Written by Devour

        Jessee Krovor took a deep breath. The smell of the garden's flowers filled his nose, and for a moment the worries eating at him felt a bit farther away. All the same, each step he took forward made those worries grow larger in size. They brought him closer to the moment of action, and confrontation.

        He and Milo strode together down a long walkway with Sae tucked nervously behind them. They entered the gardens behind Justeco's castle like they belonged there, and followed along the thick stone walls that bordered its edges. The garden itself was enormous, stretching along the entire rear section of the castle and continuing out into the forest nearby.

        "What are we looking for, Milo? Remind me." Jessee asked as a way to distract himself. He noticed how his friend snapped to attention the moment he heard Jessee's voice and smiled despite everything.

        "Um! According to what Arcane said, there's a private garden room built into the walls. We're almost there. That's where he should be relaxing now that his meetings are over." He cleared his throat. "King Ozrich, I mean."

        "And the King's guards…" Jessee looked down, and down, to the young woman trailing behind them. He gave her a gentle look that said his words for him. The magically powerful and highly-trained men were Sae's job to deal with.

        "I can do it." She answered bravely. But the worry was clear on her face. All the practice in the world could only do so much to prepare someone for the real thing.

        "I know you can. I wouldn't doubt you for a second." He replied confidently. Her worry disappeared the slightest bit, and she beamed with pride. "Milo, would you take the lead?"

        "Of course, sir..!" He and Sae took the front, and Jessee let himself fall back a good distance away. Better for the guards to think it was just them once they were noticed.

        The two worked well together. Sae and Milo had become friends soon after they met, and they had only grown closer since then. It was likely that Milo's presence was the reason Sae was brave enough to do this at all.

        Far enough away to avoid notice but close enough to eavesdrop, Jessee heard everything when the two Grey Phantoms picked up speed and hurried towards the door. The guards noticed them and quickly frowned. "Stop where you are, sir. Turn around and leave. No one is allowed here right now." They warned. One guard quietly brought a hand to the weapon at his belt.

Then their gaze fell upon the small, adorable girl that was Sae. She didn't have to do much acting to look terrified.

        "I'm sorry, something terrible happened. This girl needs your help." Milo said in a voice like a worried mother, not slowing down. "I don't know what hurt her, but something's wrong."

        "Wrong? What do you mean?" Their voices were confused, unsure what to do.

        That was what Jessee was counting on. With the look of a frightened child, Sae left Milo's side and hobbled towards the guards with her hands out, like someone reaching for safety. Instinctively, the two men each took one of her hands. They didn't have time to think.

        Then Sae's eyes squeezed shut. There was a flash of blue light, and the small girl simply disappeared from where she was standing. And so did the guards.

In the blink of an eye, King Ozrich was alone in his garden.

"What would we ever do without Sae." Jessee whistled to himself as he came back up to the front with Milo. If all went well, their teleporting mage should have brought the guards to the other side of the city, before jumping again without them. She should be waiting for them in the forest nearby. "Are you ready for this?" He asked.

"Ready as I'll ever be…" The man looked back at him and smiled. He guessed it was Milo's turn to look braver than he felt.

Then Jessee grit his teeth and shoved open the door. Today, the Grey Phantoms would have an audience with the King of Justeco.

        They were doing something incredibly bold. And dangerous. King Ozrich was arguably the most powerful man in the world, and easily the wealthiest. Even worse, this was the King who had almost been assassinated by one of the old, now-dead Wizard Council. It was many years ago, but there was no way to predict how Ozrich would react to two strangers sneaking into his room while he was alone.

But Jessee needed to talk to him.

They stepped into Ozrich's private garden, surrounded by bushes and swirling vines that sprouted beautiful flowers, and they saw the King himself taking a sip of tea. Ozrich paused, then slowly brought his cup down onto his plate. He turned around to face them both. "Where are my guards?" He asked, almost gently. His voice had not a trace of confusion, or fear.

"They're gone. Unharmed." Jessee took a step forward. He was the intruder here, and yet he was the one who felt afraid. It was something quiet, but unshakable, like the instinctive fear of the dark. Standing in front of Ozrich made him feel small.

"I see." The King replied, like he didn't believe him. "Then I suppose I should ask the more pressing question." His eyes met Jessee and they turned hard like steel.  "Who are you, and why have you invaded my room? Is this an assassination attempt?"

"No. That couldn't be further from what we want." Jessee said, unable to keep the disgust out of his voice, that he'd suggest such a thing. "I'm Jessee Krovor. And this is Milo. He's going to stand back and warn me if more guards show up to interrupt us. I want to talk to you peacefully, as the leader of the new Grey Phantoms."

The King's expression widened with recognition, then suddenly burned with controlled fire at the mention of that name. "The Grey Phantoms?" He scorned it. "The terrorist organization that as sowed seeds of chaos and destruction for years? For decades, even? YOU want to talk to me?"

Jessee saw Milo take a step back in fear. The leader of the Grey Phantoms stood firm, though his body told him to run. "The Grey Phantoms you remember doesn't exist any longer. I fought Fergal Baladeva myself. I defeated him and drove him out. We are nothing like him, and we never will be again."

There was a long pause where Ozrich stared. He even took a sip of his tea—an action that seemed to be to calm himself. "You. Defeated? Fergal?" Ozrich finally spoke. Then amazingly, he smiled. "If you didn't sound so earnest, I'd say you must think I'm a utter fool to believe such a wild claim. You're stronger than you look."

Jessee smiled, but he wasn't interested in compliments. He pressed forward. "The years of war and bloodshed waged accomplished nothing for the people Fergal claimed he was trying to help. Nothing but for the death and suffering of countless innocent people." Jessee brought his fist into his palm, feeling the passion of what he believed in with all his soul. "I had enough of it."

"Is that so?" Again, Ozrich smiled. Jessee dared to think the King liked what he was hearing. "What do your people plan to do next, then? You became an opposite force to Fergal and those who served him, I imagine? Keeping the peace?"

"Not only that, but… yes." Jessee answered.

"Then perhaps we are on the same side after all." Ozrich hummed. He took a long, satisfied sip of his tea.

"There's nothing I'd like more than that." The leader of the Grey Phantoms dared to feel good about himself. For everything imposing about this powerful man, he was reasonable. He listened to him when he spoke. That meant everything to him.

"I want to bring change for those people, the Traitless. Actual change. I want to do it without the death of a single person." He continued. "I remember, years ago, that you donated a very generous amount of money to lift the Traitless from poverty. You gave them places to live, and time to make a life for themselves. I thought that if there was one person on the continent who would be an invaluable ally for us, and a catalyst of real change, it would be you, Ozrich. A King who was sympathetic to the Traitless crisis. Someone who could help us do what Fergal could not. Who could help us show the world that we can fix this. Not with violence, but with unity."

Jessee thought he had delivered his speech very well. He could see Milo's chest swelling with pride in the corner of his vision. But Ozrich, the King who had done more to help the Traitless than even he himself had, was staring back with a dull, somber expression.

"I understand what you're saying now, Jessee Krovor. Now I need to ask you something." King Ozrich murmured after a long pause. "Do you think, in his many years of trying to achieve change, that Fergal never tried simply talking to us peacefully? Do you think he hasn't said the same things you have?"

"Well, I—" The question caught him off guard with how direct it was. "No. I mean, he couldn't have. Because someone like you would be open to the idea of peaceful cooperation, and yet—"

"He did try." Ozrich gently raised a hand to silence him. "And I am open to it."

"Then what happened?" Jessee found himself frowning. "How many years ago was this? The Traitless need help, and they need it now. Why has nothing been done for so long?"

The King's expression hardened right back, which Jessee found maddening. As if he was the one who had said something wrong. "You sound like Fergal once did, Jessee." Ozrich's voice was like a warning. "To our knowledge, Traitlessness inflicts about two percent of our population. The continent has ten million people living on it—not including monsters. That's two hundred thousand people. Nine million, eight hundred thousand others have problems, too. Statistically, the Traitless are insignificant."

"That's two hundred thousand innocent lives!" Jessee had to fight to keep his voice controlled. "If it's so few people to you, how are the kingdoms so powerless to help them? Or is it that no one wants to?"

Ozrich spread his hands to either side of himself. Jessee couldn't tell if the gesture was mocking. "I'll humor you. Pretend that you're my advisor, Jessee. What is something I should do as the King to save the Traitless people?"

"You—" Jesse was once again taken off guard. Of anything he was hoping to accomplish with this meeting, it hadn't quite been this. The one thing he wanted most. A hundred answers rushed to his mind. "If I tell you what I'd do, will you do it?"

"If it's possible." Ozrich answered. Jessee could see Milo staring at him from the corner of his eye, jubilant.

"Okay." The Grey Phantom leader blew out a breath. "It's simple. Make it illegal for the Traited to oppress the Traitless."

Ozrich studied him. He looked unimpressed with his simple answer. "When you say oppress, do you mean those with magic should not be allowed to hurt those without it? That already exists. It's called assault, and murder. Both are illegal already."

Jessee felt his face go red. "I didn't mean—"

"Do you mean that hatred towards them should be illegal?" Ozrich wasn't done. "Do you want guards to spy on every person in every corner of the world, eavesdropping on their conversations and arresting them for how they think? Never mind the precedent that would be set by such a thing..."

"I mean the oppression that's systemic!" Jessee said hotly, despite his best efforts to control his voice. "The world is made in a way which they don't fit. The crystals that light our homes need magic to glow. To take a position of power and change things peacefully, you need a Trait or no one will even talk to you. Our stoves and heaters and torches which all use Arnicite, they have to do without it. The whole world needs to be changed, from the bottom to the top." The more Jessee spoke, the more Ozrich's expression grew dangerous. At least he was listening. "It's not going to be easy. But it's possible. Especially with your help. It's a fight that's worth fighting—and it can't happen slowly. It needs to happen now."

"You want to change the world from the top to the bottom. Quickly. For twenty-thousand people." The speed that Ozrich replied surprised him. So did the contempt in his voice. "Why?"

"Why do you not? Do you not care about innocent people?"

"I care very much." The King glared at him. "I care about the dozens of villages in Justeco that may starve this winter without my help. I care about the fragile peace between the provinces, and the possibility of war. In one such war, I risked my very life to put an end to it rather than send thousands of soldiers to die in my name." Ozrich stood up from his chair, and his voice became forceful. "I care about the Queen of Integreco, who is secretly supporting an incredibly dangerous terrorist who she calls her son. I care about the real possibility that her actions could spark another war. So don't tell me I don't care about innocent lives, you damn fool. I care about everyone at once. You only care about a few."

Jessee grit his teeth. He was ready to yell right back at the King and counter every point with an argument of his own. But he wasn't an idiot. He knew that Ozrich didn't want to talk to him any longer. Trying to push further could be dangerous.

WIth a herculean effort, Jessee pushed aside his anger and his passion. He forced himself to close his eyes and speak calmly. "I see. Very well, then. I disagree with you, very much, and one day I hope to change your mind." His eyes opened again. "But thank you for at least listening to me. I'll leave peacefully."

The King looked surprised that Jessee was willing to step away. Then he closed his eyes as well, clearly reining in emotions of his own. The tension in the room dropped by a few degrees.

Then a thought occurred to the Grey Phantom's leader. "Before I go…" He began. "Making changes to the law. Trying to make this world a better place in general. That's what the Wizard Council does, doesn't it?"

"That's one of their many duties, yes." Ozrich still had his eyes closed.

"Then why not take the help of someone who knows what it's like to live without magic? Why not add someone Traitless to the Council?"

Ozrich's eyes flew open. Suddenly, they were filled with a terrible, righteous fury.

And then his long, braided hair flashed bright yellow. Before Jessee could so much as draw a breath, two glowing swords appeared in front of Ozrich and swung down upon him.

He couldn't have reacted. The thought that he'd be attacked so suddenly and without warning hadn't even occurred in his mind.

But somehow, it had occurred to Milo. He appeared in Jessee's vision as a blur of purple and light blue, with two long knives clasped in each hand. The man dove in front of Jessee—into the path of the swords—and met them with his own. Jessee cried out Milo's name.

He cried out because the King was one of the most powerful mages in the world. That's part of the reason why Ozrich was king. Milo was strong, but compared to the King it wasn't even close.

And yet Milo's magic withstood the magic of the King. The glowing sword crashed into the crossed knives he held at an X to stop it. His blades held, the King's sword perfectly matched against Milo's own strength.

And then the second blade came. It evaded Milo's knives like it was alive, and cut open his chest from his collarbone to his hips.

        Jessee watched in stupefied horror as a long streak of something thick and red hit the floor in a rush, then slowed to a rhythmic dripping. From far away, a long and awful sound echoed around him, like the wind from an enormous canyon.

        Then he realized that the red substance was Milo's own blood, and the sound was his cry of pain. Jessee blinked, and suddenly he was back in reality. He saw another sword, reared back and ready to strike. But waiting.

Despite his terrible wound, Milo was still on his feet, weapons ready in shaking hands, still protecting Jessee. King Ozrich had hesitated. Stunned, maybe, by the act of self sacrifice. What he saw was a boy who knew he stood no chance against the King—and who stood against him anyways, if it meant that Jessee would live.

Then Ozrich met the leader's eyes, and his glare shifted to the cold resolve of someone who hated violence, but had decided it was necessary.

The image of his soft, tranquil garden inside the castle walls had been turned into a bloody staredown. From the chaos, Jessee's mind finally returned to him. His magic awakened, acting fast.

He reached out with it to the center of the room and tore the walls down between them. Meter-thick stones fell down and cracked into pieces. Glass shattered and fell from the skylights above, falling like razor sharp rain. But his magic ensured that none of it fell on him or the friend who had saved his life.

As the rocks crashed to a stop, the only thing in its wake was silence and slowly-settling dust.

Then an impact shook the earth, and the pile of massive stones trembled with the force of what had struck it. This barrier wasn't going to be able to stop Ozrich from following them.

"Come on, Milo. We have to go." Jessee had to lower himself down to look his friend in the eyes. Milo had fallen on his hands and knees, blood dripping out onto the floor beneath him. His face was pale and tight with pain and shock.

"Yeah." His voice was tight and thin. "Good idea."

Milo tried to stand up, then just as quickly began to fall back to his knees. Jessee quickly caught him with both hands, and hoisted Milo's arm around his shoulder.

They reached the exit doors when a second impact thundered behind them. A handful of giant bricks tumbled and fell from the top of their pile. Jessee grit his teeth and carried them both towards the forest as fast as he could, with Milo struggling to help him with his own weight.

The third impact was the final one. An explosion of smoke and debris blew out from the doors behind the fleeing Grey Phantoms. A short while later, yellow light appeared in the center of the swirling mass. Then Ozrich strode through the smoke with six shimmering swords behind him, splayed out in symmetrical angles. He looked like an angel of divine judgment.

He didn't run, but he was gaining on them all the same.

"Jessee…" Milo gasped next to him. His head hung limply from his shoulders, his face hidden. He wasn't trying to carry his weight anymore. "Leave me behind. I'll hold him off. Try and give you enough time to find Sae."

"What? Like hell I will!" Jessee yelled without hesitation. His voice came out more angry than he'd meant it. "We're only just getting started. We have a world to change, soldier."

"You have a world to change." Milo said back. "The Grey Phantoms can go on without me. But not… without you."

Jessee looked at him, then to the slowly-approaching King. Then his eyebrows furrowed and he tugged Milo hard, getting his feet to stumble along behind him. "I don't want to hear another word. You're coming with me if I have to carry you myself." He said, his voice harsh. "Are you going to help me or not?"

Milo never replied. But he felt as the boy's legs started trying to lighten the load against him.

That was one problem dealt with. The fact it was the least of his problems told Jessee just how quickly things had fallen apart. King Ozrich was still approaching—and he was close enough to hear him if he shouted.

"We came to you in peace!" He yelled out. He heard the frustration in his voice like it belonged to someone else. "What does it say about you that you let Fergal live, yet you try to kill in cold blood those who want peace?"

Even now, Jessee knew how to make his words hit where it hurt. It must have, for Ozrich to reply to him at all. "Not killing him was the greatest mistake I ever made." The King spoke back, his voice heavy and cold. "You're a fool if you think he was always the man he is now, using fear and death as his seeds to sprout change from the charred earth. Before… before he became that monster… he was just like you. Naive and powerful, thinking he had what it took to do the impossible. Thinking he could change the world. Peacefully."

"No. That's not true!" Jessee yelled back at him, insulted and disgusted at the same time. "I'm nothing like Fergal!"

"You and him are exactly the same. He even had your same ideas. But slowly, surely, his failures marred his soul." The King's voice was perfectly clear. It had the tone of someone who knew that they were right. "With each defeat and broken heart, Fergal slipped further into darkness. He became more and more extreme, hoping to provoke a reaction from a world too large and complex to notice him. Yet he continued to fail, and the cycle continued."

Even now, Jessee didn't want to fight. But if he did nothing, Ozrich would catch them both. He called upon his magic again and reached out to the forest behind them. With a roar of effort, an enormous oak tree was lifted from the earth in a rain of black soil and snapping tendrils of thick roots.Gritting his teeth, he threw his hand out towards the King, and the entirety of the massive tree flew at his command.

Ozrich's swords seemed to react to Jessee's immense power. They shone even brighter, almost too bright to look at, and when the gigantic oak reached him two swords flashed forward and cut in an outwards arc, lopping through the tree in one cut and throwing the two halves out to the side. It passed by without harming him.

But Jessee hadn't released his hold on his enormous weapon. Grimacing with the effort it took, the two split halves spun around horizontally and converged upon each other. Two floating, wooden walls rushing to crush Ozrich between them.

This time, four pulsing swords flashed out. The oak split apart into four separate pieces. They crashed together with a thunderclap loud enough for Jessee to feel the noise, but the King remained unharmed in the center of it all.

He was looking at Jessee, not with anger, but like there was nothing left to be mad about. To Ozrich, Jessee was already dead. It was just a matter of waiting a few more short moments.

With the last of his strength, Jessee drew back with all four massive tree trunks and hurled them into Ozrich again. The King sweeped his arm out, and the tips of each of his swords jutted deep into the wood and stopped them in their place like they didn't weigh hundreds of pounds each.

Then with the fading flickers of light, they fell to the floor. Jessee fell too, panting hard. Milo was too weak to let out more than a gasp of discomfort as his knees hit the dirt.

He looked up, and saw King Ozrich standing sadly above him.

"I'm sorry, Jessee." He said, like a father after disciplining his son. "Every person Fergal killed is someone who would be alive today if I had only done what was necessary. The weight of my failure weighs on me every day. Your misguided journey would have ended the same as his." He only had one sword left that wasn't stuck. He raised it high, point down, ready to thrust it through Jessee's shoulder and into his heart. "I will never let another Fergal Baladeva enter this world."

Then Ozrich's eyes… widened in confusion. Jessee felt a small hand wrap tight around his arm.

Then there was a flash of blue light, and Jessee found himself inside the Phantom's home base.

He heard frantic panting, and above him he saw Sae, her eyes full of panic and brimming with tears. "I d-didn't know where you were." She babbled. "Not until I heard you fighting. I'm—I was almost too late. I almost—"

Jessee shushed her by raising a hand, and her mouth shut with an audible click. He just smiled gratefully. "What would I ever do without you. Good job, Sae…" His emotions paired with his exhaustion made him dizzy. Staring his own approaching death in the eye, feeling the adrenaline leaving his veins in painful tingles…, it was all catching up to him at once. He suddenly felt very, very tired. "Milo needs healing right away. Can you get Apitat?" He asked gently.

He fell unconscious before he heard Sae's reply.

*  *  *

Milo was alone in the infirmary. He couldn't remember many times in his life where it hurt this much just to breathe. The long wound across his chest was wrapped in bandages and closing quickly, thanks to Apitat's healing magic, but it would be hours before he was back to normal.

And it hurt! His only consolation was that the worst was over, and that he had lived.

Then Gall stepped in through the door. His permanent scowl was etched on his face, as it always was. Milo let out a tired sigh.

"Never mind. The worst isn't over after all." He muttered.

"What?" Gall asked with a frown. Milo shook his head and tried to wave him away with his hand—and grimaced as a flash of agony seared through his chest.

"You're not supposed to move, dumbass." The boy sat down in a chair next to the wall, near to the door, as if he had come here for a reason that wasn't to talk to Milo. But the two of them were the only ones in the room. Milo rolled his eyes at Gall's childishness.

"Why are you here?" Milo scowled at him. "If you're here to make fun of me, I swear I'll kick your ass as soon as I can get up from this bed."

He thought Gall would fire back with something rude, as he always did. Instead, the boy looked away. "No. It's not that this time."

His tone of voice got Milo's attention. "What—" He unconsciously tried to lean forward, and winced again at the pain. "Damn it all. What do you want, Gall? It was painful to talk to you before I had this big cut on my chest."

Gall ignored the jab. "Jessee didn't tell me much. He said he wanted to wait for you to get better before he told everyone what happened with Ozrich." He mumbled. "But I heard that Jessee carried you back himself. Did he really?"

Milo looked at Gall warily, expecting to be made fun of somehow. "He did…" He said carefully.

"He also said how Sae got to you seconds before Ozrich killed you both. It was close, then." Gall's voice became tight. He didn't once look in Milo's direction. "He risked his own life to save yours, and he almost died for it."

Again, Milo frowned, not knowing what this boy was trying to get at. "I tried to stay behind. I knew it was too risky." He said defensively. "Jessee said he'd drag me back himself if he had to."

"I… I see." Something in Gall's voice made Milo blink. He looked closer at the troubled teenager, and saw something he didn't think Gall was capable of feeling. Beneath the angry scowl he always wore as a mask… he looked pained. And sad. "If the leader dies, the whole Grey Phantoms falls apart." Gall said stiffly. "I didn't think Jessee would risk something like that."

"You didn't? Why not?" Milo asked.

"Because what happened to you—happened to me, once." Gall stood up. He suddenly looked very uncomfortable. "Fergal didn't come back for me."

And then he was gone. Milo wished that he had stayed, but he could only tell his reply to the empty room around him. But when he said it, he meant it with every fiber of his being.

"Jessee is nothing like Fergal was." He promised. "And he never will be."