The Princess & The Twilight Blade

Audrey

"Ah! I finally did it!" I blinked at Lydia's sudden shout, and it also drew the attention of the other girls in the room. I had just been admiring her as she sat in front of me on the bed, and she turned her body to show what had made her so excited.

She was enveloped in a golden glow, but that wasn't what drew my attention. It had taken a day of non-stop practice, but she was able to maintain a full-body barrier that could withstand even Abel's lightning now. No, what made me gape was the lack of fingers on her hand as she waved it toward me.

"Is that…?" Lucia's question trailed off as we all stared at her half-invisible hand. Lydia nodded with lips twisted in a triumphant grin.

"Bending the light was difficult to figure out, but now…" Her eyes focused on the back of her raised hand, and the rest of it slowly vanished as well. I could sense her stella fluctuating like crazy inside her, and a bead of sweat down her cheek betrayed the effort she had to put in to maintain it, but that didn't take away from the impressive magic on display.
"That's amazing!" I said, clapping my hands.

"Indeed, my lady," Leah said with the smile of a proud older sister.
"The potential for such an ability is… a little scary," Hailey murmured to herself.

As we all praised her, my girlfriend's grin turned sheepish before her hand suddenly became visible, and she let out the breath she'd been holding.

"Still, even keeping my hand like that is straining…" Lydia looked down and clenched her fist, determination written across her face. "I need to practice even more. We only have four days at most to figure out the Duke's plan."

"I know you can do it," I said confidently, taking her hand and squeezing it. She gave me a wink that made my heart flutter, but the moment was interrupted by a pillow flying toward my face. I caught it flawlessly with my free hand and raised a challenging brow at my friend.

"Don't get all lovey-dovey with the rest of us here!" Lucia huffed, no doubt jealous. Still, her comment made both Lydia and me blush with embarrassment, so I counterattacked, launching the pillow back at her.

"Then go sleep with Abel!" I said, pointing toward the bedroom door. "I'll even call him for you." I took an exaggerated breath and opened my mouth like I was about to yell for the prince, but another pillow came at me.

"D-Don't you dare!" the knight stuttered, and I laughed at her flaming cheeks.

"You're such a maiden… It's adorable." I teased, and she took immediate offense.

"Doing things like that before marriage is… improper." Her heated rambling trailed off when she noticed the way Lydia and I averted our gazes. "Ah, right."

"Shall I call for the prince, my lady?" Leah chimed in, immediately dispelling the awkward air. As the knight sputtered, a knock came from the door, and Abel's voice came through. What great timing.

"Are you girls ready to go?" He called, and Leah swiftly opened the door, letting him in.

"I believe so," Lydia said, standing up from the bed, and I followed her, stretching my arms up with a quiet sigh. We had spent the first few days investigating the docks during the day, but came up empty. Eventually, we decided to switch tactics and stay at the inn today, resting in preparation for a night mission.

We all pulled on the little equipment we hadn't already donned, then quietly left the inn. Leah's wind effectively muffled any sounds we made until we were out of the building, which was needed because hearing Abel worry over Lucia's flushed face made the rest of us snicker. Once we were outside, the seven of us moved through the alleys, where I added my shadows to help mask our presence as we jogged lightly to the docks.

"It's like a different place entirely…" I murmured as we arrived at the first warehouses. During the day, the docks were packed with people, flooding our senses with all sorts of sights, smells, and sounds. Now, however, it was remarkably silent. There were still the few sparse sounds of voices or the banging of tools as the night crews did their work, but it wasn't a constant.

"Let's change areas today," Abel said quietly, even though Leah was obviously muting our voices to the outside. "Lydia, take your team to the northern docks. Anthony and I will take center."

"I suppose that leaves the south for us," Lucia said to Hailey, and we all nodded in understanding before dashing in our set directions. Lydia, Leah, and I ran at full speed through the cobblestone streets for a few minutes before we decided we were far enough north to begin our search. We had been at this for a few days now, and without the impeding crowds, we moved even faster through the shipyards and warehouses, checking everywhere we could to find a lead.

Everything went smoothly until we moved to check a particular shipyard further out on the docks. The large wooden structure lacked any real walls and had only massive support beams holding a solid wooden roof above the water. A smaller wooden building, resembling an office, sat beside the larger, open structure. It was likely a place for damaged ships to repair when coming in from sea, but we decided to take a quick look anyway.

"We're not even sure what this so-called 'battleship' looks like," Lydia whispered. "We shouldn't overlook anything; it's possible they needed to do a quick repair while testing it."

We ran down the docks quietly, and I layered some extra shadows around us since we were out in the open now. When we got to the office building, I tried the door. Locked… It needed a key to open correctly, and breaking in would only leave evidence behind.

"I'm going in," I whispered to the other two, who nodded in agreement. Unfortunately, even once I entered the room using my shadows, there was nothing to be found. I sent the few ledgers I saw out to Lydia to look at, since I couldn't make heads or tails of them. Even my wonderful girlfriend struggled with it sometimes, but she was much better off than I was in terms of her education.

When she confirmed nothing of note, I returned the books to their places and appeared beside them once again. We left the dock, and I let out a sigh of relief once we finally entered the darkened alleys again. I knew Leah and Lydia had also been on edge the whole time, and they visibly relaxed as well. Perhaps that was why we let our guard down as we entered a larger alley that ran parallel to the main thoroughfare, and I froze as I saw the backs of two city guards a few dozen feet in front of me.

"I can't believe you! Who forgets to check the magic lamp before going on patrol?!" One of the guards chastised, almost sounding a little nervous. I couldn't tell who was speaking with their back to me, but it became apparent when the one on the left scratched at the back of his head sheepishly.

"What's the big deal? We'll just ask the captain to refill it!" The younger one said breezily. That explains why they are walking around in the dark. Judging by the conversation, it seemed neither one was good enough with fire magic to light the lamp themselves. When I turned my head, I saw Lydia and Leah staring at me with wide eyes from around the corner.

"Why are you just standing there? Get back here!" My girlfriend hissed, reaching out and pulling me back into the alley we had come from. Leah muted any noises we made by default, so the guards hadn't noticed us at all.

"They didn't see me, it's fine," I said, waving my hand placatingly and sounding an awful lot like the guard I'd just heard. My words only got deadpan stares from the other two, and I smiled awkwardly. "Alright! I'm sorry!" They didn't look convinced, but as I began to placate them, an idea came to mind.

"Are you really going to do that, my guardian?" Aurora asked in my mind, sounding just as exasperated as the other two. I nodded excitedly, which only served to confuse Lydia and Leah until I explained my plan to them.

"Audrey… Isn't that a bit childish?" Lydia asked, but I could tell she wasn't opposed to it.

"It is, my lady… but it might work," Leah said, and I grinned as the three of us began to follow the two guards stealthily.

***

Liam, the city guard

I had to bite down my frustration as my partner looked completely unbothered by our predicament. It was already bad enough that I had been assigned to the northern patrol tonight, despite my best attempts to avoid it. On top of that, I got paired with Tyler, one of the younger—and by far the laziest— member of the guard.

"I can't believe I didn't double-check…" I grumbled to myself, glaring daggers at the man laughing beside me.

"It'll be fine, old man. Don't tell me you're afraid of the dark or something!" He joked, and I hid the hitch of my breath as he hit the nail on the head.

"O-Of course not! Don't be ridiculous! It's just that we have to leave our assigned route and head back to the guardhouse now!" Honestly, I barely managed night patrol even with the light. When I was a little boy, I'd had a terrifying encounter with a magic beast while lost deep in the woods one night, and had never shaken my fear since. Wait… maybe going back to the station isn't such a bad thing…

As I had the thought, there was a crash behind us, and I barely managed to stop myself from jumping as the two of us turned around. A large wooden crate had fallen to the ground from a pile near the wall, and shards of wood lay scattered across the ground.

"W-What was that?" I asked worriedly.

"It was probably a cat or something." Tyler just shrugged beside me. I swallowed nervously and looked at him, my pride crumbling as the shadows around us seemed to stretch and grow darker.

"This is why I didn't want to do this patrol… haven't you heard the rumors?" I asked, my voice trembling despite my best efforts. "They say the northern docks are haunted…"

"You mean the reports of screeching and noises? Isn't it just animals from the northern cliffs? I've seen plenty of birds around that area." Again, my concerns were dismissed, and he turned his back to the fallen crate and began to walk. "It's just a bunch of superstition, old man—"

He suddenly stopped talking, and when I turned to follow him, I saw why. The alley in front of us had transformed into a void of pure darkness, and we both stood stock still. I couldn't even appreciate the younger man's rightful fear as a figure moved within the darkness. It was just barely visible until two small, blue orbs of flickering flame appeared where its eyes should've been.

"Where…?" A distorted voice emerged from the dark silhouette, sounding like that of a young girl and an old woman at the same time. "Where is it…?" Tyler and I took a reflexive step backward, drawing our weapons and pointing them toward the approaching darkness.

"W-What is this?!" Tyler asked, his voice hoarse with fear. "Who are you?! Show yourself!" His orders fell on deaf ears as the figure took slow, deliberate steps toward us, the surrounding shadows following in its wake. No answer came as it just silently stepped closer.

"A-are you a ghost?" I asked, feeling the shiver down my spine as its shadowed head seemed to quirk at my question. It was hard to know for sure, but I just felt like its flaming eyes were narrowed at me. The rumors were true!

"A ghost? Don't be ridiculous!" My words seemed to pull my partner from his frightened stupor as he scoffed. "This is some sort of prank!" As if refuting his words, all the crates surrounding us suddenly exploded into small shards, raining down around us. The last of Tyler's nerve gave out at that, and he turned to run the opposite way, only for the shadows to completely engulf the alleyway. We couldn't even see the walls beside us, as only the night sky remained visible.

"Tell me…" The voice echoed again, "I will spare your souls if you are honest…" The ghosts outline lit up with blue fire, and I fell to my knees in a cold sweat, throwing my weapon away and bowing my head.

"Please spare me! What do you wish to know, great spirit?" I had no reservations about throwing my pride away. Living was all that mattered, and my instincts screamed that this entity could kill me easily if it wished. Tyler was still shaking with fear, but soon followed my example despite all his youthful arrogance. The ghost stood quietly before us for a long minute before talking again.

"A boat… A weapon…" It began slowly, and I strained my ears not to miss a single word. "Something unusual to attack the seas."

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My mind whirled with confusion as I searched my memories, but came up with nothing. Panic filled me as I contemplated lying, but a spirit would surely sense any such deceit.

"Please forgive me, great spirit! I am but a humble guard; I know nothing of importance! Please spare my life!" I begged, lowering myself even further to the ground. The ghost said nothing, but turned to look at my partner.

"And you?" It asked with its distorted voice.

"I-I—" Tyler shook beside me, his words stuttering. "I don't know anything!" The shadowed figure stood stock-still, only the flames of its eyes and body shifting slightly.

"Do not lie to me!" It suddenly shouted, enraged. I cowered the best I could, but my breath hitched as the shadows began to slither onto my body, wrapping around my legs and slowly moving upwards. A glance at my partner revealed him to be in the same state. It didn't hurt at all, but the intent was clear.

"There are rumors!" I said desperately, garnering the spirit's attention again. "They say the northern docks and cliffs are haunted! Maybe the other spirits know something! Please spare us!"

"The cliffs…?" It repeated inquisitively. "Is there anything of interest there?"

"I've heard there is a cave system!" Tyler offered up, sensing his chance to earn its forgiveness. "It connects to the sea! A hunter friend of mine said he's explored them before, but I haven't seen him recently…"

Another haunting silence fell over the alley as Tyler and I waited for something to happen, but nothing did. After a minute, the darkness retreated, taking the ghost with it.

"You have earned my blessing… However, I trust you understand the consequences if you were to speak of this. I'll be… Watching. The ghost's thinly veiled threat lingered in the air as the alley returned to normal, the star-lit sky shining down on us. Sweat trickled down my face as I stayed on the ground for a while longer, just to be safe.

To my surprise, a warm feeling spread throughout my body, calming the shaking of my legs as my partner and I finally stood and looked around for any sign of the presence that had just disappeared.

"Is this its blessing…?" Tyler murmured, seemingly feeling the same warmth I did.

"We must take this to our graves," I said, and he nodded in agreement. A while later, we returned to the guard station, and the captain glanced up at us from his desk.

"What's with you two? You look like you've seen a ghost." He said, furrowing his brow at us. We laughed awkwardly, and a chill racked my body.

"Of course not, sir!" I denied heavily. "Our lamp ran out of mana, that's all. Do you mind refilling it?"

The rest of our patrol passed in pensive silence as Tyler and I both struggled with the events of the night. It wasn't until the next morning, when I retired to my home and lay with my wife, that I felt safe once again.

"Dear?" I asked.

"Yes?" she replied curiously.

"I'm thinking of retiring as a guard and searching for a new job." My wife raised a brow, but didn't voice her disagreement.

My resignation was on the captain's desk the next day.

***

Lydia

I certainly felt guilty as we watched the two guards shakily run out of the alley, and I sighed. The odds of two random guards knowing any helpful information were slim, but at least we got a new lead to chase.

"Still… I can't believe I'm terrorizing my own people." I mumbled, and Leah and Audrey both looked at me with teasing smiles. The three of us were lying on the roof just above where the spectre had appeared, peaking over the edge just enough to keep an eye on things.

"It's not like we'd actually hurt them!" Audrey chirped. "There are worse ways to get information out of people." I couldn't deny that, so I just sighed again and stood, dusting myself off.

"I suppose we should go check the cliffs out then," I said, and the other two nodded in agreement. We jumped to the ground and snaked our way through the northern part of the docks until the cobblestones gave way to dirt and grass. We followed the shore until the terrain rose, forming jagged cliffs that plunged into the dark waters below. We spent a long time moving further away from the city proper until Audrey and I both froze.

"I sense mana," Audrey said, and I nodded my agreement. We called Leah back, who had been flying above the water looking for any openings, and filled her in. "It's faint, but there's definitely a large amount of magic being used somewhere up ahead."

We moved cautiously from then on until we were overlooking an inlet of water that cut into the cliffs themselves before vanishing into the mouth of a large cave. From what we could see from above, the cave was dark and silent, but Audrey and I shared a look as the feel of mana grew even stronger.

"There's something in there," I said, and Leah was flying us into the darkness a moment later. Audrey's eyes shimmered silver as she activated her night-vision, and I followed suit. We gave directions to Leah since she couldn't see, and using my fire to illuminate our surroundings would risk being seen. My eyes wandered as I focused on the unnaturally cut walls and ceiling. It definitely looks like it was widened manually… It didn't look big enough for a standard warship to fit through, at least. Luckily, the tunnel just went straight back for nearly half a mile before we entered a larger cavern, and a gasp escaped me and Audrey as we took in the sight.

Wooden scaffolding had been built all around the cave, and I saw multiple smaller tunnels leading in other directions. But what really drew our attention was a mass of metal that sat half-submerged in the water. It was longer, but about half the width, of a warship.

"My lady?" Leah asked, and I hastily directed her to land on a nearby dock. As soon as we did, Audrey vanished into the shadows, and I quietly described what we found to my attendant while we waited. A few minutes later, my girlfriend returned and gave me a thumbs-up.

"There are guards at the far exits, but nobody nearby right now." At her confirmation, I raised a hand and illuminated the tunnel with my fire magic, only for Leah to mimic our surprised gasps as she laid eyes on the mysterious vessel.

"I sense a lot of mana coming from it… It's a boat, right?" Audrey asked as we walked around the scaffolding until we found the entrance. A ramp led us to the top of the ship, and it didn't take us long to find the hatch. It was quite heavy and required all three of us to lift it, revealing a ladder that led down into the interior. Before I could stop her, Audrey jumped down, ignoring the ladder entirely and landing lithely on her feet at the bottom.

"It's clear!" she called up, waving her hand with a smile. I gave her a note of exasperation before following her down, leaving Leah behind on watch.

"Seriously, you…" I said once I was beside Audrey, pinching her cheeks and pulling them. "What if there was some alarm?"

"Iw'm Sowwy!" She tried to say, and I let go, watching her rub at her face with tears in her eyes. "It's just so exciting! We're finally on the right track!"

"You're not wrong about that," I said, turning my attention to the dark room we found ourselves in. It only took a moment for me to illuminate our surroundings with a floating flame, and we were surprised to see the inside of the metal ship look mostly like a normal vessel. The floor and walls were all made of dark-colored wood, and the only parts that matched the metallic shell seemed to be support and load-bearing sections. As we explored, we found the storage and sleeping areas, a cafeteria and infirmary, and even what I assumed was a brig. A couple of doors were locked, but posed no problem with Audrey's shadow movement. The largest room in the tail had complicated-looking machines that were the primary source of the mana we had felt, but we also found a few other wind and water-imbued artifacts embedded throughout the ship.

"I wonder what it all does… There are no sails either. How will it move?" Audrey asked as we made our way to the front of the ship. I didn't understand most of what I was seeing either, so I could only hypothesize, and the questions only stacked as we entered the last room.

"This must be the driving area," I said, my eyes catching on the large wheel in the middle. It looked exactly like the ones I'd seen on normal sailing vessels. Surrounding the area were various desks for the support crew to use, and at the very front were large panes of magically reinforced glass, looking out onto the water. Being on the inside, it was even more apparent that most of the ship was definitely submerged. "I think we found our 'battleship'"

"I'd say so, but I'm still confused about how it works anyway. Sailing aside, ships normally have cannons and other artillery for combat, right? There was nothing like that either!" Audrey sounded a little frustrated, but mostly in awe of the magical invention the Duke had put together.

"We found those side rooms with all those tubes… I'm guessing it's some sort of magical weapon. Either way, we've seen what we're looking for, so let's head back and inform the others." I said. We took a few more minutes to look for any documentation we could find, but left empty-handed in the end. Aside from the base furnishings, nothing else had been loaded onto the ship yet. Just as we were heading back to Leah, she came running down the hall from the now-closed hatch.

"There's a patrol coming through the cavern right now. Please use the shadows to leave, my ladies. I'll meet up with you later," She said, but Audrey and I just stared at her blankly.

"We wouldn't leave you behind, Leah," Audrey said with a cute pout.

"Let's just wait for them to pass, then we'll make our escape," I added, and my attendant just sighed and relaxed slightly. Her mana was all too familiar to me, even after the slight changes three years had brought, and I felt it move out into the cavern to keep an ear on the patrol. A minute later, her face paled, and she turned to me.

"My lady! The light!" Leah hissed, and I hurriedly extinguished the flame and turned toward the large windows in front of us. Damn… "We need to hide!" She took Audrey and me by the hand and started to pull us to one of the other rooms, but I stopped her.

"No, let's stay here. I can hide us." Audrey and I could hide in the space between shadows, but we couldn't take Leah, and she didn't have any stealth magic. Before she could argue, we heard the footsteps on the metal above us, and muffled voices filtered through the closed hatch.

"I swear I saw a light!" A man's voice said. "Right in the command room!"

"Sure you did," a bored woman responded. "Are you sure it wasn't just the lamp's reflection? We have the whole cavern on lockdown, and the crew isn't scheduled to return for another two hours."

"We should at least check! What if someone snuck in through the waterway?"

"It's the middle of the night, and the cave is hardly visible from the land. Who would bother? We already got rid of anyone who already knew about the place, as well." The three of us froze as we heard the hatch scrape open down the hall, and I quickly pulled the other two to the front of the windows.

"Stay behind me," I whispered, but I didn't wait for a response as I formed a light barrier in front of us, dimming its golden glow and focusing on my stella. I'd never done it before, but I assumed the principle was the same as my body barrier. I didn't even have time to direct the question at my goddess before I saw the two figures descend the ladder with a bright magic lamp in hand.

The hallway from the entrance had branches leading to other parts of the ship, but otherwise ran directly to the command room, giving both sides a clear view. Luckily, our room would still be dark until they actually entered with the lamp.

"You're being paranoid. I just want to finish our patrol and go to bed." The woman complained as they began to move down the hall.

"You saw what happened to the last guard that slacked off… We're better off safe than sorry!" The man said.

Come on! Focus, Lydia! I said, pushing my stella to bend the light around the barrier and the three of us. The guards were a few feet from entering, and I still wasn't confident we would be completely invisible. The moment before they entered, I felt Audrey's hand on my back and felt her power enter me. It was warm and silver against my gold, and while it didn't actually help me form the invisibility, it did fill me with confidence. With one last push, I twisted the light through my barrier right as the patrol entered, raising their lamp high to illuminate the command room.

For a heartstopping moment, their gazes met mine… then swept right past us as I held the barrier in front of us. They stood, just looking around for anything out of place.

"See? There's nothing in here." The woman said, already turning on her heel to leave, but the man lingered, sweeping the room multiple times with his eyes and even stepping closer toward us. There's nothing here! Please leave! I mentally shouted at him, but could only grit my teeth as I did my best not to lose control of my barrier. It was my first time doing it with a flat surface like this, and completely bending light around such a flat surface was surprisingly much harder than just doing it around my body.

What had only been a few seconds felt like an hour before a final, pestering call from his partner made the man sigh and leave. The room sank into darkness as the lamp went with them, but I didn't dare relax until they had climbed the ladder, closing the hatch behind them.

With a heavy breath, I released the barrier and leaned backward into Audrey, who caught me with a smile and brushed her fingers through my hair. What a reward… It wasn't until Leah confirmed the patrol had long walked down a different tunnel that we cautiously climbed out of the vessel and silently left the cavern the way we had come.

The three of us were the first to return to the inn, and I sank onto the bed with a sigh of relief. Leah left to gather the others who were no doubt still investigating their sections of the docks, leaving only Audrey and me in the room.

"That was a little nerve-wracking, huh?" My girlfriend commented, lying beside me with a smile. "But we finally found it… Now we can stop the attack on Yamada!"

"Hopefully," I replied. "But I've never seen anything like that 'battleship' before, so it's possible just knowing about it may not be enough…" Audrey's face fell a little, so I hurriedly amended. "But that doesn't change the fact that we may have finally gotten ahead of the Duke."

Even as we chatted, it didn't take long for us to succumb to sleep, and we managed to nap a little before Leah returned with my brother and the others in tow. The three of us filled them in on what we'd found and received varying reactions of curiosity and anxiety.

"A ship mostly under the water…?" Abel mused with a hand on his chin. "Sounds revolutionary."

"That's not the point." I scowled at him, half because of his response, and half because I was still waking up from the nap. He just waved a hand dismissively.

"It's great that we found it. We'll report to Luke in the morning, and he'll start making the plans. For now… Let's all get some rest." He stretched, then made to leave the room.

"Wait! In the morning? We're short on time as it is; we should let him know now!" I called after him.

"It's fine. Our main objective has been located, and getting a few hours of sleep before everything kicks off won't make much of a difference. Besides…" he eyed me and Audrey in turn. "The two of you can make the round-trip in a few hours, so that makes up for it." Of course, he's planning on making us the messengers. Unfortunately, I couldn't complain simply because he was right. Audrey could get there faster than even the messenger spell.

I grumbled my understanding because I didn't like losing to my brother, but the complaints drifted away as I fell asleep next to Audrey once more.

***

In the morning, Audrey and I set off to report to headquarters and Luke about what we had found. When we arrived, we were greeted by an excited Koyuki, who jumped between us while licking our faces. We had decided to leave her behind due to the nature of the mission, and she and Luke had been getting along well, it seemed.

After Audrey and I showered our puppy with plenty of apologies and affection, I turned to Luke, who had been patiently waiting for us to finish with the wolf.

"We found it," I said, launching into a full report. My brother's brows creased deeper with each word beneath his blond hair, but he stayed silent until I finished.

"It seems the Duke has created quite the weapon…" he sighed, leaning back in his chair.

"Either way, now we can prevent the attack on Yamada!" Audrey chimed in with a big smile, but my brother didn't react as he closed his eyes in thought. We sat in silence for a few moments before he met our gazes.

"I'm not so sure about that." He said, and I blinked at his words.

"What do you mean, brother?" I asked.

"I think letting the Duke launch his attack may be best in the end."

Audrey and I could only stare at him in response.