I pressed my head against the dirt in supplication. I hoped it would be enough.
Katashi flickered closer. As he reappeared above me, I could feel a burst of pressure push down on me from his aura, and not merely on my body. I could feel the mana within me constricting. The visage’s mere presence was twisting my power, paralyzing it.
I trembled in abject terror.
Authority figures generally didn’t scare me. I had no hesitation about mouthing off to someone like Teft. But if I made a mistake here? Not only could Katashi annihilate me outright, he could kill everyone I cared about with another gesture.
“Why have you come to me? You may answer honestly.”
I raised my head just slightly, to make it easier to hear my reply. “I was hoping to stop the attacks.” And, with a sliver of bravery piercing through my fear, I managed an addition. “And my friend over there is dying. He’s a Dalen.”
I didn’t know much about House Dalen, but I did know that they were the ruling house of Dalenos, and that Katashi was their patron visage. I didn’t know what Jin’s connection to them was, but I hoped it would be sufficient.
“I will tend to one of my flock.”
I felt an almost palpable sense of relief as the words rolled over me and the pressure faded.
When I looked up, Katashi was no longer hovering above me. He was near Jin and Marissa.
And Marissa, bless her bravery, was standing defensively over Jin with her fists raised. She must have been too far away to hear my conversation with Katashi.
Katashi tilted his head downward to examine her.
I envisioned a thousand ways he could make her die.
My steps were feeble, but they carried me closer as he spoke to her.
“You would stand between me and this one?”
I don’t know how, but Marissa stood unfazed by his voice, her back unbowed by the pressure that had torn my mind to nothing.
“Begging your pardon, m’visage, but if you’re meanin’ him harm, I’m a’fred so.”
“You are aware of who I am?”
His aura brightened as he spoke. I could feel the pressure even from a distance then, sapping away my will to even stand.
Marissa remained unbowed.
“Aye, m’visage. You be Katashi, sir. Not meaning to be rude, but I’m a Guardian, sir. I’d stand between my friends and the goddess herself.”
Katashi floated down, his feet touching the ground. He stepped close to her, his face nearly brushing against hers, their eyes fixed together.
And then he stepped back, folding his hands in front of him, and bowed at the waist.
“There is no cause in this world more valuable than the desire to protect another. You have proven a worthy companion to this one. He walks a difficult path. I am pleased that one such as you will be at his side.”
Katashi knelt, pressing his hands against Jin’s chest. “Breathe.”
A wave of white light flowed from Katashi’s hands to encompass Jin’s entire body.
And Jin breathed in. Marissa raised her hands to her mouth, falling to her own knees to grip Jin’s hand. She turned her head up to Katashi. “Many thanks, m’visage. For your kind words, but more, for saving my friend.”
Katashi released his hands from Jin’s fallen form and stood. He turned his head back to Marissa. “Worthy one, speak your name.”
Marissa bowed her head. “Marissa Callahan, m’visage.”
“Marissa Callahan, reveal your attunement to me.”
“Yes, m’visage.” Marissa didn’t show the slightest hint of embarrassment as she unbuttoned the top buttons of her uniform, opening it up to display the center of her chest.
Her attunement was over her heart.
Katashi’s hand glowed again as he spoke. “Marissa, you will need greater strength to protect your friends from harm. You have already begun to walk this path on your own, but I will grant you a sliver of my strength in acknowledgement of your bravery.”
A flicker of blue fire appeared on his finger as he reached forward — and drew an extra line on her sigil.
And for the first time, I saw an attunement change.
Marissa gasped, clenching her fists. Her entire body trembled and she screamed into the air as an aura of crimson fire poured out of her.
No, not crimson.
Carnelian.
She’d reached the next level of her attunement.
The aura persisted around her even as she bowed her head. “I thank you again, m’visage, for your kindness. It is undeserved.”
He glanced back to her for one more moment. “Our business has concluded.”
And then he was in front of me again, with no sign of how he’d crossed the intervening space. I’d seen teleportation before, of course, but this was effortless. I couldn’t imagine even Professor Orden moving in the same way, without a single telltale gesture or word.
I was wise enough to kneel immediately this time.
“Cadence. I tire of speaking with humans, even if there is a virtuous one among you. You spoke of a wish to stop the attacks on the city. I am not inclined to do so. You may attempt to persuade me, but I am not in a patient mood.”
“If you will forgive a question, why are you attacking?”
Katashi waved a hand dismissively. “Your kingdom’s leaders are aware of their failure. But you are but a child, and I will forgive you for the inquiry. My brother is missing. Conspirators among your people hide him from me. This is unacceptable.”
I frowned. I knew Tenjin hadn’t been seen recently in human society, of course, and that Katashi being here was unusual. I’d suspected that Katashi was pulling a coup, if anything.
I hadn’t considered that he might have been worried about his own brother.
“I...sympathize with that more than you might realize, great one. I have spent the last five years hoping I could find my own brother in the tower. That has been my principal motivation in life.”
Katashi offered no reply. He simply turned his head aside.
A moment of humanity, perhaps?