The Fables of Fated Souls
The survivors of the first war, who spent the peace defending it and died doing so.
What they are
Briefly after the consolidation of the human-monster war, and the grand sacrifice of the Apostle of Freedom, the world began a new era of peace under the overseeing of the six fabled souls. These individuals would spend their years fighting for the keepsake of peace, and would eventually end their tales the same way, for said peace.
The tales of these six souls were uttered even after they ended, through the word of others, and thus, they came to be known as the Fables of Fated Souls. (ch. 55)
The volume is their obituary written in advance. Ch. 55 states plainly that all six die for the peace, and then Acts 4 and 5 spend forty-six chapters on how.
The count does not agree with itself
Three chapters give three numbers, and the archive records all three rather than picking one.
| Source | Count | The wording |
|---|---|---|
| ch. 55 | six | "the six fabled souls" |
| ch. 56 | five | "I'll narrate the fables of these five" |
| ch. 99 | seven, at least | "Kael, Bella, Shen, Neru, Matta, Fenris, Illia..." |
Ch. 56 is Illia taking over the narration, so her five is a count of the arcs she is about to tell rather than of the fabled souls. Acts 4 and 5 do contain exactly five titled arcs, and the volume file lists them. That reconciles five with six only if she is excluding herself, which she has reason to do, because she is the one holding the brush.
Seven is the number that does not fit. Ch. 99's list is of models standing in the Hall, and it ends in an ellipsis, so it may not be a list of Fables at all. It also includes Illia, who narrates rather than dies in this volume.
Who they are
The Hall of Heroes models name seven: "Kael, Bella, Shen, Neru, Matta, Fenris, Illia..." (ch. 99), with a trailing ellipsis.
The five who receive Knight titles across Acts 4 and 5 are Kael, Matta, Fenris, Nilah, and one more. See the-order-of-knighthood.md.
The count does not resolve. Six fabled souls, seven names on the models, five Knights named in chapter titles. Recorded rather than reconciled.
Why there was no second Akumu
The chapter offers two possibilities and declines to choose:
Such a threat on the level of the Apostle of Fear didn't appear, perhaps because of the balance, or perhaps that's just how it was written.
"Because of the balance" points back at Aquila, who became the space between things. "That's just how it was written" points at the narrator.
The warning
Blook and Remi watch from above and say what the six do not know:
RMI: That peace has a price steeper than war ever demanded. That freedom must be defended with the same fervor that once fought to claim it. That someone always has to stand watch in the darkness while others sleep peacefully in beds they've never had to earn.
In their hearts, they carried the simple, beautiful assumption that the hard part was over, that peace was a destination rather than a journey. They were wrong, but beautifully, heartbreakingly so.
Open questions
- Which six. The models name seven.
- Whether the Fables and the Knights are the same set under two names.