-14-
[https://i.imgur.com/LoYByv0.png]
The scrape of metal on stone echoed through the halls.
“What in the Aether is he doing in there?”
Hailey, Rias, and I had journeyed through the northern hall. After having gotten ourselves turned around in a large storage room, which was the northernmost room in this wing, we tracked back to a blind turn in the hallway which hopefully led to the armory Luke mentioned.
Somebody—though I already knew it was Julius—was making a loud racket just ahead of us.
We passed through the arched doorway, its set of steel doors left ajar, into the armory proper. Sitting on the ground, digging through a crate of assorted armor pieces, was Julius.
A metal gauntlet soared through the air, flung from the man himself. It landed with a clang and bounced my direction.
“Hey! Watch it.”
He turned his head, barely far enough to make eye contact out of his periphery, “Hey, Rias. Sorry about that.”
“…”
I stomped forward in a tantrum, stopping in front of him, looming over his crate of projectile armor. I pointed my finger at my face, glaring at him.
“What? Did I hit your face or something? Look I said sorry, I wasn’t expecting anyone to come in here.”
I sighed in defeat.
“Airis is awake.” I sneered at him.
“Oh! Well why didn’t you say so? Let’s go see her.”
He jumped to his feet, turning towards the exit.
“Hey, Hailey. And—Aaah…”
Hailey and Rias waved at him. Both of them wore concern heavy on their faces.
Julius hung his head in shame, slowly turning back around to face me.
“Now listen, Airis. You know that this isn’t fair. Look! You’re even dressed in her clothes.”
Graaaah!
Filled with a burning rage I flew out of the armory. Screaming through the halls, “It’s not like we’re twins, Julius!”
----------------------------------------
Rather conveniently, I ran into Mei on my way back through the soon-to-be named ‘storage wing’. It would be more correct to say I ran into everyone who had been in the great hall… It might have been due to my recent outburst—not that I was shouting that loudly.
I asked her to inform all of the Divisional leaders to gather all available members in the Citadel’s main hall.
At this moment I was waiting for three more minor divisions, as well as my trusty elven ranger, to arrive.
“Ah, there you are.”
Violet hair bounced into view as Mei climbed the last few steps of the main staircase. She rounded the top and joined me, leaning back against the balustrade.
Her hair was all over the place, beads of sweat glistened in the flicker of torch light. A sigh of relief escaped her lips and she swept her hair back away from her face. Her long hair fell down past her back, leaving the ride side, which was styled in an undercut, exposed.
“Alright. Spill it, Commander. Why did you have me bring everyone here?”
“You’ll see once everyone gets settled.”
“Oh come on! You’ve got hundreds of people piling in. It’s gotta be important. Give me something.”
“Did Hailey brief you on everything that happened after we defeated the Terror Demon?”
“Most of it I imagine. Meeting with your Goddess in the afterlife.”
“Not our Goddess?”
“Well, Humanity’s Goddess anyway.”
My interest had now been piqued and the tables turned, “You spill first, what do you mean by that?”
Nonchalantly she turned around to face the massing crowd. “That Celestial Faith Sect in Axio has it wrong. The Celestials didn’t create all life together. Well, at least that’s what I was taught a long time ago.”
“Hmm. Come to think of it, Virgo had said something about how she had created humans. I didn’t really think much of it at the time, but that lines up with that you’re saying. So if the Celestials didn’t do it collectively, then who made each race?”
“Sagittarius is the progenitor of the Elves.”
“How about the Dwarves and the Noblebourne?”
Mei spat at the mention of the latter race.
“Not a fan of them, I take it?”
“No.”
I craned my neck over the balcony to get a look at her expression.
Palpable hatred emanated from her.
I retreated very slowly.
“We’ll just skip that conversation then.” I chirped.
Julius rounded the staircase, saving me from the wrath of Mei.
“All divisions accounted for and ready, Airis.”
“Great. Thanks, Julius. Can you call everyone to attention for me? I’ll get started in a moment.”
“Sure thing.”
Julius walked halfway down the stairs to the middle landing and snapped his heels together.
“Third Division. Atten-tion!”
The hushed muttering of side conversations fell to absolute silence. The only sounds now were boots scraping softly against the stone floors as everyone in attendance snapped into place.
Julius spun-about deftly in a quick maneuver to face me at the top of the stairs. He rendered me a crisp salute, which I returned.
I descended the stairs and he fell in to my left.
“At ease.”
The murmur of feet shuffling echoed down the hall.
I looked out over the crowd, spotting Hailey close to the center who had a big smile spilling across her face.
Here goes nothing.
“Good evening everyone. I know this call-to-order was unexpected so I’ll keep it brief. With everything that has happened in the last few days I know there are plenty of questions—and certainly there are just as many rumors.”
“So we’ll start with the events here in the Citadel two days ago. The raiding party that engaged the Terror Demon was successful. That much is obvious, otherwise we wouldn’t be in here having this briefing. What isn’t obvious, is the total number of real casualties. Of the one-hundred and seventy-two members who entered the Garrison district, eighteen lost their lives in the fight to locate the monster’s leader. On record, another six were killed in action against it. However, in truth…”
I took a deep breath to keep my nerves calm.
“In truth, the total number of us killed in combat with that beast was one-hundred and seven.”
A few gasps of surprise rippled through the crowd of soldiers.
Confusion spread out from those who weren’t part of the raiding party, as they looked to those who were.
Hailey let out a sharp whistle from the front, “Keep your bearing. The Regent Lord hasn’t finished speaking yet.”
I continued on, my next words sure to spark more surprise.
“Of those slain, it included myself and High-Protector Julius. Though, as you can see, we are both standing here before you. We found ourselves in the realm of the Celestials. The Goddess Virgo—”
I could hear some chatter from the confused mass.
“Did she say Goddess?” “They were killed!?” “How is this possible?” “They saw the Celestials?”
The low rambling wasn’t too interruptive, and I could see officers rushing to retain order, so I kept on explaining.
“I was bestowed the ability to return our recently deceased back to life. I was returned to life myself by the Goddess Virgo. So hear me, soldiers of the Republic, and listen. I task you with a mission befitting the chosen people of our Goddess.”
“Our crippled and fractured empire has limped along as a shadow of its former self for too long. I say no more! No more shall we bow our heads in service of obstructive politics. No more shall we struggle amongst the other human factions. No more will we sit idle against threats against us.”
“On this day we are reborn. We rise from the ashes of a ruined empire! I charge you as it’s rightful scions. Today, I declare the Vanixian Empire is once more. By the greatness of the Goddess I reclaim that which belongs to us.”
To my own surprise, a blinding orange nova of light erupted from the rune on my wrist. The glow washed over the great hall and enveloped the soldiers.
I quickly willed the notification interface to display. A large ornately decorated window appeared before me.
» RULER PRIVILEGES AUTHENTICATED.
» CONTROL OVER A SEAT OF POWER CONFIRMED.
» YOU HAVE BEEN GIVEN THE RIGHT AND RECLAIMED A DESOLATED FACTION:
» THE EMPIRE OF THE LIGHT [VANIXIAN EMPIRE]
» YOU HAVE BEEN GRANTED A NEW TITLE:
» EMPRESS {RULER} [VANIXIAN EMPIRE]
By the Aether. I'm starting to have trouble keeping up with every new event.
----------------------------------------
After the excitement had died down I retired to the old Commander’s Quarters with Hailey and Julius.
Rias convinced Mei to venture off to the baths, while I stayed to try to mull over the implications of that new ruler title and corresponding faction rights. Without any details on what it meant, I had slouched back in the soft cushions of a couch, and was drifting in and out of sleep.
Hailey and Julius were discussing something rather loudly over the command table, which was interfering with my rest.
I grumbled softly to myself and turned over to stick my head under a pillow.
A disruptive knock on the door sounded through the chamber. I heard Julius say he’d see who it was and shortly after, the door creaked open. The sound of multiple footsteps paired with hushed mumbling came closer and closer, until I could hear his voice clearly.
“—think she’s still asleep, but I’ll wake her up.”
A gentle hand pressed against my shoulder.
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“Airis, Luke and Hanna are here. They found something you’re gonna want to see.”
“Nnnnnhh.” I groaned in irritation, but rolled over to face them.
Wiping the sleep from my eyes I sat up.
Hailey had stepped away from whatever important task she was working on, and came to sit down next to me. As Julius had said, both Luke and Hanna had arrived. Luke was holding an odd looking sphere in his hands. It was bright white and had golden runic lines running across its face. Etched in a crimson-red was a gauntleted fist.
What in the Aether was this thing? Wait—where have I seen one of those before…?
They must have noticed a change in my face as my mind started to connect the dots.
“Do you know what it is?”
“I think so. When I was little, my father would sometimes let me sit with him in his office. In the, uh… capital building, north of the central spire tower. One of these was always at his desk. It didn’t have that symbol on it, though…”
Rapping my knuckles against my forehead, I strained myself to remember what that one had looked like.
It wasn’t a fist. I only remember seeing it a few times… It had some geometric shape, a triangle? No, more complex than that. OH!
“It had the Axio City crest; the Triumvirate Knot.”
Julius tapped at the sphere cradled in Luke’s arms.
“So you think it has something to do with the city?”
“If Axio had one, it’s a strong possibility.”
“Maybe it’s some sort of a key? Like to open a vault or hidden door?”
We turned to look at Julius. His arms shot up, palms out towards us.
“Hey, I’m just guessing here!”
“Your mind is fixated on treasure lately.” I sneered at him. “I heard you’ve spent the last two days digging through the armory.”
“Don’t hate on me because I’m looking for some loot. We got jack all from both elite demons we killed to take this place. Anything that can give us an edge would be a godsend right now.”
He had a fair point. But I had my doubts that this was some sort of key.
“Hey, Luke. Let me take a look at it?”
“Uhm, sure thing. Just be careful. It’s heavier than it looks.”
I nearly toppled from my seat on the couch when he let it drop into my hands. Hailey reached out and stopped me from planting my whole body onto the floor. Quickly regaining my balance, I leaned back and let the orb rest gently in my lap.
A new interface appeared as I activated OMNISIGHT.
I used the skill with an intent to appraise the object, which resulted in a display similar to the loot window when I’d received something new, but it was quite a bit more detailed.
INSPECTION
ITEM
ATTRIBUTES
DETAILS
ORB OF INFRASTRUCTURE
Aetherline Device
(OFFLINE)
{Control Interface}
A magickal tool that can be used by a Seat of Power’s Ruler to visualize its status.
REQUIRES AETHERFLUX CONNECTIVITY.
» AETHERLINE STATUS: OFFLINE
» CONFIGURATION: INVALID
» MISSING TERMINAL CONNECTION
» AUTHORIZED RULER DETECTED IN PROXIMITY
» RULER ADVISED TO RESET THIS AETHERLINE DEVICE AFTER FLUX CONNECTION IS REESTABLISHED
Hmmm… I don’t know what any of this means.
The dumbstruck faces on half my companions assured me that I wasn’t the only one lost.
Hanna and Julius stared at the message in great interest.
“Do you two understand this jargon?”
“…”
“Helloooo!?”
Hanna’s attention was torn away and she jolted her gaze to me.
“Yes, sorry! I mean, not everything. But it’s definitely an aetherline device. Quite a unique one.”
“What, in all that is holy, is an aetherline?”
She looked at me questioningly.
“Come on, Hanna. Just dumb it down for me. I’ve been through a lot and I’m feeling very lost.”
“But… You must have been exposed to some aetherline tech back in Axio? Command was full of stuff that utilized it.”
“Uhhhh…”
Julius finally came to my rescue, “You’ve been in the communications room, right? The one packed with all those artificer class divisionals.”
“Oh, yeah. Tons of times. Whenever the field divisions contacted Command, I would get called in there.”
“Uh huh. All of that equipment runs over the aetherline.”
Well now I feel dumb.
“Okay. Yeah, I’ve seen that stuff. I never really had to use it though.”
Hailey pulled at my sleeve. She was sitting up on her knees leaning forwards, close to me, with an intense look.
“Hails? You alright?”
“Magister Timmons!”
“Huh?”
“He taught us about this in our third year.”
“Nobody is going to remember some class from ten years ago!”
She fell back in her seat and pouted, “I remember that class…”
“Probably because you actually like going to class when we attended VxA. The only good thing from that place was the magickal classes. That school was—And you! I’m thankful I met you while I was there!”
I barely managed to avoid a total disaster.
The calamity that would have befallen me would have been world ending.
Hailey sighed incredulously. Yeah. I’m still in trouble.
Julius was back in action to save me a second time.
“I don’t think there’s anything we can do with this unless we had a functioning aetherline set up. Correct me if I’m wrong, but I don’t believe any senior artificers specializing in aetherflux engineering made it to us from Axio?”
Hanna and Hailey shook their heads.
Luke took a little longer to answer, but also indicated no; though he offered some insight, “The closest we might have is Dori. And maybe your sister, Commander.”
“Rias? I don’t think so. She was going to school for Alchemy. She does a little bit on tinkering with odd stuff, sure. But I’m positive it’s not anything like this.”
He bobbed his head back and forth, considering my response. “Well, I can’t imagine it will hurt to ask. I’ll head to the blacksmith right away.”
Luke left, but Hanna stayed behind and was engaged with whatever Hailey and Julius were working on before the interruption with the orb.
I had hauled the thing over to a nearby table.
Before I got the chance to see what was so important, another knock came to our door. Hard banging was paired with a panicked shout.
“Hostiles spotted at the main gate!”
Julius sprang into action, grabbing his gear and rushing out into the hall. He yelled at the messenger to head to the southern wing and inform Mei to meet us there.
Hanna, Hailey, and I chased after him.
We weren’t the only ones hurrying to the city entrance. Groups of armed soldiers were running ahead of us from the barracks inside the Citadel.
When we arrived at the gatehouse thirty-minutes later, there were about fifty others assembled in the courtyard.
The area around was lit up by braziers.
I looked around to see if Soren or Alistaire might have gotten caught up in the excitement, but it didn’t appear that they had arrived yet, if they were wrapped up in this at all.
So, with my available companions I formed a party.
I brought up the interface briefly to make sure everyone had the proper assignments, and noticed that it had updated slightly.
With a little bit of mental effort I was able to configure the display to show the information more styled to my taste.
PARTY MEMBERS
AIRIS
{OPERATOR}
HEALTH: [320] / [320]
STAMINA: [353] / [410]
MAGICKA: [600] / [600]
JULIUS
{INITIATOR}
HEALTH: [620] / [620]
STAMINA: [373] / [400]
MAGICKA: [70] / [70]
HAILEY
HEALTH: [80] / [80]
STAMINA: [107] / [190]
MAGICKA: [590] / [590]
HANNA
HEALTH: [250] / [250]
STAMINA: [360] / [400]
MAGICKA: [350] / [350]
Everyone had a small amount of fatigue from the fast sprint through the city—but poor Hailey was suffering the worst. Her shorter stride and low STAMINA attribute didn’t do her any favors.
We were approached by a small group of divisionals; a party led by a woman geared in golden-trimmed armor. Her High-Defender insignia was displayed squarely on her breastplate.
She introduced herself as the acting Watch-Captain and briefed us on the ongoing situation that had been unfolding over the course of the evening.
About five hours ago a small band of refugees arrived. Apparently, some of the guards on duty recognized them and allowed them through the gate, holding them in a building nearby that had been converted into a checkpoint station.
The refugees claimed their homes had been attacked by a raiding party of bandits. They were forced to flee and had been on the run for a few days. Their horses were pushed well to the point of collapse, and many of the people were showing signs of malnutrition and illness.
An hour ago, a mass of light was spotted in the distance. The scouts atop the walls identified them as a possible threat, as a number of the riders in the advancing group were heavily armed.
By the time we had arrived, the group was now within an hour’s distance to the city walls.
The Watch-Captain led us to the checkpoint building, were we met some familiar faces.
A tall elven man with golden curls was sitting next to a woman with short brown hair. In his lap was a cat with brown and black patterning. They appeared exhausted, both slouched awkwardly in their chairs. When I approached them there wasn’t even a slight indication they noticed me.
“Hey, Amelia, Nyle. This a surprise—to see you that is. I do wish it was under better circumstances though.”
They both glanced up weakly, the movement of their eyes was sluggish. Fatigue had worn them both down to a point where it seemed like our presence barely registered.
I knelt down next to them and gently placed a hand on each of their arms. Drawing magickal energy from my core, I surged holy power into my palms.
Very softly, I spoke a simple healing incantation.
“Divine light, Heal.”
Golden light coursed through their bodies as the healing magick restored their vitality.
They both twitched a little; an expected response to their nerves being lit up with magick. Fortunately the mild spasm didn’t seem to bother Meko, who continued to nap undisturbed in Nyle’s lap.
Reality slowly came back to the two tavern workers.
The typically energetic waitress’ eyes were the first to light up with recognition. Amelia’s focus drifted around the four of us but landed back on me.
Her voice was just as weak as expected, resonating the stress she’d been through.
“Well if it isn’t my secret commander. I didn’t realize it was you until I saw that handsome man of yours. That clothing really suits you, I do love a beautiful woman out of uniform.”
Hailey forced herself into place next to me and narrowed her eyes at Amelia.
“Airis, where do you know her from?”
“You should know her as well. This is Amelia. She was a waitress at the tavern in Cahir. She’s the one who told us about you passing through.”
Hanna stepped in and cupped a hand around Hailey’s ear, and whispered in a hushed but still barely audible tone “She’s the one you drunkenly told the story of the Commander’s heroics in Axio to.”
“Oh. Well you know, a lot has happened in the last three weeks,” Hailey timidly retreated, “I must have just forgotten.”
Amelia laughed lightly and leaned back in her chair. The slight curl of a smile on her face.
“I don’t blame you. You had a lot to drink that night.” She smirked slyly.
There’s some of that energy back.
Hailey panicked, waving her arms back and forth.
“I did not! It was only—I had a rough week! Okay!?”
Her flailing around in defense was incredibly cute. I couldn’t stop myself from grabbing her hands while they raced through the air.
“Nobody is judging you, you lush.”
I winked at her and started laughing. I spun her around, my arms now crossed around her shoulders and holding her close.
She protested and tried to squirm away, “Let me go! Not fair!”
While I fought against her wiggling, Nyle had started talking to Julius and one of the guardsmen. Seeing the three of them in such a serious mode grounded me, and I refocused on why we were here.
“Amelia, can you tell us what happened? We heard there was a bandit attack on the village…”