[Two years after The Anomaly talked with the Goddess of Levity, Bianca. 5 years after The Anomaly's birth]
Unfortunately, the Southern territories haven't recovered from the massive drought, leading to many noble families to ruin and others close to it.
The plea's of the kings and queens of the various kingdoms have tried to ask for help, whether it be from the Grand Duke of the South, the Great Sultan Mirza Al-Amin, but they were left unheard until recently.
Many things have happened all over Midor, but some very important matters are also happening all over Yvon, where The Anomaly is.
In response to the numerous pleas of the various southern kingdoms, Emperor Antonius had ordered the Rain Kingdom to be fully in charge of helping the southern territory as punishment for its recent rebellion and in order to make sure that they will be contributing as much as possible, Empress Zora and the youngest prince, Aurelius, were to stay there and monitor them.
Due to the attention given to the Empress' expedition, the road towards the Rain Kingdom was patrolled and scoured extensively which led to the official discovery of strange creatures by the Auroran Soldiers and Mages.
Similar sightings were made by various farmers, hunters, foragers and mercenaries within the last two years but due to the ongoing food problems and because these sightings were made by 'lowly commoners', they were passed off as ignorant people that saw magical beasts for the first time.
With their existence now being seen near the Empress' route to the Rain Kingdom, these sightings were now taken more seriously, and after cross-referencing the details given by the past sightings and what the soldiers reported, and due to their...bizarre appearance, these beings were dubbed 'Monsters'.
This was the first time Monsters had appeared on Yvon, and this led to a meeting to be held between the highest ranking members of the Aurora Empire, with the Empress' trip now getting delayed due to 'the young prince's tantrums'.
This meeting was being held within the True Royal Palace of Aurora in a fortified room. It was one made to have various small comforts, such as comfortable chairs and a finely crafted long-table made from polished Vamas wood, but there were no decorations, engravings or unnecessary additions.
The participating members of the meeting were the Antonius Aurora de Leon, Zora Aurora de Leon, the Emperor and Empress of Aurora.
Borthus Giddins, the Royal Advisor.
The Grand Dukes and Duchesses' of the South, West, North and East.
Grand General Leonidas, the strongest warrior of the Aurora Empire.
Grand Archmage Eleanor, the strongest mage of the Aurora Empire.
The Grand Dukes and Duchesses' could participate only through the help of a two way light and sound artifact within their own meeting rooms while Leonidas, The Emperor and Empress were already near the True Royal Palace, and after being given permission, Eleanor teleported inside.
The location of the meeting room is known only to the nine people and then given to their chosen heirs on their deathbeds. All the people involved in the building of this room were executed and all of the member's are under Oath's to not divulge the location unless the person or group of people was approved by the other members.
After the Cardinal Sovereigns, the group name of the Grand Dukes and Duchesses', reported various matters to the other members of the meeting, the topic of Monsters was brought up, and the room fell silent until Empress Zora looked towards Eleanor and asked her the starting question.
-"What have you managed to discover about these beings? Are they demonic in origin? Artificial Chimera's? Undead?"
The other members looked at her as well and it was clear that they were wondering similar things.
The Grand Archmage was silent, her eyes a bit shaky and her breaths uneven.
-"I don't know."
There were several moments of silence before Leonidas decided to break it with his own report.
-"I am embarrassed to admit that I and the other members of the army also do not know anything about them."
The Royal Advisor, Borthus was trying massaging his temples, almost causing his golden monocle to fall off.
Not a single one of the meeting members had discussed anything about the Monsters outside of the room they were currently in, with the research into these beings having been done in the highest of secrecy for several reasons.
These reasons were the other Empires.
The Aurora Empire wasn't sure if these beings were some sort of weapon from the other Empires, a new threat that is currently contained within their territories or if this is happening all over Yvon, and so they decided to not discuss anything about them outside the meeting room.
Sure they knew the necessities, like the facts that strange beings have been spotted in the territories which lead from Aurorus to the Rain Kingdom, and the fact that reports of their sightings have been made from at most two years ago, but that was it.
Antonius spoke once more and asked the strongest humans within the Aurora Empire the same thing.
-"What exactly do you mean by, you don't know?"
Leonidas looked down, ashamed of having to say the following words.
-"Both myself and the army have not been able to find them or properly observe them. I have not used any magical means or technique to find them so as to not bring in attention to the areas but even so, I should have been able to see them but there was nothing.
By the time I had arrived, they 'ran off'.
I had asked the soldiers that had seen them about any distinguishing traits but they spoke of things that do not make sense."
Eleanor raised her hand and added in.
-"It is the same for the garrisoned mages there, but for them the cases vary. I have recordings from the interviews of different mages. I have a novice mage, a conjurer and a diviner."
-"And I have those of a regular soldier, Aura user and Intent user."
They both took out six recording artifacts, and after having them all inspected just in case and gaining permission, they started playing the recordings.
The recordings shown were in the following order: Regular Soldier, Novice Mage, Aura user, Conjurer, Intent User, Diviner.
[The recording shows a regular Auroran Soldier sitting at a table, still in armor.
-"You may begin describing the animal you saw soldier."
-"Yes ma'am. I was with my squad, lead by our captain, inspecting the forest when our captain suddenly froze after seeing something move between the trees. I could not clearly see it, but my captain could, and after seeing it he um...I apologize but my captain won't see the contents of the recording, right?"
-"You don't have to worry, this recording is just to see what happened from your perspective until we can get a report from your captain."
-"oh, he hasn't woken up yet? Alright. Well, after he saw the creature he...started peeing and then fell face first on the ground."
-"Thank you for your report soldier, you will be given your reward shortly after you leave the tent."
The soldier had a small smile and then slowly left the tent. The recording ending with the final words of the interrogator.
"The captain of his squad is currently in a catatonic state, we suspect that he possesses an ability which allows him to see various things since other captains had not gone into such a state even after 'seeing' the creature. What exactly he saw is a mystery and when we tried to scan his thoughts, his mind was filled with the mental image of a blur, like a smudged painting."
The recording then ended]
[The recording shows a mage sitting at a table, she was wearing a light green and brown robe.
-"You may begin describing the magical beast you saw."
-"I was near a lake, in charge of purifying the river water for the other members of my team. I was alone and as I put my hand in the water I saw a strange fish in my peripheral vision. It was a normal river fish but for some reason when it entered my peripheral vision it just...stayed there.
I tried to look away but whenever I moved my eyes to look somewhere else in the river, it followed, in the same place in my peripheral vision. It did not move, it was just...there.
It was like the fish wasn't inside the river and instead inside my eye, stuck to it, moving as it moved. I was naturally starting to panic and looked everywhere but the fish just kept moving, always in my peripheral.
It was in the sky, on the ground, in the water, and when I closed my eyes..."
The mage then slowly moved her robes, revealing a severed hand wrapped in bandages.
"I only then felt the pain...When I closed my eyes, I think I just blinked, it had already chewed off my hand and left. It was only a few moments by my estimate from when I saw it and then blinked but I am not sure.
It felt like I was staring at it for minutes and once I blinked, barely a second or two had passed."
Her voice was shaky as she looked at her severed hand once more. It was something that could be healed only by very expensive healing spells or potions and she incorporated hand signs with her casting, so she now has to either learn how to do it with one hand or lose her job as a mage.
-"Thank you for your bravery. The army will issue you a healing potion that will regrow your hand but it will take some time."
After profusely thanking the interrogator the mage left the tent and the recording ended.]
[The soldier this time looked more powerful, with his armor also being more intricate with some small engravings. He looked calm.
-"You may begin describing the creature you saw."
-"Very well. I was inside my tent, resting for the day when I saw a Coras' silhouette outside my tent, looking as if it was trying to enter. I was curios and so I decided to open the tent but I could not see anything. There was only a bonfire a couple of meters in front of my tent which was what helped produce the shadow.
I thought that it simply flew away and so I entered once more and closed my tent. I went to my bedroll and just as I was about to go to sleep, I saw the Coras' silhouette once more, right in front of my tent. Still trying to enter.
I was starting to think that this was a prank from a fellow soldier, and so I told it the following words:
'This is a lame attempt at a scare, if you wanted to really scare me, you should have used the General's shadow.'
It is a common phrase among the soldiers that there is nothing more scary than to see the General's shadow since that would mean you are either getting punished or about to die.
Then the silhouette started...shaking.
It started shaking and moving, its wings unfurled and then it started changing shape.
The head split in two and a hand came out of it and then a leg came from in-between the side wings but before it could continue it then started melting and then disappeared."
The Aura user went silent as he narrated what he saw, he looked calm but there was clear fear in his eyes.
-"What do you think happened to it?"
-"I-I...think it tried to imitate the General's silhouette but...failed. I don't know what exactly happened, maybe the General was too powerful to get imitated or maybe the thing didn't know how the General's silhouette looked like and it left."
-"You don't think that it died?"
-"No."
There was no hesitation or doubt in his voice, instead it was filled with unnatural certainty, which even he found odd.
"I apologize for adding in my personal feelings but it didn't feel like it died. It was more like it was frustrated at not being able to imitate the General and then left."
The recording ended at that, showing the now uncertain soldier's face.]
[The recording this time showed a conjurer. It was a mage that specialized in conjuring suitable bodies for spirits. He was currently showing clear signs of fear and agitation.
-"Are you sure I am safe? It won't find me here right? It can't see me?"
-"I assure you that you are perfectly safe. The tent is guarded by talented, high rank soldiers as you requested and there are several artifacts protecting the tent."
The mage looked unconvinced but decided that he was safe enough.
-"I was with a fellow conjurer, discussing things. As we can both see spirits with the help of our spells, we decided to ask the spirits if anyone new came to the forest within the past few months.
Often times, such questions are left unanswered by young spirits or they give conflicting or untrue statements, they have a mischievous nature. The spirits were only around one or two years old, with the older spirits being somewhere else.
The young spirits became excited and started talking about how they met their new older cousin."
The conjurer let out a small chuckle and then stopped himself.
-"Cousin?"
-"...it was the closest word they could use in our language. Young Spirits primarily communicate through intent or through their own language so some things are lost in translation.
Spirits see other spirits as brothers and sisters, no matter the type or age of the spirit, they are all brothers and sisters. What caught our attention was both the fact that they used 'cousin' but also that they are 'new'.
For a spirit to call another spirit 'new', it means that they are a new kind of spirit that hadn't existed before. This was the first time that a 'new' spirit appeared on Midor and so we thought we had stumbled upon the discovery of the ages.
We pleaded with the spirits to let us see them, but they then started giggling and calling us a spirit 'insult'. The translation would be 'senseless fool', they use it when they talk about people that cannot sense Spirits.
The both of us were confused but before we could say anything, we heard a voice coming from behind us along with noticing that someone had put their hands around our shoulders."
The conjurer started rubbing his shoulders with his hand and shuddered.
"It was...I cannot describe it. It was like an Emotion Spirit but also wrong. Most times, an emotion spirit would look like a person that you knew or even look like you, but they would be constantly feeling and showing that emotion. An Anger Spirit would be angry and look like a version of the person that they copy if they were angry their whole life."
-"Did the Spirit look like you or someone you know?"
The conjurer slowly shook his head.
-"It was a little boy. Neither me nor my associate knew the being but when asked, the Spirit simply said:
'I find it deeply ironic that I look like this for several reasons.'
It did not elaborate and then, thinking that we have found a new type of spirit, my associate requested a Spirit Contract. It is a contract where you do or give something to a spirit based on their type. An anger spirit would make you get angered more easily, a nature spirit would not allow you to actively harm nature,etc.
The Spirit simply smiled and nodded. And that is when things went wrong.
They both went further into the forest but I tailed them. I tried to convince him to not make a contract with a spirit that we know nothing about but he wouldn't listen. And then they started listing the terms of the contract.
The Spirit would perform various tasks for my associate until he would die in exchange for energy and a personal request of the Spirit. It told him the following:
'In five years time you will get married to a woman and have two children, one boy and one girl. Once they are both four years old, you will face dire financial difficulties and will have to resort to selling one of your children.
You will sell them both.
You will forget about this conversation and will instead think that my request was simply to watch over you.
You will live to become a powerful mage, the greatest conjurer on the continent of Yvon.
You will perform the greatest feat of conjuration on the continent of Yvon and will become one of the most well known figures in history and help the Empire prosper.
Do you accept?'"
Both the conjurer and the interrogator remained silent until the silence was broken by the conjurer saying what his associate did.
"He accepted."
And the recording ended.]
-"Hold it!"
Before the next recording could be shown, the voice of Emperor Antonius rang out. Everyone but Leonidas and Eleanor were still processing what they saw and heard from the recordings while the two strongest beings in the Human Empire simply looked at their Emperor.
-"We have asked the conjurer the events and it all matched until it got to the deal. In his version of events, the Spirit simply asked to watch him and when we had our other conjurers or spirit related personnel talk with the Spirit, they were ignored.
We tried explaining and even showing the recording to the conjurer but all he heard was his own version of events."
Eleanor nodded and then added
-"We think that is either a 'Suffering' or 'Despair' Spirit, and that it will reveal the fact that he will sell both of his children when the conjurer is at the highest point of his life and 'watch' as he crumbles."
Antonius did not particularly care about the suffering of this conjurer, he brought it upon himself, he cared about what the Spirit said.
-"The other things that it promised Frollo, will they absolutely happen or are they simply empty promises?"
Eleanor nodded once more.
-"Yes, a Spirit cannot alter the contents of a Spirit Contract or defy them unless the other party doesn't fulfill their end of the bargain. Considering the type of the Spirit, and that it is also a strong one, it can most likely make Conjurer Frollo such a powerful figure. If anything I am a bit envious of him."
However, Advisor Borthus raised his hand and interrupted.
-"I do not mean to be overly negative but I am highly suspicious of this Spirit. Considering Lady Eleanor is indeed calling it a spirit then most likely, other spirits also called it one, correct?"
-"Indeed, they both called it a cousin and 'new'. The current theory is that it is a new type of spirit that had just been born or that it came from outside Midor."
-"That is what is worrying me. It was purposefully vague when it stated the contract details.
It did not specify which Empire will prosper nor did it specify why he will become a well known figure. What if he becomes a great villain instead of someone of good renown? What if the Empire that will prosper is one of the other three on Yvon, or even a foreign one?"
Eleanor then went silent. In her excitement she had neglected those parts of the contract and instead only focused on the fact that a 'new' spirit had appeared.
"It is also concerning that this spirit arrived at the same time as these Monsters. While I do think that we can use Conjurer Frollo to help our Empire, it could also possibly lead to either our ruin or decline."
Both Antonius and Zora looked at one another, both agreeing with Borthus' concerns and having thought the same as him.
Empress Zora spoke first while glancing at Eleanor, a bit disappointed that the greatest mage of her Empire hadn't noticed such important details.
-"Considering that these monsters were discovered only a week ago, we still have plenty of time until Conjurer Frollo even has these children. What do you all suggest we do to ensure we don't suffer any losses?"
The Eastern Grand Duke raised his hand and proposed an option.
-"What if we were to buy Conjurer Frollo's children once they are sold into slavery? The contract only mentions that he will sell them, it did not specify anything else about them after."
The Southern Grand Duke was displeased with the idea of engaging with the trade of slavery, more so as it involves children.
-"While I do agree that we can do that, we are disregarding the possible actions of the Spirit. It could find offense in us messing with its game by trying to use his children. Could we not instead free them once they are bought, perform memory manipulation and put them into an orphanage?
That way we won't have to make sure that this possible Great Conjurer won't find his children as we try to hide them, and instead we give them to a loving family.
It would also make the Spirit's game continue, as Conjurer Frollo's children will be given to a loving family while he, their father, will not even be remembered by them. It will serve to bring him despair."
The Eastern Grand Duke shook his head.
-"This sounds like unnecessary extra work, we don't know enough about this Spirit to make decisions based on their temperament. We only know that it is playful, 'new', a unique spirit due to it being called 'cousin' and it is also manipulative.
It used vague wording and talked about children to someone that doesn't yet have children and then made sure to hide the terms of the contract while adhering to them. It capitulated on his greed as it talked about Conjurer Frollo's future 'great renown' without specifying whether it will be good or bad.
For all we know, it will take offense to us interfering with its game, and we cannot afford to offend an Emotion Spirit whose emotion is unknown."
Advisor Borthus raised his hand and brought the discussion to an end, and then let out a tired sigh.
-"Instead of bickering with each other we should all try to find a solution. I agree with both of your points but also have an issue with them.
We cannot risk letting these children fall out of our line of sight. We can assume that they will be born this year since in five years time they will be five and then sold into slavery.
Yes, we do not know much about this Spirit but we also cannot remain passive. I propose we buy them through a third party that cannot be associated with us and then either hide them or make a reasonable fake death for them.
If we are to believe this Spirit's capabilities, then Conjurer Frollo will become a very powerful mage, and if the other Empire's were to learn about our possible involvement with his children then they will use that as a way to get him to join them.
Eleanor, would we be able to use an Oath to control him?"
The Grand Archmage quickly responded with yet another tired sigh, which had now become a common sound within the meeting room.
-"I am not sure. This is a new type of Spirit so I am not sure about its capabilities and knowledge, we know too little about it and how far is it willing to go in order to see its game go the way it wants.
In theory? Yes we could. We can use an Oath and make sure that he won't be able to betray us but he will also have to agree willingly, and with that Spirit being able to whisper into his ear, I have my doubts."
Grand General Leonidas dragged his calloused hands against his face and let out a frustrated groan, ignoring decorum and proper etiquette, though the other members didn't blame him.
-"This is all because of one damn Spirit. It isn't even acting like a proper high-rank spirit either, aren't they supposed to be uninterested in human politics? Why did it even promise him the prosperity of an Empire? To fuck with us?"
Emperor Antonius was also frustrated and was starting to miss the war with the Rain Kingdom.
-"The Aurora Empire must have dealt with Spirits before, our history is long enough."
Empress Zora shook her head in denial. She had studied the history of her Empire extensively but she could not find a similar circumstance.
-"Most times it is the one making the contract with the Spirit, not the Spirit itself. A Spirit interested in mortal politics is like a human being interested in the politics of bugs.
Let us postpone our decision on the Spirit for when the children are born or close to their 5th birthday. We will have enough time to observe the Spirit's temperament as it helps Frollo.
Eleanor, make sure that we have someone that can observe Spirits passively among Frollo's group and make sure that they are subtle."
Eleanor nodded in agreement and while the Cardinal Sovereigns didn't feel like it was a wise decision to postpone such a matter, they did not really a reason to disagree.
Spirits are fickle and are usually only curios in certain people, with some even seeing them as friends, but even if their contractor dies, they usually do not try to 'get revenge'. Plus most times it is something small, like destroying a city or two.
But an unknown Spirit that is intelligent and willing to perform shady deals? That is very dangerous.
The members had a small break where they enjoyed some cool water and then resumed the meeting after a few minutes.
Eleanor and Leonidas looked to be dreading having to show the next two recordings and the other members were already starting to get nervous.
The first of the next two recordings is the one from the interrogation of the soldier that possessed Intent, something that only the highest members of the military posses.
{Trigger Warning:Self-Harm, Suicide.}
[The man was in terrible condition, his armor was cracked in several places, his eyes were bloodshot and he was holding tightly onto a shattered high quality Mixed Steel. He was constantly muttering something under his breath.
The interviewer's voice remained calm as she asked the man a simple question.
-"What did you meet?"
He continued muttering, getting faster until he started shouting.
-"-playing with me, it was playing with me, it was playing with me, It was playing with me! It was Playing with Me! IT WAS PLAYING WITH ME!"
He clenched his sword tightly and the interviewer started to get nervous, unsure if the man was still stable. They hadn't used any calming spells or potions in order to get a proper answer and also know how dangerous these beings are but the man was becoming too agitated.
-"What was playing with you? Who?"
-"It was playing with me! I had trained and trained and persevered and lost sleep, and meals and loved ones to become stronger and it was playing with me!"
The man was starting to let out angry and sad tears as he continued holding the sword tightly.
"I was looking over the hills and wanted to train. I was alone.
I slowly took out my sword and went over the stances and steps of my sword and movement technique and I heard its voice.
That stupid fucking voice!
It kept telling me my mistakes. When I performed a wrong technique, when I took a wrong step, When I was off by a few degrees, then a degree, then a percentage of a degree, then how I was not training hard enough, not eating enough, not sleeping enough, eating too much, sleeping too much, breathing too much, blinking too much, thinking too much!"
The man then started clenching the sword hard enough that cracks could be heard. Whether it was from him or the sword, it wasn't clear due to the audio quality.
"So I showed it! I shattered its sword, cracked its armor, ripped his hair out, punched him, and now I'll kill him!"
The man then slammed his shattered his sword straight into his head with all of his force, causing the sword to go clean through his head and then his head got crushed as the hilt of the sword hit his face.
His fist was where his cerebellum should have been. His jaw was hanging open as the top row of his mouth was caved in.
His eyes popped out of his head and then got crushed by the sword handle, popping open.
The interviewer let out a startled yelp and then the recording ended with the shot of the soldier dead body.]
The next recording was of the Diviner.
[The Diviner was wearing casual army personnel clothes. Their job is to stay at the camp and, if needed, use their divination's to judge how a situation should be handled.
This Diviner was brought to be interrogated in order to see what their divination can reveal about the Monsters. Since they are a high ranking Diviner, the woman could judge things much more accurately than lower ranked ones.
-"You have been brought up to speed with some of the cases and the creatures that have caused these things. I now want you to perform five divination's in order to learn more about these beings. You have been provided the list of questions, you may choose the divination method."
-"My, I am getting nervous about being recorded. I hope you have prepared a suitable reward, performing five high level divination's will sap a lot of my power you know?"
-"We are well aware and your services will be properly rewarded. Please begin."
The Diviner nodded and then took out a hand held pendulum and a piece of paper which has the following words written on it:
-Yes
-No
-Maybe/Sometimes
-Try Again/Unclear
The Diviner then held the pendulum above the piece of paper, completely straight, and then started chanting. Once the chant was done she closed her eyes in concentration and the pendulum started going in circles.
-"Are the creature's that I am thinking about connected with one another?"
The pendulum started swaying towards 'Yes'.
The Diviner chanted once more and asked.
-"Are the creature's malevolent in nature?"
The pendulum started swaying towards 'Maybe/Sometimes'
The Diviner started getting a bit tired and asked once more.
-"Are they related to any deities?"
The pendulum swayed between all of the options.
The interviewer was confused by this but chose to remain silent as the panting Diviner asked.
-"Are they related to Demons?"
Again, the pendulum swayed between all of the options, leaving the interviewer even more confused as the Diviner asked the last question.
-"Will someone retaliate if they were to be killed?"
The pendulum didn't sway and instead pointed straight at 'Yes' with great strength, making the weak Diviner sway but as she was trained to hold tightly onto it, the rope of the pendulum snapped, with the dull metal rod of the pendulum shot to 'Yes' and went through the wood table.
The Diviner was extremely exhausted, sweating, had bloodshot eyes and could barely walk. She did not have the energy to say anything and simply fell asleep on the chair, the recording stopping on her deeply exhausted face.
The members of the meeting all had very grave expressions and both Leonidas and Eleanor were particularly exhausted. With Eleanor deciding to speak up first after the recording stopped.
-"We have decided to not perform any more divinations in order to not risk bringing unwanted attention, although I am not sure if it is even necessary or not."
'Since we might have been found out already.'
Borthus raised his hand and let out a deep, exhausted sigh.
-"Permission to bring this up at the next Alliance Meeting? At this point I think we should reveal what we know and just hope that these Monsters aren't on the other Empires sides."
Antonius and Zora looked at each other and then back at the recording. The 'Yes' on the paper was still completely visible but a hole was made between the top lines of the 'Y'.
-""Permission granted.""