The Burning Flowers

Chapter III

The hatred in Mikea’s eyes haunted Abigail in the days that followed, for there wasn’t a single hour that went by that she didn’t think about what she could have done differently. The young woman who had helped her in Piriit had been cheerful, sweet, and considerate to the point that lying to her had been painful to begin with. Naturally, Abi knew that the time would come when she would have to reveal the truth to Mikea, but she had wanted it to be under better circumstances. They hadn’t expected Pastor Saechak to have senses sharp enough to feel through Ryokumo’s distortion. Instead, the plan had been for Abi to continue putting on an act as she expressed her interest in joining the Kosah-Rei, lulling Saechak into a false sense of security. Then, once she and Mikea departed, they would leave the distorted Ryokumo behind in the suite as Abi headed off to inform Nigreos of what room the pastor was staying in. That way, Saechak could be captured and Rei’s Teeth neutralized without any civilians having to get involved.

But nothing ever goes as planned, does it?

Mikea hated her.

In all her life, Abigail had never seen such disgust directed her way, and every time she thought about it, it made her sick. The young woman had been so angry that she shoved a dagger into Abi’s chest and attempted to kill her, all to make her pay for betraying her. And then, before Abi could even try to prevent what she feared was about to happen, Nigreos reacted with violence, sending a wave of shadows into Mikea’s body and opening her throat. The sight of Mikea’s corpse was even more sickening than the look in her eyes before she died. She was lucky that the Academy nature classes strongly emphasized being able to heal oneself even when in intensive pain, enabling her to patch herself up before any permanent damage was done.

“Go to hell, you treacherous bitch.”

Those were Mikea’s final words, and Abi struggled to wrap her head around them. After all, the Kosah-Rei were the ones betraying the country. She always reminded herself of that. On the surface, to someone like Mikea, Vesh and his followers must have appeared as saviors, but Mikea hadn’t been in the ballroom the night the Kosah-Rei first revealed themselves. She hadn’t seen the brutality directed at the nobility or the merciless killing of Aeyir Malloway. Mikea hadn’t been in Omaruo, facing the real threat that Mallicent Malloway could start wiping out innocent magicless if given the chance.

They were murderers.

They were evil.

Stopping them was a priority, and had been since that day.

So…why am I struggling with this so much? I’m trying to help people…like always! That’s all I’ve ever wanted to do, but…right now…I’m just feeling nauseous… Mikea, I wish you could have understood…

The death of Pastor Saechak was not ideal, but the Citadel had been hunting him through the northern territories for a long time, so the incident in Piriit was still considered a victory. Saechak was taken down and his Teeth were all eliminated, thus ending yet another mission for Ilirianna Iiji’s royal team. The princess herself had been present during the operation, but since she wanted to test the Academy students, she opted to leave Saechak to them while she tracked down any Teeth elsewhere in town. Once the situation had been wrapped up, the five of them rendezvoused and left Piriit behind as quickly as they could.

“Saechak’s brainwashed most of this place, so they aren’t going to accept that his death was for the greater good,” Ilirianna had told them. “I’ll send word to the garrison and request they prepare for unrest. The five of us will head back to Erika immediately.”

Just like that, the royal team made their way home, arriving in the Great City of Erika in under a week, hailed as heroes by the higher-ups in the Citadel and many of those at the Academy. King Markreas had profusely expressed his pride in their success, Master Grunly had echoed such sentiments to Abi personally, and back at school, Faye, Jessi, and Hiro took them out to a bar to celebrate yet another successful mission. Throughout it all, Abi forced herself to smile and pretend like everything was okay, but with each confrontation that passed, that was becoming harder and harder.

“Abi? You good? You’ve been staring into space for, like, twenty minutes.”

Snapping out of her thoughts, Abi blinked a few times before giving the young man next to her a soft smile, reaching out to touch his arm affectionately. “Yeah, Scott, I’m good. Just a little tired, you know. It’s been a long few weeks.”

Scott Reiner eyed her dubiously, having grown quite skilled at telling when she was lying over the last few years, before shaking his head. “Well if you want to get going, just let me know. I don’t want you wearing yourself out.”

“We’ve already been here for around three hours anyway,” Laura Harrison chimed in from across the table. “So just say the word, Abi…”

Abigail couldn’t help but laugh gratefully at their obvious concern for her, and once again, she internally remarked about how grateful she was that she made the albeit risky choice to come back to Omaruo. At the moment, she was sitting in a booth at Papa Harry’s Pizzeria, just off of Main Street in the small coastal town of Wilham. Her boyfriend, Scott, was sitting beside her, and across from them were two young women, Laura Harrison and Carmen Escarra. It was rare that they all got together these days due to how troublesome it was for Abi to sneak out of Ijiria, as well as due to the Omaruans having busy schedules because of their college lives, so Abi was happy for this opportunity. Because of that, she shook her head and reassured them, not yet ready for this to end.

“No, really! I’m okay!” she insisted. “Honestly, this is relaxing to me. If I go back and lay down somewhere, I’m just going to wind up stuck in my thoughts, so this is a good chance to shut down and have fun.”

Carmen cocked a skeptical eyebrow at her. “Seriously? Cause you seemed pretty lost in your thoughts a second ago.”

“No, no! Again, just a bit sleepy,” Abi repeated with a guilty grin.

She could sense the suspicion coming from the three of them, making it quite clear that Scott, Laura, and Carmen were beginning to notice the decline in her mental health—something Abi wished she could have concealed better. Scott could read her like a book, but if Carmen and Laura were also picking up on her strange behavior, then that truly meant Abi’s mask was falling apart.

“Sleepy… Yeah, okay…”

Thankfully, Laura turned the conversation back to what they were discussing before, which turned out to be the tall blonde’s inability to find herself a part-time job. Evidently, her blunt nature had gotten her into some trouble at the restaurant she had previously been working at when she gave one too many sarcastic remarks to a disrespectful customer. Since she was still quite foreign to the average Omaruan lifestyle, Abi couldn’t relate or add anything of value to the conversation, but as she had said, she got a strong feeling of joy merely sitting in that mostly empty pizzeria, listening to them chat.

It had been a little under two and half years since the incident with Mallicent and Abi’s first meeting with Scott, but despite how much time had passed, her connection to Omaruo hadn’t wavered at all. Instead, it had actually strengthened, most likely because of how scared and conflicted she was feeling back in Ijiria. The dilemma of the Kosah-Rei weighed on her so much, and in Omaruo, she could sit back and refrain from thinking about it even a little. There in that pizzeria, the Kosah-Rei, Mikea, and Rotana Vesh might as well not exist. Her trips to Wilham were a salvation she desperately sought, and her craving for this peaceful town was only getting more powerful. That was why, almost immediately after returning to the Academy, she retrieved the realm dagger, opened a portal, and sprinted as fast as she could to Scott’s apartment. The incident with Mikea left her badly needing this realm. Scott’s embrace had been a medicine, so upon arriving at his door, she hugged him and stayed in his arms for around fifteen minutes. He didn’t ask her what was wrong, but he made it clear he was happy to see her.

Yeah… This place is a haven for me. I don’t know what I would do without it. That’s why I know I made the right choice. What I’m doing is illegal, and if it ever gets out, I will be arrested, locked away, and maybe even executed. Scott, Laura, and Carmen are in danger, too, but so long as the Citadel never finds out that they’re aware of magic, they won’t be touched even if they know I had contact with them.

It was around a month after the royal team came back from Omaruo that Abi’s self-control broke. Despite only knowing him a short time, she really wanted to go see Scott again, and telling herself that it would only be one visit, she and Ryokumo devised a plan to sneak her back into Wilham. One visit was all it should have been, but when that plan went off without a hitch, she began to think that multiple trips may be okay, as well. So one visit turned into two, then three, then four, and kept on going.

This was made simple because Queen Toranei and King Markreas had agreed to Ilirianna’s proposal to hide the dagger’s existence from Kloras Glaus. If the Council of Elders didn’t know about this fourth realm dagger, then the Iijis could use it for emergencies, so Ilirianna’s parents permitted the royal team to hide it in the Academy. For now, the only ones that knew about it were Toranei, Markreas, the royal team, Masters Koroha Rhitta and Nakoma Taurus, as well as Faye and Jessi, who Abi had eventually told the truth to. However, only three people knew that Abigail had ever used it, and those three were Ryokumo Caeli, Jessi Yuahl, and Fayela Rio. She was immensely grateful to the three of them for putting themselves at risk by hiding these secret trips from the others, for even though she had insisted that they keep their distance from it all, they refused to let her bear this burden alone.

Unfortunately, due to the late hour of nine o’clock, the visit only lasted so much longer before Laura and Carmen were forced to get moving or else be exhausted during the following day of school. Once they’d paid the bill, the four of them headed out into the chilly spring evening. Abi still hadn’t gotten used to the time difference between Omaruo and Ijiria, with the magicless realm moving two times faster than her homeland. Because of this, despite winter about to begin in Ijiria, spring was already taking place in Omaruo.

Bidding the young women goodbye, Abi and Scott turned and began making their way down Main Street, in the direction of Scott’s apartment, their hands clasped together and their shoulders touching. They didn’t speak to one another, but the silence was comforting, leaving Abi wishing the moment could last forever. She didn’t want to arrive at their destination, because once they reached his apartment, she would only have so much time left before she had to return to Ijiria, and just like always, there was never a way to know when she would be back in Omaruo again. After all, the last time she had visited had been over a month ago in Ijiria, which made it two months for Scott. She felt bad that she had no means of giving him any heads-up to her arrival, and had been able to tell by subtle details in his demeanor that there were times her visits were inconvenient. Naturally, he never voiced any complaints, but Abi knew their relationship was hard on him.

Which is why I need to figure things out soon. Right now, I’m just kicking the can down the road, but this can’t keep going on forever. I can’t keep jumping between realms because, soon enough, I’ll make a mistake and get caught. But what the heck am I supposed to do? I can’t just leave Ijiria, my team, and my friends behind, but I don’t want to break things off with Scott either. I love him… I love him in a way that I’ve never loved anyone before…but that’s exactly why I need to make a choice.

The two of them finally arrived at an apartment building in the northeastern part of town where Scott was living while attending graduate school at the University of Richton. He was majoring in molecular biology, a subject Abi couldn’t even begin to understand, and he claimed that he was doing so in order to be able to better study the biology of the magical compared to the magicless. He was happy, and from what he had told her, he was thriving in the field, with a bright and successful future awaiting him. Scott had always been a passionate and driven person, so Abi couldn’t say she was surprised by everything he was accomplishing, but as happy for him as she was, she couldn’t deny the anxiety it caused her.

Because of the time difference between realms, it had been five years since the battle with Mallicent from Scott’s perspective, meaning he was aging faster and was now older than her by two years despite the one year she had on him when they met. This was yet another reason Abi needed to figure something out, because the longer this relationship went on, the older Scott was going to get as time passed slowly for her. This must also be weighing on Scott’s mind, though he had never once voiced any concerns. The deadline was chasing her down, and she couldn’t have been less prepared.

Riding the elevator up to the third floor, Scott took her to his apartment and shrugged off his jacket before silently heading to the connected kitchen in the main room. It was part of their routine to have some hot chocolate whenever she visited in the colder seasons, so Abi walked over to the couch and took her seat. After around ten minutes, Scott handed her a mug filled with the warm drink topped with whipped cream and marshmallows before he, too, sat down on the couch. They gently tapped their mugs together and took a sip in unison, and it was only then that the young man glanced down at her and spoke.

“Alright, now that we’re all warm and cozy, you wanna tell me what’s been on your mind, Ab’?”

Abigail sighed, bringing the rim of the mug back to her lips to delay her response. She had suspected he wasn’t going to keep ignoring the topic for the whole night, but even knowing this conversation was coming, she still didn’t know how to approach it. Her eventual decision was to try and play dumb even though there wasn’t a chance that was going to work.

“What do you mean?” she muttered. “Like I said back at dinner, I’m fine.”

Scott rolled his eyes and smiled wryly. “Really? You think I’m gonna buy that? You literally showed up on my doorstep this morning in tears and you’ve been far from your usual talkative self tonight. I let it slide earlier since I figured it’d be good to give you some time, but I know you. Something happened, and I can’t help you if you don’t tell me.”

Yup… This guy… Always reading me like a book.

“It’s…not really something you can help with…”

“Probably, but sometimes listening and offering advice can be enough.” Setting his mug down on the coffee table, Scott tenderly wrapped an arm around her shoulders and leaned forward to give her a soft kiss on her cheek. “There’s a lot I can’t do when it comes to your Ijirian problems, but I’ll always be able to at least listen.”

“I…” Only managing to speak that singular word, Abigail struggled with what to do before finally deciding that there wasn’t any reason to keep it to herself. Scott was one of the only people who wouldn’t judge her for the thoughts running through her mind these days, so if she wanted to get her stress off of her chest, this was the place and time to do it. “I honestly hate myself for even considering this…but I’m starting to wonder if Mallicent hadn’t been wrong.”

Scott frowned, clearly having not expected that topic to come up. “Mallicent? What do you mean?”

“Do you remember…when you and I ran up to that classroom after he captured Laura? Do you remember what he said to me?”

Abi could see in his eyes that he didn’t recall what she was talking about, and she supposed that shouldn’t have been surprising. He knew very little about the political landscape of the Ijirian Empire, so he wouldn’t have had any reason to dwell on Mallicent's words. At the time, even Abi had dismissed them, for as she had said, she couldn’t ever justify the carnage she bore witness to in that ballroom. And yet, for the last two and half years, Abigail and the royal team had been taking assignments to neutralize allies and supporters of the Kosah-Rei, and each time she did, she found that the common people she desperately sought to help viewed her and the team as the bad guys in the conflict. With each town that cursed their names, Mallicent’s words grew more and more haunting, as if his ghost was tormenting her.

“You saved lives that would have been lost under this government, so tell me…why do you oppose me? If the Kosah-Rei were to overthrow the Iijis, the Masters, and the Council…you would not have had to save those people. We would have done so ourselves! We have the same ideals, yet you stare at me like I’m the shit you scraped off of your boot! Why?”

“Scott…” she whispered, her eyes moving down to stare at the hot chocolate clutched in her hands. “I really hate that I’m thinking this at all, but what if we made a mistake killing Mallicent? What if he was right? What if the Kosah-Rei really do want to help people?”

This time, Scott turned and wrapped both arms around her, pressing her head to his chest. “Listen, Abi. Mallicent almost killed me and Laura, and you’ve told me about that ball plenty of times, so if you’re saying this, then something really did happen. What was it?”

In his warm embrace, Abigail finally found herself unable to bottle it all up and spilled every single detail about the incident in Piriit with Pastor Saechak and Mikea Tarva, starting with her manipulation of the young woman, then telling about their defeat of the Pastor, and Mikea trying to kill her in a fit of rage. She was in tears by the time she revealed how Nigreos then killed Mikea in retaliation. For a while, she just sobbed in Scott’s arms, the weight of her life trying to drag her down.

“I’m just…so conflicted,” she cried. “I want to help people! That’s all I’ve ever wanted to do, and that’s what I did back before I went to Erika. I attended the Academy so I could have the power and the influence to help even more, but now…they’re cursing my name, Scott… And they’re cursing yours…the one you gave me…”

In a way, the fact that “Reiner” was becoming associated with an enemy of the people was more painful than “Abigail” being cursed by them. One Ijirian year after Mallicent, Scott had suggested she take the surname Reiner, claiming that a person of her reputation shouldn’t be nameless for any longer. She was flattered beyond belief that he would suggest such a thing, and she was so excited to finally be free of the burden of explaining why a member of the royal team was nameless every time she met somebody on an assignment. Naturally, only Ryokumo, Jessi, and Faye knew why she suddenly chose that name in particular, with everybody else being under the impression that she just made it up. She wasn’t sure what Ilirianna thought about it since the subject was never broached by either of them.

It was supposed to be a good thing! Abigail Reiner… But it’s just being spat upon…

“These Kosah-Rei,” Scott began. “Are they really helping the people, or do they just think they’re being helped.”

Abi shook her head. “I don’t know. I haven’t looked into it. I’m scared of looking into it, because if I find out they’re really helping, then what am I going to do? How can I fight them? I have so many doubts about what side I’m supposed to be on.”

Sitting up so that she could look at Scott’s face, the nature mage slowly reached up and touched the charmed crown of flowers around her head—the one that had been given to her as a thanks by that little girl she healed so many years ago. That happiness had been what she was living for, and not only was that feeling gone, but it had been completely turned on its head.

“My memories of Hiriech are contradicting what’s happening…” Abi finished weakly. “What do I do, Scott?”

The young man sighed and leaned back against the couch, his features tensed with consideration. “That’s certainly not a question with an easy answer, is it? No wonder you’ve been so quiet today, and I’m sorry that happened. Have you talked to Princess or Ryokumo? Or even that Faye girl you’ve mentioned?”

“I haven’t,” she admitted sheepishly. “I’m scared of what they’ll think of me. Kumo has never forgiven the Kosah-Rei for what happened to Aeyir, and Liri…well, she’s the princess of the empire these guys are trying to overthrow. She wouldn’t take kindly to such treasonist thoughts. Maybe Faye would understand, but I just…don’t want to burden her with this. It’s hard…you know?”

“I do, yeah…” Scott took her free hand back in his, offering her more comfort. “Well, you know I’ll always be here for you. I understand what you're feeling, and I don’t judge you in the slightest. I wish I could do more for you… I always have, but Ijiria is beyond me, so I can only leave my door open and welcome you when you come by. You’ll always have a home here in Wilham, Abi. Always.”

It was at times like these where Abi was reminded of why she had chosen to secretly use that realm dagger all those months ago. Nobody could bring her comfort the way Scott Reiner did, and since she just wanted to take her mind off of everything and just be happy, she set her mug down on the table beside his and turned back to kiss him as she wrapped her arms around his body.

“I’ve still got forty minutes,” she breathed, praying that he would accept what she was silently offering.

“Perfect.”

***

Laying on his stomach, his Advanced Wind Studies textbook open before him, Ryokumo Caeli could only roll his eyes with impatience, always hating how tedious it was to do assigned readings. It had become quite clear to him not long into his first year at the Academy of Erika that he did not like school, and so he had begun to dread the end of their missions, for they would mark his return to those stuffy classrooms and those unnecessarily large books. Not even wind magic, a topic he was ridiculously passionate about, could make a textbook fun, so deciding that he wasn’t going to get anything done and that he could just wing the next exam the way he always did, he snapped the hardbound book shut and hopped to his feet. His body had been pretty stiff, so to alleviate it, he stretched his arms into the air and let out a satisfied grunt before shaking himself out.

“Caeli, do you really need to do that here? I don’t understand why you can’t just use the library to study.”

Hearing the dissatisfied tone of Fayela Rio, who was sitting at the table on the opposite side of her dorm room, Ryokumo glanced back and fixed the rock mage with a sly grin. “Of course I do, Rio! Where else am I gonna safely let Abi back into Ijiria if not here, and while I’m waiting, I might as well get my school work done! It just makes sense!”

“Then why did you show up two hours ago!” Jessi snapped from across the table, her tone far more annoyed and irritable than Faye’s had been. “Honestly, if you’re just gonna let Abi back, then you should get here no more than two minutes before the scheduled time! You don’t need to take up space on our couch!”

“Oh!” Letting out a groan of faked pain, Ryokumo placed his hand over his heart and turned to gaze longingly down at the carpet. “Yuahl, you wound me! From the way you were speaking just now, it almost sounds like you don’t appreciate my presence! And here I thought we were friends!”

“I don’t appreciate your presence at all!” Jessi retorted. “You have your own room, so why do you spend all of your time either in here or with Hiro?! Go bother Noctis!”

Ryokumo clicked his tongue, straightening back up and wagging his finger at her. “Tut, tut, tut! Nigreos loves my company, so I wouldn’t be bothering him by being there! And I’m certain you, too, adore it when I turn up at your door, you’re just too embarrassed to say so! It’s okay, Yuahl, I understand!”

“You’ve gotten worse,” the pink-haired girl grumbled. “Like, how could you have gotten more annoying than when we met? It doesn’t make sense!”

“It’s probably all the prestige going to his head,” Faye added, briefly looking up from the parchment she was scribbling on. “His ego is so inflated that I’m shocked it even fits in that tiny body of his. Hmm…maybe he’s compensating for something?”

“Tiny?!” Ryokumo folded his arms and fixed Faye with a cocked eyebrow. “Excuse me, Miss Rio, but I am the average height for a Sukonese male, so I would appreciate it if you would spare me the short jokes! Besides, what would I have to compensate for?”

Faye and Jessi exchanged amused looks with one another before the latter fixed him with a shit-eating grin and said, “Dunno. I guess I’ll have to ask Princess Ilirianna given how many visits you pay to the Citadel. Whatcha doin’ up there, Caeli, hmmmmm?”

“Enough of this slander! I shall tell Liri of what you’ve said and the hammer of the law will come down upon you!” Ryokumo declared, sticking his pointer finger out at her. “Anyway, the time has arrived and I have a duty to attend to.”

“Perfect! Then you can leave.”

“Be silent!”

Crossing the room to where his bookbag was discarded by the couch, the young wind mage kneeled down and produced the realm dagger they acquired from Mallicent, taking a second to admire its greenish-blue blade and jeweled pommel. Smirking to himself, always amazed by how often he used such a rare item, Ryokumo got to his feet, pressed the ruby button to ignore it, and slashed down the center of the room. Following the typical pattern, the slash then blasted open into an oval portal of swirling yellow mana that Ryokumo then took a couple of steps back from.

Not long after the trip to Omaruo, Ryokumo and Abi had deduced a method of crossing realms and bypassing the entrypoint. If they allowed Abi to take the dagger with her, then when she reopened the portal, she would emerge on the first floor of the Citadel, thus exposing what she had done. However, if Ryokumo kept the dagger and opened it at a scheduled time, Abi could simply go to that beach in Omaruo, wait for it to open, and then step though, which would allow her to reenter Ijiria there in the safety of Faye and Jessi’s dorm room. At the moment, the only thing that could expose them was the QuaerBasim, but since nobody really monitored it due to the rarity of realm travel, Ryokumo was confident that they wouldn’t be caught.

And sure enough, seconds after the portal was opened, Abigail Reiner stepped through.

“Welcome home, Abi!” Ryokumo greeted cheerfully, and though nature mage smiled back at him, it was with the same melancholic expression that had been on her face ever since Piriit.

“Hey, Kumo,” she said, then turned to wave at the two women. “Hey, guys. Thanks for letting us use your dorm again.”

Faye chuckled and shrugged. “Happy to help, Ab’. How was it?”

“Wonderful, as always.” Abi nodded almost to herself. “Yeah, it was good to see him again. It’s been too long.”

“And…is everything alright?”

Faye spoke the question that had been on all three of their minds, with Ryokumo and Jessi both turning to subtly observe Abi as well. There was a flicker of sadness in her eyes, but as the wind mage had expected, she just brushed them off.

“Yup! I’m good! Don’t worry!”

Ah, Abi… I’ve known you for almost three years now… You really think I’d buy such an obvious lie?

As Abigail changed the topic and began excusing herself so she could go back to her dorm, Faye and Ryokumo made eye contact, a silent understanding passing between them, for even though they both knew something was the matter, neither could bring themselves to put voice to it.

But it was painfully obvious that Abi wasn’t handling the events in Piriit well at all.