The triple suns hung low on the distant horizon, their elongated shadows stretching like claws from the distant towers, while the last rays cast fiery orange shades across the sky.
Karthus sat on a bench just outside of Polarion's assembly hall. He leaned his elbows on his knees, steepling his fingers just above the bridge of his nose. His eyes were closed, but there was no sign of relaxation, given his furrowed brow.
Instead, it was akin to the calm before the storm.
"Scale for your thoughts?" Ryfon interrupted his moment of pensive solitude. "Just the musings of a tired, old dragon," Karthus replied with a groan as his facial expression twisted mildly.
"You know just as well as I do what these summons are really about. Why bother hiding anything at this point if they will not stop until they've gathered every single piece of information they can pry from us?" Ryfon scoffed sarcastically, slumping into the open space beside his oldest friend, resting his right ankle atop his other knee.
"I know. I am well aware of their true intentions, though sometimes I wonder if it would not have been better if you had remained a member of the Council. Perhaps then they might have been able to see reason and not blindly follow their own ignorance," Karthus grumbled, his frustration growing increasingly evident in his tone.
Ryfon didn't immediately reply. Instead, he took a moment to consider the words, then uncrossed his leg to lean forward and match Karthus's pose. "It is precisely their ignorance that allowed Thoma to save his friend. You do realize what that means, correct?" he said in a hushed tone, only observing his friend's response out of the corner of his eye.
"I do, but therein lies the problem," Karthus said, his tone suggesting much more than he was letting on. Ryfon, naturally, understood the hidden meaning and offered him a nod of agreement. "I will support you, but please do not lash out unless the perfect opportunity presents itself," he replied. "Thank you," Karthus said with a single, curt nod.
The two only sat in contemplative silence for a moment before the massive doors to their right opened. The enormous twin slabs of metal made little or no sound as they did so, only unleashing a dense waft of mana from within.
That, and a towering figure that could have made even Erumon look small.
She had long, flowing robes of pure off-white, with hair and eyes to match. Her face was sharp and keen like a hawk's, with a small scar on the right side of her mouth. Her pale skin gently reflected the last rays of sunlight, making her look as though she had been freshly carved from the purest marble.
"Greetings, Dukes Ryfon and Karthus," she said in a voice with hardly any inflection, though one that still managed to convey her deep respect for them. "Greetings, Mediator," Ryfon said with an equal amount of respect. "I trust you two know why you are here?" Mediator asked, prompting Karthus to sigh.
"We do, and as a result, I would like to skip many of the formalities you would usually require," Ryfon said as he rose from his seat. She still stood nearly a head taller than he was, but showed almost no sign of change in her facial features. "As you wish. Duke Karthus, do you agree to these terms?" Mediator asked. "Of course," he said with a slight smirk.
I know what you're doing, he sent Ryfon wryly. But they don't, which gives us the advantage, Ryfon replied with a matching tone.
"Then as it is spoken, so let it be done," Mediator said with a slow nod of her head. As she spoke the Words, the two felt an intangible power enveloping them for a brief moment before dissipating.
"There, that's better. Shall we begin?" Ryfon asked, rolling his shoulders. "If you will follow me, lords," Mediator said in a practiced tone and without a single change in her expression.
"Must you always be so formal?" Karthus asked flatly, to which she merely blinked a single time. "It is my duty as Mediator to ensure fairness in all trials. It would be considered conduct unbecoming of a mediator to act any other way," she explained without any hint of sarcasm in her tone. "So it is a trial," Ryfon muttered with a raised eyebrow. "All summons the Council now enacts are, lord," she replied before turning to step through the doors, prompting Ryfon to give Karthus a glance.
Believe me, that is not the only thing that has changed since you've been away, Karthus replied without any change in his expression. Ryfon's expression darkened, but he refrained from saying anything further.
As the three crossed the threshold, they were bombarded with the Eyes' mana. Mediator, of course, was entirely unaffected by it, while the other two exchanged an annoyed glance before pressing onward.
They continued down the main hall of the assembly, and much like the halls in Karthus' tower, these walls also held multiple artifacts from strange lands.
I'm not sure if you are allowed to hear me speak to you like this, but there is something I will need you to do for me, as a favor, he sent, doing his best to reveal as little as possible through mana that might have been picked up.
The porcelain eyebrow curled for little more than a fraction of a second, but that was all Ryfon needed. What is it, then? She asked as subtly as she could. Just make sure the lights stay on while we are inside, as there are a few things I would like to see for myself, he replied, but she didn't immediately respond in a meaningful way.
I will do what I can, she said with a mild pause. Remember that you owe me for this, she continued, subtly flicking her eyes at him, then back down the hallway. Thank you, Ryfon hid a smile briefly, before turning his attention to a half-heard conversation.
"...And I am telling you this cannot be a mere coincidence! He is the…" one of the louder, more shrill voices halted as she turned to face Ryfon with deep, violet eyes. Highlighted with a golden trim and with a similar wrapping style to that of Syldir's, her robes danced in the dense mana as though suspended in liquid form.
"Behold, the self-induced outcast," she said loudly in a mocking tone to the other members of the council, her violet eyes flaring as she stared down at him imperiously.
Ryfon, of course, hardly moved a muscle with her attempt at an insult.
"Bah, you've grown as senile as the hour has late, Arba. The legendary Ryfon Ansuz returns to us in our time of need, and yet you mock him after all he's done for the Sea?" another council member said, his deep crimson robes with white and orange highlights fluttering as he pointed at her.
At least his hair and eyes match his personality, Karthus thought, nearly allowing it to escape the confines of his mind.
"Silence, you two. Entos, while we all respect your admiration for Duke Ansuz, I do not believe that causing an argument with Arba would be wise in his presence," Nisul groaned as he pinched the bridge of his sharp nose, closing one of his eyes as he allowed the other, glowing brightly with Rivet mana, to glance at the one beside him.
"There, there. I am sure that this will all blow over quickly once Terwin returns. B-Besides, it is not as though we cannot begin the proceedings ourselves," Aella began, waving her pink and white sleeve in the air with a quick, bright smile and a flare of gold in her eyes, before it immediately faded slightly as Arba raised an eyebrow, disappointedly.
I'm glad to see you still wear your heart on your wings, but I'm alright, Aella. Thank you for your concern, Ryfon sent her a subtle nod. O-Oh, thank you, Duke! It is good to see you again after all this time! Aella replied in the time it would have taken a normal person to blink.
However, the moment the other two began bickering again at the mere idea of beginning without Terwin being present, Mediator stepped into the center of the octagonal hall and began channeling mana through the floor, into the very foundations of the assembly hall.
"Silence," she said calmly, merely balling her fists and gripping the air tightly. The air grew so dense with mana that even Ryfon nearly doubled over, while the others, of course, knew what this meant and immediately returned to their seats.
"Dukes Ryfon and Karthus have already requested that I not follow formality during the trial. I expect you all to respect their decision, as well as mine to support it," Mediator said.
While her tone may have come off as if she'd thought she was the head of the assembly, everyone knew her role demanded that level of respect.
"As you wish," another said from their right, his black and green robes hardly making a sound as he sat in his chair, leaning the right side of his jaw on a balled fist. "Bold of you to join us at such a late hour, Fyke," Nisul curled an eyebrow, to which he could only scoff. "It would have been bolder not to show up at all, what with the presence of the great duke himself and all," Fyke sneered. A handful of the others also looked at him with visible disdain, but said nothing after his blatantly sarcastic response.
However, within the brief silence that followed, a pulse of mana tore through the hall, driving itself up the circular wall of the council and into the seat at the center, where a figure appeared seemingly out of thin air.
While no one was surprised by this occurrence, Karthus forced himself to blink twice. To him, it was like he had seen a slight shimmer passing over Terwin's eyes. Unlike his meeting with Mideia, he wasn't masked, hooded, or cloaked.
Instead, his regal attire would have made almost any dragon jealous of his affluence. His features held scars of countless battles, though it was evident to anyone who laid eyes on him that those could not be fully healed with mana.
Dimmed streaks of Meridian mana flowed through and around the seams of his flowing, wine-colored robes, and while there seemed to be no change in his overall appearance, it was his demeanor that struck Karthus as strange.
Ryfon, something is wrong here, he cautioned, but Ryfon only responded with a quiet sigh and a subtle nod.
"Ah, welcome, Lord Terwin," Nisul said with no small amount of relief in his tone. "Greetings," Terwin replied flatly as he brushed his robes from behind him and took his seat at the head of the council. There was another moment of silence as he regarded each member of the Eyes of the Twilight Sea.
"It has been a long time since we were all forced to convene in this assembly hall," he began, prompting Ryfon to immediately raise an eyebrow. "In the interest of time, I will be brief. I have already been informed that you do not wish to follow formalities, though I must question why," Terwin asked with a scrutinous glare that caused mana to flood around the two being questioned.
With a snap of his fingers, Ryfon dispelled the mana before it could fully coalesce around him. Karthus, of course, followed his lead, and in so doing, angered the rest of the council. "Duke Karthus! We might have expected as much from Ryfon, but how dare you imitate his insolence?" Arba's shrill voice tore through the freshly dismantled spell.