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Brilliant bursts of vibrant colors filled the streets and storefronts of the elven city. Thousands of floral wreath lattice arches were arranged all over Umbraedomis giving the city an energy I’d never seen before.
I recalled what Consular Gracci has said to me a week ago, “Shortly after the Tribunal calls a recess our city will celebrate a five day festival in honor of our bestower, the Celestial God, Sagittarius. We call it Floralia, and I would be honored if you would allow me to show you around, Your Majesty.”
His offer to accompany us around the city during the festival was welcomed at the time, but once again I’d severely misjudged the elves’ scale of things—An enterprise of this scale could never have happened back in Axio.
The divide of Vanixian culture between Renaultian and Maarin was far too wide for the city to celebrate anything of the sort.
The ‘autocratic encroachment’, as they called it, of the Church of the Consecrated Light’s beliefs made both Republics wary of allowing any foreign customs take root in their districts.
So to see an entire city come together to celebrate something was a beautiful sight.
The Consular himself had come to collect us early in the morning, along with a procession of honor guardsmen and one surprising addition—Lady Sara. The raven-haired noble woman had a strange bag with her and motioned for me to follow her back into the inn where she unveiled a trio of glamorous scarlet gowns.
Each one had minor differences in appearance, but they were obviously made to be displayed together in triad. Golden embroidery gave each dress a regal feel, but they weren’t overly gaudy
“I’ve had these sized to yourself, Lady Brooks, and the young miss Akari.” She raised up the last one, tailored quite smaller than the other two, and lifted up the generously sized sleeves and revealed a large cowl. “The little one should be fine to wander the city safely without fear of her wings or horns showing.”
I took the garments from the former Archmagus and clutched them tight against my chest.
“Thank you, Lady Sara. These are lovely, and I truly appreciate your efforts for Akari.”
“Of course, Empress. If you’d like, I can have my attendants assist you and the other ladies into the dresses.”
I waved my hands to decline her offer and rallied upstairs with Hailey and Akari.
Akari was enveloped by the big sleeves and enormous hood of her ensemble, but she jumped excitedly around the room with a big smile on her face.
Hailey grinned at me from across the room, clutching the dress that had been marked down with my name, and motioned for me.
“Come’re, I’ll help you into yours first. Strip down to your skivvies while I get all of this laid out.”
I did as instructed and unbuttoned my blouse. As I slipped it off my shoulders, Akari skipped over and wrapped herself around my waist and stared at my bare stomach.
“Whoooa! You’ve got ki-lines just like momma!”
She traced the crimson-orange stripes that ran under my skin with her tiny fingers.
Akari’s mother has these too, huh. I guess it really does have something to do with chaos magick then…
Back in Tolin, I had started to develop these faint markings all over my body, most prominently around my eyes, after stopping the bandit attack with my CHAOS BOLT spell. After a night’s rest, they’d faded away and I assumed it was a just side effect from using the magic.
However, lately the markings had been manifesting more frequently. Even without me having cast any chaotic spells.
I looked down at the odd lines under my skin, and Akari looked up at me. I poked her cheeks and she tried to hide her face.
“Ki lines? You’ve seen something like this before, Akari?” Hailey asked from across the room.
“Uh huh! Sometimes mine get really bright too, but momma says she doesn’t think it’s dangerous.”
I ruffled Akari’s hair with my hand, “I hope someday soon I get to meet your mother, I have a lot of questions she might know the answers to—eeeii!” My shoulders tensed up as a warm hand brushed against my skin. Hailey giggled behind me and pressed up against my back.
“I not very happy that your new magick is leaving permanent marks on your body. But they’re kinda cute, I guess. If we painted some black stripes on your tummy, you’d be like a little tiger.”
I raised my arm back and bonked her forehead with my hand, “Last thing I need is for the soldiers to start calling me ‘The Tiger Empress’. I’ve already got more than enough monikers.”
“Of course, your Crimson Bladedness.”
“That’s exactly what I’m talking about!”
“I’m just teasing,” Hailey smirked and ruffled my hair, “Anyways, lets get you in this fancy dress already. Akari, my dear helper, away with her pants!”
“Wait, wha—”
Akari moved her hands away from my stomach and gripped my trousers, and in one fluid motion dropped them to the floor.
“I’ve been betrayed by my sweet Akari. This world is so cruel!”
----------------------------------------
We joined back up with our companions, including the Aestori escorts, and started out towards the city-center.
The festival decorations started to get more elaborate as we approached, and more stalls selling various foods and knick-knacks appeared. Amongst the floral accents that filled the city streets, there were large idols that depicted a half-humanoid half-horse figure.
I asked the Consular about them, and he explained that they were effigies in the image of Sagittarius. Our group shared a knowing look—the depictions of the Celestial God Sagittarius in Axio had his likeness more generically angelic, the same as Virgo and Capricorn.
If there was anything I knew about the Gods, it’s that I knew basically nothing about them.
The odd form of the God wasn’t something we had an issue with acknowledging. Akari had a particularly hard time saying the name, Sagittarius, though.
At the central plaza, the heart of Floralia, there was a giant figure woven of twiggy branches.
This was an offering filled with all sorts of fruits, flowers, and other precious things found within the forests the Aestori called home.
A loud horn blew from somewhere high up, amplified by the acoustics of the stone-walled city buildings, and the scene changed before us.
The sounds of music filled the streets and all over men and women crowded the square to dance. Most of them were wearing one of two forms of cultural dress, one which covered very little and the other that looked like what Lady Sara had provided for us, though not quite as intricately designed.
I asked Consular Gracci if there was a meaning between the two types of styles, and his face turned varying shades of red as he tried to explain that the more scantily-clad dancers were courtesans.
Apparently one of the key observances of the festival was that of embracing pleasure and celebrating fertility.
A tingle ran down my neck and down my legs, as thoughts of one particular Goddess came to mind. Perhaps it wasn’t just Capricorn in particular who had a degenerate side to her, but rather it was in the nature of all Celestials.
My thoughts of the Celestials were interrupted when an outstretched hand appeared before me.
Hailey’s rosy eyes glimmered in the festival lights, her beaming smile and beauty drew my vision in so that all I could see was her beckoning to me.
“Let’s dance, Airis.”
I bowed in a stereotypical way that haughty noblemen would at a ball, “I would be delighted to accept your offer, My Lady.”
“I am delicate, do not step on my feet.” She warned with a joking tone.
I took her hand and replied in earnest, “I can make no promises.”
We tried to imitate the dance moves of those around us, but found it a tad too sensual and ended up just doing our own thing in a corner further away from the main commotion.
The music ramped up and the casual dancers were all that remained—It seemed that the city’s night workers had all found clients and dispersed.
A smell of smoke and fire filled the plaza, as the festival workers lit the wickerman in the square. The aroma was pleasant, like meat cooking over a campfire.
Around the plaza, the smoke began to stir as a wind started to pick up. Hailey’s ruby hair whipped around suddenly, and she turned to me with a look of surprise.
“Airis, what’s happening? It’s like I can see through you…”
Hailey’s voice trailed off as the wind continued to intensify, and all sorts of sounds seemed to be deafen under the roar of the wind. To me, Hailey—and everyone else around—were the ones who were becoming transparent.
I tried to call out to her, but the wind was so loud I couldn’t hear my own words.
All at once, the wind stopped and everyone that had been around me vanished completely.
“Well this is certainly going to be a problem.”
A silvery voice interrupted the silence and the unmistakable scent of cinnamon stung my nose.
An alabaster-white fox strode within my view, looking up at me with a concerned expression.
“I was just thinking about you earlier. Is this your doing?”
“What reason would I have to whisk you away from your beloved. No, this has nothing to do with me. But I imagine we’ll meet the perpetrator in just a moment.”
Capricorn’s cheeky response was exactly what I’d expected.
“Ah, here we go. You probably want to hold your breath, or tighten your stomach. I honestly don’t know what will help, but you’re gonna experience some discomfort—”
True to her words, my whole body started to feel ill. My stomach churned and my vision blurred. Our surroundings changed suddenly and I nearly fell over, my legs lost their balance as if I’d been forcefully shifted at a high speed.
Overgrowth and a dense forest were all around us. It reminded me of the groves I’d walked through in Virgo’s domain, but more wild. More primal.
A rumbling from the ground emanated up my legs and the trees ahead of us began to part, revealing a massive figure approaching.
Capricorn had shifted out of her foxen form and into her real self, and positioned herself in front of me.
A giant centaur emerged from the treeline, glaring down at us.
Capricorn crossed her arms, and hissed up at the dominating presence. “It’s been awhile cousin.”
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“I am neither your cousin or friend. Part time allegiances of the past don’t define my attitude towards trespassers in my realm.”
The centaur’s voice boomed through the clearing, stirring the trees and shaking their boughs.
“Oh come now, Great Guardian of the Grove, those children of yours that you plucked us from left honor emblems of red and gold the same as my champion. Let us do away with this combative behavior. There must be a pressing matter on your mind to call the two of us here—I know just how excessive the magicka cost is to manifest a mortal through the Aetherial Plane.”
The centaur’s gaze drifted over Capricorn’s shoulders and fell to me. Brow furrowed, his eyes narrowed in deep suspicion.
“Hrmmm.” He grumbled. “I had only meant to pull the annoying snake from my garden. Not one of that harpy’s little creatures.”
He walked towards me, but stopped short in recoil.
His nostrils flared, “This one reeks of your abhorrent magick. You mean to tell me this one is a mortal of the earthen realm? I’d be more likely to believe she was one of your Alaetüs.”
I sensed Capricorn tense up just the slightest bit and her body drifted to block me from his view.
“Tch. Have a little shame. You summoned the girl here, whether knowingly or not, so do try not to offend her lest you wish to offend me as well.”
“…”
Sagittarius took a few steps back raised his head as a strong gust of wind blew through the grove.
“Just remain silent and patient, little empress. You were not meant to be part of this negotiation. But since you’ve not been cast out, perhaps he sees something in you worthwhile—try to ignore his poor attitude as best you can.”
Capricorn’s voice seeped into my ears and I nodded my head, though she wasn’t looking at me I was sure she noticed my acknowledgment because she moved away.
“Your stubbornness hasn’t mellowed at all. Are you still fighting proxy wars with your brother?”
“My resolve is as strong as ever. The conceited offspring of my brother have ceased their onslaught since the V’alen turned the land underneath their armies into sodden wastelands.”
The Celestial God turned to face Capricorn and crossed his arms.
“You didn’t come to the Aestori’s origin glade to speak to me about my wars with Aries. So speak,” he unfurled one hand and waved it out towards her before tucking in back into place across his chest, “I can’t wait to hear what peculiar thing on the mortal realm entranced the Goddess of Magick so much that she would walk around my city in such a restrained state. Enlighten me as to why you consort with your sister’s creations with such abandon.”
Capricorn rose up on her coiled body so that she loomed over Sagittarius and pointed a finger down at him.
“Firstly, it’d be best to keep in mind that your elves have no issues consorting with them and sought them out—Bah, it does not matter. Your quarrelsome personality is why I did not offer you assistance the first time you fought that war-crazed fool of a God. I don’t particularly care about you or your star obsessed elves. The little one down there piqued my interest because she’s one of Virgo’s Altaerians and has shown great promise in furthering certain goals. Your elves swore themselves to her family, and she is bound to me. That’s the only reason I was even around your precious elves.”
The hostility on the centaur deity’s face faded.
“Fine. I’ll accept that answer. For now.”
The winds quieted and the forest stilled.
Capricorn relaxed her body, and sank back down to the ground in a huff.
Sagittarius unfurled his arms and lowered his body into a sitting position. He didn’t take his eyes off of Capricorn and spoke again after some time, his tone seemed less angry as before.
“So what do my Aestori have to do with these goals of yours?”
“I don’t have a particular care for them, if I’m to be honest. I’m only interested in the Altaerian.”
Sagittarius turned his firm attention to me, “Then I’ll ask the mortal one. What are my children getting themselves into in such a manner that it involves not one but two Celestials meddling in matters of Terae.”
“Just tell him the truth. It probably doesn’t matter what nonsense your planning on the mortal plane, he’s just being nosy.”
Capricorn’s assurance did little to make this all seem less stressful, but I answered the God nonetheless.
“The Aestori were allies to my people for many years. We’ve become estranged due to certain circumstances, but I journeyed to their city to ask for their help in taking back a city that we lost to another faction, the Renaultians.”
“Ah yes. I’m vaguely aware of all that. However, you think they will just let you take that city back? All their scheming, all that time—just going to waste?”
“None of us expect the Renaultians to just hand back the city. That’s why we’re preparing for war.”
“Haah?” Sagittarius exclaimed incredulously, “The Renaultians? Who cares about some pitiful humans led astray by void magick. I’m talking about the Void itself. The master of which tempted my children with dark magick. I’m talking about Gemini, you fool of a girl.”
Gemini and the ‘Void’? I must be missing something.
I looked to Capricorn for some assistance.
Sagittarius also turned to look at Capricorn, “Surely you know what you and your sister’s minion are getting into, right?”
“I haven’t the foggiest idea what you’re going on about. What does that double-headed bastard have to do with any of this?”
“You’re both so incredibly dense that it’s hard to fathom, you and your bird-brained sister—”
A shiny disc of chaotic magick whirled past Sagittarius’ head. A loud explosion echoed through the grove, and massive trees were uprooted in an instant.
“It’s rude to insult your guests so much. Watch your tongue or I’ll take it as a trophy.” Capricorn hissed.
Sagittarius scowled at Capricorn but continued on, “You’ve locked yourself away in the pursuit of magick, ignoring the state of things in the Aetherial Plane, for too long. The one you worked so hard to banish eons ago still has minions hidden in the furthest reaches of Tartarus doing his bidding.”
Capricorn twitched at the mention of this ‘banished’ one. She glanced back at me with murderous rage in her eyes and snapped her fingers.
In a flash I was encased in a glowing barrier.
I tried to move forward but was unable to step more than a few feet ahead. The barrier was largely transparent and I could still make out both Celestials before me, but I couldn’t hear anything.
Capricorn raised herself high off the ground and looked to be screaming into the sky, but everything remained completely silent within the barrier.
She lowered herself back down to Sagittarius and thrust her arm out at him stiffly and started yelling at him. The Goddess was in a full on fit of rage, while Sagittarius remained stone-faced.
After a few minutes of this, she turned away and a large tear in the air appeared beside her. Bright orange light erupted outwards and a portal came to life in a violent display of power.
My footing became unstable and I fell flat on my bottom. The barrier I’d been trapped in shifted, and the next thing I knew I was being hurled through said portal.
I turned back and caught a glimpse of Sagittarius looking down on me with a bitter expression.
----------------------------------------
The barrier skidded across the ground until it slammed into something solid. I tumbled over myself and cursed the Goddess for her rough treatment.
As I collected myself and looked around my new surroundings, I got a deep sense of déjà vu. Verdant green spread out in every direction, broken only sparse dashes of red in the distance.
I’m back, Coil of Ascendance. It’s been a while.
A thunderous blast of glass breaking split my ears and everything seemed to be a little brighter.
“That wretched traitor! Is he beholden to that fraud for all eternity!?” Capricorn’s screams intensified as she stepped through her portal. A burst of chaotic energy dispersed wildly and the portal dissipated.
Strong pressure pushed down on me.
A gust of wind whipped through the open clearing we apparated to—or so I thought, until a brilliant white flash of light right next to us caught my eye. The pressure subsided and large white feathers fluttered to the ground.
I followed the trail of feathers to their source, and found a winged figure in full golden plate armor hovering overhead.
“Mother… Sister. Welcome back.”
Vita, one of the Goddess Virgo’s attendants and the steward of these groves, greeted us.
“Might I inquire to the purpose of your abrupt and noisy visit?”
“Vi, I’ve no time for games.” Capricorn’s rage seethed in the tone of her words. “Where is my sister?”
Vita’s expression changed from stoic guardian to scolded child, “The Goddess is in the closest grove nearby, tending to the souls of her favored children. I will take you there. Please follow me, mother.”
Vita stretched out her wings and pushed herself up higher in the air, soaring away.
Capricorn glanced at me, her eyes looking the slightest bit less predatory.
“Come on. This involves you as well.”
The Goddess took off without waiting for a response, moving much faster than I could walk, so I had to run.
“Uhm!” I called after her, “I’m sure I don’t have to express this, and you’ll maybe fill me in once we’re there, but what in the Aether is going on and why did you stick me in that stupid barrier?”
The sharp look in return from Capricorn had me immediately regret asking.
“Because the lesser races aren’t supposed to be involved in our affairs.”
My expression surely betrayed me, giving away my continued confusion, as Capricorn clicked her tongue and continued.
“All you have to understand is that we Celestials signed a pact millennia ago in the aftermath of a century long war against each other. For any conflicts between Gods within the Aetherial Plane, we are forbidden to involve any other beings. And now, if what that donkey said is true, we’re tangled up in a conflict with another God. It’s better for him to think you’re being kept out of it.”
The clearing gave way to the more dense forests I’d encountered in the Coil last time, and my travel speed became impeded.
Capricorn tore ahead of me.
Treading carefully through the underbrush and exposed roots, I finally stepped out of the tree line and into a large grove of spider lilies. In the center of a spiraling field of flowers, sat the winged Goddess, Virgo.
To her side was Vita, who was motioning frantically towards Capricorn.
I arrived after their conversation had started, but judging by the look of annoyance on Virgo’s face she had yet to get a word in between Capricorn’s beratement and Vita’s flailing.
“Are you finished?” Virgo said coldly, once Capricorn had ceased her stream of yelling.
“Don’t get cross with me. Why am I only finding out Gemini has been creeping around doing errands for Libra?”
“Because you have a one-track mind when it comes to all things magick. The two of them could’ve knocked on your door and you’d ignore them if you were tweaking some new type of spell.”
Virgo shrugged her shoulders and wisps of smoke and aetherial feathers fluttered in the air.
“I hardly see how this is my fault. You’ve been entirely ignorant of Terae. You have more than a few of your own attendants. I’m sure they’ve kept you up to speed, you were just too busy and ignored it.”
“Sagittarius says Gemini is mixed in with the group of humans who crossed my disciple.” Capricorn thrust an arm at me. “Aren’t those ones your creations as well? Why are they doing those bastard’s biddings?”
Virgo’s eyes narrowed, “Since when did my Harbinger become your disciple? You’re being extra annoying today, sister. To answer your stupid question, it was beyond my control. My hands are tied when it comes to interference in the mortal plane, same as you. By the time I realized Gemini had spun his web, it was too late. They’ve been under his influence for millennia of years now.”
“Haaah!?” Capricorn exclaimed in an almost ear-piercing wail.
“Their royal line has been practicing void and shadow magicks for over two-thousand years,” Virgo continued, ignoring the outburst, “handing down their knowledge from crown to crown. And they learned it from the corrupted elves, those Ixians that Sagittarius tucked away in the forests under the shadow of Ansridge.”
I stepped between the two Goddesses, interrupting whatever thoughts Capricorn was about to share. “Are you saying that the Ixians and Renaultians have been in league with each other for that long?”
“They weren’t on the same side initially. It all played out like you’d expect mortal conflicts to, which is why I never suspected anything until it was too late.”
Virgo huffed indignantly.
Capricorn was muttering something under her breath, pacing back and forth on her tail.
“Before you wear a rut in my grove.” Virgo chastised her, “Why don’t you go ask your children for the rest of the story. At least the majority of them are attentive at the very least, even if they lack the interpersonal skills to report the things they see properly.”
“… but what would be the point in positioning humans and elves against themselves in the mortal plane?” Capricorn’s ramblings had grown louder, and I could now hear her clearly. “Is it revenge for the banishment? No. That makes no sense. No creature on Terae could do anything to me no matter how hard it—Oh, but there are, aren’t there?”
Capricorn’s sharp predatory eyes locked onto me, and her whole body lunged forward.
I flinched under her sudden assault—but found myself hidden behind the glow of smoky white wings.
“Don’t even think about it.” A guttural growl sounded as Virgo deflected the crazed lunge, knocking Capricorn to the side.
She stared the both of us down, and the air pressure began to change. My hairs stood on end, and I worried that she was about to cast some unknowable magick at us—but nothing so dramatic happened.
Orange sparking lines of magick along with a tear in the air signaled the opening of one of her trademark portals and in a moment the deranged Goddess was gone.
“Tch.”
Virgo clicked her tongue and vanished without a word in her own flash of white light.
…Hello? What about me?
I was left speechless.
A rustling noise behind me caused me to jump in surprise.
“Paaah!” A girlish voice whined.
Vita was sitting on the grass, hugging her knees tightly.
“Ah, are you—”
“I’ll take you home in a minute. Just give me a moment to catch my breath. I apologize for mother’s behavior, and for my master’s lack of care.”
“No. I… It’s alright,” I stammered, “It’s not your fault.”