Regrets of The Fallen (Victis Honor Book 1) (55 page)

“Wow,” Isabella said, thinking. “It’s kind of like the next step after what I was; a leader having a powerful person at their side, but this emperor has a whole team?”

Haruka nodded. “Yep. Many of them hold different positions in the empire as well; one is the
Archmage and one is a general, for example.”

“It’s kind of eerily similar to my own situation.”

Haruka tilted her head. “I suppose so, except they all have different reasons for joining. I find it interesting – had you been born here, you probably would have been a member.”

“You think so?” Isabella looked up at the Order Tower. If she had been born here, she may have ended up living there, Haruka said… “I don’t know if my life would have been very different.”

“I think it would,” Haruka responded. “The Empire spreads tolerance and order. It’s definitely not perfect, but racial crimes are not permitted or at all common.”

“So my parents would have been accepted?” Isabella looked back at Haruka and smiled. “Even if it doesn’t change what happened, I like knowing that a place like this exists, where others of my kind are accepted.”

“It gives you a bit more faith in people, doesn’t it?”

“It does.” Isabella sighed, looking around. “This whole city gives me faith; I’m amazed at what people can accomplish. Being able to see this place… It couldn’t have been built without so many people working together. And here, all these different kinds of people live and work together, talking to each other without caring about their race. This place is the opposite of Areya in every way. My parents would have loved it.”

“Then they’re probably happy that you’re here.”

Isabella smiled at her. “I think they’re happier that
you’re
here.”

IXH

A vehicle flew along a highway at a ridiculous speed, veering around others with wild abandon. The car hovered about a foot from the ground and was a sleek red in color, and was breaking quite a few laws at the moment. In the passenger seat was a thin male human with even thinner black hair, glasses, and a tight grip on two handles inside the car. “LEFT!” he was screaming, “Left, left! There’s a left curve up here – LEFT!”

The car slid around the turn and narrowly avoided a truck, picking up speed once more after the turn was complete. “I saw it, I saw it! Calm down, will you?” said Isabella, who was in the driver’s seat with hands more relaxed on the wheel than the instructor would have liked. “There’s no need to panic
.”

“Yes, you wouldn’t want to die panicking, would you?” Haruka said dryly from her seat in the back, behind the passenger seat so that she could see Bella. She was trying to focus on surviving this, but that certainly didn’t mean she was planning to ignore her duty of providing appropriate commentary.

“We’re not going to
die
,” Isabella reassured them despite the instructor’s whining, which was followed by a scream from all three of them as the car flew through an intersection and somehow managed to avoid all the cars crossing. Isabella looked over her shoulder at the intersection as they left it. “See? Those cars barely even came
close
to killing us.”

“Oh, we’re only
almost
dead. I feel better.”

“Would
you
prefer to drive, Ruki?”

“Would I rather drive myself or ride in a screaming death trap and die in a fiery crash? That’s a hard call.”

“I’m not
that
bad-“ The instructor screamed again and she looked forward to see a transport crossing in front of them. With a yank on the controls she veered the car to the side, flying right alongside the transport before moving away from it. “See? I totally avoided that.”

“We
are
more or less alive, I’ll give you that.”

“STOP THE CAR!” the instructor shouted, his body tense from bracing himself.

“Um, how do I do that again?” she said as she scanned over the controls.

“Brake! BRAAAAAKE!”

Isabella looked up to see a support column approaching rapidly, which caused her to yelp and yank the handbrake up as soon as she remembered it. The sudden stop jerked them all and the poor instructor’s face hit the dash in front of him, breaking his nose. Isabella squeaked and clapped her hands over her mouth. “I’m so sorry! I didn’t mean to do that! Are you okay?”

“Out! Out of the car!”

Isabella and Haruka got out and watched him switch to the driver’s seat before shooting them a glare and speeding away. “…Well
he
was certainly rude.”

“No manners at all. So did you enjoy driving?”

“It was great!” Isabella beamed at her. “So much fun. I don’t know why he was panicking so much though; I’ve
run
as fast as I was driving before.”

“Yes, well, most people can’t run at faster-than-eyesight speeds.”

“Oh, right.” Isabella clasped her hands behind her back, smiling. “Whatever. I got to drive one of those floating vehicle thingies, so I’m happy.”

“That’s all that matters.”

IXH

“So a spa is just like, a relaxation thing?”

“More or less,” Haruka said as she opened the door for Isabella. She had hoped to bring her here – more for one reason than any other. She would enjoy
most
of it.
Probably
. It didn’t matter, Haruka was really here for her own entertainment. “I’ve got our schedule. Ready to enjoy a day of nothing strenuous?”

“I think we deserve it.”

“Agreed.”

It did go just as well as expected, although Haruka did get a few odd looks for the mask she refused to remove. The woman who was helping them smiled kindly, saying, “Your mud bath is ready in room three,” before leaving.

“What.” Isabella blinked at the door before turning towards Haruka, who seemed to find something on the ceiling incredibly interesting. “
What.
”

“Hmm?” Haruka spun back to her. “Oh, we should get going to room three!”

“Wait! Ack!” Isabella struggled as Haruka dragged her into the hallway. “No one told me about this! This is abuse! Help!” Two minutes later she stood in front of said mud bath, staring into it. “So…
Mud
… My old nemesis… We meet again,” she said before going silent for another minute. “…I’m not getting into that.”

“Oh, come on! It’s good for your skin!”

“It’s mud.”

“It will cleanse you.”

“It’s
mud
.”

“It will help with joint pain.”

“I’m twenty-nine! And it’s
mud
!” Isabella whirled on her, narrowing her eyes and pointing at her. “
You
planned this
. You want me to
suffer
.”

“I just want to help you, that’s all.”

“Lies! I saw that look in your eyes – this is for your own amusement, and I won’t be part of-“

Haruka rolled her eyes before simply shoving her in, eliciting a shout from her wife as she plunged into the bath. She snickered as Isabella rose out of it with a venomous glare. “Aww, did you get dirty?”

“I shouldn’t have this all to myself,” Isabella said. Haruka really should have seen it coming, but Isabella was still incredibly fast – she had caught her wrist before she could attempt avoiding it, and immediately afterwards she yanked her in. Haruka yelped before plunging headfirst into it. “Wouldn’t want you to miss out!”

Haruka stuck her head out of it and spit out a bit of mud. “Thanks.”

“Don’t mention it,” Isabella said with a grin, cupping her hands and pouring more mud onto her head.

“I don’t see how this bothers you and yet being covered in blood doesn’t.”

“Believe it or not, blood is way easier to clean out of curly hair.” Isabella sat back down. “I don’t get why people do this. Mud is something we
avoid.
Haven’t your people conquered the elements?”

“Yes, and now we use them to our benefit.”

“Your whole society is insane.”

“Because of mud?”

“Because of mud!”

Haruka chuckled, leaning back and closing her eyes. “Relax; soon we’ll get out of this and head over to our spider massage.” She made sure to hold her breath before, as she expected, her head was dunked under once again.

IXH

Isabella smiled as she flipped through the large number of photographs they’d just taken. “This technology is incredible. It looks real
.”

“It captures an image of real life,” Haruka said with a nod. “Just like your eyes do, except you get to keep it forever, you can show other people, and it doesn’t fade with memory.”

“Getting pictures of us was a smart idea.”

“Well, it was yours, so of course you’d say that.”

“Credit where credit is due,” Isabella said with a smile. “Besides, it wasn’t as good as my
second
idea,” she said as she lifted the camera they’d purchased and took a random picture of Haruka.

Haruka blinked after the sudden flash, smirking. “Thanks. I really need more pictures of
myself.
”

Isabella grinned and took one of herself instead. “There. And now you’ll always remember me annoying you when you look at these pictures.”

“You aren’t annoying-“ Haruka was cut off as the camera was shoved in her face and another flash went off directly in her eyes. “Gah! Bella!”

Bella laughed and dodged out of the way of her grab,
making a face and taking a picture of said expression before fleeing into the crowd as Haruka gave chase, neither paying any attention to the dozens of other people on the street.

IXH

It was late morning, and the weather was miserable – pouring rain, consistent thunder, heavy wind, and very cold – and Haruka couldn’t have been happier. They were inside their hotel room which, thanks to the crazy amount of money Freya had given them, was a
very
nice room near the top in one of the skyscrapers, giving them an extraordinary view of the surrounding city. Their curtains were open, allowing them to see the rain lashing the balcony just outside. Inside it was warm and comfortable, for once allowing them to enjoy the elements without being
in
them.

Haruka was seated at one end of the couch that faced the balcony, sitting upright against the back of it with one hand holding up the book she was reading and the other playing with Isabella’s hair. Bella was lying lengthwise along the couch with her head on Haruka’s lap, reading her own book that she had purchased in a shop the day before. Due to the weather they had decided to stay in and – after taking a long time before getting out of bed – had been enjoying it as much as anything they could’ve done. It was exactly the sort of thing they could only do now, with no danger looming ahead and nothing pursuing them. It was a normal day, and that was something special in and of itself.

“Oh, come
on
, just
talk
to her you moron!”

Haruka smirked as Isabella yelled at the characters in her book again, a habit Haruka had just learned about; on one hand it saddened her just how many little things she didn’t know – and might never know – about Bella, but on the other hand she loved learning about each one. She moved her book aside and looked down at Bella. “Is he still refusing to listen to your advice?”

“Yes!” she said with exasperation. “All of their problems and misunderstandings would be solved if they would just
say
something.”

Haruka smiled, curling blue hair around her finger. “We haven’t had a problem with that. We’ve been surprisingly drama free, between us at least.”

“Yeah, I don’t remember getting truly angry at you.” Bella put her book down and looked up at her. “We need more cliché in our lives, Haruka. We’re dangerously low. Do something for me to get angry at.”

“That doesn’t sound at all fun.”

“But if we have a fight, we can make up!”

“
That
part sounds fun… Can’t we just skip to that part?”

“Does it work that way?”

“I don’t see why not.”

“Whatever, I like making our own rules,” Isabella said before tossing her book away and pulling Haruka down to kiss her.

Haruka chuckled. “Have I mentioned I love you?”

“I never mind hearing it.”

IXH

Three Weeks Later

Isabella let out a breath and sat down, looking over the massive canyon they were climbing along. They were a good distance south of the Imperial city, having left it two weeks earlier. Now they were surrounded by sun-bleached mesas of brilliant orange and red rock, the largest of which they were in the process of climbing. This area was apparently known for its beauty, and Isabella had to agree – Areya tended to be dim, wet and grey, so it had no areas that looked like this. The mesa looked like it was on fire, and they were trying to get to the top before sunset so they could see it from there, as the rock and the gasses within the canyon were said to have odd reactions to the lighting at that time.