Samantha leveri

Unlike how I imagined being in Numena to be, it was quite lonely not because of missing my family but for another reason. Through the ten months I spent here with Rias, I somehow found myself having feelings for her. ‘Not like I tell her anything… I’m too scared to even talk to people I’ve known for a while.’ I admitted cuddling myself atop my light bubble-gum pink duvet. Hearing the chatter of maids, male servants and knights in the hallways of the citadel. Out of habit, I jumped to my feet—something I was accustomed to doing in my family from the extensive training that was practically abuse.

Racing over to my wardrobe I heard the distinct knock that was always followed by Alex’s voice, someone I saw as a sister. Someone I could look up to. “Sam you up?” she asked knocking on the door again, without a proper response simply humming gave her the impression she could come in which I didn’t mind. Whenever Alex came to me personally it was either to check the condition of my cured body or to rant about something, well to be fair we both did a lot of ranting. This time however Alex held a notebook in her hand even going so far to change her hairstyle whilst still hiding the burn scar across her face.

Without words exchange between us, she simply handed me the open notebook slowly. To my surprise Alex looked embarrassed in a way that made me ponder if she did anything that she shouldn’t have. Alex being completely beet red outlining how exactly she felt, I gazed down at the notebook held in my hands. A rough sketched was drawn out, a gothic lace embroidered slim-fit split evergreen to black faded dress was on the page. From the rough sketch and the annotations, I could gather that the lace that was sewn down the split, was also sewn into sleeves to cover the shoulders as well.

To no-one’s surprise following in theme with Rias, Alex even had a chest window drawn out as well as a open cut back to see the runes clearly. The back window was outlined by the green Nottingham gothic lace.

“Alex please wear this. It fits you so well.” I blurted out.

“As much as I trust the maids well… can you help me put it on instead?” Alex asked proceeding to sit on the edge of my bed, however before we could say anything else on the matter. A knight under Galahad notified us that we were needed in the throne room for multiple reasons but one was no doubt going to be about Imra and his habits of depravity. One other reason I could guess on was the re-emergence of Aethna who according to legends and myths became feared by both humanoids and her own kind. From what I already know Aethna was called the vulture of Chernobyl and the story surrounding the very name.

Aethna in the span of a few minutes ridden by Artura under her command burnt an entire country-sized area of Camelot that just so happened to house a large chunk of Mordid’s army and a few leviathans he somehow became bound to. Those leviathans weak as they were still could devour entire realms until they no longer existed, Aethna made killing them look like child’s play as if she was playing with her food according to Galahad and Bedivere. The re-emergence of Aethna made everyone aware that the vulture was waiting for its next meal.

“In a world of your own?” Alex asked walking beside me, both walking behind the silver armoured knight wearing Ciaran’s symbol on his right shoulder and the canine symbol of Galahad’s guard. Galahad’s guard, their symbol of the canine was either one of two animals either the large golden retriever or the bulky Newfoundland, nicknamed ‘bear cub’. In my mind, this made some sense as the Newfoundland in this realm looked quite different than in their homeland of Tramon. In this realm, they did look more like a small bear than an actual dog.

“Yeah sorry… just thinking about things. Alex, do you know a way for me to feel better around people even just being in the same room?” I asked looking into her single uncovered eye. She didn’t answer immediately, thinking of a proper explanation as she always did much like Hek and Hollow in that regard. Though Hek wasn’t a doctor or nurse she was extremely clever to the point it was frightening. Her genius was something you could compare to a higher being. Even for a Pthulminthian, it was high.

“Overtime you’ll get better, but it won't happen overnight. Like I've made the choice to show my scar when I wear that dress… baby steps.” Baby steps were good for someone who had no idea where to start. Some people might go headfirst in with a dive as they know where they start but that could backfire right away or later down the line. Through my baby steps, I did feel better. I was still uncomfortable walking down the hallways of Citadel trying to keep my head up. I don’t know if it was the years of abuse by my mother and the chosen tutor or the fact, I was just different as Elinore put it.

Similar to Alex who was rather quiet about her childhood and teen years but from she has said, she was in a not-so-nice family with two others. Alex always deviates by not giving details, eventually, Alex got adopted by her real father and he also brought her two siblings as well. Remingar was an utter bastard before he found his daughter Alex but then he changed… became a doting old fool whilst trying to keep up appearances. Also thinking on that ducal family, the Remingars were completely fine with not helping either side of the coin wanting to stay neutral. That’s unless Alex was put in harm’s way, such as Duke remingar helping the rebels which we needed him to do.

I offered the rebels help several times under Rias’s request whilst I travelled to meet them, I had them reach out to the ducal families without alerting the king or his allies. Remingar had no interest in helping at first, this meant he was also not playing into the king's plans and may be doing what he thinks is best. Even without the duke’s help the rebels made progress with the Leonharts and Pendragons who became their largest secret supporters.

Duke remingar after a while did make attempts to help the rebels such as giving funding for the slums so the king wouldn’t catch on. Over the last year and a half, the duke has been actively trying to build the slums into a better state. ‘Maybe it's just the nature of a doctor to care for the weak and needy or those who aren’t privileged like that king’. My spirit bond spoke up, his voice has a cheerful hipster jumpiness to it that might explain why he takes on the form of a robin.

‘Howl, that could be right but it's not like we have the right to ask’. I replied turning a corner beside Alex onto the more decorated blackened gold marble flooring and black polished stone walls. Everything was in the theme of yule with pinecones, reefs and candles lit up and spread across every inch of the hallway and subsequently the entire citadel. Among those decorations were beads flowing down hanging from the golden gothic ceiling supports and the snow-white leaf reefs.

The candles all lit up gave the hallway an ambient feeling, even the candle itself gave off a slight shine matching the cream-red hue of the flame. Thankfully before I could note the change needed the maids and a few servants began to put up a nine-foot tall evergreen tree which would be later covered by yuletide decoration and offerings to their respective gods. I hadn’t noticed till looking up at the top of the tree that on the ceiling supports several types of ornaments, even a couple I had made in my free time were put up. A valknut and a hammer of the thunder god.

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The centre piece of all the ornaments was the vegvisir ‘the navigator’.

“Hey Samantha, you coming?!” Alex exclaimed standing at the end of the hallway. I picked up my step trying not to trip on the dress I had quickly thrown on just after my conversation with Alex about her dress for the summit special hall event. Making my way through the hallway I found myself turning another corner that was connected to the entrance of the citadel and the large stairs that were split into a left and right directions. Descending down the left I had caught up to Alex who was still walking ahead.

The citadel’s entrance had changed quite a bit since its run-down state before, now fully elevated since a fair few meters were added to the staircase. The entrance like the rest of the citadel took on the black and gold with white here and there in the banners mainly. The ornate metal ceiling supports were textured in a sort of mana-paint turning them a metallic iridescent gold. The black covered the ceiling itself as well as the pearl black walls whereas the flooring itself was constructed entirely out of patterned marble.

White flags and banners hung from the walls with the symbol of Numena that had been named Eventide’s sovereignty. On the white banner and flags were two lone animals the black shadow phoenix and the golden sun lion. At the bottom of the blackened gold marble staircase, white origami doves were placed atop the stair poles. The metal ornate gothic railings of the stairs themselves were mainly black with a hint of white designed throughout. This extended throughout the staircase even past the two large black oak doors.

The black doors weren’t something to gawk at really, mainly an outlier in this entire room. Not having much time to look at them as they began to open. The wood groaned and whined under the movement of the hinges under the force of the doors being open by the mana carved into them by the craftsman. Behind the doors was the largest space in the entire citadel, the throne room which was also sometimes used for important meetings which involved various people such as right now.

Other than myself and Alex, eight different people sat at the large round table in the centre of the large room. The eight people being Talia, Elinore sitting beside Lithran, next to him sat two people the current leader of dwarves Anarox and besides him was Daniella. Besides Daniella was the queen of the fae and fairies. The only other two seated were Valentina and Ciaran. Somehow all of them looked disappointed including Talia who herself didn’t look like she was in the best of moods.

“What happened?” I prodded, sitting towards the large table. On the table was a shattered blade of unfamiliar make even the design was unfamiliar to me. Talia explained that this was found by Imkli on his way to Numena, not wanting to cause misunderstandings he gave it up believing that whatever it was, someone here would know. However, to his disbelief no one had an idea to what this blade was nor where it came from before him. It was no common design of any bladesmith, the dwarven leader Anarox believes it’s the work of a spirit called Goliath.

Goliath in terms of myth and legend just meant a large humanoid like a giant or Jotun. In the sense of Anarox who believes the spirit nicknamed Goliath could have forged it, the idea must have been from the fact the blade was blunt to an absurd degree. From the testing though this yielded different results. The blunt edges of the blade somehow cut through anything it was put against as if it sharpened. Probing for more, it was Lithran who answered.

“Goliath was once a mortal man from an epoch before our own, he’s said to be one of the greatest smiths from Themis narmora. His intelligence was great but somewhere that fell short, no matter who he forged for or how much he tried to craft and forge his blades. They would never come out sharp to the eye, but they would still cut as if they were. Eventually, this drove him mad in pursuit of the perfect weapon of craftsmanship he did everything a craftsman would in that state even sacrifice his own flesh.” Lithran paused placing his hand above the weapon.

“After some time at the end of his own race’s current life. He did craft a weapon finally perfect, but it was still blunt. He was successful but failed at making it look sharp… this drove him over the brink fully. He attempted it one last time pouring everything in, as time passed that one weapon turned into fifteen. The fifteen weapons of the red construction he perfected it truly, they looked and were sharper. Sharper than anything to be unseen and unheard. For his valiant efforts pushing his madness further, he became a spirit, becoming a mammoth of a man with one purpose to create something better than the fifteen blades.”

The story that Lithran told was of the weaponsmith Hepha, he is believed to of created the weapons of the red construction using his own flesh and blood. Nine of these weapons became lost to history and only six of these famed relics were found. Two of which are now wielded by Orin. The black sword Caliburn and the death’s grip Blackthorne. The four others were then given to two Eldritch goddesses with the other two weapons finding themselves in the hands of the first wraith and another family.

Six’s blade was the blood sword of Kalarix named after the blood-red cannibal Anagron who just happened to become Six’s bond after she became a Valkyrie. Sif’s sword just so happened to be the predecessor blade for Excalibur which we now know is false. Meaning, that the blade Sif held is a pale imitation of Evangelion to some extent. Talia now and back when she was Hera held a weapon of the red construction the aether rapier ‘Quinn’. Not much was to be said about it as not many knew its true appearance aside from it was said to look like a silver cutlass, that when swung a faint trail of dark void aether followed it closely.

Now the weapon my family had which I also happened to steal before going to the elven realm was the sixth weapon crafted by this spirit smith.

“I-I ha-have something to sa-say.” I stuttered trying to get my quiet voice out with my head slightly bowed to the ground. Slowly I explained that I had stolen one of these famed weapons when I left my family because I wanted my father to feel a fatal blow. Two birds with one stone so to speak. “The we-weapon in my possession is one of those legends. I-it’s the bow. The Yumi or as y-you call it… T-the crow’s talon.” Lifting my head through my slow-paced stuttering words I looked at each person sitting at the table, still needing a boost in confidence my mind wandered towards Rias.

A small flickering of pink wind with cherry blossom leaves flowed under and over my fingers. With the boost in confidence I had gained, finding the courage I summoned the crow’s talon to my right hand. Everyone’s eyes opened in surprise as the bow came to me without hesitation, their reaction of shock clearly showed they were due an answer. A full explanation of what they have just seen. Which I intended to give them, as what I had to tell them, it seemed to be important in this case involving the blunt sharp blade.

“So… I-it chose me. I st-stole it from my father well technically it wasn’t stealing but you get the point.” Adding on what I had already told them seemed to calm them, albeit also adding fuel to the fire of questions they now had for me. Question after question was thrown my way wanting to know more about this weapon which wasn’t helpful when I knew little about it other than it could use my mana and sorcery including my innate Siren abilities from my mother and the nine-tail ancestry I have.

“Hang on what?” Valentina asked in a surprised hushed tone looking directly at Talia who also had no idea.

“I said that aloud, didn’t I?” They all nodded to my question. With a sigh of pain, I rubbed the bridge of my nose. Realizing that my confidence boosts also seemed to heighten my instincts of just pushing things out before even thinking about them, so now I gave them more questions than actual answers. Now I had to explain that yes, I was a siren thanks to my mother being one not telling anyone about her death, I only figured out that I had nine-tail ancestry after I was able to hold the crow’s talon in my hand.

Using magic, I was able to hide my true appearance. The cat-like ears, eyes, the mermaid scales and the three slanted gills across the sides of my neck even the pearly iridescent skin. I didn’t tell them the reason why I hid all this as I saw no point to this as I look vastly different even unrecognizable to some. I was thankful that I was able to influence their thoughts so only Talia, Valentina, Alex and Elinore would remember this part at least. Rias of course knew before any of them because of her divinity could see my true appearance through mirrors and glassy surfaces.

I didn’t trust the rest of them well enough to let them keep such information in their hands as for Lithran I couldn’t influence his mind because he fortified it to where I couldn’t crack it with my sorcery.

“We’ve deviated from the main topic at hand, the reason I called those two here as well as you all is because of various reasons such as Imra and his legion what they might do. One of other the main reasons I’ve called you all here is what Rias now calls herself. The main three things you should call her are ‘Your Majesty’, ‘Empress’ or ‘Queen eventide’ That being said there is one more name you can call her.” Talia spoke, her tone was more queen-like than I had expected to hear from her. Seizing the moment, I spoke up with the name Rias chose herself.

“She has allowed us only and the sororitias to call her. Of course, the people of Numena can call her this as well. ‘SunKiller’.”