Blink and Miss it, forever. [Prologue]

Griffenheim, The Imperial Palace. 1026.

The ruined body of a living God takes a deep breath. A small twitch causes the countless wires surrounding the old griffon's body to sway. The Imperial Custodians in the room stand a little straighter, their Emperor's weak physical body betrays what's inside it. A soul of a newly born God, barely two decades old, already the conquerer of his entire species. He is... was Grover the V. Grover the weak, Grover the Sickly, Grover the ill, and so many other titles to say the same thing. He was doomed to failure. Yet he lived, the throne he sat upon made sure of it. And he became more. For when he, so sickly and close to death, was placed onto it, the machine... broke. A deadly red mist emerged from it and into the city, choking the life out of tens of thousands of griffons. But in that mist, Grover survived and he heard from within that mist, the Gods themselves. Boreas' order, Arcturius' demand, and Eyr's plea. They demanded/ordered/begged, Grover for one thing, to allow them to raise the empire to greatness again. Not caring whether it was the side effects of the mist or the real deal, Grover accepted, and he was... reborn.

When his loyal Custodians breached his throne room, Grover could feel it through the opened doors, hundreds of thousands of souls begging to return home to Griffinheim, for the great city to be freed from the choking mist. And, somehow being the hardest and easiest task he ever did, the mist dissipated. It was the greatest feeling of his life. The power and strength he could feel in his veins were leaps and bounds greater than anything he felt before his accession to this throne.

Of course, when the city emptied of mist, the first problem to deal with was to find out why the Kristellthron, for that was its name, failed in such a horrendous way. Scientist after scientist was interrogated, all pointing to one griffin, Bellzar Bolzen. He was dragged to the throne, and where all who had seen it were either awestruck or terrified, Bellzar just laughed like a madgriff. He said he was given the schematics by the Gods themselves and that the mist was needed to show Grover the true way. Just hearing this made the Emperor wish to order his execution here and now, he had murdered thousands and displaced hundreds of thousands! But Bellzar's next words stopped him, he had plans for weapons and armor that the world had never seen before at this point.

The Emperor would give this madgriff a chance, if he could make this throne that allowed his ruined body to still live, then what weapons of war could he make? If he failed and tried double-crossing him then he would die, but if he succeeded then he would become the greatest scientist in griffish history. So Bellzar did and wrote himself forever into history with the creation of the Star Knights. Augmented super soldiers, new knights for a new age. Clad in armor greater then even the tanks of the Imperial tank corps, with weapons that fired not bullets but small rockets that could decimate even tank armor like a sharp blade through warm butter.

As Bellzar became history, he went about writing his own. The Empire had fallen apart, all but the loyal dogs of Bronzehill and the scientists of Yale had left him. Even worse, traitors, heretics, and malcontents abounded in what was left of the empire. By the Emperor's order, they died or were rehabilitated, ending in the slaughter of two of the Archons of the Gods, only Eros VII was spared, as Eros recognized the God-Emperor, but also as the Emperor deeply respected the old Archon. With traitors gone, loyalty must now be instilled in his people. And so the Emperor gave strength to his subjects, uniting them under himself as new generals, loyal only to their Emperor, were installed into the military hierarchy. From High ranking officers such as Heilig Lightwing, Sebastian Yorrick, Bask, and Travol to the countless soldiers in his Imperial army. And as Bellzar proved his worth, he was given the rank of Archrector, the greatest of all scientists in the empire, and he was allowed a certain free reign on his accounts. Bellzar would speak of a new way of understanding technology through a religious perspective, and though some scientists decried it as religious nonsense, Bellzar's technocratic religion spread amongst not just the scientists, but through the people, with the accidental side effect of raising literacy.

But there was one incident, one that, though no one but him shall know, shook him to his soul. His son, his beloved son, Grover the VI, that bright little cub... even the thought of it drew a singular tear from the ruined body's eye. His son fled to his cousin, Gabriella, during the mist's appearance, only to return home, not just because the mist was gone, but because he was suffering from horrible dreams. The Emp-no... Grover the V ordered his guards to leave, so he and his son may speak. His son, barely six, climbed upon the great throne, and without a word, hugged his father, forever trapped upon his throne. That was the first time he cried since he was placed on the throne, for despite his great strength, he could barely move his arms to even try to hug his son. And then, something happened. Even now, years later, he still did not know what happened or why it did. It didn't seem right, and it kept his mind swimming with questions. The two of them glowed, father and son, so brightly that he could not see through his eyes, and then... he was gone. His son, the greatest joy in his life was gone. And so, the emperor cried. When his Custodians returned, he gave a long speech about how he was with him now and so on... but only he knew, that he didn't know what happened to his son. It was the only time he wished he just died and allowed his cousin Gabriella or best friend Eros to become his son's regent.

However, as the state was united under him, one griffon proved too much, Dawnclaw. Dawnclaw thought that he was a great candidate for becoming a Star Knight. The Archrector said he was not. Dawnclaw decided to beat up the Archrector in response, ending in the general becoming wanted and fleeing to the Griffonian Republic. Somehow, between his fleeing Griffenheim and coming to Cloudbury, something changed in him. More specifically, he heard voices, voices that he thought were Maar himself, that cruel God of Death, madness, and emotion, talking to him. And so the fool fell right into the demonic god's grasp and took complete control of the Griffonian Republic, creating horrific monsters straight out of a horror story. His Heresy could not be ignored.

As the Imperium was united, the Emperor demanded that all the former vassals of the empire were to unite with him or else. None would answer his demand, and so the first unification war would begin. As the hastily made alliance of Free Herzland states raised levies and trained units, the great offensive had already started and within a month, the twin states of Angriver and Katrinburg were conquered by the swift actions of general Yorrick. And as his armies turned back to the western front, sneak attacks decimated the Duchy of Strawberry, forcing Duchess Gabriella to flee westwards into the Grand Duchy of Feathisia, the strongest of the remaining three states. Yet in but two months, Feathisia would be forced to surrender as well and then it was sweeping up some peasants and merchants princes. While the Herzland united itself, Dawnclaw, during the chaos of the war, managed to conquer Rottendedam, and quickly invaded the Skyfall Trade Federation.

Enough was enough, and as soon as enough territories in the empire weren't actively rebelling, the Emperor declared a crusade against Dawnclaw's Heresy. Skyfall fell quickly, and the horrors of Dawnclaw's Heresy was revealed to the average griffon. Maar worship in all its ways, slaughter, sacrifice, demon summoning, black magic. The war, once muttered as unjust by the subjected peoples of Herzland after the unification war, was now, rightly, seen as a righteous crusade against a demonic force. Large amounts of land changed hands almost weekly as Star knights on both sides ripped apart lighter infantry before being redeployed to other parts of the front, leaving their own infantry to have to hold back an inevitable counterattack. But when one Star Knight unit managed to take Cloudbury, that was that. Dawnclaw's heretical army started to fall apart as Dawnclaw fled deeper into the mountains. By the end of the year 1009, Dawnclaw was found and executed, and his army of heretics was being hunted down by a newly created inquisition.

For two years, the newborn Imperium held tight control of its land, slowly conquering the remaining states in the far north, the Skynavian republic and the Kingdom of Vedian. All while the imperial army was reformed into the Imperial Guard, backed by an ever-expanding industrial-military complex. As rebellion died down, and peace was secured, in late 1011, the God-Emperor of Griffonkind gave his order, the Unification Wars have begun, Griffonkind shall be united.

First was the Aquilleans, united under their "Harmonic Socialists". They fell in four long years, all while other armies were raised to conquer smaller griffon nations, Blackrock, Longsword, and Hellquill. Then the great Imperial Guard was lined against the Wingbardians and their great alliance of the entirety of the southern realm. From Wingbardy to Cyanolisia stood united against the Imperium. They would fall one by one. Five years of endless war, grinding fighting from the city of Falcor to the mountains of Creeper Mountains. It was finally in 1020, when the ancient king, Garibald Talonuel, finally died. His son,
Gumberto, though not incompetent, was not the equal of his warrior father, and with multiple military errors, the strong Talonuel Line, that great defensive line Spaning from Rumare lake to Creeper Mountains, broke and shattered. The great tank fleets rolled over the flatlands of Falcor as Minotaur/Cyanolisian units were routed from Creeper mountains. Despite the collapse of the Talonuel Line, the war would go on for one more year as the Wingbardian Alliance would fight tooth and nail, even in the great capitals of their nations. But it was done. Griffonkind, after a 2-month invasion of the Evie valley area, was united under one being, the God-Emperor of Griffonkind.

The world, meanwhile, had stood, open-mouthed and shocked beyond belief, as a self-described God had conquered half a continent. Equestria, having survived the great war a few years earlier, spoke out, calling upon griffons to reject this tyrant playing as a god, all while Equestria's mighty army, filled with veterans from the Great War prepared for an inevitable war. Hippogriffa became a refugee site for fleeing griffons from the Imperium, only to find an already large griffon minority, the refugees from Wingbardy, Falcor, Cyanolisia, and leading them was King Gumberto, preparing a mighty invasion army to retake his home, all with the support of Queen Nova. The Riverlands itself, having united underneath River Swirl, is seemingly neutral about the matter, however, the Emperor knew, thanks to reports from his inquisition, that River Swirl was trying to stir up discontent within his people. The entire world seems against the Imperium, yet the God Emperor was with them!

The Emperor sighed once more, more war was on the horizon... how long must his subjects be at the mercy of these cowardly bastards, and without a second thought, he blinked.

And his heart beated once again.

Griffenheim, The Imperial Palace.

He lay there a moment, confusion at the forefront of his mind. 'Why am I looking at the roof?' he thought for a moment, trying to move his head down, he could only barely move it when he was on the throne but the pain was worth it if he could- and move his head he did. 'That was too smooth... too painless...' he blinked as he suddenly realized, this... this wasn't his throne room.

He could feel something, he looked down at his chest... he wasn't wearing the same clothing as when he was placed on the throne... he could feel something inside him.... is that what his heart feels like? His claws twitch, and he turned his head again... he was moving too smoothly, too painlessly... He raised one talon before raising the rest... then his claw and arm. It felt a lot like when he dissipated the mist, so hard... yet so easy. He place his claw on his chest and he could feel it... he could hear it... his heart was beating. His beak opens slightly and a small laugh comes from it, it'd been so long on his throne that he was unused to his heartbeat! His claw's grip tightens on his shirt... 'this is wrong,' he thought as his head swung from side to side, trying to see as much as he could, 'I..I... I can't be back...the Imperium! My work! My... my son.' The realization hits him like a sledgehammer.

His mind starts racing, not in thoughts, but trying to get his body to move. He pushes himself onto his stomach and then tried to get up, only to fall off his bed and onto his floor. Without thought, he lets out a scream, the pain... oh how he hates it.... it made him feel so alive!

The second his scream erupts from him, guards rush through his doors into the room, rifles at the ready, he could barely stop him from scoffing... he has to be in the past, surely, he'd never let his guards have so antiquated weapons. He hastily got onto his claws, before stumbling, only for one of his guards to grab his arm.

"Steady, your highness".

"I..." Grover's beak opened and closed a few times before looking away, "What... uh... what year is it, soldier?"

Grover could feel the confused look from the guard, "1006, your highness... did you...," the guard was stuttering, he was clearly worried about stating that something was wrong with Grover.

"Say what you want guard, it's good to make sure your leader is... still there," Grover smiled as he looked back at the young diamond dog.

The diamond dog says nothing as Grover takes his arm out of the guard's grasp, "Now then, what's on the agenda for today?" Grover askes as he moves past the guards to his wardrobe.

"Uh," one guard says, "There isn't anything planned until 8, your highness... what with the New Year Party yesterday..."

Grover doesn't say anything, only starting to cloth himself, much to the embarrassment of the guards... which Grover quickly realizes, "Well, if you don't have anything else you can go, I assume you don't want to see me naked," of course, Grover is already half naked as he says that, and his guards, slightly faster then a polite person would, leave the room, shutting the door.

'This is a perfect opportunity for me... the power of Gods...' he thought as he raised a claw in front of his face before frowning... 'though just how much was from the Gods, and how much was from the throne'.

He sighed before finishing clothing himself. He needed to find Bellzar. Last he checked, Bellzar was still working on Projekt Kristellthron, since he started it in... 1004? Late 1004 he thinks...

He walked through his door, surprising his guards, "Sir, what's needed?" one asked.

"I need to talk to Rector Mikusian, now."

Greenback. 5:13 in the morning.

Mikusian yawned, he's been awake all night and was just about to go to bed when some griff, a staff member he thinks, he was honestly too tired to care, told him he has a phone call from Grover the V himself!

Mikusian's tiredness dissipates almost immediately as he rushes to his office, finding another griff holding the phone who immediately talked into said phone, "The Rector is here, Your Majesty," before handing it to the ragged Rector.

Grover's voice rings through before Mikusian could speak, "Rector, I need to talk about Projekt Kirstellthron, is it operational? Has Bellzar been doing anything too stupid with the staff?"

"Uh... one-second sir," Mikusian puts his claw on the receiver before speaking to the other griffon in the room, "Do we have a Projekt... Kirstellthron?" The griffon shrugs and Mikusian sighs before talking into the phone again, "The uh... project is going very well... very good."

"You don't know what it is, do you?" Grover says before audibly sighing into the phone, "I told you, back in 1004, during the yearly diet... we talked about how I'm not long for this world and how I wanted you to create a machine to prolong my life, is this ringing any bells, Rector?"

"I.... uh... no," Grover sighs again on the other end.

"Fine, then can you get Bellzar? He's extremely important, and I need him to be brought to Griffenheim immediately. This is crucial!"

"Your Majesty... I don't know a Bellzar... are you sure he's part of our staff?"

"Yes!" Grover shouts into the phone, causing Mikusian to flinch away from the phone, "If he's not, then check the other college's staff lists, I know he's down there! I need him in Griffenheim as soon as possible!"

"I... yes sir," Mikusian answers as Grover hangs up.

"Well..." he looked towards the other staff member in the room, "Can you get the Staff ledgers?"

Ledgers, Meetings, and Revelation

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Griffenheim, The Imperial Palace. 7:57 AM.

Kaiser Grover still hasn't gotten his ledgers. He sighs, slumping down in his chair, he could feel one of his guards stare at him though he didn't care. He had hoped his vassals would arrive for the bloody 8 AM meeting a little early... apparently not. Of course, it wasn't all of his vassals, not even all of his major vassals, mostly because they either all left to go home or were occupied with other matters. It was just Count Ignatius Bronzetail of Bronzehill and Baron Leer the Vicious, along with the power couple that was Grand Duke Gerlach the Fourth, the Silent, of Feathisia and Duchess Gabriella of Strawberry, his cousin. Of course, that's what they were after the mist's appearance, now they were the same awkward duo who ruined his feast because they couldn't say they loved each other. He somehow sighs harder, his claws rubbing his eyes.
He takes a glance around, two knights behind him by his side, a fireplace directly behind him, and a glass-encased map of the Herzland area above it in the mantelpiece. It was the drawing-room, but it's mostly used nowadays as a room for quiet meetings between nobles and the Kaiser, at least outside the Diet. It's then that the door to the room suddenly opens and Grover jumps up, back into a near-perfect stance.

It's Leer who enters first, that scarred griffon who only managed to survive the Revolution thanks to the fact that Marshal Othmar was nearby with an imperial division, just one minute early. 'Thank the Gods', he thinks, the small smile on his face genuine, 'At least someone has some care for time.'

Leer raises an eyebrow at the Kaiser's appearance, "I'm surprised you're awake and not looking... awful, my liege. You drank as much as Ignatius and he looks..." Leer gives a slight snort as he sits down at the table, the second chair to Grover's left, "He looks like a car ran him over". Leer grabs his feathered hat, takes it off his head, and places it down on the table before starting to, probably unconsciously, scratch at his scars. "No offense of course sir, seeing you in any sort of good state is blessing enough for any day".

"Leer, it's just good enough you're on time, and please don't tell Count Ignatius any of that to his face. I rather not have a fight in this room," before Leer could respond, however, Gerlach enters the room, exactly at 8.

Grover stifles a groan, Gerlach is still wearing armor. Gerlach wears armor to practically every occasion apart from the events that actually promote armor-wearing! Even... well Grover guess it might as well be 30 years, but Grover remembers that one time that Gerlach forgot his armor during a tourney! Though, Gerlach still managed to make it to fifth place, even without his armor. Thankfully Gerlach looks completely sober and not hungover at all, unlike Leer, who is just a little hungover if all that blinking from the sunlight is to be believed. Gerlach probably didn't drink anything that night... now if only Grover could remember what the hell happened that night.

Gerlach wordlessly takes a seat on Grover's immediate right before asking the obvious in his blunt way of speaking, "You're not hungover. I'm surprised, I thought you had a..." Gerlach leans back against his chair, his armor clinking slightly as he does, clearly trying to think of the right word to use, "drinking contest... with Count Ignatius?" Grover gives the slightest of nods as Gerlach shakes his head, the tiniest of smiles on his beak, "He won't like it, but I doubt he'll get too upset your majesty," Gerlach slightly bows his head as he ends his sentence.

A singular minute passes by in silence, Gerlach, as his title says, makes little attempt at conversation; not like Leer or Grover started any either, Leer was more focused on a new painting behind Gerlach, some new piece painted for the 1006 new year, and Grover was absorbed in thought. Specifically about his plans; he knows the main reason why so many of his nobles broke their vassalage to him; his placement upon the Kristellthron. That, and the mist. No one wanted to be part of that. If he can just... live longer, then he could properly integrate at least the diamond dogs of Bronzehill, and that'd be the first domino to a properly united Herzland. He could already see it in his head, first Bronzehill, then Yale, probably Katrinburg after that, their monarch really need to go to a mental asylum, but who after that would- oh finally, another noble entered the room... at 8:02.

Grover gives a small sigh as his cousin enters the room, of course, the entire room hears it. Leer gives what sounds to be a humored grunt as he turns to Gabriella. Gerlach says nothing, glancing towards Gabriella for but a moment before looking down at his twiddling claws. Gabriella's eyes barely narrow, but it says enough; she isn't pleased, and she really doesn't need anything else on her. She sits down next to Gerlach, causing the Grand Duke to slightly lower his head.

'He really couldn't make it any more obvious couldn't he?' Grover thinks before turning to Gabriella, she looks slightly hungover, there's no makeup on her, not that she really puts anything but the bare minimum, at least for nobles, on anyway, and the shirt underneath her clearly hastily put-on coat looks like it was slept in. She looks as good as any person would after heavy drinking the night before.

"Duchess," Grover says, causing the slightest of eye twitches from the tired, hungover, griffon, "I see you... recovered, from last night... of course, if you need to move away from the room for any reason, we won't care," Grover knows that Leer, despite finding it very funny that the very proud Gabriella would ask permission for anything, wouldn't tell anyone about this, and Gerlach? Gerlach cares way too much about her to do that to her. Gabriella says nothing and slightly nods, before placing her head into her claws and resting them on the table. Leer barely contains an amused snort.

It stays like this for another 4 minutes. By the time Gabriella had drunk her 3rd cup of water, the knights in the room were more than willing to get her some, Leer finally asks, "Is that drunk dog even awake? Can we start the meeting now and tell him after he wakes up some hours later?"

Grover is about to answer when a diamond dog practically scrambles into the room and kneels before the group of nobles, "I apologize for my lord, but he is... unwell... he drunk a lot, your majesty... He will... be here by..." he looks up to a grandfather clock in the room, "uh... 8... 15?"

Leer laughs at the diamond dog, "And will he be fully clothed or will he look like his ancestors?"

Gerlach's head snaps to Leer, he gets up from his seat only for Grover to cut him off, "Leer, I know that you know that we had a drinking contest yesterday. I should have you know, that whatever condition Ignatius has when he comes through those doors are because of me, and not himself, or his ancestors. Unless you wish to say your Kaiser is somehow related to the slaves of Diamond Mountain in any way apart from being their descendant's liege lord".

Leer says nothing except raise an eyebrow, 'Curious...' Leer thinks as Grover reclines back into the chair, having almost gotten off said chair during his talk, 'normally Grover isn't so... obviously confrontational... maybe he deals with hungover...ness mentally and not physically... thank the Gods, if he looked any worse then normal, his guard's probably would've thought a necromancer killed the Kaiser.'

Gabriella takes a moment to shift her head to properly see Grover. 'That's... unusual', she thought 'Normally Grover doesn't...' she shuts her eyes again as another bout of dizziness takes her, she'll worry about her cousin's sudden mood change after she feels not hungover.

Gerlach leans back against his chair again, his face unreadable as he looks down at his twiddling claws again, in thought. 'Finally, it's good to see his majesty finally stand up for... well anyone.'

The diamond dog takes this calm moment to quickly run off, probably to tell Ignatius what happened and to hurry up... probably.

Right on cue, at 8:15, Count Ignatius walked into the room, his right arm in arm with a guard and a bag in his left hand. He looks like the word hungover. He's somehow dressed slightly better than Gabriella, though he still looks like he's going to pass out any second. The normally talkative Count says nothing as he's escorted to his seat opposite Gerlach.

He slowly blinks before turning to Grover, "I... apologize for my appearance," honestly Ignatius looked pretty fine... for someone who lost a drinking contest the night before, with only an old beer stain on the collar of his shirt. His shirt itself, like Gabriella's, looked as though it's been slept in. The most noticeable part about Ignatius' appearance was his hair, it was uh... not combed. It was also the peak image of bed hair. Honestly, Grover was glad neither Ignatius' son, Barnaby, nor his nephew, Rufus, was here right now or else the both of them would be howling with laughter at the otherwise highly groomed diamond dog.

"No apology needed, Count, I was the one who started the contest, after all".

"Uh..." Ignatius closes his eyes and lowers his head into one of his paws for a moment, whether in thought or in pain Grover didn't know, before looking back up to him, "I was the one who started it, your majesty".

"Ah, well... I probably misremembered, we did drink a lot that night," Grover really wished he could remember more about what happened last night and this year, but it's been practically decades since this meeting. He'd probably remember it as they go along... hopefully. "Now, the occasion as to why we were dragged out of beds half dead?"

"Something about-" Gerlach starts to speak before getting cut off by Leer.

"The occasion is about the fact that there's been an increase in monster attacks on the border of the Scheißwald Forest and we, once again asking for imperial funds in order to train more rangers for the forest," Leer says, somewhat embarrassed.

"And where did the last grant go, Leer?" Grover asked, barely remembering what happened all those decades ago, "I thought you said they were going to train more rangers as well?"

"They were, we just underestimated the number of monsters in those damn woods!"

"While... while you keep talking about that shit forest," Leer's feathers bristle a little as Ignatius speaks, slurring a little, "We need funds as well. A series of steel mills broke down with some very expensive damage, normally we wouldn't ask this but it's Imperial owned and we can't operate on it without going through the complete mess that is the Imperial-Bronzehill industrial bureaucracy in order to get a loan the proper way,"

Leer sputters, "W-You're breaking bureaucracy just to beg the Kaiser for who knows how much money, just to get some mills up and running? I need money so my peasants don't die from a monster attack while they're sleeping!" Grover knows for a damn fact that it'd take more than a little pocket change to fix those mills, he'd face the same problem after he was put on the throne and the only way to make sure they didn't break down again was to just completely rebuild the mills. Some kind of major foundation or construction fault or something.

"Leer, while yes, it is a problem, you shouldn't have underestimated the number of monsters in that Gods damned forest in the first place. And my people rely on those mills as well, more than half the steel in the county comes from those mills and if they break down then we'll have to scrap almost all of the construction plans for this year! That'll leave who knows how many workers out of jobs!"

Leer is ready to make another outburst when Grover stands up, pounding his claws on the table, accidentally scaring Gabriella awake from her almost-asleep situation. "Gentlebeings, enough! Leer, you'll have that funds, use them intelligently. If I find out you wasted it on some vanity project I will be less inclined to help you," despite the threat, Leer gains a smug smile as Ignatius is about to say something, "Ignatius, enough. Tax season is already here and I can get you your grant next month. Yes I know that's still too long but..." Grover turns to one of the knights in the room, "Knight, get me a map, actually stay there, I'll get it myself".

Grover gets up from the seat, turns around, and surprising a certain griffoness, flew to the mantelpiece and pried the map from its casing before flying back down to the table, placing the map down on it and pointing to an unmarked location in northern Bronzehill. "There's an old imperial-owned steel mill there, it has a lot of spares and you can take them, don't worry about breaking it, it's already abandoned," Grover remembered that spot when those mills broke down when he was upon the throne, he was told there was a decent amount of spares in an old steel mill around that place. Supposedly there was more but heavy fighting around the mill between his and Gabriella's forces during the Herzland Unification war destroyed a large number of spares.

Ignatius leaned over to better look only to raise an eyebrow, "How do you know there's anything there?"

"There was..." Grover quieted down for a moment, "Look, there is just some there, there used to be a battle site against the NRP during the revolution, I remember reading about it in an old report," Ignatius eye's narrowed, not really believing it, "Look, just believe me, it's there and there's enough for most if not all of the mills".

Ignatius said nothing for a moment before bowing to Grover, "Thank you, your majesty," he says before sitting back down.

"Knight, please put back this map," Grover quietly ordered as he gave the map to one of his knights before sitting back down, "Now that that's over, what else is on the occasion?"

No one says anything for a full minute until Gabriella finally breaks the silence, "Presumably nothing then, well great," she says getting up from her chair, "This was a waste of my time, I am heading back to my room," she then leans down to Gerlach and whispers something into his ear, though Gerlach doesn't physically react.

It's only when Gabriella leaves that Gerlach gets up as well, "Sadly, your majesty," Gerlach said as he gave a quick bow, "I have to return home to De Vleugels, last I heard, the LDP is getting a bit uppity with their coalition members and I rather not have the government deadlock itself while I'm not there," Gerlach leaves quickly, barely allowing Grover to even mutter thanks.

"Well," Leer says as he leans towards Grover, "I think Gerlach might've actually gotten over his shyness with ladies," Ignitus lets out a laugh before clutching his head in pain.

Gerlach found her right where she told him, in a hallway that was very much not near her room. Gabriella is looking out a window in thought. She clearly notices Gerlach coming and she speaks loudly, "Something's wrong with my cousin".

"And why do you say that? Because he stood up for himself once without devolving into a coughing fit?" Gerlach bluntly answered as he walked up to that same window and looked out it. It was a rather beautiful view of the city, far off in the distance, he could see the hill lands of southern Bronzehil.

"No... well not just that... the fact that he flew," Gabriella looks lost in thought despite answering clearly. Before Gerlach could ask what she meant by that, Gabriella continued, "My... cousin got an illness some years ago, not unusual, there's a reason why they call him the sickly, but that illness was Hort-Wing disease".

Hort-Wing disease. It was a somewhat rare illness but it was a terror to any who got it. It started out with wing twitch, then spasms, and then complete loss of the use of said wings. Even griffons with early symptoms can barely fly, any further and it's practically impossible. Gerlach ran through that barely a few seconds of Grover flying, for all purposes he flew fine... which should be impossible.

"Are you sure he got Hort-Wing? Maybe it was some other kind of wing disease? Like the Paraflap flu or the Aquillean Wing Mark plague?"

Gabriella shook her head, "I saw it Gerlach, the twitches, the spasms... he lost complete use of his wings back in 1004, it's a state secret that he can't fly anymore. There has never been a case of any patient regaining use of their wings after suffering from the disease. Grover... something happened to him..."

Gerlach frowns, "So what, Grover had some magical spell put on him that cured his wings, and instead of telling anyone he just does it? Even then... if he hasn't used his wings for almost two years... would he even know how to fly?"

"You're not helping me, Gerlach. If anything you're making this seem like a miracle... and I don't do miracles, they always manage to help Eros against me," Gabriella sighs, "But... I need to tell you something, I got a... notice... from a friend at Yale... don't ask. My cousin called the Rector at 5 in the morning, meaning my sickly brother, who literally passed out after winning that stupid drinking contest at midnight woke up sometime at 5, or even earlier, and was completely sober!"

Gerlach paused for a moment before realizing something, "Why... why was he calling the Rector?"

Gabriella snorts, "Maar damned if I know, apparently, my cousin told the Rector some years ago to try and make some life-extending machine but the Rector probably thought it was a joke or something and now my cousin asked the Rector to go through all their documents on some Bellzar person who I'm not even sure exists," Gabriella turns around, presses her back against the wall lets out an intense sigh, "He sure as hell doesn't exist in the few records I have access to review. He might as well be some kind of ghost".

"And if he is?" Gerlach asks, amused at Gabriella's attitude.

"Then we might have some actual Gods inspired miracle and at that point, I might as well kiss Archon Eros' claws".

Suddenly a thought crosses Gerlach's mind, "Wait, Bellzar? Bellzar Bolzen?"

"You know him?"

"He's a wanted criminal last I checked, and the last time I checked was back in 100...3 I want to say? Yeah, it was 1003 because it was the same day as that other guy almost killed an NRP Politician with a fork... long story don't ask. But I think he was wanted for... I think it is something about illegal experimentation, then again with how long ago it was and the crime, I wouldn't be surprised if he was in the Yale Rectorate... probably in Gamia if he was smart," Gerlach finally notices Gabriella staring at him and slowly blinking.

"Gerlach".

"Yes, Duchess Gabriella?"

"It's just Gabriella in private please, but... thank you," Gabriella looks back out the window, completely missing Gerlach suddenly becoming very panicked for a moment before his normal blank face comes back on, "You know if we talk more like this, then this empire might actually survive the next couple years," she looks up to Gerlach, a smile on her beak, "We should talk more, Grand Duke Gerlach," she lets out a laugh as Gerlach slowly joins in. As the laughter quiets down, she quietly states, "Again, thanks Gerlach, have a good day, Duke," she walks off before Gerlach could say a word, not that he was going to anyway. Both of their minds were racing, what did Grover want with a criminal scientist?

Crying Twice

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Griffenheim, The Imperial Palace. 8:40 AM.

Grover yawns as he walked through the halls of his palace, his knights at his back. Normally he wouldn't do this, he'd either never have enough free time or he'd be too ill to do it, but thanks to certain benefactors, he'd probably not have to worry about illness for years! It's then that the thought finally strikes him. He really should see his son and oh Gods he suddenly remembered what happened the last time he saw him. Memories pop up in his head, the glow, the disappearance of his only son, and the emotional breakdown he suffered from it. He paused in the middle of the hallway, his guards stopping with him, suddenly consumed in thought. 'What if... what if what happened all those years ago happens now?' his head swam with the possibilities.

He walked over to a nearby window, clutching his head in one hand, getting a headache just from the sheer tide of possibilities. It should've been simple, it would be either nothing happens or he disappears into a golden glow, but anxiety made any positive chance disappear and only ever increased the negatives. What if someone saw him when it happened? He'd be murdered there and then, the Von Greifstein Legacy ended with allegations of Maar worship, what a fucking way to go- "Your Highness?". Grover turns his head, coming face to face, or rather face plate, to one of his knights.

"Are you alright, your Highness?"

Grover turns his head back out toward the window, anxiety slowly dripping away, "I'm... hmmm... I'm worried," Grover looks through the window towards the city. He could see it, he could practically smell the mist from all those decades ago. It made him want to vomit.

"Worried about the Empire, your Highness?"

"No... I'm worried about my son. I don't... I don't trust myself to..." Grover mutters, the knight barely able to hear him.

"Yourself to what?"

Grover says nothing as he starts to move on down the hallway, his loyal knights at his back. 'I need to do... anything... I have to deal with that... later,' he thinks, 'Maybe... maybe the Rector finally got his reports and I can finally get Bellzar here,' Grover chuckles under his breath, 'Bellzar would probably be gob-smacked with what I would do to him, or he'd say something along the lines of "I knew it, this was all part of the plan the Gods gave me!"' Grover once again chuckled before frowning, 'It's been three hours, the Rector probably has the records by now... hopefully... it'll kill time for the next meeting at... 11 AM, right. Plus, it'll take my mind off my son. Might actually be relaxing,' he thought before turning to go to the nearest phone.

Griffenheim, The Imperial Palace. 9:03 AM.

"What in the Gods name do you mean he's not part of the colleges!?" Grover's face is red from anger.

"It's exactly what I mean, your highness," Rector Mikussian's voice rings through the phone, an ounce of surprise in his voice, clearly he didn't expect Grover to go off yelling over a single scientist, "As far as we know, he hasn't been part of the colleges since mid-1005 when he was fired by Gamia's Rector for some kind of experiment that they aren't willing to discuss".

"I don't care about that, do you know where he went?"

"Do we- your highness we don't keep that kind of stuff, probably the Imperial Labor and People Department would have it".

Grover pulls the phone from his beak and sighs. The bloody Imperial Labor and People Department, ILPD, was created by his grandfather, Grover the Third. It was the greatest bureaucracy of its time, back when the only jobs for commoners were peasant, soldier, or merchant. Now it could barely track its own workers, let alone workers across the empire. There were the regional LPDs but they tend to be inaccurate or worse yet, barred against all but the noble in charge of it. Those aristocratic bureaucrats would even give the Kaiser himself a small piece of paper, kindly asking him to ask the noble who owns the land and department. Ie, his major vassals. Despite his friendly terms with most of them, they'd probably not take it that well that he was rooting around in their private records.

He presses the phone back to his beak, "Do you have any idea where he might've gone, did you get any interviews or anything?"

"Your Highness, I just got the records on the griffon. You called me literally just as soon as I got it, I'm actively looking through it, he could be dead for all we know".

"No!" Grover shouts into the phone, "I know for a damn bloody fact that he's alive, there's no way he's dead! Bellzar isn't that kind of griffon".

"Your Highness?" Mikussian sounds greatly confused, "Where... where do you know this griffon from?"

"That's not your-" Grover sighs into the phone, "He's important ok? He's a genius and he's needed at Griffenheim! He... he might know something that'll revolutionize the empire".

Mikussian is silent for a moment, "Yes, your highness. Good luck, and I may the Gods be with you," he yawns through the phone, "I really need to go to sleep, your highness, I've been awake... for more than 24 hours I think, good day".

Mikussian hangs up before Grover could reply. As Grover sets down the phone he sighs again. 'I guess I'm going to see the bureaucrats... fuck.'

Griffenheim, The Imperial Palace. 11:34 AM.

He wasted hours trying to get Bellzar's records. So many hours in fact, that his guards had to tell him that he needed to go or else he'd miss a meeting. And here he was. He, internally, sighed, he was doing that a lot lately, just thinking about it. The lean, clean machine that his grandfather created was now full of either hereditary bureaucrats who'd rather do anything else, or idiots who barely know how to read and write anyway but were accepted because everyone else didn't know how to read or write period. Now he was sitting through a meeting with some factory owner and a local noble arguing over some decade-old land issue about taxes, renting, and unpaid workers that somehow got passed up to him. Actually, wait. He thinks that that factory owner was the one who got arrested after he was placed on the throne because of a vague land-wait.

Grover sat a little straighter in his chair, he was going to do something stupid, "Enough. Wilhelm," Grover nods to the factory owner, "Sliverclaw," he nods to the noble. "I have come to a conclusion, especially after reviewing the documents," Grover was talking out of his ass, he hadn't read a word of the documents... in this life, "It states that it was signed by three individuals, two of which being your ancestors, and one being of the Rosewing family," Sliverclaw looks confused while Wilhelm mutters something under his breath, "Due to post-Revolution laws and the complete destruction of a loyalist Rosewing family, any and all land owned by the family is officially crown lands". There is silence in the room. Sliverclaw's beak is wide open and Wilhelm has his head in his claws. "Dismissed," Grover says. Wilhelm walks away immediately, saying something under his breath. Sliverclaw... well, he explodes.

"WHAT?!"

"You heard me, Sliverclaw, the entirety of the land, due to its connection to NRP members, is now officially under direct rule from the Kaiser".

"The land deal was signed in the early 900s! You can't possi-"

"And the Rosewings had land in Rima that was co-owned with another noble since the late 800s! And that was taken by the Rectorate! And there was the same in Angriever! This has historical precedent and any further arguing shall be seen as pro-NRP action against the crown!" That shuts up the noble, his eyes wide open, beak opening and closing in shock. Finally, he turns around and walks away.

Grover turns to a knight by his side, "Have the Mfös watch him". The knight nods as Grover gets up from the throne. By the Gods that was annoying, it really was so much easier when he had the blessing of three Gods and the power of a superpowered throne. Grover checked his watch, it was almost lunch... which meant he couldn't push it off any further, he'd have to see his son soon enough.

Griffenheim, The Imperial Palace. 11:49 AM.

Gabriella was displeased, not just because her hungover hadn't completely disappeared yet, but because, despite having the Mfös as an ally and spies in every realm in the empire, she can't find hair or hide of this bloody Bellzar person. At least until two minutes ago.

"Are you sure?" Gabriella whispers to an agent in one of the countless hallways of the Palace.

The agent nods, "Yes, the griffon is not someone to be trifled with, his research was so morally bankrupt that even Gamia kicked him out. We're still trying to find out where he is, but the bureaucracy is so bloated that it's hard for even it's own employees to navigate it".

Gabriella sighs, "Fine, I'll have to do it myself... later. I need to talk to my cousin about something important at lunch," the agent tilts his head, "It's a state secret, now run along, if you find anything about him, tell me immediately".

Griffenheim, The Imperial Palace. 12 AM on the dot.

Grover is quiet as he walks into the large dining room. It's built for banquets, after all, it seems odd for just two griffons to be eating at it. At least, it would be, if there wasn't a third.

"Gabriella," Grover says, somewhat surprised at the appearance of the pink griffon, "What's the occasion that's allowed you to dine with your extended family?" Grover took a seat at the table, an empty chair for his son directly on his right, and Gabriella, looking oddly... off, sitting directly on his left. "My son isn't here... at the moment, I'm sure the servants are wrangling him, you know him, so young he's probably either still asleep or he's bouncing off the walls!"

"Cousin," Gabriella's voice cuts any amusement out of Grover, "I was under the... assumption... that you suffered from Hort-Wing disease".

Grover blinks at her... why did that name sound so familiar? "I'm uh, sorry, dear cousin, I don't quite remember what this... Hort-Wing disease is meant to be?"

Gabriella's face seemingly darkens as he said that, "You... you don't remember..."

She leans back on her chair, her face blank, "You don't remember," she turns her head away from Grover and to a window directly opposite her. "Do you know, what Hort-Wing disease causes, dear cousin?"

Grover shrugged, he fucking shrugged, and oh did Gabriella want to say something but she bit her tongue and continued on, "Hort-Wing disease causes wing twitches, and you know, due to how our wings work, the slightest twitch can cause us to lose our flight for a moment and cause us to start to plummet to the ground. Did you know that?"

Grover says nothing and Gabriella continued, "Then, Hort-Wing disease causes wing spasms, like twitches but you lose control of your wings for a moment. One moment you're fine on the ground, the next you accidentally hit your head on the roof or tipped yourself over because your wings suddenly flapped. Did you know that, cousin?"

Grover's eyes narrowed, and Gabriella got up from her chair and slammed her claws on the table, still speaking, "And then Hort-Wing steals all use of your wings! It takes the muscles and makes it impossible to move, let alone flap! Never to fly again!" she takes a choking breath, her eyes straining the only way that someone could hold back the beginning of tears, "I've seen this happen, Grover... and how... how would you react, if you saw that happen to someone, see it utterly devastate their life, only to one day see them suddenly fly again!? What would you th-"

A door opens into the dining room. Grover and Gabriella turn to look, only to see an almost four-year-old Grover the Sixth standing there looking somewhat nervous. He clearly heard Gabriella shouting in the room, and seeing as though there's a small army of servants with food behind/near him, along with at least one knight at the door glancing at them, it's clear that more than one griff heard it.

Gabriella internally sighed, they wouldn't ruin her reputation, she'd just have to do a little bribing. But Grover V, his eyes were only for his son. Tomorrow is his birthday. His young son would probably run up to him and hug him, if he did that then he'd disappeared, and in front of all these people he'd be murdered, if not that then imprisoned for the rest of his li-a sudden force impacted his chest.

His son was hugging him. For a moment he thinks to push him away, try and save him from a fate he did not understand, but his body works faster than his brain, and he's clutching his son in the tightest hug he'd ever given. He presses his head into his son's shoulder and started to silently weep for what would happen... only nothing... A moment passed and then, "Daddy? You're holding me kinda tight," he slowly raises his head out of his son's shoulder, and he can hear and see the muttering from the servants in front of him. He can feel the confused look of Gabriella on his back, he doesn't care. His son, still in his perfectly dressed little clothing, with a small cry mark on his shoulder, was still here. "Are you ok, Daddy?" his son says, childish confusion and worry marked within his brilliant eyes, with his small pair of glasses just in front of that.

"I'm..." Grover's voice is congested, from the crying no doubt but he didn't care, "I'm alright son... I'm alright... can... can we hug a little more?"

His son's face beams with joy, 'How many times did he have time to hug his son all those years ago?' Grover thought as the two embraced once more. "I promise..." Grover whispered into his son's ear, not knowing that Gabriella could hear as well, "I'll be the best father I ever could've been". His son doesn't question it, he's too young to care. Gabriella doesn't question it either. Clearly, something more is afoot. For another moment the two embrace as Gabriella gestures for the servants to set their food. It's only when Grover kisses his son on the head does the embrace ended, and the three eat in complete silence. One in relief, one in happiness, and one in worry.

Gabriella doesn't talk to Grover after lunch, she needs to find out who this Bellzar person is and if they have any connection to what the hell is happening to her cousin. She decides to go directly to the source, the Imperial Labor and People Department, there is no organized paperwork and she is already wanting to not do it. And she isn't even there yet!

Grover spends the next two hours with his son, eventually ending with the two collapsing in his son's bedroom, panting heavily. Neither of them notices the whispers of the Kaiser's guards about his sudden jump in health. Grover hugs his son, he really needs to check in with the Imperial Labor and People Department, they might've dug out where Bellzar is at this point. He could've sworn that Bellzar was involved in Projekt Kristellthron at this point, though knowing his mad genius, he might've been a last-ditch effort to get the thing working. He arrives at 2:25 PM. He doesn't notice Gabriella sneak in with a borrowed key from an agent in the ILPD.

Gabriella takes an oil lamp from a spot with a large "Please refill and return when leaving" sign overtop it, because of bloody course the place doesn't have functional lights, and starts to peruse the files, names are completely unorganized, Zs with Bs, Fs with Ms. This will take forever, how can anyone figure this out?

Grover finally manages to get an experienced bureaucrat to get him to the file that Bellzar would be in. The bureaucrat leads Grover, and his two knightly guards, through the winding corridors of the building, sometimes stopping at seemingly random file boxes, before opening them up and taking a quick look through them before continuing along. Apparently, the Bs are in multiple different places. They're about to walk by another corridor when Grover thinks he hears something. He stops dead in his tracks, the bureaucrat continuing on before realizing the Kaiser had stopped. "Is something wrong, your majesty?" the spindly bureaucrat asked.

Grover ignored him as he looked down the corridor, "What's down there, any Bs?"

The bureaucrat looks down there and shakes his head, "None at all, your majesty. It's mostly As, Rs, Ds, and Os."

Grover is about to move on when he barely catches the sound of someone whispering into his ear, "God..... Emperor.... over.... here...."

Grover turns to his guards, "Stay with the bureaucrat, I'll search this corridor," before anyone could say anything, "I'm doing it, alone. Now move on. I can make it out of here, there are signs everywhere leading back out". His knights look at each other before saluting the Kaiser and started moving on. Grover turned back towards the corridor, took a deep breath, and walked down it.

Every step reminded him of something, was it magic, the will of the Gods, or just memories? Whatever it was, it followed every step, that one sounds like the gas first emitting from his throne when he was first placed upon it, in fact, he actually jumped at that sound, his wings at the ready to fly as fast as he could. That next step sounded like the clinging of a Star Knight on a patrol. That one sounded like... like when he hugged his son that time.

Was that light at the end? He started walking faster, and even more, memories erupted into his mind, the countless diamond dogs breaching into his throne room so that he could hear his subjects beg for the Gods, for Him, to free the city, the mad laughter of Bellzar, finally seeing the Gods plan come to fruition, and so much more. Wait, was that... no.

Gabriella walked down the hallway, lamp in claw, she really hated this place. She hated how the floor made her think that someone was behind her all the time, she hated how the organization system in a peasant republic was better then the Imperial Capital's system, she hated... wait a second, there's someone there! And they're coming fast!

Gabriella is knocked over, the lamp, thankfully, not shattering as it was still within her claws. She blinks her eyes at the large blob above her before her eyes come back into focus and... Grover?! Kaiser Grover was above her right now, looking down on her like.... that's not how Grover normally looks. Instead of the calm, sickly, kind eyes that he used to have, they're angry, full of life, and... well still calm. Calm and angry... a horrible combination. And then they're gone. The kind eyes are back, though the liveness is still there, it's actually kinda odd seeing his cousin seem so alive. They finally both realize that Grover is practically laying ontop of Gabriella and Grover quickly climbs off her as Gabriella blushes, not that anyone could tell due to her pink fur.

"Gabriella? What are you doing here?"

"I can ask the same, cousin," she said as she climbed back onto her feet, "But since you want to know, I was perusing the files to see what kind of history they have on our distant relatives". Grover gives her that look that tells her that he definitely doesn't believe her but isn't really going to push her. Good enough for her.

"I'm looking for a certain griffon, his name starts with B, I was... directed, to this spot and..." Grover quiets down, but before Gabriella could ask what was wrong, Grover turns to a seemingly random filing cabinet and opens it. His talons slide down the files until he brings out one... Bellzar. Gabriella's eyes widen. "So this is where they were hiding you," he mutters, not caring about Gabriella hearing it.

Without a moment's hesitation, he opens it in full view of Gabriella. It's not pretty; born on January 12th, 921, and jumped jobs a lot but they all were technically minded, eventually joined a college, got kicked out for being too reckless, then jumped around research jobs a lot until 1003 where he... oh Gods, where he tried to turn kidnapped teenagers into augmented super soldiers. And there it was in big red ink, Died December 9th, 1005. Suicide.

Grover says nothing as Gabriella's mind swims, 'This was the man, my cousin wanted to find? A seemingly useless mad scientist who killed teenagers for some kind of sci-fi project?! What the hell was he planning?!'

Then weeping. Surprised, Gabriella turns to Grover. He's clutching the file close to him and crying. Gabriella doesn't know what to say, her Grover wouldn't do that for a madgriff.

Northwestern Bronzehill. 3PM.

The diamond dog soldier drops his used cigarette and lights up another. He's the sergeant for a squad to find some old abandoned steel mill in this location, courtesy of the Kaiser himself, and they sure as hell found it. Problem was, it was ruined like those old photos of Griffenheim after the Revolution. His second-in-command comes next to him, "Enough smoking, old man, we need to see if any spares at all are still here," the sergeant sighs as he takes one more drag of the death stick before dropping it to his feet, stamping on it, and giving the order to head into the destroyed mill.

It's a death zone. There are obvious signs of a mass grave, and despite the fact that any smoke or battle debris happened long ago, he could still smell gunpowder in the air. His team combed over the factory, and the thought that it was just some random group of the NRP who made their final stand here during the Revolution was quickly squashed when they come across a monument. It had the massive figure of a griffon in outlandish armor on top of it, and upon the monument itself it read, "Here lies Captain Servia, who gave her life so that 50 soldiers of the Imperial Army could live to fight another day against the Traitorous Duchy of Feathisia-Strawberry. May the God-Emperor of Griffonkind allow her soul to return to this mortal realm, to become a warrior once more."

His second-in-command came over to look at it and muttered, "What the fuck?"

Revelation

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Griffenheim. 3 PM.

Grover weeps for what feels like hours, his plans ruined. What the hell is he supposed to do? He only paid bare attention to what Bellzar did with his studies so he knew a little, but a little doesn't mean anything when he doesn't have the schematics! Ok think, those rifles used tiny rockets... yes, crystal-infused rockets, to increase damage and range, but how? He didn't remember Bellzar saying where the crystals were from- Grover is suddenly pried from his misery by a strong claw shaking him. It's Gabriella.

She stares down at him with the slightest pity she was willing to offer to him, Grover gives the smallest of smiles but she's realized something, watching her... she doesn't even know what to call him now, it's not her Grover. Watching this... false Grover weep for some child-napper madgriff made her eyes twitch, filled her with shock and confusion. Was this really Grover? Her Grover? Did he have skeletons in his closet that even she didn't know about? How does he know about this madgriff anyway?

Grover gets up from the floor and puts the file back into its cabinet, before sighing while turning to Gabriella, "Look, I know for a fact that you probably broke your way in here, so I'm going to say nothing about you being here, and we don't talk about," he nodded towards the filling cabinet, "that or what I did after finding it, understood, cousin?"

Gabriella gave the slightest of nods and Grover turned back and started to walk away only for Gabriella to call out, "Wait, how did you know the file would be here?"

Grover stopped and looked back, "The uh.... The Gods told me," before going off again. For a moment Gabriella wonders if he's serious, before sighing and starting to go back out the way she came.

'Something's clearly not right with him.... maybe Othmar would notice something I can't? He's been friends with him since the two were born, then again, he's been stuck in the second worst state in the empire, Angriver, since the 70s. He's also, probably, the main reason that the barony hasn't fallen into open revolt,' she thinks as she quickly walks through the twisting halls.

'Then again, Angriver's been doing pretty decently recently, so maybe Othmar can peel himself away from Angriver and head to Griffenheim... or... I can head to Angriver. I heard Angriver's spring is nice and cool... or, I can just send a telegraph to Othmar... he's always open for a letter,' she nods to herself as she finally reaches the exit. She cracks it open to see, and upon seeing no one, completely opens it, closes it behind her, and quietly locks it, before flying off.

His knights find Grover in the lobby, the bureaucrat apologizes to the Kaiser and says that they couldn't find the file, the Kaiser just nods, and doesn't tell him his discovery. The rest of the day seemingly passes by like an arrow's flight. It felt like nothing, he'd barely noticed until, "Your Highness, it's almost midnight, you should head to bed," and Grover's head snaps to the griff speaking. It's a servant, dark circles around his eyes that'll probably match his if he stays up any longer. Grover looks at the clock, 11:43 PM. He vaguely remembers what he has been doing since he came back from the records office. He spent most of his time in the throne room, listening to more nobles babble on about problems he had to pretend to care about so his state could continue to function.

Oh, how he wished he had the same power he had back when he was entombed upon that throne. He'd just execute the lot of them; honestly, he probably did execute the lot of them, he just forgot all their names. But now he had to listen to them bicker. He sighed, and that sigh turned into a yawn, as he slowly blinked, "I think, it is indeed time for me to retire for bed, thank you, servant," he muttered as he got off the throne and started heading back to his room.

As he walked back, he thought, 'There has to be some schematics or diagrams that Bellzar wrote down, he was mad, not stupid. And what about Gabriella? The way she looked at me... it was like she didn't even recognize me. Well, I guess I really have changed all that time ago, but I thought I could... keep it somewhat hidden. Apparently not.,' he sighed as he entered his room, his guards taking post outside said room. He practically threw his clothing off him, hastily put them away, and climbed into bed wearing nothing. He probably shouldn't be doing this, but this is the first time in decades he hasn't worn clothing, and he could feel a gentle breeze on him and it was really nice on his feathers. For a moment he wonders, did anything else come back to this time when he blinked? But that thought was washed away but the sudden surge of much-needed rest.

Near Griffenheim. 9 in the morning.

Großmarschall Othmar Stoiber yawned loudly in the train carriage. He got the telegraph from Gabriella a few hours ago and was somewhat disturbed by what he was given. He normally would just wave it off as just some randomness from Gabriella fucking with him, but Baron Leer had stated that Grover seemed different and was surprised that the "sick old bird" actually stood up for someone.

Now Grover wasn't a coward, but from his time as old friends, Grover was more... passive. More allowing to hear people make their insults and quietly write them up on a very long list. At least that's what he did with half the palace staff when they were teenagers some years before... the revolution. He vaguely wondered what happened to that list before taking another look at the telegraph he brought with him.

Othmar. Stop.

I need to see you. Stop.

Grover has changed, mentally, in an unknown way recently. Stop.

Will explain more once you arrive. Stop.

Do not take anyone with you, except guards if needed. Stop.

-Gabriella.

Othmar sighed, he was already planning to head to Griffenheim recently, with his family, but this threw a wrench into his plans. He'd either have to ignore the duchess of the second strongest region in the empire, or just talk to her and find out what's wrong, in her opinion probably, with his old friend. The choice was obvious, and though his wife complained, she did relent once he said it was the duchess. Now he was on a train just stopping at Griffenheim station, without any guards, he trusted Gabriella enough and the soldiers were better off being back at Angriver fighting bandits.

He, along with the countless other griffons in the carriage, got up and slowly, one by one, got off the train as another batch of griffons got on it. Othmar took a deep breath, yep, the air still tasted just as foul as it was during the revolution, before coughing. Bloody air seemed a little thicker... and oddly... kind of brownish red, though he blinked and the strange color disappeared. Those bloody factory owners probably put something new in their stuff to do... something to it. Yeah, probably.

Before he could even leave the station, a knight bearing a tabard with the symbols of the Strawberry duchy upon them, walked up to him and asked, "Are you Großmarschall Othmar?".

"Last I checked, yes, my name is still Othmar, knight," Othmar spoke with a small smirk on his beak. As the knight... well Othmar couldn't see anything under his helmet so he just assumed he was frowning.

"Of course, Großmarschall, please follow me, the duchess is waiting," the knight says before turning and walking, with the Marshal following quickly behind, out of the train station, and into the city proper. Griffenheim, the seat of the empire, and, at least to those pan-griffonianists, the true and proper seat of griffonkind itself. Othmar vaguely thought if the first griffon who coined the word "pan-Griffonianism" ever realized just how much blood would be, and already had been, spilled for that idea.

The knight leads Othmar to a somewhat small car, bearing the ducal emblem of Strawberry, and gestures to Othmar to climb inside, into the back seats, Othmar does and the knight joins him. The moment the door to the back seats is closed, the car starts up and joins up in the traffic of the great city.

It isn't long before Othmar speaks, "So what did the duchess actually want to see me about? Apart from my friend?"

The knight just shakes his head, "I wasn't told anything, Großmarschall, that's just for you and the duchess".

Othmar sighs, "It's Othmar, you can call me Othmar".

Not an ounce of humor is heard behind the faceplate of the knight's helmet as he says, "Of course, Großmarschall," Othmar sighs again before looking out the window, watching the passing streets of the ancient capital. Gods, how long ago it felt when he and Grover played around without a care in the world. He could still remember when Grover, or little Grovy as he called him, to make sure not to confuse him with his father, saw his first car. He could still remember Grovy telling him he could keep up with him forever now. Then Grovy got told that cars needed fuel to run and weren't allowed inside the halls of the palace, or in the yards outside it. The look on Grovy's face would've been hilarious if it wasn't also depressing

Othmar sighed sadly as he remembered those days; Grovy got told that just a few months before he turned 18, which was so close to... the Revolution. As much as the press and historians would love to say otherwise, he was just a normal 20-year-old griff who found himself in control of the few imperial units loyal to the Kaiser outside the capital. And combined with the complete mess that was the revolution where no one knew who to trust, and facing the prospect of his closest friend being dead, murdered by the very griffs he was fighting... he was, and still is, surprised he was able to keep, not just some amount of morality, but... everything he did, treating prisoners well, dining with commanders, the like... well, if he disappeared today, history would simply write of him being a gentlegriff officer who saved the empire without compromising his morals, and he didn't know how to take that. He still respected the Republicans, in that strange way you can respect a lifelong rival who has similar ideals to yourself, but in such a different way of achieving them.

He glanced back towards the knight, looking straight forwards as though he hasn't moved at all since entering, Gods he probably hasn't, but if he knew what was going through Othmar's mind, he'd probably call him an NRP sympathizer and try to arrest him. The mere thought of the officer who helped save the empire being arrested for being pro-NRP drew a small chuckle from the griff.

Suddenly, as if the chuckle reminded the knight that someone else was in the car, the knight asked, "How was the train trip, Großmarschall?"

Othmar turned towards the knight as he spoke, "Better than I thought I'd be, I only had to get off at a different station and head to another station once, and after that, it was smooth riding to Griffenheim, I'm honestly surprised any of the big nobles managed to not... disagree with each other long enough for the railroads to be connected up this well!" Othmar gives a chuckle under his breath as the knight says nothing more, "Right... good talk," Othmar mutters before turning back towards the window on his side of the car, 'Where the hell does Gabriella get these tight-lipped knights, even the band of knights back home talk more than this'.

It's 30 minutes past 9 when Othmar finally arrives at Gabriella's personal estate in Griffenheim, it's somewhat humble compared to most other noble houses, the only difference being the proper amount of flags, emblems, and general symbology showing that this specific estate belonged to the duchess of Strawberry. He's led in, harassed by a guard who wasn't told that anyone was being summoned, and is soon at the door leading directly to the duchess. He takes a deep breath as one of the twin guards, both wearing tabards with the emblem of Strawberry upon them, knocks at the door, before loudly speaking, "Duchess, the Großmarschall has arrived, shall he be let in?"

After a few seconds, a loud voice erupts from the other side of the door, "Send the Großmarschall in, please," and the guard cracks open the door for Othmar to squeeze into the rather spacious room, which looks to be some kind of combination of a study and living room, and in one of the chairs of the study sat the Duchess herself looking off at some landscape painting. Wordlessly, Othmar walked towards her and sat on the only chair facing her.

"Why do you want me, Duchess?"

Gabriella sighed before looking Othmar in the eyes, "Grover regained his ability to fly," and suddenly everything stops. Gabriella looks back off to that painting as Othmar sits there, in confusion, then realization, then shock.

"He... regained the use of his wings? I don't understand, when did he lose it in the first place?"

"He never told you? He had the Aquaillean Wing Mark Plague," Othmar didn't say anything for a moment, the slightest frown on his beak, before slumping down in his chair.

"He didn't tell me... h-how did he- he recovered, right? We have the best doctors in Griffonia! Why else wo-"

"He got the illness back in 1004. He hasn't been able to use his wings for almost two years, until now of course".

"What? Then how did he- what-" Othmar takes a moment to breathe, absorbing the thoughts, "How did he... regain use of his wings.... what happened to my friend?"

Gabriella gave a sad frown, "So much, Othmar, so much... but it certainly started yesterday, at around 5 in the morning".

Griffenheim. Just turned 10 AM.

Grover had no meetings until 4 PM, so, after he accidentally scared his maid who came into the room thinking he was clothed, try and figure out how the fuck Bellzar Bollzen made those guns and armor. It was coming along... very poorly.

Grover had already spent the last 3 hours, he woke up at 7, just getting the necessary blueprints-to-be and equipment to write down what the armor and guns were. He had spent the last ten minutes just looking at the pieces of paper, after just drawing down the suits of armor and guns just trying to remember how the hell they worked. Another minute passed and Grover lowered his pen, the tip just on the board, ready to draw out the first of the greatest weapons that griffonkind would ever see. Then another minute passed and Grover raised his pen... he couldn't remember anything.... he didn't have any reason to remember how his star knight's armor or weapons were created from the basic level. And no one could, Bellzar was dead, his imperium was gone, there was no star knight who could give his armor or weapon to a team of scientists... there was nothing except memories that simply didn't remember the important parts.

Grover's grip around the pen tightened, and anger flowed through the griff's body, before Grover sighed, and placed the pen back into its inkwell. There was always next time... he had a few years to remember... maybe even telling his scientists about it could make them produce a, albeit a probably weaker, version of those weapons or armor though... then they'd ask him where he got the idea.... then again he could just say he got it in a dream or in a fit of prayer. Somehow he doubts they'd accept that. But... he had to at least try, he'd send some of his "schematics" as well.

Grover grabbed one of the many pieces of blank letters and the pen again and started to write.

A Discussion Between Old Friends

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Griffenheim. 11:09 AM.

Gabriella had stopped speaking for a few minutes now, and honestly, she was starting to get a bit worried about Othmar. For around halfway through her talk about what happened to Grover, he looked away, seemingly in thought, though he clearly still paid attention because he flinched at the mention of Bellzar's... experiments on teenagers. She was about to open her beak when Othmar held a claw up, "So Grover has... I need to talk to him to better understand what's gone wrong... if something's gone wrong. Because, no offense to you Gabriella, I can't just hear you list off these... impossibilities without hearing from Grover's side of it".

Gabriella nodded, "I don't blame you, Othmar. This is definitely the kind of thing that if it was you telling me about... all of this, I'd want to talk to Grover about... this".

Othmar got up out of his seat, "Then let's go see him, last I checked there wasn't a riot going on so my friend probably isn't dealing with anything that important, right?"

Griffenheim. The Imperial Palace. 11:33 AM.

Grover blinked once, twice, and then a third time before asking, "You found.... a statue in the mill?".

The diamond dog diplomat, for the Count had gone home yesterday, repeated once again for the Kaiser, "Yes, the mill had a statue to a... Captain Servia, that, along with the mass grave, it seems as though the mill was a battle site".

"Alright... and the spares were there, yes?"

"Enough until tax season yes, your majesty, but the statue had writing upon it that was... confusing," the diplomat paused, seemingly worried to say it out loud.

"Well? Speak it out!" For a moment the name Servia sparked something in Grover's mind, a memory of someone, but he couldn't really think more of it, it was like sand through his claws, the name somehow only making the sand harder and easier to grasp.

"It said... and I quote, 'Here lies Captain Servia, who gave her life so that 50 soldiers of the Imperial Army could live to fight another day against the Traitorous Duchy of Feathisia-Strawberry. May the God-Emperor of Griffonkind allow her soul to return to this mortal realm, to become a warrior once more.' Unquote, your majesty. A-as you may hear, it's not... a normal statue, the Count is unsure on what to do about it an-"

And Grover heard nothing more come from the flapping maw of the diamond dog, he just sat there in shock and dawning realization. 'How could.... did something more come through with him into the past? If so, then... then what else? Is this why Bellzar die? Was he suddenly hit with visions of the future? Will... will someone else remember the..... no I can't think about that... I need... Servia. Servia was a Star Knight... think, Star Knights were most commonly buried in the... in their armor. It's clearly a monument to a battle, and a mass grave was found. The Star Knight buried underneath that monument almost certainly had her bolter buried with her, and the mass grave... even if it was Ducal troops, that meant they had weapons that were years ahead of ours right now...'

"Your Highness?" and Grover is snapped back to reality as the diamond dog bows his head, "What are your orders, your majesty?"

Grover closed his eyes and gave a deep breath, "I want to see the monument in person, move it here since I can't go to Bronzehill at the moment, I want the griffon buried underneath that statue to be dug up and brought to my scientists in... in the Griffinheim Institute of Mechanical Technology. I want the mass graves dug up and any armor or weapons brought to the Institute of Mechanical Technology as well. Any griffons dug up are to be sent to Gamia. The mill itself is, still, not to be used," Grover opens his eyes and looks back down to the diamond dog, "That are my orders. Send them to Count Ignatius."

The diamond dog quietly and quickly writes it down before bowing and leaving. For a moment, Grover sat straight, appearing as a picture-perfect monarch upon his throne, until he slumped forward as his claws met his face. 'Oh Gods, please let no one else remember the future,' Grover whispered into his mind, 'I... no one... the empire would fall apart underneath the truth.'

It is then, that the door to his throne room is opened, and Grover springs back to his prior appearance. It's only a moment before Grover realizes who has entered, it's Othmar of all griffs?

"Othmar?" Grover asked, somewhat confused, "I didn't know you were arriving, If I did I would've sent someone to greet you!" Grover got up from his throne and approached his old friend.

"Yes well," Othmar stated as the two met face to face, "you know I don't like that kind of thing, plus I wanted to spend time with my family here but things have... changed".

"Really? Well, I'm sorry for your wife and kids, I'm sure they would've loved being in Griffenheim for a few days, but why are you here alone then?"

"I'm... can we talk somewhere more..." Othmar looked around at the relative openness of the throne room, "private, Grovy?"

Grover smiled, "Fine 'Oatmar', we can talk somewhere else," Othmar sighed as Grover quickly ordered his guards to escort him to a private chamber nearby.

Othmar muttered, "I thought you forgot that nickname".

"Oh I did, but calling me Grovy just brought it back, Oatmar," Grover smiled in a way that seemed oddly unusual for the otherwise sickly griff. It wasn't off as in it didn't seem right, it was just... surprising seeing such a thing from Grover, even when he was younger his smile always held the slightest bit of discomfort, whether from an illness or just in general. Honestly, Othmar was just glad his old friend seemed better, though he did still grumble at his old friend's nickname.

Once the two sat down in some random private chamber, Othmar decided to bite the bullet and ask, "Alright, Grover... can you explain something to me. You... supposedly had a disease called Aquillean Wing Mark plague... is this correct?"

Grover thought for a moment, he had, yes, but he didn't really remember what the disease was about, most likely had something to do with wings, but then again he had a disease that was called the Knee Bumping illness and it wasn't just weak knees he had back then... "Yes, yes I did have it, but I got over it, why do you ask?"

Othmar blinked in surprise before looking down at his clenched claws, "Can... can you fly for a moment? Just a moment? Just fly from one point of the room to the other?"

Grover raised an eyebrow, "And why... why would I do that? My wings are perfectly fine, Othmar, if that's what you're worried abou-"

"Please, just... do it, for me, alright?" Othmar was still looking down at his claws, so tightly clenched that Grover was a bit worried that he might cut his own claws. Grover sighed as he got up. The ceilings were all built high in order to promote flying after all, so this would be easy. Grover flapped his wings once and he was off the ground. Grover flew, almost mockingly quickly, from one end of the room to the other before landing back in front of Othmar.

"There, now can you please stop clenching your claws so tightly, it looks like you're about to hurt yo-"

"Are you... completely certain that you had.... that Wing plague... Grover..."

"Uh... yes? I just got over it, I don-"

"Why are you lying to me, Grover?" Othmar shouted as he jumped up out of his chair, "Do you think..." Othmar claw went to his forehead, as though his thoughts were about to break through them, "do you not actually know what Wing Mark Plague does to you? Are you joking? Lying? S-what happened!?"

"Othmar! Cal-"

"I will not calm down, I want answers, do you know what Wing Mark Plague does to you?"

Grover said nothing as Othmar bored into Grover's eyes, "I see," Othmar sighed, "Wing Mark Plague takes the use of your wings away, you haven't been able to fly for almost two years now at this point. Can you see the problem here, Grover?!"

Grover sighed, "Look, there's a clear answer here. I...." Grover paused, gulping.

"And what is that answer, Grover?"

"I'm... I'm literally blessed by the Gods, Othmar. Th-they whispered into my head and told me I was cured!"

Othmar says nothing and just blinks.

"You have to believe me, it was the Gods! They cured me and taught me how to fly again! I am literally blessed by the Gods!"

"Grovy".

"Yes, Othmar?"

"I believe you," Othmar said before walking past Grover and out the door. It takes a moment until Grover realizes that Othmar didn't sound completely insulted by Grover's statement that he was cured by the Gods. It takes until the door closes that Grover realizes he probably should've chased after him to better explain what he meant.

"Fuck".

Griffenheim. The Imperial Palace. A random hallway. 12:07 PM.

Gabriella opened her beak before closing it again in confusion, she took a deep breath before asking, "And you could tell he was being.... serious? He wasn't joking?".

"As far as I could tell no, he was in fact not joking about it... by the Gods, something's clearly wrong with hi-"

"Something's not wrong with him, he's just..." Gabriella sighed and pinched the base of her beak, "ok yes something is wrong with him, but-"

"But we need to deal with him, restrict his power at the least!"

"His power is already restricted, his fucking nickname is weak!"

Othmar shook his head, "That doesn't matter anymore, clearly Grover's done... something in order to cure his wing disease, and the fact he can fly like any other griffon despite not being able to fly for almost two years... he isn't the sickly anymore," Othmar chuckled sadly, "We might have a mad, religious Kaiser, who had a miracle, on our claws... what a fucking mess."

"You speak of him as if he's going to cut all our heads off. Despite his," Gabriella coughed, "mental and physical changes, he's still your childhood friend, he's still my cousin. That son of his is still my little nephew. He's still... him... just changed".

"As though a changeling took his place. Are you sure it's not the changeling's doing something?"

"I already have my friends in the Mfös checking, as far as we can check, without dragging the Kaiser for testing, Grover's still Grover. Even if he was a changeling... I don't think a changeling would say the things I heard him say to little Grovy."

Othmar sighed, "We should talk to the Archon," Gabriella snapped her head to him only for Othmar to continue, "I'm serious. Archon Eros might help, if he can't help us, then we at least need the religious heads behind us in case we try to... limit any more power from Grover. Gods forbid, we'll definitely need their help if we even attempt to... dethrone him".

"We aren'-" Gabriella's shouting stopped suddenly, only for her to start whispering instead, "We aren't dethroning him, it'll tear the empire apart, the people won't understand, and Grovy is nowhere near old enough," Gabriella muttered even quieter, "And I'm not ready to become a regent yet..."

Othmar sighs, "We still need to tell the Archons. At least Eros! Does Gerlach know?"

"Yes, Gerlach knows bu-".

"And you haven't told the Archons yet? By the Gods, Gabriella, at this point, asking him for help to keep the empire safe is better than whatever rivalry you have with him!"

"The Archons will turn this sudden curing into a divinely inspired miracle! And if they hear what Grover says about, what, these voices in his head-"

"Then they'll start trying to limit his power too, which is why we need to talk to them, so we don't get cut out of it, or worse, seen as part of the problem with Grover. Neither of us wants to be the Imperial version of Katrin's regency council right?"

Gabriella sighs, "Fine, I'll... I'll talk to the Archons... but you, and Gerlach because I think he's still here, are coming with me to talk to Eros and only Eros!" She takes a moment to calm down, "Please, come to my room at 7. I'll have Gerlach over by then".

Othmar nods, 'It's a start at least,' he thinks as Gabriella turns and walks off.

Griffenheim. The Imperial Institute of Mechanical Technology. 3 PM.

In all of his days as the head scientist of the Experimental Firearms R&D department had Mudcrest never seen as weird as a schematic as the one given to him right now, and supposedly from the Kaiser himself, so instead of just throwing it away, he has to actually look at them. And they made no fucking sense at all! The Kaiser clearly jumped from point to point with random little details. There was a crossed-out section about some griff called Bellzar, about how he was the only one to actually understand what he was writing, and honestly, Mudcrest wanted to meet the kind of griff who could look at this and make sense of it!

Mudcrest sighed as he put the schematic down on a table before sitting down. He had no idea what to make of it, he just about decided to throw it away into a distant plan, the shooting rockets part seemed decent enough it's just that they have no way to make rockets as small as a machine gun bullet, when one of his assistants walked in.

"Ah, boy, come here," Mudcrest said as he sat up, "can you take a look at this? Don't think too deeply about this, in fact, I recommend you laugh. Just look at it for a moment."

The assistant walked over and leaned over the schematic, a few seconds passed as Mudcrest silently chuckled at the confused look on the assistant's face, that was until the assistant muttered, "I think the rocket can be made that small..."

"I'm sorry?"

"The uh... the crystal sir, there's a type of crystal in Bronzehill, extremely explosive and dangerous, but it's powerful enough that it could be made into a rocket as small as that without it being useless at long ranges".

Mudcrest said nothing as he leaned over the schematic, "That small? Then why haven't we tried to use it yet?"

"It's illegal to use it, sir, that's why I said think.... sir, it's... incredibly illegal. Illegal since... since before Grover the third I think, sir".

Mudcrest looked down at it again before turning to the assistant, "Grab me a pen and a blank letter, if this works and the Kaiser allows it, you're getting a promotion, boy".

Griffenheim. The Imperial Palace. 5 PM.

Grover sighed happily, ever since coming back, he loved coming back to the dining room. It was a place of peace and comfort, where petty nobles could piss off with their reports, and he could spend some much-needed time with his beloved son. These little things were definitely what he missed after he was placed on the throne in the future.

He was about to ask his son if he wanted more beef, of course, the boy probably would smile and ask for more, he loved beef after all, only for the door to the dining room to open. Grover presumed it was just another staff member, but glanced towards the griff anyway. And his heart skipped a beat.

A tall, albino griff stood there, his hat in his claw placed upon his chest. Dawnclaw. Ferdinand Dawnclaw. The son of a bitch heretic who- he needed to calm himself now!

He took a deep breath, it was the most shaky, shuddering one he took since coming back to the past, his son's face immediately turned to worry and it made his gut twist in sadness, "I'm fine, boy, just... fine".

He turned towards Dawnclaw, the tightest fake smile adorned upon his face, "How are you, Oberstleutnant Ferdinand Dawnclaw?"

Dawnclaw paused, a hint of confusion, and oh-so-delicious worry, upon his face, "I am doing fine, my Kaiser, I'm just here because the general staff asked me to inform you that there is a meeting at 9 in the morning tomorrow, my Kaiser."

"And why did they ask you to come here and not some messenger boy, or something?"

Dawnclaw frowned, "Because they felt it was a good idea to send someone of comparatively high ranking to inform the Kaiser of a high-ranking meeting".

"I... I see, very well, tell them I'll be there at exactly 9 in the morning, understood Oberstleutnant?"

Dawnclaw only saluted Grover before turning and marching out of the dining room.

"Are you alright, Daddy?" his son asked.

Grover turned to him and gave him a genuine smile, "I'm fine, dear, very fine."

"Why... why are you holding your knife so hard, Daddy?"

Grover looked confused for a moment, before looking down at his claw, and the knife it held. It was shaking... he didn't remember grabbing a knife. Grover gave a gentle sigh as he placed the knife on his plate, "I'm just..." Grover turned to a staff member, "Staff! Take my plate and utensils... I don't need them".

His son only looked on in confusion and worry as his father slowly wiped his claws with a worried, with the slightest bit of fear, look on his face. His father muttered, "I'm just fine, boy.... I'm just fine". Grover the VI didn't believe him.

Cracks in Dreams and Reality

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Southern Wingbardy. 6 PM. January 2nd, 1006.

In all of his days for years on end, Gumberto never felt this disgusted with himself. It was why he was out here, in the countryside on the first hunt of his life, no matter what his constantly surprised staff and friends mutter behind his back.

It all started yesterday, he awoke, as usual, with piles of empty bottles of wine around his bed, and his drunk and hungover friends all over his personal manor. Yet instead of the normal emotions he felt towards his hedonism, from contentment to wonderings on if he should try and seduce that griffoness he saw last night, he just felt... disgusted. So completely and utterly disgusted that he ordered the staff to clean up the entire manor, before leaving shockingly quickly in a car that Gumberto had never even driven in himself, with such competence that would make any griffon doubt if the griff drunk half a cask of wine the night before, which he had, and that thought alone made Gumberto stop at the side of the road and vomit over the side of the car before driving off again in one direction, his father and mother's manor. Breakfast was already cooked, with a more hastily prepared one for him, his staff called his father, when he arrived, and much to the surprise of his parents, he didn't complain about a single thing and refused a, though still joking, cup of wine from his father.

The conversation was weird, not just in that his parents barely talk to him despite being family, but in the fact that Gumberto's personality seemed flipped. He asked an off-claw question about a race, and when his father asked why he wanted to know, he said he wanted to race in it, leaving his father, though thankful his son is doing something more than boozing around, more than a little confused! Those little things throughout the conversation over breakfast only made the two monarchs more and more confused and worried for their son, until eventually, Talonuel got up and asked his son if he had taken any hard drugs. Instead of confirming or trying to deny it, Gumberto gagged at the mere thought of it before telling his father that he's just had enough of dealing with it all, the booze, the hedonism, everything.

Talonuel stood there in confusion as his son just... ranted about everything he hated about the lifestyle he had carried out for years! When Gumberto finished his ranting, he just kind of blinked and slumped down in his chair, clutching his head in his claws. Before either of the worried parents could move, Gumberto got up out of his chair and said he was going hunting, he needed to get away. Neither of his parents said a word, Talonuel in both worry and thankfulness, thinking that maybe the Gods themselves had influenced his son, and his mother in just worry.

Which led back to here, and his very improvised hunting. Despite never being on a hunt before, he just... knew how to do it. A hunter his father hired on to track prey quickly found himself not needed as the novice hunter who never hunted before managed to track a rather moderately sized non-sentient deer in a matter of minutes entering the forest. Of course, if only his damn bloody "friends" could shut up for a bit for him to actually get close enough to shoot the beast. The hunter advised him to just tell them to leave, but by that point, they were already so deep in the forest that honestly, his "slightly" drunk "friends" would just get lost and killed and the hunter rescinded his advice after being told this.

But finally, after hours of tracking, and with some careful shutting up of his "friends" the two of them managed to find it. Not an actual deer sadly, but an obvious grazing site, not so grazed to no longer be used, but still enough so for it to be recognized. This is where the hunter came useful, he brought some bait, all nice and sealed in his bags, to bring out any creatures. They planted it at the site and waited, shushing his "friends" every few seconds, much to Gumberto's quickly raising annoyance and anger, maybe he should've left them to die in the forest.

One minute passes, then another, then four more. Finally, Gumberto whispers, "I think the bait's not cut out of the jar".

The hunter shakes his head, "No I made sure, there's no way."

"Are you sure you're sure?"

The hunter blinks before slowly lowering his head with a blush of embarrassment barely showing through his feathers.

Gumberto sighs and looks over to his "friends"... before pausing... that one... uh... Erico... he seemed... Gumberto wasn't sure what he was thinking when he called him over, or when he asked him specifically to check the bait, he seemed no soberer than the others, or anywhere as competent. But something just screamed at Gumberto about him and without thought as Erico slowly, and somewhat drunkenly, walked over to the bait to check on it, Gumberto turned to the hunter, he was looking away, gazing out into the wilderness, Gumberto turned to his "friends" behind him, all of them were fucking around and doing nothing... they weren't noticing him.

Without a single word, Gumberto placed the butt of the rifle against his shoulder, he gave a small breath as he aimed in on the bait... and more specifically, Erico. It's only then that Gumberto realizes what's he doing before-

BANG

And the corpse that was once Erico collapses to the ground. There's sudden chaos as his "friends" behind him panic and flee into the forest, the hunter next to him gapes in horror, but Gumberto, almost absentmindedly, cycles the bolt of his rifle before getting up and slowly approaching Erico. His mind is racing, what the hell has he done? Why did he do this?

As he accidentally steps in the quickly enlarging puddle of blood, suddenly Gumberto collapses to his legs, clutching his head again, only this time he's seeing... something... it. It was Karthin... it was burning. He could see endless swarms of griffons, all clad in either strange green armor, or heavy body enclosing blue armor, stronger than any tank he could see. He saw massive tanks plowing through his home, through the capital of Wingbardy. And he could see... his griffs? Yes... soldiers. His soldiers were carrying a griffon, chained up tightly, his wings bound, and countless injuries across his body. But still the griffon escapes, and he's there, Gumberto is there, he's seeing himself fight this griffon, before using a pistol to shoot him in the head, just under the right eye, Gumberto's yelling... he can't hear himself but he's yelling about... a traitor?

It is then that he properly sees Erico's face in death. It's not good, he shot him in the head, just under the right eye, it clearly didn't go straight through since he could see the blood pooling up the wound itself before flowing down to the ground. He looks exactly like that griffon. It's then that Gumberto realizes every little thing that suddenly changed about him in the past few days, and within a second, he's vomiting out his breakfast on the floor of a forest in Southern Wingbardy, not knowing if he's going insane or not.

Northern Griffonian Republic. Whitetail Mountains 1 AM. January 2nd, 1006.

A griffon silently flew into a tiny village on the outskirts of the Republic. His goal is the largest building in this village, the church on the hill. The griffon was covered in a thick, obscuring cloak, drawing curiosity but no questions to the griff, he had come the night before, and it was likely he would come again, probably just another bandit trying to seek redemption. The cloaked griffon enters the still-lit church, this is why he came here specifically, the church operated midnight sermons, and the griffon needed that in order to make sure griffons back home don't worry about him. He quickly takes a spot at a completely empty pew as the priest rattles on about religion.

It then that the griffon sighs, and slowly raises his head, showing himself for but a moment. Blue feathers with a small straight mustache on his beak. Suntail, Reinhard Suntail. NRP Commander and Bandit Warlord of half of Republican-controlled Whitetail Mountains. He had come here for one reason and one reason only, nightmares. Horrifying nightmares the likes of which had caused the previously irreligious griffon to rush to church for two nights in a row. They were always the same, Kemerskai brings him and Rosewing, that damn monarchist, into a room and officially pardons them and their troops if they stop raiding. Before either he or Rosewing could respond, however, the room would collapse, revealing... what could only be described as a torture room. Whether from blinking or turning his head, Kemerskai and Rosewing disappear, leaving him with a single griffon. A tall albino griffon with rage-filled red eyes and a sinister presence around him.

That was when the pain began. Nails driven through him, knives cutting off slices of flesh like butchering, Maarite symbols carved into his flesh, and it was always when that happened did he hear it... it had to be Maar, whispering, demanding him to obey, to worship, to cry out in praise of that damnable god! Twice now he cried out in pain, praising Maar, just to make him stop, only for him to laugh and say he wasn't fervent enough. And then he would awake in the middle of the night, sweating through his clothing so much that it was useless to wear without cleaning.

He knew of this town because one of his soldiers came here every so often but now... Now Suntail didn't know what to think anymore. He couldn't think he couldn't plan he couldn't do anything, he just was... exhausted. Suntail raised his head a little as he realized that the sermon was coming to an end, he must have arrived later than he thought he did. He slowly got up, only for the priestess, a middle-aged-looking griffon, to clasp her claw on Suntail's shoulder before whispering into his ear, "I know who you are, Republican General, stay here and we can talk."

Suntail looked up to this griffoness in surprise and worry, and as the last of the churchgoers left and only the two remained, the griffoness continued, "You are clearly not in the greatest of conditions, general, especially since last time you were covered in sweat and even now I can see the sweat on your beak... night terrors?"

"Yes, you can say so..." and Suntail did say so, revealing, not all, but enough of his nightmare to the griffoness until she raised up a claw.

"You have been touched, general, touched by Maar himself."

Suntail's eyes widen in shock before the priest continued, "But I think I know a way to... if not dispel the touch, then at least weaken it. Please, general," she slowly started to shove/push the general to the altar, "Pray with me, general, please".

The general kneeled at the altar, as did the priest, and silently prayed. He never really did this much, not since he became part of the Revolution back in 978... is this why Maar saw fit to taint him? Was it really Maar? Was it just his mind? He... he did not know. He only knew that as he prayed, he could still hear whispering in the back of his mind.

Griffenheim. 5:20 PM. January 2nd, 1006.

Prelate Celeste Lightfeather was a staunch believer in Arcturius, after all, she was a priest of Arcturius, why wouldn't she? But she had been... troubled lately by odd dreams, dreams that forced her awake at night, not in terror, or even in confusion, though she would certainly feel lots of it, but in... awe and wonder.

Her dreams were always the same, she was walking down a hallway in the imperial palace for one reason or another, only for a red mist to suddenly start flowing from everywhere! She would start choking and coughing up blood from the mist and she would, obviously, start flying and running through the hallway's trying to escape the deadly mist, but it just never seems enough, until finally, her lungs giving out, she pushes out one more set of doors before coming across... Him.

It was... Grover... her Kaiser Grover the fifth upon a great throne, the mists flowing from it like water from a broken dam. For a moment, rage fills her body like the poison around her, before Grover speaks, not in one voice, but four. His own, a voice like a king should be, not like how Grover sadly was, a voice fit for any strong warrior and a voice of a motherly griffoness. And they speak as one, "Rise Celeste, rise once again," and the mist dissipated, and with it, her breath for but a moment. It was somehow the greatest feeling of her life and Grover spoke once more, "Know me, Celeste, for I am Boreas, I am Eyr, I am Arcturius, I am Grover, I am all of them, rise Celeste, and become a warrior of not just Arcturius, but Eyr/Boreas/Grover." Despite three voices speaking at once, she understood them easily and without confusion. "You will know me by my sign," they spoke, and slowly raised both claws, placing them flat on his... their? Their chest, making it look like... like a twin-headed eagle. And it would be then that she would wake up.

She hadn't confided this with anyone for obvious reasons, but she was worried not just about her dreams, but also about a sudden... and now that she was thinking about, obviously connected to those dreams, reverence to Grover! As if he actually was... what, possessed by the Gods? She needed some time to relax, and probably get those pills that cause a lack of dreaming, she really needed it.

Suddenly a pair of claws snapped in front of her, snapping her back to reality, "Celeste, are you listening to me?" it's Proteus, "You know, if you're having a problem, you can tell me, Celeste."

"Ah- No Archon, I was just... thinking," Celeste blushed deeply as Proteus sighed before sliding a document to her.

"This needs to be given to Grover, he's in the dining room I think around this time, it's needed for some military meeting but some idiot sent it here instead to Bronzetail. So please send it, unless you wish to stand here and gaze off to space more, my prelate," Proteus is jesting, of course, what with his amused smile, most of the prelates know that even if it's concerning for the Archon to so off-clawingly give off slights.

"Of course, Archon," she answered, taking the documents before leaving without another word.

When Celeste arrives in the dining room it's obvious that dinner is over and both Grovers are about to leave, only to run into Celeste. Celeste is about to say something as she hands over the document to Grover senior, only to pause. Her eyes widen. Grover's eyes are.... different. She's never spent that much time around him before, but she was fairly certain they didn't look that... golden before... golden like... like her dreams. Without thought, she raises one claw to her chest, making it look half like a twin-headed bird. Grover stares in confusion for a moment, but before Celeste is ready to laugh it off as a joke, his eyes suddenly sharpen, and his opposite claw to hers is raised and placed upon his chest, the other part of the bird. Just like her dream. Neither of them moves for a moment, until Grover younger grabs at his father's shirt, asking if they're going or not. Grover senior is suddenly back to normal, his eyes no longer the sheer golden they were before... though traces still remained, and he walked past Celeste, documents in claw.

Celeste stands there for a moment longer as staff leaves the room, leaving her behind. She is dumbfounded until... she falls to the ground in prayer, "Please All-Mighty Gods, please let Thine words and actions truly be being used by mine Kaiser, Grover, fifth of his name, please.... please let it be true..." tears slowly trickle down her face, trickling down to a beak with a wide smile in it.

The God-Emperor Breathes Again

by Count Talon of Ransom

Blink and Miss it, forever. [Prologue]

Ledgers, Meetings, and Revelation

Crying Twice

Revelation

A Discussion Between Old Friends

Cracks in Dreams and Reality