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The Liberation Army had just passed into Thracia proper, when on the road to Meath they encountered an onslaught of Dracoknights. With the aid of new allies, the battles had been won, and Meath was only a few more days ride away, but Seliph still worried whether what they were doing was the right thing.
If Lewyn had told him to see people as they were all the way back in the Aed Shrine, why were the people of Thracia forced to suffer for their king's actions?
However, when he saw Leif and Finn's eyes flash at the promise of confronting King Travant, he knew some hatreds ran deeper and more personal than he could imagine.
After a long war council, Seliph was hoping he could take some time before the evening meal to rest his eyes and mind for a little bit.
Yet, when Seliph opened the flap to his tent, Seliph truly realized some aspects of antagonism and fear were far more difficult to breach.
There.
On top of his bedroll.
He.
Saw.
It.
Hundreds of legs on an undulating, chitonous body. Bright orange-red in warning.
A centipede. A being from hell. On the place where he slept.
Seliph barely held back from screaming, tiredness forgotten. He quickly retied the flap and backed away from the tent, staring it down as he tried to think of what to do.
He could get help— from who, though?
Shannan and Oifey went on patrol after the meeting, and he knew the chances of Lewyn helping him were slim to none. Beside that, a small stab of shame is asking the men who raised him for something that, he knew, would be nothing to a knight, made him hesitate.
That left Seliph with his remaining confidant: Lana, who he knew would still be in the medical tent at this time of day.
He slowly backed away from his tent, and when he thought he had made enough space between him and the creature, he turned around and began a brisk walk to the other side of camp.
Seliph ran into several people along the way and had to answer a few questions, of course, but he was happy to do so. Unlike his fears, he had grown more assured as the war continued on of his ability to assist the Liberation Army as more than just a figurehead.
Yet, when the medical tent was in sight, a dark mage in a green cape came into view. Seliph felt the smile on his face grow.
"Good afternoon, Cloigtheach." Seliph approached first.
The dark mage nodded her head to him, before a small smile appeared on her usually taciturn face. "Hello, Sir Seliph."
"Seliph is fine," Seliph added, trying not to sound rushed as he said it.
"Mm." The smile grew, pleased. "Seliph."
Seliph felt another swell of happiness at the response. Cloigtheach was first a mystery to all: she appeared after the Liberation Army captured the Aed shrine, and was clearly dressed in a similar way to the dark priests of the Loptyr Sect. However, she had sworn not to have participated in the battle, and Patty vouched that she had even helped her escape with the Balmung (even though Shannan wasn't pleased with that reveal).
Seliph had made the decision there to act on the lesson the carvings in the shrine taught him: despite being their enemy, the Loptyr Sect were still people, and if she had surrendered and offered aid to their cause, then he would not shun it.
What surprised him even more was that Cloigtheach asked to join the Liberation Army on their march. Though she had not fought in the battle, she had been trained in the magical arts.
The first few times Seliph encountered her abilities with a dark tome on the battlefield were terrifying, but he had been relieved that someone with such potential had decided to join. There were several close calls where Seliph didn't think any of them would have made it out of the desert alive without the magical abilities of Cloigtheach, Julia, and Arthur.
It was that gratitude that became the foundations of an affection that bloomed into something more during their campaign through the Munster District.
Seliph had made his feelings known to Cloigtheach, and to his joy, she accepted. It was still unsure what this meant for them, but just being together had led Seliph to begin thinking of a future ahead beyond the fighting.
The two exchanged pleasantries, all while Seliph allowed the danger in his tent to slowly fade from his mind.
"Would you like to have supper together?" Seliph asked.
"Sure. I heard that Patty will be in charge tonight, so that means we'll have something good and edible." Cloigtheach answered, honest and direct.
"Ahaha, well, I can't argue with that…" Seliph had to concede, before Cloigtheach asked something completely unexpected.
"Could I come back to your tent after the meal?"
"Huh?"
"Your tent. I would like to come back with you."
So Seliph had heard her clearly.
They… despite confirming their feelings, had yet to 'share a tent.'
Seliph felt his hands begin to sweat under his gloves.
Cloigtheach frowned. "Is tonight bad?"
"No, no, no, it's fine! Perfect, even!" Seliph answered as quickly as he could. "I— I just have a few things to do, so I'll meet you there!"
Cloigtheach nodded. "Mm, all right. See you later."
"Yes, see you!" He called back, waving his hand even though Cloigtheach was already walking away from him.
Seliph felt an immediate raise in his spirits, before the reality of the current 'tent situation' returned to his thoughts and they smashed to the ground.
He needed to find Lana.
Seliph sprinted the rest of the way into the medical tent. "Lana? Lana!"
Lana and Julia were both sitting in a corner of the medical tent. The cots for the injured were thankfully not filled at the moment.
Lana immediately got to her feet. "Seliph, what's wrong? Are you hurt? Is there someone—"
"There's a-a…"
"A…?"
Seliph tried his best to be quiet as he leaned closer and whispered. "A centipede. In my tent."
"…" Lana took a deep inhale, then exhale. "So, I just lost count of how much supplies we have, which Julia and I have been trying to categorize before the next battle… because there's a bug in your tent."
"…I'm sorry."
"If it weren't a waste of my staff, I would have just smacked you with it."
Seliph winced. "Sorry… but… could you smack the— the… the bug instead?"
"Is Sir Seliph afraid of bugs?" Julia's voice came from his side, causing Seliph to jump. "Oh, I'm sorry—"
"Julia," Seliph put his hands together to implore the importance of his request. "Please, please don't tell anyone about this."
"I think she should!" Lana replied, hands on her hips, and smirk appearing on her lips. "More people should know that the famed 'Scion of Light' is terrified of anything that creeps and crawls, no matter how big or small."
"So he's always been afraid?"
"Lana, please…"
But Lana, in her divine retribution, did not relent. "Mmhm, ever since we were kids. There was one time…"
Lana had been fast asleep when a long, loud, and sharp sound pulled her out of her dreams. She sat up in her bed, blurrily looking around, only to hear the sound get louder and louder.
Carefully, she walked to the door of her room, and slowly pulled open the door.
When she did, she saw Seliph, hair flying behind him and barefoot as he ran down the hall.
"OIFEYYYYYYY IT'S GONNA GET ME, OIFEY!!!!!"
Lana was afraid, at first, until she saw, coming out of Seliph's open door— a large, but normal-looking beetle.
Lana heard snickering further down, and saw the twins muttering to themselves about the success of their prank.
"It had been Larcei and Scathach who left it?" Seliph interrupted.
Lana frowned. "You never realized? Shannan made them gather water from the well until they complained that their arms would fall off."
"I thought he was just mad that I ran into their room when—" Seliph immediately shut his mouth. He had remembered just then that Shannan and Oifey had been having a 'sleepover' in Oifey's room that night. That he had only realized several years later wasn't a 'sleepover.' "—Anyway, they left it on my pillow! You would have been scared, too."
"Yes, at first, but not anymore." Lana replied, before turning to Julia. "He's always been afraid of bugs. That was just one of many stories I have. There's another—"
"Wait, wait," Seliph interrupted, putting his hands on Lana's shoulders. "I… you can tell all the stories to Julia later, but… please, just get rid of it? Cloigtheach is going to visit after supper—"
"But Cloigtheach likes bugs." Julia added, a small frown on her face, as if trying to untangle a twisted spool thread. "Why don't you ask her?"
Lana, however, answered before he had the chance. "Because he doesn't want to look silly in front of his lady love."
Seliph's ears burned, and returned to his only recourse. That being begging. "… Please…"
Lana heaved a sigh, before waving him off. "It might already be gone, but okay, I'll go." She held out her hand to the other girl. "Come on, Julia— we can go get supper afterward."
Julia smiled as she took it. "Oh, okay Lana."
Seliph felt like he was just empty air to the other two after that, but it didn't matter: what mattered was getting the thing out of his tent before Cloigtheach showed up.
It was on the canvas ceiling of the tent now.
Seliph screamed as Lana attempted to whack it with her staff and Julia, being a genuinely sweet and caring person, used her shawl to cover Seliph's head to prevent it from getting in his hair.
However, the commotion led to Seliph's greatest fear.
When Seliph chanced peek out from under his shelter, he was met with Cloigtheach, her brow furrowed as she looked at the current display.
Seliph had another swell of panic. "This— uh, this, well—"
What was he supposed to say? He was hiding under Julia's cloak while she and Lana were whacking at his ceiling. How could he explain this in anyway that wouldn't sound both ridiculous and suspicious?
Seliph wanted nothing more than to curl into a ball under the cloak and disappear.
Cloigtheach said nothing— she walked passed him and further into the tent. Slowly, Seliph turned to see Cloigtheach hold out her tome, where the offending creature easily crawled on.
"Cloigtheach, that—that could be poisonous—!"
""I think you mean venemous, since I'm not going to eat it. But I'll be careful." she replied calmly, and exited the tent, before returning a few minutes later, tome now bug-free.
"…" It was only then that Seliph slipped Julia's cloak off, and he handed it back to her. "Thank you."
"Of course." Julia answered.
Lana crossed her arms as she looked at Seliph, then gestured her chin to Cloigtheach.
There was no escape for him now. "I…"
But Cloigtheach didn't seem to notice the exchange, all she said was, "It's good we're all here, this involves you two as well."
Before she turned around and quickly closed and tied the flap to the tent in place, before turning back to face the three of them. "I have suspicions that the Loptyr Sect will attempt to kidnap Julia."
After an hour of deep conversation and explanation, and a realization on Seliph's side, Lana and Julia left his tent, but not before the latter gave him a hug that he responded to with as much feeling as he could muster.
A sister, his sister. Julia was his sister, and he couldn't feel more overwhelmed in the joy and the sorrow that knowledge brought to him.
Seliph, finally, sat down on his cot, looking up at Cloigtheach. "How long have you known this?"
Cloigtheach messed with one of her earrings, which she tended to do when she was nervous. "It… was only a guess. I heard my uncle saying something about it, but I thought maybe the news would die with him. However…"
Seliph sighed. "However, we've continued to encounter Loptyr priests during our campaign."
Cloigtheach shrugged. "When you got down to it, Julia was the only fit— I mean, she was Lewyn's ward, a girl with no memories save for the day she was rescued just outside of Bellhalla… things added up."
"I should have known something." Seliph shook his head.
"No." Cloigtheach smiled. "All you saw was someone in need, and you acted like you always do. Blood ties or background be damned."
Seliph let out a small laugh. "You should stop twisting this as me having a good character." Then, hesitantly, he held his arms up. "… Could you come here?"
Clogitheach approached without a word, and let Seliph hug her while resting his head against her chest.
"Comfortable?"
Seliph could help but hum in affirmative. "Is it uncomfortable for you?"
Hands patted through his hair, settling in place. "I didn't say that."
They were like that for a little bit, before Seliph let go, and Cloigtheach shifted to sit down next to him on the cot.
"… The reason we were all like that earlier, before you arrived…" Seliph began, before he took a deep breath. He had just been given an earth-shattering revelation, something this small was nothing. "… I was terrified of the centipede in my tent, and I needed assistance getting it out. And it's not just… that kind, I'm terrified of… insects of all sorts."
"Technically, a centipede isn't an insect."
"I'm terrified of bugs." Seliph clarified.
"Oh."
Seliph hung his head. "Sorry, it's foolish for someone in my position to have such a silly fear, isn't it?"
"Not necessarily. It does explain why you cringed when I talked about the hissing cockroaches I kept as pets."
Seliph couldn't hold back a groan of fear at just imagining them. He was glad they didn't come with Cloigtheach on her travels and likely died of ripe old age far, far away from him. "Y-yes…"
"Hey," A hand gently moved to cup under his chin, lifting and turning his face to he faced the other's green-eyed gaze. "I don't think less of you because you have an irrational fear— in fact, I think it's cute."
"Really?" Seliph asked, tentatively. He knew Cloigtheach wouldn't lie about something like this, but…
But Cloigtheach continued to smile at him. "Really."
"…" Seliph sagged a little more into the other's touch. "Oh thank goodness. I really did make an ass of myself over nothing, then."
"It happens: you didn't cause any harm in it, even to the centipede."
"Please tell me you moved it far away from the tent."
"Yes, yes— it crawled into a bunch of rocks, and will never be seen again."
Seliph sagged even further in his relief. "Oh, thank goodness."
"However, if you want to move towards conquering your fear, maybe I can share some more facts to acclimate you," Cloigtheach leaned closer, gently nudging their noses together. "do you know that millipedes are one of the only creatures in nature to face each other when mating?"
"That's awful, that's horrible." Seliph said, unable to stop his revulsion, even though his face warmed up at the mention of "mating."
Cloigtheach laughed. "Sorry, sorry…" She then cupped his cheek, and turned his mind away from unpleasant thoughts.
Several years later, Seliph entered his spouse's workshop with a grin on his face and a carved wooden chest under his arm. "Cloigtheach! Are you there?"
Cloigtheach leaned back in her seat at her desk and smiled at him. "I am, Seliph. What brings you here instead of the council room?"
"I ended discussions a little early today when I got news that a commission I made had come in." Seliph walked the rest of his way there and held out the chest for Cloigtheach. "Go ahead and open it."
Cloigtheach raised an eyebrow, but took the offered chest. Once it was on the deck, she opened it to find a velvet lined comparment, and at its center was—
"Oh," Cloigtheach's eyes widened, as she took out the bright green broach, where a gleaming beetle was preserved. "I recognize this fellow— they show up in spring every year just outside of Bellhalla— but they're out of season still?"
Seliph nodded. "Indeed. It took a few attempts, but a glassmaker and jeweler… along with a few… specimens… well, they succeeded!"
"I love it." Cloigtheach replied. "But are you sure you'll be all right if I wear it?"
"Trust me, this whole process has… at least made me less afraid of beetles." Seliph said. He still asked her to escort any spiders out in the royal bed chambers, still hated things with far too many legs for comfort, but perhaps they could build on this until he had fully conquered his fear.
Until then, Seliph could bask in the joy of Cloigtheach proudly wearing her gift.