Cryonic laughed. “The only reason I came here to share the air with these two is because you promised me the ‘greatest opportunity’ I’ve had in years. What you’re giving me is less of an opportunity and more of a suicidal thing.”
Cal supposed it had sounded like that for those that tended to short-sightedness.
“I’ll do it,” Haruo said. “Owe you.”
That was a different sort of issue.
He didn’t want a person to agree out of a combination of resignation and obligation. He wanted a person to have something they wanted to fight for. Those tended to perform better or at least give all their effort.
“I agree with that one,” the Phoenix Empress said. “Look what you made me do, Cal.”
“Ah! The yapping little dog finally realizes her true place.” Cryonic sniped.
The empress sniffed, deliberately blinking at the ice-covered man once before pointedly turning her entire body toward Cal. “However, I wouldn’t refuse you outright. I have suggestions to improve your plan.”
He knew a proclamation when he heard one, so he nodded.
Not that she was looking for any kind of permission.
He only did it to preempt her and make it look like he had given her said permission because it irked her.
Burning eyes narrowed a fraction. “I am willing to discuss remuneration for a force of my strongest fighters to join your attack.”
“Oh, so, it’s murder instead of suicide.” Cryonic snorted. “Typical of your kind to waste lives. You’ve always been like that. Why would having a fraction of your population compared to before make it different?”
“I don’t waste lives. If what Cal said is true then it will be a great opportunity to level and gain rewards. Even a blind dog like you can see that the types of Quests the spires will generate for an event of this magnitude will be epic.”
“Legendary? Mythic?” Haruo muttered.
Cryonic scowled, glancing at Cal. “That’s another problem. He’s clearly not okay mentally. You know what he can do, right?”
Cal nodded.
“And you want to unleash that in the highest stress environment? Why would I want to be anywhere near that?”
“That is a reasonable question,” the Phoenix Empress said.
“I trust that Haruo will be in a better frame of mind by that time. This isn’t going to happen anytime soon. It’s too early to give you a timetable, but I’m projecting a few years. Plenty of time to come up with a way to mitigate any radiation concerns.”
“Then why bring this to us now?” Cryonic said.
“To give you as much time as possible to prepare. Or to give you as much time to reject the opportunity. You have to be in it a hundred percent. Anything less and I don’t want your help.” He regarded the Phoenix Empress. “Not your forces. I don’t care how strong they are. How many levels you can rush them through in the next few years. Not your kids and nieces. Just you or your brother. Anyone else will just end up dead. The demigod won’t have reasons to hold back like you if your people are around. And you can’t hold back if you want a chance.”
“You’re doing a terrible job at convincing me,” she said.
“I’m not here to convince. I simply laid out reasonable projections on the possible outcomes for you if the pantheon continues to operate on our planet.”
“Yeah, but that’s all happening on your lands. Not ours.” Cryonic pointed out.
Technically incorrect, since Cal hadn’t laid claim to it aside from a few specific locations.
“And we have our own problems to deal with,” Cryonic continued.
“That’s why I’ve tried to get us to work together more. If we’ve been crushing said problems as a unified group one by one since the early days then we wouldn’t be having said problems. All these various outworld conqueror-types and monstrosities wouldn’t have been able to get their little imperial footholds in some of the populations.”
“The stupid ones,” Cryonic said. “Is that why you’re bringing him along?” He shot a venomous glance toward Haruo. “Don’t care about the collateral damage? I mean, I don’t care since I won’t be anywhere near you guys. The only shame would be about the environment. And, maybe, the irradiated monsters and mutant animals that will undoubtedly start popping up because the spires are bastards.”
“Aid me in my war with the Stone Lords. Once they are eradicated then I shall aid you in turn,” the Phoenix Empress said.
For obvious reasons that wasn’t something he could do.
He couldn’t leave Southern California for too long lest he risk another demigod attack.
Not that he was willing to share that particular bit of information.
“I’ve already helped you out a fair amount recently for nothing more in return than the truce between your nations. I dealt with your Himalayan monster storm and those death worms in Mongolia.”
“The latter have already returned.”
“Yes, but those are tiny baby versions that your people can handle.”
She favored him with a barely perceptible nod.
“And you—”
Cryonic wave a hand. “Yeah, yeah, I didn’t forget. You helped us out, but you can’t honestly think that fighting a demigod is an equivalent trade of services. You sent us the footage. I’m not foolish enough to throw myself into a fight with someone that can light the sky on fire and you claim that demigod was weaker than the one you want us to assassinate.”
“Which is why it would be better for all involved to work together before more demigods can arrive.”
“You said that isn’t a concern for the near future,” the Phoenix Empress said. “Although, you won’t share how you know.”
“Sharing them defeats the purpose of having secret sources. You’ll just have to trust me.”
Cryonic snorted.
“Only the foolish would trust without some level of independent verification,” the Phoenix Empress said.
“It’s pretty simple, really. We’re being colonized. You know this. The only reason you haven’t been receiving more pressure from ambassadors from a bunch of different outworld polities is because they’re still constrained by rules the spires has laid down. Rules that no one has any idea how long they’ll be in effect. Do you want to be on the back foot when those get lifted? Do you want to keep living on this planet?”
It was a simple calculation.
There was an infinite number of potential worlds they could move to and live free from the unique challenges on Earth.
They would never be able to truly escape conflict, but life was a lot safer and easier on a non Terminus World without the Bountiful Decade and the greater proliferation of World Events.
To leave was, by all quantifiable metrics, the rational choice.
Cryonic shrugged. “I’m not a dictator like her.” He cast a contemptuous gaze at the empress. “I’ve been helping people pay the transit fees to get to different worlds for awhile now.”
“I’m not surprised. You’re a dog people that runs away with their tails tucked at the first since of adversity.” The Phoenix Empress sneered. “Flee, coward! This world belongs in the hands of those willing to bleed for it!”
Cryonic’s face froze, giving her a look filled with the cold, implacability of a glacier’s grinding advance. “I didn’t say I was going to leave with them.”
The Phoenix Empress flared.
Heat met cold and raised the humidity in a wide expanse around them.
“Let’s not do that, please. We all agreed to the no violence rule, regardless of insults and other things that don’t matter.”
They reined in their powers and became closer to human once more.
“Is it just us?” Haruo said.
“There are a few others. In the interest of transparency, no one has agreed yet. Like I said, this likely won’t happen for a few years.”
“And all you’re offering is an opportunity?” Cryonic said.
“I told you I’m willing to negotiate for future exchanges of service.” Cal regarded the Phoenix Empress. “Aside from the obvious things that I’ll never agree to.”
“Quest rewards,” Haruo grunted.
“What about territory?” Cryonic said.
The Phoenix Empress’ laugh was like a musical instrument. “And what would you do with that when you admitted that your population shrinks by the day?”
The ice-covered man didn’t dignify her with a response.
“I don’t care about territory,” Cal said.
They wouldn’t be able to maintain their hold on it from their homelands without placing their people on said territory.
“Keep in mind that if you want land in the Americas then you’re responsible for it. I won’t necessary help you if they get in trouble.”
“Isn’t that what you’re all about?” Cryonic snorted. “Flying all over the world and sticking your nose in other people’s assholes.”
“Oh, I’d help your people. Help them all the way back to you.”
It wasn’t an either or proposition.
Helping their people didn’t necessitate helping them hold on to said territory.
“Regardless, that’s all hypothetical. You’d have to be strong and skilled enough to survive in order to do your little land grabs and that isn’t a guarantee.”
“If I were to agree then I demand a quicker timetable. You said it yourself. Why wait for the lone demigod to get reinforcements?” the Phoenix Empress said.
“Because I can’t join you until those ritual barriers are gone.”
It was a bit more complicated than that.
Sure, he could’ve sent the three of them into D.C. tomorrow if he wasn’t concerned about all the innocent lives that would’ve been lost in the epic fight.
Casualties were unavoidable, but he could lessen them considerably and since he was capable then he was obligated.
He didn’t add that he wanted the time to prime said innocents for when the time came.
It would’ve been a lot easier without the old American government’s strict policy of bringing as much of their desired population into their capital as they could and keeping the vast majority of them there.
Easier to maintain control.
“They won’t stop,” Haruo said. “I’d rather fight them there than in my home.”
“He’s right, but I’m sure some other outworld polity or eldritch monstrosity will be there to whisper in your ears with promises of aid and power. All for a reasonable price depending on your level of desperation.” Cal nudged their thoughts slightly to pay very close attention to his words. “You watched my fight with two demigods. The sky and forest on fire. The sides of the mountain destroyed. Countless monsters and animals vaporized just because they were in the area. Mt. Rushmore no longer exists. Parts of the Black Hills are now flat, charred and blackened swathes of lifeless land to this day. And that was me being able to control where the fight took place. Picture all of that in the heart of your home. Seoul,” he eyed Cryonic, “Beijing,” he turned to the Phoenix Empress, “if you truly care about your people then you’d do everything you could to have that fight anywhere else.” He didn’t need to remind Haruo. The man knew the impact of a fight at their level of superhuman had on the surrounding environment. “It’s a lot harder to fight when you’re worrying about them, isn’t it?”
Silence stretched like a contemptuous cat that maintained eye contact while one yelled at her to get out of the fruit basket.
Their only accompaniment were the waves crashing into the shore a few kilometers in the distance.
“It seems to me that this is all very at the beginning. It’s a little too light on details for me to commit one way or the other,” Cryonic said. “Honestly, only a stupid moron would agree when all you’ve really shared was that you’d arrange for an instant teleport to Washington with zero explanation. I guess he’s all in,” he indicated Haruo, “but I’m going to need more before I trust that this isn’t some kind of trick to get rid of me.”
“This discussion is pointless without a guarantee of your presence at the fight. I may be persuaded to lend my eternal flame, but I only burn for my people. Not for you and yours. In the meantime I graciously invite you to begin negotiations. You can have my flame but only if you give me something equivalent,” the Phoenix Empress said. “I pronounce this meeting ended. You may depart at your leisure, but don’t linger.” This she said with a laser-like glare at Cryonic.
A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.
The ice-covered man rolled his eyes before departing down the hill on a slide of ice appearing seamlessly under his bare feet.
“Thank you, empress. I’ll be in touch about the negotiations.”
Cal lifted off the grass with Haruo in tow.
----------------------------------------
Tokyo, Japan, January 2054
Alin pushed the gray to cover the entirety of the Imperial Palace. All the structures and the park grounds.
They had removed the dozens of sacrificial ritual circles the ‘Five Evils’, as the teens had been dubbed, had created a few years ago.
The stone circles had been physically dismantled. Every part of them utterly destroyed with magic.
Mikos and kannushis had utilized their prayer magic to, hopefully, cleanse the ground where the circles had been laid. Blood and suffering had soaked deep into the physical and the spiritual.
He saw no remains of the former.
Once dark soil had been replaced with fresh grass. Wooden floors inside the buildings, including the palace itself had been ripped out entirely. Every surface defiled by the Five Evils’ work had been replaced.
As for the latter?
He felt… traces.
Of?
Something?
“Is that good? Or bad?”
He walked cautiously to the closest spot where a ritual circle had once sat.
Beneath a cherry blossom tree.
From what he understood from his research and talks with the people Marloes had introduced him to the cherry blossom trees had once been confined to specific gardens in the Imperial Palace compound, not spread out all over the place.
That had changed because the trees were slightly magical now thanks to the Skills and spells of their specialized caretakers. The roots pulled the corruption in the soil, while the branches and pink flowers did the same from the air.
What did it say about him when he could feel the trees reacting to the gray with something between anger and fear?
“Sorry, guys. I won’t be here long. Just be cool. I’m doing this to help make sure what was done here won’t be done again.”
He filled his words with emotions.
Empathy, compassion, righteous anger, resolve.
Whether the words or emotions, something worked, as the hundreds of trees scattered all over the compound relaxed, for lack of a better word.
They had done a good job of removing the taint.
What remained was faint, but he could feel it and commit that to memory.
The gray wouldn’t forget.
He would know it if he came across it again.
To be certain, he continued his self-guided tour through the fog-shrouded Imperial Palace.
The passage of time became uncertain as he walked on green carpet and under pink umbrellas with small spots of darkness like burn marks of corruption seared into the fabric of existence.
“Doing alright in there, Goldenspoon?”
He blinked.
That was Kat on the comms.
“I’m still here, S.W.” He had lost himself a bit there. The clock in his HUD glared at him accusingly. Almost 3 hours had passed as he meandered his way across the grass guided by the gray. “I’m at the entrance to the Imperial Palace.”
“Do you still need to go inside?”
He heard the concern in her voice.
“You haven’t picked up enough yet?”
“I’m— I’m not sure.”
“The worst crap happened in there.”
“Their cleansing efforts have been good. At least out here. I know we were a little worried about any lingering… stuff, but—”
“Don’t say anything!” she snapped. “We don’t tempt the spires or anything else.”
He winced in anticipation of a chime, but relaxed a long moment later when one didn’t come.
“I’m already here,” he sighed.
“‘Kay. Set an alarm. 5 minutes. I don’t like you losing time like this. You should’ve done it at the start.”
He obeyed her command with a cybernetic thought. “Alarm set. How long do you think?”
“No. I don’t want you wandering around in there by yourself for too long. I think you should head to the worst ritual circle or what’s left of it. The throne room probably or where they kept Haruo. Worst spot leaves the strongest impression, right? If you can’t find what you need there then it’s time to move on.”
“Yeah… sure… that sounds right.”
He took a deep breath and reassessed his surroundings.
The gray was a comforting blanket that had spread through every part of the Imperial Palace. Not a single living thing remained hidden. Lots of small animals skittering around in the walls and in the emergency tunnels running beneath. Yup. Regular animals. No mutated ones. No monsters. As safe as anyone could ask, really.
“I’m going in.”
“I love you.”
“Love you too.”
“If you need us we’re ready to jump in.”
“Thanks. I won’t forget.”
“Seriously, even if you don’t call we’re coming in if your vitals get all weird.”
“Please don’t. At least make sure that I know you’re coming. I don’t want to risk friendly fire.”
“We’ll follow protocols,” she sighed. “Be careful.”
“I will.”
If he had to summarize what he thought about the Imperial Palace he’d say it was fancy.
Then he’d shrug.
Interior design and decor wasn’t something he really paid attention to.
He was more of a functional minimalist type that liked his spaces easy to use and didn’t require a lot of thinking.
Thus, the fancy sculptures in their alcoves and the various artworks on the walls didn’t leave a significant impression on him. Not that he couldn’t recognize and acknowledge the skill and passion the artists had placed into their creations. He wasn’t a philistine.
None of that stopped him from keeping a close watch on the artwork.
Sculptures in museum-type encounter challenges and spawn zones tended to come to life as violent monsters. While paintings could disgorge monsters or suck one into a secret instance within the greater space. Those tended to give greater rewards for a greater challenge.
“Stop it,” he muttered.
Talk about jinxing it.
“What do you guys think?”
The gray remained silent as… well… fog.
“I wouldn’t mind some of that vague insight.”
He bypassed the other ritual circle locations scattered throughout the Imperial Palace in favor of heading straight for the throne room as discussed.
It was eerie because of how empty it was.
Sometimes he forgot how big of a deal his dad was.
All it took was a request and the emperor vacated everyone on a few days notice.
Kind of put a bit of added pressure on him to be honest.
He couldn’t, say, set the whole place on fire… accidentally, of course. He definitely didn’t want to break anything.
Boots echoed across the corridors.
He was certain that the wood, new as of a few years ago was of the highest quality. Laid down by the highest leveled craftspeople. Even the odd paper walls, some plain, some with drawings or protective symbols judging by the magical emanations he felt through the gray, were obviously of the impossibly high quality that came from the use of Skills and spells.
He pressed a gloved finger on an empty patch of opaque paper bordered by thin slivers of wood that seemed to shine.
The 5 minute alarm beeped.
He dismissed it with a cybernetic thought.
The temptation to find out if it really was just as strong, if not stronger than a normal wall lingered for a moment before he stepped away and continued.
Fancy doors flanked by intimidating statues of guardian oni separated him from the throne room.
He paused and felt what lay beyond through the gray.
“Yeah… Kat was right.”
What had been faint echoes lingering around the other ritual circle locations was akin to a Tempertones concert.
Which was to say, loud.
Intellectually, he knew that was to be expected.
He had read the reports.
The amount of suffering the Five Evils had inflicted on the people in the Imperial Palace a couple of years ago had been staggering in its intensity and scope.
Emotionally?
He almost turned around.
Would’ve have turned around if not for what felt like a strong hand on his shoulder and a weaker, but no less firm, hand around his wrist, pushed and pulled him toward the throne room.
Well… shit…
“You guys going to elaborate?”
Silence.
As usual for his one-sided conversations with the echoes of his relatives in the gray.
“Seriously, you guys better not leave me solo on this one if you want me to go in there.”
He stepped forward.
The pressure vanished so suddenly that he questioned it had been there in the first place.
It would’ve been nice to chalk it up to his spooked imagination, but the gray was of him, in him.
He knew without a doubt.
The door yielded to his hands.
Stone eyes seemed to follow him as he passed over the threshold.
Empty.
Gray.
The loud emotions he had felt silenced.
Multi-weapon in hand and armor’s defensive systems ready to engage in an instant he stopped.
The dark stain of the Five Evils’ deeds wasn’t constrained to a single spot like the others across the grounds.
It was all around him.
Many blended into one.
Small into large.
Yet?
As he tried to take it in through the gray, he felt it shifting from one large into many small, like ripples in water going backward and forward without any discernible pattern.
He fixed it into memory despite feeling like he was swimming through the spilled gore and offal of a giant monster.
“They’re screaming…” he whispered.
He blinked, eyes widened.
The alarm in his helmet beeped.
The clock was—
He had missed two cycles.
10 minutes had passed.
The gray swirled.
He ignited his multi-weapon, turned on his armor’s forcefield.
An alarm beeped in his ears.
No!
Not a beep.
A chime.
“Nooo—”
Congratulations!
You have received a Quest.
Cl—
He dismissed it with a thought.
“I’ve got something incoming!” he said into the comms. “Standby for more— shit…”
The telltale low drone of static greeted him unpleasantly.
So, it was one of those.
There wouldn’t be any help from outside the Imperial Palace.
Even if they tried to get inside the spires would stop them.
They came out of… everywhere.
He couldn’t see them, just the shapes they left in the gray.
Hardlight blade erupted as he cut through something that screamed like a little girl.
The yellow light never looked more sickly than in that moment.
His forcefield flashed with each impact that sent spikes of bone-chilling cold deep in him.
Rage and pain wailed all around him, echoing through the throne room, bouncing off the walls to rise to a crescendo that had him fighting down the panic at the malfunctioning of his helmet’s auditory protections.
Yellow cut through the gray.
Blue flashed like the twinkling of stars above a cloudy night sky.
Frantic seconds told him a story as the dying experiences of over a hundred people filled him through the connection through the gray.
Ghosts. Spirits. Echoes.
The word didn’t matter.
These were those people tortured and murdered by the Five Evils in the ritual they had learned from the demigod.
Although his dad had yet to seize confirmation of that last bit, a lot of evidence pointed in Suiteonemiades’ direction.
The barriers carried the same flavor, so to speak.
His dad had sensed it through his psionic powers.
Ms. Teacher had used magic to pronounce it with certainty.
Others with lesser abilities had come to a similar conclusion.
He only had the scant number of ritual sites in the Philippines to go by, but he was also certain that those were the same as the one he stood in.
“Not people, just echoes,” he said through grit teeth as they flew through the gray to land bone-chilling blows as they vented their anguish on the only one available. “How am I supposed to cleanse this place?” He cursed.
The last thing he wanted to do was to take them into the gray.
He wasn’t some kind of soul sucking monster.
The echoes of his relatives had been in there since before he had even known he had the gray inside him. And he hadn’t added a single soul since. Not monster, not human. Never.
He tried to drain them.
Just a little.
But stopped and recoiled as if touching a hot pan.
They were weak.
The slightest pull would’ve been enough for him to subsume their essence.
Nope. Nope. Nope.
He had to free them. Not consign them to another prison.
The wood floor groaned as the entire throne room shook.
His HUD beeped a warning.
Motion detected when it had completely blanked on the many echoes swimming all over him.
Sculptures come to life.
Paintings disgorging monsters.
He touched them with the gray. Just a slight pull, like testing the first bite on a line when he was out fishing with Kat’s dad.
“Yup.”
He had a suspicion that he just confirmed.
The sculptures and painted monsters contained the same anguish and hatred.
They had been given life by echoes flowing into them.
He shrugged.
Easier to destroy physical objects than the incorporeal.
Eyes darted to each, targeting them for some micromissiles.
He was definitely going to break something.
Many things.
Sculptures and paintings to be exact.
The doors banged open.
Two giant oni statues wielding studded kanabo bent to get their fearsome horned heads through the threshold.
The throne room rumbled with thudding steps.
Alin found himself in the middle, like a matador surrounded by bulls.
“God. Damn. It.”