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Templars stood all around as the figure standing by their fountain slowly rose, glowing sections of her armour illuminating her front, the light casting an ominous shadow over her face.

"This temple is quaint." She said. "It's no wonder we were sent here." She looked over at the Templars, "where is my brother?"

A Templar wearing white and gold strode from the temple, standing before the female and staring daggers at her. One of the Templars shouted at her.

"Bow before a Grand Templar!"

Her feline ear flicked at his words. "No; you will tell me where my brother, Charlie Autumn is."

The Grand Templar huffed. "Female related to Charlie Autumn? Flora Autumn, you were barred from these grounds months ago; you could never accept our teachings and am not welcome here! Your bother is down in his class with the rest of those who require more... stringent methods." The Grand Templar waved a hand idly, magic warping through the air in his palm. "Now you will bow."

The glowing crystals on her armour pulsed as magic slammed against her back and knees, attempting to force her into a submissive pose; instead, she only stood strong as her heavy cloak billowed as if in a hurricane.

She snarled and waved her own hand and the very earth around her erupted in fury.

"I will not bow, not to you, not to anyone!"

Spikes rose from the ground beneath Templars, or fissures opened up and swallowed them whole, creatures of teeth, claw and blackest pelt burst from the air around her, leaping upon Templars and mauling them, her feet moving her forth at a steady pace. She stopped before the Grand Templar and glared down at him, her magic beasts taking up positions to her sides.

"I-Impossible..!"

"You are not the only people to teach magic, Templar." She hissed, "Your way is not the only way. Of all I have encountered in the last year after my banishment yours is the most corrupted and spiteful. Children sent to you for being impossible to handle by their parents never return, instead becoming one of your Templars, and those that do are broken husks, barely a shell of their former person." She grabbed the Templar's robes and brought his face to hers, twisted as it was by her own demons against which she struggled within. "Before the night is out, you will be broken too." She breathed. "But remember--

"You broke me first."

She woke in bed, sitting bolt upright and panting heavily. She shook gently, staring straight ahead before looking down at her hands. Still she shook, and someone sat down beside her and put their hands on her shoulders.

"Flora, are you alright?"

She shook her head and gritted her teeth, putting her hands to the sides of her head and hissing.

"They're... They're talking..! Shouting..!"

"Which ones, Flora," he asked in earnest worry, "which ones?"

"All of them! Please, make them stop!"

He sighed and gently took her hands. "I will, Flora, I will, but remember what I taught you? You need to listen. What do they demand?"

She twitched in pain, and did seem to listen to the voices that only she could hear.

"R-retribution... Revenge..!" She hissed. "They're angry once again... while quiet voices suggest sustenance or the toilet, the others shout in anger! Help me, please, it's too much..!"

He nodded and moved his hands to quiet the furious voices in her head, but before he could do so, one voice, louder than the others despite its gentle tone, silenced them all and snapped her eyes open, making her stop him.

"Rescue."

"Flora..?"

"They... they fell silent." She mumbled incredulously. "R... rescue."

The male, an elder canine somewhat in his twilight years evidenced by his greying fur and gently misting eyes, gave her a concerned look.

"Rescue? This is a new word for your demons to shout, in all the months you've been here."

She nodded faintly. "R-rescue." She mumbled. "My brother... he's still there, where they... they did this to me."

"Flora, you're not yet ready, you know that; we still have far to go before your mind is stable. Though you've been the best student I've ever taught, you know as well as I that you are not prepared. What would happen if you had a lapse during the infiltration? What happens if you snap and hurt people who don't deserve it?"

She shook her head and pulled her knees up to hide her face and the tears that were gently rolling down her cheeks.

It had been a solid year since the Templars of the Dream had banished her for becoming impossible to teach. It was something that happened to the children that were sent to their temple by parents because they were uncontrollable by normal teachers and adults. She and her brother, however, had been sent to the temple simply because their father wanted to be rid of them; they were a tax on his wallet greater than he wanted, and the wealthy mine owner had simply done away with them.

It had been terrifying, banishment. She had been dumped where all of the banished children ended up being dumped, the Templars riding off in their carriage before she could turn around and grab hold of the vehicle.

She didn't know how she survived the first week of her life alone; banished children were banished because they had been broken, their minds destroyed by the extreme methods of indoctrination the Templars employed. Several had become psychotically violent, and prowled the woods where she had been abandoned, and which were the cause for her not knowing how she had survived. Some had been lucky and had managed to find their ways back to a town, only to fall into unbreakable psychosis and become impossible to handle.

She'd walked for days, just walking aimlessly. The demons in her head, her own voice, demanding things of her in angrier and angrier tones, her own mind rebelling against her the more she walked. Eventually she had collapsed from exhaustion and exposure, unable to go on.

That was when the Brotherhood found her.

The monks had found her by the lake beyond their walls, lying in the snow unmoving. They'd collected her, brought her inside their own warmed temple and nursed her back to life. She had dreamed terrible things, everything the Templars had done to her repeated in her mind and strengthened the memories until she had awoken, the voices in her head screaming as loudly as they had this morn. The highest monk of the Brotherhood, the Abbot, had since aided her in learning her way in the world, using his own magic to quiet her demons when she could no longer control them.

They had become her family.

Over the year, she had been taught the Brotherhood's methods to magic, and she had readily soaked it up, excelling monks who had been under study for many years until she was being tutored by the Abbot himself. It was odd that she had learned so quickly, but her inner demons had helped, absorbing the information more readily than she could have without them and forcing them into her mind.

Sometimes the voices would be gentler, trying to console her or comfort her. She'd lost so much, been put through such madness, that they sympathized; they were a part of her, after all.

"I... I saw something in my dream, Reverend One." She said as they ate their breakfasts.

"Oh?"

"I... I saw myself in armour, made of heavy metals, and with strange glowing gemstones."

"Gemstones?"

"Yes, they had an orange glow and pulsed when a magical attack was deflected from striking me, they seemed to shield me."

The Abbot nodded faintly. "Anything else?" He asked, taking a discreet bite of his toast.

"I... I saw beasts, beasts I had summoned. They were huge and black, like wolves but of greater size and hideousness."

He stopped before taking his next bite of toast at this.

"Did they act like wild beasts, or did they follow and aid you?"

"They acted like guardian hounds, like those the Barbarians raise from pups."

The Abbot considered these words.

"Flora... I have a lesson for you today." He said. "Several, in fact."

"B-but Reverend One, today you said I could go into town!" She complained indignantly.

"You still may." He said calmly. "However, these lessons I would teach no other."

She bowed her head for what she could at the table without dunking her head into her breakfast.

"Y-yes, your Reverence."

The Abbot moved her into the courtyard, another pair of monks had moved an object with a sheet draped over it into the yard, and they stopped just short of it.

"Flora, do you remember the gemstones of which you mentioned earlier?"

She nodded faintly.

"They are Heartstone crystals, incredibly rare crystals formed by the concentration of magic within a magical creature's heart, such as dragons or manticore. They can be used for concentrating magical spells, or amplifying magical prowess in individuals. We have, in our possession, a very limited supply of useable Heartstone." He reached up and pulled the cover from the object in the middle of the courtyard, "Such as these."

The fabric revealed the armour she had dreamed that night, with the obvious differences of being for males. For a moment, the voices all spoke in her head; rescue.

She reached up for it nervously, retracting her hand before touching it.

"Is this what you remember?"

She nodded furiously and he sighed.

"Yes, I thought it might be. Well, I guess we should go to our next lesson; the beasts.

"It's a spell that very few manage to master, and I am reluctant to teach it to many of my pupils. The beasts are called Yolpinach, or Spirit Beasts; they are a manifestation of a portion of an individual's spirit. I shall demonstrate."

He took a few steps back and gave a heavy breath. With a wave of his hand, magic warped through the air and a large black creature formed, looking around anxiously and moving around the yard with eager steps. The Abbot whistled.

"Justice, heel!"

The creature's ears perked and it stepped back over to them, sitting at his side and looking at him expectantly.

"Spirit beasts are formed by using magic to form a body for a portion of you, such as this creature which is a manifestation of my sense of justice. They usually embody the portion of you which has inhabited it. If you're willing to try, I would advise caution; some parts of yourself you should never release."

She nodded faintly and held a hand out, letting the magic warp and flow around her before releasing it, her eyes closed.

Something nuzzled her hand.

She opened her eyes and looked at the wolf-like beast that only looked back. It opened its mouth.

"F-Flora?"

She took a step back in shock. Had it just... spoken?

"Wh...what are you?"

The beast sat on its haunches and chuckled. "You call us your demons." It said.

She wasn't sure if she should be more or less disturbed by this.

"Wh-which one are you?!" She snapped, "The shouting one? The demanding one?!"

It shook its head. "I am the one who commands the others with but a word, I am the one you have nicknamed 'Rescue'."

She gave it a panicked look, moving to take a step back. "Why, why have you taken that body; what do you want?!"

"I want to help. You... you've so many of us within you, and they bicker and argue amongst one another so frequently that it's only harmed you further. Once upon a time, I guess you could have called me your... inner strength."

"We have a word for that." The Abbot said, dismissing his own spirit beast.

"What is that, reverend one?"

The Abbot grinned toothily. "Courage."

"I... I had two beasts within my dream, Abbot." Flora mumbled worriedly.

The spirit beast nuzzled her again. "The other that will take root is your second most powerful 'demon'."

"The... the shouting one..."

"She would be your anger and fury at those who have wronged us, and her desire to return it to them is unparalleled within you..."

"She would be Vengeance." The Abbot mumbled. "I would advise, Flora, that she should only be released for good reason, an avatar of vengeance and fury is a dangerous and difficult to control thing."

Flora nodded to him understandingly before kneeling and wrapping her arms around the beast before her.

"You... you helped me earlier..." she mumbled to her, "Your voice cut through the noise like a lantern in the night. Thank you, Courage."

Courage put a paw on her back and leaned into the hug. "You need not thank me, Flora; while they call for revenge against the Templars, rescuing those they are attempting to wrong is far more important, especially your brother."

She nodded and stroked the spirit beast's head as she stood back up.

"Flora, you must dismiss her." The Abbot said firmly.

Sadly she nodded. "I understand, but I... I don't want to..."

"It is alright, Flora." Courage said warmly, nuzzling her head, "I will be right here; I shall keep your 'demons' under check, I promise."

"Thank you." Flora mumbled, before releasing her magic and watching the beast fade into mist.

"You're welcome." Courage said, before fading away with the wind.

Flora was depressed for most of the day, having conversed with the only part of herself that actually cared about her having struck her into a lower note than usual. She'd even been half hearted during sparring practice with the other monks; though she still bested them like usual. It was hard to lose a sparring match when you had parts of yourself which could watch your other senses for you. She sat alone at the grand table in the dining hall at dinner, the other monks not wanting anything to do with her.

She was bad news.

They knew about her unhinged mind, how she'd been bent and broken by those who were supposed to care for her. At times, they had seen her talk to no-one, or hold her head as if in pain. Sometimes she shouted or would snap at people who weren't there; break into tears at other times, and always seem to be wrestling with something which argued with her every decision. Today she was acting stranger than all the days prior; she was too quiet, not holding her head or wrestling with the demons within her mind. She was just... sadly quiet while she ate.

After dinner she stood and moved back to her room, sitting on her bed and staring at the ground beneath her feet. Every time she thought about releasing her spirit beast, the voices in her head would tell her not to, that she shouldn't. She sighed and changed into her nightdress before lying back in her bed, her eyes drifting closed as she tried to sleep.

She dreamed of the forest in which she had been abandoned, the snow underfoot and trees overhead, she dreamed of dozens of copies of her standing in the mist, just watching. She dreamed they rushed her, all shout and rage and violence.

She dreamed of a great light which banished the copies back to the shadows.

Flora sat bolt upright in her bed, once again her breathing hastened and worried. The Abbot was not here; clearly it was still early morning, still dark out. The voices, her demons, they'd never... attacked her in her sleep. They were shouting again, their outrage at being ignored for an entire day, their demands for revenge and vengeance at the loudest they'd ever shouted. She gripped her head and rocked back and forth, hissing through her teeth.

"Stop, please stop; be quiet..! Please, stop..! Stop! You're hurting me..!"

The voices, impressively, did stop; and she widened her eyes in astonishment. They... stopped at her command? That had never happened before; they'd never obeyed, if anything trying to command them had only made things worse in the past. Why? Why were they suddenly listening to her?

Had they finally realized that her pain was their own?

She sighed and slipped out of bed, not bothering to dress as she moved over to the window and stared out over the horizon beyond the walls of her home, at the night which had fallen over the world around her.

She'd never seen the world as beautiful, not since the Templars had broken her; the world had become a terrifying and dangerous place, where even those who were supposed to do nothing but help sought only their own goals and to be rid of those they found to be without use. Magic could cause flowers to bloom with more vigour and life than she had ever seen, it could heal wounds which could have otherwise killed their victim, but... it couldn't heal the wounds within her, it couldn't put the splinters of her mind back where they belonged; only temporarily quiet them.

She dwelled on her past; trying to figure out where she'd done wrong, what she'd done to deserve what had been done to her in her life. The Brotherhood taught Karma, what you do will be done back unto you. But...

It didn't explain why she had been so badly broken.

She sighed again and looked down at her hands, fresh tears tapping onto the wood of her floor.

"What did I do?"

She sat in the window for the rest of the night, watching the sky as the sun rose, painting the clouds and sky in oranges and purples. She'd always enjoyed the sunset, when she could catch it, but she rarely saw the sunrise. Unlike the other Monks, she was always allowed extra sleep, them taking her condition into consideration. She knew about the morning rituals of the temple, however, and she recognized the gong sounding the Abbot's waking. She wasn't sure how long she'd sat at the window awake, just watching the horizon in thought. Her ear caught footsteps outside her room, many of them; the monks were awake and were all busily going about the morning business of tending to the gardens and the temple. A knock at her door caught her attention, and a monk stepped in with a small watering can, most likely to water the plant she had on her windowsill. He looked worried that she was awake and just staring out the window, and hurried back out of the room, closing the door behind him.

Soon after, the door opened again to the Abbot, who stepped over to her worriedly.

"Flora, are you alright?"

She didn't respond.

"Flora? Did the demons wake you?"

"They were shouting." She said faintly.

"'Were'?"

She nodded faintly. "I... I told them to stop, and they... they did."

The Abbot considered this, seemingly perturbed.

"That has never worked in the past." He pointed out.

She nodded a little. "They... they've always hated my attempts to subdue them... Perhaps they've realized that my pain is their own, or... maybe Courage has something to do with this?"

"I would not consider this a breakthrough, Flora; making your demons obeying you once does not mean they will obey a second time."

She sighed and turned her eyes back out the window.

"Reverend one..." She mumbled, "We... I can't take putting off rescuing my brother for much longer; every moment he remains there is another moment that the Templars have to corrupt him."

The Abbot nodded faintly.

"Soon, Flora, I assure you."

She spent the morning practicing martial magic with the Abbot in the courtyard, her concentration lapsing only for a moment when she managed to create a spike of solid rock to pierce clean through a training dummy and leaving it suspended off the ground. He had praised her at her interesting use of magic; he'd never trained her to do that. She'd happily soaked up the praise, and they spent a few hours practicing the magic to see her control of it.

Soon the courtyard was littered with dummies hanging from spikes.

They had then returned into the temple to have lunch before a short lecture and some more hand-to-hand combat training. The Abbot seemed to be impressed with her progress, citing her desire to rescue her brother as the possible cause for her skill. Soon after the training, dinner was served, and the whole temple was within the dining hall to enjoy the meal. Again she sat alone at the table, though she didn't mind. It was nice to get some time to sit and think over the day.

She reflected momentarily that, for once, her demons were quiet for a day without intervention.

Upon returning to her room, she found a stand in the middle of the room and a note on her bed. She pulled the cover from the stand while reading the note.

'Flora, if you are reading this, it means you are ready to take the next step in your training. I understand your want and need for haste in the rescue of your brother, however you were in need of preparation for what lies ahead. The Templars are vile and corruptive, and will not hold back in attempting to hold you from your goal; however I have faith in your capabilities and training, and I can only hope that you share my faith. The Armour has been refitted for your physique and from merely looking at it prepared I can feel from the earth that you will not fail.

Stand tall, stand strong, show those that corrupt this land that they have no place amongst us, and that the world will balance their actions back at them; none are beyond Karma.

-His Reverence the Abbot.

Flora carefully folded the note before kissing the parchment and placing it inside her bedside drawer like someone places a delicate and fragile petal. She shut the bedroom door and locked it before turning on the armour and slipping out of the majority of her clothes.

She moved through the temple without meeting a single monk until she stepped into the courtyard, where she found herself face to face with the better of the temple's monks. They eyed her wearily before bowing and turning to the Abbot, who stood beyond them.

"Tonight we right the world's wrongs, as is taught by our traditions. The Templars of the Dream have plagued these lands too long, and tonight we will put this right. They corrupt and break the young, dispose of those they cannot sway to their vile ways. They have perverted Karma for too long, and tonight we set this right. Though I send a veritable army, only Flora shall enter the grounds of their corruption; this mission is also one of mercy, to rescue those who still have hold on reality and resist the ways of the Templar.

"You shall be tasked with ensuring that those rescued remain safe, brothers and sisters." The Abbot shouted at the Monks. "And you shall return victorious!"

The monks all shouted their cheers as the Abbot moved through them, stopping by Flora for a moment.

"Flora, this night is yours, have faith in yourself." He mumbled. "Go get your brother back."

The Monks moved quickly through the woods, their own carriages drawn by swift and strong horses and halted within the trees beyond the Templar's grounds. Flora nodded to them and pulled her hood over her head, moving through the trees and into the front courtyard. The Monks all mumbled between one another as the young feline disappeared from view.

"Do you think... she can do it?" one asked.

"The Abbot has faith," another replied, his words silencing the monks, "so should we."

She knelt over the fountain in the middle of the Templar's courtyard, idly watching the fish swimming through the crystal clear water as a dozen Templar took up positions around her.

"Who are you? What are you doing here?!"

She stood slowly and turned on the male feline who had shouted at her, glaring daggers at him with her hood up.

"Where is my brother?"

"There is no-one here for you, now be gone!"

"If you do not know where he is, mayhap one of your greater torturers, a Grand Templar does?" She hissed.

"Oh, I know where everyone within our sacred grounds is, girl;" a seedy voice that every demon in her head seethed at furiously said, "And the young shall not be interrupted from their lessons; now, you will bow before your betters."

She laughed mirthlessly. "No."

He sneered and raised a hand, magic warping the air in his palm as he tried to use magic to force her to her knees.

"You will bow!"

The gemstones on her armour shone brightly as the magic was redirected at the ground around her, the cobblestone thudding and cracking from the force being applied to them all at once. She snarled angrily, magic warping in her own hand as she prepared to cast her own spells.

"I will not bow to you, never to you!"

The earth beneath several Templars exploded into spikes, impaling them above the ground as a black beast erupted from beneath her cloak and leapt upon the remaining stragglers. Slowly she strode up to the Grand Templar and grabbed his collar before he could flee, pulling him close and tossing her head back to remove her hood.

"F-Flora Autumn?!"

"Where is my brother?" She hissed in his face.

She strode through the temple, using magic to subdue any Templar who got in her way as she made her way to the lower levels, where the younglings were kept. With all her fury and rage she ripped the door that barred her between her and her brother from its hinges and tossed it aside, standing defiantly as the children all looked at her with frightened faces.

"We're getting out of here." She snapped. "The Templar shall hold you no longer."

The children all hurried to their feet, and she let Courage step into the door.

"Stay with Courage." She instructed. "She will keep you safe."

As the great beast started to lead the children past, she stood by one side of the door and waited for her brother to walk past, grabbing his shoulder and tugging him aside and into a hug.

"Brother!"

He seemed stunned for a moment before pulling from the hug worriedly.

"F... Flora?"

She nodded and he threw himself on her, hugging her tightly.

"They said that you ran away..!"

She shook her head. "I would never abandon you, little brother." She replied. "They banished me from the grounds, took me to a remote part of the woods and left me to die."

"Why would they do that..?"

She sighed and looked him in the eyes seriously. "I... I am broken, Charlie." She said. "Their methods... they took their toll on my mind, and I couldn't take it. They broke me, and found me unfit for conversion into their fold, so they threw me out like garbage, like they have done to so many others." She sighed and turned him to leave. "I may never be truly healthy again."

Flora and Courage led the children from the catacombs out into the courtyard with no resistance; Flora found it odd, she'd have figured that the High Inquisitor would have intervened...

They hurried across the courtyard and out the gates, Flora urging the children to head into the trees where the monks waited to help them onto the carts. She pushed her brother into the arms of one of the Monks before turning to the sound of pounding hooves.

The familiar shape of the Templar's carriage bore down on her, and she was too stunned to move.

"Flora!"

She was pushed heavily from in front of the carriage by a huge black mass that the found itself beneath the cart being trampled. She pushed herself from the ground as the carriage hurried off and looked to see what had rescued her.

What she saw made her blood freeze and a lump catch in her chest.

"Courage!"

She hurried over, sliding to her knees and carefully picking the beasts' head up into her lap where it wheezed heavily.

"Courage, no, hold on!"

"F... Flora... You are safe." She mumbled in return. "That... that is all that matters to me."

Flora shook her head furiously. "No, Courage, please; don't leave me, I can't go on without you! The others don't obey me, they obey you! It was you who made them silent this morning, I know it was!"

"I... I'm sorry, Flora; but... I..."

"You... you won't survive in that body; please, Courage, let me dismiss you, you'll be safe, I promise!"

Courage shook her large head. "No... Flora, if you do that... I don't know what it will do to you..."

"It doesn't matter." Flora insisted desperately, tears falling from her chin, "it's not like I can break any more."

Courage whined in pain, and Flora waved a hand which warped the air around the fallen creature's body.

"Courage, you'll be safe back within me." She mumbled as the black mass faded into mist, "I promise we will take care of you."

The creature nodded faintly as she faded completely. "Ok Flora; I... I trust you."

As the mass faded entirely, Flora's hands met her head and she screamed in utmost agony.

The carts of the Monks were hurrying home, Flora panting heavily in her seat alongside her brother, who looked on at her worriedly. He shook his sister faintly to get her attention.

"Charlie, what is it?"

He looked pensive for a moment. "The... the creature, Courage..." He mumbled, "She was... part of you."

Flora nodded, thankful that the voices had only said one thing to her once Courage had been brought back into her mind, 'rescue'.

"I told you before I was broken, remember?" She asked, to which he nodded, "I... I have, in my head, voices which do not belong to my own thoughts. They think on their own, and scream demands at me when it suits them. They each have a different personality, too, though their voices are universally my own. For a long while, I was unable to silence them.

"Courage... Courage came to me only recently, and managed to silence the others with but a word; she can make them quiet when I cannot, and she is but the second loudest of the voices. She came to me in my time of need, she comforted me and gave me back the silence within I had been lacking for so long. She may just be another facet of my mind breaking, but... she, out of all of them, truly cares about me, as I care for you."

He nodded faintly, worried as all family would be worried about a fellow sibling who has only just told them that they're crazy.

The carts slowed to a halt within the trees beyond the walls of the Brotherhood's temple, and she nudged the driver worriedly. "What's going on?"

"The Templar's cart is outside our gates, look."

She gazed over and did spy the Templar's cart waiting just outside the gates.

"They must have seen some of our monks when they... when they went past." She mumbled. "Stay here, I'll handle this."

The monk nodded and she hopped down from the cart, momentarily tapping her brother.

"Stay safe." She said, before hurrying over to the Templar's cart.

Quietly she released the horses and slapped them on, making them bolt down the road a little before she used magic to root the cart in place, the very earth beneath the wheels opening up and swallowing them to the axle. She then moved to the gate and peeked through, seeing a single Templar standing in the middle of the courtyard. He also was wearing armour, though his lacked glowing jewels.

The High Inquisitor.

She stood upright and pushed the gate open, striding into his sight.

"There you are, you little home wrecker." He growled at her, "you have caused enough trouble for one night, and your pathetic Brotherhood has stood against us for long enough. You will submit, or I will be forced to do something you shall regret."

She laughed.

"I will not bow to you." She spat. "You and your disgusting cult have done enough damage to the people of this world!"

The earth around her exploded into spikes, and she narrowly dodged to one side as they leapt from the ground.

"Very well."

She didn't have much time to react to anything he threw her way, dodging and ducking and weaving his every spell. She managed to cast a spell or two of her own, but he effortlessly moved to avoid them. She waited for another spike to erupt from the earth, and she leapt atop it and rode it to its apex, standing on the peak. The voices within spoke a whisper.

'Vengeance.'

She nodded to herself. "Yes, it is her turn. It's time I stopped playing, time to grow up," she raised her voice to be audible to the male before her as she wove huge amounts of magic through the air, "it's time I showed you some real magic!"

The spike beneath her exploded as a huge black beast the size of a bull thundered through it, fur and horn and fang screaming through the air as she barrelled towards the Templar. She held the shape of a massive shaggy lioness, her tail ending in wicked barbs and horns upon her head. The ground cracked beneath her pounding paws and her claws scored deep gashes into the ground in her wake. She swung a forepaw at the Templar and managed to swat him clear across the yard and into the brick wall, whereupon she grabbed him in her teeth and flung her overhead to land at Flora's feet. He heaved, his breathing pained and his legs shattered, and Flora whistled.

"Vengeance, calm!"

The beast considered her order, seeming to not want to halt her assault, but did relent and sit behind her master. Flora pulled the Templar from the smashed cobbles.

"M-Mercy! Mercy!"

"Mercy? Mercy?! After what you've done to hundreds of children, after what you've done to me?! I should make you suffer, I should show you the true pain you've inflicted upon me and dozens of children like me! I should break you as you broke me!" She huffed in fury, her arms lowering him slightly. "You took my childhood, you took my sanity! What does it take for you to admit you took more than you deserve?! What does it take for you to admit you don't deserve mercy, to admit you're a monster?!

"You don't deserve mercy." She growled spitefully, letting him fall to the floor once again. She became aware that she could see the Abbot watching her from a doorframe. "But I will give it." She spat. "I will grant you mercy, because instead you will have to live with the guilt that you destroyed hundreds of lived and ruined the souls and minds of those brought to you for guidance only to be led astray, to be used up and spat out." She heaved her fury out as she glared daggers at him. "You get to live, because killing you would not bring them back or heal those who suffer because of you."

She turned to Vengeance and stroked the massive creature's chest, gaining a purr from her. With a wave of her hand, the beast was gone, fading into the wind. The voice of Vengeance spoke within her head.

'Justice.'

She bowed her head as the Abbot approached and mumbled to herself, to those within her head.

"Thank you for obeying me, Vengeance."

'For Courage, I obey.' She replied.

The Abbot stood next to Flora and put a hand on her shoulder calmly.

"Flora, I am proud of you." He said. "You have shown mercy where none is deserved, where Karma screams that more punishment is due."

"I will not dirty my hands with his blood." She replied irritably. "I will not unbalance my own Karma at his sake. He is not worth it, never worth it. I hope he lives within a dungeon forever, to suffer over those who he has destroyed."

"We shall keep him within our punishment chamber, and tomorrow he will be taken to the Royal guard for his crimes. You have done the Brotherhood proud this eve."

She smiled up at him as her brother ran in and leapt upon her, throwing his arms around her cheerfully.

"You were not the only one to have faith in me, your Reverence;" she mumbled, "I, too, had faith."

Flora found herself lying in her room that night staring at the roof above her. The voices had been silent this night, though admittedly they too might be tired of the evening's activities. She sighed and slid back out of bed and over to the windowsill, sitting in it and staring out at the sky beyond.

"I... I wish I could tell her how... how quiet I find it." She mumbled. "I... I wish I could at least talk with her..."

'With whom?' A voice asked.

She chuckled faintly at the voice in her head. "With Courage."

Her reply was met with silence, before one spoke up.

'Think small.'

She paused at this; it was a bit more... cryptic than the voices normally spoke. She sighed and allowed herself to cast another spirit beast, only allowing it a small amount of magic to focus on. The shadows of the room shifted, and something thumped within the darkness before she felt a snuffling at her foot. She leaned down and lifted a puppy-sized version of Courage's form.

"Courage..?"

The puppy nodded, and Flora hugged it to her breast tightly.

"I was so worried I lost you..!"

"I will always be with you Flora." She replied, her tone smaller, "I can only control this small a form because the rest of me is recuperating; it is odd being in two places at once."

"You can talk." She grumbled, "at least you're not a committee of one."

"Flora, remember what you said to the Abbot earlier?"

Flora thought back for a moment. "About me having faith in myself?" She asked, to which Courage nodded.

"I have always had faith in you." She said, giving Flora's form a gentle nuzzle.

"R... Really?"

Courage nodded.

"T... thank you."

Courage smiled and licked her hand. "I never thought you'd give up hope, never thought you'd surrender to the others and their shouting, it gave us pride to know that you continue despite our bickering. It... that's why I've always had faith in you, Flora, and I always will. We all will."

She stroked Courage's head happily, holding her tightly as if she was going to be taken away from her.

"I may be crazy, and you might be a part of my insanity, but... I don't think I would want to be without you."

Courage nodded faintly.

"Thank you for helping me." Faith mumbled down to her.

Courage shook her head faintly.

"You saved yourself." She mumbled. "I just helped you pick yourself up afterwards..."

"And then I picked you up when you were down." Faith pointed out.

"And it nearly killed you."

She shook her head. "I would do it again; you needed me as much as I needed you."

Courage nuzzled her chest gently. "And now you need sleep as much as I need to recuperate."

Flora nodded and gave Courage one last gentle stroke before allowing her to discarnate and moved back to her bed, laying beneath the covers and resting her head on her pillow.

"Goodnight my demons..."

'Goodnight Flora.'