As soon as they had crossed the main gate of the palace, Tiamat descended gently, her golden wings beating one last ti before, in a flash of golden light and magic, she resud her human form. Her feet descended gracefully onto the white stone floor, her dress rippling with the residual energy of her transformation. She tucked a lock of gold hair behind her ear and walked to Strax's side with a satisfied smile.
The group headed inside.
The interior of the royal palace was sothing that drew gasps of surprise from even the most well-traveled.
It was luxurious - but not in the way that human kingdoms normally saw luxury. There, wealth was not ostentation. Every inch of the structure was a masterpiece of natural simplicity and tiless beauty. Soaring columns carved from living white wood supported arched vaults, as if the palace itself had grown from the earth rather than being built. Silver vines curled up the walls, glowing softly with ancient magic. The polished marble floor seed to reflect the sky through huge windows that brought the golden morning light inside.
Beatrice whistled softly, crossing her arms as she looked up.
"É... different from what I expected," she murmured. "Elegant without being... annoying."
Monica turned in a slow circle, eyes shining. "It's like walking inside an ancient temple... But a living temple."
Cristine walked wide-eyed, her fingers touching one of the walls decorated with elven-ancestral symbols. "So much history here... every stone seems to whisper..."
Samira, always attentive, walked alongside Strax, her eyes scanning the surroundings with interest, but also alert.
"It's beautiful," she admitted quietly. "Beautiful and... vulnerable. Lots of blind spots."
Daniela, on the other hand, seed to be in pure artistic delight. "If I could paint that... it would take a hundred years to do it justice."
Cassandra touched the handrails carved in the shape of intertwined vines, enchanted.
"Every detail has been done by hand... this is real magic."
Belatrix just walked on with an enigmatic smile on her lips, silently taking it all in.
Scarlet grumbled as she walked, but her attentive eyes shone with appreciation.
"Not bad... for a bunch of spoiled elves."
Rogue, always silent, kept close to the shadows of the columns, her eyes dancing from side to side as if recording every detail for future needs.
Strax walked in the center of the group, his golden gaze taking in everything - from the subli architecture to the faint scent of enchanted flowers that filled the air. He admitted to himself: even by draconic standards of grandeur and majesty, Sylvandor Palace was... impressive. Not for ostentation, but for the soul that seed to pulsate in the stones, the trees, the very air.
Evelyn led the group, her footsteps reverberating through the silent galleries. The veil over her shoulders floated behind her like a pale fla. Although her face was serious, there was a subtle gleam in her blue eyes - the gleam of soone who, even in the face of all the hostility, still carried pride in the ho she protected.
They walked through vast corridors, past tapestries that told the story of the ancient elves, indoor water mirrors and hanging gardens where small magical creatures glowed among the flowers. Wherever they went, the few elves who dared to stay in the palace bowed quickly or disappeared into respectful - or perhaps frightened - silence.
Finally, Evelyn stopped in front of a large hall adorned with colorful stained glass windows that filtered the light in thousands of colors onto the marble floor.
She turned to them, her countenance solemn.
"We'll be safe to talk here," she said, her voice echoing softly through the hall. "No one will dare interrupt us here."
Strax exchanged a quick glance with his won - a silent agreent between them.
They were ready to listen. And, if necessary... to fight.
Evelyn looked at Strax, the look in her turquoise eyes showing that she was preparing to reveal the truth behind the increasingly tense situation facing the kingdom. She took a deep breath and, with a harder expression, began to speak.
"The noble elves... many of them don't recognize my authority. They see my ascension to the throne as a violation of ancient traditions. To them, I'm just a usurper. They believe that the collapse of the spirits is my mother's fault, at worst a punishnt for sothing we did in the past." Evelyn paused, her voice deepening as she looked at the won beside her, trying to find the right words for the weight of what she was about to say.
"The truth, however, is that no one knows what exactly caused the collapse. Many speak of spiritual corruption, others of an ancestral curse, but the answer... lies sowhere lost, between the Abode of Spirits and the very essence of the realm." His eyes moved from Strax to the group, seeking understanding. "And that's what scares . What's happening is more than a political war or a question of power. Sothing much older and darker lurks at the heart of our land."
She leaned forward a little, her fingers lightly touching the stone table beside her, as if seeking the strength to continue. "If I can't stabilize the connection with the spirits, the land will continue to wither. Everything the elves love and protect... will disappear."
But before she could continue, a calm, deep voice interrupted her words.
"I already know how to solve this... but I don't know if it will work."
Evelyn turned abruptly to Strax, her gaze full of confusion and curiosity. "What... what do you an? What do you an?"
Strax, with an enigmatic smile on his lips, approached slowly. His hands were calm, but his eyes burned with an intent that Evelyn couldn't fully understand.
Without another word, Strax withdrew the sword he had so carefully guarded from his inventory. The blade glead softly in the golden light of the windows, and Evelyn, previously confused, was imdiately overco by a feeling of profound strangeness.
She saw the sword, and a shiver ran down her spine. It wasn't just any blade. It was... different. The energy emanating from it was unlike anything she had ever felt.
"I-It... where did you get it?" she asked, her eyes fixed on the blade, her body almost paralyzed by the growing sensation of sothing else. Sothing she couldn't understand, but could feel.
Strax just stared at her, his red eyes deeper than ever. "The sword was given to by Artorias. He said it was a key. A key to sothing that, I... didn't know how to deal with. It was when I tried to free the souls of Ouroboros and Tiamat."
"When you... got weird..." Evelyn took a step back, her gaze becoming cloudy and confused. But then, what would happen next was sothing she couldn't predict.
Strax turned sideways, blade still in hand, and raised it with calm confidence, eyes still fixed on the sword. "Nyx told about it. The sword... it's not just a weapon." He paused, as if asuring each word before pronouncing it. "It is the Spirit Realm itself."
The words fell on her like a thunderbolt.
Evelyn barely had ti to react. She felt a growing pressure, as if the very air around her had beco dense, constricting her breathing. Her body shook and, without any control, her legs failed her. She fell to the ground on her knees, her eyes wide with shock and incomprehension.
The sword... The Spirit Realm? How could that be possible?
Evelyn gasped, trying to catch her breath, but her hands were shaking as she leaned on the ground, struggling to understand what it all ant. Did the sword have the energy of the kingdom itself? That would explain everything. The chaos, the decay of the earth, the death of the spirits - perhaps the connection with the kingdom had been broken, but the sword... was connected to it in a way she had never imagined.
Strax, without hesitation, bent down beside her, lightly touching her shoulder. "I know it's a lot to take in. But this power... it could be the key to saving Sylvandor. And maybe, just maybe, it's also what will restore the balance between the worlds."
Evelyn looked up at him, her eyes watery and full of uncertainty. "But... how to use it? How to know what to do?"
Strax watched the blade with imnse intensity, the golden glow reflecting in his eyes. He seed to absorb the gravity of the mont before answering, his tone grave and assured, as if he had finally found a clue in the midst of all the confusion.
"I don't know either," he said slowly, "but I think there's soone who does."
Evelyn frowned, a mixture of doubt and hope rising in her chest. "Who would that be? Who else knows about this sword?"
Strax looked at her, his golden eyes deeper than ever, as if searching for the exact word. "The answer... may lie with the queen of the elves. Your mother."
The impact of these words was imdiate. Evelyn flinched, as if the very foundations of her world were crumbling around her. The queen, her mother, a woman whose health was in a coma, now seed the key to solving the riddle of this mysterious sword and its connection to the kingdom. She looked at Strax, her eyes filled with a mixture of despair and confusion.
"My mother... do you want to take her to you?" Evelyn asked, her voice low, almost as if she feared the answer would be more painful than she could bear.
Strax nodded. "Yes. I need to talk to her. The connection she has with the Abode of Spirits, the energy she holds... she may be the only one who understands what this sword really represents."
Evelyn seed completely taken by the weight of his words. Her mother, the queen, was on the brink of death, and Strax now wanted to take her to a sword that, according to him, could restore or destroy everything. The tension was in every muscle of her body, her breathing quickened as her jaw trembled with the force of her own internal conflict.
"I... I don't know if she can still hear us," she muttered, struggling to keep her composure. "She's so weak... the elves believe she's dead. And even if she is alive, what can we expect from her? She... she's in no condition to..."
"Evelyn, that's enough." He spoke and looked into her eyes, "Anyway, I'll bring her back to life if she dies with my power."
...
anwhile...
"So... why are we left behind?" Kryssia asked Xenovia, who was walking quietly towards the guild...
"We're going to cause an economic ss in the Empire. Now that we know the Emperor is possessed by a god, I want to wreak havoc." She spoke and showed a letter with the Rogue's signature...
"You were the general... do you know where everything is right? It's good to know about the map of the kingdom." Xenovia comnted. "Rogue gave a vip pass to control the entire Osiris guild, we're currently the best to manage this problem."
"And well... I want to please my brother." Xenovia said.
Kryssia turned red as she rembered all the depravity she had experienced at her brother's hands... "Yes, let's go right away."
Well... she never said she never liked it.
In fact... she was waiting for the next one.
"But why didn't Rogue take care of it?" Kryssia asked suddenly, after all, it was only natural for her to do sothing like that, not Xenovia.
"Well... I'm paying a debt..." Xenovia spoke...
Kryssia arched her eyebrows. "What debt?"
"Let's say I bought so information about my Strax."
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