_________________________________________

Vipa

Vipa was sitting in a warm viewing room just above the capital's massive main gate, as she looked out the large window toward the direction of Telnar. She sighed as she turned to her most trusted and dangerous subordinate. “What makes you so sure that he'll even come, much less today?” She asked a little skeptically, because she had plenty of other very important things that needed her attention, but always trusted Sairiss's judgment when it came to the overly analytical and deadly selarin.

Sairiss's eyes were narrowed as they continued to be fixated on the distant horizon down the main road. “Judging from how he reacts to people in distress or hardship, he will definitely come to assist Selaria. As for why today? The last noble sent was flung to the academy two days ago, yet the escort is a day late.” She responded in her usual monotone voice.

Vipa raised an eyebrow, because Sairiss's reasoning was monumentally vague compared to her usual explanations. “There could be a multitude of reasons for that… Bandits, weather, roadblocks…” She trailed off while letting her implication of doubt hang.

For the first time Vipa saw Sairiss show emotion, as a look of disappointment crossed her face for only a moment. “I…suppose you are right. I apologize for wasting your time general.” She remarked a little dejectedly, which threw Vipa off even more, as Sairiss's usual emotionless persona slipped for the brief exchange.

Vipa frowned slightly, as Sairiss had never behaved like that before, and it was strange that she found that more uncomfortable than her placidly cold demeanor. “I've already cleared my schedule for the day, so we don't have to go back to the palace. I recommend we take the day off to relax and chat for a bit. It has been a while since we've done that. I think we deserve a rest with how busy we've been the last few months, and you can tell me what's got you so bothered...” She probed expectantly, and Sairiss became a little sheepish, which only made Vipa even more curious.

Fiddling with the scales on her hand, Sairiss acted a little bashful. “Well… It's my sister… She's apparently partnered to the summon, and if he's coming then she might be as well...” She told her with a smile.

‘Oh! It's because of family, and the only relative she didn't dislike- Wait?!’ Her thoughts halted, and she straightened herself as the entirety of what was said hit her.

“Partnered with the summon?” She questioned with genuine surprise, as this was the first she was hearing of it.

The usually emotionally limited woman stiffened and started picking at her scales. “Yes, I have been receiving letters from her almost every week. Actually, she was the first one to meet him, stumbling across him while he was lost in a forest. And ever since they met, she'd never stop writing about him…” She trailed off in obviously restrained irritation.

Vipa had navigated through enough potentially dangerous conversations to know that prodding her on whatever issue she had on that topic would be a very bad idea. Hence why she directed the conversation to herself and away from the summons relationship.

“I guess you're very protective then, I can understand the feeling. I have a sister as well. Although I haven't seen or heard from her in years, there isn't anything that I wouldn't do for her.” She remarked a little solemnly, as she did miss Allis very much.

Sairiss had a sharp and deadly look to her eyes that would send a shiver up the spine of anyone who wasn't comfortable with it. “As would I.” She agreed with a chilling tone.

An exhausted breath left Vipa as she resigned to thought. ‘Maybe it's time I look for her, now that Selaria is slowly falling apart, it may be the best time to contact her without those with a grudge seeing an opportunity… She's a mage and a healer, so she should be fine when it comes to finding work and protecting herself, but still…’ She stared out of the wide window with distant eyes.

The sprint to the top of the army's ranks had been a perilous journey, one filled with back room deals, blackmail, and many backstabs. Only nobles got to the positions of major and above, and most who don't manage to are soon either kicked out or executed because of their mistakes.

For Vipa to even manage to get her position and hold it was a miracle in-of-itself, and she couldn't help but smirk as she pictured how her sister might react the next time she sees her, possibly with her own massive escort.

As she continued to look out the window, her amused expression slowly fell into confusion as a large object appeared in the distance. “Sairiss… What the hell is that?” She asked in slight disbelief as she began to make out a large floating ship that was following a number of carriages toward the city.

Sairiss lifted from her cushioned seat with the silence of a ghost as she walked towards the window, before turning back with a happy expression. “I believe that would be the summon.” She said with a cheery tone that unsettled Vipa greatly, as it didn't fit at all with the woman she'd come to know the past couple of years.

Vipa's jaw hung loosely as the ship followed the carriages toward the main gate. “Huh, sorry for doubting you…” She apologized before lifting herself up and slithering toward the exit to meet the man who helped cripple the kingdom.

‘I hope any more surprises are kept to a minimum.’

_________________________________________

Leo

Leo's brow was at a constant arch as his ship approached the massive twenty story wall that stretched for miles in either direction, and it only got even more imposing as its shadow crossed over them when they approached the giant five story gate.

‘The fuck am I staring at, Ba Sing Se?’ He thought critically as he gaped at the wall before him.

“Big, isn't it?” Elaria remarked with a giggle from his left.

Unable to take his eyes off the intimidatingly large structure, he craned his head upward to gawk at the height. “Why is it so high? I thought selarins preferred to build downward…” He questioned in bewilderment.

Allis tried to hold down her own amusement at his reaction. “It's a leftover from the last era. Selaria was a very contested territory during that period. Though we had help from the dwarves and elves building it because of our shared border with them, as they wanted buffers between them and the light born.” She informed the dazed human, who regarded her with a skeptical look.

“That didn't answer my question at all. Why is it so big? Exactly what type of weapons needed this kind of fortification against?” He asked her while gesturing a hand to the colossal smooth stone wall.

An exhausted sigh came from Allis as she turned to look blankly at him. “You skimmed over the history books again, didn't you…” She paused, and he shrunk in a bit while letting out an awkward little chuckle.

“Just look at what you created, your rifles alone can let any person kill a dragon. What do you think was made by the third summons knowledge during an all out continental war? And before you ask, no I don't know exactly what kind of weapons were used, only that they were powerful and that the dragons destroyed all of it, along with any and all information regarding them.” She explained, and he furrowed his brow as he looked back to the wall.

‘Artillery? No, that tech made walls irrelevant… The hell did they make? Maybe-’ His thoughts were cut short as a few people on the ground started yelling for him to land, as the Icarus was still about fifteen feet off the ground.

After landing the Icarus, he grabbed his staff and flew the three of them off the ship to meet the two gatekeepers and a large formation of soldiers below. As soon as they landed, Leo smiled with confidence and stepped forward to introduce himself. “Greetings, my na-” He stopped mid sentence as both Allis and Elaria rushed forward and embraced the two people that he thought were just manning the gate.

“Sairiss! It's so good to see you again, how have you been?” Elaria remarked cheerily as she broke her embrace.

Sairiss beamed at the affection. “It's wonderful to see you again Tessari, It's been too long.” She responded with a deep and loving warmth.

Leo's eyes widened in surprise. ‘Tessari? She knows her name? Oh, this must be her sister.’ The thought paused as he turned to the other pair. ‘Wait, Allis never made any friends before running into us.’ The thought finished as he looked at mystery person number two.

“Vipa, I'm so happy to see you again! And I don't mean to be rude, but what are you doing here?” Allis inquired with genuine delight.

“I could ask you the same thing, Allis. The first time I see you in years and you make an even larger entrance than what I was planning on doing.” Vipa remarked with a wide smile.

‘Vipa? Huh, another sister. When Allis took my offer for me to listen to her vent her emotions, she mentioned her a fair bit... Hold on, Elaria still hasn't done that yet. She spoke so warmly of her sister, but never even mentioned her name, and is still very closed off when it comes to the rest of her family…’ His internal thoughts trailed off as Allis and Elaria pulled their sisters over to him, which seemed like one hell of a coincidental meeting.

Elaria was the first to introduce hers, Sairiss. Standing at around five ten, she was turquoise scaled with dark orange eyes. Her facial features were sleek and alluring while her form was very slender, from what he could tell anyway, as she was covered in heavy clothing for the cold air, which made it difficult to tell the size of her tail as it would be coiled underneath it all.

He held out his hand to her, but he felt an icy shudder run up his spine as he looked into the face of the selarin, and the hairs on the back of his neck shot up instantly as she grabbed his hand. “Ah, Leo, I have to thank you deeply for looking after my younger sister, and getting her to open up more emotionally to the world.” She told him with a genuineness that betrayed every one of his senses that were screaming danger.

Before he could respond, his breath hitched as she pulled him into an embrace. “But if you ever hurt her in any way, it will not matter if you are a god. You will wake up one day and find yourself being ritualistically sacrificed to a Shattered.” She whispered into his ear with a chill that made the cold around them seem warm, but then pulled a way to show a smile that he was positive didn't accompany the threat.

Sairiss brightened even more at the sight of her sister. “I hope that we can get along.” She said with a mirth that left him speechless.

‘This woman is bordering on an amount of yandere that I am not okay with…’

He shook off the terrifying moment, and mentally noted to look up whatever the hell a Shattered was. “Uh, glad to finally meet you. Elaria had told me how kind you actually were, now that she properly understood her own feelings.” He returned the greeting before turning to Allis.

When Allis introduced Vipa, Leo relaxed as none of his alarms were going off around her. Vipa was the same type of selarin as Allis, but her tail looked to be around ten feet and was a fair bit thicker looking from the thermal sleeve, accentuating her hips a bit more as it drew upward. Leo noted that since the tail was pure muscle, then Vipa's would have some ridiculously strong crushing power compared to her sisters. Her scales were a dull gray with thin blue lines along her body, ending in loose patterns on her head. Her hard look betrayed her soft facial features, as her mossy gray eyes went over him with a little apprehension.

The human held out a hand to her, and she gave it a firm shake. “Hello, I'm Leo. It's a pleasure to meet you, Allis has told me a few stories about you.” He introduced himself warmly.

Vipa seemed shocked and very unsure about how to feel, her emotions visible to anyone as she studied him carefully. “And I have heard many things about you, but I'd like to verify them myself. Also…” She trailed off as she looked between him and Allis. “What exactly is your relationship with my sister?” She asked with a mixture of interest and concern.

Stepping next to Allis, Leo placed an arm around her back, resting his hand on her hip as he brought her close. “Up until recently, we were technically still friends, and as close as the word could get to being partners, which we made official not too long ago.” He finished before magically lifting himself up to give Allis a peck on the cheek.

Allis laced her fingers and swayed her hips, an action Leo recognized was to show her deep embarrassment, but the joyous look on her face made him smirk as he rested his head on her side. “Um, yes, I joined the partnership just a few days ago, but we've known each other since his arrival.” She remarked a little shyly.

Vipa winced slightly as she slid into a guilty look. “I-” She paused to look around. “Can we speak in private on your ship? Let me tell my troops to let you through.” She waved a hand up, and three soldiers broke formation to rush over.

After Vipa gave them a few orders, Leo flew the five of them onto the Icarus. He set the ship to follow the messenger's carriage while it hovered up five feet off the ground, and then led everyone to the house of the ship right below the helm, which was furnished like a meeting area for negotiations. He told them all that he'd join them in a minute, because he wanted to have a quick glimpse of the city as they entered.

This story is posted elsewhere by the author. Help them out by reading the authentic version.

The curious man walked up to the bow of the ship to get a better view, and there was a rumbling while two massive runes appeared on the doors as they began to slide open. The Icarus started to move when the doors stopped, and the entrance was just large enough for his ship to pass through. When they passed the seventy foot thick wall, he was met with the sight of a large stone highway that seemed to lead straight to the city's center, ending in what looked like another massive structure in the distance.

Slowly swiveling his head to either side of the wide stone path, Leo saw that there were the usual single to two story brick buildings, but they were much wider, and he was sure that they stretched many floors into the ground. The layout of the buildings were also perfectly square city blocks, which made his expression grim as a few things began to link up in his mind.

Now that he knew that Selaria used to experience constant conflict in a period that apparently had highly destructive siege weaponry, their architecture started to make a lot more sense, since they were the equivalent of bomb shelters.

A pang of deep worry shot through him, recalling Allis's words and Fel's story. “If that period had weapons that prompted this kind of development… Then what might have the dragons kept from that era, because it would be stupid for them to have not…” He muttered to himself while making a mental note to call Fel and tell her to have someone always be ready to hit his little failsafe for Telnar.

‘I just hope that I left them prepared enough to easily handle anything if I don't get back before them…’

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Vipa

Vipa had been, so far, impressed with the summon, as he had definitely demonstrated at least the minimum of the first hand accounts from those at the academy's destruction. Now she just had to confirm the validity of the more insane abilities he possesses, but first she had to get a few things off her chest, because she would continue to feel guilty otherwise.

She took a seat next to Sairiss on a couch in the center of the surprisingly warm room, while their sisters sat on the one across, and after some brief introductions the pair turned to converse and quickly catch up with their own relatives. “My, this is quite the enchanted ship he has, it's so warm in here. Do you know what runes can make a ship this big fly, because I assume it's all from his otherworldly knowledge?” She casually asked, trying to make some small talk while Leo did a bit of sightseeing outside.

Allis looked a little surprised at the question. “The short answer is that it doesn't fly using runes, it's completely from Leo's own magic, though he is working on something so it can. Also, what do you know about runes?” She inquired curiously.

Vipa ticked another box for what was true, as the academy mages said that he hovered nearly fifty people in the air and restrained a dragon. “Well, I finally bought a magical focus, but I only read up on magic in my spare time. Being a general is quite busy.” She ended a little smugly.

Allis's eyes widened as her hood rose up in shock. “Really!? You actually managed general? Okay, you have to tell me that story over a few drinks when we're both free.” She remarked with a bit of pride for her, but Vipa felt a slight pinch of shame because that story was less than savory, like most of her climb to the top.

The general smiled warmly at her sister. “Sure, and you'll have to tell me how you managed to partner with a summon. I bet that's way more interesting than simply ranking up in the army. What's he like, and which of the rumors are true?” She agreed and purposefully redirected the conversation.

An exhausted breath left the woman, possibly having been asked many times for obvious reasons. “To make a long explanation short, he's a mortal with the ability to rival the gods. Also, everything that was done at the academy and Telnar was him and not Fel, that's the dragon. He was away from the town at the time, but when word reached him…” She trailed off a bit as she struggled to find the words.

“He did a lot of things that he didn't think he was capable of…and he couldn't sleep right for weeks.” She finished somberly, and Vipa couldn't help but empathize with him, though she was still skeptical of her sister's claims.

‘No one truly knows what they are capable of until they've looked back on what they've done.’

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Sairiss

‘Kill Kill Kill Kill Kill.’ Is the reactionary thought that goes through Sairiss's mind whenever she looks at Leo, but the urge was thankfully suppressed by her rational side, because there were just too many benefits to keeping him alive. She also had to begrudgingly admit that Tessari looked even more like a ray of sunshine than when she left for Telnar with Glia, who she also had to thank for turning Tessari from a broken woman into a much more lively spirit, something she was never able to do.

Logically, Sairiss knew that she had to part with her sister, it was for the best, especially with what she was trying to do. Although her irrationally emotional side wanted nothing more than to lock Tessari up and keep her forever, she would then be no better than the family.

Sairiss loved her sister more than anything else in the world, literally. She had zero emotion when it came to anything that didn't involve her sister, and she would do anything for her, even cross the family.

“So Sairiss, what have you been doing? You don't often write back and I'm interested to know what my older sister has been up to.” Tessari asked with a genuineness that caught Sairiss off guard, but she felt a sort of indescribable happiness at her sister's interest in her life.

The normally composed selarin squirmed a little with delight at being the one to get attention. “Well, I, um, as you know I've been working with a general, and we've been rooting out some corrupt nobles from the army, trying our best to make the military a more fair place. It wasn't until recently that most of the very problematic generals were stripped of their rank and kicked out by the queen, though some of the more powerful and deeply rooted ones are still an issue.” She ended with annoyance, as the faster she finished what she wanted to do, the closer she was to returning to her sister.

Tessari gave her a smile that she wanted to lock away and cherish for all of eternity. “I guess that Leo helped you out in his own way too then.” She giggled, which both melted and sent Sairiss's heart into a rage.

“I suppose you're right.” She remarked stiffly, which seemed to catch her sister's notice.

Tessari became a little concerned, much to her dismay. “Is something wrong, do you have some kind of issue with Leo?” Her sister asked a little pointedly, and she gulped.

This one question was something that Sairiss knew would ruin her relationship with her sister if she answered it, and a few awkwardly tense moments hung in the air before Leo walked in. “Well that was a sight to behold…” He remarked to himself as he drew the room's attention.

‘Great, yet another thing that I'm thankful to him for.’

_________________________________________

Leo

Leo joined the pair of sisters inside after he saw all that he needed from the city, as most of it was probably underground anyway. He sat down in between Allis and Elaria, and both women reflexively went to cuddle up to either side of him, drawing critical gazes from the two across.

Letting out an awkward chuckle at the very uncomfortable situation he found himself in, Leo directed his attention to Vipa. “I take it that you wanted to say something away from even your own troops? Didn't look like you were particularly happy about it either…” He trailed off expectantly.

Vipa grimaced slightly as she leaned back into the couch. “First I want you all to swear that what I'm about to tell you doesn't leave this room, if not just for my own peace of mind.” She paused as the three of them agreed. “I was mostly responsible for gathering together the rebels that took Telnar…” She admitted to the utter shock of her sister.

Allis let go of him and leaned over the table with a look between anger and betrayal. “The hell!? Fel told us that there was a kill order for any academy mages that were not associated with the guild!” She yelled while her words all but demanded an explanation.

Vipa winced, probably guessing that Allis would know if she's this close to the leadership. “I was only brought into a plan by the queen to overthrow the nobility, I didn't pick out Telnar as the first target, much less even knew you were there in the first place.” She countered defensively, and Allis looked conflicted before dropping back into the couch in a slight huff.

‘Huh, so the queen was already moving against the nobility…’

He wrapped an arm around Allis to have her lean back onto his shoulder. “Don't be too angry with her, she didn't have a say, and even if she did then you'd probably want to thank her. I mean if Telnar wasn't picked, then I would have been dropped off somewhere else and we would have never met.”

Allis relaxed into his hold as he reassuringly rubbed her shoulder, and her scowl faded as she let out a resigned breath. “You're right Leo… Sorry for going off on you like that Vipa. It's just that so many things could have gone differently, and I often think ba-” Her words were cut short by him giving her a sharp squeeze.

“We talked about this, there was nothing you could have done without knowing, even all my power counts for nothing if I'm not prepared.” He reminded her because there were quite a few therapy sessions all around after the clean up, and he didn't want her to slip back into that mindset, especially when he still had that tendency as well.

Allis leaned more onto him. “I know, it's…hard sometimes…” She trailed off, and he couldn't help but agree with her.

His attention shifted to Sairiss, believing that she might not have been alright with what happened at Telnar either. “So, what was your stake in it? Since you did know that Elaria was there.” He asked a little accusingly, and Elaria also gave her a critical look.

Sairiss shrunk at Elaria's gaze, but narrowed her eyes to direct daggers at Leo, who totally didn't flinch. “If you must know, I was supposed to be filtered into the rebels on their trip to Telnar, and was going to be a tactical assistant to the former major. But I left on an assignment out of the kingdom, just when someone abruptly initiated the next phase…” She ended with complete contempt for the man in front of her.

‘Ah, partly explains why she's pissed with me.’ The thought paused as he noticed her eyes darting to his hand on Elaria's shoulder. ‘Partly…’

All this talk of what was supposed to happen caused him to turn back to Vipa. “Actually, mind telling us about the genius dragon's plan? She never had the pleasure of telling us about it, even her own subordinate, and I don't think that a queen would agree to anything without at least a general outline.” He probed a little curiously, interested in finding out what Yez was going to do before he took over.

Vipa smiled grimly at him and straightened up. “A lot worse than what you're doing. She wanted Telnar to be a staging ground for capturing town's, then spreading dissent through the kingdom when the academy sent mages to wreak havoc. Though when any mages did attack, we would retreat and set fire to the town's supplies, blaming it on the academy to create more unrest. Then raiding and disrupting trade routes into the kingdom to hurt the nobility's ability to make any gold. Essentially creating the situation were already in, but under entirely different circumstances and with a lot more deaths. So for bypassing all of that trouble for us so quickly.” She paused to bow slightly. “I thank you deeply.”

Leo's brow furrowed as he contemplated the very horrible, but not at all bad, plan. ‘So medieval terrorism… That could've worked. Still a horrible plan that would have taken way too long with way too many lives, but given the level of incompetence by those pompous nobles, as well as the queen herself pulling the strings from the inside. It definitely would have worked… Then again there was still Rak…’ The thought finished with a shudder as he remembered the pile of mutilated corpses.

Looking up to Vipa, he smiled and gave his own little head bow. ‘No need to thank me since I would have done it regardless, though under entirely different circumstances as well. And because you're being so honest, I think I should share a few things as well.’ He paused for dramatic effect, knowing that Yez more than likely left out her own motives for helping them.

“Tell me, do you know the reason as to why that dragon was helping you?”

_________________________________________

??????????

Voice three : He's going, he's going, heeee's going… And he passed it. Better luck next time Rob, you owe me a vote now.

Voice four : Damn it!

Voice one : Could you two not bet on the first real opportunity in centuries.

Voice two : He still hasn't even managed a teleport, at least the second wasn't that distracted by his lower half this much…

Voice five : Well at least he has good tastes, and appreciates my wonderful work.

Voice two : YOU! F-F… No, not going to be baited again…

Voice five : What's wrong? I thought you'd be more happy that he stopped fucking the natives.

Voice one : Alright, you both need to end it now or you're going to be at each other's throats for god knows how long. Also, who told her?

Voice seven snickered: I thought it'd be funny…

Voice one sighed : Of course you were listening in… And he has plenty of time to learn Eugene. His previous profession was a game dev, so he should at least have the creativity to understand any of the concepts that we could teach him.

Voice eight : Oh is that him? He's so cute!

Everyone : Hey Sara…

Voice eight huffed : What?! We haven't seen a human in such a long time, and the closest races can never quite scratch that natural itch for me…

Voice five sighed : I know what you mean...

Voice seven : Ha! He feels us watching him! See? He occasionally looks our way with a confused expression! Ha ha haha! God I miss that!

Voice two groaned : Do we really need to all be here? It's not like he's going to visit us immediately, and listening to all of you is starting to make me lose brain cells, if I still had any.

Voice one : It's not like we have anything else more important to do other than follow or wait for him, and I think some of the others want to see what our potential little helper is like, so you're better off just waiting at the temple.

Voice two : Fine, but does anyone know if Ezekiel is gonna show? He's been holed up in the manifold for months and I hate going to that place.

Voice nine : He's probably worked out the point and time that he needs to show up, don't worry about it.

Voice three : What broke to make him stay in that god forsaken place? He hasn't needed to be in there for that long for the past three hundred thousand years give or take.

Voice one sighed exhaustedly : Leo, that's the summon, found a bug with the runes…

Voice four : A bug!? That hasn't happened since he rolled the system out. I mean he spent a good two thousand years on it, so what the hell did he do to break it?

Voice seven started laughing uncontrollably : He made a toaster!

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