beslen could see her abilities, he would have questions about why she was able to use an ability that she didn't show as having. She could use the excuse she was planning to use for her registration but she was worried that he might see past it given he was part of the Akashic Order.

She frowned. That brought a new thought to mind. Since this temple of the Akashic Order was focused on scholarly support it was likely that someone might see through her excuse if they could delve deeper in her curse. It might be safer for her not to have the curse looked at in that case.

"This way," Knight Vantosia said, interrupting her thoughts. The knight began leading her down the halls of the temple.

The temple was much larger than the ones in Goros and much different in design from most temples. it was a long circular tower with floors dedicated to study, scribing, and written archives. There first two lower floors were there for worshipers as well as guest rooms like the ones they were staying in. There were also private offices and meeting rooms.

So Ember wasn't too surprised when Knight Vantosia guided them to a personal office. She was surprised that it was already set up and looked like it had been in use for weeks instead of the half-day they had been here.

"Have a seat," Knight Vantosia said as he settled down in a chair behind his desk.

Ember nodded and plopped down. As she did, she felt the familiar snap as her illusion over her mother finally fell apart. She sighed in relief. now it was just her.

Without prompting she went straight into her explanation. Perhaps she was being too eager but now that she was at the temple all she wanted to do was go to bed. Just how late was it?

She started by explaining that Justine went into the building that the girl had been held while the rest of them had stayed hidden in a shack as backup. There they had waited only being interrupted by the homeless guy and how they dealt with him. She then explained how Justine returned and that she mentioned about the girl being tortured.

"And if you want to know the details about that you would have to speak with Justine."

Knight Vantosia's eyes glowed as she spoke and he nodded. "Why did you send Justine in alone?"

Ember was careful how she answered. She still didn't know if Knight Vantosia knew that her and her mother had been there. "Justine decided it would be safer for everyone this way. She's good at what she does."

Knight Vantosia's eyes narrowed and Ember wondered if she had just made Justine look like some sort of criminal.

"She's a monster hunter," Ember quickly explained.

Knight Vantosia nodded. "Can you tell me how the homeless man looked?"

Ember nodded and gave the Knight a description which he wrote down.

"Do you think he was involved?" Ember couldn't help asking.

"It's possible. It's always best to check just in case."

Ember nodded.

For a moment, there was silence between them as Knight Vantosia wrote down several notes. Ember shifted in her seat, trying to keep herself awake. Finally, she got tired of waiting.

"Is it okay for me to leave. It's late and I'm tired."

The knight nodded. "I understand. I just have a few more questions."

Ember had to stop herself from sighing. "Okay."

"How long have you been a Seedling?"