Meanwhile, far away from the old hall that Adion has found himself in. Men and women in luxurious clothes were sitting along a long table made from Light Willowin wood, waiting.
The grand hall they were waiting in was only ever used for these meetings. On both sides of the long table, pillars were reaching at least a hundred feet up to the beautiful ceiling. Fire was burning along the walls throughout the hall, a common sight no matter where you were in the palace.
But they had no time to appreciate the marvelous architecture, for the one they had been waiting for had finally arrived.
A man who appeared to be middle-aged with a neatly trimmed beard walked towards them, his red hair swiveling as he took his steps towards his seat. Much more like a throne than the chairs the others in the hall found themselves sitting on. Arga, a Blaze Panda, had walked in with him and now lay on the floor beside him. It was a beast who had been with the man since before he could walk. And even in this room of influential individuals, no one would dare to disrespect the beast.
Everyone in the room got up from their seats as soon as they saw him. Bowing and solemnly greeting their ruler, ”Your Majesty.”
Emperor Artelem Maselli took his seat and nodded to his retinue, almost all of them family members, at least distantly related. He nodded and spoke gravely, ”Take a seat, my friends. I have gathered you here to talk about that damn Hellemi Church that has been acting up in our Empire again.”
”Your Majesty,” Artus Maselli, the brother of the Emperor but more known as the Arch Bishop of the Fire Phoenix Church, stood up and addressed his brother and Emperor. ”I believe we should purge those heretics just as our great-grandfather did thousands of years ago. If they come back, we shall purge them again and again until they learn the true power of fire.”
Emperor Artelem nodded but was inwardly shaking his head. This brother of his had never had a very good head for politics. But his faith was stronger than anyone he had ever met, which suits his role as head of the Church.
He looked out towards the rest of his retinue, hoping for a more thought-through approach. Thankfully, his trusted advisor stood up to voice his opinion, ”While I understand His Holiness in his anger at these blasphemers, I think that the act of simply killing every single follower of Hellemi would be impossible. And the attempt would lead to massive reproach, not only from the other Empires and Kingdoms but our own citizens as well. The problem is that the world is much more connected than it was 5,000 years ago.”
Ellidas, as the Emperor's advisor was called, looked around the table and continued his speech, ”In those times, we had not been in contact with the rest of the continent for very long. The Age of Discovery was very young, and travel between the Empires was much more complicated than today. Not to mention that the Hellemi church's hold on the rest of the world was nowhere near as strong as it is today. The Ten Kingdoms had just formed, weakening them significantly. But today, the situation is different. Our merchants frequently sail to the Golden Gulf, right to the heart of the Hellemi Church. The movement of people with other faiths will only escalate in the future. Even Evalia has accepted this and has welcomed the Hellemi church in their territory.”
”That’s because Hellemi doesn’t directly contradict or condemn the Gantanos faith!” Amelia slammed her fist on the table and yelled. As the Emperor’s daughter and a Bishop of the Church, she could afford some lack of decorum. ”Remember that the Hellemi church views our God as aa…as a monster to be destroyed!” Amelia had trouble even saying the words and was almost shaking in anger at the thought of those Hellemi heretics.
The Emperor could understand his daughter’s anger. Even if he himself didn’t hold the same sentiment towards their God, he understood that a big part of the Imperial family’s power rested on the Fire Phoenix Church. Should the Hellemi Church become the Empire's primary faith, they would weaken greatly.
He looked to his advisor and spoke, ”Amelia is right, Ellidas. To allow a faith that preaches such things of our God would be a first step in the collapse of our Empire. If we can’t punish them as my brother suggested, what is your advice on how to deal with this situation?”
”I suggest that we accept that times have changed. We cannot stop the spread of Hellemi, nor should we try. We should accept these new times and adapt.” Ellidas then added with a slight grin, ”I mean, if Hellemi can do it, couldn’t we do the same?”
The Emperor had a look of enlightenment on his face. ”You mean to spread the Fire Phoenix faith just like the Hellemi Church does?”
Even Amelia had calmed down from her earlier rage. She now had a contemplative look on her face as she thought about Ellidas' proposal. She asked him, ”But will it work? Hellemi has deep roots all over the continent. I find it hard to believe that those people will start following a God they have seen as an evil being their entire lives.”
Ellidas answered her patiently, ”Of course, it won’t be easy. But remember that fire is the strongest of the elements. It might be less common with fire sparks in other parts of the continent, but it is still one of the most common elements all over Quemer. And who can offer insights into the element of fire more so than the Fire Phoenix Church?” Ellidas’ voice got louder and more confident as he continued his speech. He noticed that people's eyes lit up at the idea all along the table. He continued in fervor, ”People that walk the path of fire will flock to our cause when they see the power of the fire that our priests hold. And let’s not forget that this is the Age of Discovery, after all. Even our own continent has much left to explore, not to mention what is beyond the oceans. We shouldn’t be happy with just Quemer but spread all across the world!”
”Gahaha!” Artus burst out into a hearty laughter, ”Good! Ellidas, we might not always see eye to eye, but I have to say that I very much like this plan.”
The Emperor was also nodding with a smile on his face. They had focused all their efforts on conquering the Outskirts, making their way deeper into the continent. To a lot of success, yes, but as Ellidas said, this is the Age of Discovery. They should not be content with this small part of the world.
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Amelia was also now wearing a beautiful smile as she thought about the future of her faith. She turned to her father and spoke, ”I heard that those Hellemi scums even made their way to Shiora all those years ago. I think we should make it our main priority to spread our faith there. While the Alago Empire is no longer part of our Empire, the Fire Phoenix Church is still strong there. We can easily spread our faith from there to the rest of Shiora.
“We are also the closest to Shiora out of every other Empire. The Hellemi Theocracy is on the other side of Quemer, so they won’t have a chance to contend with us there if we make an investment. It might not be easy as the Hellemi Church is widespread in the rest of Shiora, but with the support of our Empire, I believe it is only a matter of time before they are forgotten, and the whole continent worships the Fire Phoenix.
“With the Fire Phoenix Church as the supreme faith on the continent, our influence there will increase greatly, and we might finally be able to reconquer the land we lost there. We would become the biggest Empire in the world!”
The Emperor's eyes lit up at the idea, ”Mm, that’s a good idea.” The emperor rarely thought about Shiora. A couple thousand years after the Age of Darkness ended and year 1 of the Age of Discovery was declared in the Tower of Sages, records were found speaking of the Shiora continent north of the peninsula where the Fire Phoenix Empire is situated.
As the Sages of the Tower were the ones to discover the records, they had a headstart in exploring the continent. It couldn’t be hidden for long, though, and as they had already conquered the area that today is known as Cyalis, they made the information public. The Sages were not interested in conquering more land than that, but the same was not true for the other Empires. Even if there was still much to discover on Quemer, they all made a great effort to get a foothold on the new continent and search for ancient remains.
What no one thought of, though, was that after over a thousand years, no one on Shiora had been on Quemer for generations. They held no loyalties for the Empires here. All the rulers allied to break free from Quemer and fight for independence. With the Sages not protesting, there was not much the Empires of Quemer could do. Of course, they sent ships to fight the uprising, but fighting an entire continent on their home turf wasn't easy. They had no choice but to give up in the end.
These days, there wasn’t much travel between the continents. Of course, there would always be ships sailing, but there weren’t many products of interest to trade. And in contrast to how you could relatively easily sail along the coast of Quemer to reach the other Empires, to get to Shiora, you had to pass a stretch of open sea. And that was always risky. But now things were a little different…
Just as the Emperor was about to delegate tasks to everyone, they all turned towards the fire running along the walls of the grand hall. They had all noticed something. It was a small change. Very small. But it was significant. Artus, Amelia, and a few others threw themselves on the floor and bowed with their foreheads pressed to the stone floor. The rest were a little more collected, and the Emperor himself immediately conjured a fire of his own. It was a minor spell for him, but the result was still a giant tornado of scorching fire. Had any weaker mage even come close, they would have lost their life without knowing what happened. But the people in the hall were much stronger than that, and such a small spell, even from the Emperor, couldn’t hurt them.
”It’s small.” the Emperor said silently, almost to himself, ”But it's there. The fire is easier to control. The Will of the world isn’t interfering as much as it did just a minute ago.”
The Emperor had almost a manic grin on his face as he looked towards everyone else. They had conjured their own flames, and they all felt it too. And they knew what it meant. The Fire Phoenix had returned.
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In a tower reaching hundreds of feet above the ground, an old man sat by a window looking out over the Melorian Bay. His long white hair and beard looked wild and untrimmed, fitting the look of the old and wise headmaster of Cyalis Academy. Suddenly, there was a knock on the door to the headmaster’s study.
“Come in,” the headmaster, Vermon Demorr, said with a quiet but firm voice.
His aide and fellow scholar Lukas stepped inside the room and spoke gravely, “Headmaster, the elders are all nervous and waiting for your word on the matter.”
“What do they want me to say? The control of fire has gotten easier. Who knows why?” Vermon questioned while still looking out over the water. “Well,” he continued, “We all assume it concerns the Fire Phoenix. No matter the cause, there is nothing to do but move on with our lives. They all know that as well as I do, so why bother repeating what they already know.”
“But headmaster, the potential return of the Fire Phoenix is no small matter. The whole world is surely agitated by this news. The weaker mages and students haven’t noticed anything yet, but we will need to talk about it with them. Not to mention how the Hellemi and Fire Phoenix Church will react. We might be moving into a very tumultuous time.” Lukas nervously said.
Vermon was still calm as he spoke, “Since when is it my job to care what the different faiths and rulers get up to? As long as Cyalis is fine, I don’t care.”
“As a Sage, you carry a lot of weight around the continent; many rulers will heed your advice, and if things get out of hand, it might affect the Academy as well. I believe a few words from you will ease everyone’s mind. At the very least, you should talk to the elders and professors.” Lukas said.
Vermon was silent for a while before conjuring up a ball of water. Even just a gallon, it was more water than most mages could dream of conjuring through their own mana. Suddenly, water drops started falling from the ball, landing on the floor, and gathering into a ball of water again. Lukas said nothing and only waited for the headmaster’s answer.
“The more I get to know about this world, about magic, the more I realize that there is so much more to know,” Vermon said and finally looked up to his aide.
“Even water is something that I have only scratched the surface of. It’s an amazing element, don’t you think, Lukas?” Vermon asked.
“It is, headmaster,” Lukas answered, used to the old man’s moments of musing.
“It can be as light as a cloud,” Vermon said as he once again stared out the window, this time looking to the sky. “Or as heavy as the ocean.”
When Vermon uttered those last words, the water that had gathered on the floor suddenly cracked the stone floor underneath it. It was pressing down with much more weight than logic demanded.
Lukas opened his eyes wide at the scene. The Headmaster had increased his grasp of concepts significantly during his seclusion.
Vermon let out a long sigh and got up from his chair. “Fine. I guess you are right that this will only get more troublesome for me if I don’t do anything. I have been away from the day-to-day of the Academy for too long anyway. I think it’s time to get back into the thick of it so that everyone doesn’t turn into headless chickens the next time some small matter like this happens.”
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Everywhere around the world, the powerful felt the change in fire, and everyone had different reactions. Some barely gave it a thought, while others panicked.
But only one person knew that there was not one Phoenix who now took flight in their world, but two.