"It’s her future, and she knows her abilities as well as anyone," August said.
"Maybe." She sounded doubtful.
"But you’re her Bastion. She looks to you for guidance. Even the slightest nudge toward the amethyst and she’ll take it. Don’t pretend you don’t want her to take it."
Honestly, August wanted her to choose the amethyst and to change her enhancement back to the speed one.
But he couldn’t explain why.
He knew that Fei made for an amazing Champion with amethysts.
But she had clearly performed better with her current enhancement.
Shouldn’t that prove that he needs to push her down an alternative path?
Was he blinded by his knowledge of the future?
August held no knowledge about the path not taken by Fei.
Would she turn out stronger with a new gem?
Or would this be a horrible mistake?
If he hadn’t seen Sen’s personality shift in this new timeline, he wouldn’t hesitate to push the amethyst on Fei.
But Sen’s changes showed that whatever was happening was for the better.
She exuded a level of confidence that August found delightful, and her sorcery improved at a rapid pace.
Maybe Fei could choose a different path as well, and things would be fine.
Sen was doing well.
Maybe Fei would as well.
"I don’t know," August admitted.
"Based purely on what I know about her past, I wanted the amethyst. But Champions change as they gain experience. I wouldn’t push her into picking her gem this fast if a demonic invasion weren’t on the horizon."
"She’ll grow into it, won’t she?"
"Sure, but what other futures am I closing off?" August shook his head.
"I’m beginning to realize that the world is far more complex than I’ve given credit for. There’s no singular path in life. No predestined future set out by the goddess."
Vera’s eyebrows shot up.
"Those are bold words for a Bastion."
"Borderline heresy, I know." August chuckled darkly.
"But if the goddess didn’t want us to protect the world ourselves and find our own path, would she have left us alone here?"
Vera remained silent.
She walked with August for a time.
"Maybe," she said.
"But what if you know what your future should be? Or what somebody else’s future should be? Is it right to deny it, because of your feelings about what is the right thing, or allowing choice? What if everybody ends up on the wrong path because of that?"
August’s mind whirred.
He considered her words.
"Are there wrong paths?" August answered.
He shook his head.
He knew of at least one.
"I don’t know. I have a future that I’m working toward. I don’t need everybody to be part of that, and they’re free to do whatever they want. Right and wrong don’t enter into it."
"Hmm. So you’d trample over somebody else’s future in order to preserve your own?" Vera asked.
"I’m a Bastion. That’s my entire duty in life," August said wryly.
"The Federation wants to take land from the Empire, and I’m here to stop them. The demons want... something. I’m stopping them. I kill bandits and enemy Champions. My job is not a nice one."
"You sound more confused than I am," Vera muttered.
August laughed.
Long and hard.
How long had it been since he laughed like this, he wondered.
Vera looked at him oddly, as did several of the nearby guards.
"Sorry, but you’re right. Can you blame me? My life has changed a lot recently," he said, wiping tears from his eyes.
"I suppose." She sighed.
"You lost everything before you came here, didn’t you? Effectively a count, denied your inheritance by your father despite being the rightful heir, and now a Bastion. I can see where you’re coming from."
The two of them returned to the small garden where Fei stood with a single gem in her hand.
It glittered bright blue in the sun.
A sapphire.
"You’ve decided?" August asked, just to be sure.
"I have."
"May I ask how?"
Fei nodded.
"I don’t just want to be strong, or fast, or tough. I want to be an amazing warrior who can defeat her enemies no matter what they’re like. You’ve been so amazing in battle with your sorcery, August. How could I not want to have even a sliver of that? And when I get three gems, I’ll be able to show you things beyond your wildest dreams." She grinned broadly, showing her fangs.
Holding in a grimace, August nodded.
He didn’t know how to feel.
"I’ll read your mind during the ritual to determine the ability you gain from the gem," he explained.
"For later gems, you’ll be able to choose, but we don’t know how your body will react. So concentrate on the sort of ability you want, and that can help guide me and the binding stone’s power."
Her tail swished violently behind her, and Fei nodded several times.
August ruffled her hair and heard her giggle when he brushed the inside of her ears.
When she calmed down, he placed the sapphire against her collarbone.
It didn’t sink in.
Fei gasped as the stone touched her skin.
A small slit had been cut into her uniform and armor to make way for the gem.
August reached into his mind and channeled the binding stone.
He began the ritual.
The sapphire exploded in brilliant, bright blue light, nearly blinding August.
Slowly, it sank into Fei’s chest.
She let out rasping gasps, but remained still.
The process was very painful.
Other Champions compared it to being stabbed very slowly.
Eventually, the blue stone sat flush with Fei’s collarbone and skin.
Her eyes were wide, and almost entirely white.
She stared into nothing, and he braced her with his free arm.
She looked up at him and nodded.
Diving into her mind, he found it as welcoming as usual.
If a little panicked.
He took it slow, allowing her to calm down.
Eventually he found her core.
A satellite of power hung around it, and August felt the tether from it to the binding stone.
She was connected to the binding stone, and from it to him.
She was his.
The Champion to Bastion connection was now permanent, until death parted them.
At any moment, he could feel her life and mind.
Understand her state of being.
He’d never learned how, but supposedly some Bastions could read the minds and emotions of their Champions.
The proof of this was in what he was about to do.
For now, he had a job to do.
He reached out for the satellite of power that the gem had installed into her mind.
The moment he touched it, Fei’s emotions and desires poured into him.
His mind instinctively filtered out those not related to the gem.
Although he noted some from earlier that were distinctly related to him and the things she wanted to do to him.
He now knew that she was very, very interested in him.
Damn.
Ignoring that, he tuned the sapphire.
What felt like hours passed.
Fei’s desire nudged at him, as did the reaction of her mind when he changed it in certain ways.
The first gemming ceremony was always the hardest.
The binding stone was implanting its power into the Champion.
It needed to take root, and if the wrong gem was selected or the wrong ability tuned to the Champion, then the ceremony would fail.
August knew how to abort a failed ceremony, but the results could be catastrophic.
Champions died from failed ceremonies, their minds turning to mush.
Even successful ceremonies had dire consequences due to poor tuning.
August had met his fair share of Champions who obeyed their Bastions like slaves, and who were incapable of ever becoming duogem Champions or even using their single gem properly.
Most nations stripped Bastions of their position for a failed ceremony, or for "successful" ceremonies that damaged the Champion’s mind.
Those rules had changed after the war had begun, but the Empire currently stuck to them.
Not that August had any intention of ever doing this to any Champion.
Finally, he pulled away from Fei’s mind.
Her thoughts poured over him, and she seemed fine.
August looked down at her in reality.
She looked exhausted.
Only minutes had passed.
The sapphire shined from its place in her chest.
She smiled at him.
"So what can I do?" she asked.
"Let’s go over that another day," August said.
He ruffled her hair.
"For now, you need some rest."
"Can you groom me again?" she asked dreamily.
Her head leaned against his chest.
Those desires from earlier washed over him.
He cleared his throat, looked away, and then said, "Of course."
He carried her back to her room, and she dozed.
Vera accompanied them, looking thoughtful.
"I told you there wasn’t much to see," August told Vera.
"Maybe. But it still satisfied my curiosity," she said.
He shrugged and let her wander off.
Vera was due to return to her tower within the next few days.
Letting her see a gemming ceremony wasn’t a big deal, given how little there was to see.
Everything took place in the mental world.
Fei still seemed clean, so August stripped her down and groomed her.
She giggled at his touch, and the room filled with her scent as usual.
"Fei," he said.
His hand slipped along her taut ass.
She let out a sigh and looked up at him.
Her face exuded ecstasy.
His hand drifted lower.
Her tongue slipped out of her mouth, and she moaned.
Then her hand gripped his.
"No, not yet," she mumbled.
"We both know you want this," he said.
"I do," she said.
"But there’s something I want to do first."
"Which is?" he asked.
She smiled.
Her body shifted until she sat up in his lap, her mouth next to his ear.
He could feel her body pressing against his.
She whispered, "In this next battle, I’ll prove that I’m worthy of being your mate."