In the distant horizon thunder clashed and boomed above the ocean. The night had just begun to grow over the nation, so the sparks of lightning were clearly visible when the arcs struck together. It was the only light that briefly illuminated the dining room in the black fortress.
She was on the balcony again, watching the awesome performance. Every time a thunderstorm grew close she would stand there and watch the arcs dance among each other. It reminded her of past times, of both regret and happiness. She'd never let herself forget about the memory born of those past days. It was to be forever marked in her mind so she wouldn't repeat any of the things she'd done.
With a low howl, a figure in a dark cloak appeared from a hole of shadows behind her. Its skin wasn't visible, as the cloak covered everything, and the cloak's sleeves connected over its front. Its 'head' faced down and it didn't say anything to announce its arrival.
"Her path is an established one," the Dark King said, acknowledging the figure's presence, but keeping her eyes on the thunderstorm. "I do not think she will deviate from it."
The figure spoke with a voice far from human; "Even though she has doubts?"
"She has doubts, agreed, but she is far too stubborn to give up on her task. Mere doubts are not enough to stop her. Not now." And it's my fault she thought.
"Being a Chosen One rarely implies a weak mind." The figure uttered a disappointed sigh from within its cloak. "We should have foreseen this."
"Except she isn't a Chosen One, Leviathan. As powerful as she is, and as rare as it might be that the Tome of the Night Sky has made one, a mistake is a mistake... And mistakes need to be corrected." She looked at him over her shoulder. "Leviathan, deliver her my message."
As the order was given, the black hole of shadows appeared again and Leviathan began to retreat into it, but the Dark King stopped him with a raised hand. "Leviathan. If she refuses my offer, do not interfere."
"In your name and by your words, it shall be done," Leviathan said and finally disappeared into the darkness. The black hole disintegrated after him.
The Dark King returned her attention to the thunderstorm and sighed. It had been a mistake to send the Mariages in the first place. It had been the wrong course of action and she feared it had only made Clara stronger in her resolve. She hoped within her heart that the girl could see reason before it was too late.
*
Angelice reminded her of the academy. It was of course a lot bigger, but it shared the same style as the academy's architecture. The spires touching the sky had a golden shimmer and twisted wildly in their ascent, with sharp edges and bulbous platforms standing out against the blue sky. Next to them, on the ground, stood the massive cathedrals that loomed above the street filled with people. Stained glass windows decorated the buildings, beautiful displays of wonderful symbols and characters of yore.
The artistry overall was much more refined than it had been at the academy Clara admitted. There the purpose of learning, not architecture, was in its focus and even though it had been called the Temple of Artists, it merely referred to magical performance, not art. Still, the architecture on it had been in the same style as Angelice and it was still as lovely.
High up on one of the spire's platforms a sleek airship in a light-blue color with golden stripes docked and cast its huge shadow over the ground. Clara noticed it carried the symbol of the Honourable Sir Thomas and guessed it belonged to the Royal Air Force of Klavein. The Klavein nation was known for the superiority of their Air Force, yet Clara knew they hadn't had much success against the Dark King.
Of course, this wasn't a military airship in the strictest sense. The public rarely had a chance to see military hardware at all, other than at times of war. This one was used for public commune, forcing a slight redesign of the military version, to lighten the loads of people the trains was forced to take. Its hull was somewhat more aerodynamic than its military counterpart for an increase in speed, with most of its armor gone to give space for other utilities.
Her repetition of the countless of history lessons she had been forced to take at the academy halted when the ground began to shake and a deafening roar swept through the streets. A powerful wind followed and sped past the people on the streets.
"Mariages?" she exclaimed and took a stance. Her long hair fluttered in the wind and almost stood on end behind her. "No, it has to be that dragon again!"
The wind only lasted for a few seconds and the roar grew thinner. Even the rumble began to die and Clara noticed the old man sitting on a bench next to her, waving a dismissive hand.
"Don't worry, it's just the old girl taking off," he said.
Clara gave him an questioning look. "Old girl?"
"Look. There." She followed his finger pointing at the sky and gaped when she saw what it was. "The old girl has been scheduled to take off for a few weeks and they finally got it all prepared."
The 'old girl', which the man kept referring to, was a starship. Again the history lessons leapt into her mind, but she was still amazed to see it. She had never seen one in real life, only in old books or recordings, and seeing one for the first time, and feeling it, was amazing.
As far as she could see from so far away, the design was similar to that of a Sentinel-class dreadnought, starships built for intergalactic travel and deep space military operations. It was almost rectangular in shape and, if she remembered the numbers correctly, over six-hundred meters long and two-hundred meters high. Its edges were slightly rounded and so were its bottom, where humongous thrusters were exploding with tremendous force to rip the starship from gravity's grip. For all that magic could do alone, powering a ship of such a mass required far more than a few Alamanta Magical Force Generators. Not to mention a vastly experienced mind to operate it.
The starship rose slowly to the sky and began to be reduced to a dot. What mission it had to conduct Clara could only guess, but it couldn't be good. With the Dark King rampaging across the world one would think the resources would be better needed planetside. Yet, if such a starship was launched it only showed the existence of a far greater danger in space. Additionally, a dreadnought never traveled alone and she shuddered at the thought of hundreds or more starships taking off in other areas, heading for a distant part of space.
When the starship fell out of her vision, life on the streets turned to normal. She felt like a fool for the rash reaction and strode off, taking long strides towards a part of the city were she knew she could find a place to rest, even if it was still early in the afternoon.
To her relief it took her less than twenty minutes to find a, relative to its neighbouring businesses, cheap hotel to stay in. After paying the sum and signed a form without too many shady questions on it, she headed upstairs.
Her room was on the third floor and she discovered it overlooked the gorgeous garden in the back. As soon as she had closed the door behind her, thrown her backpack on the floor and removed the boots from her aching feet, she opened a window and felt the wind gently touch her cheek.
She took a deep breath, taking in the vastly different smells from the garden compared to the streets, and slumped down on her bed. She let her body fall backwards on it, a comfy bounce embracing her back. Without removing her sweaty clothes, she curled up on her side with her arms around her knees and fell asleep.
*
The birds in the trees had let loose their songs for quite some time and it filled the garden to the brim. Their chirpy, tiny voices was carried into Clara's room through its opened window and met her just as she stepped out of the shower, a towel wrapped neatly around her slim figure and her long wet hair sticking to her back.
"Are you still going with that?" she said with a less than amused grimace at the birds outside. "Couldn't you have saved it for later?"
She checked her magi-timer. She'd been sleeping for over thirteen hours and it had certainly been enough to recover. She hadn't slept so deep for weeks, as the dreams had teared at her mind, but this time there had been nothing to disrupt.
She dried her hair and then began to get dressed. She'd left the clothes in the care of roomservice in the early morning and they were now in pristine condition. The Tome was out of the backpack and laid on the bed. Clara gave it suspicious glances now and again, questions poking at her from within, while she put her hair in a ponytail.
Perhaps after breakfast, she decided and struck some keys on the virtual screen at the door. She ordered some locally brewed tea, a slice of fresh bread and some strange fruit she'd never heard of. She confirmed the order with a final keystroke and strode over to the window while she waited.
A peculiar bird was observing her when she leaned outside. It sat on a branch in the garden and its huge black eyes wasn't moving at all. Its hooked beak was small compared to its head, but its wings, with a mix of green and yellow feathers, were huge and seemed to be quite sharp. They looked more mechanical than organic and when the bird stretched them out to their full length, which almost measured two metres across, Clara could see an additional set of wings beneath the others. Those were more organic, but it made the bird look like a weird mutant.
The panel at the door chimed and the bird seemed to be frightened by it. It flapped its wings once and took off, rustling the branches in the tree and made some leaves lose their grip, falling onto the ground in a slow descent.
Clara turned around at the sound and ordered the door to open. What met her wasn't a butler-bot as the one that had taken her clothes earlier. Instead there was a little girl dressed in a white summer dress holding onto the tray with Clara's breakfast.
"I'm sorry, miss," she said, "but the bots have gone for maintenance."
Even though the tray was fairly big, the girl didn't seem to have any problems carrying it. She couldn't be more than twelve Clara thought and accepted the tray. Before Clara could thank her the girl made a tiny curtsy and ran off, thick brown hair jumping up and down behind her head.
"Weird girl," Clara muttered and the door slid shut behind her. She put the tray on the bed and sat down beside it. "Reinforce."
While she took a sip from the cup of tea, the Tome sprung to life and Reinforce appeared in a cloud of magical light and particles.
"Yes, Master?"
Clara patted the bed on the other side of the tray. "Sit down."
Confusion hinted behind Reinforce's face, but she did as she was told. She didn't ask what Clara wanted and waited patiently.
"Reinforce," Clara said and put the cup down, "I want to ask you some questions. About you, the Tome and other things."
"Yes?"
There wasn't any hesitation or doubt in her voice Clara noticed and asked; "First, is that your standard attire?"
Reinforce looked down on her black clothing and shook her head. "Yes, until Master chooses something else."
"Chooses?"
"Yes, visualize what you want us to wear in your mind and it'll appear."
"OK then..." Clara closed her eyes and concentrated.
Do I feel stupid now. I have no idea what I should imagine... Well, there's that of course...
Sharp black edges came to existence in her mind. With Reinforce in her memory she applied her figure to the armor and personalized it. A slight modification there, a change of shape on another part. The rest of the Guardians' appearance flooded into her from the Tome to assist. She decided to apply the same design on each of them.
Feeling satisfied with the final design she opened her eyes again. Reinforce had the armour on her with a slightly surprised look on her face.
"Is it comfortable?" Clara asked.
"Very. Thank you. Its perfect."
"The second question," Clara went on, "concerns why I have the Tome. How did that happen? There must be stronger mages in this world than me."
"A new Master is chosen by some factors that depend on the current world in which it exist. While I, as an Administrator, have a deep insight into the Tome's mechanics, this is one thing I can't provide an accurate answer for. However, I have no doubt the Tome choose you because it recognizes your strength and goal."
"And what if it's wrong?" Not that I would like it to be...
"That's impossible." Reinforce shook her head to emphasize her point. "It has never happened."
Clara rose an eyebrow, but didn't pursue it. Instead she took another bite out of the toast and waited a bit before asking the next question.
"How many Masters have you had before me?"
"I do not remember. It's like a heavy fog obstructing the truth."
"It doesn't matter what I ask does it? As long as it pertains to your memories... You can't see them."
Reinforce nodded with a sad smile.
"Right then." Clara took another sip of the tea and then stood up. "We're wasting time here. Let's move on."
"Huh? Already? You've barely rested."
"I'm fine. A good night's sleep was all I needed." She started to put on her boots. "You don't have to go back into the Tome. Walk with me out of town."
"Thank you, Master."
*
They didn't see the little breakfast girl again when they left the hotel. There were a few guests crowding the restaurant on the lower floor, but most of the guests seemed to still be in bed.
On the street it wasn't much different. The real crowds had yet to start moving and walking down the main street was easy. The radiant buildings that stretched high up into the sky reflected the sun's light to the brink of blinding Clara, but she could still see the airships moving around high up there in the clouds.
"I still wonder where those starships went," she mumbled and peered further up into the sky. For a moment she thought she saw a shadow beyond the clouds, but it disappeared as fast as she had set her eyes upon it.
Reinforce was still in the armour Clara had given her, walking next to her with her hands clasped behind her back. "Where are we heading next, Master?"
"We will soon be Klavein, we're heading to Brynstride for a last visit."
Reinforce tilted her head. "Last visit?"
"Klavein was one of the first nations to be destroyed by the Dark King. Brynstride is right at the border. It's my hometown."
"Oh... I'm sorry."
"Don't say that. I've heard it enough times," Clara said and clenched a fist. "Let's just move on."
Reinforce just nodded and followed her Master.
*
The little breakfast girl was hiding behind a crate at the exit of Angelice when Clara and Reinforce arrived there. The massive iron gate was patrolled by countless of soldiers, accompanied by magical cannons hovering behind them. The gate itself rose twenty feet above ground and could only be opened at a small house at the top of it. It was the final defence for Angelice if any foes were to break through the heavily guarded Blackwing Pass beyond it.
None of the guards had noticed the little girl's presence yet, thanks to her dampening magic. Though the soldiers' surveillance was usually tight enough to detect anything, the little girl had assistance from the Dark King herself.
She watched as Clara let a guard look over her papers, though he kept a watchful eye towards Reinforce, whom Clara had introduced as her servant. At first it seemed the guard didn't believe anything of what she said, but eventually he sighed and let them through. They dealt with people everyday, and there were some much stranger than this.
The little girl stayed behind the crate and didn't move. Her telepathic link to the Dark King continued to send visual and audio images until it was disconnected and she passed out, letting the guards discover her as she collapsed.
2010-08-16, 02:33
Graphic Designer
For those that belittle their favorite characters, complain about pairings, complain about oversexed images. Stop, thank you.
