The Draug was impatient, the Grand City of Almura lay open and seemingly deserted as his gathered forces moved along the seabed towards it. An entire great civilization full of treasures and trinkets that he would add to the endless storeage of his cargo hold. Half-a-boat shifted the currents to help push it and the forces it shepherded even more quickly as the Draug willed them to speed up.
None of the leigh rose up to face him. He canted his decrepit skull and gazed curiously at the buildings. Odd. As an undead he could feel life radiating from within the city, he could sense them clustered together inside of buildings and hiding. It was strange that no guardians came to face him, no soldiers or even terrified civilians trying to flee from their home.
Ultimately, he decided in a moment to continue the push rather than dwell on the matter. He could only control these undead for so long and he wanted to have all the loot he could dream of and be on his way by the time they bucked under his yoke. So, as his army entered the domain of the leigh he did not notice the purple masked beings staring out at him from cracks in buildings and covered windows. Nor the struggling Leigh being forcibly held down and their faces covered in the eerie masks.
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Neistel gaped as none of the city's defenders rose to do their duties. No soldiers, none who had sworn to defend the Grand City. The undead just...floated in like the door had been left wide open. He had studied the deep currents of the sea, mastered them in the form of mortal magics. Neistel was confident that under the ocean there were few who could best him as he turned their very reality against them, but even so...thousands of undead backed by an old legend of the ocean? He was not willing to test his magic alone against that, and yet it seemed like he would have to.
"Get me the defenders! Where are they!"
He spun around to shout for his advisors, for the servants that did their duties in the palace. And he was met with the eerie silence of the deep trenches. Just the light sound of moving water as none replied or even moved at his command. The room leading to the balcony was empty aside from himself and the furniture and it unnerved him.
The emptiness did not last long but for a moment he felt truly what it was like to be abandoned and alone. Then a curtain over reality was flipped off and they were there.
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Perspective. The core of the innate magic of the Leigh, Neistel had never had much of an affinity for it. It was why he had pursued magic like a mere mortal, observing the ocean's currents to then replicate them as simple spells. Øryja on the other hand lived and breathed her power, she had elevated her mastery of perspective and for an encore learned to wield magic like a Witch.
And now there were more of her than ever. Almost an entire city's worth of her in fact. The wonders she had been able to work after subverting that servant girl, two who had worked their magic to the point that time for them slowed so they could work out how to spread the gift of being her even quicker.
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The masks had been the answer, after all she effectively forced a mask on others with her ritual. So rather than individually breaking down each person and masking them entirely with magic, why not just create physical masks that carried the ritual as a vector. One casting, thousands of masks. It saved her a lot of effort and magical power to do it that way.
When the mask spreading project was well under way then she merely had to stroll out of her room, accompanied by envy and a cadre of hers' to go and induct her dear brother.
Seeing his round little face open in shock as she appeared before him was truly priceless.
"Yo-y-you? How can you be here?!"
Neistel rapidly moved backwards in surprise as he stared at the masked figures filling the room all around the two siblings.
Øryja could only let out an amused snort in reply as laughter threatened to overtake her, but one of her other selves took the job.
"Oh please, I have been able to come and go as I pleased for years from your little prison spell. You were never half the magician that I am or were for that matter."
The former kitchen servant-turned Øryja flicked an seemingly invisible tuft of hair as she spoke and Neistel turned with genuine confusion to the masked figure. From his perspective the room was just crowded with people wearing costume masks with a slight purple glow from the eyes.
"What?"
His dumbfounded voice shook the prime Øryja out of her revelry. She casually flicked with perspectives so that even someone as blind as Neistel could see the truth of the magic wrapping around everyone in the room, masking them and making them her.
"S-s-sister! Now...is not the time for your experiments. Release all of them promtply the city is under atta-"
"Yes, yes. The undead walks and the Draug sails in, I already know that."
Ørjya waved dismissively before glancing over at the balcony looking out over the city. Her beautiful face practically radiated smugness as she grinned like a satisfied cat.
"As for you...you aren't to order me around anymore. I can do...anything. Or at least soon enough I will. I will handle this little undead problem, but I thought that I should come for you first."
"Come for me?"
Neistel turned from flustered to angry as he rose up his hands, spells ready to be unleashed as he stared over at his younger sister.
"I don't know what kind of power you have started trafficking in, but you should be careful before boasting before your betters."
"Funny, that was exactly what I was going to say to you. Well, we will soon be able to share more than thoughts."
Ørjya snapped her fingers and just as soon as Neistel was ready to fight it was over as he was grabbed and pushed down to his knees before her. Coral shaped itself into an ornate and pristine mask between Ørjya's fingers as she moved towards her prone brother.
"Oh brother, your magic will be so much more useful in my hands. And we can't deny that you would look much better as me."
She said before she forced the mask onto his face and sensed Neistel trying to resist the magic, an invisible battle of wills took place as he used every remnant of his willpower to resist the power of the Sovereign and the Leigh co-mingled. Another Ørjya joined the artificial collective and the original smiled as she cast a spell to tap into the knowledge her brother contained.
"Let's drive out these pests now shall we?"
Ørjya asked and thousands of her joined in with smug chuckles as they all began to work their magic.