Arielle woke up in a sunny room with Evol and Krad sat on her chest, both staring at her expectantly. “You’re awake!” beamed Evol, who looked like a puppy desperate for some attention.

Confused, she pushed herself up onto her elbows and tried to remember what happened. “Ma and Pa,” Arielle exclaimed, “What happened?”

Krad looked sympathetic as he said, “Fuso put them to sleep so they could cart you away to Laveria Academy. They packed up what belongings of yours they could find and brought you here last night.”

Arielle looked around, taking in her surroundings for the first time. It was a small room with a musty smell, like it hadn’t seen fresh air in decades. There were two sets of windows letting in the light, a fireplace that had the remains of a dying fire, a wardrobe that had seen better days and a simple desk and chair.

“This is Laveria, huh? Would’ve thought it’d look better.”

“These are the worker accommodations, which are by the nursery. You get a nice chorus of children laughing, screaming or crying at any point in time.”

Arielle rolled her eyes, “Of course.” Shaking her head she said, “I can’t believe they just took me, that I didn’t have any say. You couldn’t stop them?” Her voice was a little accusatory but she would’ve thought a spirit and demon could do something to help her.

Evol replied this time, “For the same reason Tysla couldn’t hurt you, our nonexistent hands were tied.”

“I hope my folks are okay,” sighed Alera. “I didn’t mean to get them swept up in this. Goodness, Pa is going to have a rotten time this harvest without me.”

Standing up she moved to the window, the wooden floors still cold like the night. She pushed the window open which sputtered and creaked with the effort. Poking her head out she stared at the expansive grounds before her.

She was on the third and top-most floor of a stone building that completely surrounded a beautifully maintained courtyard. Everything from the trees to hedges to flower beds and scattered benches invited people to spend some time there. To her left and right Arielle could see a sprawl of smaller buildings, and straight ahead was the long road to the Academy’s main gate which she could just barely make out in the distance .

Turning to lean against the windowsill she asked, “What do you think the chances are of escaping?” All she could think of were her parents. Arielle didn’t want anything to do with the Demon King, this Saint Lenore or Levaria Academy.

“Next to none, Fuso placed a tracking mark on you. It’d just be an endless loop of escape and recapture, until they resort to locking you in,” explained Krad. “It’d be better to gather yourself until you can appropriately plan a successful escape.”

Arms crossed, she asked, “You both are on my side? I would think you’d want to help carry out Saint Lenore’s goal or whatever.”

“We’re on your side,” said Evol resolutely.

Krad added, “We’re bonded to you now, not Saint Lenore. So we’ll help you however we can.”

Arielle nodded, although still finding it hard to believe she had anyone supporting her in this foreign place. Moving to sit on the side of the bed she said, “What can you both do anyway? Krad, you can see stuff about people which is useful. What about you, Evol? Actually, what about me? You mentioned I received a blessing too…”

Evol answered first, “I pair with Krad quite well. While he can someone’s history and details, I know someone’s intent, a general understanding of motivations, and with a pretty good accuracy sense the truth of what someone says.”

“That’ll be good to have in a place like this,” nodded Arielle. But then she looked at Evol sharply, “Wait, I thought you couldn’t tell someone what your blessing was.”

Evol smiled, “You’re not just someone though. We’re bonded remember, think of us as one.”

“That’s a little weird,” admitted Arielle. Having these two creatures as her partners for who knows how long. “I’m not used to having company…”

“I know how you feel, I’ve been sealed away for centuries with Evol. Imagine that,” said Krad.

And Arielle laughed. She laughed so hard she fell backwards onto the bed and worked to catch her breath.

Krad observed wisely, “It wasn’t that funny.”

Yet Arielle was still working to find her voice, wiping away a few tears forming at the edge of her eyes. “I know,” she replied, “but I just needed that. This whole thing is so ridiculous. How did I even get here? Why did the seal break under my hand?”

“We don’t know exactly what Saint Lenore intended, it might come back to us slowly though,” said Evol.

“I can tell you what your blessing is though,” said Krad before amending, “or rather, blessings. You’re the first human to receive a blessing and you have two. Aren’t you special?”

“Two?”

“Yes, two. I bet Lenore kept the energy of a blessing stored in both me and Evol,” explained Krad. “But that’s just a guess.”

Arielle, who was still lying down sat up now, stunned silent. She stared at Krad wide-eyed waiting for the reveal.

“You have both the Ward of the Last Reaping and The Saint’s Reluctant Blade.”

Arielle snorted. She didn’t mean to but they were just so on-the-nose. “Lenore left little room for the imagination regarding her chosen person, huh. A farming reference in her blessing and an apt descriptor." Head in her hands she asked, “So what do they do?”

Krad explained, “As Ward of the Last Reaping you’re particularly effective at dealing final blows and removing things which others struggle with.”

Arielle looked up when the demon didn’t continue, “Go on.”

“Well, as The Saint’s Reluctant Blade you’re power significantly increases whenever you act selflessly despite high personal cost.”