Deep within the heart of the Heraklinos palace, in a deep and dark room of the lower levels of the basement, Erika sat with her legs crossed on the floor. She held her arms out bent at the elbow with upward-facing open palms parallel to the floor. Above each palm, she collected a dark, mysterious ki energy.
Arranged in a circle around Erika were concentric layers of candles that filled the entire room save for two stones that sat three yards in front of her.
She sat with her eyes closed and concentrated the two energies she collected and purified in her palms.
Although Erika could create energy balls for offensive attacks and energy shields for defense as most ki warriors could, her special ability involved using ki to create curses. Poorly understood even to Erika herself, the foundational knowledge of the curse had long since been lost to history as her family not infrequently experienced curse backlashes leading to premature deaths. Or, in the case of her recent ancestors, were promised a premature death owing to the powerful curse that ended the Great War.
Erika was the first of her post-war ancestors to escape the effects of the Great War curse, and as such, she had a lot of learning to do still. Yet, as a Master from an extremely gifted pedigree, she had made great strides in her ability.
Elsewhere, several layers up above ground, Jacek and Jarek sat in a room discussing the upcoming mission to rescue and extract Pope Peter.
Jacek sat at the hand-crafted wooden table, “Erika should have her curse stones ready for the mission imminently.”
Jarek stood as he looked out the window, “Good. Her curses are invaluable on missions that require precision and stealth. In the old days, her grandfather helped me on many a mission. Cursecraft is a powerful and mysterious ability.”
Jarek then turned to face Jacek, “But let us not forget, curses are supplemental to the real work to be done.” He sat at the table, “Have you picked your team?”
Jacek nodded, “It will be a small team. Just me and one other.”
Jarek eyed Jacek, “Is that a good idea? What if there is trouble?”
“We need to be nimble to avoid trouble, and there is only one person I trust enough on a mission such as this.” Jacek nodded, “I would like to request General Vega Magnus take temporary leave from the Saber Fortress to join this mission.”
Jarek smiled, “Some would say there is no stronger bond than those you have shared the battlefield with. I will send the command to give him leave for confidential reasons related to military activity.”
“Thank you, father.” Jacek smiled, “Consider this mission all but finished with Vega by my side. He is reliable, powerful, and smart. He can also improvise with the best of them.”
Jarek replied, “Besides me and a few other Masters who cannot participate, you and Vega are by far the most qualified for this mission. I’m proud of your training in recent months. You have made great strides. You remind me of myself at a young age, powerful and determined.”
“Thank you for training me. I know it takes time and patience, but I will prove it is time well spent.” Jacek responded.
Jarek stood and said, “You have made great strides, but let’s not forget. You will be embarking on the first mission of its kind since the Great War. It is dangerous. If you are caught, it would take an all-out war to retrieve you. I am not beyond going to war to rid this planet of the BloodStars; however, just… make it back safely, please.”
Jacek stood with his father, “I will.” The two began to walk together out of the room and down the hallway, “Michael has given us the green light. I do not anticipate encountering Empress Victoria, but if I do…”
Jarek pat Jacek on the back, “Son, I can speak with absolute certainty that if you encounter Empress Victoria, you should flee with haste.”
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Jacek quickly rebutted, “I have sparred with Xenia. I know she has become more powerful since then, but I believe I could fight on even ground with her. Her style of battle favors a winning outcome for me. Surely the same can be said of battle with her mother as well.”
Jarek laughed, “Xenia does not have bloodline powers. Victoria, within her empire, does. We hear a lot of bloodline powers, but do you actually know what they entail? Don’t forget, Victoria at her peak was so powerful that history’s greatest curse master couldn’t stop her… only give us an edge to keep her within her empire.”
Jacek looked curiously, “Have you faced her at her peak?”
“I have.” Jarek had a smug look on his face recalling his own power and accomplishments against her in battle, “She can teleport, she can disperse ki, she can heal, she can create immensely powerful shields, she can wield nightmare ki, she can create doppelgangers to fight by her side, she can do all kinds of terrifying things.”
“How can she do all of that? That sounds like tens of bloodline powers, not just one.” Jacek was stunned.
Jarek grimaced and said, “Well. I don’t know for sure, but I think her bloodline power is something more complex. I think she must be able to steal or copy others special abilities. These abilities then accumulate as they are passed down to heirs. Of course, that’s pure speculation. But my point is this… if you run into Empress Victoria, a nightmare ki wielding and teleporting ki user who is a living legend… run.”
Jacek gulped, “Let’s hope Michael’s information is good. A lot will be riding on it.”
A soldier suddenly ran up to Jarek and Jacek, “Master and Lord Heraklinos!”
The soldier kneeled in front of them both with a steel case. The soldier opened the case to show them the contents and proclaimed, “Master Sage sends me to present to you… the Stealth Stones.”
Jarek reached in and grabbed one of the two stones. As he did, he became nearly invisible with only a faint silhouette of refractory light outlining him. He said, “Crafted to perfection just like her father and grandfather.”
He sat the stone back in the case and closed it. As he placed the stone back, he became visible once again. Jarek then grabbed the case by the handle and said, “How is Master Sage feeling?”
The soldier nodded, “She is weakened by her curse. I fear she pushed herself too hard. She is experiencing a minor backlash.”
Jacek frowned, “She has exceled in stone making. She should be beyond backlash from that level of cursecraft.”
The soldier nodded as he turned to Jacek, “I surmised as much as well, Lord Heraklinos. I fear she has made another stone that she has not disclosed to me.” The soldier bowed his head and respectfully said, “She has requested to see you privately Lord Heraklinos.”
Jacek nodded and looked to his father, “I should go check on her.”
Jarek agreed and said, “Stay with her. She needs to rest, and she will rest best with you nearby. I will summon Vega to meet you to go over the mission details.”
Jacek nodded and made his way to Erika’s quarters. He quietly opened the door and entered her Master suite. He made his way to her bedroom and found her tucked into bed with three attendants surrounding her.
Erika smiled as Jacek walked in and turned to her attendants, “Please leave me for the evening. I will call if I need anything.”
The attendants bowed their heads and exited as Jacek moved to sit on the side of her bed. He ran his hand through her hair and against her head softly, “The Stealth Stones are perfect.”
He looked at her complexion and saw a pale white and fatigued woman, “But this level of exhaustion is beyond two simple stealth stones. What have you done? I need you to be safe, Erika. Curses are a dangerous mystery.”
She smiled up at him, “I know. I am a curse master after all, aren’t I?” She then looked to the bedside table where a case sat, “Open it.”
Jacek picked up the case and put it in his lap. He unlatched the box and slowly opened it to find a deep yet vibrantly colored green stone. He looked to her and said, “What is this?”
She put her hand on his, “It’s a ki stone. For my love. So I can protect you while you are away.”
Jacek was shocked. He looked from the stone to her and said, “A ki stone?! You can make one now? I thought you hadn’t progressed that far yet?”
She shrugged and said, “I was making the stealth stones and suddenly I felt a surge of power and decided to channel it.”
Jacek put his hand on her shoulder, “Please don’t ever make another one of these unless you absolutely have to. History says many great curse masters have died from making these stones without the proper technique.”
Erika smiled, “I don’t plan to be one of those curse masters, Jacek. I plan to be even greater. I have the talent and the drive. But it is true. While pouring one’s ki into a stone, if the curse master fails to control the outflow, their entire life force will fade as their ki outpours.”
She gave him a big smile, “So while I may be weakened from the creation process, I am not dead. Plus, if you were to die on this mission, my heart would die with you.” She put her hand up to his face and said, “Now, I can rest easy while you are away.”
Jacek leaned in and kissed her softly.
She pulled at his shirt and said, “I don’t have much energy, but will you sleep next to me while I rest?”
He smiled and said, “Of course. I need a nap after all of these mission detail meetings anyways.”
He crawled into bed and spooned her as they both fell asleep to the comfort of one another’s love.