6?

Sami and Fiona were offered a seat and glasses of water of their own. It was plain and tasteless compared to the faintly sweet, magic-rich water drawn from the area around Crysta Lake, but it was still very refreshing after the dryness of the air outside.

“I’m sure you and the Commander over there are curious as to how I knew to meet with you here. Well, it’s about time I explained something, especially to you, Sami,” Mari began as they drank.

“I originally came to Spira City from the Spiral Church in Crysta. As you know, the land to the north is dense with magic in the atmosphere, and so magic-sensitive and particularly pious individuals such as myself can experience… certain visions of the future, specifically related to one mission in particular: protecting the lives of those who are ‘Fated’ to live.

“Now, when I use the word ‘fate’, it calls to mind some kind of inescapable destiny, yes? Well, that is not necessarily the case here. We have no way of understanding how or why, but if any one of those people were to pass away prematurely… there would be no future for our world.”

Mari shrugged and took another sip from her glass, then continued, “Trying to determine by ourselves which people are or aren’t vital is impossible; sometimes we are tasked with protecting an entirely mundane citizen with no role in any major events. None of us know for sure what could possibly happen if we failed at this task, but we have never failed yet. The uncertainty can be scary indeed, regardless...

“Sami, you are one who is Fated to live. I received this information in a vision, as well as the means to seek you out, and this is why I came down to Spira City to join you on that ‘quest’ of ours. My sincerest condolences for the way the aftermath of that quest affected your life, I truly wish the visions could have given me the information to stop that as well.”

Sami wasn’t sure whether to be comforted, or taken aback. Part of her found all this difficult to believe, but she decided to reserve her judgement. Regardless of how she felt, Mari had started to speak again.

“Conversely, there is a second branch of the Church with the opposite mentality: that there are ones who are Fated to die. We have no dealings with this branch, but… there’s no way to know for sure that you won’t end up running into them. Thus, I will continue to protect you—”

“Is there any way for us to learn from them who is ‘fated to die?’” Interrupted Commander Rosen, who had been waiting at the door.

“Their branch is hidden and secretive, understandably so considering the world would only see them as simple murderers. Not even we are sure about how we would make contact with them. Why do you ask?” Mari inquired.

Commander Rosen turned away, “Just a bit of personal curiosity… nothing more.”

Fiona and Sami looked at each other briefly. Instinctively, they had a feeling they both knew what the Commander had been thinking, because they had the same thought: If I lost a loved one, was it because of this “Fate”?

Seeming to sense the atmosphere in the room, Mari changed the subject, “It may comfort you to know that ours isn’t the only Fate that exists. Visions and prophecies throughout history have always returned to one concept: that the Spiral Strip in the stars is a window into that other Fate.

“There is also a theory that each star in the Strip represents the life of an individual in that other Fate, but, well, even we aren’t sure whether that ancient piece of knowledge is the truth. It could simply be a myth passed down to explain why stars on the Strip are always flickering in and out of existence.”

Commander Rosen scoffed. “Somehow I can’t find myself comforted by an unproven idea like that. Even if my wife was still alive in some… other reality, it doesn’t change the fact that we’ll never...” she started to trail off, realizing she had revealed a bit more than she should have.

Personal matters should be kept separate from official matters.

Mari leaned forward and spoke with a gentler tone, “I, myself, came across a unique prophecy of my own. Maybe it still won’t help you, but I can recite it word for word, as told to me by the voice of the Goddess:

“When someday, there is a Fate in which the Spiral Strip disappears, and the night sky shines bright with all the stars of two Fates… We shall know that our worlds have converged once more.”

* * *

As the Commander led the four new “recruits” to their two tents, which they would sleep in as pairs, they looked around at the base. It was a humble affair, situated beside sandstone cliffs, surrounded by high walls and made up of various simple makeshift huts and tents.

There were a number of soldiers, as well as mercenaries who had a more casual air about them, and a few turned to get a look at the newcomers passing by. As they walked, Lea spoke to Fiona in a voice that was barely more than a mumble, “You’re… Fiona, right?”

Fiona nodded—they had all introduced themselves to each other earlier—but she was unsure if she should say something. She was still shy around strangers, after all.

Lea herself didn’t say anything else, but continued to study her face. Fiona made a few glances at Lea as well. She was tall, and though from a distance her long, frayed hair might look as if it were grayed from age, it actually shone with a bright silver color.

Her face was… it was difficult to describe. When a person’s face was injured and healed by magic, it often wouldn’t heal in quite the same way as it was before. Fiona had seen it a few times while helping Natalie in her work as a healer, so she could recognize the signs.

Being reminded of her sister pained her, so she looked away. Lea seemed to consider something as she looked at the other, much shorter woman, but then apparently lost her train of thought. She simply nodded silently, and returned to following the Commander and the others.

* * *

“So, what did you think about all that stuff Mari said, Fiona?” said Sami, lying back lazily on her bedroll in the tent that night.

“I’m not sure,” Fiona replied timidly, “I… don’t know if I like the thought that my sister might have somehow been doomed to die from the start.”

“Well, she said it wasn’t about inevitabilities, right? That it was something that members of the Spiral Church, both branches, had to actively maintain. Myself, I couldn’t help but think of my father’s… assassination when she said that. Not that I’m trying to compare our tragedies or anything,” Sami added hurriedly.

Fiona knew Sami meant no harm in her words. She plopped down onto her companion’s bedroll and lay close next to her, sullen and quiet.

“Well, I know it’s hard, but try not to worry too much about it,” Sami said as she put an arm around the girl beside her, “Mari means well. She doesn’t always go on about this religious philosophy babble, I’m sure you’ll like her when you get to know her better.

“Lea, too—I think the two of them might be a couple? I’m not sure—she seems cold but she’ll rush to anyone’s aid in a heartbeat. Literally, sometimes, just wait until you see how fast she is…”

Sami continued talking like this in low tones, about stories and inconsequential things, Fiona murmuring the occasional response until she started to doze off. When they were together, they could always take each other’s mind off the pain of the past.

* * *

The next day, Sami and Mari spoke to Commander Rosen in her office hut in the encampment. They needed to be briefed on what their positions and roles would be as provisional members of the Spira Alliance.

Fiona was already getting situated with the training program, and Lea was… somewhere. She would occasionally disappear like this, lost in thought, perhaps trying to recall memories she had forgotten. Sami and the others had observed this behavior a few times when they worked together in Spira, and they knew about her amnesia.

At almost the same time as she considered this detail, Sami saw a small framed portrait on Commander Rosen’s simple desk, the only decorative item in the room. A woman with large, round spectacles and green hair, which she wore in two loosely tied bundles over the front of her shoulders.

“Is that portrait perhaps… Gina, the one who runs a mercenary hiring agency in Spira City?” Sami asked, something dawning on her as she said this.

The Commander took a deep breath. Normally, she wouldn’t have responded to that question, and would have simply asked Sami to focus on the business at hand. But, after her outburst yesterday, there wasn’t much point in tip-toeing around the subject. She began to speak, measuring every word carefully.

“Yes, Gina Rosen. She was my wife. But—and surely you must have heard about this—she was found responsible for the assassination of the late Duke. An exploitable loophole in her agency allowed the poison to be brought into the wrong hands, and her failure to follow up on this allowed the killers to escape. And so, she was executed.”

Sami fell back into stunned silence. Had her brother made the order for Gina to be punished, so that Sami wouldn’t need to be held responsible? This just wasn’t right. Why hadn’t he consulted her about this? She hadn’t known the woman for very long, but she could feel the weight of another death fall solidly onto her shoulders.

But something else fell on her shoulder as well: Mari’s hand had been placed there gently, offering her support. It wasn’t much, but it was enough to pull Sami from her stupor.

She made the decision that she would work twice as hard to make up for this in any way she could. If Commander Isabel Rosen still blamed her, then she would work three, or even four times as hard to make amends.

The Commander herself cleared her throat, “Now, back to business.”