Jade Dragon [https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/pw/AP1GczPN3xhj4sQEIamLkA03LtqCWo9P1ofRchozum5cFX2eP3xeTfCodKJFtvj6dG5QbbjswiH4spxR-WdILXUi3HPtVueRGr62XQKD50j_2u3jBcb1i3mKWvr4S2Bbzdvfrr4xNGGCTPtlb-SuVNjpZeTh=w613-h919-s-no-gm?authuser=0]
Phoenix awoke to a furry tail tickling her nose, and she found herself wedged between a sleeping Uriel and Saiya on the now-crowded couch. The voxen had apparently wedged herself between the gemite and Wayfarer sometime during the night while Rayna and Presley were both sprawled out in their own chairs nearby.
Dusky tan ears twitched as Saiya glanced up and sleepily whispered, “Sorry, I just really needed to be closer to all of you after that.”
“It’s fine,” she replied equally quietly and not quite ready to get up, “I know it was rough on you to be bombarded like that.”
“I’ve gotten pretty good at filtering out my emotional perception, but that… I got a bit overloaded, sorry.”
“Don’t be. I think we’re all feeling a bit overloaded, and that’s not helping you either.”
The Healer shook her head, “You all seemed tired last night, but either your dreams were fine, or you were too tired for them.”
“Probably the latter,” she replied with a yawn, “What time is it? I didn’t ascend on accident, it looks like, so that’s good, but I probably shouldn’t try to push it too long.”
Saiya readjusted slightly to look back behind the sofa to the clock on the wall. Phoenix couldn’t get a good angle on it without waking up Uriel, “Looks like it’s almost midday. So we’ve rested quite a bit.”
“I was going to wake you soon if you didn’t naturally,” Kara said from nearby, and both she and Saiya jumped at the unexpected voice. The golden voxen grinned as she leaned forward –impossibly perched atop a high-tech barrel from the vessel that could collapse down into a flat disk for easy transport and that she definitely didn’t remember being there before– from the other side of Uriel, who had startled awake as well. Kara didn’t look very apologetic as she said, “Sorry. Glad to see all of you safe and sound, though.”
Uriel gave a soft groan as he said, “I think we mostly have you to thank for that.”
“Yep,” the Paladin replied, “There’s still more to do, though, and we’ve been asked to join a super secret meeting soon.”
“Meeting?” Phoenix asked in confusion, “Aren’t there still people to rescue?”
“No, we’ve gotten anyone still living to safety. Many are at the World Tree now, but most have begun clean-up efforts. I don’t think I can accurately express exactly how many people your blessing helped save just from the healing and shielding alone.”
“That was mostly you. I couldn’t have done something like that or on that large of scale,” she pointed out.
“I couldn’t have done it at all without you,” Kara retorted, “Don’t sell yourself short on this. Sure, you might have just played the part of a conduit, but if you hadn’t been here, this city would have been destroyed three times over by now.”
As she fell silent, not able to argue that point at least, Saiya spoke up, “I’ve been meaning to ask something, Paladin Fairweather.”
“I’ve said to call me Kara, lil kit,” the golden voxen said with a grin.
“Right, sorry,” the Healer replied with a soft smile, “I just wanted to ask, why aren't you able to go fight the Soul Reapers at wherever they’re stationed? Wouldn’t that save the most lives and prevent collateral damage?”
Kara gave a frown, “That’s a bit of a complex answer. They’re based in outer space. While I can fly and could survive out in space for a while –given the right amount of preparation– there are two main reasons I can’t. The first is my personal Oathbond to the Champion.”
She lifted her right arm and pulled back a sleeve to show the rainbow runes that seemed almost dyed into her fur, “When I first swore to become a Paladin and asked for a blessing, I vowed to always stay within her influence. At the time, that wasn’t much of a downside. I just couldn’t go into Reality Rifts, which I wasn’t particularly interested in exploring anyways.”
“I think I remember Scholar saying that her influence doesn’t go that far beyond the planet’s atmosphere. Is that true for all the gods?” she asked.
The Sunlight Champion nodded, “For most, yes. It takes eons for it to expand naturally.”
“What was the second reason,” Saiya asked curiously.
“I’d probably die very quickly,” Kara stated bluntly, “It’s an understatement to say Obsidian Casters’ strength grows slower than a snail’s pace. I’ve been a rather active Obsidian Paladin for close to a hundred and fifty years, and I’m still at Obsidian 1.”
“Sure, but there are older and stronger Obsidian Casters here on Makera, aren’t there? Daze has told me plenty of historical stories about them,” Uriel pointed out in confusion.
“Yes, but none of them seem willing or able to try and take on whatever is out there either. I did hear some talk about trying to gather up any Obsidians willing to try a joint attack, but many of us were and still are occupied with protecting our homelands during the blood moon.”
“So it likely won’t happen until after the blood moon is over, if at all?” Phoenix asked, feeling a bit of despair at the thought of never-ending war with the invaders.
“I think part of that is actually what we’ll be meeting about,” Kara surprised them by saying, “Scholar’s clergy have been spreading the word that the Soul Reapers have agreed to halt any hostilities on Makera. They’re leaving the planet.”
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Phoenix felt a bit… uncertain about being included in this large room full of very important people located on one of the floors of the Ducal Palace at the very center of the city and that had survived the battle mainly due to its Emerald Caste materials being intended as the last bastion within the city.
Each Noble House had representatives present; she recognized Lord Ethan Teras among them and was relieved to see Polissa sitting beside him. Many Heirs were present with their Heads of Houses –herself and Dazien included along with Patricia on her other side as Ambassador.
Every remaining High Priest, as well as many major Organization leaders, were also present as the Duke stood near the front of the assembly. Beside him was the Royal Knight Veldrix Thevaris, whom she had yet to actually meet but was immediately intrigued by the fact that they were a gemite like Dazien.
Front and center in the room, however, was a voxen that looked like a child had fun coloring on. The Avatar of the Scholar and Rebel spoke to the assembled VIPs about the message his goddess had been allowed to spread everywhere.
“The Commander of the Soul Reapers made a deal with a Caster on the continent of Saaret. In exchange for a particular soul, they agreed to cease any hostile actions upon Makera and are withdrawing their forces as we speak.”
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Murmurs broke out among those gathered, and Duke Tul spoke up, asking Everin, “Which ancient Obsidian Caster managed to pull off that negotiation?”
The voxen hesitated a moment before admitting, “It was an Emerald Caste Abyssal Dragoon…” Then his odd black and white eyes slid towards her as he stated, “A Wayfarer named Chae-Yeong Jin.”
Phoenix startled the entire room as she shouted in utter disbelief, “Shut up!”
Kara looked at her in amusement from her seat near the front of the room as Dazien looked on in concern while the rest of the room seemed to wonder if the Wayfarer had lost her mind by insulting the Avatar.
“You know this Wayfarer, Regent Wayland?” Director Trayvious asked as her mind raced back to the time before she ever arrived in this world.
“I–” she hesitated, uncertain if it was even possible, “It could just be a really weird coincidence…”
“It’s not,” Everin said, “She remembers you, Phoenix.”
“She–” the Wayfarer wasn’t exactly sure how to respond, not wanting to keep the attention of the entire room on her as she tried processing the fact that Jin was actually alive and here on this strange world with her… and an Emerald Caster already!
“She was my best friend back on my home world,” she tried to explain to the waiting people in the room, “But I thought she died years ago. I have no idea what she’s been doing here.”
“Apparently, saving our world while you save our city,” the duke said, then surprised her by giving a respectful bow toward her as he added, “Paladin Fairweather has explained what you did when Destroyer and Hero showed themselves to you upon the wall, along with the risk you took. You have this entire duchy’s gratitude, Saint Wayland.”
She winced at the moniker, but Dazien whispered in her mind through the shared communication network that they always maintained now, “I know you don’t like it, but just thank him in return, then ask about what’s next.”
“Thank you, Duke Tul. If the Soul Reapers are leaving, then what’s next for us?” she asked as calmly and courteously as she could.
“If we don’t need to worry about further invaders from beyond this reality, then all the better for us to refocus on what remains,” the Order of Magic Chancellor, Lord Teras, spoke up, “My people can continue upgrading the city defenses with the help and guidance of House Wayland’s voxen allies. The blood moon still has at least another month by most estimates, and if those aren’t in place, there won’t be any point in restoring the buildings that have been destroyed within the walls.”
“What levels are we currently at?” Phoenix continued questioning, her curiosity outweighing her nerves, “Will we still be getting those higher-level Casters moving in to help?”
“I hope so,” Kara spoke up, “With the Soul Reapers War looking to be officially over, I have completed my duties. With Champion’s bargain fulfilled, I may be assigned elsewhere by my goddess.”
The blonde champion glanced from Phoenix to the Alliance of Adventurers Director, “If any Ruby shows up, you’ll need to dispatch your Royal Knight here –likely with some Emerald assistance– for now.”
“While it would definitely be a loss to not have your assistance, Paladin Fairweather, I believe we can manage that much,” Agatha replied and gave a respectful bow, “I’d like to extend the AOA’s gratitude once more for Saint Wayland’s and your assistance in defending our people up to this point.”
“We’re Adventurers and nobles,” Dazien spoke up as Phoenix looked down at her hands in more embarrassment at the praise, which still felt unwarranted, “Protecting people is our job and responsibility.”
“Well said,” the director replied as she straightened and turned to the rest of the room, “And it’s the job we’ll be continuing. Despite the Soul Reapers’ sudden departure, we still have a tundra full of monsters to fight and whatever evil machinations the remnants of the Purifier’s Renseres are working on.
“They haven’t been active here, but there’s no telling what they have planned in the future,” the runeforged said before grimacing and adding, “The reports and rumors do not paint a pretty picture.”
One of the Sapphire Caste Lords spoke up with a question, “Didn’t we already fight off some of the Purifier’s zealots? Wouldn’t that mean they are active here?”
“The small group that we fought off in the Reality Rift below the city was only working with the Soul Reapers’ contacts here to fulfill their part of whatever bargain they had made in the first place. We’ve concluded that their goals for the region began and ended with that assistance, for now at least,” the director answered, “Reports have the nearest Renseres forces located near eastern San Gra Lan currently.”
Then the director took Avatar Starlark’s place in front of the room and used one of the Sense Stone projectors to display a large map on the wall behind her with various markers placed upon it, “With us no longer needing to divert our attention to the Soul Reapers’ or Renseres forces, we can refocus on what we were doing before, which was protecting our people from monsters.
“With the further reduction of our forces, we’ll be stretched extremely thin. So we have decided to go fully on the defensive within the fortress cities and ignore the open areas for now. Once the blood moon ends, however, we plan to begin monster-clearing routes and village expeditions.”
Agatha pointed out places and magically drew out a circuitous route that lit up around the tundra, which focused on efficient coverage around the outlying fortress towns still housing tens of thousands of people. Those people were simply trying to survive the crimson moon’s purge before being allowed to return to salvaging their homes and reclaiming a normal life.
Director Trayvious glanced from the map as she finished drawing and looked pointedly towards Phoenix and Emissary Mint, who was also seated in the room, “We will need to be leveraging portal usage for supply deliveries more heavily. We will also be using them to assist the OOM with deploying those teams for upgrading the defenses.”
The Emissary shrugged, “If House Wayland requests it, we shall see it done.”
Lord Teras spoke up, addressing Phoenix as he finally answered one of her original questions, “We’re currently sitting at mid-Emerald levels for most of the zone. This will put a strain on both our infrastructure and personnel to defend against, as it will be harder to fight that level of monster, and take longer for the magical defenses to destroy them.
“Aside from myself,” Lord Teras continued, “There are only five other Emerald Casters that have the expertise to perform the higher-ranked rituals to assist the voxen, and they are providing about two dozen of their people to the task. It will take a lot of time for us to get through all the fortress towns, however, and some of the more involved upgrades will need to wait until after the blood moon finishes as we’ll have to weaken the defenses for a time to improve them.”
“How did we decide which forts and towns get upgraded first?” another Sapphire Caste leader asked.
“We’ve decided to go off population density,” Duke Tul interjected, “Protecting as many lives as we can is the priority right now.”
Director Trayvious nodded in agreement and then brought the meeting to a close. Chatter began to break out as people began discussing the events and stood to talk with others around the room.
Phoenix was still distracted by the revelation that Jin was actually alive and on Makera. Her weird mood must have been apparent, though, as Dazien leaned across her to ask Patricia, “If we’re done here, I’m going to take my party back to the Estate so Phoenix can ascend. She’s been putting it off already.”
“I’ll make sure to pass on any relevant information I can. I’ll come find you later and see about potentially getting the House Council together for a more nuanced debrief of the political ramifications we’ll be looking at going forward.”
Dazien paused for a moment before saying simply, “Thank you, Ambassador,” then he grabbed her hand and helped lead her out of the room. Once in the hall, he whispered to her, “Portal us back to the roof garden?”
Phoenix agreed, quickly opening one right then and there for them to walk through, and she immediately closed it behind them. He pulled her towards one of the collections of seats and had her sit, “You want me to ascend here?” she asked in confusion.
The gemite chuckled as he sat next to her, “No, that was just an excuse to get us out of there,” he replied, “I figured you’d like some time to think in peace with the new knowledge of your old friend.”
“You noticed that?” she said bashfully.
“I expected it. I’m fairly certain I’d be feeling confused and torn if I suddenly learned someone I cared for and thought dead was actually alive,” he said, giving her a pointed look, then leaned back in his seat as he added, “I’m here if you want to talk about it. Or I can get someone else. Or we can just sit quietly while you think. Or you can go ahead and ascend. It’s up to you now, Princess.”
She thought about that for a long moment. Trying to sort through her thoughts and was uncertain where to begin or how to move forward. Finally, she asked, “What’s an Abyssal Dragoon?”
Dazien laughed and retorted, “What’s a Celestial Astromancer?”
“I still have no idea,” she admitted, joining in his laughter.
“Oh, an Abyssal Dragoon is this super cool, like, dragon-rider that wields a spear with Void abilities and jumps around a lot,” Scholar said, suddenly beside them and grinning like a child that just got an extra birthday present.