Inside Man

Masako rode at the front of the formation of soldiers leaving the gate of the capital city. She was wearing partial pieces of her armor to accommodate the needs for weight and bulk she could handle throughout the day with her sword by her side. It was probably being overly cautious; behind her was a platoon-sized force of the Empire's troops in a mixture of riders and supply wagons. I always wanted to try riding a horse, she idly thought. At the time, it was a silly girly notion she had when she, Akiko and Keiko watched a samurai riding exhibition at the Soma Nomaoi Festival they attended last year. When she brought up liking her kendo background to the samurai reenactments, both girls had laughed at the comparison. Well, who's laughing now, she smiled with private satisfaction before her thoughts turned serious, wondering once again what had become of them.

The caravan was making its way towards Fort Magish, per Emperor Takahito Minamoto's orders. He had sent her to take command of a base near the city, which was also in charge of the Empire's most important project in years. At the same time, he had promised that the seers of the realm had foreseen that the confrontation between the one who had killed her in her past life was coming soon, and that she should be ready. She steeled herself as the soul sword hummed in anticipation beside her, ready for battle.

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Keiko adjusted her bonnet lower to hide her face just a little more as the caravan guards passed by. She was traveling with a group of over fifty servants of various duties in a caravan on their way to Fort Magish. She felt like she should be safe; during all the recent attacks on the Empire, she had always been acting from the sidelines, so her face wasn't seen by any of the survivors. The only time she was seen was when they first arrived from the portal and that was months ago and then only briefly. I wasn't one the being sacrificed, so they probably weren't paying much attention to me, she thought. Still, it paid to be cautious.

As the fort came into view, Keiko was momentarily taken aback at the size of the complex. She had been expecting a few towers or a keep, but this was a full walled castle complex with multiple buildings. No wonder they were so willing to hire new people with no questions asked; this place probably needed hundreds of servants to maintain itself. Entering the fort's courtyard, she was once again surprised; this time by the sight of a massive stone structure being held in place in the middle of the courtyard by a combination of metal supports and magical energies. It was the size of a small mountain and already had buildings attached all across the top and sides, and she could only imagine what else went underneath.

Inside the main building, the staff were broken up into groups and she was assigned by the current head chambermaid to a block of rooms along with a group of other junior maids, handed cleaning supplies and told to get to work. As the day went on, she kept her eyes and ears open, and one name continued to be mentioned... Aetheria... that meant 'aloft' or 'heavenly' right...? So that thing out there was going to fly? That would explain all the magical crystals... it would certainly take a lot of magical power to make that happen; even a novice like herself would be able to guess that. Fill it full of soldiers and wyvern and you've got a mobile base that could bypass any supply line and project power across the entire Empire in hours instead of weeks. If that thing launched, just the threat alone would likely cause many of the outer baronies to abandon the fight against the Empire and the rebellion would likely wither and die. She needed to find a place to be alone so she could get word out to the others.

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The town of Fireside looked like a peaceful idyllic setting right out of a storybook, at least to Akiko's eyes. Being a logging town, it was spread across the forest where the latest activities had taken place, with the dominate structure being the sawmill by the river. Despite that, even in this remote quiet place, people still kept to themselves, wary of strangers such as themselves. We were only a half-day's ride from Fort Magish, she reminded herself, which Kenji had once warned her was well within the range of the Empire's sage's ability to scry. It was unlikely they would just randomly scry this small town, but one never knew, so everyone in their party kept their faces concealed and their voice low.

"Lady Fujiwara, if you please," Hiromi beckoned for her kumihimo bracelet.

Akiko placed her bracelet on the middle of the table as she, Jun, and Hiroshige gathered around while Hiromi began casting her magic. Moments later, a moving image began forming above the bracelet, showing scenes inside a fort with soldiers and other personnel.

"OK, she's inside," Jun noted. "So far, looking good."

"This scrying spell isn't putting her at risk, is it?" Akiko asked.

"So long as she avoids coming near magically aware people, no," Hiromi warned. "If she gets too close to a mage while they're actively concentrating, then there's a chance they'll notice the enchantment coming from the bracelet."

For several more minutes, the group watched and listened tensely, trying to pick up on any sign of useful information. "Wait... what? What did he say?" Hiroshige asked as the image passed some of the guards talking. "Did they say something about a new commander coming?"

"That might not be good news," Hiromi warned. "A new commander would include a contingency of escort troops, which would include mages. For that matter, the commander themselves might be a mage."

"Tell her to pull out!" Akiko urged. "Get her out before the commander shows up and make sure you drop the spell before they show up!"

"They aren't going to rotate servants so quick," Jun warned. "If she leaves the fort now, it's going to look suspicious for a junior chambermaid to be outside wandering around all by herself."

"Can't she... I don't know... say she was told to head to one of the remote guard towers to pass a message or cleaning duty or something?" Akiko suggested, somewhat out of desperation.

"Well, whatever she's going to do, she'd better do it soon, or not at all," Hiroshige warned after looking outside. "It looks like the weather is taking a turn for the worse. If she doesn't leave the fort soon, then the roads are going to turn muddy and difficult, if not impossible on foot, and it's not like she's going to be able to steal a horse or wagon without getting noticed."

"I don't even think she can ride," Akiko muttered. "Trying to do it under those conditions is begging to get thrown off her mount, even if she tried."

Hiromi cursed softly and signed. "I hate to say it, but right now, she might be forced to wait until the storm passes.

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Keiko looked outside the castle walls while she made a half-hearted attempt to clean her assigned rooms. She had received the short and urgent message to hold tight until the storm passed, avoid any close contact with mages and that they may be forced to cease all spell activity for quite some time. Even more frustratingly, she didn't even have time to tell them any details about Project Aetheria, other than it was at that base and big. Don't panic, she told herself. Keep your head down and do your chores and all should be well.

"You!"

Keiko almost jumped a commanding voice behind her called out. She turned around and saw four guards all looking very uncomfortably at her. "Um... yes?" Oh shit, oh shit, oh shit...! "Um... I'm nearly done here and was about to move..." she tried bluffing.

"Come with us!" the lead guard motioned, taking a hold of her, handing her to two other guards as they marched into the main corridors into the main grand hall. All around, other servants watched with a mixture of surprise, curiosity and fear, inwardly glad it wasn't them, all wondering what the girl had done wrong.

At the end of a long corridor, Keiko noticed the walls of this section were lined with ornate decoration and religious symbols, some denoting magical blessings. Normally, she would have avoided this area at all costs, having been warned about magically aware individuals, but right now, that wasn't an option.

The door opened and Keiko's stomach almost dropped as the room looked like the same cathedral the three girls had first arrived several months ago, down to the cloaked hooded figures and sacrificial posts. The guards pushed up to the middle of the room where the lead seer slowly pulled down his hood, revealing a familiar face, though this time with only one eye and the signs of damage to the bones of his nose. "Well... well... we meet again, young one..." the head seer greeted with a cold sardonic tone. "The months in our realm it seems have been far kinder to you than I since our last encounter. Speaking of which... where is your friend...? Or does the great... warrior send children to do his errands?"

"I-I don't know where she is..." Keiko tried denying.

"Fortunately, we do..." the seer confidently declared, much to Keiko's shock. In fact, once the Emperor appointed the new commander, their confrontation was inevitable. It was destiny. The arrival of the storm was the final omen. This battle will take place, like it did over two years ago." He paused and gave Keiko an evil look. "You'll be there to watch... after all... it's only appropriate the rebellion's destruction has a witness to carry the message, and let know it's all over once and for all..."