The first room of the Sealed Cavern, where the decayed first showing of Aquaria’s symbol was displayed, stood undisturbed for centuries until recent footfalls briefly walked its floors once more. From where the symbol stood, a black void opened and a cage made of bone slowly rose from it. Most of the inhabitants of the cage collapsed in panic from the experience or relief that the ride through utter darkness was over as the light of the caverns shined in their eyes.
Sophia still stood, her legs shaky and her right hand covering her eyes as the disorienting darkness began to fade into light. The experience practically felt like a few moments of complete sensory deprivation. “Ugh, that is not something that I want to experience again.”
“You’ll get used to it if you hang around with me more,” Thanatas dismissed. “You held up pretty well for your first time; you’re actually still standing.”
“If I ever get my own unique and disorienting way of getting around, I’m going to give you a taste of it,” Sophia growled.
Everyone took a few moments to regain their senses and their wits before they looked around to see where they were. Nel opened a door at the south side of the room and breathed a sigh of relief that she was looking at the hallway back to the castle chapel.
The group was relieved to be back to safety where they could take some time to relax before they head off to their next adventure. They traveled back through the long hallway and up the stairs to the castle.
As they emerged from the passageway, Twilight received a notification from her communicator. It appeared that she would need to review the next set of entrants. As the group headed to the throne room to report to Queen Romeria, Twilight pulled out her communicator to check out the next set of inventors.
The first on the list was an impressively skilled alchemist named Misty Lear, who apparently refused to reveal her age. While her appearance showed that she looked young, she kept an air of mystery about her. She recently divorced and suffered the death of her two year old daughter. She was apparently seeking a way to save her daughter’s soul. Her last known location was a workshop in the dragon-infested Barr Mountains.
Next on the list was a young man who went by the name Lias. The profile stated that he was a refugee from a northern island nation who was talented in skills often taught to nobles. He appeared to be a pretty talented blacksmith with an unconventional technique that often produced quality results. He was another of those who was in need of funds to start up his business. He was last seen in Airyglyph City.
Last on the list was another old man who looked like he had crossed the line into senility a long time ago. Dejison was one of the oldest inventors to join the guild at the age of eighty-seven. His obsession with Greeton’s Mechanized Corps had left him scatterbrained and absentminded. Wisdom did not come with age with Dejison as his skills with engineering were amateur at best, though most likely novice. He called himself ‘The Invention King’, but that appeared to be a self-appointed title. As much as Twilight would rather leave him be, she had to give all inventors a chance. He had been known to wander the streets of Airyglyph. She could probably impress him into a contract with a fake bomb or something.
As they started walking up the stairs to the castle’s second floor, the door to the castle library flew open behind them. Half the castle likely heard the slamming door. A man with gray hair and wearing a runologist robe and a red cape strode out the door and headed toward the stairs. He spotted the group and stared at each of them as if he were scanning them one by one.
That was when he spotted the book in Twilight’s hands. “I had a feeling that one of those books was here in the castle. You must let me study it,” he demanded.
Twilight recognized the man from the guild profiles as Mackwell. She briefly looked at the Book of Prophecies then back at Mackwell. “I’m not sure why you would want this. It only has a few words written on it. The rest of the pages are blank.”
“That’s because the book only gave you part of a prophecy that pertained to you,” Mackwell explained. “There are far more secrets in the Books of Prophecies and I wish to uncover them all.”
Twilight thought for a moment about whether she wanted to give up the tome and as much as she would love to uncover the secrets herself, she also knew that she had more important things to do. “How about a trade? You can have the book and you sign on to work under me in the Artisan’s guild.”
“Yes, yes, fine. Just give me the book.” With that, Mackwell signed on to Twilight’s growing list of item creators working for her.
The rest of the trip to the throne room was uneventful after that slight stop.
Nel explained what transpired at the Shrine of Kaddan while afterward, Sophia and the others explained their plan to get off the planet and the issues that needed to be addressed. The queen nodded and stayed silent until the story finished.
“It is unfortunate that thieves were allowed to enter Kaddan, but at least the Sacred Orb is safe. I must also thank you for finally putting those malevolent souls to rest.”
Cliff turned to the others. “Alright, what do we do next? They’re intensifying their attacks.”
“If Biwig is behind this, then he could send the whole fleet here at any time,” Twilight added.
“We just need to hold them off long enough to escape on the Diplo,” Maria said.
“My ship would probably work as well, but I don’t want to risk it getting detected if too many Vendeeni ships warp into the sector,” Twilight offered.
“Then it seems that we must work together,” Romeria decided before she elaborated. “With Duke Vox now in his grave, the time has come for our country to make peace with Airyglyph and request their cooperation. If we are to provide the distraction that you need to escape our world, then you would need our Thunder Arrow. However, as you said, our weapons will not reach them. Airyglyph has the resources needed to resolve that issue.”
“Your Majesty, how can we be expected to forgive them after all they had done to us?” Nel demanded.
“I understand that this is a bitter medicine that we must swallow, but as of now we have a much greater threat looming over our heads and neither country can stand up to them alone.”
Nel knew that the queen was right, but cooperating with Airyglyph would require swallowing her pride. She was very reluctant to do so after what the Glyphian army did to Arias and, most grievous of all, that they murdered her father. However, for Her Majesty and her country, she would set her pride aside.
“We shall appeal to Airyglyph for cooperation,” Romeria declared. “We shall send a personal letter to the King of Airyglyph at once. Lady Nel, can I count on you to deliver the letter?”
“Yes, Your Majesty,” Nel obeyed.
“I’ll go too,” Cliff said. “I doubt someone from Aquaria can explain the whole situation. It’s best if someone who knows more about them explains it.”
“You realize this is dangerous, right?”
“I get into dangerous stuff all the time. Ask Mirage.”
“It’s true,” Mirage affirmed.
“Very well, you shall accompany her,” Romeria ordered. She then ordered Lady Elena to expedite the completion of the Thunder Arrow while Maria asked Mirage to assist Elena.
Since there was nothing else to be done until Cliff and Nel returned with Airyglyph’s response, the rest went about their own business. Maria asked Fayt to come with her to have a discussion while Sophia and Lyra headed back to the courtyard to continue training. Adray made a nuisance of himself by putting some of the Aquarian soldiers through some intense drills. Roger decided to spend some time in Aquios’ workshop to do something constructive. Surprisingly, Peppita decided to join him. Twilight decided to spend some time in the castle library.
Thanatas decided to check up on Dion and Ameena. She could also amuse herself by terrifying the young runologist.
Sophia and Lyra started their training off with a brief spar. Lyra noticed that her skills were improving faster than she anticipated and was beginning to give the templar master a small challenge.
Before they moved on to the next lesson, Sophia asked Lyra for a break while she checked the latest shard for what her grandfather wanted to say. Lyra nodded before her apprentice found a comfortable position to relax before she began.
Sophia united the latest shard with the crystal and they merged together into a slightly larger crystal. The crystal began to glow.
Sophia sighed, “You showed me the power of my humanity and my Protoss heritage; time to show me how the infestation within me works.” The crystal’s light flashed before her eyes and her consciousness was once again displaced from her body.
Once again, an image of her grandfather stood before her. This time, the area around him gave her the impression that he had been swallowed by some titanic creature and he was currently inside its stomach. The entire area was alive with places slightly expanding and contracting. She may not be able to feel anything within the memory, but in her mind she could imagine the slimy, fleshy texture around her.
“Do not be alarmed. I have not been swallowed, per se. This is the inside of a massive living creature that grows to the size of capital ships. If you have seen the memory of my explanation of your human and Protoss heritage, then you should know that this creature relates to the remaining part of you that has not been explained yet: the Zerg.
“The Zerg are technologically non-existent and act on pure savagery. At the same time, they also compete against the most advanced races in the universe on the battlefield. What they lack in technology, they make up for with adaptation and rapid evolution. They rely on overwhelming numbers or brute force to get through enemy defenses.
“The more intelligent specimens are masters of genetic engineering. Through collecting genetic samples from the corpses of various species with useful traits, the various warrior strains can be modified on the genetic level and gain traits to increase their ferocity and versatility. Traits can also be gained from a sample of Zerg who gained adaptations from the harsh conditions of the environment around them and the essence of the adapted Zerg assimilated.
“However, the true terror of the Zerg comes from their ability to control or forcibly alter the DNA of non-Zerg species through parasitic infections and infestation. Those who are altered in such a manner lose their will and are forced to obey the psychic connection shared by all Zerg: the Hive Mind.
“The hierarchy of the Zerg is such that a single mind alone cannot control the innumerable broods, so that single mind controls the Zerg through agents who control the queens of the hive clusters that spawn the warrior strains, who are controlled by a strain called Overlords.
“Originally, the Zerg were tribalistic, willful but following the orders of the strongest Zerg they knew. They followed only one rule: survival of the fittest. If one was weak, they followed the strong. If one is strong, they use their underlings to go to war against other packs and kill other pack leaders to assimilate their packs and grow stronger.
“Unfortunately, this natural order was disrupted when a rogue Xel’naga uplifted most of their race by creating a creature that was incapable of disobeying its master. The creature bound others to its will while stripping them of their own. The original Zerg refer to them as the ‘broken pack’. This pack was designed with a single overriding purpose: to eradicate the Protoss race.
“Hope for this pack came from the acquisition of a human with great psionic power. The creature, while it couldn’t defy its master, placed the future of the Zerg in her hands. Though she committed many atrocities on her journey, the love of another human was able to set her on the path to her destiny. By her power, the determination of humanity, and the tenacity of the Protoss, these three forces were able to work together to vanquish the rogue Xel’naga.
“However, I have been told that the events that happened in that universe you are in went a little differently from what I saw. In the end though, the result was the same.”
“Your physical abilities, such as your strength and enhanced regeneration, stem from your infestation; the Zerg-based DNA within you. Through this power comes adaptability and versatility. Improvisation should come easy to you. There is so much more that you would be capable of with that power if you should learn to control it; to become the master that dominates it.
“I must warn you to be prepared. I will show you the militaristic capabilities of the Zerg, but the next memory that you will likely find will put your tactical skills to the test. I will test your ability to lead armies to victory.”
The rest of the memory was spent showing Sophia how Zerg were born, the requirements to stimulate the evolution of their young, and the typical tactics used by the Zerg to overrun the most fortified of defenses. She also saw a vision of a future that did not happen when the last holdout of the Protoss race was wiped out.
Ideas formed in Sophia’s mind about ways to more efficiently spawn the broods without the need of structures to stimulate the larvae.
By the time the vision ended, Sophia felt a mix of emotions that included terror, excitement, curiosity, determination, and desire to rule them all.
A few hours had passed since Sophia entered the crystal and Lyra could pick up on the various emotions that her apprentice was feeling. The templar master smiled as Sophia began to wake up. “I’m guessing that you learned a lot about the Zerg.”
“Yeah, I learned a lot of interesting things; things that a normal person would be disgusted by. What I saw was like an army of clay. I saw so much potential and so many ways to shape it. It would be so easy to conquer entire galaxies with that kind of power.”
Lyra looked a little uncertain. “You’re not gonna go megalomaniac on me are you?”
“Oh, definitely not. I like challenging strong foes, not weaklings. Maybe I’d use the Zerg to knock evil galactic empires down a peg or two, but I don’t see myself ruling galaxies. That would lead to too much paperwork and I’d never have fun doing what I want again.”
“So more like running some sort of vigilante organization?”
“Pretty much. The thought of pitting an army of my making against others seems to thrill me.”
Lyra chuckled and shook her head. “At any rate, ready to learn how to produce psi blades?”
The next few hours were spent teaching Sophia how to create blades of energy. At first, Lyra had Sophia wear focusers to make producing the blades easier. As time went on, the apprentice started getting the hang of fighting with the focusers while thinking about how to focus her energy without the armbands. Toward the end of their session, Sophia had started to understand the basics of creating energy blades when she realized that it wasn’t much different from creating energy spheres as it just required focusing on a different shape.
Meanwhile, at the workshop in Aquios, Roger and Peppita were hard at work creating new things and experimenting with the workshop features. Roger was a little disappointed when he tried his hand at engineering. He thought he was on to something when he made a bomb out of a rubber duck, but in hindsight, he realized that the idea was lame. He still left it on the table.
When they tried the chemistry equipment, they created some sort of strange liquid that seemed like it didn’t do anything.
Of course, Roger and Peppita had some more successful creations. For some reason, thoughts of Peppita raced through Roger’s mind as he played around with the crafting table. Her pretty smile, her bravery, her joyful attitude, each drew Roger’s attention away from his work. However, his body continued working on his project as his mind wandered.
His skills might have been amateur when it came to most other creative activities, but crafting was what he was best at. He didn’t even think about what he was making until he was finished. In the end, he realized that he made a pair of adorable-looking kitty dolls that seemed quite elaborate.
Peppita had her own success, though that came by complete accident. She messed around with the alchemical equipment and tried to come up with something worthwhile. She had no idea what she did, but during one of her attempts at transmuting minerals, she ended up transmuting a strange-looking stone that was unlike anything she had ever seen before. The stone was transparent and had a deep red color but lacked some of the key properties of a ruby. Peppita decided to keep it in her pocket for the time being.
When it came to cooking, however, their combined skills would lose to an amateur chef most days.
This day, however, would be one of the rare ones where they miraculously created a dish that had an amazing texture and flavor, that one bite alone gave them a sudden feeling of fullness. The dish they made was so rich that only the most ravenous of gourmets could eat the whole thing.
Since they couldn’t eat the dish and didn’t want it going to waste, they placed the dish in a specialized container that the guild provided to the workshops that was runologically designed to keep the food fresh and warm.
“So why did you come here?” Roger asked suddenly.
Peppita replied as she was cleaning up, “I dunno, I just wanted to try something new. Don’t get me wrong, I love dancing and entertaining crowds, but it’s nice to try something new every now and then.” She paused for a moment. “What about you?”
“Same reason I guess. I really like going out and exploring ruins and finding cool stuff to show off to my friends and rivals and proving my manliness, but doing something constructive can be a nice change of pace.”
“Do ya do those kinds of things a lot?” Peppita asked.
“Kinda, Lucien’s group may be rivals with me, Dribe and Melt, but they are sorta friends too. When we go on adventures together, Either me or Lucien take the lead. We’re always competing to see who is the better man.”
“Why do you need to have those competitions?”
“It’s not like we’re bitter enemies. Lucien and I have always been competitive, but it’s always been good fun. We push each other to outdo the other and we find lots of cool stuff and cool stories to tell. Though Lucien will never believe that I helped stop an invasion of people from beyond our world; even I wouldn’t believe it if our roles were reversed.” Roger smiled as he thought about his past adventures. “But enough about me, what about you? It’s only fair that I hear some things about you.”
“Well…” Peppita began. “I’m like Fayt: I’m not from this world. My family is part of a traveling circus troupe that tours all over the galaxy. My uncle runs the troupe and he’s my legal guardian. I don’t know much about my dad, but my mom told me that he was a brave, brave soldier. At least, that’s what she told me before she died. I learned and mastered many of my mother’s dances that she taught me and I put those skills to use in the circus. I was gonna have my big debut before the Vendeeni showed up.”
“I’ve seen what looked like dancing when you were fighting, did your mother teach you to fight like that?” Roger asked.
“Oh no, I simply applied what I learned from my mother and adapted it to combat. Combining Symbo…err, I mean Runology to my dances has made for a powerful combination.”
“Wow, that’s amazing!” Roger complimented. “You can actually make dancing look awesome!”
Peppita’s dark skin gained a few shades of red for a moment before she shook her head and decided to change the subject. “I noticed that you have a lot of high-tech gadgets. Where did you get those?”
“My weapons? That’s actually an interesting story. Ya see, my hometown of Surferio has this really cool mech from Greeton’s Mechanized Corps. It was all beaten and rusty and someone was smart enough to strip it of its weapons in case it somehow reactivated. I snuck into the warehouse where they kept its weapons and cleaned them up and kept them for myself, right in my helmet.”
Peppita raised an eyebrow. “You know that your helmet looks too small to be carrying an arsenal, right?” she asked flatly.
“A man doesn’t give away all of his secrets, not even to the prettiest of girls.”
“Are you trying to flatter me or something?”
“Is it working?”
Peppita rolled her eyes. She figured that Roger was trying to draw attention away from his mysterious helmet. She decided to let the matter slide. She then noticed the dolls that Roger made. “Those are really cute, even better than the prizes they give away at the circus. They are so elaborate that they look almost lifelike.”
“We menodix are known for our dexterity. Being a small race gives us the advantage of being good with our hands.” He paused, looking away from Peppita as he started to blush. The performer looked at him in curiosity while he tried desperately to hide his face. Half a minute passed before he said more. “I made two of them. Y-you want one?”
Peppita’s cheerful smile brightened the whole room. “Sure!” She skipped over to the crafting table, her bell-laced boots jingling with each step. She grabbed one of the kitty dolls and hugged it tightly. She then turned to Roger and thanked him by placing a kiss on his forehead. Roger passed out with a goofy smile on his face.
It was evening by the time Cliff and Nel returned from Airyglyph. They made sure their travel was speedy by borrowing a wagon that would carry them to Airyglyph and back. Upon their return, the guards searched Aquios for the rest of the group and told them to gather at the throne room.
It was a few minutes before most of the group made it to the throne room. It was two more minutes before Fayt and Maria returned since they were at some isolated spot in Aquios. Nel softly chastised them for being late.
Romeria began, “According to your report, the King of Airyglyph has accepted our story at face value.”
“Yes,” Nel affirmed. “However, he did insist on speaking directly to Your Majesty.”
“Directly? How absurd!” Lasselle protested. “We could never allow a hostile party to speak with the Queen.”
Romeria ignored Lasselle. “And the place for this discussion? Surely he does not mean to come here?”
“No, he specified the hall with the round table in the Ancient Ruins of Mosel,” Nel informed. “He said that he wouldn’t cooperate unless we accepted that one condition.”
“Mosel!? It’s a dusty old ruin! They may have air dragons but we have to walk,” Lasselle complained, once again ignored by everyone.
“I see. In that case, we rest up for the harsh journey.” Romeria ordered. “Tomorrow we must travel to Mosel.”
“Your Majesty?!” Lasselle half shouted in shock.
“He is testing us. Normally, we would never go to such a place. But now is not the time to worry about such things. We must show him how dire the situation is by going to such lengths. We will travel to Mosel and I myself shall persuade the King of Airyglyph.”
Lasselle wanted to protest further, but Romeria shut him down by telling him that this was a matter of trust, that it must be given by both.
“Was there any mention of Bodyguards?” Romeria asked.
Nel shook her head. “Nothing in particular, guess this means that we can do as we see fit.”
“Very well, then all of you shall be our bodyguards.”
With that, the group returned to their rooms to sleep, bathe, and prepare for the harsh journey tomorrow.