The room that Nic was in could be described in just a few words; luxurious, but practical. While everything within the room was clearly made with an attention to detail, Nic couldn’t see anything that couldn’t be used for something. There was only a single item that could be considered a decoration; on the wall opposite the room's entrance was a single long, curved sword- a katana similar in size to Yuuki’s- hanging on the wall. It would easily be grabbable if someone tried to attack the man sitting in front of it.
Yuuki’s father, whose name Nic had learned was Nobu, was sitting at a rather large desk in the center of the room. Nic was unsure about what wood had been used to make the desk, but the deep brown-red coloring of the wood was intricately crafted to look like something a king would use.
In front of the desk were two ornate chairs currently occupied by Sarman and Yuuki, the latter of which had been consistently switching between sitting down and standing up and pounding her hands on her father’s desk.
Nic and Aria were sitting on a small couch to one side of the room, in front of a small glass coffee table. Nic could see the rings of a few cups having been recently placed on the glass top.
After Yuuki revealed herself to her father, the group had been split into two. Aria, Sarman, Yuuki, and Nic had been taken by Nobu Ito into the complex at the heart of Kyoku’s government. The room where they were now was his office as the right-hand man of the current Shogun.
Sara, Kiara, and the other delegates had been led off by Yuuki’s mother. Being friends of their daughter, the Ito’s had no plans to let them all sleep in some random Inn, and instead were giving them all a place to sleep within the Ito homestead.
“I’m telling you, we need to see Uncle!” Yuuki slammed her hand on the wooden desk for the umpteenth time already in this conversation.
“It’s not going to happen. You haven’t given me anything concrete to act on.” Her father sighed as he slowly shook his head.
“What do you mean? Have you not been listening to us at all?!”
“Listening? To what? To a story that sounds more fantastical than real?” Nobu shot back at his daughter, causing her to quiet down as he continued. “You’ve been gone for ten years, five of which you refused to answer any letters your mother or I sent you! The only reason that I have known that you were fine is because our people in Sanum have kept me appraised of everything happening to you.
And now you come here spinning this tale that you are the- what was it? The Queen of a new City-State that I’ve never heard about? And on top of that, Sanum has entered an alliance with two new City-States and is now coming to us for help with food?” Nobu scoffed in annoyance. “It sounds to me like Sanum needs our help for itself and is too ashamed to admit it.”
Waves of heat rolled off of Sarman, hot enough that Nic didn’t even need to be looking at his friend to know that he was angry at the comments being thrown at his home. Thankfully, Sarman managed to keep himself from releasing the flames within his heart as he dropped a small letter in front of Nobu.
“This letter was penned by my father and should corroborate our story.”
Nobu sighed as he picked up the letter and began to read it. Yuuki took the opportunity to sit back down in the chair, staying quiet like the rest of them. The quietness within the room was occasionally broken up by grunts and the clicking of Nobu’s tongue, done in annoyance.
“So, it’s all true, then? You’ve become the queen of some foreign City-State?” Nobu’s eyes pierced through his daughter, who could only respond with a meek affirmative nod. “Look, I want to believe you. My daughter is right here in front of me, telling me a story, and I want to believe her, but there is a glaring part of this story that makes me think this is all a ruse.”
Nic had never seen the letter that Sarman produced, and upon hearing this statement began to worry about what had been written within the letter. Had Sarman’s father revealed his secret within the letter? Did Yuuki’s dad not believe that a Verilo was within their countries borders?
His curiosity beat the alarm bells ringing in his head as he slowly got up and moved closer to the actual desk. Aria, seemingly just following in his footsteps, was just a few feet behind him, one of her hands clutching the back of his cloak. Nic wasn’t sure if the gesture was meant to make him feel calmer, or if it was meant to hold him back in case he did something rash.
“What problem is that?” Sarman had noticed Nic moving and had said something before Nic could even open his mouth.
“Well, you see,” Nobu put the letter down in front of him and folded his hands on top of it. “You claim that the blood elf, Crystal Serilo, passed away in an attack on this City-State named Crystallia?”
“That’s correct.” “Yea.” Sarman and Yuuki answered at the same time.
“Then tell me something… who is the woman currently in this city waiting to have an audience with the Shogun?” Nobu’s words created a quietness in the room that rivaled even the greatest vacuum created by wind magic users. In Nic’s mind, he saw the journal that his ancestor, Crystal, had written about her one experiment with cloning blood.
“Ruby…” The name left his mouth before he had realized he was moving his lips.
When the rest heard it, the heat from Sarman was extinguished in a second, replaced by a chilly air that sucked the heat out of everyone there. As if a spark had lit a fire in Sarman and Yuuki, both of their faces grew grim with a realization.
“The village…”
“It all makes sense now. Ruby was behind that as well.”
“That name sounds ominous, just like all of your reactions to it. I take it this ‘Ruby’ is someone dangerous?” Nobu looked between the four of them.
“She’s a clone, father. A clone of Crystal’s. Except she wants to create a second Irradiated Winter.” Yuuki responded, a cold edge in her words as she spat out the truth of their enemy. “We believe that she is also responsible for the mass extinction of one of the villages on the Kronul part of Kyoku.”
Hearing of the death of an entire village caused Nobu to sit up much straighter. “What did you say?”
“When we were coming down from the World’s End Mountain range, the first fishing village we came upon was completely murdered. Every single inhabitant was still laying where they had been killed and this banner,” Sarman pulled out the rolled up banner they had collected. “Was there, like the attackers were staking claim to the dead village.”
Nobu unfurled the banner, and upon looking at the design on it, immediately called in a servant, who after being whispered orders, took the banner and quickly left the room.
“You bring a strong case. I can’t give you preferential treatment over the woman claiming to be the Blood Queen, but, I can give you a chance.”
“A chance?” Sarman leaned forward, listening intently.
“The woman claiming to be a Blood Queen is set to speak before the Shogun and our Senate tomorrow. I can make it so you can also be at that meeting, debating your own side of what will ultimately be an argument between the two of you.”
Nic knew that the offer they were being offered was the best they were likely to get. If they refused this offer, there was no telling when they would get to meet with the Shogun, and if Ruby truly was here already, then they didn’t have the luxury of waiting.
“That’s fine.” Sarman clearly agreed with Nic’s assessment.
“Good. Then, like I said to the rest of your group at the gate, you are free to stay in our home while you are here in Kyoku. I can take you there now.” With the discussions done for the day, Nobu stood up and quickly moved to the door of his room, motioning for everyone to follow him.
Aria, Sarman, Yuuki, and Nic soon found themselves standing in front of a large, ornamental designed, compound not too far from the center palace. As Nobu called out, a large circular gate slowly opened, leading into the compound itself.
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The main building within the compound was not too tall, only standing at a single story tall with a slanted roof made of wood. What it lacked in vertical height, it more than made up for in horizontal length, being almost as wide as the entirety of Aric. There was a short patio that seemed to wrap around the entire house, with multiple doors leading from different rooms to the gardens in front.
Nic thought of the front area as a garden, but he wasn’t quite sure if that was the right name for it. One side was filled with rocks displayed in a specific way that seemed calming to look at. The other side had a similar design, but a large portion of it was taken up by wires held up by rather long sticks of wood. Thanks to the few pieces of cloth hanging on the wires, Nic assumed that they were there to dry clothing and other pieces of cloth.
His gaze around the garden was interrupted by the soft sound of the front door being slid open. From the door came a small girl - probably ten or eleven years old, and looked like Yuuki’s mother - running towards Nobu. As she got closer, Nobu knelt down and wrapped his arms around the girl as she threw herself into him.
“Papa!”
Being situated slightly behind Yuuki, Nic was the first to notice when she stopped at the sight of the young girl. Her voice was trembling as she spoke a name softly. “Mirai?”
“Mirai! How many times do I have to tell you not to run! Even if it’s papa!” Yuuki’s murmuring of the girl's name was drowned out by a boy’s call from the doorway.
A boy not that much younger than Nic, fifteen or sixteen if he had to guess, appeared as the owner of the voice. Unlike his little sister, this boy looked much more like his father, and Yuuki who also happened to take after her father more than her mother. He was standing in the doorway, staring at the group of people that his sister had just run towards. While Mirai was focused on their father, the boy’s eyes were wavering as he stared at Yuuki.
Walking at a somewhat quick pace, the boy moved down the steps, past his father, and stopped in front of Yuuki. Nic wasn’t sure how small he had been when Yuuki had originally left Kyoku, but now he was slightly taller than her, causing her to need to slightly look up.
Yuuki reached out and softly patted the boy’s head as she shakily spoke. “Kyouta, you’re so big now…”
“If it really you?” The boy was close to crying as he reached out and hugged his older sister.
“It is. I’m finally back.”
“Papa?” Before Kyouta could say something again, Mirai’s voice cut through. “Who is she? Why is Kyouta crying and hugging her?”
“This, little Mirai, is your big sister.” As Nobu answered his younger daughter, Mirai looked at Yuuki as her eyes went wide in surprise.
“Yuuki sis!?”
Yuuki let out a small laugh as tears began to pour out of her eyes. “Yes, it’s me, Mirai. Come here.”
Mirai ran over to her and Kyouta and the three siblings held each other tightly for the first time in a decade. “I’m sorry I haven’t been here, Mirai. I hope to get to know you while I'm back.”
Nobu motioned for the other three to come with him and led them into the house proper. At the entrance, they were asked to take off their shoes and put on slippers before stepping up a single step onto a wooden floor.
“Welcome to our home, please make yourselves comfortable.” The woman they had met at the palace gates earlier greeted them within the home’s main foyer. She gave the group a small bow before leading them through the building to a back door. The building itself wasn’t that wide inside, but coming through the back door, Nic found that there was a sizeable garden in the center, with more buildings on either side of it.
The center garden was full of beautiful flowers of ever color. Their fragrance was strong on the nostrils as a light wind blew the scent towards the open door. Pink petals surfed on the wind, being plucked from the single, fairly massive, tree in the center of the garden. The petals on the tree were weak enough that even this faint wind was causing them to fall to the ground.
Nic had seen a bunch of these trees on the walk from the docks to the palace itself. They seemed to be everywhere, and a majority of the trees seemed to be this specific kind. Nic resolved to ask Yuuki about them later.
“Miss Luna, this garden is wonderful!” Kiara appeared from within the garden, mentioning the woman’s name. When she noticed the rest of them, she gave them all a small wave.
Luna, Yuuki’s mother, indulged in a small talk with Kiara before leading the three of them to a room in the eastern building where they were told they could sleep for the time being. When everyone came back together, Nobu made the announcement that he had to head back to the palace to take care of some final work.
“Aria.” Nic leaned close to Aria and whispered into her ear.
“What?”
“Can you cover for me? I’m gonna try to talk with Yuuki’s father alone.”
“Huh? Why?” Aria raised her voice in a short yelp before covering her mouth and continuing to talk quietly. “What’s wrong?”
“Nothing, but if Ruby is really here, I think it would be better for Yuuki’s father, and hopefully the Shogun, to know who I am before tomorrow.” Nic was sure that if he didn’t reveal his lineage now, then Ruby would use it the next day as an attack, When he looked at Aria’s eyes, he knew that she was thinking the same thing.
“Got it. I’ll cover for you for now.”
And so, just a minute after Nobu left the household, Nic sneaked away himself and rushed after the Catkin. As Nic rushed towards the palace, he expected to be stopped by the guards, but after a scant look, the guard at the gate let him through.
On the other side, he came face to face with Nobu.
“So, Nic, was it?” Nic nodded. “Why’d you follow me? Got something you want to say, but don't want to say it in front of everyone else?”
“That’s right, sir.” Nic steadied his breathing before continuing. “There is something unrelated to your daughter, Sarman, and the rest that I believe that you, and the Shogun, should hear privately before tomorrow.”
“As I said before, no one sees the Shogun before tomorrow. No exceptions.”
“Please. I am simply trying to make sure that a truth about myself is not used against me.”
Nic hoped his plea was enough. Nobu stayed quiet, his eyes thinning as he looked Nic up and down multiple times. When he finally spoke, Nic found the topic rapidly changing.
“Your sword… who’s your teacher?”
Nic instinctively gripped the sheath of his sword when he heard the question. He had dropped the blade that had been on his back at the household, but this sword with a black gem was almost glued to his hip.
“Huh? Oh, your daughter, Yuuki. She’s my teacher.”
Before Nic heard the sound of a sword being unsheathed, his body was already moving to unsheathe his own. Two swords clashed with a loud clang.
Steel on steel.
Sparks flew in front of Nic’s eyes.
It took a second for his brain to comprehend what had just happened. His body had sensed a killer instinct from Nobu in front and had subconsciously drawn his own sword halfway out of it’s sheathe to block the katana flying at his midsection. Nic hadn’t even been consciously aware that Nobu had been holding a blade from the moment that Nic passed through the gate.
“Good reflexes. She taught you well. Fine, come with me.”
Nobu’s words passed through Nic’s ears before his brain could comprehend them. By the time he realized what was being said, Nobu was already almost through a door to the palace.
Nic sprinted after Yuuki’s father, barely getting into the palace before the door closed. Once inside, Nobu led Nic to a room deep within the center of the palace. Once they came to a set of two rather large doors, Nobu opened one and motioned for Nic to enter the room.
Nic had been expecting a room not all that unlike Nobu’s office, but instead found himself within the personal bed chambers of the Shogun. The man leading the country was lying in the bed in the center of the room. Nic saw a small amount of Irradiation drifting off of the man. The reason why everyone was being told to wait to meet with the Shogun had become perfectly clear.
“Hah!” On the edge of the bed was a small metallic bird. The laugh had come from it. “This is an interesting sight.” Its voice was like that of a deep male’s voice.
Nic had heard rumors that the Shogun of Kyoku was also a spirit king, though neither Sarman, Aria, nor their respective spirits knew how true that was. But this bird seemed to be proof.
“Are you… Sterling?” Nic asked cautiously.
“Oh-hoh! He’s done some research and knows me as well!” The bird was Sterling, the steel spirit progenitor.
“Sterling, shut it.” The Shogun said before coughing. “Nobu, why have you brought a stranger to my bedroom?”
“Sorry about this, Asumasa. I got a few updates for you. First, Yuuki has returned to Kyoku.”
“Little Kyoku is back, huh? Have you gotten her answer to my question?”
“No, I haven’t burdened her with it yet.”
The two old men talked like old friends, despite Nobu standing near the door next to Nic. Nic was curious what this question that the Shogun had given Yuuki. He knew it wasn’t his place to know, but he still wondered.
“She didn’t come alone, however. Sarman Ordwell, son of that old bird Chapman, as well as Nic here and a few more arrived with her. They are a part of a new Alliance being formed between City-States near Sanum and are looking for our help.”
“And? Why is he here now? Couldn’t you have just told them to come tomorrow?”
“I did. And they will. Nic is here because he says he has something to tell both us privately.”
Nic took a step forward towards the Shogun. Then another. Nobu tried to stop him, yet froze when Nic started talking while moving.
“Let me introduce myself fully before it is revealed tomorrow. As the leaders of this country, I think it is only natural that you learn who has come into your borders.” Nic stopped at the bed's end, in front of Sterling the spirit. “My name is Nic Verilo.”
“Verilo?!” Both the Shogun and Nobu cried out his family name. The former in astonishment and the latter in anger.
“That’s right. My ancestor, Noah Verilo, caused the Irradiated Winter.”
“So he had children?” Nobu seethed from behind him.
“Yes, with Crystal Serilo, the Blood Elf.”
Hearing the Blood Elf’s name, Nobu stopped in confusion.
“What do you want?” The Shogun was the one who spoke up next.
“Nothing. I simply wanted you to know that I was within your borders.” Nic had spoken his mind and turned to leave, but was stopped by the Shogun calling out to him.
“Wait! Tell me, can you absorb Irradiation? I doubt that Sanum would let you go otherwise.”
Nic hadn’t planned on healing the Shogun, hell, he hadn’t even known that the Shogun had Irradiation Sickness till just a few minutes ago. He didn’t know what it would be like if he said yes. Would they distrust him? Fearing that he only came today to gain an advantage by healing the Shogun?
But at the same time, Nic had vowed to never overlook someone suffering from Irradiation Sickness again.
And so, he turned back and answered the Shogun truthfully.