What I originally intended to be little more than a quick status check ended up being way more of a pain in the neck than planned. As it turned out, putting together a big science project wasn't simple, especially if it was the 'mad' variety, with so magitech sprinkled on top. Nor was it cheap, and even though I still had a lot of money in my account, I didn't like the number of zeroes Fred and Sahi were throwing around.
On the bright side, at least everything was proceeding relatively smoothly. The core device with the big glowy green tube in the middle was already half-completed, and if Peabody was to be believed, we could start growing the body by next Monday. According to Galatea, all of this was made possible due to my ability to directly manipulate enchantnts cutting down on the prototyping phase, though I wasn't sure how much I could trust her, considering she had been trying to flatter as of late. Probably to butter up before asking for a new exotic fish or sothing. She was predictable like that.
At any rate, by the ti I returned to the Elysium, I was both tired and cautiously optimistic about the way things were developing. In retrospect, I should've known better.
Not even half an hour passed after my return (barely enough to take a shower, change my clothes, and grab sothing to eat) before soone knocked on the door of the Archon Suite. With a sigh, I turned on my Leoforr and uttered an only slightly annoyed, "Co in."
"Sorry to disturb you, Lord Archon," Jaakobah spoke before the door was even fully open, and I could imdiately tell that he was bringing trouble to my doorstep by the way his brows were angled.
It was only the two of us in the room, as Mountain Girl was with Josh and Angie in the bedroom, so I waved for him to co over.
"Is there sothing to report?"
"No, Lord Archon. Not quite." The door automatically closed behind him and he walked up to before reaching into the inner breast pocket of his uniform. "I was asked to deliver this letter to you."
"A letter," I repeated after him in a deadpan voice, and he nodded as if that was a question. In his hand, there was a neatly folded envelope with a fancy wax seal and everything, and once I made sure there was no enchantnt or other magical malarkey involved by poking it with a phantom limb, I accepted it. "Who's the sender?"
"It was delivered to through multiple relays, but based on my handwriting, I suspect it's from Director Savir."
I turned the envelope around, and just as he said, there was a single line inscribed on it in fancy cursive handwriting. The plain English text read 'A cordial invitation for the eyes of the Second True Archon only', with a kind of superscript over the second half in harder-to-read Celestial Scrip saying 'Leonard Dunning'. Yep, that was definitely from her.
"And you say this was delivered through multiple relays?"
"Yes."
"Presuming that others could also recognize her handwriting, what are the chances that news of this 'invitation' has already spread through the whole tower?"
"Relatively high."
Jaakobah sounded rather blasé about this whole ordeal, probably because this kind of thing was common in Celestial society. I couldn't share his attitude, as after our last interaction, the chances of this being a 'cordial invitation' were vanishingly low. There was no point in delaying the inevitable though, so I broke the wax seal and unfolded the letter.
The man in front of pretended not to care, but I could catch him trying to sneak a peek at the contents from the corner of his eyes. Not that it would've mattered much, considering all the important information was written in hard-to-decipher ancient Celestial Script.
"It was only a question of ti," I grumbled as I folded the letter and pocketed it (as much as that applied to hiding it in a fold of my semi-toga). "You're dismissed."
Swallowing his curiosity, Jaakobah nodded and gave a curt salute before turning on his heels. It was only when he was back at the door that I suddenly rembered sothing I had ant to ask and called after him.
"What is the state of the investigation into the Udug Blood Amalgam?"
He froze mid-stride and turned on his heel, facing again.
"We tracked a potential lead to the Bureau of Import Managent, but they have proven to be uncooperative, and we have been trapped in an administrative gridlock."
I tried to recall the details of that particular departnt, which wasn't easy, considering the byzantine structure of the Directorate, but after all those daily interview sessions with the various bureaus and directors, I was nominally familiar with most of them.
"It's part of the Unorthodox faction."
"Indeed."
"That explains a lot," I whispered a tad morosely.
Ever since the Bel incident, Director nsah and his faction have been keeping at arm's length, and our relationship beca all the more strenuous after the appearance of Angie/Deus. While they weren't openly hostile, getting in the way of an investigation of their operations was more or less expected.
"Keep it up, but don't pressure them too much," I instructed, and after waiting for a few seconds to see if I had anything else to add, Jaakobah saluted again and left the premises.
For a few minutes, I was left alone in the living room with my thoughts. I was tempted to take another look at the letter, but there was no point. The ssage was loud and clear, and I knew that a developnt like this was only a matter of ti. I wasn't exactly eager, but it was like a dentist's appointnt. No matter how much I hated it, it had to be done.
As such, I first stopped in the bedroom, where Josh and Angie were lazing around, while Rinne was ostensibly looking after them. In practice, she was sitting cross-legged on the floor near the bed, with multiple books laid out in front of her, seemingly cross-referencing sothing. She'd been doing that in her free ti ever since I'd told her we would soon return to Timaeus, and I wasn't nearly interested enough in her hobbies to ask what it was all about.
Unlike her, the childhood friend couple were bored out of their skulls, and were playing so kind of word ga.
"Banana."
"Artichoke," Josh responded after a mont of thinking.
"Elephant tree!"
"That's not a plant!" the guy protested. "You're trying to trick again."
"I'm not! I saw it on TV!" Angie argued back with a pout, and they would've probably continued to bicker if not for my appearance. "Oh, hi, Leo!"
"Did we have a visitor?" Josh followed her up like their previous exchange never happened.
"Just Jaakobah. Listen, I have to step out again."
"Why? Didn't you just co back?"
"This ti, it's Celestial business. I'll be back soon, rules are the sa as usual."
"Got it!" Angie exclaid with a grin that was probably supposed to be encouraging, but then her eyes opened wide and she snapped her fingers. "Wait, before you go! We have a request!"
"I'm all ears."
Instead of saying it herself, she poked Josh with her elbow, and the guy rolled her eyes in mock outrage.
"Oh, fine." He faced , and simply asked, "Next ti you're out, could you get us a handheld or sothing?"
"Two! Two handhelds!" his girlfriend corrected him and held her index and middle finger out in a V.
"As in, ga consoles?"
"Yes." He nodded and let out an overdramatic groan. "There's nothing to do here, and at this rate, we're gonna go stir-crazy!"
"Yeah! They never told there was no TV in the Elysium! Just how backwards can we be?!" Angie fud and changed her gesture to a single finger pointing at the ceiling. "My first act as Deus is going to be enacting all kinds of modernization and reforms!"
"Oh? And how are you going to do that, O Deus?"
I only intended to tease her a bit, but she considered my question very seriously.
"I have no clue, but I'll have a lot of lackeys and advisors, won't I? I'll just let them figure out the nitty-gritty details."
"Wow," Josh whistled and put his hand on her shoulder. "Spoken like a true politician."
"Hehe…"
She must've mistaken that for a complint, and neither of us was in a hurry to correct her. Instead, I rubbed my chin and told her, "I can pick up sothing the next ti I'm out and about, but do you really need it when we'll be back ho in a few days?"
"A few days are still a few days," Angie argued back and defiantly crossed her arms.
I wasn't in the mood to argue with her, so I just shrugged, which she interpreted as her victory and raised her palm for a high five. Shaking my head, I said my goodbyes and walked out of the room, and then the suite altogether.
While I could've just Phased over to Savir's location, I took my sweet ti to walk to the elevator, ride it to the designated floor, and then go there on foot. If nothing else, it helped collect my thoughts, and just like with dentist appointnts, while I logically knew it had to be done, it didn't an I wasn't subconsciously trying to postpone it until the very last second. Alas, it still only took a few short minutes to arrive at my destination, and the two guards in front of the door gave blank stares as I rounded the corner.
"L-Lord Second True Archon?!" the burly man on the left side of the entrance tensed up, apparently not expecting to see .
"At ease." After that dry command, I inclined my head towards the door. "I'm here to see the director."
"We… weren't told of this…" The other man seed more stumped than anything, but I ignored his protests and opened the door with a poke of a phantom limb. "Ah?"
"Just continue as you were," I told them, and walked in, completely disregarding their panicked expressions.
"I told you not to bother until—" Savir called out from the back. Our suites had roughly the sa layout, aning she was in the bedroom, and she imdiately fell silent when I interrupted her with my best Judy impression.
"I don't care if I'm bothering you. Co out."
There was a mont of silence, followed by so clattering from her direction. In the anti, I closed the door and walked over to the table. Savir's quarters hadn't changed an iota since the last ti I'd been here. At last, after about half a minute of waiting, the bedroom door opened and out walked the Orthodox faction leader in an otherwise modest black dress with a slit skirt showing off her leg. Her eyes still had circles under them, but her overall appearance was less haggard than the last ti I'd seen her. In fact, her complexion was a little 'off', for lack of better words, which made wonder if I interrupted her in the middle of putting on her makeup.
Most importantly though, the mont our eyes t, I could feel a wave of primal irritation gush out from the recesses of my mind, and my brows involuntarily descended into a glare. I was getting used to it though, and even without Cal's help, I quickly reined in the reaction and softened my expression into a deep frown.
"I believe I was very specific about the ti and place of our eting," she complained as she walked over to the coffee table and stood next to .
"I'm not great at following instructions."
"I've noticed," she continued to grumble and gestured at the nearby chairs. "I would love to offer so drinks, but I wasn't expecting you here, so you have to excuse ."
"I'm not thirsty, and I would appreciate it if you cut to the chase," I told her in a low voice, dangerously close to a growl, but she remained nonchalant and let out a soft breath.
"Is so basic civility too much to ask for, Leonard? At least sit down first."
While I was within my rights to act stubbornly and make this into an argunt, there was no point in it, so I grudgingly took a seat. She did the sa, and once we were nominally comfortable, she crossed her legs and showed a thin-lipped smile.
"Our last discussion ended on a rather sour note. I bla myself."
"So do I," I quipped, and while her brow trembled for a mont, she retained an amicable expression.
"I shouldn't have taken so many things for granted. Such as our partnership." She let out a throaty chuckle and leaned forward, resting her chin on her right palm. "Maybe I should thank you for opening my eyes, O Archon?"
"I told you to stop beating around the bush," I cut in, feeling exasperated and more than a little irate as I montarily lost my stranglehold on the unnatural irritation clawing at my mind. Maybe I should've brought Cal along after all, I pondered for a second before shaking the thought out of my mind and focusing on the director lounging in front of .
"Don't be so impatient, Leonard. I'm getting to it," he chided and shifted her posture a little. "First, let apologize for my previous actions. In hindsight, I've realized that it was the wrong approach. I was too impulsive, and it led to you slipping through my fingers."
In other words, she wasn't sorry that she set up, or that she kidnapped my friends, but that it didn't go as she planned. Typical.
"However," she continued, her voice now barely more than a low purr. "I could've never made it to the top of the Directorate if I was discouraged by a few setbacks. No, Leonard. I'm the kind of woman who always gets what she wants."
"… Please rephrase that in a way that doesn't make you sound like a creepy jilted cougar. Thank you."
She blinked in confusion, but it only lasted for a mont before she reassud her laid-back attitude.
"Please, Leonard. There's no need for na-calling. It's beneath you." She made a vague waving gesture with her hand and, seemingly considering the previous conversation concluded, she launched into a new topic. "I wish to establish a new relationship with you. This ti, without taking anything for granted. A proper relationship of give-and-take."
"In other words, you want to make a deal."
"Don't make it sound so informal," she told with the smile of a fisherman who just caught sothing on the hook. Since I was the fish in this analogy, I was naturally less than pleased by this developnt.
"I thought I was very clear the last ti we talked," I told her, my voice sounding icy even to myself, but she brushed it off with ease.
"Things have changed a lot since then. This ti, I have done my research, and I think it's in your best interest to hear out."
We locked eyes for a while and tried as I might to discern her intentions, her expression remained inscrutable. I montarily considered just flipping the table and leaving, but I knew she had been doing sothing in the background for the past couple of days, and as tempting as taking her down a peg sounded at the mont, it was best to gather as much information as possible before deciding that.
"Go on."
Her face lit up, though so imperceptibly that, without my extensive practice of reading Judy's expressions, I would've missed it.
"You see, Leonard, I believe that there's no person in the world who doesn't have a weakness. A chink in their armor, if you will. It might be a trivial thing, or sothing others couldn't even truly understand, but it can easily beco leverage in negotiations." Her lips parted into a delighted smile that didn't touch her eyes at all. "And I believe I found yours."
I let the silence linger in the room for a long beat, then uttered a flat, "Is that it? A vague threat?"
"A threat? Oh, please, Leonard! Do you take for Dolion?" She dismissed with a wave before folding her arms and resting her chin again, this ti on the back of her hand. "No. It's more of an… observation. Such as that, despite what all of Elysium suspects, you have no romantic interest in Deus at all."
That ca out of the left field and left unbalanced for a mont. She capitalized on it right away and pressed on.
"It's an easy misunderstanding to make, bearing in mind how close the two of you are, but you obviously wouldn't consider sothing like that. You have not one, but two fiancées waiting for you on Critias, after all. Yet, people are simple creatures. Show them an attractive man and woman, or girl, standing next to each other and conversing amicably, and their minds start weaving a story, whether what they see is truth or just their imagination. Public sentint is a powerful force, Leonard, and it isn't hard to subtly sway it one way or the other, and once its gears start turning, it's hard to stop. But then again, without sothing for these sentints to rally behind, they could hardly affect you, the wise and powerful Second True Archon, could they?" She paused and leaned even closer, like a snake about to jump at her prey. "But say, have you ever heard of the seventh addendum to the Third Book of Hymnos, fourth revision? The third paragraph of page seventeen, to be exact? It's a rather obscure passage, but one that is very much relevant to our current conversation."
She waited for to say sothing, but when I remained silent, she let out a throaty chuckle and resud where she left off.
"My staff only recently rediscovered the original docunt, so forgive for not being able to quote the passage verbatim, but its essence is as follows: it is written into law that, for the sake of our civilization and the purity of Celestial lineage, all Ophanim are required to pass down their blood by union with another Ophanim. This law was completely forgotten for centuries, and so later revisions completely omitted it, yet it was never repealed. Of course, from the perspective of my predecessors, revoking the law and anding the Books of Hymnos would've been a waste of ti and effort, as the Elysium had not seen a single Ophanim in a millennium, let alone two of the opposite sex, and of childbearing age, no less." By now, her smile was so wide, it threatened to split her face, and it was anything but genial. "That is, until today."
"Are you serious?"
My hiss didn't take her aback at all, and she continued to grin at like she just delivered a check to Kasparov.
"Why, of course. You must understand that it's old law. Sacred law. Not sothing even the Archons could easily overturn. Elysium is built on the bedrock of millennia of administration, bureaucracy, and precedents. Challenging it would be sa as challenging our history itself… but only if soone were to remind the greater Directorate of this forgotten passage."
"Is this your leverage on ?" I concluded with a glare. "Do you think I would be afraid of sothing like this?"
"Afraid? No, of course not," she answered in a light-hearted tone, as if expecting my rebuttal. "I know you're not the kind of person who would shrink back in fear. As for annoyances though? That's another matter entirely."
"You're threatening to… annoy ?"
"Now, now. It's not a threat at all. It's just an honest observation of your character. Not to ntion, I'm not the one who would be a thorn in your side, were the masses justhappen to find a single passage in an old book that would let their wild imagination beco reality, but all of Elysium." She paused to smile at , and concluded with, "And trust , trying to argue with the Directorate, arranging for the repeal of Hymnos law, and all the myriad steps of the ensuing procedures? They would be quite annoying indeed."
"… And, theoretically speaking, what would stop from silencing you before you could disseminate this information?"
"Oh, please!" She waved her hand as if she was chasing away an annoying mosquito. "Why bring up hypotheticals we both know you wouldn't act upon? You would not do that for the sa reason you haven't done so already; you could, but openly antagonizing the Directorate would be a hassle you want to avoid. Isn't that right?"
For a while, I didn't know how to react to that. I hated to admit it, but she really did her howork this ti, and she got . At least as far as the 'hates playing along with annoying crap like that' part was concerned. Of course, she could've been bluffing, but if what she said was true, it would've certainly given a lot of unnecessary headaches. However, just as I was about to grudgingly ask her to state her terms, she pivoted in a truly unexpected direction.
"Not to ntion, a conflict with the Directorate, whether direct or through the repelling of the law, would inexorably delay your return to Critias, and we both know it's sothing you cannot afford."
That made raise a rather confounded brow, which Savir mistook for scoring another proverbial point and she let out a mirthless chuckle.
"Joshua Bernstein, or the 'Justicar', as he's currently known to the wider Elysium," she started, and since I was still stunned into silence by the inertia of this sudden left turn, she continued in a smug tone. "Considering that he was brought here by my agents, it's only natural that I would connect the dots. So did many others, but I happen to know sothing else they could never suspect." She leaned back in her seat and pointed a playful finger at . "While his fa is only budding at the mont, Joshua Bernstein is widely known to be a dragonblood of so talent. He won a tournant, facing off against a scion of the Feilong bloodline, and everyone with a working pair of eyes could see him manifest his ancestral traits during the duel. Yet, as the 'Justicar', he manifested Celestial features and abilities. On the surface, there's an irreconcilable contradiction here, and I'm sure you never expected to uncover the truth."
"The truth…" I echoed her, and while I was slightly worried that she might've discovered Josh's 'Chosen One' power set, my gut said she was probably off the mark and would venture out in a completely different direction.
"It was the timing," she explained with a smug, know-it-all smirk, and circled her finger. "After rejecting our hospitality, he evaded pursuit, only to later reappear at your side. His powers are unquestionably of Celestial origin, yet they are unstable. As for the final clue…" Her finger stopped and pointed at my waist. "Ever since that day, you stopped carrying your weapons in public. Not only that, but you have been acting much more reserved, avoiding confrontations and accompanying Her Grace and her Justicar everywhere like a mother hen, as if afraid to let them out of your sight."
"Which ans?" I baited her with a deadpan question, and she must've found it amusing, because she let out a genuine chuckle.
"I admit, I would've never suspected it if not for the ancient records I found while looking for leverage, but once I did, it all made perfect sense. He's of draconic heritage, and as such, you knew that by sheltering him on Elysian soil, you would further raise the ire of the populace. It was sothing you naturally couldn't afford so soon after colluding with an Abyssal of ill repute. As such, pressed for ti, you planted so of your power in him using the Spear of Destiny, suppressing his blood and hiding him in plain sight. A clever ruse, I acknowledge."
"Uh-huh," I muttered, nodding along and waiting for the punchline. Was she trying to use Josh's identity as a 'draconian' to threaten next, I wondered? However, just as I had that idea, it was imdiately dashed by her next words.
"I believe that you acted too rashly, so soon after your full awakening, and you haven't considered the ramifications granting power to this young man would impose upon you! Yet, you couldn't take your powers back either, for doing so could potentially expose his true bloodline to the public, and explaining yourself to them would've been quite annoying, now wouldn't it? Therefore, you influenced the reborn Deus into returning to our ancestral land on Critias, so that you could safely remove Joshua Bernstein from Elysium and then retrieve your Spear of Destiny, and with it, your sealed powers, in a single move!"
She pointed even harder at and delivered her last line like so kind of spiky-haired attorney in a cartoonish court. For the first few seconds, I could only blink slowly as my mind was doing its best to make sense of what I'd just heard.
"Would you believe if I told you that you are completely off the mark?" I asked, and she honest-to-goodness huffed at .
"Please, Leonard. We are way beyond the scope of petty mind gas." She didn't even wait for to get another word in and lazily waved in my direction. "In conclusion, you cannot afford to be bogged down by any annoying procedures at the mont, as with each passing day, you risk soone questioning the 'Justicar's' true identity and discovering your vulnerability, and neither of us wants that to happen."
"In other words, we are back to square one," I told her without denying her conjecture. I didn't yet know when or how, but I had a hunch I might be able to use this misunderstanding to my own advantage, so I figured I might as well play along. "What do you want?"
"I don't demand much." Savir's voice fell into a low purr once again and, combined with her lazily confident expression, it reminded of a cat that already caught the mouse and was contemplating how to play with it. "Answer this: Does Deus truly intend to remain on Critias for the foreseeable future?"
"Yes."
My answer wasn't exactly cordial, yet her face lit up all the sa.
"Wonderful. I was worried I wouldn't have enough ti to consolidate my position and authority, but with this, one of my greatest concerns is already alleviated. As such, I only have one request: ensure that until I'm ready, Deus stays out of the affairs of Elysium." She paused, and after adopting a troubled expression, she offered an 'olive branch', so to speak. "Of course, since we're cooperating, in order to avoid any potential annoyances, it's only right that I would provide sothing in return for your support. How about this; it ca to my attention that Dolion, despite appearing quiet, is furiously planning sothing with his most loyal supporters. So long as you make sure Deus and Acacius aren't ddling in my affairs, I will ensure that Dolion will stay in his corner and won't cause you any trouble. I think it's only fair."
"By a liberal definition of the word."
"I'm glad to hear that we are in agreent." She smiled and then let out a lodramatic sigh. "You see, Leonard? If you only ca to the terrace I wrote in the letter, we would have champagne to celebrate our reconciliation."
"You're stretching both the aning of the word and my patience," I told her flatly and rose to my feet. "Do you have anything else to say?"
"Nothing in terms of business, but since you're already here, why not stay for so small-talk?"
"Not in the mood." Saying so, I turned to the door, and then added, "Since you went through all that trouble to do your research, I believe it's my turn to do the sa."
"Oh? That sounds—"
I didn't wait for her to finish, and walked out of the room, and down the hallway without a word, ignoring the startled guards in front of the entrance.
In conclusion, she actually managed to find a hold on , which annoyed to no end. She was also overanalysing things a bit, which might or might not prove useful in the future, so it kind of balanced out. In the end, it was imperative that I focused on the topic of this whole 'mandatory marriage' thing. First thing first, as soon as I returned ho, I had to ask the girls about this, and unless they had a readily available counterasure, I would probably have to put my money where my mouth is and do so research myself.
"… I wonder if searching for 'how to reliably burn down a records office' on the internet would put on a governnt watchlist…?"
User Comments
0 comments from readers