Shackled Exalted

Anna

What are they doing here?!

Anna barely processed the question before five more sprung up. Her head was spinning with a flood of emotions. Relief, for making it in time to stop the assault by the stray monster. Elation, after experiencing the fruits of her arduous training over the past month. Shock, after realizing the couple that she had saved were her own parents. Everything combined with the adrenaline in her veins turned her into a mess.

When was the last time she saw her parents? It had to have been at least over a year. Her relationship with them had turned tumultuous long before then. From a controversial decision that she made on a whim, Anna had turned herself into a pariah within the Seibert Merchant Company. Outraged by her actions, she was removed from her spot as the heiress of the business. Instead, her parents immediately began shopping her around as a bride.

It didn't take long before Anna had enough.

Taking her savings from her merchant jobs, she ran away from home to escape her fate of being married off to the highest bidder. The last bit of words she exchanged with her parents were loaded with vitriol. Emotions were high, but she meant everything she said.

She was an Ordinary when she left.

Now she suddenly appeared before them as an Exalted.

Sparks danced around her body. The buzzing static hummed in her ears. It wasn't until her mother flinched at the discordant sounds that Anna realized that she was still channeling mana. She switched off Volt, trying to ignore the fearful gaze in her parent's eyes.

They must have been here to do business, she thought, eyeing the toppled caravan and the array of barrels and crates scattered on the ground. Items and wares met for sale laid in a pile of destruction. It was a merchant's worst nightmare.

"…Are the two of you okay? Any injuries? Let me help with the goods," she mumbled, slurring her words awkwardly as she moved towards the fallen caravan. She grabbed one of the damaged crates and turned it upright. It was strange. Back then, these crates required the combined might of two of her assistants to lift. Now, she was carrying them by herself with little effort.

"This is unfortunate, but I think most of it can be salvaged. If you have an inventory of your goods and a list of what's damaged, you might be able to get compensation from House Belle. They know the Seibert Merchant Company—"

"Enough."

"—I also know their daughter, the Ice Maiden, personally, so I can put in a good word for the two of you if—"

"That's enough, Anna!"

She flinched at her mother's voice. The loud, domineering tone was just as she remembered. For a moment, she turned into a kid again, shrinking under her mother's authority. Her face burned with humiliation once she snapped out of it.

She looked up, meeting her mother's gaze. Suddenly, the woman that had dominated her life didn't seem so scary. Back then, Anna would cower before her mother's strict discipline. Now, she saw fear and distrust in those same eyes.

Her mother seemed to hesitate. Her face twisted with reluctance as if she wasn't sure what to say. Then—

"I told you I never wanted to see you again," she blurted out, eyes wide with pain, "So what are you doing here?!"

Anna's heart dropped. She felt like she just got ran over on the chest. She suffered through innumerable injuries since she awakened her Gift, but nothing felt as agonizing as this. She clenched her fists. Bit down on her jaws. She tried to push back against the seething rage.

Something inside her snapped.

She ran.

Before she did something she could never take back.

Emil

"Wait, Anna—"

Without warning, she sprinted away from the two who she called mom and dad. Electricity snapped around her body, imbuing her with enhanced physical strength and speed. She passed Emil in a flash. The trail of azure lingering behind her was the only way Emil could follow where she was headed.

Back to the passage?

Emil shot a glance at Anna's parents. The couple was still on the ground surrounded by damaged crates and barrels. Their faces were taut with hollow expressions as though the unexpected reunion with their daughter had drained them of all energy. Emil wanted to say something to them, but quickly decided against it. This was not his place to intervene. This wasn't something that could be resolved by an outsider's opinion. Whatever grievances they held against each other clearly had been brewing for some time. Instead, he chased after his friend.

If she ran this way, then she might have gone into the Canticle.

As expected, when he arrived back at the end of the passage, the entrance to the Canticle was filled with lingering traces of mana. Black marks grazed the stone frame and the nearby walls—incisions likely left by Anna's Volt.

Emil trudged back into the Canticle. The familiar stench of sewage and rot assaulted his nose. The smell was noticeably more pungent and danker than before, worsened by the rain water that had accumulated in the underground labyrinth from last night. The descent was dark. The usual Azurite lights that illuminated the Canticle appeared to have been destroyed by the swarm outbreak. Damaged stones littered the steps of the stairs, much dimmer, siphoned of the concentrated mana that they stored.

I hope she didn't go too far.

Emil wasn't sure if Anna's Volt could form a sustainable light. She might have been emotional from the painful reunion with her parents, but surely, she wasn't so reckless to sprint down a dark staircase without being able to see?

The thought made him speed up his chase. It sounded exactly like something she would do.

"Illuminate."

He activated Blaze. Flame flared from his body, threatening to spread to satiate its undying hunger, until Emil forcefully suppressed it to a single orb above his palm. It took some effort to keep it contained. The flame flared with desire, threatening to bloom each time his concentration wavered. Down here, he should be fine to use both of his Gifts as he pleased. The Canticle was probably the most dangerous place in Isarelle right now—he doubted there would be anyone down here for some time.

The gush of water flooded his ears as he arrived at the bottom of the stairs. He was at the ground level of the labyrinth.

"Trace."

Seismic Sense revealed a set of freshly made footprints. Blaze continued to lit up the space. He followed the trail. Eventually, he heard combat.

Sparks crackled in front of him joined by the harsh cries of more insectoid monsters.

"Die! Die, you stupid bugs! Fuck off and never rise again!"

Anna's voice echoed from up ahead. Guess I didn't have to worry. Emil breathed a sigh of relief before running forward to rejoin his friend. Blaze's light soon revealed Anna. She extended her arm, shooting a blast of electricity at the nearest insect. The creature met an untimely end as it convulsed from the raging bolt. It collapsed with a solid thud, joining the rest of its dead companions sprawled out along the labyrinth floor.

"Incinerate," Emil snapped his fingers. The orb of flame hovering above his palms suddenly flicked into life. It engulfed his shoulders and bloomed into a faint outline of a sneering visage before it lunged at the remaining insects. Suddenly drenched in flames, the monsters were helpless as they screeched in despair. Blaze devoured them in an instant. Only charred scraps of exoskeleton remained in the aftermath.

The author's narrative has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.

Seriously, fighting the swarm would have been trivial if I could use Blaze, he lamented. One day, he might be able to use both of his Gifts in broad daylight without being questioned. For now, that uncertain future seemed unlikely. Steiger needed his blasphemous nature to remain a secret. And who knows what the devils in Azure City would do if they discovered that he was a product of their old abandoned experiment? Emil wasn't overly fond of being pried apart for science.

"Who said you could steal my kills?" Anna hissed. Her eyes gleamed with fury, but tears shimmered at its edges.

"You looked like you needed help," he teased. In truth, his interference was unnecessary. As Anna made abundantly clear earlier, these bugs were no match for Volt.

She scoffed. "As if. I was using them to let off steam. Bugs are surprisingly good punching bags."

Emil glanced down the labyrinth. The ambient mana was denser than it had been last night when he traversed down to find the missing Courier. It was abnormal. Something must have changed. Might as well investigate while I'm down here. Especially since the Aurous Festival starts tomorrow.

"If you're still angry, want to continue going down?" he asked, "I have a feeling there's plenty of bugs still left to exterminate."

"You're damn right I do."

***

While they traversed through the Canticle, Anna recounted the story of her estranged relationship with her parents.

It all started with the Seibert Merchant Company. The business was her family's namesake. It was founded by her great grandfather and passed down to her mother. Her father was also a merchant affiliated with the company. Their parents had known each other since they were young, and eventually married with a shared ambition—make the Seibert Merchant Company into the number one trading firm on the continent.

It was a bold and outrageous dream, but one that they yearned with their entire being. Everything that they did, every action that they took, every decision that they made—all went towards making this dream a reality.

That included Anna.

Perhaps realizing their own limitations, Anna was conceived to add another helping hand to their vision. Much to her parent's relief, she had been born with the blood of a merchant.

Anna's earliest memories were her mother reading to her. But the materials weren't children's stories about folklore and myths, but rather knowledge about numbers and arithmetic. She was instilled the importance of money and value from the beginning. After that, it was negotiation tactics. How to read people, how to discern desire, how to grasp motivations. Then came teachings about the economy, about goods and services, about industries and supply chains, and about geopolitics and laws. Anything that could give her an edge when making a deal was drilled into her mind.

Anna loved it.

Her parents were strict—almost draconian at times. But she never felt bitter towards them. She saw it as an extension of their love and desire to see her succeed. She was never ignorant of her privilege. As a merchant's apprentice, she traveled many places within and outside of Ardair. Curious and conscientious, the one thing that was always clear to her was how much she was born with compared to the other children her age. Her parent's strictness was a small price to pay.

Above all, Anna loved learning.

She loved understanding the world.

She loved seeing her marketing ideas and business plans come into fruition.

She loved watching the joy on her customer's faces after making a sale.

She loved the triumph of securing a deal.

And when her parents handed her the family heirloom, the stopwatch, she fell even deeper in love with merchantry.

Her parent's dream soon became hers.

One day, she was tasked with overseeing a delivery to a neighboring nation. Her parents had been oddly secretive about the shipment's contents, imploring her not to ask questions and to follow the designated route at all costs. Anna did as she was told until the very last leg of the route.

Curiosity gnawed at her subconscious the entire trip, and finally she couldn't hold back her urges any longer. During the middle of the night, she snuck a glance at the contents when it was her turn to take watch.

The crates and barrels in the caravan were firmly sealed with iron bolts. That hardly deterred her as she took a metal crowbar and pried open the most battered looking barrel.

A brackish, metallic smell assaulted her nose.

Black powder.

Alarms sounded in her head. The sulfurous compound was used to make explosives. Anna opened another one and found a cadre of weapons. Spears, machetes, crossbows, and knives. There were armor and shields as well.

When they arrived at their destination, she found herself in a remote village on the outskirts of a neighboring nation. Her clients were waiting for her at the break of dawn. A solemn mood hanged above their heads. Their eyes were steeled with ice, and their pupils burned with a dark vengeance. Anna could sense bloodlust. There were no smiles this time when she handed over the goods and confirmed the sale.

After a brief stay at the tavern, she looked around town and asked the locals of their situation.

"War," they said. Their clients had been a regiment of rebel forces seeking to overthrow the current government of this neighboring nation.

The realization struck Anna like thunder. Her parent's demand for secrecy and urgency suddenly made sense. The Seibert Merchant Company was supplying arms to rebel forces in a neighboring nation. They were fueling a war. They were profiting off of human lives.

Outraged, she rushed back home and interrogated the employees of the company. There were more sales being planned. After a lengthy investigation, she found out where the remaining weapons and black powder were stored.

There was an entire warehouse of them hidden on the outskirts of her home town.

Anna glared at the building like its existence was blasphemy.

She wanted to see the Seibert Merchant Company succeed, but not like this. Not on the lives of other people. Not from enabling bloodshed and chaos. A sale was supposed to bring joy—not misfortune and death.

Her parent's dream had become tainted. And so, she would burn away the rot.

With naphtha that she procured from the black market, she set the entire building ablaze.

The brilliant flames bloomed to the skies, destroying the weapons that would supply a war.

In the background, her parents screamed with rage and despair.

***

Another swarm of insects fell to the ground in a burning crisp. Emil switched off Blaze. They were deep into the Canticle now. The ambient mana continued to thickened. Consequently, the number of insectoid monsters that they had encountered also grew.

We might be close to the source now.

He kept his ears peeled for noise. It was quiet except for the persistent flow of water coursing through the labyrinth sewers.

"So, what happened after they discovered your arson?" Emil asked once he thought the vicinity was clear. Anna was in the middle of recounting her story when they had been interrupted by the swarm's ambush.

"Nothing special. There was a huge argument. They then took away my authority at the company and erased my name from the succession documents. Mother started shopping me around to be married off to a noble so they can restore some of the money they lost from the venture," Anna said with a distant gaze. Her eyes and face twitched as though she was reliving those moments from years ago. "Obviously, I wasn't going to accept that, so I took my savings and ran away from home. After suffering for a bit living on my own, I went through my Awakening. The best option then was to enroll at the Academy."

"Remind me to never piss you off," Emil joked, trying to lighten the mood. There was a part of him that was horrified at the lengths that Anna was willing to go do something that she thought was right, but there was another part of him that was in awe of her resolve.

"You already do. On a daily basis," Anna snapped back. She let out a deep breath, seemingly exhausted at the unpleasant trip down her memories. "Well, there you go. That's my life story. I hope I didn't disappoint you."

Emil shook his head with a smile. "No, you sounded as bold and passionate as I've always known you to be."

Anna narrowed her eyes. "Do you think my decision back then was wrong?"

A distant memory sprung to mind as Emil considered what to say.

"A merchant must always be calm and collected."

A statement that his late father always liked to say whenever Emil asked him about his job. The memory brought a wave of emotions that he didn't want to deal with, and so he pushed out of mind. Instead, he mulled over his response to Anna.

"…I agree with you on principle. Human lives should never be traded for profit. At the same time, rushing to burn down the warehouse was incredibly impulsive and dangerous. I think you should have at least consulted your parents and tried to persuade them first. Like a merchant would."

"And what if they refuse? The weapons and arms were already purchased—I doubted they would have listened to me."

"But you never tried. You merely assumed their position. You never knew what they would have done if you had confronted them first," he pointed out, "I think that, more than anything, is the crux of their resentment. You did something insane without consulting them. You breached their trust."

"They made the deal to supply arms without telling me first! There are some lines that can't be crossed! We can't break our morals just to see our dreams realized!" she yelled.

"I know. You're not wrong," Emil said as gently as he can, "All I wanted to say was that I think there could have been a version of your story where it doesn't end up with everyone resenting each other."

"You—" Anna cut herself off. With a click of her tongue, she glanced away and wiped off the tears welling in her eyes. "Goddammit, how many times have I cried today?" she cursed, clearly frustrated. After a loud groan, she slumped to the ground.

Emil crouched down to keep her accompany.

"I hate you."

"And? What about it?"

"You're probably right," she mumbled. She had a nostalgic glint in her eyes. "Everyone in the company always said that I was born with everything that a merchant would want. A sharp intellect. An eye for trends. A pleasant face. And the wits to not be fooled. My only flaw was that I was impulsive."

Emil kept quiet. Anna casted him a sidelong glance.

"Not going to say anything?"

"Nope. I know a trap when I see one. Not giving you a chance to get angry with me."

Anna rolled her eyes and threw a playful punch at his shoulder. Emil pretended to fall, feigning an injury.

"Damn you. A proper gentleman should know when to fall for the bait and let a lady vent."

Emil brushed off the dirt on his clothes. "Don't worry, we'll find more bugs for you to squish very soon."

Just as he said those words, the floor of the labyrinth suddenly stirred.