He felt like he could have continued looking down for a long time, but as the others came down one after the other, Marcus said, “I'm afraid we don't have much time here. Let's begin the discussion.”
‘Not much time? But why?’
One would think they'd have all the time in the world down here. He noticed that the rebels and Nero had taken off their gas masks. ‘Could it be?’ As he yanked his mask off, he greedily sucked the air in. So this was what fresh air was like. Now he felt truly free, truly connected to Jupiter. It made sense now that he thought about it. The gas would have to go through Jupiter's barrier to get here, which automatically purified it.
As the other kids followed his lead, Marcus said, “I'm sure you're all very excited, so I'll answer any simple question.”
Vac thought about it for a moment, and asked, “How'd you guys get through the barrier?”
He knew that the followers of Minerva could somehow do it, but how did these guys pull it off?
Marcus chuckled and said, “That's a most appropriate question, Vac. The answer is that the barrier has certain holes in it for people to enter and exit through. I imagine Lord Jupiter meant them as emergency exits, though we use them differently.”
The other kids asked a bunch of questions one after the other, but Marcus sighed and said, “Sorry kids, but I can't answer all of that. Wait ‘til later.”
Then, Marcus began the discussion by saying, “So, what you guys want is for the captured members of the Populares to be freed. That'll be a little difficult, but luckily Vac here can help us with something we need, so we'll help. As I'm sure you're aware of, the followers of Minerva can bypass the barrier. They do this through the usage of an ancient tool we the people of Jupiter were gifted by Jupiter himself. Said tool is stored all the way up in the central black tower. Speaking of the black towers, do you know why they release the toxic gas?”
He didn't. He'd always assumed it was some method of control, but it seemed like a lot of effort for something like that.
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Marcus explained, “It's the byproduct of them combusting mana rocks to gain mana. This is also part of why they invaded our island in the first place. We used to have open relations with the land below, often going down for various resources. But then the followers of Minerva attacked, and through various means took over. The only issue with the processing of mana rocks is the toxic gas released, and the boundary around our island filters that and prevents any of it from going out. Effectively, we're nothing more than a power plant for them, and they can also force us to provide cheap labor for managing the power plant.”
He clenched his fists to the point where they were almost bleeding. Their whole lives they'd been trapped and forced to experience this hell, and it was all so those assholes could get energy?
After leaving a pregnant pause to let them process the information, Marcus continued. “However, this very fact is key to beating them. The mana gained is also stored in the central tower. So if we can take over the central tower, we can effectively cripple their operation. They have immensely powerful mana weapons in there, which we'll have to sneak past those. But if we succeed at that, we can use their own weapons powered by their own supply against them. But there's one main issue, a line of defense we can't breach. A holy barrier attuned to the followers of Minerva. None of us can get through that, but Vac, it's possible that you can. Your die allows you to tap into the magic of all the gods. If you channel Minerva's magic, you could get through.”
‘Interesting.’
The plan wasn't too bad. He hadn't yet managed to use the magic of Minerva, but the logic seemed sound, and it couldn't be too hard to figure out the smaller details. Marcus gave a hopeful smile as he asked, “So Vac. Are you in?”
Was he in to take down those who'd ruled over him his whole life? He wore a vicious grin on his face as he replied, “Hell yeah.”
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Cassius sighed as he looked over the floating island as the airship approached for a landing. The sight of the toxic air blocking the very skies above the island hurt him.
‘But my decision was the best one I could take back then, I'm sure of it.’
As he finished reading the files on the incident that had taken place here, a soldier, a follower of Minerva, walked in. After a brief salute, the man said, “Sir, we'll be landing in about a minute. Please get ready to leave. We have a group of security guards waiting to guide you to the Pantheon.”
He observed the man before him for a moment. While the soldier appeared respectful, he could see the disrespect underneath. The man seemed to be thinking, ‘Why is this man in charge? Someone who isn't one of us shouldn't have the right.’
He slowly got up and responded, “I'm ready, my good man.”
As he put the files back in his bag and put on the gas mask, he turned his thoughts back to the island. After all these years, he was finally back home.