Shackled Exalted

Emil

The evening's blood red skies gradually faded. Night had settled into Azure City by the time Emil arrived at the front doors of Petra's residence. Out of caution, he pulled down the clothed mask covering the lower half of his face and gave the door a few gentle knocks.

"It's me."

After a few seconds, the door swung open. Petra was in a casual outfit, wearing a pair of specs with her hair done up in a neat bun. Her hands were out in the open, beckoning him to enter. No knives or other menacing looking weapons in sight.

"What are you waiting for? Come in."

I think this is the first time she's greeted me normally.

Emil sighed out of relief as he stepped into her place for the first time in a month. The last time he was here was before the Clash of Dawn.

"Where's Mia?" he asked, trying to fill up the silence as he followed Petra into the living room. He still didn't have a solid grasp on his senior's tendencies and personality yet. Like many of the agents who worked under the witch, Petra was an enigma.

She wasn't nearly as erratic and eccentric as Van, but the vague sense of distance between them made their interactions strangely tense. Part of that was due to his own conflicted feelings. While he was grateful that she was housing Mia and Raz, at the same time, he couldn't help but feel uncomfortable that the two of them were living with a Steiger agent. It was an uncomfortable reminder of just how dependent he was on Steiger's goodwill to continue this farce of a life.

One misstep. One mistake. One arbitrary decision would be all it could take for this fragile peace to come crumbling down.

In short, Emil didn't know if he could trust Petra completely yet.

"She's out taking a stroll. She should be back soon."

Emil immediately raised an eye.

"…What? At this hour?" He glanced outside. The sky was nearly pitch black. He felt his heart starting to race as his mind spiraled with the worst possible outcomes.

"She's a bit late, but this is normal. She's probably out shopping today, which usually takes her a bit longer."

"You can't be serious."

Petra finally noticed his discomfort. She turned around, narrowing her eyes.

"Emil, it's just a walk. She's barely stepping into the Second Sector. You're being overprotective. She can handle herself."

He shook his head in disbelief. His fingers were beginning to twitch. "Are you seriously saying that after what just happened at the Academy a month ago?" he hissed, "The institution that was supposedly the safest in the kingdom just got raided. Vigil is still on the loose. Meanwhile, the Sentinels are still dispersed near the Hidden Laboratories instead of maintaining public order. You've witnessed firsthand just how chaotic things are right now!"

"Even so, are you saying she shouldn't even be allowed to leave the house?!"

The door to the house suddenly swung open.

"I'm baaaack!"

The overly cheery voice instantly cut down the tension that was building up in the living room. Emil and Petra both fell silent as they spun towards the entrance. It was Mia. The young lady had her hands full of cloth bags filled to the top with an assortment of vegetables, meats, and ingredients sealed in glass jars. Mia carefully slipped off her shoes, nearly stumbling due to the weight of the items in her arms, before trudging towards the kitchen.

"Oh! Emil?" Her eyes immediately lit up. Without warning, she dropped all the items onto the counter and dove towards Emil in a warm embrace.

"Hi Mia." Emil greeted her awkwardly, still fuming from the earlier argument. The sight of Mia, however, eased the worry and panic that had been swelling to his chest.

"Petra didn't tell me you were visiting today!"

"It was last minute. I didn't know until an hour ago."

"Work related then?"

"Yeah."

Mia nodded as she let him go. Her face was still beaming with a bright smile.

"Sorry to interrupt then. I'll be cooking. You should stay for dinner, Emil. There should be enough for you too."

***

They decided to continue their conversation in Petra's study. Whatever they were originally supposed to discuss was obviously not meant for Mia's ears.

Emil plopped himself down on the nearest chair. He leaned forward and closed his eyes with a sullen breath. Gradually, the incessant pounding of his heart began to cease. Once he could hear himself think again, he glanced up. Petra was leaning against the wall, arms folded, watching him intently.

"Sorry."

"It's alright. Now—"

"Wait," he cut in, "I still standby my statement. Don't let Mia out at night. She can do whatever she wants during the day, but she has to be back here before night falls."

Petra let out a long sigh, clearly frustrated.

Emil continued, "I think we both agree that Azure City is no longer as safe as it once was. And we both know why we're here in the first place—to root out the nefarious activities that are happening behind the scenes. Let's not pretend that things haven't changed since Vigil's attack."

"…Fine," she eventually relented, if only to force the conversation to move along.

"I'm serious, Petra."

"And I am too. I'll bring it up with her later. You're not the only one who's concerned with her well-being here."

The topic ended there. Petra walked towards her desk and brought out a large, detailed map of Azure City. The two of them crowded around a coffee table. Emil studied the map. There were already several locations marked in ink.

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

"These are all the Hidden Laboratories."

"Correct. With the Consortium currently closed and the Council's insistence on securing the laboratories with Sentinels, there haven't been much we could have done in the last month. The director is aware of our difficulties, but the royal family and the Lionhearts aren't so understanding."

"What do you mean?" Emil asked, dreading the answer.

"Vigil's the number one threat right now. Unfortunately, the rest of Steiger haven't been able to make much progress towards figuring out their location and next moves. Simply put, there are talks about pulling you out of Azure City."

"What?!"

"Our lack of progress is being noted. They're considering reassigning you to help with tracking Vigil instead. It's a simple matter of priority."

Emil froze. Getting reassigned to a different mission wasn't unusual. It implied that Steiger and by extension, the royal family and the Lionhearts, recognized his value to the organization. He wasn't being discarded.

Instead, it was the thought of leaving the Academy so suddenly that paralyzed him. Perhaps he hadn't realized it, but he had grown to adore the student life and the relationships that he's formed during this brief time here.

His rivalry with Liesel and Kai.

His friendships with Aoife and Charlotte.

His time spent with Anna.

Before he knew it, he had grown to cherish these moments closely. For the first time since he was bestowed this wretched life, he was surrounded by companions his age. Even if their relationships were built on a lie. Even if their bonds were brittle connections forged by proximity. Even if this was a just fleeting period of time in the grand scheme of things.

Despite all of that, Emil did not want to let his student life go.

"…What about my assignment to the princess?"

"Frankly, it's irrelevant compared to the threat posed by Vigil. You know that. You've faced them head on."

Emil clenched his teeth. His hands were shaking.

Petra sighed as she began to draw on a line connected to one of the marked locations on the map. "Well, judging by your reaction, you don't want to leave. Which is fine. All we have to do is give them results, right?"

It was one of the Hidden Laboratories located in the southeastern quadrant of the city, labelled the "Sixth."

"I found a caravan traveling from the Sixth Laboratory the other day. After speaking with some of the locals in the area, this caravan allegedly makes the same trip every few days."

Emil's eyes went wide at the news. The Hidden Laboratories had been notoriously secluded since Emil and Anna destroyed the one used by Professor Callum. The security around the sites had been airtight. Very few people were allowed to enter and exit the place as they pleased—the ones that do were always accompanied by a cadre of Sentinels.

"It's not exactly a huge lead, but it is something," Petra continued, "The fact that there's a third party regularly entering and exiting the Sixth Laboratories suggest that there might be gaps in this site's security that we can exploit."

"Did you investigate the area with your Gift yet?"

"No. Animal Sibyl has a limited range. I can't be too far away from my body when I'm possessing another animal or else the connection will be forcefully severed. I only just managed to find a spot close enough to the site where I can use my Gift without being discovered. I'm going to try to scope out the premise tomorrow." Petra pointed at the area on the map where the line she drew ended. "In the meantime, I want you to find out where the caravan is heading from. Figure out what exactly they're bringing into the Laboratory. There might be a hint to give us a way in."

***

Their tumultuous discussion came to an amicable end. Relieved that there was a potential path forward to this mission, Emil stayed for dinner before heading back to his dorm on campus. The meal cooked by Mia was delicious as always.

The next day he found himself surrounded by his companions on a stone terrace overseeing the campus's lush greenery. It was early in the morning. Aoife and Charlotte were across from him, pouring over textbooks and other materials that were likely going to be covered on the exams. The princess was exempt from the assessments due to the timing of her enrolment, but she joined them nonetheless out of solidarity.

Surprisingly, Anna made it out as well despite the early hour and her inability to function in the morning.

Unsurprisingly, she was a mess. A foul and exhausted expression was plastered across her frustrated face, decorated by heavy bags clouding beneath her squinted eyes. It was obvious that she was struggling to concentrate.

"Want coffee?" Emil offered, feeling remorseful that they chose such an early timing. Frankly, they forgot to account for the fact that Anna and Liesel had been training extensively during the evenings. The two had a tendency to take things too far. Anna was fiercely competitive and stubborn, while Liesel had plenty of fight in her. Undoubtedly, Anna hadn't yet recovered from the previous day's beatings.

"…No," she mumbled. The scarlet-haired girl was sitting beside him, glaring at the page in front of her with her lips pulsed. Emil knew her well enough at this point to understand that she wasn't exactly the most honest with her feelings. A soft-spoken "no" generally meant "yes." An indignant "no" was, well, "no."

"Okay, one coffee for the grumpy lady. Anyone else?"

"Well, if you insist Emil, I'll take a cup of tea if you don't mind," Aoife said.

"As for me, I've been curious about the pudding that you always get. I think it's finally time that I give it a shot," Charlotte added.

The bespectacled brunette had just recently returned from her brief trip back home. Emil felt that there was something different about Charlotte when she came back. She was noticeably more vibrant and energetic with her words. The biggest change, however, was her hair. Before, she had it always done in a neat and modest bun. Now, she wore it loose, letting her natural length and volume dangle past her shoulders.

Something must happen at home, Emil thought, slightly uneasy. Girls never changed their hairstyles without warning unless something drastic happened.

I should ask Anna to see if she knows anything.

He made the mental note as he got ready to leave for the cafeteria.

"Leaving already?"

Emil felt a hand on his shoulder. He turned, finding himself face to face with Kai.

"Morning," Emil greeted him, perplexed as he found a bundle of books in Kai's arms. It looked as if he was preparing to join them in this study session. "No offense, and you're welcome to stay, but I didn't know you were joining us today. I would have picked a bigger spot otherwise."

"I invited him," Charlotte said as she stood up, her face suddenly beaming with joy. Inexplicably, she skipped over to Kai's side. Without warning, she leaned in and wrapped her arms around him in a warm embrace.

Huh?

"Oh my."

"What the fuck?!"

The sight was so outrageous that Anna had snapped out of her drowsy stupor. She immediately shot up and stomped over.

"Unhand her! Now!"

"I'm not touching her! She's the one hugging me!" Kai explained, raising his hands to protest to plead his innocence.

"And that's the problem!" Anna yelled as she moved in to separate the two. Emil caught a mischievous grin across Charlotte's face as Anna pried her away from Kai.

"Anna, it's fine. We're dating now."

The air suddenly froze at the insane news. Static shocks were beginning to cackle in the vicinity.

Oh boy.

Sensing danger, Emil immediately swooped in and dragged the Kai away before Anna decided to unleash mayhem on the poor guy. Emil didn't want to admit it, but a part of him was amused that someone else had finally been on the receiving end of Anna's occasional outbursts.

"Alright, man to man, you better explain yourself quick unless you want to get electrocuted by an angry redhead," he said to the horrified Kai.

"What do you mean explain?! We're just dating!"

"Be honest, are you taking advantage of Charlotte?"

"What the fuck?! No! Who do you think I am?!"

"Um, a playboy and a scoundrel."

Kai was visibly offended. "That's crazy. After all that we've been through, you still think so little of me."

Okay, maybe that's a bit unfair.

"…Blame the rumors," Emil said, smirking, "Alright, so you're really not taking advantage of Charlotte?"

"No man! Drop that already! She was the one who approached me first. I'm taking this seriously!"

"So you really like her?"

"That's why we're dating," Kai said, exasperated, "So we can figure out if the two of us makes sense."

"Hmm, alright. Fair point." Emil turned back towards the terrace. Anna was staring daggers at them while Aoife and Charlotte watched with gleeful looks. "Anna! I think he's safe!"

"Are you sure? I think you're being too soft on him. We might need more interrogations!" she shouted, unwilling to let up.

Kai groaned as he walked towards the group. "Goddammit, if I knew dating her would come with an angry redhead, I might have put some more thought into it."

"Good luck. It's not going to be easy winning her over."

"You bastard. You're enjoying this, aren't you?"

Emil burst out into laughter, watching as chaos unfolded amongst his lively companions. Petra's warnings suddenly echoed in his head. The thought that he could be separated from this rambunctious group instantly dampened his spirits.

No, I won't let that happen.

He clenched his fists, forcing himself to smile as he placed a mask over his inner turmoil.

I don't want to let go of this lie.