Leo and Heidi
Sternenberg, Switzerland
The figure stood still for a second and removed the hood to reveal the face of a beautiful woman in her thirties with vibrant blue eyes. All gazes on her, she ruffled her hair and closed the door behind her. Leo looked at the woman and immediately spotted the similarities with the Alea he knew from the recording crystals. While many, the similarities ended as soon as they started.
The woman looked rugged, standing barely at Heidi’s height. Her grimace was weathered and her hair was white as snow. Leo could not help but notice a scar on her face that ran near her eye, as she looked at him with a knowing gaze. Come to think of it, I have not seen mages get many scars, he thought as the woman was addressed by Peter.
“Hello, Alea,” he said as got up from the chair and took a step forward. The woman looked at Leo for a second more and turned to face the Alpha, shaking his hand. “Hello, Peter. After all these years, who would have thought that we would meet under such circumstances.” Peter grimaced but said nothing, as Seb interrupted them.
“And what circumstances are those, esteemed Walpurga?” he asked confidently. The woman released the Alpha’s hand and walked toward Seb. Looking him in the eye she smiled, before she turned to Heidi, her smile deepening. “I see that Inca’s line is still alive and well,” she said, finishing her tour of the room and looking at Evan and Lis.
“By circumstances, I meant that someone here,” she said, pointing to Leo, “has made himself noticeable. The Church is still alive and well I believe?” Seb looked her in the eye and answered, “Sure is, has been for hundreds of years.”
Alea chuckled at his response. “It sure has young Aer. Though, I believe you know why. Peter, how is the Conclave doing these days? Running out and about shirking their duties? Curiously, I could walk into your estate unnoticed. No wards, no protections - what is going on?”
Peter looked uncomfortable for a moment and said, “Well, there have been many developments since the time you sealed yourself away in the mountain.”
“Oh?” Alea looked at everyone present and noticed their weary gazes. Now that she concentrated she noticed that their cores did not shine bright as she remembered cores of such level should.
“Yes, the Conclave has been disbanded. Ever since you vanished they either bent the knee and were integrated within the Church’s ranks or scattered across the world never to be seen again,” Peter answered calmly.
Alea paused for a second to take his statement in. All the work she and Inca put into getting the mages up from under Iscariot’s thumb and banding together were gone? She could not believe it. “What about your home? Why does it stand unprotected?”
Peter grimaced, “That is both mine and the Church’s fault. We have been with them at odds ever since your sanctuary was granted. We reached a truce of sorts centuries ago, but they have continued to worm their way through and around this truce to take from us. As such we have had our funds reduced over the years as well as the world has moved on.”
“In what way? ” she asked.
“The world has moved on and the muds have developed themselves. Though, not without the burden of sacrifice. Wondrous machines are being built, and amenities that were not available to the common man back in the day are readily available now. But it all comes with a price - people slave away for a coin, thinking themselves happy,” Peter answered.
Alea furrowed her brow and looked at Seb, “Well, Seb of Aer? What would you say - is life easier? Did Inca continue my work?”
Seb looked surprised at the mention of his name, as he believed he had not voiced it out loud, but answered nevertheless, “Our great-grandmother managed to achieve much in the brief time she headed the clan, but not enough. From what I have heard from my brother, as he took over the clan, the dream for us to be free did not come to be. Our cores are still bound, while not many mage children are born.”
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Alea’s features darkened in a sudden understanding of why their cores were dim, her white hair fluttering as she stood up and went to the window, looking out toward the fields. “And how did that come to be? Is the mana not sparse? I am sure we planted the right seeds among the masses.”
Seb continued, “I am not sure about that. But the facts are still the same. The masses have swelled in numbers in the past two hundred years I have been around. Their achievements with technology growing. This leads to nature being more polluted and mana levels decreasing. Hence the decline in new mages awakening their cores.
Alea turned around to face them and said, understanding what has occurred in her absence, “Enough, it is clear what has transpired while I have been trying to repair myself.” Leo interrupted her and asked, “What happened to you all those years ago? I mean, you look so different from the crystals I have seen.”
A smile bloomed on Alea’s face as she answered, “And you have found my cabin. What is your name, young one?” Leo blushed a bit and answered, “It’s Leo, ma'am.”
“Please, call me Alea,” she answered. “What happened was simple, as Peter explained. I was betrayed and almost captured. I managed to run away and hide, though not without sacrifice. I had lost my core and access to the mana river that I could access for a brief time before the fateful meeting happened. So I hid and tried to fix myself, without luck.”
Leo pinched his brows together and asked, “But why did you come down right now? I mean, we just were talking about going to see you.” Alea’s face darkened as she answered, “It is simple, Leo. What you did with the Book of Knowledge I left should not have worked for you the way it did,” she answered and came up to him, putting a hand on his shoulder.
As she made contact with him, she felt the river of mana run through Leo. She drew a deep breath and raised her head, closing her eyes, as if she had surfaced after a long dive. Exhaling and releasing her hand, she said, “You have accessed a power that Iscariot has sought to steal for many years. And by doing so, you released a signal to the whole world that you have done it. No doubt the Church is taking note.”
“The book of knowledge, you mean the Codex?” Leo asked. “I did nothing, just tried to read it.
“You found it in my cabin, correct?” she asked.
“Yes, exactly,” Leo answered, nodding to her.
“That explains why you had the recording crystals designed for the academies I hoped to build,” she sighed. “The book contained everything I knew. One would say that it was sentient, a part of me, as I imbued it with my mana and essence when I created it.
“As such, I believe it contained a part of my power to access the river and grew this power over the years without anyone knowing. As you could access the book, it must mean you are of my line and the book chose to bond with you. Though, how it has transpired I have no explanation - not yet,” she said.
“Before you ask what the river is, let me say that the world never had to be this way. Cut off from the wider cosmos. From the mana and thus from life itself. Humans were meant to be species to wield power, equally among all, though as you understand that never could happen while some chose to grab it for themselves.”
“And by accessing this power, what has Leo done exactly?” Seb asked.
“Leo has taken that which Iscariot wanted once he went after me. He hoped to contain me long enough to break my core and take apart what made me special,” Alea answered. “But he never could. He lacks that which comes with being a Virtue. The river is what could have seeded the planet with mana, but we were cut off from it. It allows our cores to connect to vast amounts of mana, that we cannot access here on earth otherwise,” she explained.
“And the Pope wants it?” Heidi asked.
Alea turned to Heidi and laughed, “The pope? That is what Iscariot calls himself these days?” Heidi nodded, before Alea continued, “Yes, that is what he wants. Unlimited power to ascend. Like that is ever going to happen.” She shook her head and looked through the window again.
“Peter, you have granted them sanctuary as well, correct?” she asked looking at the Alpha, who nodded in return. “Good. We will have time for reflection, but now we must get ready. The Church with their hunting dogs will come soon enough and you lot are not ready to face them.”
Alea turned to Leo and smiled sadly, “Leo, I can see that you have a kind heart and that your core is young while already weathered. I must say that I do not envy you, but understand this, it all will rest on you.”
“What will rest on me?” he asked, not understanding the lady before him.
“Same as with me all those years ago, you must take up the burden of stopping the ambition of a simple-minded man. I will train you and show you the way, but in the end, it will be up to you if you are willing to walk the path and make the sacrifices required.” Leo nodded at her, saying nothing.
Alea walked to the door of the room and gestured toward Peter, “Well, kind Alpha, what are you sitting down for? Show me the estate and what you have available - we must get ready.”