u/Jcb112

Hey everyone! 

It’s time for something a little bit different, but very much familiar! :D 

To change things up a bit, we’re now diving back into the human side of things! More specifically, a commission for a uniform/character art reference combo depicting one of our major supporting cast members back at the IAS! :D 

We’re looking at Dr. Laura Weir this time around! The head of this whole operation, and the stubbornly tenacious legend who turned a fringe fever dream of a science into a reality.

There’s a lot to say about the dear Director. Quite a bit of it unfortunately treads deep into spoiler territory, as quite a lot of her backstory ties into a whole other layer of plot threads and lore on the human side of things; the likes of which will open a whole other dimension of the story, but I digress.

I’ll have to try tread lightly, if only to ensure I do not incur the ire of my editor haha XD

Right so! 

Let’s start with her age then! If I did my math right, Laura is currently 64 years old by 3047!

That’s not necessarily old by WPA standards, with the average life expectancy averaging somewhere in the ballpark of 150 - 200 years! :D

This thankfully makes Aunty Ran’s age for more agreeable, since she clocks in at 77 years old. A number that might seem old to us, but by Emma’s time, is looking more like the sort of age where you’d expect to see a mid-life crisis rather than an end-of-life panic XD 

Aside from that, there are a few more major takeaways we can infer from Laura’s character here based primarily on her uniform! With the first and perhaps most eye-catching to those in academia and civil service being the discrepancy between her rank bar and the medals pinned on her chest. Or more specifically, her distressing lack of them. 

This simple discrepancy is emblematic of the very unconventional career path she took, embodying the sheer one-track mindset she had as she consistently placed all her eggs into one single unproven basket — the portal project. Contrary to this, most civil servant academics would’ve accumulated a greater number of personal and group decorations at this point in their career, aligning with their seniority in rank. All of this is to say, Weir stubbornly stood her ground and refused to budge from her niche field and seemingly dead-end passion project, up until she finally got her major break in the portal project, and thus meriting her both the Secretariat (through the United Nations Science Advisory) civil service rank of Director, as well as the Acting Authority/Administrative Level/Tier of 2 (Managerial). 

This segues nicely into our next topic of discussion — her rank bar. Let’s start from the top. The very top of the rank bar shows her parent department; the stylized atom belonging to the United Nations Science Advisory. Beneath that are two curved gold bars, denoting her acting administrative authority level/tier, this being Tier 2: managerial. Finally, we have the three diamonds/rhombi that denote her civil servant rank (3 Diamonds/Rhombi: Director). 

The department symbol probably needs no further explanation! :D 

However, the actual acting administrative authority tier indicator probably does! To summarize and to avoid talking too much about this, ‘acting administrative authority’ is a temporary designator of authority given to Secretariat (essentially the ‘commissioned officer’ levels of the civil service) ranked members of the civil service for the express purpose of designating the degree of their authority within their given command/jurisdiction. This is because of how power in the civil service is exercised, as authority is only extended to individuals when there is a cause and a case for said authority to be exercised in the accomplishment of a given task.

Thus, civil service ‘rank’ and authority are clearly delineated, preventing jurisdictional overreach and unnecessary and inappropriate use of authority.

Simply put, the civil service ‘rank’ denotes an individual’s seniority, experience, ‘paygrade’, and most importantly — eligibility for assignments.

Meanwhile, the tier indicator indicates an individual’s management and command authority over a given operation, department, work group, assignment, etc.

For example, you could technically have another ‘Director’ ranked scientist at the IAS, but they’d be serving in an advisory capacity within their specific field, rather than ‘outranking’ Weir. 

This is similar to how you might get certain situations in the military where you’d have Colonels serving on a staff but with very little direct authority in direct command whereas other Colonels exist who are in direct command of an entire regiment. One is acting in an advisory capacity, whilst the other is acting with assigned authority.

But yeah! That’s the rank situation sorted! :D And as you might imagine, Weir’s medals really don’t mesh well with her current rank and seniority, which would turn quite a few heads around the water cooler as it were whenever she heads up to GOV Station XD

The other major thing to note are the square pips on her chest beneath her medals.

Those are there to represent her years serving in the civil service and her years spent in academic tenure. Now, typically, in other GUN departments (such as say, the Department of Transportation for example), you wouldn’t include your years in academic tenure as a part of these pips. Things are a bit different in the more academic/scientific adjacent departments however, such as the United Nations Science Advisory, as they choose to include years spent in academic tenure as a sort of visual representation of the State-Academic apparatus and its unique, constitutionally entrenched advisory obligations to policymakers and legislators. But I digress haha. 

Anyways, each golden pip represents 10 years in service/tenure, silver would be 5, and bronze would be 1. Weir here has 5 golden pips which represent her 50 years in both academia and civil service, seeing as she got her first tenure at around 24/25 years old.

The culture around the pips is also quite interesting, because some people after getting their first few gold pips don’t really bother adding silver or bronze pips until they just hit another solid 10. This started out for aesthetic reasons but later became unofficially codified in various unspoken rules and social conventions. And since the civil service is generally quite a lot more lenient in terms of their uniform codes than the military, this discretionary attitude to pip wearing just became a part of how you expressed yourself within the service. 

This has, expectedly, resulted in the formation of personality stereotypes that are based on how you wear your pips. 

For instance, if you have someone who’s been in the civil service for 29 years, who’s adamant on putting on 2 gold pips, 1 silver pip, and 4 bronze pips, they might be seen as someone who has a pretty intense/rigid/perfectionist personality/command style. This is opposed to someone who’s likewise served for 29 years but only decided to put on 2 gold pips. The latter would be assumed to have a more laid back, chill personality as it were.

But yeah! That’s about it for the uniform.

I guess the other thing to note is that there are various ‘jacket’ styles as well, Weir just so happens to be sporting the more casual ‘cardigan’ style of jacket, rather than a more formal suit jacket version of the uniform’s outermost layer.

There are even some uniform variants that do away with the jacket layer entirely, going exclusively for a shirt and tie with the rank indicators worn on a lanyard or pinned onto something resembling a pocket protector and then worn on the shirt breast pocket instead.

But yeah, that’s it for the uniform then! :D 

Next up is Weir’s civvie outfit! As I said before, the civil service is allowed a great deal of flexibility when it comes to their workwear. So outside of official meetings, conferences, and ceremonies, you’re actually allowed to go full civvie, but whether or not that’s ‘acceptable’ relies entirely on the local culture of your Department, Division, Office, and even the culture of the specific locale your office is located in. So yeah, it varies greatly, but Weir here often goes for a middle ground with her preferring some form of uniform, but allowing civvies to be worn alongside that. 

She’s sported her civvie outfit more than once on base after all, so it’s only fair on her part to allow it on base XD Also, as you can see, she’s a huge fan of browns and turtlenecks XD Her lanyard more or less has all of her credentials too so on-site ID is not that big of a deal as long as you carry that with you. 

The last thing to note about Weir’s outfit is the pendant she wears. It’s a family heirloom that’s been passed down for generations. She’s never seen without it.

But yeah! That’s about it! :D 

I really hope you enjoy the artwork and the lore dump above haha.

This artwork was actually finished quite a few weeks ago, but unlike a lot of other pieces, this required a bit more time in the editing room as it were to get right. Especially since I had to curtail a lot of details that would’ve otherwise spoiled some stuff down the line. This is not to mention the time I spent trying to condense certain bits of lore into something that actually flows well and doesn’t sound too dry XD

Of course, I have to once again express my deepest gratitudes to re11arts for the incredible work on this! Weir and both her civil service uniform and civilian outfit came out amazingly! :D 

I also have to thank my mods for helping to design the rank bar concept I had, as that was deceptively tricky to get just right! :D 

So thank you everyone for the hard work, and I hope everyone enjoys both the art and the lore blurb haha! :D 

Artist Reference: re11arts on instagram

Hey everyone! 

So, I’ve started to notice that I’ve created several branching yet concurrent ‘categories’ — or ‘lines’ — of commissions as of late haha.

We’ve got the character portrait references which have been awesome!

We also have the GUN starship lineup which has been progressing fantastically, complete with lore dumps accompanying each post! XD

Then we have the typical full body character lineup of the main and major characters along with them doing double-duty as uniform/outfit design commissions (see: Emma’s service uniform, Li’s dress uniform, Thalmin’s armor, Ilunor’s outfit, Thacea’s school uniform, etc etc). 

And of course, we have the logo and emblem design commissions as well! 

Oh! And we can’t forget the occasional landscape and ‘big illustration’ scenes like the Acela artwork, or the one with Emma posing next to the armor, or the space elevator one, but those are a rare treat compared to everything else I’ve mentioned haha.

But yeah!

All of this is to say, I’m proud to introduce a brand new contender to the list of categories I’ve mentioned above!

Say hello to the first in what I hope to be a lineup of Aethraship references! :D 

So, unlike what I did with the GUN’s starships, we’re starting at the smallest category of Aethraship with this one, primarily because it was heavily featured and ties back to a recent chapter with a certain business proposition Emma shot down without hesitation XD In short, it was one of the first aethraship classes Rostario listed out, from this line specifically:

“Five sloops, Daring Class. Two decks, reinforced manasteel oak ribs, a fully enclosed stormglass navigation canopy, four directional aether sails complete with omnidirectional wind command seals and enchantments, each independently rigged for crossfield maneuvering… though you probably wouldn’t need that given the lack of turbulent manastreams in your realm.” I beamed proudly, rubbing the lower aspect of one of the ship’s two-tapered nacelles. “A full complement of crew, their enchanted ordinances included in this offer, of course.”

So what we see here in this specific commission is just about as small of a class as you can get with Aethraships.

It’s also important to note that this is just about as bottom-of-the-barrel as you can go before commissioning such a ship becomes just economically unfeasible. An aethraship is, after all, a pretty significant investment, and probably the biggest investment in a fledgling usurper's arsenal! And if Emma were indeed just another would-be newrealmer usurper, well… five sloops, along with the generous offer of five brigs and ten frigates would most certainly be capable of evening the odds against a newrealm with barely any anti-air, let alone anti-aethraship defensive measures prepared. 

See, the sloop only makes sense in the context of a larger formation. On its own, the vessel is quite vulnerable, with only speed, maneuverability, adaptability, and sheer rate of casting to show for its shortcomings in terms of raw firepower and stowage capacity. How it makes up for those shortfalls however is by filling a similar niche to the corvettes you’ll soon see in the GUN’s starship lineup! In short, they form a constant defensive screen around the larger frigates and ships of the line. While the brigs may carry troops and heavy close ground-support ordinances, the sloops basically ensure that the main heavy-hitter of the group capable of dishing out sustained fire — the frigates — are able to concentrate on targets commensurate to their rank and tonnage. 

They’re effectively designed to deal with unconventional flying elements that may pose a threat to larger vessels.

What are these threats you may be wondering?

Well, the most obvious ones that we’ve seen in the story so far are the drakes.

But that’s only the beginning when it comes to a magical world.

Because as you can imagine, magic can conjure up some seriously unconventional flight-capable threats that would make even the most unconventional of human aviators blush.

These sloops are essentially up against anything, from a broomstick with a particularly bold guardsman riding atop of it, all the way to a seasoned drake-rider with a solid roster of enchanted weapons strapped to his mount.

There’s a plethora of threats to deal with when we’re talking about sub-aethraship sized opfors. And it’s a combination of the sheer variety of them, coupled with their boldness and variability, that really makes sloops an incredibly vital yet sometimes underappreciated element of an aethraship fighting force.

Because no matter how big or bad your flagship is, you’ll still need the little guy to make sure she’s capable of fulfilling her role without being distracted by the insects attempting to interfere with her operations.

And there we have it! The sloop! The anti-everything craft. The final boss for any would-be broom-flyer, tiny-crafter, or drake-rider. And, at one point in time, the main character of many a dragon-hunting story. Because slaying a dragon wasn’t always just the tale of a solo knight or a brave adventuring party duking it out against a mighty dragon. Nor was it always the story of a mighty noble mage going toe to toe with a dragon using just their magical acumen.

More often than not, it was about a small armada of these sloops, coordinating, tracking, and then hunting a dragon out in the very skies they call home.

At the height of the dragon conflicts, you’d see more Moby Dick-style stories of captains and their squadrons hunting down dragons rather than one-on-one epic showdowns; going deep into dragon-infested skies, their ships practically ‘floating’ above or within the clouds, the occasional tailtip flicking through the clouds signalling that the hunt was on.

But I digress!

The sloop is a formidable vessel.

But just like the destroyer or the upcoming corvette in the GUN’s exo-atmospheric fleet, they have their own niches that they fill. As it’s not so much a matter of raw firepower at times, but how you engineer yourself to deal with specific threats.

The Nexus is competent after all, they just specced into areas that made sense to them, given the different pressures and conditions of their environment. 

It just so happens that quite a few adjacent nobles often overlook the fine details, in lieu of the shiny awe inspiring raw ‘power’ of such weapons of war.

But yeah! I hope you guys enjoy the artwork! :D It was yet another incredible piece by the always incredible Sir_Lazz! :D It’s always incredible working with them and I think this came out amazingly! :D 

Artist Reference: Sir_Lazz from Bluesky, and he's also here on reddit as u/Sir_Lazz as well!

Hey everyone! As promised last time, here’s a closer look at the emblem on Aunty Ran’s cap! I was meaning to post it immediately following the Aunty Ran ref sheet drop, but I ended up sort of of forgetting because of the other artwork I had lined up to post that I was commissioning haha. 

I know it’s not exactly conventional, but I’ve always wanted to explore worldbuilding not just with words, characters, and scenery, but in uniforms, symbology, iconography, semiotics, vexillology and the like! 

Now, I’ll try to keep this brief as this commission is something of a supplementary post for Aunty Ran’s commission, but I really really wanted to get this out there too since the end result turned out incredibly, and I just think it’s cool to explore this sorta stuff! 

Alrighty so! What you see here is effectively the official emblem and insignia of one of the most storied branches of the GUN’s military — the Terrestrial and Space Expeditionary Corps, or T-SEC as Emma often refers to it!

To put it simply, T-SEC is analogous to what most sci fi enjoyers would call the ‘Space Marines’. 

They fill an increasingly ubiquitous and vital role as the armed forces’ preeminent multi-domain rapid response strike, recon, and pathfinding branch. With operational diversity ranging anywhere from ambassadorial security missions, to ship-to-ship boarding actions, to coordinated combined arms and inter-branch operations acting as the first boots on the ground into any environment — from stations to moons to fully-terrestrial spaces and beyond. 

T-SEC was established with the intent of fulfilling the incredibly difficult and challenging need to be able to project military power into newly constructed and completely alien environments never before faced by any of the existing contemporary branches; a need that was cemented during the growing pains of the first intrasolar war (i.e. the Earth-Luna conflict). 

It was in the first intrasolar war that Void Assault Operations was first truly pioneered on a strategic scale, and it was from this point onwards that T-SEC well and truly cemented itself as the foremost competent branch when it came to fielding and operating the boots on the ground necessary to finish the job the EAF (Exo-Atmospheric Forces) started. 

Things simply escalated from that point onwards, with T-SEC operations specializing into every possible man-made environment. From the humblest of tender stations, to your run-of-the-mill Stanford Torus’, all the way to O’Neill cylinders, Asteroid habitats, planetary rings, and beyond. It's only in the more established spaces meant to resemble terrestrial environments (e.g. O’Neill cylinders, Venusian sky cities, etc) that they tend to butt heads with the army, but that’s a story for another day XD 

However, on the topic of inter-branch relations, T-SEC’s focus on Void Assault Operations (which are in and of themselves inherently reliant on ship-based insertions), means they have a close and inextricable working relationship with the EAF (Exo-Atmospheric Forces — i.e. the ‘space navy’), wherein the pair are often deployed or grouped in tandem. This is because while T-SEC does operate its own exo-atmospheric assets, they’re often just troop transports, barges, or specialized boarding assault craft (BACs). Thus, you have this situation where T-SEC assets and forces are either entirely attached to EAF groups and formations, or are assigned on an operational or deployment-by-deployment basis.

Along with the LREF and the EAF, T-SEC tends to be the first boots on the ground in any exo-atmospheric and void engagement. Which means that their role also sometimes extends beyond boarding actions on artificial structures in space, but also reaches all the way to initial spearhead assaults and landing ops on anything from moon bases through to deep sea installations (this is where the Terrestrial part of their nomenclature is derived from XD). 

Though, thankfully, the latter is often the realm of TASC’s (The Terrestrial Air and Sea Command) special operations forces.

All in all, the nature of T-SEC’s operations, its storied history, and its inherently intense and high-stakes mission profiles grants them immense prestige points on par only to that of the LREF. In fact, the question of which is the ‘coolest’ branch really depends on who you ask! Whereas most people might point to the LREF given their focus on bleeding edge exploration and the inherent cool factor that comes with that pioneering spirit, many would point to T-SEC given their rugged, grounded, plain-old badass nature; getting the job done with brutal and uncompromising efficiency. 

They are the spiritual successor to the marines after all… just replace the water with vacuum XD 

With all that preamble out of the way, let’s get onto the symbol itself! 

T-SEC’s emblem is one of those that hasn’t really had any major updates since its establishment alongside the EAF; save for the addition of the stars that came with the subsequent inter and extrasolar wars. If anything, the branch existed a little bit before the founding of the EAF, though the verdict is out on when precisely you could classify its original ‘founding’. Because while many in history might cite the first UN counter insurgency operations on the refurbished international space station as the ‘de facto’ founding of the branch, some might even put other operations following this as their ‘de facto’ founding date, thus putting their unofficial ‘founding’ anywhere between a few months to a few years before the founding of the EAF.

Officially though, T-SEC’s founding coincided with the EAF’s, as both were established in the years following the Planetary Unification Charter of 2104, just as tensions with Luna were rising.

Interestingly, given the convoluted and overlapping administration of the EAF prior to its reorganization during the First Intrasolar War, T-SEC stood as the most functional GUN military branch that more or less started off life without any issues from day one of its founding. This was in stark contrast to the EAF who, during its initial decades, was still massively fractured as the question of space-borne assets and ships along with their crew was a hot topic of contention for the young and recently-federalized GUN.

Moreover, with the UN Army being effectively sidelined for most of the First Intrasolar War, and with their role still unclear following the 2104 Planetary Unification Charter (as most states still retained their national armies, and had not yet fully transitioned into their new de-facto roles as just national guard forces, as opposed to the UN Army’s role as the Army), T-SEC was simply the branch that lacked any comparable issues. As its role was both new enough to warrant a blank slate with no ties to the past, and straightforward enough that those that comprised it didn’t fall into the same trappings as the EAF did.

Sorry I got sidetracked again XD Right, so, as for the symbolism! We obviously have Earth — the cradle and heart of humanity — at its core. Flanking this is the dove and the raven. With the dove representing and heralding growth, survival, and the continuation of life and rebirth, whilst the raven heralds destruction. However, it should be noted that both don’t explicitly signify what T-SEC is capable of, but rather, they act as symbols of caution. Unlike what most would see upon seeing these birds at first glance, this isn’t the adage of “if you want peace, you must prepare for war”. But rather, it represents the inherent values that those birds carry with them. 

In addition to this, there’s the rocket blasting off from Earth, once again symbolizing the GUN’s reach and push towards space, and T-SEC’s establishment to secure this new frontier. Moreover, the flames beneath said rocket are meant to act as a visual throwback to a phoenix.

Finally, there are the colors. 

Red is self explanatory, it symbolizes valor, courage, and the blood shed in battle.

Both Silver and Gold symbolizes honor and prestige, but not so much in the Nexian fashion. Instead, it represents the elite nature of T-SEC and its commitment in conducting itself with professionalism, integrity, and above all else — accountability to the people.

Finally, blue represents the people themselves. Or rather, the will of the people whom T-SEC and the entirety of the 7 branches of the UN Armed Forces ultimately serve.

That’s about it for this one! I just realized that I rambled on for way, way too long with this post haha.

I’m sort of a worldbuilding gremlin so commissioning these bits and pieces of the world just makes me incredibly giddy and overexcited haha.

I do hope you guys enjoy! :D Also, be on the lookout for more art coming soon as well! :D

Artist Reference: Hatwolf from Bluesky

Hello everyone! :D I’m happy to inform you that our progress towards commissioning portraits/references for all of the plot relevant characters continues! And has, in fact, reached another milestone! :D 

Say hello to Qiv’s group! 

This comes at a perfect time as well, as Rostario has just become something of a major player over the recent chapter(s)! :D

As mentioned previously, I’m going to continue commissioning portraits of all the plot relevant and major characters until they’re all done, for the purposes of creating a master reference, as well as a secret project that will be shown in due time! :D 

So without further ado, let’s just bask in the glory of Mal’s (MalMyrth0 on Twitter) artwork! :D 

Character briefings are as follows:

Qiv’s Group

Portrait 1: Qiv’Ratom

Title: Lord

Known Aliases: The King in White, Destined Firsthand-(of the Year Group), The Dashing, The Thoughtful, The Well-Mannered, The Well-Tempered,  The First Amid Firsts, The Every-noble, Gorn-like-lizard (Credit: Emma).

Realm of Origin: Baralonrealm

Species Name: Verina

EVI’s IFF Designation Number: A10

Notes:

- The definitive leader of his peer group.

- Outstanding student, leader, statesman, and the personification of a teacher’s pet.

- Fastidious.

- Studious.

- Gunning for Class Sovereign… a better choice than Ping at least.

Portrait 2: Rostario Rostarion XXI

Title: Lord

Known Aliases: The Cunning, The Daring, The Sincere, The Hamster (Humorous, Credit: Emma), The Raconteur, The Unsavory (derogatory, Credit: Ilunor), The Scheming (derogatory, Credit: Ilunor), The Saccharine Poison (derogatory, Credit: Ilunor), The Baleful (derogatory, Credit: Ilunor), The Stout (humorous, Credit: Unknown), The Last in Line, The Tail-ender, The Fringe Royal, The Poser (Credit: Ilunor, aided by Emma), More Fluff than Substance (Credit: Ilunor… he claims it’s a single word in High Nexian.). 

Realm of Origin: Rostarionrealm

Species Name: Crita

EVI’s IFF Designation Number: A14

Notes:

- (Allegedly) The final in the line of succession to his house (Allegedly).

- Cute.

- Intelligent.

- Passionate.

- A patron of the arts (A Poser Patron, according to Ilunor).

- His realm’s structures are built to scale. Which is to say, everything is hamster-sized. (According to Ilunor).

- He doesn’t know how to play an instrument. [TRANSCRIPTION ACTIVE… Why are you telling me this, Ilunor? Wait, so he does? He does or doesn’t? Why is this even relevant? Unless the instrument in question has the capacity to lull everyone in a five hundred meter radius into some mind controlled trance, or is secretly some sort of nth level artifact, I don’t think we should add it to the list. EVI, remove this bulletpoint.]

- A Poet (A bad one according to Ilunor).

- A Singer (A bad one according to Ilunor).

- A Playwright (A false one, plagiarizing from obscure sources, according to Ilunor).

- Annoying (According to Ilunor)

Portrait 3: Uven Kroven

Title: Lord 

Known Aliases: The Bear (Credit: Emma), The Helpful (Credit: Emma), The Gracious, The Observer, The Bound, Lethargy Manifest (Credit: Unknown), The Stoic.

Realm of Origin: Alanorrealm

Species Name: Ursina

EVI’s IFF Designation Number: A11

Notes: 

- Bear

- Seemingly harmless

- Good spirited (surprisingly)

- Helpful (actually answered my questions for directions more than once without wanting anything in return… wow… basic decency)

- If not friend, why friend shaped? [EVI, set reminder to delete this bullet point.]

- Stoic

- Physically capable, just behind Ping in raw strength. [EVI, remind me to test this somehow.]

- Cool. (Like genuinely a seemingly cool dude. Would’ve been cool to have him in the peer group. Maybe.)

- Yearbook Soulbound (I think.)

Portrait 4: Airit Airus

Title: Lady

Known Aliases: Lesser Avinor (Source: An unfortunate Nexian short-hand for her species, possibly created to sow dissent between the Shatorealmers and Avinor). The Flighty. The Unbound. The Leypull-Defiler. The Torch-bearer. The Fool. The Captain. Wing Leader. Night Culler [Not Night Cruller Ilunor, stop it. Go order food if you’re hungry. EVI delete this.].

Realm of Origin: Shatorealm

Species Name: Chira

EVI’s IFF Designation Number: A19

Notes: 

- Bat

- Very cool outfit prior to school uniform (Magic goggles???)

- Fallen for the Nexian ragebait, illogically hateful of the Avinor, and by extension Thacea, for her “Greater Avinor” status.

- Incapable of calming down upon reminder of the aforementioned

- Has a deathwish if she tries to act on that hate.

- Capable of flight via similar aether secondus/aethra tertius principles. (According to Thacea)

- Angry.

- Watch out for the flight classes. [This is going to age very badly when the flight classes do happen. EVI, remind me to amend this after flight class happens.]

Artist Reference: MalMyrth0 on Twitter

First | Previous | Next

Patreon | Official Subreddit | Series Wiki | Royal Road

The Transgracian Academy for the Magical Arts. Dragon’s Heart Tower. Level 23. Residence 30. Local Time: 1757 Hours

Ilunor

Ridiculous.

Laughable.

Relentless in its vain and cloying attempts to tug at the heartstrings, all to rationalize what bordered on blatant rebellion.

“Childish.” I mimed the prince’s self-admitted sentiments. “An apt descriptor, and one which you should have heeded.”

“Yet one which you cannot deny.” Thalmin responded bluntly in a manner so devoid of reason and so removed from context that his response made barely a modicum of sense.

Was… was that even a counterargument?

How was that supposed to prove anything?

Especially when the narrative he was presenting was nothing short of vicious mockery against an institution with more years in proven civility than Earthrealm has had years in recorded history?!

This was akin to comparing birds to drakes, pollyflowers to rangen moss, or the infamous kobold debate of whether moss should be sorted by color or taste.

In short, it was insulting by its very nature, reductionist to the point of absurdity, or completely moot from the onset.

“And what is that supposed to prove exactly?” I countered, huffing up a storm as I spat out each word with an incredulity unmatched.

The prince was playing with fire.

He was truly placing this unproven realm of questionable pedigree and foolish sensibilities on the same mantle as the Nexus; as something worthy of consideration as a peer-in-communicatia.

Which begged the same question that had begotten this entire conversation.

What could have possibly gotten you so excited that could supersede the privilege and wonder of being in the Nexus?

“Earnestness.” The prince answered dutifully, his features and the entire expression he wore telling the story of a man who had neither regrets nor doubt over his conviction. “An honesty that the Nexus would find impossible to reproduce due to its very nature, because unlike the dizzying schemes within schemes and plans within plans, Earthrealm’s priorities are, by its childish nature, straightforward.”

“An earnestness born of a lack of self-centered egoist interests.” The prince took a breath, steeling his eyes as he crossed his arms in silent contemplation. “They hurl themselves into the void on nothing but steel and explosions in the hopes of reaching something, they pierced the heavens and tore through the tapestries in the hopes of finding someone, anyone else amidst dead and lifeless realms. They seek all of this out, whilst knowing well the dangers they may face. And when finally faced with the threat of your Nexus, when dealt with a slap to the face when their only sin was offering their hand in friendship? They sought not to respond with prejudice, but instead with calm and measured consideration, refusing to concede that all were complicit in this web of malicious intentions. They offered me, a complete stranger, a chance to talk as peers. To Nexian eyes and Nexian sensibilities, such a desire to trust would seem childish, would it not? This… inclination for optimism, amidst what you once described as ‘ill-fated idealism?’”

I took in a breath as I closed my eyes to listen and ponder, deliberating on the prince’s words as each and every sentiment bordered on blatant fanaticism. 

Had this one conversation truly pushed the prince over the edge?

Had this solitary, transient line of status communicatia acted as the keystone by which all of Emma’s starry-eyed idealistic conversations finally fell into place?

I could scarcely gather my thoughts before Thacea abruptly interjected, her eyes leveling on Thalmin’s as she placed both fork and knife down, refusing to eat until her sentiments were delivered.

“Yes.” She spoke solemnly, much to the surprise of everyone present, with Thalmin in particular widening both his eyes in understandable shock. “To all known Nexian sensibilities, what you speak of is indeed… naive… but not childish.” Thacea corrected, prompting me to hold fast on my hopes of an abrupt shift in the winds of conversation. “Yet to those ends, I’d argue both words are entirely misleading. Because when compared to the ceaseless bickering and two-faced politicking, I’d posit that a dialogue constructed on integrity and a willingness to honor all with respect is far more deserving of the descriptor of maturity.”

I narrowed my eyes and steadied a deep and resonant soot-filled breath.

A litany of responses flooded my mind, each and every one more damning than the next.

But before I could speak and before a single word could emerge, I was hit with two interruptions in rapid succession.

The first, an unwelcome reminder, came about in spite of all my attempts to bury its relevancy.

Images of the black-robed professor immediately flashed into waking memory. His actions, his impacts, not only felt… but were viscerally palpable.

He was the reason behind my current… encumbrance.

He was the reason behind the shortcomings of my ambitions.

…

And yet by all measures, he was operating within the very framework both the prince and princess were condemning and one which I was obligated to defend.

The irony of my circumstances at present was not beyond me. As I realized in short order that my current existence was facilitated by none other than the agent of anathema herself.

It was the earthrealmer who aided me in… softening the blow from Mal’tory’s gambits.

It was the earthrealmer who, despite my reservations, managed to strike a deal where a compromise was otherwise impossible.

…

Yet it was by that very same deal that we were now bound, with the earthrealmer ostensibly holding the keys to my fate.

Then came the second interruption.

A darkening realization that aligned too neatly with a prophecy I’d only touched upon once before in simple postulation.

The Final Confrontation

Was I witnessing the first roots of this unstoppable growth?

Was I now an inexplicable part of its insidious machinations?

My mind rushed with the possibility only to be brought back out of its spiraling confines by none other than the potential harbinger of this apocalypse herself. 

“I think it might be best if we continue the clip show.” Emma finally interrupted, bringing my discordant thoughts back to the present. “Moreover, I really appreciate your guys’ enthusiasm about my people, but I think you’re being a bit too kind here… We have our issues, we’re not perfect, but we try our best to put a buffer between those issues and our ability to follow through with our promises and principles.” She turned to the pair with a sheepish and ultimately modest response. 

One that I despised for its affirmations to both Thacea's and Thalmin’s points.

“Get on with it then.” I urged, neither acknowledging nor disparaging the earthrelamer at present as we pressed into what this entire recount had been leading up to.

The dragon and this illicit correspondence.

I watched as the earthrealmer resumed where we left off, as the dragon regarded her with… 

…

Cordiality.

An honor that not even the prince was afforded, as it was clear he was an accessory to what was in effect Emma Booker’s story.

I should have felt nothing.

I should have disregarded this detail, as I should have any other from a creature with such a reprehensible legacy…

But I couldn’t.

There was still a certain… paradoxical ‘exclusivity’ tied to these beasts, as one would tie a sense of prestige to other magically inclined creatures.

Or at least, that’s what it was supposed to be.

That’s where it was supposed to end.

But not here.

Not when the realization of this beast’s sapiency now recolored its power and, by extension, its good graces.

A twinge of disdain and even jealousy creeped up my spine even though I knew I had nothing to be jealous of.

This was just a dragon, and whilst no longer a beast, it was still a criminal — a failed despot that had been firmly defeated eons ago.

Her title meant nothing.

Her good graces were not an honor, let alone something to be jealous of.

And so I turned my nose up at this, figuratively and literally, as I shifted my concentration to the more pertinent aspects of the conversation.

Emma’s attempts at maintaining this facade of naive interactions were becoming grating, especially as this dragon — this matriarch of nowhere — decided to humor her as such.

I tolerated this, maintaining my focus until the sight-seer brought us into the caves and firmly into the realm of an escalation I hadn’t expected.

Their conversations had shifted in intensity, yes, but the topics were banal and esoteric.

They talked of mathematics, Emma Booker’s strange speaking mannerisms, so on and so forth and on and on until…

“You cannot be human.” 

… the dragon’s tone shifted.

My attention returned and so did my growing curiosity.

“You… your kind must be a lost line.”

What.

“A daughter amidst daughters.”

WHAT?

“Part of the crystalline legacy… masquerading in flesh.”

**“**WHAT?!!!” I screamed, my internal monologue breaking through my mentalscape and into the realm of the social space.

Everyone stopped and so did the sight-seer as Thalmin turned to shush me with a single finger.

“Stop interrupting, Ilunor. We’re just getting to the good part!” He grinned mischievously, to which I simply responded by gesturing for the earthrealmer to continue with haste.

I leaned in closely, my eyes practically making contact with the manaless looking-glass at this point, prompting the prince to attempt to shoo me away.

But I cared not for his demands as I remained virtually glued to the events of the past set into this manaless crystal.

“I believe there’s been a misunderstanding.” 

…

I let out a sigh, pulling back and then turning towards the earthrealmer with a disappointed gaze.

“What? I never claimed to be an elven-form dragon, Ilunor.” She teased. “I’ll have you know I much prefer the human form.” And teased some more, her latter statement eliciting further scrutiny.

“And what exactly is the human form then, Cadet Emma Book—”

“A topic for another day! Let’s get back to the video!” She interjected with haste, continuing these illicit scenes and forcing my gaze once more to land on the dragon.

The conversation, surprisingly, shifted into more esoteric talk of crystals.

I groaned.

I just had about enough of this… rambling madness.

Yet despite those reservations, I couldn’t deny that the dragon’s own interests were… concerning.

From her continuously awestruck responses at Emma’s unseen 'crystals' to her vivid descriptions of how they supposedly worked — shackled, bound, screaming in forced emergence — all of it was worthy of concern by its own right.

However, the fact that it was accompanied by a growing sense of morbid curiosity, visceral disgust, and indignancy at what I’d hardly even considered was worrying.

This all came to a head as Kaelthyr uttered those telling words.

“By what right does flesh and blood, without magic, attain the perfection of draconic craft?”

…

There it was again.

She was comparing humans to dragons.

This time at least not in terms of form or biology or lineage or relation… but its implications were worrying all the same.

She was readily admitting humanity’s parity in craft and potential.

Emma’s following response proved to aggravate me even further.

“By right of will.”

I scrunched up my nose in disdain and outright harumphed as Kaelthyr seemed to acknowledge that petulant response not just in stride but with outright respect.

The conversation soon dipped back into esotericism that quite nearly melted my brain.

The same response could be seen on Thalmin’s visage as he preoccupied himself instead with the scarfing down of food into his gaping lupinor maw.

It was Thacea, however, that leaned in closely, her eyes focused on each and every word spoken… even if it was through that shatorealmer puppet.

I was just about ready to continue my meal until Kaelthyr unleashed her next visceral response.

“... blind clockmakers…”

…

She was right.

I hated to admit that fact, but that was eerily the best descriptor I could have ascribed to the earthrealmers.

However, that thought, that notion — as eloquent as it was — was completely supplanted by a passing, practically throwaway comment bordering on humor.

“He should do well as your first realm.”

My heart stopped for a single breath, my gaze moving to meet both the earthrealmer and lupinor, who were neither bothered nor seemingly caring for what was arguably the single most important line in this rambling discourse.

The dragon, this challenger to the sanctity of Status Eternia, was openly broaching the notion of an axiomatic shift of Nexian primacy, presenting the possibility of a new hub to which Havenbrock would be its first spoke.

The rest of the conversation regarding the details behind Emma’s crystal quest became but an echoey and muffled mess, as my mind kept repeating that one line over and over and over again.

This couldn’t be.

This can’t… surely it’s just a point of jest.

It’s not like things are aligning with prophetic truths…

But as much as my mind shifted towards matters of potential futures, so too was the conversation veering towards a rewriting of the past, as Thalmin led the charge in addressing this beast.

His questions, his direction, eventually landed on a point that both confirmed and reframed my entire understanding of history.

“... dominion of our exclusive rule, and dominion where mortals roamed at our leisurely discretion.”

There it was.

The unbridled truth of the matter.

The confirmation that sapient, thinking dragons truly did lord over us.

Moreover—

“Then I must ask, what changed?”

—I was about to get an explanation, a firsthand account from our mortal enemy as to what happened.

“The start of a new era… the disruption of the upheaval cycle and its unforeseen  consequences.”

I smiled.

So history was accurate.

It was the bold Vunerians and their allies under His Eternal Majesty that broke the cycle, destroyed the wheel, and eviscerated the chains.

The rest was history, including the rewriting of draconic legacy.

What’s more… it was confirmed they’d chosen their own path in the great adjacency war.

This…

This was undisputed evidence as to the primacy of—

“IS THAT A FUCKING DRAGON?!”

My eyes blinked rapidly as I stared at… nothing.

Nothing had changed.

The room was as dead as this sight-seer was capable of conveying.

And yet there were new voices. Voices I hadn’t yet heard nor expected in this isolated nook within the rock and dirt.

What followed were the disjointed correspondences of Emma… and her people… facilitated by the dragon and spoken with a common, unified language so removed from Nexian sensibilities it might as well have not been translated at all.

The back and forths were… foreign, almost alien in their stilted delivery.

Each word felt heavy, not with inference or allusions but with the weight of law and procedural code.

Everything seemed blunt, leaving no room for ambiguity and little else for flourishes.

Yet it wasn’t the bluntness of commoners and the peasantry, no.

There was a refinement in this bluntness, a carefully practiced cadence that teetered on the martial but likewise bordered on the scholarly.

These people didn’t seem like the rabblerousers or savages I’d expect from Emma’s purported systems of anarchy. 

No, they were as far away from the chaos of this… mire of madness as I could have possibly imagined.

There was order, clarity in rank, and poise in the division of responsibility.

This wasn’t possible.

But that perplexity would be quickly supplanted by something else entirely.

A reminder of my ill-fated conversation just days ago.

A conversation… that had predicted this very interaction.

Emma’s delivery of slights and infractions committed against her came shortly after her dire warnings against any ill-fated attempts at illicit portal endeavors.

This was bad enough already.

But what came next sent shivers up my spine.

It was Kaelthyr’s turn to play victim.

Her delivery of the Nexus’ ‘damning’ infractions was as bitter as it was vitriolic, spoken from the heart, and unyielding in its poise.

And by the end of it all came a bone-chilling warning.

“This is what now threatens your halls, matriarchs of the void. This is what stands at the foot of your gates. Do with this knowledge as you will.”

I could only imagine the reactions, the utter turmoil and fear brewing within the hearts of these bleeding-heart idealists; these naive fools with the capacity for manaless creation straddling the lines of Crownlands excellence…

Part of me grew worried.

Yet the other part of me yelled at me to come to my senses.

The only thing to worry about here was my involvement in all of this.

There was surely no means by which the earthrealmers could threaten the Nexus.

How could they, when they could scarcely create a pinhole between the space between spaces!

The only danger was in their growth and potential competition with Nexian interests.

…

Only then will they perhaps reach the heights of the prophesied Adversary.

I steadied my breath as the conversation moved forward at a pace both surprising and confusing, as it seemed much of what Emma and her superiors spoke of was glossed over.

Hmmph. At least she has some sense…

This hastened pace eventually landed on the last point in this entire endeavor.

Thalmin’s interactions with Emma’s superiors.

His introductions were… as to be expected. A simple, honorable thing, or as honorable as one could be when representing a fledgling adjacent realm with scarcely anything to show for it…

Then came the response of Earthrealm’s leaders.

And with it… came a proclamation that at first felt silly by comparison 

Doctor.

Director.

Professor.

All scholarly titles and pursuits, with perhaps only one of those being something nominally worth glancing at.

That all soon changed, however, the moment her words crossed the threshold into posturing.

“On behalf of the Greater United Nations, and on behalf of the people of Earth, Luna—”

Luna? Wasn’t that the dead and desolate realm floating in the void above Earthrealm?

“—Venus—”

What even was that?

“—Mercury—”

Another city?

“—Mars—”

Another continent?

“—Saturn—”

Wait, it couldn’t be. 

“—Jupiter—”

Was she reciting off entire—

“—to the entirety of Sol—”

—realms?!

“—and to all the corners of the galaxy that humanity calls home, we receive you with full respect, and acknowledge the sovereignty of the state from which you hail.”

… 

All corners of WHAT?!

My focus, my attention, my entire frame of reference threatened to unhinge.

The respect shown by this leader to Thalmin’s presence had already been enough.

But when coupled with this understanding, no, this serious implication of Earthrealm… no, humanity’s true extent?

… 

I raised my hand, ordering the earthrealmer to halt.

“Yes, Ilunor?”

“Emma… what was your superior trying to imply here?” I asked carefully.

“Oh, she’s just trying to be thorough and cordial, as well as polite in ensuring that first — somewhat official — contact gets off on the right foot and—”

“Not that, earthrealmer!” I seethed, before pointing at her cape and the emblem proudly embroidered upon it. “She was reciting off what exactly? Towns? Cities? Continents, perhaps?” I rattled on before shaking my head wildly. “Nonononono, no. That can’t be right now, can it? That can’t be. Why would she? That doesn’t work, especially when she explicitly listed Luna following Earth, implying that this list, this recital, was not of unequal sets but the same, no?”

I hoped I was wrong.

I prayed that I had well and truly departed the realm of logic and reason.

But then came the fated response.

“You’re right on the money there, Ilunor! Dr. Weir was, admittedly, a bit carried away by the gravitas of the whole situation. So her introduction in response to Thalmin was a bit more dramatic than it probably would have been if it were a letter. With that being said, the answer to your question is yes. She more or less listed most of the major powers in our grand union before capping it off with an umbrella categorization for the rest of it. Because trust me, if you wanted to list all of the ‘realms’ in our union of states, well… we'd probably be here until tomorrow, haha!” The earthrealmer acknowledged with that same blasé cadence, completely disregarding the leypull of the situation.

But her delivery wasn’t important here.

No.

It was the confirmation of my deductive reasoning.

Why did I have to be so intelligent? Why couldn’t I be an ignorant fool? Why…  why has fate cursed me with such a deductive mind?!! I cried out internally, as I gripped both fork and knife tight within my hands.

The sight-seer resumed, touching and elaborating on the sizes of these ‘realms’, courtesy of Prince Thalmin’s own questioning intent.

“These places are realms unto their own… comparable to Earth by their own right… possessing populations sharing in the prosperity of the sights you’ve seen from Acela.”

I turned to Emma once more, my eyes half-lidded and my body refusing to ingest anything in light of this assault on my reality. 

“They can’t be that big.” I stated plainly.

"Oh, but they are, Ilunor.” She beamed back.

I hated that.

“How?” I shot back with a stifled laugh. “HOW?! LUNA WAS A DESOLATE WHITE-SANDY WASTELAND!”

“Yes.” Emma nodded, infuriating me further.

“And by your own director's admission, this ‘VENUS’ is both toxic and acidic! A-are, are you humans somehow resistant to these deathly environments?”

“Oh, gosh no. We’d die as easily in those environments as we would in mana!”

“THEN HOW CAN YOU CLAIM TO HAVE SETTLEMENTS IN DEATHREALMS AS PROSPEROUS AS ACELA?!”

The earthrealmer refused to elaborate, instead simply gesturing back to her armor.

“Tenacity.” She spoke simply before gesturing to her bedroom. “And adaptability. Not to the environment, mind you, but the other way around. Because you see, we refuse to back down from a challenge, and we likewise refuse to bend over for these environments. Instead, we make the environment bend to our will. That is to say, we build. We construct habitats from great turntable cities to floating metropolises, all in defiance of the hostilities of our uncompromising universe. We build our way out of problems, and eventually, we thrive for it.” 

I breathed in and out deeply, my sooty breaths causing the air around me to grow foggier and more acrid; the princess responded to this by swiftly summoning a gust of wind to clear the air.

“I understand it may be difficult to get your head around at first, Ilunor. And again, I don’t blame you. You’ve only seen our baby steps into the void. Even back then the stuff I’m spouting now would seem utterly impossible. But a thousand years of stellar expansion and experience really does make all the difference, you know?” She chuckled. “I’ll have some sight-seers prepped up in the ZNK-19 over the following weeks, or whenever we have time. Then, I’ll show you our expansion into the stars.”

“Just as you’ve shown us the growth of Acela?” Thalmin questioned.

“Yup!”

“With everything that comes with it too?” He squeezed harder, piquing my interest.

“Yes, you’ll get to see some of our military escapades too, Thalmin.” Emma acquiesced with a tired sigh, prompting my own gaze to narrow.

Perhaps it was the exhaustion of… everything so far, or perhaps it was my newfound fixation with the ramifications of these revelations, but the next back and forth between Thalmin and Emma’s superiors felt… muted, almost lacking in detail.

There were pleasantries and the ‘respect’ the prince had spoken of, yes.

But my attention couldn’t capture anything significant.

Instead, both the dragon and this… multi-realm union stood tall above all else.

It was possible.

It was… probable.

It was more than likely.

Which was the worst part about this.

I’d seen firespears taking their first pioneers up and into another realm. That was… established.

And if one succeeded… it stands to reason that more could build something out of it.

But admitting that, acknowledging that possibility, meant the acknowledgment that Earthrealm could very well be the only other power with a presence in multiple rea—

No.

This was different.

Earthrealm was simply… bridging the gap between a single realm, wasn’t it?

The void was not a true ‘space between spaces.'

They weren’t really a Nexus of one.

That was absurd.

…

Just as absurd as their scale.

But perhaps none more absurd than their stated intent.

My attention returned to Emma’s sight-seer once more, watching now as the earthrealmer recited some long-dead human’s creed.

“We step out… seeking only peace and friendship, to teach if we are called upon, to be taught if we are fortunate. We know full well that our planet and all of its inhabitants are but a small part of this immense universe. And it is with humility and hope that we take this step.”

Modesty.

So much modesty like a trickster lying in wait.

With all of this potential, with all of this power, such modesty felt insulting, if not entirely disingenuous. 

And yet they played it completely straight.

Over and over and time and time again, going so far as to be replicated by Emma’s superiors and everyone around them.

What did they want?!

Friendship was not a reasonable motivator for such extraordinary efforts into the impossible!

There needed to be palpable material gain!

Were these earthrealmers fools?

Or perhaps… they were simply just this misguided.

Whatever the case was… I needed to see how all of this came to be before accepting this like some blind aspirant.

My attention once more returned to the looking-glass, just in time to see all of it coming to an abrupt and unexpected end.

“Aaaand that’s where the clipshow ends, folks. Or at least, that’s really the real big points of interest we should be covering tonight.” Emma announced, just as a series of alarms blared and were silenced.

I raised a brow at this, somewhat bemused but more so curious at the abrupt stop.

But such reactions were muted when compared to the rapid shift in the princess’ visage.

=====

Thacea

No.

This… this couldn’t be.

She promised that this wasn’t possible.

My eyes widened at the alarms, at the sounds and echoes of what Emma had once described to be her litany of ‘warnings’ against potential mana and taint incursions.

These were… reactionary responses from her manaless artifices, informants as to potential dangers, and augments to her senses where she was otherwise completely blind.

And it was one of these, the only one she seemed entirely resistant to, that had so clearly caused… whatever it was at the end of this entire affair. 

I stood up, urging Emma to follow.

What happened next was a simple trot over to our dormitory, a soft closing of its door, and a donning of an expression I rarely wore outside of private spaces.

“Emma.” I managed out with a darkened and unsteady trill.

“Y-yes, Thacea?” She responded nervously, her body language reflecting this shift in mood.

“Am I correct in assuming something terrible happened at the end of that recording?”

“Well—”

“Just answer me plainly, please.”

“... alright, princess.” She nodded. “There… there was a complication, one which resulted in the loss of contact with Earth, a sudden adverse reaction from Kaelthyr, and a… a seizure from yours truly.”

I took a step back, my hands trembling as I looked down at both of my talons with utter fear and visceral disgust.

“Was it… taint that caused this?” I questioned. “I recognized one of the alarms, the one you taught me, showed me.”

“I don’t know.” Emma admitted, spurring on an even worse spiral into self-doubt than a simple ‘yes’ could ever have.

“What do you mean you don’t know?” I urged, causing Emma’s fists to ball up.

“I… I don’t know. I… there’s evidence to support it, but I can’t be certain. I just… there’s just not enough data to definitively say anything at this point in time.” 

“But it could have been possible.” I drilled. “It could have been taint that caused this?”

“Yes.” Emma nodded once more.

At which point, I felt my whole body shaking.

I could’ve…

She could have…

There were so many instances, so many random occurrences, including her own urgings where I even—

“Thacea, listen—”

“You claimed on multiple occasions that taint was a negligible concern. That while unknown, its exposure brought you no ill effects.” I interjected. “I… I could have hurt you, and then what? There would be no method for me, or anyone else, to help. You’d be writhing, suffocating, dying in your own skin. I can’t reach you, I can’t touch you, I can’t even see into you!” I managed out, and in a rare instance of complete transparency, I allowed an explosion of outrage to completely color my sensibilities. “What would you do then? What could anyone do then? How would we even realize if you’ve… succumbed to a fate of my own making?” I stared at my hands, watching as they trembled with disgust at my affliction lying in wait.  “What would I do then?”

Emma paused, her expression unreadable but her downward gaze telling me all I needed to know.

“We can’t say for certain that it’s taint.” She finally spoke. “My working hypothesis is that it’s a spell, or some sort of magic cast using taint. And that’s why it affected me so viscerally.”

This… hypothesis… sent chills down my spine, but I dared not interrupt, merely urging Emma to continue.

“All of my previous exposures with taint have been latent bursts without any real rhyme or reason to them. No targeted attacks, no nothing. Am I wrong?”

“No.” I admitted.

“Moreover, as you’ve seen yourself in the memory shards with the dragon, it even used taint to see through the armor and into… well… me. This proves that taint itself isn’t the issue. Which implies there must be more to it. That’s why I think this… incident wasn’t the result of just taint itself but an emergent property of it… maybe a spell that was cast using it. A spell that was specifically targeting me.”

I narrowed my gaze, considering the facts, before letting out a frustrated sigh on Emma’s behalf.

“And without manasight, without the ability to see, you were unable to recall or record such an event.”

“Correct.” She nodded once more. “Even with the wand apparatus, there was too much interference, too much noise to make anything out.” 

I turned my head away for a moment, reaching my shoulder in resignation. “I wish I could have provided you with better tainted streams for you to study from—”

“No, no. It wasn’t you, Thacea. It’s… my artifices need time to adapt. A week and change wasn’t going to cut it. There was no way to predict this. It was…” 

“An act of the fates, so to speak.” I reasoned dourly.

“You could say that…” Emma sighed, shrugging her shoulders as she did so. “Listen, Thacea, I… I’m sorry if I worried you or anything.”

“No.” I responded reflexively. “No, it’s… it is I who must apologize for being so… forward with my concerns, Emma. Especially given how I was working on naught but a fragment of a hypothesis myself.”

“No, I… I mean to say I’m sorry for everything else as well.” She added, prompting my gaze to tighten. “I made a promise at the very start of this that I’d try my best to mitigate risk. But… as you’ve seen, it wasn’t easy.”

“No, it wasn’t.” I acknowledged with a shrug of my own. “But it was not entirely your fault… so I refuse to cast blame on you for that.”

“Come on, princess, don’t go easy on me now. You know there were a few things during that whole trip that I could have mitigated—”

“I have spoken, and I will hear no more of it.” The words left my beak on instinct, edged with an authoritative intent I hadn’t meant to bare. 

My gaze faltered almost immediately. “What I meant to say was—”

“Your Majesty has spoken—” Emma cut in lightly, already committing to a mock bow. “And your knight obeys.” There was a clear glint of an amused chuckle in her tone, one which I couldn’t help but find… amusing.

Silence quickly returned, interspersed with a few chuckles from Emma.

“So aside from that abrupt end, I couldn’t help but to notice… a lot more was alluded to but missing in context, Emma.” I attempted to move the conversation… away from all of this, regaining composure, control, and focus.

“Yeah… there were a few things that I left out for Ilunor’s sake.”

“For your sake, you should say.”

“Yeah… that’d be more accurate.”

“If you feel that I should not be privy to such proceedings then I completely understa—”

“Oh! Nonono! It’s nothing like that, Thacea. If anything, I have the full and uncut version here for you. It’s just… it’s not the intel I’m worried about here. I trust you as much as I trust Thalmin, after all.”

“I see.” I replied softly, placing both hands in front of me with poise.

“Yeah, I… you see, there’s just oooone small detail that might be, well, not so small, come to think of it. It’s rather important, and I was rather hesitant to show it to you, not because I don’t trust you. It's just…”

“Yes?”

“Awkward.” 

I cocked my head, taking a seat if only to seem less… invasive, urging Emma on with a wave of my hand.

“I won’t judge, Emma.” I reassured the human, smiling softly as I did so.

“I know you won’t but…” She took a deep breath before letting it out all in one exasperated exhale. “Alright, let’s get it out of the way first.” 

I leaned in closer as Emma took another step towards me.

“Thalmin asked me for my hand in marriage.”

“Ah.”

First | Previous | Next

(Author's Note: Hey everyone! So I have a bit of an announcement to make! I'm afraid me and my editor have decided that we're going to need to take the next week off if that's alright with everyone? ^^; There's going to be an arc shift happening soon, so as a result, we've decided that we need a bit of a breather first. I really dislike having to interrupt the posting schedule so I sincerely do apologize to you guys for this ^^;. We'll be back in the week after next week though! So stay tuned for May the 10th for the next chapter! :D I hope you guys enjoy this one! :D)

[If you guys want to help support me and these stories, here's my ko-fi ! And my Patreon for early chapter releases (Chapter 170, Chapter 171, and Chapter 172 of this story are already out on there!)]