Mira Van'Heatah woke up in a room he had never seen before. He was face down and he lay on his stomach, as if someone had tossed him carelessly on the floor like dirty laundry. The right side of his face felt chilly as he lifted it from the cold marble he slept on. The blue-haired fool rolled over and pushed himself up to a seated position, still waking fully. At a second glance, the floor he sat on was flawless; beautiful. The whole floor seemed to be cut from one slab of pearl-tinted marble that sparkled brightly in the moonlight seeping in through ceiling-high windows of stained glass. A trim of gold lined those decorative windows, as well as the moldings on the floor and ceiling around him. His eyes continued wandering until he found that every wall in this new room was covered in fully-packed shelves of books; most aged and leather-bound, a scant few looked like old scrolls. Mira took another couple of blinks—it was definitely late in the night. The last thing he remembered was jumping to a pillar on the obstacle course he had been enjoying so much, and at that point the Holy Sola hadn't even started to dip. He tried to stand, but a sudden wave of pain returned to the side of his head, causing his ears to ring uncontrollably. The room spun, and Mira fell to his knees and forearms. Breathing was tough in that moment, but the more he focused on his breath the better his vision became.

  After taking a few minutes on the ground to compose himself, Mira managed to stand up slowly. He continued to take in the room, finally feeling completely awake. To his left was a long desk of some darkly stained wood that likely cost a fortune. On the desk sat a few trinkets and knick-knacks, most of them small statues or figurines; a golden eagle, a jade lion, a silver bull, a ruby lamb, too many to remember at once. There were also two snow globes on the desk; one of the Corvus' Royal Palace, and the other depicting a far larger castle Mira didn't recognize. Upon further examination, he could see the foreign fortress was built from two castles of alabaster perched high over a cliffside, connected by a long bridge between the two structures. A waterfall sat beneath the white bridge dividing the two halves of that extraordinary castle. Slightly distracted by the snow globe's beauty, Mira turned the globe on its head to get a better look at the castle's finer details, but to his surprise black snow danced around the glass when it was flipped.

  A voice sang out from over the boy's shoulder.

  "You're up." Behind Mira stood the woman who had saved his life nearly half a year ago. She leaned on the room's threshold in her silver-dyed armor, her hair tied up as always in a high ponytail that fell down her back. "What? Was the home I bought you down south not spacious enough?"

  "You're-" Mira blushed when he turned around. Even with her scars, the soldier in the doorway still somehow looked lovely. He tried to remember the woman's name, but his mind was blank.

  "I'm Helen—Captain Helen ?thena of Division Seven." She made her way through the door, words seeming sour on her tongue by the expression the Hero wore. "If you and your brother needed a larger residence, all you needed to do was send a letter. Coming all the way here is... time consuming." She snatched the dark snow globe from the boy's fingers before he had the chance to drop it, placing the knick-knack back down on the desk with a gentle slap upon the wood. Helen strolled to the other side of the desk and took a seat in a chair padded with brown leather. She motioned to a seat across from her. "Have a seat, boy."

  Mira did as he was ordered but continued to look around as he sat. Built into the wall next to the desk was a fireplace with a golden trim to match the rest of the room's theme, and within it were cold the embers of a nearly dead blaze.

  "Where am I?" He finally asked once it was clear Helen was waiting on him to go first.

  "My office on the twenty third floor of the Scarlet Aerie—last and largest on this floor's North Wing." She shot him a teasing grin as she finished giving him their precise location. "So, you decided to join the Royal Military. A foolish thing to do, no?"

  "Well... ummm..." Mira scratched his head, still trying to remember how he got here. "Sachi kinda roped me into this one. He really wanted to enlist. I guess this makes it easier to find our father's killer, and I promised to keep him safe. So..." He trailed off, hoping Helen would understand what he meant.

  "I see." The Hero of Corvus shot Mira a thin-eyed stare that sent shivers down his spine. "Well congratulations—you made it. From this day forward you will be serving under me, in Division Seven." She put her elbows down on the desk and used her gaze to cut through Mira like old parchment, leaving him with a lump in his throat that made it hard to continue speaking.

  "Are you-" He found his voice once more. "What about Sachi?"

  "Sachi? Was that the name of your younger brother? How fun. Please remind me, what was your name again?"

  "It... it's Mira. Mira Van'Heatah. Is he also-?"

  Helen turned away her gaze to the portrait of violence shimmering on the decorative glass behind her. It was recreation of herself beheading a pale, shirtless man. She spoke as if Mira had finished already. "Mira... Mira..." She called his name as if it was a lyric in an old minstrel's hymn, her voice smooth and crisp like a choir soloist. "You've come at the perfect time, little Mira. Just today I received a special mission that I think you would be perfect for, so I'll be sending you out immediately."

  "Umm... already? I just got here." Mira looked desperately around him in confusion over the request. "I still need to go see Sachi. I have no idea if he made it into the military, or where he is. Tori too—she's my new friend—I've gotta find them both and-"

  "There will be time for that." Helen still wouldn't return her gaze to meet her new underling's. She fixated on a rising moon distorted by stained-glass. "The people of this Kingdom need your help—your brother needs your help. You might be the only one capable of completing this very special mission."

  Those words were all that Mira needed. "Sachi needs me?"

  "That's right." A stillness took over the air as Mira clenched his favorite shorts, recalling Sachi's corpse in the cold grass. He made up his mind the second she mentioned protecting his little brother—after all, that's all he came to Gilgamere for.

  "What do you need me to do?"

  Helen giggled slightly. "Well, that was easy." She stood and began walking back out of the room without a word. She had not called for Mira to follow her, but he felt compelled to all the same. He stumbled up from his chair and chased her out of the room.

  "Yoo, wait for me!"

  Mira caught up to Helen outside of her office's doorway. He slowed upon noticing how enormous the palace's halls were, with high ceilings that reminded the small teen of Palos' ancient temple. A crimson carpet with intricate patterns of black feathers concealed the dark marble floors that stretched before him. To Mira's left were spotless, tall windows overlooking the Red Grove being consumed by night's approach. To his right were countless paintings and murals depicting great battles throughout the Kingdom's history, as well as tall portraits of Royal Family members, military generals, too many faces Mira didn't recognize. His stride slowed as he marveled at the bright canvases full of fire and heroism. Helen noticed him trailing but didn't slow down, instead she placed her two front teeth atop her lip and shot him with a high-pitched whistle. It did the trick, and the blue-haired speedster quickly zipped up to her side in a blue flash, where he remained as they continued through the palace corridors.

  The pair wandered around several corners until Helen came to an abrupt halt. Before them stood a large wooden door engraved boldly with the Royal Family's crest. Helen grabbed onto a spotless, silver doorhandle and swung it open. It was pure black in that room, and Mira couldn't see so much as Helen's silhouette after she crossed the shadowed room's threshold.

  "Catch." A long wooden stick emerged from the darkness and thumped Mira in the chest. He looked down to the stick that landed in his hand; it was a mop. He heard Helen's voice again. "You'll need this too." A metal bucket came flying out from the dark room, much faster than the mop this time. Mira ducked to avoid being hit. The bucket soared over his head and crashed into the wall behind him where it struck a portrait. The old canvas ripped when the bucket made contact, splitting an old man's face in half before falling to the ground with a loud clang. Helen emerged from the custodial closet with raised brows as she assessed the damage.

  Mira's face went pale as a ghost. "I-I... I didn't mean to."

  Helen chuckled. "Well then, it seems I've assaulted our King." Her laugh was playful, and for a moment Mira almost forgot about how terrifying her gaze was back in the office. "Ke-he-he! Do me a favor, Mira. Next time I throw you something—catch it!"

  Mira nodded with a bit of relief and pointed back towards the destroyed portrait. "What do we do about him?"

  "Just leave it. No one will know it was us." Helen closed the door to the closet and started walking down the hall again. About halfway back, she stopped again in front of another door. "This is it."

  Mira was confused as to what he was looking at. Before him was a door that looked no different from the closet. "What is it?"

  "Your mission. Head inside." Mira's stare made it clear he didn't understand what she meant, but he reached out and opened the door anyway. A putrid smell hit his nose and tongue as the door creaked open. It was like manure mixed with roadkill. Mira gagged and quickly reshut the door before seeing what was inside. He glared up at his new Captain with welling eyes full of rage.

  "Gross!" Mira barked up to Helen. "I didn't even know they made smells that bad! Why do you have this room?"

  Helen simply laughed at the boy's disgust with her head held high. "Like I said, you came at the perfect time. Revin gets his new office tomorrow." She pointed back at another large wooden door behind her. "This bathroom hasn't been cleaned in years. It's been this dirty since I got here—no maids will go near it."

  Mira tossed his hands in the air. "What am I, a janitor?"

  The Captain shrugged. "For tonight. It's a dirty job but someone's gotta do it!" Her friendly smile made it seem like she had no idea what the problem was.

  "No way!" Mira dropped the bucket and mop on the ground and folded his arms across his chest. "I'm not some chore boy! You said there was a mission to save this Kingdom and protect my brother. What does cleaning dirty toilets have to do with any of that?"

  Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

  "Don't you think your brother's new Captain deserves a proper lavatory? Sounds like a matter of life or death to me." Helen laughed again towards the ceiling. "Ke-he-he!"

  "Is this a-"

  "Just stop. Your real first mission begins tomorrow, so try to get some rest after you finish up in there. There's a couch in my office you can sleep on when you're done." Helen turned away and started walking back toward the direction they came from.

  "This isn't fair!" Mira called after her. "I came here to be a soldier—I shouldn't be doing this!"

  Helen didn't stop walking, but she called out some words of encouragement. "If you do well enough here then someday you'll have your own chore boy. Until then, you're stuck with me..."

  Mira tried again to protest, "But I-"

  "The sooner you get to work, the sooner you'll be resting. Just saying..." Helen then rounded a corner and disappeared. Mira glared down at the bucket and mop as if he was about to smash them both, but he begrudgingly picked them up after a few frustrating moments. He took a deep inhale, held his breath, and entered the filthy bathroom.

  Mira emerged several hours later in a daze. His face was that of a soldier who had crawled his way out of an active warzone. His knees were bruised, and his arms were sore from attempting to mop away the stains from that floor; that disgusting floor. His outfit was stained and carried the foul stench of the bathroom down the hall. After muttering under his breath for the last three hours about Helen's unfair task, he felt hoarse and exhausted. He shuffled back to his Captain's office and reached out to the door handle, but it was locked. Mira wasn't even mad at that point in his night, he felt as if he should have seen this coming. He was too tired to kick the door down and no longer had the rage within him to try. Instead, he sat against the door and closed his eyes. He felt himself drift into sleep, hoping Sachi had a better first day than him.

  Over the course of the night, Mira tossed and turned against the door until finally settling in a balled up position on the ground in front of Helen's office. When early-morning in Gilgamere arrived and holy sunshine illuminated the corridor to once more, soldiers were greeted by the sounds of Mira snoring loudly outside of Captain Helen's office like a lost beast who wandered into the palace in the dead of night. An armored boot against the blue-haired child's chest eventually stirred him awake. He rose with an audible snort that echoed down the hall and saw Helen grinning down at him. Mira looked around Helen's legs to see a few well-dressed soldiers in the hall. They were all staring at him as if he had been causing a disturbance.

  "What time is it?" asked Mira. He had to rub his eyes to get some of the dust and grime out of them.

  Helen seemed to be in a good mood this morning. She smiled kindly at him and responded in a teasing tone. "Time for you to take a bath, little Mira." Mira smelled his shirt, it still reeked of the foul bathroom he had been cleaning last night. The scent triggered memories that nearly made him gag. He understood the looks of the other soldiers very clearly at that moment. Helen reached out a hand to Mira to help him up. "Come on. You have a big day ahead of you."

  Helen escorted Mira through the palace and back down to the first floor. On their way down and through the many stairwells and corridors, Mira was met with cold stares from soldiers covering their noses as the odd pair passed by them; it certainly wasn't a good first impression. Everywhere they went, Mira was surrounded by more paintings and statues, faces of legends looking down at him like he didn't belong. He knew they were right. A grumble from his belly refocused him away from the many Human eyes. Helen noticed the sound of Mira's stomach and tapped at his shoulder.

  "Are you hungry?"

  "Starving. I haven't eaten since yesterday's lunch."

  "Good. There will be a great feast where we're heading." Mira shrugged and continued. If Helen was going to fill his belly, he would follow her anywhere. "By the way," Helen continued, "You hardly made a dent in that bathroom last night."

  "I did my best," muttered Mira. "It's not my fault someone did that to those poor toilets."

  Helen snickered at the defense. "Its fine, I'll get one of the maids to clean it."

  Mira furrowed his brows, "A maid? You can do that? So, what was all last night for?"

  "To keep you busy." Her wicked grin was back again.

  On their way out to the barracks, Helen bought Mira a blueberry muffin to tide him over. As they walked down to the beachfront Mira munched away at the snack, covering his cheeks with crumbs and powdered sugar. Helen giggled at Mira as he consumed the muffin as quickly as she handed it to him. As she passed through the barracks soldiers began to take notice and stand at attention for her.

  "At ease, boys and girls." Helen called out casually to the troops. She walked with her head high and shoulders back like she owned the place, and from the way the soldiers were acting she just might've. "Nothing to see here." The soldiers went back to sharpening swords, polishing rifles, and every variety of calisthenics one could imagine. Despite the soft nature of Helen's words, the soldiers knew any breath from her lips was a command. As the soldiers went back to their chores, Helen nudged Mira with an elbow. "Tell me, Mira, do you desire anything other than your brother's safety?"

  "What do you mean?" asked the small teen, wiping the final crumbs of breakfast from his mouth.

  "I speak of dreams, Mira—goals, aspirations, ambitions. I'm wondering what more you want from this world."

  "Well, I made a promise." Mira said, still not fully understanding what the Captain was talking about. "You were there, you heard it, so I'm going to keep Sachi safe no matter what."

  "A life of servitude, sounds fulfilling." Helen spoke with the vocabulary and elegance of a noblewoman, yet she had the no-nonsense demeanor of a seasoned blanket merchant. "Do you hold such little purpose that you would relegate yourself to living life as a common bodyguard?" Her words made Mira reflect on his days back home, his home before the Corvus Kingdom.

  "I had a goal, but that was a long time ago. Honestly... When I think back to those days, I'm not sure if it really was a goal – maybe I was just bored and had a daydream... But I wanted to see the world. All of it. But now, after everything..." He faded into silence as they made their way past the spot where Helen had kicked him off her playground the day prior.

  Helen snickered slightly at Mira's vague dream. "What happened? Did your nerves get the best of you?"

  "I met Sachi." A proud smile took hold of his face. "Then Willy adopted me. After joining their family, it just didn't feel right leaving."

  "I see." Said Helen sternly. "Your bonds have chained you to a mediocre existence."

  Mira looked up to her with a perplexed expression. "A what?" He stopped in his tracks at the top of the staircase. Helen continued walking to the sandy beach without turning back.

  "I suppose it's not important anymore. Come along now, try not to dally. This isn't the first or last thing I have scheduled for today."

  Mira picked up his pace down the stairs and caught up to Helen. They walked together in silence for the rest of their stroll down to the waters. Mira eyed his Captain up and down as slyly as he could, still unsure if she was a friend or not. He couldn't help but linger on Helen's face when it fell into his sight. He didn't want to stare, but he found himself stealing too many glances of those scars on her left side.

  "Just ask if you want. It's weirder if you stare without saying anything." Helen shot Mira a teasing smile. Mira blushed again when he made eye contact with her. He knew it was rude, but he asked anyway.

  "How'd you get them?"

  Helen looked ahead proudly. "From someone much, much stronger than you."

  "That didn't really answer my question."

  "Well perhaps I don't need to answer every question, Mira." She winked at him with her scarred left eye and continued marching along cheerfully.

  "Stop saying my name like that." Mira barked.

  "Like what, Mira?" Helen responded with a smirk and narrow-eyed stare.

  "Like that." He tried to mimic the Captain's mocking tone. "Like my name is a joke—like it's made up or something." He was defensive. Mira liked his name; it was a precious gift.

  Helen chuckled and carried along without care of the boy's change in tone. "All names are made up, Mira." She looked out to the bay as she went on. "But you certainly have an interesting one. I'd love to know more about who gave it to you..." Her words came across as more of a taunt than genuine interest in his past. She acted as if she already knew all he was hiding – like she knew everything.

  Mira began to peer around the beach. No one was there except for the two of them and there wasn't a boat in sight. When they reached the water, Helen took a knee in the wet sand and began slapping the surface of the bay water.

  Tap-Tap. Tap-Tap-Tap. Tap-Tap.

  Mira scratched his head in confusion. "What are you doing?"

  "Calling our ride." Helen stood up and grabbed Mira by the hand, taking him by surprise. "Come on." Suddenly, Mira felt weightless, and his bare feet lost contact with the sand. A sharp rush of air dulled his senses. It was a rough wind – a wind that stretched his cheeks and forced his eyes to close. His legs and right arm dangled helplessly and flopped in the wind as Helen pulled him along her flight path. Mira knew this sensation well, it was speed. But this was a speed he had never reached before and he wasn't sure how to handle it, rendering him helpless against the furious gust attempting to push him out of Helen's grasp. Mira couldn't see a thing through the water involuntarily filling his eyes in that mean wind. The only pleasant sensation he felt was the warmth of Helen's tight grasp in his left hand as she carried him through the sky.

  Their flight only lasted a few brief seconds, then the warmth left Mira's hand and he felt gravity's harsh force again. He opened his eyes and saw the still figure of Helen smirking above him as he plummeted down to the ground. The wind still raged in his ears, but he could see now. As he fell, Mira could make out open waters all around him as far as the eye could see. He looked down and saw the great blue coming at him all too quickly. The déjà vu made him feel as powerless as the day Sachi found him; it was infuriating. He had so many things he wanted to say before hitting the waters, but all he managed to do was cover his face with his arms and scream a muffled "Why?!"

  Mira's small yet overweight body hit the open sea like a cannonball, sending a tower of waves over thirty feet into the air. Mira thrashed with every muscle in his body to escape from the soaking darkness surrounding him, taking in mouthfuls of salt water as he struggled his way back to the surface. When the boy felt cold winds from the open sea hit his face again, he inhaled desperately. Mira coughed up seawater violently when oxygen hit his lungs, barely managing to tread hard enough to keep his heavy head above the waves. When the coughing fit ended, Mira managed to get his breathing under control and regain his bearings. He looked back up to the sky and saw Helen floating comfortably in the air a few hundred feet above him. She looked relaxed with her arms folded across her chest plate, like she was standing on air. Mira pointed up to his Captain and shouted with all his strength. "WHAT WAS ALL THAT?! YOU COULD HAVE AT LEAST WARNED ME!"

  "Quiet!" She retorted impatiently. "They're here."

  Mira started to notice a shift in the waters immediately. The waves grew more aggressive and began to fight his attempts at keeping his head above water, pulling him down to that murky depth once more. The waters surrounding the small teen felt like they were rising, forcing some unnatural current right above Mira's head. From the center of the raging waters, a sail blacker than starless heavens emerged, bearing the sigil of a white skull and crossbones. The sail grew larger, and larger still as the full height of a mast rose from the ocean, followed by a shorter set with identical sails. After that, the deck and enormous wooden body found their way to the surface. A massive galleon built to house a small army had appeared from the ocean depths.

  A single man stood on the ship's forecastle deck like some sort of brave ocean adventurer. He was drenched from seawater, positioned dramatically with a single leg raised upon a barrel. The stranger let a long black coat hang from his shoulders, trimmed with blue and gold on the collar and pockets, flapping loudly in the newfound breeze like a cape. He also sported a cream-shaded blouse with long sleeves and a deep V-neck worn to show off a lush forest of black chest hair. He wore pants stitched from brown leather that covered the tops of his pointed black boots. The man's hair was a short mess of black covered by a tall blue and gold bicorne hat that matched his coat's trim, apart from a red feather poking out the hat's left side. On the strange sailor's chin was an X-shaped scar, a place where the prickles of his facial hair no longer grew. He smiled from under a curly mustache with crooked teeth. It was a friendly smile, albeit one that clearly required a dental professional's examination. He stared up to the Hero of the Corvus Kingdom with captivated eyes of dark blue.

  "Your beauty always leaves me stunned, Lady Helen." He took off his hat and placed it on his chest with a dramatic bow. "How may I be of service?"

  (To Be Continued...)

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