Mosh stepped into the chaos of the kitchen. He had managed to sleep a bit later, but he had to get up. He had promised that he would visit the school and say hi to the kids. He would be shepherded between classes, the kids getting to meet someone from the Game. It was unlikely any had, very few were taken. The boast picture his siblings had taken had caused a stir, and the teachers had met and decided the best way to calm things down would be to embrace it and satisfy the students’ curiosity if he was willing. He suspected it was because the teachers were as curious as the kids, but it made a good excuse for them. It felt strange and uncomfortable but it would be fun to return to his old school. It had been a long time since he had been to his primary school, and when he went to the high school, he still had friends in the lower grades, some of whom were having their awakenings in the next year.
The bus arrived and he got on surrounded by his siblings. He stood out, taller than everyone on the bus, and his horns, scales and eyes were an immediate magnet for the kids and the bus driver. He waved hello, and pandemonium broke out. A mass rush of kids darting to the front to shake his hand, or with some of the younger ones to just stand and stare. Questions arrived, shouted and blended into each other. The bus driver pulled out a bull horn, normally used to try and scare livestock as they departed from the farms, and turned on its siren, its blaring sound drowning out the chaos until the kids were all looking at her. It was then that Silky decided to cancel his camouflage, growling at the bus driver for hurting his ears! The driver gulped but relaxed when she saw Mosh laughing and rubbing the creature's head with his knuckle. Silky’s appearance also seemed to shock the kids, though many looked excited enough to want to pat him, even though he should have scared them and was far from a tame house pet!
“Sit down, seat belts on.” The driver looked at Mosh, “Yes, we have a distinguished guest today, but he cannot talk to you if you are all shouting.” Her look turned apologetic as she continued, “I am sure if the questions are asked one at a time he will answer them. We have a long trip to school. And stay away from his pet, it may not want to be touched, ask Mosh first!”
The kids quieted down, and Mindi decided to take charge. As the oldest of the Barmenash kids still in school, she claimed authority and decided that was her role. A hat was passed with numbers, each kid taking one, and having a turn to ask a question. Some of the kids didn’t have questions but wanted a repeat of what his younger siblings had wanted, to feel his scales. When asked he showed his claws, and Simo boasted that he had touched one and been cut. The minute scratch quickly became a prized trophy. Silky took up the seat next to him, his head resting on Mosh’s lap. A few of the braver kids did give him scratches, and Silky endured it with quiet purrs.
The school was not much better. From the moment he left the bus he was surrounded by curious kids. His progress was delayed as he was continuously interrupted as communicators were taken out and everyone had to take a selfie. He had seen celebrities being treated his way on the Viewer, he had just never thought it would be him. The excitement was enough that the children most nervous from his looks were infected by the excitement and joined in. Silky had faded away when he saw the crowds, he did not enjoy the crowding. The kids looked for him, those from the bus boasting about petting him, even if they hadn’t. but they had no way to penetrate his stealth skills and he remained hidden. It was only when the crowds dissipated as the school day began that he reappeared.
He made his way to the various classes, spending the day answering questions and enduring the stares and curiosity that accompanied his presence. Silky padded between the desks, making sure he got the attention he so royally deserved. Many a snack was fed to him, and he refused none of them, majestically allowing his subjects to feed and scratch him as they paid homage. At the end of the day, Mosh was invited to the high school training field and found the whole school had taken to the stands and were sitting there waiting for him. His old principal looked at him, inviting him up onto the stage. As he arrived, Silky padding at his side, a banner unfurled from the roof, “Go Mosh! May you survive, may you thrive, may you return to us! We are always your family!”
As tears burned in his eyes and the kids cheered, the principal indicated for them to quieten. “Welcome back Mosh.” A few short months ago you would have been seated in those stands. Now, you return to us, a hero of humanity!” He had to stop and wait for the cheering to die down. “You are the second student from our school to be taken by the lottery, sadly Kiren Fauket did not survive, and we remember her bravery.” He fell silent and all present bowed their heads. He waited a minute then raised his head. “Today, you are here, our school hero, and we have a gift for you.” He stopped and waved his hand and his siblings came up, each carrying a large bundle of pages. “We asked all our students to write their wishes for you or to produce artwork for you to remember us by. We hope it brings light to you.”
Mr Kolpan, his old combat arts teacher stood, coming up to him, another box in his hand. “Mosh, I have watched every broadcast, listened for every mention of you. You have brought pride to me as your teacher. I taught you the spear, but in the time you have been away you have surpassed my skills, the Game honing and refining them beyond my dojo learning. It is also clear that the weapon you wield is superior to those we could supply. The gift the school chose is more practical. Useable in combat if you must, but it comes with much utility, it should be superior to the one we have seen you use in the broadcasts. You should have some knowledge of how to use it, even if you did spend too much time in my class trying to hide and read books instead!” A few laughs sounded in the auditorium, but most were just waiting to see what it was.
Mosh took the proffered box giving a small bow to his old teacher. With everyone watching, he opened the finely lacquered box, an enamelled image of Silky striding next to him upon it. He opened it and gasped. A finely crafted knife lay within, a Damascus patterned knife with a blade at least thirty centimetres long lay within. The blade looked sharp, double-sided, the lower third straightened with teeth cut into it, a fuller through the centre of the blade lightened it and a guard where the blade met the handle making sure it would be safe stab with. He felt energy running through it and spiked his true sight, seeing the mana swirl about it, flowing through and highlighting runes not visible to the naked eye. But as he did so his true sight picked up something else, a presence watching from beneath the stands, a mana signature where there should be none. Silky picked up his concern and the direction of his gaze and disappeared. Mosh did not know who it was and felt it was too early for elaborate measures and put the knife into the sheath that was in the box, and then spun, throwing it towards the presence.
Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.
The principal and Mr Kolpan next to him gasped, the principal diving for cover from the exposed stage, the combat arts teacher showing he had more than just dojo knowledge and reflexes as he flowed into a ready stance, coming to stand next to Mosh.
The sheathed knife flew, flowing between the legs of some students, and hit the hidden being, revealing it to all as it struck him. A brief cry could be heard as whatever the creature fell backwards beneath the stands onto the ground only to have Silky pounce on it, his teeth wrapping around the creature’s neck but not biting down.
Mosh stepped and walked forward, “Get everyone out of here, I’ll deal with this!” The teachers sprang into action, starting the normal evacuation procedures. Older classes took control of the younger ones, making sure everyone moved safely, that no one panicked, and that no one got hurt.
Mosh moved forward retrieving the new knife. He unsheathed it and knelt next to the being whom he now examined. At first, he looked human, but Mosh pushed with his true sight, discerning patterns of mana and chi that flowed through its body. “Drop the disguise, or I’ll start carving until you are in too much pain to maintain it. You know where I’ve been, I’ll do what I say!”
The creature looked at him fearfully, and then its form changed. Its face had two eyes and its sharp beak lay in a feather lined face. It stared at him, waiting to see what would happen.
“Who are you? Why are you here? Why are spying on me?” Mosh demanded answers from the creature, the knife blade held before its eyes, Silky not letting go of its throat. The creature stared at him, wide eyed, but remained silent. They stayed in their stalemate, and then Mosh took out his communication orb, using it to connect to Fulan.
“Hey, Mosh, everything all right?” The voice of Fulan came out, concern in it.
“No, its not ok, I’m here with a Greater Mileu spy. Caught him spying on me, probably trying to scan me again!” He saw the creature flinch, confirming his guesses. “Come get him and find out why they are harassing me like this, or I will start carving him up. It’s the second time they have tried to scan me illegally.”
“I’m on my way, along with our police and armed forces. The Greater Mileu is not getting him back until we learn everything he has to say.” He turned away from the phone and Mosh could hear him issuing orders. “We’re on our way, I have your location from the call. The police have a unit nearby, they’ll be there in a few seconds, I’m a few minutes away but will join you soon.”
Mosh remained in position, only relaxing when he heard running steps, and a uniformed police officer stepped up. He looked warily at Silky.
“Don’t worry officer, she won’t touch you unless you threaten me.” He smiled, though with his new visage that was probably not as comforting as he wanted it to be. The police officer took him at his word, stepping up and placing restraints on the creature. Mosh saw a look of contempt on the creature, undoubtedly, he could easily break these and thought it would be easy to break out of whatever prison it was placed in. Mosh would have to warn Fulan when he arrived.
It did not take long. Evidently, Fulan did not bother with the niceties of speed limits and the school was far closer than Mosh’s house. Less than five minutes later he was there, marching forward with a new set of restraints in his hands. These glowed when Mosh examined them with True Sight, not just Mana but Psi, Chi and Soul all flowed in carefully controlled paths. Fulan grinned as he looked at the creature below, Silky’s teeth still wrapped around its neck. He did not remove the old restraints until he had the new ones in place and Mosh could see the panic in the eyes of the creature, it seemed to be struggling. A struggle that came to an end as it features changed again, now more canine like, looking like a distant ancestor of the kolb. Fulan turned to Mosh, “Give the cuffs another jolt of mana, it’s still playing games.”
Mosh nodded and extended his finger to touch the cuffs. In theory, he could do it remotely, but that was harder and there was no reason not to do it the easy way. He pushed mana into the cuffs, finding that he didn’t have to use his Imbue mana ability but that they were designed to take it in. He looked at them and noted how the mana circuit was not brighter than the others, and fed more energy into each of them, filling them all. Silky slunk away, hiding himself again as the creature no longer offered any threat.
The creature screamed, a scream of defiance. Mosh saw chi build up and be emitted, only for the cuffs to flare, the built-up chi exploding as it left the captive. Flowing back over it, cutting into its face, one of its eyes being pulped by the force of the explosion. Nothing escaped to harm anyone else, and the cuffs remained firmly in place. Mosh looked at the cuffs, the energy lines looked barely affected, the chi slightly dimmer after it had been invoked.
It looked at them, its remaining eye filled with pain but defiant. As it shouted out “We shall prevail, the Principalities will Reign!”. Another explosion resounded, this time centred over where its heart was destroying half its chest and leaving it dead. Mosh looked at the body feeling sick. He had killed many beings in the Crucible, but none were sapient. He stumbled up and felt Fulan gripping his shoulder.
“Its ok, Mosh. You didn’t do it. It should have been fine. You captured it and treated it correctly, there is no blame on you.” He stared down at the body. “A forensics team will be here shortly; we will learn what we can from the body before we confront the Galactic Milieu. Though I expect them to lie, it seems they are even less trustworthy than we thought, and that is saying a lot!
Mosh nodded, and followed the principal, with Mr Kolpan guiding him with a hand over his shoulders. His siblings were gathered up, and they were transported home in the school van driven by Mr Kolpan. Mosh noticed that he had changed at some point while he had waited for his siblings and was dressed in leather armour laced with mana and chi. A bandolier of mana-enhanced knives was strung across his chest and a mana-enhanced sword swung at his side. The principal came to apologise before they left, with Mosh assuring him that he knew the school was not involved. But the incident left him worried. He knew that if the greater Mileu knew of what he knew and of his Aether core he could expect for greater attacks than this, but no one was meant to know of his knowledge of the Progenitors and the War yet, or that he had an Aether core. As he stared out of the window as they drove, another thought hit him, ‘Who, or what, were the Principalities?’