Reports indicate Velli popularity is still on the rise following their latest initiatives. Prince Velli continues to state that he is following the wishes of his late sister.

  Protests outside Velli Facilities continues despite popular opinion. Reports of lost income, surprise termination and disappearance of up and coming family members are said to be among their foremost complaints.

  Velli representatives deny all allegations of wrongdoing and point to publicly available data on their hiring, salary and termination practices. Messages from the supposedly 'lost' family members, stating how happy and well off they are, continue to make the rounds, only to be met by denial of authenticity.

  ~ * ~

  The next few days felt nearly perfect. She didn't worry about her work, she ignored her outstanding research and reports, and most importantly she got to spend time with both Briana and her family.

  Fay found life turned into routine fairly quickly. Briana still had to work, still had to keep her coffee shop running and time she spent with Fay was usually time the place had shut down. Staying in her apartment meant waking up alone hours later and making her way to the shop or back to Holding Syl. Having Briana stay over meant they all had great coffee waiting when they woke up, and no need to rush past strangers until she wanted lunch, or at least wanted to pretend she did.

  They might have discussed the majority of what they were up to in the months apart, they might have mixed catching up with Liaison duties and formalized all their experiences, but somehow Seb and Anya still had hours of cute moments to share with her, and she finally had her own, in hindsight, embarrassing stories.

  Anya managed to set a date with her mother for the planned visit. Fay had a month to plan a social event, one month to come up with ideas for how to entertain guests she barely knew. Seb told her not to worry, that it would likely be a lot of showing off the Holding and sitting around talking, but she had offered to plan.

  Yshe promised to show up sometime in the next month to talk about further expansion to the Holding. The bedrooms were wonderful, living in the Shallows slightly less so. It simply felt weird after all these years. They'd passed the wall and even Seb was willing to acknowledge that their Holding didn't reflect that.

  Finally the stories ran dry, the desire to test Affinities and dig into EDN data took over and they all all decided it was time to get back to work. Seb and Anya put together supplies for a few week long Dive and said goodbye.

  Fay made her way into her office and looked through her feed for the first time in days. Everything matched her expectations until she got to the last of Valene's messages. It had to be a mistake, it made no sense. Why would he want her to talk to an Arbiter and evaluate him? Seers didn't evaluate Arbiters, Seers might work with them, but nothing she was working on had anything to do with their skill set.

  The last line nearly sent her into a panic. He'd set up their meeting for tomorrow morning, since she had said she'd be busy for a week.

  ~ * ~

  Anya paused as they transitioned into the tenth level Depths. She'd always noticed the change in Energy Density but this was the first time she'd felt enough of something that she felt the need to stop.

  That's- she began.

  -intense. Not overwhelming, at least not since we're also level 10. But-

  - a big increase. And feels different.

  Sometimes their bond was strange. Seb had said what she was thinking, even if his words weren't the same ones she would have used. They'd both felt it, they both knew the other had felt it.

  It looks different. It's not Affinity, not the way I see it around Awakened or even those Depthsborn. But it is Affinity? Seb said, his confusion over his own explanation causing her to turn and look at him.

  It's as though the Depths themselves have an Affinity, but not to anything, he continued.

  An Affinity to the Depths? To itself?

  Maybe? We can ask Fay later.

  She chuckled and took the lead once more. Sometimes it felt as though Seb was just looking for an excuse to ask Fay more questions about being Awakened and how things worked. She knew he just wanted to find answers, to understand, but could he be a little less curious some of the time?

  This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.

  Then again, if he hadn't been so curious he might not have stopped and asked how she was, or figured out how he felt about her before she forced the issue, or come up with the idea of what Affinities were so she could figure out what hers was.

  Would he have suggested trying to train while tethered to one another? Would he have suggested they-

  Can we set up the tent? she asked.

  Right here? We haven't found a cavern yet.

  She glanced over her shoulder at him, knowing he'd see the look in her eye even if he wasn't paying attention to her emotions over the band.

  Seb…

  Anya, he said. You know we agreed to certain rules when diving to make sure we were safe.

  You said we needed rules, I didn't argue.

  You agreed they were smart, that we both get distracted, that we need to be careful, he argued. And you decided to set the consequences.

  She nearly stumbled, his arm somehow slipping around her even though she knew he'd been a few steps back. She leaned into him, pretending to be further off balance than necessary just to test him.

  Fine, she pouted when he kept her steady with nothing more than a light kiss for her efforts. We'll find a cavern, get everything set up properly.

  She sped up, tapping into his Aura despite knowing he was already doing the same. It wouldn't be that much faster but any time saved would be nice.

  Wrist to wrist practice? he sent, his thoughts clearly having followed hers.

  This time she didn't even bother pretending to stumble, she spun to glare at him only to see him pointing at the next gap in the tunnel.

  It's the right type of cavern.

  ~ * ~

  The next morning Anya nudged Seb awake despite it still feeling quite early. They'd gotten their campsite set up in record time, then explored some training options they still hadn't figured out how to make proper use of.

  When he didn't immediately get up she nudged him again, not letting him slip back to sleep.

  We're here to test ourselves against Depthsborn so we can head deeper and keep going, she sent the moment she felt him through the band.

  Coffee?

  I'll get coffee started if you get up.

  Coffee, he sent again, as he sat up.

  Normally he was the first one out of bed, the one to get breakfast going and to motivate her with coffee. Normally he'd be waiting patiently for her when she finally decided she was ready to go hunting monsters.

  Today she had the coffee nearly brewed and his breakfast on a plate before he made it out of the tent. She'd cheated and made sure the food didn't have to be cooked, but she still got to see him roll his eyes and pretend to glare as she urged him to go faster.

  You know, if you were in this much of a hurry every morning we-

  Nope. You don't get to distract me. We're going to test ourselves today and I'm not letting you slow us down.

  She felt his amusement as they headed into the tunnels, felt him intentionally slow his pace here and there pretending to study the passages to either side, trying to provoke her just a little more.

  When she found a good pack of Goblins, only a dozen and with only a single further tunnel that could hold reinforcements or ambushes she barely gave him time to prepare himself before she charged ahead.

  Anya! he sent while following right on her heels.

  She hit the goblins before they had fully reacted to her presence. This close to the transition path they rarely were a true threat of organization, unlike the farthest tunnels where they waited in ambush at the very entrances.

  The first fell before she heard Seb's Bladesong take hold, a lucky blow to the throat leaving the odds tilting into their favour. The next to fall was a lesson in not ignoring her Partner, an exposed back without armour was the most obvious of targets.

  She'd missed this, the dance between threats, the moments of danger that turned into opportunity. The thrill of facing down these creatures, of daring them to strike. She felt alive in these moments, she'd been certain they would win when she charged, but as the goblins fell one after the other she realized this wasn't the challenge they'd needed.

  This feels easier than the ninth level, she sent mid tumble.

  They all have Affinity, but none have one of the ones we hated.

  Seb, I mean they aren't a challenge.

  She saw his blade fly past her head, her hair lifting at it's passage before it pulsed and her two remaining foes stumbled at the imbuement.

  No strategy, no tactics, no fleeing, he answered.

  The battle finished, she stepped aside so he could recall his sword. She hadn't broken a sweat, the only reason she'd even started to breathe more heavily was that she hadn't slowed from the moment she started to charge. She'd felt alive but it hadn't lasted, it hadn't been a true fight.

  Testing herself against Seb was a true fight, was a true challenge. He pushed her to her limits even as she pushed him, only to find new limits when they hit that point. That ignored where their sparring ended up, it ignored the fact that they both knew they were never in any real danger. It ignored how well she slept after those efforts.

  Further down the tunnels? Seb sent.

  She hesitated, going further would add to the challenge, would give them more chances to test themselves. But going deeper would do the same, and push them even in the basics.

  Today, she answered. We wander along until we find something ready for us, maybe two sets if it still goes quickly. But tomorrow we head down. We know we can handle two levels past ours.

  We need to figure out how to use our Affinity.

  I won't if it's not a challenge, she argued. I need to push. And I don't have time-

  We don't have to go to the school.

  Seb, she nearly snarled despite her love for him flooding the words. You know we do. So we need to push. You need to face patterns and rhythms you don't already have solved.

  Tomorrow, he answered, his tone more amused than resigned.

  He'd been teasing her. He'd done it again, pretended to argue just so she could push them, so she could challenge him and find her reasons. She still intended to get him back, make him pay for doing exactly what she needed.

  Tomorrow, she agreed.

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