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"Kel! You're alive!"

An overgrown curly mop jogged toward Kel with his arms outstretched.

"Matty, Alaric!" Kel smiled at her former Serin squad mates.

"I thought we'd lost our precious newbie with the rest of the patrol," Matty whined, petting Kel's head as he embraced her.

She couldn't tell if the man was actually excited to see her or just sick of picking up all the 'newbie' work in her stead.

"Speaking of," Kel wheezed, prying the man's lanky arms off, "do you know where the other new recruit who was with the patrol is?"

"Oh.. the swordsman?" Matty's voice became quiet as he exchanged a glance with Alaric. "Well, uh, you see-"

"Anyway!" Alaric interrupted, stepping forward. "You don't seem to be any worse for wear, Newbie, so why don't you quit slacking off?"

"That's actually why I'm here," Kel replied, making a mental note to inquire more about Taegus later on.

The news, whatever it was, didn't seem good.

"Ah, so you got assigned to us again?" Alaric nodded.

"Well, come on then. Let's get to work!"

It had been a day since discovering the moonstone, and Kel still hadn't figured out a way to meet the Emperor. With no other ideas, she thought she could at least get a bit closer to him by assuming her previous identity in the military.

Snagging a spare uniform was easy enough, and she used torn strips of her dress to wrap her chest and hair.

When she stepped out into the organized chaos of Serin occupation, she was marked immediately as a young soldier.

After that, it only took a few pages of paperwork before she was released to go join her squad.

Who just happened to be one of the many squads on rotation patrolling the Emperor's wing.

Why didn't I think of it before? Kel smirked to herself as Alaric led her to the squad's quarters.

But more importantly, why hadn't anyone noticed that the strange girl found in the royal hall was the missing Serin archer?

"Calix, your men are dumb. Dumb, dumb, dumb," Kel muttered under her breath, feeling more bitter about her own powerlessness than the Emperor's dull-eyed underlings.

Initially, she'd worried that she may be recognized as the cause of the blazing pillar that destroyed the royal hall's ceiling, but it turned out to be unnecessary.

None of the Serin soldiers had actually seen her act of unleashing a giant fireball from her mouth, and thanks to Calix's kisses (and licking?) her face had healed perfectly from the burns.

Too bad the same couldn't be said for the Emperor's back. Maybe Kel should try kissing it in return?

That is, if she ever got the chance to see him.

"Well, this is it," Alaric announced as the trio reached a servant's quarters near the Emperor's wing. "Home, sweet home."

"Eh? Is that Kel?" Otto, a broad-shouldered member from her squad, jumped to his large feet as she followed Alaric and Matty into the room.

"To think he's alive, after all." Even the usually stone-faced squad leader, Severin, seemed genuinely shocked by the sight of his long lost squad mate.

Kel smiled at her old companions.

"Hi guys. I'm back."

***

"Kel, you little-Get back here, will ya?!"

Her friends' excitement at being reunited lasted only until Kel made her move.

"Eep!" Kel let out a tiny squeak, nearly dropping the bundle of material in her hands as she ran.

The power of the moonstone was already seeping through the remnants of her dress that she had wrapped it in.

But she couldn't stop.

She was so close. So close to-

"Hey! Get that soldier!!"

Five strong men jumped out of nowhere and began barreling toward her.

Counting them and the guards at the door, there were now eight people in between her and the Emperor.

"Kel, you crazy!! Stop right now!!"

And roughly a dozen people were behind her, including three (very disgruntled) members of her squad.

What should I do? Kel panicked.

Her best option right now was to strike first and strike hard.

But Calix would probably be a little unhappy if she hurt his beefiest bodyguards--even if it was to save him.

He'd cut off the toes of his own soldiers before, though, so maybe he wouldn't be that mad?

"Agh! I don't know! Just the toes then!" Kel shouted, shifting the bundle under one arm and extending the other forward.

In truth, she had no idea what she was doing. Trying to shoot fireballs out of her palm? Creating a fiery shield around herself?

She had no plan as she raised her hand, but, to her and everyone else's surprise, a surge of flames rose from the floor just beneath her arm.

With a flick of her wrist, the flames rushed forward, frightening the guards and nipping at their boots.

Four of the large men fell to the ground, either from shock or burnt feet, while the last one froze in awe.

Kel vaulted over the flames and past the men, leaving only the three door guards in her way.

Feeling a false sense of confidence, she attempted the same trick again, this time sending walls of flames shooting to the ceiling.

"Oh.. oops," Kel paused, wincing as a burning wooden beam creaked above her head. "... You guys can take care of this, right?"

By this point, the entire wing had erupted into chaos. Soldiers were piling into the hall with buckets of water, and only one brave man kept his post at the Emperor's door.

A quick jab to the neck removed him from the picture, however.

Feeling a wave of relief, and quickly becoming conscious of the pain shooting through her arm from the moonstone, Kel burst through the door.

"Hey! You can't be in here!"

An old man with a long white beard jumped to his feet at the bedside.

"Hurry, there's no time!" Kel replied, tossing the bundle onto the bed. "Use this!"

The man raised his eyebrows.

"Just what do you thi-"

"What is going on here?"

A deep, irritated voice came from the lump under the bed sheets as the Emperor slowly rose to a sitting position.

He looked groggy but otherwise...

Completely fine.

"Eh Ca-Your Majesty?" Kel gawked. "H-how are yo-"

"Judging by the smell outside," Calix cut her off, rubbing his forehead, "you've already made quite a spectacle."

"Um, well, I.." Kel trailed off, suddenly feeling sheepish.

"But the bigger question," Calix continued, retrieving the moonstone from the ball of material at his feet.

"How on earth did you get your hands on my half-brother's pendant?"