Ambrose, the Grave Warden of Aeterna, looked much the same as he did the last Leon had seen him: tanned skin tone; brown eyes as warm and inviting as Leon had ever seen; a lithe, though still quite muscular build; and generally average facial features. He was the sort of man who would go completely unnoticed in a crowd, but once one’s eyes landed upon him, they’d realize he was not a man to be played with.
The biggest reason for that impression was his subtle, though tremendously powerful aura; he was clearly no longer pretending to only be ninth-tier. It was so easy to overlook, blending in so well with the ambient magic of Aeterna that Leon had to actually look to find it, and once he did, he found it opaque, solid, and utterly unknowable. It was a generally-accepted rule amongst mages that the auras of those who’d reached higher tiers of magic relative to the viewer were almost indistinguishable from one another, making it essentially impossible to tell what tier a mage was if they were stronger by at least a tier than the observer. However, Ambrose proved himself to be the exception for Leon, his aura so intense and impenetrable that even the veritable nebulae that were the Lord Protector and Grand Druid’s auras were utterly dwarfed in comparison.
In other words, Ambrose was so much more powerful than the two tenth-tier mages in the room that even Leon, who was significantly weaker than all three of them, could see the difference as plain as day.
“Been a while, kid,” Ambrose stated, not a trace of ice to be found in his tone. “Quite a while.”
Leon nodded a little awkwardly. Ambrose had first introduced himself as a ninth-tier envoy of the Ilian Empire, come to survey the damage following Leon’s final fight with Jormun when both were transformed, but Xaphan at later revealed that he was actually the Grave Warden himself, the most powerful man on the plane, far, far past the point of initial Apotheosis. He had the strength to claim divinity and not be wrong, as far as Leon understood it. Once his business had concluded, Ambrose had given Leon a written invitation to come and find his home in Ilion. Leon had quite diligently ignored the invitation over the past sixteen years, not trusting that invitation at all.
“Seems like a good party,” Ambrose drily repeated. “My invite was lost in the mail, I’m sure, I’m sure. I mean, I invited you to my place, so I’m sure that you were courteous enough to respond in kind, respond in kind…”
Leon gave the man a thin-lipped smile, unsure of just what to say with the Grave Warden himself right there in front of him.
From within his soul realm, he heard Xaphan quietly whisper, [Don’t… make this guy angry, Leon. Be very fucking careful…]
Suddenly, Ambrose let out a great guffaw that Leon felt resound throughout his body in a manner similar to an explosion. However, it seemed that he was the only one who heard it—in fact, it seemed rather like he had completely disappeared, with no one paying them any attention.
“What’s going on?” Leon asked as Ambrose laughed.
“Oh, oh,” Ambrose gasped exaggeratedly. “You should see the look on your face! Your look!”
Leon quickly pulsed his connection with Maia, and his river nymph mate, who was barely managing to not fall asleep as several rather elderly men from Ilion’s local bureaucracy talked at her, suddenly looked in his direction in response, but her eyes drifted right over him. She sprang to her feet and her aura spiked for a moment, drawing some attention, but Leon quickly sent her calming feelings, and she relaxed slightly.
[Leon,] she whispered, [where are you? I can feel you, but…]
Leon glanced at Ambrose, who seemed content to watch and wait, a look of amusement on his face.
[I’m… fine,] Leon responded. [Talking with someone important. Will explain later, but for now… I’m fine.]
Maia relaxed more, and Leon noticed the Grand Druid making her way in Maia’s direction, while Anastasios looked close to doing likewise. Leon scowled, but Ambrose was his priority right now.
Turning back to the Grave Warden, Leon asked, “What is this?” He waved his hand about the room for emphasis.
“I wanted some privacy, but I enjoy the atmosphere here,” Ambrose replied, and just a moment later, a drunk Alcander, Narses, and a handful of others started shouting about ‘contests of strength’. Leon saw that Elise was already heading in their direction, so he breathed easy knowing that that potential situation was already well in-hand.
“What for?” Leon bluntly asked, crossing his arms and standing between the Grave Warden the rest of his guests—not that he thought doing so would actually do anything, though.
“Couple things, couple things,” Ambrose replied. “Wasn’t waiting long, not long for you to accept my invite—I’m old and patient. Old. Patient. But I recently spoke with an old friend about recent things of great import, and my friend spoke of you. Of you. I decided to come and find you to see what my old friend was talking about, and found that you were throwing a party. So, I decided to join you. To join. All joke’s aside, do you object to my presence? I’ll not stay long if you do, not stay long…”
Leon grimaced for a moment as he mulled it over, but eventually, he forced himself to relax a bit and lean back over the bar next to his surprise guest.
“It’s fine,” Leon stated. “Your presence. It’s fine.”
“Thank you, thank you,” Ambrose whispered, not looking at all put out by Leon’s cautious demeanor.
“Who was this friend of yours?” Leon asked.
“A secret,” Ambrose responded. “But they did say something about you having a tau pearl…”
“How did y—” Leon cut himself off, but after a moment’s thought, a realization came to him. The tau live in close proximity to the plane’s central sea, and Ambrose lived in the center of that sea. It was no great leap for him to make that connection. “The tau told you, didn’t he?”
“Huh? I thought I was being subtle, being subtle!” Ambrose complained without too much seriousness. “Ah, well. I suppose it doesn’t matter. My old friend had high hopes for you, and I wanted to see if my own estimates of your character were correct. Correct estimates. And in the past hour or so, I’ve seen quite a bit…”
Ambrose trailed off while giving Leon a leading look, as if wordlessly expecting Leon to ask him to continue. But Leon ignored the look and just waited, reasoning that the man wanted to talk anyway, and was going to no matter what he said or did.
‘Benefits of power to be so… strange,’ Leon thought with some exasperation and a hint of jealousy. Someone weaker might have to be more compromising in their attitude.
If the Grave Warden were disturbed or angry at all at Leon’s reticence to play along, he didn’t show it, and continued after a moment, “That silver-haired man over there, I noticed you speaking with him, the silver-haired man. He seems quite injured, who is he to you?”
“You’ve been watching him and need me to answer that?” Leon asked, incredulous.
Ambrose chuckled and replied, “I guess not, but a conversation is a two-way street, isn’t it? Not good—usually—to make it seem like you know everything, not good at all. Makes the other person uncomfortable in my experience. So, your father-in-law, or close to it, is here. You and he have old business that would see anyone else killing each other. But you’re with his daughter, and he’s on his deathbed.”
Leon blinked in surprise and, before Ambrose could continue, blurted out, “His deathbed?”
Ambrose cocked his head slightly and said, “Yes. He’s actually quite close to death, quite close. It looks to me like some old injuries haven’t healed as well as they should have, and his attempts to regain his magic power isn’t slowing his ageing as it should. Big problem for him, big problem.”
Leon stared at Justin, still quietly chatting with Valeria, and now that he was looking for it, he supposed Justin did look weaker than he should, with slightly shaking hands and seeming to be more tired than he should’ve been given the hour. Both were easily explained away, of course, but…
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“Is it… Is it…” Leon whispered, unsure of just what he wanted to ask.
“If nothing else happens to change it, then he’ll be dead in less than a decade,” Ambrose stated with a modicum of seriousness and consolation.
“Hmm,” Leon grunted. “Something to keep in mind, I suppose,” he said, doing his best to make it seem like he didn’t care.
Ambrose just smiled and gave him a strange look, which Leon, still trying to make it seem like he wasn’t looking at Justin and Valeria, didn’t notice until after several seconds of silence.
“Leon,” Ambrose said, finally bringing Leon’s attention fully back to him, “your goal is to rebuild your Clan, is it not?”
“It is,” Leon answered with only slight hesitation. He started to put himself on guard again, but it seemed that wasn’t going to be immediately necessary.
“Don’t worry, don’t worry,” Ambrose said, clapping Leon on the shoulder. “I ask out of concern for my plane. I wish to know what your intentions are, to know how much harm you could potentially bring to Aeterna. How much harm. Does this make sense? Will you tell me, or will I have to… well, that’s a blank that doesn’t have to be filled in.”
Ambrose stared at Leon with great curiosity, and Leon realized he wasn’t going to get away from this conversation without answering the Grave Warden’s questions.
“Ideally,” Leon said after a moment of thought, “in my best-case, wish-fulfilling scenario, I make peace between the Empires and the Sky Devils, grab all the bits and pieces of my Clan that are left on this plane, and lead the Sky Devils back to the Nexus. Hopefully leaving Aeterna more peaceful than it was before me.”
“An admirable goal, and admirable goal,” Ambrose whispered. “But one I don’t think will be easy to accomplish.”
“With enough power, anything’s possible,” Leon said with less seriousness than he felt. He agreed with Ambrose that it was going to be hard, and he could admit to himself that he didn’t think he could pull it off, but that was the goal he was aiming for. Still, leading all of the Sky Devils away from Aeterna was going to be a feat of monumental proportions, and one he wasn’t sure he could do even if he achieved Apotheosis. It might take some time establishing his presence in the Nexus before he could come back for those left behind.
“Not wrong there, not wrong there,” Ambrose conceded. “But do you have enough power?”
“Right now? No. But I’m growing fast, and have plans to grow even faster.”
“Do those plans involve going north at all? Do they?”
Leon froze for a moment and stared at the Grave Warden, who innocently smiled back at him.
“You’re not reading my mind, are you?” Leon asked as he shot some of the Thunderbird’s lightning through his brain, though his mental defenses hadn’t been tripped at all.
“No, I just know my plane,” the Grave Warden responded. “You have Hesperidic Apples. Much can be done with those things—one could even help your father-in-law heal.”
Leon’s eyes widened for just a moment with that information. He still had a spare apple, but whether or not he wanted to give it to Justin was another matter entirely.
‘If he dies on his own, then that’s for the best, isn’t it?’ he pondered, so distracted he almost missed the Grave Warden’s further comments.
“Those can help you grow quite quickly, but there are other ways to grow faster. Not many, but the one you most likely want to use is in the north, in your home vale, isn’t it?”
Leon shrugged noncommittally.
“You don’t have to confirm it, I know already, I know,” Ambrose claimed. “I tried to claim that particular thing myself, you know. And it resolutely refused me.”
Leon felt a wave of satisfaction and schadenfreude from the Thunderbird, who he hadn’t realized was listening in.
[Idiot tried to take the Iron Needle?] she whispered. [My Needle won’t bow to anyone but one of my blood…]
Leon wasn’t so sure about that, but he was grateful that the Iron Needle was still available. But he didn’t like his chances if the Grave Warden himself wasn’t able to take control of it.
“Leon,” Ambrose stated, his tone suddenly serious, “I confess that just checking up on you wasn’t the only reason I came here today. Not the only reason. I… hmm, how to put this… Well, frankly, you owe me.”
Leon felt like if he’d been drinking anything at that moment, he would’ve spat it right in the Grave Warden’s face in shock and incredulity at that statement.
“It’s true,” Ambrose insisted. “Your awakening of your bloodline got the attention of quite a few people down here, and they would’ve made your life a living hell if I hadn’t stepped in and prevented them from heading your way. And for that you owe me. Of course, I wasn’t originally intending to call this in, but circumstances being what they are…”
“What circumstances?” Leon asked, his heart rate accelerating, his suspicion rising, his anger following suit.
[Don’t accept anything from this man,] the Thunderbird hissed. [Nothing. You owe him nothing. He acted without proper contract. Any cover he gave was a gift. You owe him nothing.]
Leon didn’t need her to say that for him to understand it already. But still… he wanted to know what was going on.
“Time marches ever forward,” the Grave Warden waxed poetically. “It spares none, not gods, not men. We all die someday, and everything will one day come to an end. Such is the way of things. And sometimes, when the powerful die, it creates great instability. Great instability.”
“Would you kindly straighten tongue?” Leon growled, his anger emboldening him enough for much of the obligatory respect in his tone to vanish.
“I will not kindly do that, nor will I do so unkindly,” Ambrose replied, sounding mock-affronted. “I’ll not do so at all, as a matter of fact! But I wanted you to know that you owe me, and I have something I need from you. If all is well, it will just be a bit of your time: a matter of weeks, at most. A matter of weeks.”
“And if things aren’t well?”
“Then… what I want from you will take quite a bit more than just a few weeks.’
“What are you even talking about? What do you need from me that you can’t do on your own?”
“I’m not the strongest being in the universe, Leon. There are people and creatures that even I have to, if not bow to, then at least treat with great care. Someone like me can go just about everywhere he wants to go, but not everywhere, full stop. But someone like you are weak enough to avoid detection in certain circumstances…”
Leon, having spent a great deal of time and effort in growing to the point he had, didn’t much appreciate being called weak, but he wasn’t going to hold that against Ambrose. In the grand scheme of things, ninth-tier wasn’t even close to where he needed to be, no matter how proud he was of reaching it.
“I’m inclined to refuse you,” Leon said. “Far as I’m concerned, we have no real business with each other, do we? A favor granted without request is a gift, I think.”
“Unfortunately, I might have to insist otherwise, no matter how much I might want to agree,” Ambrose replied, looking as conflicted as his words implied. “I don’t enjoy saying these things, but when the stakes are what they are…”
“What stakes? If you actually explain, then maybe I’d agree to whatever you need, but if you don’t even bother…”
Suddenly, Ambrose straightened up and said to Leon with the utmost seriousness, “Don’t worry too much about it, Leon! I think I’m putting the cart before the horse, in this respect. I’m concerned about something, and I still have ways to investigate. You, if you’re needed at all—and I hope for all mankind you’re not—then I can explain later. But for now… there’s no need to worry. No need.”
“You fill me with such confidence,” Leon sarcastically replied. “I’d rather you didn’t try and manipulate me, Ambrose. I prefer people who say what they mean, not try and manipulate others to designed ends.”
“Apologies, apologies,” Ambrose whispered. “I suppose I ought to get going, shouldn’t I? Many things to do, and my bed is just calling my name. I hope you won’t be a stranger Leon, please feel free to call upon me whenever you wish, even if it’s just for a chat! I can help with a great many things, many thing, even Universe Fragments!”
Leon scowled and didn’t immediately reply—not that Ambrose seemed to expect one. Instead, he just stood up, drained the last of the alcohol in his glass, and then disappeared. Light didn’t bend around him, shadows didn’t gather and draw him in, he was simply there one second, and gone the next.
Leon blinked in surprise, but at almost the same time, a fairly drunk Alix came stumbling over and exclaimed, “Ah- Ah! There you are, L-Leon! I’ve be- been looking for you!”
Leon still preoccupied with all that Ambrose had said, simply stared at the stool the Grave Warden had just been perched upon, unsure of what to make of all that. He didn’t turn his attention fully to Alix until she practically collapsed onto him and shouted, “Al’s starting fights!”
Leon scowled again and glanced over his shoulder, and sure enough, Alcander, Narses, and several other rowdier elements of Leon’s party seemed to be starting a dueling ring, and far from scandalized whispers, it seemed to only be attracting interest from the rest of Leon’s guests.
“I suppose I’ll have to go and deal with that, won’t I?” he whispered.
“Yeeees,” Alix mumbled.
“For now, how about I have you brought somewhere to sleep that off?” he asked.
“No!” Alix emphatically responded. “I can-can still walk just… f-fi… fine!”
She struggled to her feet and began stumbling toward a door, helped by two of Leon’s female attendants who aided her in leaving the party.
As she left, Leon sighed, thinking over what the Grave Warden had said before he had to tend to party business.
[Anyone know what he was talking about?] Leon asked his soul realm passengers.
[Huh? Who? Wasn’t paying attention,] Nestor shamelessly replied.
[Thanks for your contribution, then,] Leon responded. [Ancestor? Xaphan?]
[There aren’t many people he’d have to be so careful around,] the Thunderbird mused. [Only Elemental Kings, Demon Princes, and fellow Grave Wardens. Maybe a few other unique beings out in the universe, but they wouldn’t be so close to the Nexus and unknown to me at the same time.]
[Much as it pains me, I agree with the sparkly pigeon,] Xaphan boldly said, and Leon felt his soul realm rattle for a second, punctuated by the demon grunting in pain. His voice more strained, Xaphan added, [I-If there’s some problem he can’t solve himself, i-it would imply it’s something that he can’t approach without pissing someone of comparable strength off. But you might be weak enough to escape notice, allowing you to get close to the problem and solve it.]
With a frown, Leon glanced back at the Grave Warden’s stool and thought, ‘Better not call me, then. I’m not your damn fixer. I’m not your damn servant. Rather you just left me to my own devices.]
But that was all he had time to think about, for soon enough, the crowd started getting rowdy enough that he had to turn his attention back to it, or risk damage to his home. Besides, a little fighting sounded like the perfect thing to get his mind off what the Grave Warden had just dumped on it—at least, for a little while.