=Continued=
“Why would she do that? Weren’t they in harmony with both?” Reinforce Zwei asked.
“According to the history written here, the maiden found Bhalkadios ‘evil, repugnant, and gross’, for he was made in the image of a ferocious bull rather than that of a person,” Kha explained. “Apparently, at a very young age, she was nearly killed in an accident involving a large and frenzied wild auroch that was hurt by a hunter’s arrow. She was gored in the stomach by the rampaging animal and fell into coma for nearly three months before she regained consciousness. Ever since then, she had always feared to be in the presence of bovines, especially those with horns, even if they were domesticated in farms. It translated to the marriage, where she cursed the god’s image and his servants, triggering the anger of the warriors in the village. It was really a small misunderstanding, really, but soon got out of hand when a group of irate warriors reviled Mhedkilda’s temples, including those in various other tribes. When it was brought to the knowledge of the village elders, a council was summoned, during which the eventual dispute became worse. The clerics of Mhedkilda demanded a public apology for the sacrilege, but the warrior-priests refused, saying that the root of the problem was a child of Mhedkilda. Furthermore, the warrior-priests warned that Bhalkadios was enraged with the maiden, whom they deemed should be punished for her indiscretion before disasters were visited upon the villages. The clerics rejected the notion vehemently. The tussle over right and wrong spiraled into an eventual challenge by the warrior-priests, who said that the children of Mhedkilda would perish without Balkhadios’s warriors to protect them. The Mhedkildan clerics scorned them, saying that they needed no weak warriors to protect them. And thus, the crack became a crumble.”
“It was a rather childish way for such a serious break,” Nanoha remarked. “I mean, didn’t either of them understand that it was really a misunderstanding?”
“In the ancient times, gods were revered as powerful beings with control of various forces of the world. Even back on Earth, religion had and is used as a reason for war,” Hayate said. “That’s probably why they were adamant with their stands. To bow out to the request of the other party would mean that they were wrong, which in turn proved the weaknesses of their god’s teachings. In a way, this record is not unlike the Trojan War by Homer in the Iliad and the Odyssey, where two nations were thrown in war because of the action of one person.”
“But, it was still only a problem in that particular tribe, right?” Fate asked.
“Unfortunately, no,” Kha answered a little disappointedly. “The challenge was made even more disproportionate when both clerics and warrior-priests of that village spread the news to the other tribes. It escalated from a local disagreement into an all-out civil war. The Mhedkildans and the Bhalkadiosians became estranged from one another, striving to uphold their stand. Temples dedicated to the opposing faith were destroyed and dismantled. Hundreds and thousands of people were killed. Livestock perished, farms burned, and all in all, it was a horrible scene of carnage and mayhem.”
“Judging by the outlook, wouldn’t the Bhalkadiosians have more chance of success?” Tesla asked. “They were warriors and hunters, after all.”
“In one perspective, yes, the Bhalkadiosians would have an upper hand in the fight, since they were more adept in battles,” Kha admitted. “However, might does not beget victory at times, and the Mhedkildans were not as helpless as they were thought to be. Though they seemed ill-suited for war, their magic was very strong such that it surprised the Bhalkadiosians even. The Mhedkildans could erect powerful barriers and the more skillful ones, especially the clerics, could perform massive destructive spells akin to modern bombardment attacks. The Bhalkadiosians generally dominated in close and mid-range combat, but were unprepared for long-ranged counteroffensive. While the warrior-priests could weave great invocations and rain devastation in a large area, the Mhedkildans managed to survive behind their barriers. Furthermore, unlike the clerics, the warrior-priests’ attacks were hampered by their inability to rapidly launch their spells, giving the Mhedkildans the opportunity to retaliate.”
“So that’s how the differences between the Mid-childan and the Belkan schools of magic come from,” Reinforce Zwei said, nodding more to herself than to anyone else. “They fit rather perfectly, too.”
“In the end, the Mhedkildans won,” Nanoha said. “What happened after that?”
“The exile,” Kha answered succinctly. “The entry does not specify what or how, but if it was any accurate and following the general history, the defeated Bhalkadiosians were banished dimensionally from their home-planet.”
“You mean, they’re thrown out of Mid-childa?” Agito gasped disbelievingly.
“It most probably happened that way,” Kha said. “To ensure their victory was absolute, the Mhedkildans needed to remove the presence of Bhalkadios worship. Simply banishing them from their tribes would not secure them that ultimate taste of triumph, and could even open themselves for unforeseen retaliation later. Even among their own people, there were some who saw the war as foolish and irrational, and a number of them were Mhedkildan clerics and Bhalkadiosian warrior-priests who objected to the challenge. These were people who adhere to the traditional harmony of their faiths. With the war over, they could not risk such elements within their ranks, which might cause dissent and rebellion. They were said to have chosen exile themselves. No one knew what happened to them—a number of accounts claimed that they moved out of their home-planet of their own free will, while others said they perished in the wilderness. For the Bhalkadiosian ‘prisoners-of-war’, they were dimensionally transported out under the watchful eyes of the victorious Mhedkildans.”
“Would they be powerful enough to use such a large-scale dimensional transfer spell, though?” Kratos enquired.
“Hmm, if anyone remembered, I’ve mentioned that our ancestors did experiment with time and space,” Yuuno said. “It was an individual attempt, true, but if given enough time, they would no doubt be able to do it. That’s how most experiments ended up as. In a large-scale attempt, though, if enough capable mages were present, it shouldn’t be impossible. They could even break it down into different schedules, if the strain was too strong. Besides, given the outcome of the battle, the Bhalkadiosians should have been much reduced from their original population.”
“Extrapolating from there, the Bhalkadiosians were banished from this planet, which was claimed by the Mhedkildans and renamed as Mid-childa. Traces of Bhalkadios worship was removed, including from the sigil, which in turn lasted as the Mid-childan spell symbol we know today,” Kha related. “In the place where the Bhalkadiosians ended up in, they conquered it as Belka, removing the depictions of Mhedkilda from their symbol. If I’m not mistaken, the outer ring was considered part of Mhedkilda’s manifestations, since it was almost like the moons with which she was associated, thus the Belkans ended up with only the triangle and the sword-cross as evident in the current sigil. In any case, they still harbored enmity and vengeance for the Mhedkildans who humiliated and outcast them, in which they returned centuries later and caused the Old War to occur.”
“History repeated itself, though,” Signum pointed out. No one disagreed with her.
“Did it fit the general history of the world, Scrya?” Kha asked.
“Hmm, it did, to a certain extent,” Yuuno concurred. “While there wasn’t any specific mention of any dates to relate the incidents, it must have happened many centuries before the coming of the Old War, even before the Scrya Clan was born. Anthropologically speaking, after that arbitrary separation of the peoples as noted in the entry, many tribes on Mid-childa progressed rapidly courtesy of the advent of the fusion of magic and technology. While religion remained the ruling element in most tribes, the original Mhedkildan faith could have fallen out of favor and became replaced by a diverse, yet ancestrally identical, forms of the belief, leading to splinter religions in early history. Regardless, empires were established and expanded across their nominal boundaries. A notable consequence was the constant wars between these empires, which weakened developments until much later in time.”
“I don’t see it any different for the Belkans’ side,” Grandis said.
Yuuno nodded. “Of course, logically speaking, the Belkans would have a tougher time to become established as a strong nation, since they were thrown into an alien world. But, given their warrior nature and their strong resilience in the wilds, tempered by their survival instincts through a strong, rigid culture, it was only a matter of time before they regained their standing in that world of theirs. And, because they were originally the same people as the Mhedkildans, one would think that their minds would eventually run down the same path.”
“Of course, for the better part of the history, much is unknown of the Belkans’ growth to power,” Kha recounted. “Despite being supposedly lagging behind in technological advancements, they made good progress nonetheless in the rebuilding of their race, perhaps because of the established environment in their new world. Presumably, Belka was home to a host of magnificent race of people with amazing technologies, which the Belkans learned and utilized. However, such unrestrained chase of power eventually led to the collapse of their home-planet. Most historians lean to the belief that Belka was utterly ruined because the Cradle was unleashed, though survivors of the apocalypse managed to escape aboard the massive artifact together with their lord, the Sankt Kaiser. In quick retrospect, most Mid-childan thinkers allude the survivors to using this opportunity ‘to exact their centuries-long revenge’, using the mass-destruction-capable Cradle as their trump card with which they held the Mid-childans oppressed, whereas Belkan records typically state that they were merely ‘looking for a new home’ and their use of the Cradle was ‘justified as a retaliatory means against vindictive and merciless attacks of a barbaric race’.”
Yuuno shrugged. “The veracity of either claim is tenuous at best. Given the political and military landscape at the time, it’s impossible to state who was right and who was wrong. After all, history is most often written by winners.”
“I don’t know about this history thingy,” Agito sighed, shaking her little head. “It’s interesting and all, but it’s pretty unconnected with what we’re looking for, which doesn’t help in any way,” Agito said.
“Perhaps,” Kha admitted. “In truth, the account directly related to the symbol is too short to be helpful. The generations who took after the office of the order of this symbol typically had the sigil magically etched on them and were said to possess special powers, especially omens and prophecies. They served as oracles to protect the people from disasters and become spiritual leaders.”
“It sounds very much like Knight Carim,” Grandis observed.
“True enough, but she neither knows of nor have the symbol on her. At least, I think she doesn’t. We’ll ask her when we return to the Church, I guess,” Kha said.
“Is there no mention of a name or anything?” Yuuno asked further, hoping that there might be an inkling to help them in the search.
“There is, but I’m not particularly familiar with the system used here. Most likely, it’s a translation into Ancient Belkan. If I read it correctly, it’s Argeissa Valiana. However, the original meaning is lost, so I can’t be sure if it’s a reference to the Order of the Silver Torch or not,” Kha said.
“Argeissa Valiana …” Yuuno repeated softly, trying to familiarize himself with the words and committing it to memory. “Hmm, I’ll see if I can look up anything in the Infinite Library. This will probably take some time, but thank you for your help, Grand Meister.”
“Glad to be of help. It’s a shame that I cannot be of more assistance,” Kha said humbly.
“You’ve done a lot, actually,” Yuuno replied truthfully, smiling. “Don’t let it bother you.”
Everyone became silent then, thinking about all the revelations thus far. “Well, I guess that about wraps everything up,” Chrono said. “We have to sort all the information out, look for more clues, and come up with a counter-strategy.”
“Looks like a lot of work, still,” Gabriel grumbled darkly. “Whatever,” he said, pulling his sore shoulders back and straightening his posture. “We can use some rest and work things out slowly through the night. I’m looking forward to a short nap myself.”
At that moment, Tesla brightened up. “Actually, from the discussion just now, I’ve already come up with a strategy we can use. If we can pull it properly, we can probably gain an advantage against our opponents.”
Everyone focused their attention at the young-looking Wolkenritter. Gabriel, on the other hand, literally stared at her, his crimson eyes appearing almost as if they were trying to bore through Tesla.
“What, is there dirt on my face?” Tesla asked, one hand rubbing at her face self-consciously.
“N-No …” Gabriel mumbled. “But, you mean, now?” he continued, his tone incredulous.
“Oh,” Tesla said. “Well, yes. If everyone doesn’t mind, that is.” She looked around at the others.
“Go on ahead,” Nanoha said. “I’m rather curious of what you have in mind.” The others gave her approving nods.
Gabriel slumped back on his chair. “… Ah well, there goes my rest. I’m seriously too old for all these rigors,” he sighed dejectedly. Almost instantaneously, he yelped and clutched his head in pain. “Blast it! What was that for, Xeno?” he snarled.
“Too old, eh, Gab?” Xeno said, grinning wolfishly as he flexed his hand that had given Gabriel the unceremonious rap on the head. “That ought to knock back some of the youth into you. Now, you’re too young to complain, so shut it. The young should listen quietly obediently when their elders speak.”
“You wouldn’t mind me joining, would you, Graymist?” Aurion asked mildly, looking at his left hand that, to everyone’s utter surprise, had had the transformation spell masking its real appearance lifted. Slowly, Aurion raised his hand until it was level to his face, and deliberately took his time to tighten his mechanical fingers into a painful-looking fist. A small but rather devious grin spread across his face. “Another thump of youthful restoration does sound rather refreshing. My old muscles could use some workout.”
The room burst into laughter at the exchange between the three, in which Gabriel’s verbal tirade was drowned into uselessness. Even the usually serious Chrono and, to a certain extent, Kha, chuckled despite themselves, enjoying the amusing diversion that diffused much of the tension gripping the room.
After a while, Tesla cleared her throat to still the hilarity, and the room fell silent once again.
“All right then, here’s the plan I have in mind …”