Aeris stood in the shadow of the cathedral, its towering spires looming over her like silent sentinels. 

The air was laiden with tension, so heavy she could feel it in her chest. 

She coiled her fists, her breaths coming in short, sharp bursts. 

Her mind was a tempest, each surge of anger felt like a wave in an endless storm.

The courtyard was deserted, save for the imposing figure standing a few feet away. Vali Thorsten loomed over her like a shadow given form.

 His ugly white hair still hung lazily over his eyes, and he stood with a slouch, as though nothing had happened.

His posture belied the danger he carried. 

Gazing at those mammoth hands all Aeris could see was the memory of him, driving Talia’s face into the ground, laughing as he shattered her bones. 

Her fury bubbled beneath her skin, barely restrained.

"Why did you do it?," Aeris rasped, her voice low and seething. ”

Vali lifted his eyes to meet hers, sluggishly and slow, as though her words needed time to sink in. 

His lips twitched upward into a faint, disinterested smirk. 

"I came here for a reason," he said, his voice almost too soft to make out.

 “Had to make a point.”

Aeris scoffed, stepping closer, fire burning behind her gaze.

 "A point? You nearly killed her, you sick bastard!’

Vali shrugged, his shoulders rising and falling like a mountain shifting. 

‘Like you can talk, How's poor Esther doing?  Didn't even bother to bury the poor lass did you?’

Aeris felt ripples of anxiety erupt through body.

‘You couldn't know that..unless…’

Aeris pushed her anxiety down analysing the situation with cold logic.

‘How long?’ Aeris asked 

‘More tedious questions, wonderful!’ Vali groaned

‘Exactly how long have you been spying on me?’ 

‘Long enough’ 

‘Is it me you're after or is the Garland family in general?’ 

Aeris asked, trying to pry as much information as she could from this slothful cur.

‘You’ Vali grumbled

‘Care to elaborate?’

‘No’

‘Than I guess there's nothing to talk about.’

Shadow Chains

Dark tendrils clamped around his arms, legs and neck binding the talk bastard in place.

‘Cute!’ 

Aeris looked on in horror as Vali shattered her chains with little effort.

You're shitting me, what kind of monster is he?

Vali stomped towards her, stopping a few steps away, his shadow enveloping her.

‘What does Master see in you, You're so damn weak is pitiful, you're even weaker than that little bird.’

Ice Javelins

Twisting the air, Aeris summoned a barrage of Ice Javelins hurling them at Vali, however before the Javelins hit Vali dodged and closed the distance with his ridiculous speed.

Glacial Blast 

Aeris panicked, hitting Vali with a point blank burst of ice, that should have done some damage surely.

A hand parted the frosty mist and coiled around her throat constricting it, and a moment later Aeris found herself tossed to the ground her body aching and sorem

‘Ready to talk more, or do you want to go another round, even if it's pointless’ 

 Vali asked, pulling Aeris to her feet.

‘Talk…I need…to catch my..breath’

‘I don't know how but you managed to severely pissed off my Master, and today well that was all your fault.’ 

Vali said, adjusting his neck again.

‘Gaslighting much?  I don't even know this Master of yours.  If I'm your target why not pummel me, why Talia?

Aeris asked, her anger rising again.

Because orders are orders." 

Vali's voice was maddeningly calm, every word dripping with apathy. 

“Sorry ‘bout the whole thing, I guess.”

"Shove your apology up your ass," 

Aeris snapped, her teeth gritted so hard they could’ve cracked. 

Her heart pounded against her ribs like a caged animal, every instinct telling her to rip him apart. 

But as much as it wounded her pride she refrained, she wasn't strong enough yet.

Vali's eyes glinted under the dim light filtering through the cathedral’s stained-glass windows.  

Aeris’ pulse quickened. She could feel the tension crackling in the air between them.

“I'll be nice and paint you a picture’ Vali said cracking a mocking smile.

“My master gave me simple orders. Told me to sit in on your orientation, see who you were closest to, then…” He paused, rolling his neck as if recalling the memory. 

“Brutalize them in front of you. Gauge your reaction. See how you handle watching them break.”

Aeris took a step back, her stomach twisting with disgust. 

Her mind whirled with possibilities. His “master whoever that was had deliberately orchestrated this, planted him in their classroom. It wasn’t a random act of cruelty. It was targeted, and at her no less.

“The missing student… That was your doing, wasn’t it?” Aeris asked, voice sharp as glass. 

“And Sorithra’s strange behavior meant she had to be under someone's influence. Yours or your masters I presume”

Vali gave a slow, mocking clap, his expression overflowing with condescension.

 "Sharp mind on you, Aeris. Real sharp. You’re not wrong.”

“Why?” Aeris demanded, her voice rising with frustration. “Why go through all this trouble? What does your master want?”

Aeris’ jaw clenched. The pieces were starting to fall into place, but the bigger picture eluded her. She didn’t know who this "master" was or what she had done to anger them. But she’d be damned if she let them manipulate her like this. She was going to fight back and hard.

Vali shifted as if about to leave, his hulking frame turning slightly. But then he stopped, glancing back over his shoulder.

 “Almost forgot,” he said, his voice as disinterested as ever. “My master has a  message for you.”

Aeris’ eyes narrowed, her fists still clenched tightly at her sides. 

“What message?”

“A question, actually.” Vali turned to face her fully, his expression darkening, his gaze sharp for the first time. 

“Who are you, Aeris Garland? And why are you here?”

The words hung in the air like a challenge, echoing off the cathedral walls. Aeris felt a chill creep down her spine. 

Her mind leaping back to that cursed shadow scape and the gnarled appendage that strangled her.

Vali’s cold gaze pierced through her, as if waiting for an answer she didn’t have. 

But before she could even begin to formulate a response, he took a step back, waving a dismissive hand.

 “You should go check on the Little Bird.”

Aeris’ blood boiled over, her fury finally breaking through the dam of restraint she’d been holding onto. 

“If your master wants a war, then I’ll give it to them!” she shouted, her voice ringing out across the empty courtyard. 

“And I’ll make you pay for what you did to Talia. With interest.”

Vali’s lips curled into a slow, mocking smile. 

“Oh, I’m looking forward to it,” he said, his voice filled with vigour.

‘Should be fun.”

And with that, he vanished in the same flash of vibrant blue light, leaving Aeris standing alone beneath the cathedral’s shadow.

Her breath came in ragged gasps, her body trembling with barely contained rage. Every fiber of her being screamed for action, for vengeance.

 But there was nothing she could do in this moment except stand there, seething

Her thoughts snapped back to Talia, lying broken and battered in the House of Healing. 

Talia had suffered greatly because of her, because of some game she wasn’t even aware she was playing. 

Aeris gritted her teeth, a new resolve hardening in her chest.

This wasn’t over. Not by a long shot.

She would root out this master and tear down their plans brick by brick. And when the time came, she would pay them back for Talia’s suffering tenfold.

No one would get away with hurting her fr…pawn

No one.