The Right to Rule

[Zeik]

It had been more than a decade since he set foot in the Acrix desert, a fact that had brought about great tension between himself and the other members of the Hellgates leadership. Speculation and rumors filled the streets as the Vesta crown walked through the village, his face was plastered on wanted posters, while his name was uttered kn every radio's he walked pass. They blasted Ill fortune and propaganda against his name and distant family

He wasn't interested in the slander of his name, even as poster floating in the wind slammed into his chest, his face remained unamused, keeping his eyes focused , locked onto his goal-The assembly hall of the crowns.

Kurai: Zeik....you really think the crowns had something to do with Azazel's disappearance.

Zeik: Who else? Beside the vision were clear, the hellgate seal appeared just after Azazel disappeared. I'll confront Anterese and tear his threakea from his neck if he lies.

Kurai:...The crowns aren't going to admit to murder but, I will. If you sever our communication this time, the hell you'll face will be unbearable.

He entered the assembly hall, a beautiful room adorned with pictures of old crowns and strong minimilist modern design, save for the stained glass windows and high vaulted ceiling.

He placed his hand over his chest, resting his palm of the vesta emblem and recited his summoning.

Zeik: Anteres!

His voiced filled the room, reverbating against the stone walls. He had planned to be a little more civil, but as he entered the room...his true colors were forced to the surface.

Zeik: I....just wanna talk.

[Fate I]

Anterese arrived with haste, adorned in his signature tailor black suit, decorated in medals from damn near every war the hellgate had fought in within the last millennium. His arms were crossed and a look of frustration and anger could be seen in even the dimmesy of light.

Anteres:Bold. Rude and Overrated. It would seem nothing has changed about. Cursed flame, throne in my side. How dare you Set foot in a country you've abandoned and start shouting in my assembly hall.

His back rested against the stain painting of the first king, the very woman who decided the political structure that the hellgates still honor to this day.

Anteres:Why are you here? I know it's not because I asked for you to come.

[Zeik]

Anteres:Your audacity has always outshined your potential. I had hoped whatever kept you absent from your duties would atleast help you mature. Regrettably it would seem nothing has changed-Cursed flame, thorn in my side.

How do you bring yourself to show face? To set foot in a country you've abandoned and start shouting in my assembly hall?

His back rested against the stained glass painting of the first king, the very woman who decided the political structure and which families would form the founding nine.

Zeik:You're older than vescrutia's youngest moon, yet you spit venom like a frightened viper. You're a child, Antares. Not one core duty of my responsibility as Crown goes neglected, not one threat has breached...our borders. My absence, while untimely, shouldn't have warranted your hate and slander.

Antares: Except your daughter!

*Antares, still pacing about, stood as an imposing figure, almost unweathered by the passage of time save for his gray, thinning hair. His remarkably muscular physique was a testament to his lifetime commitment to discipline and the scars that covered his face a reminder of the battles he survived. His tailored suit, impeccably crisp and sharp, clings to his frame, accentuating the sinewy strength beneath the fabric.*


Zeik:....

Antares:Thats the threat you let waltz into borders.

Zeik:What are you saying

Antares:Please don't play dumb with me Seer. Your vision is your only redeemable quality. I know you were aware of what hell she'd bring upon us.

Zeik:You'll need to be more specific. I didn't attend the Crown Jewel...I was-

Antares:Busy?!

*Antares fell silent after he interrupted Zeik and narrowed his eyes to slits while staring him down. The glare in his eyes echoed his frustration, casting blades of hatred that he all but wished could pierce through the vesta crowns heart. Yet after a period of silence he sighed in frustration.*

Antares: You're...not lying? You really don't know what she did. I don't know which is more regrettable.

*He started at a slow pace around the hall, gingerly running his hands around the stained glass portrayal of Rimahla, the first king, before resuming their conversation.

Antares:I'll humor you and the audience.
*He said softly as he gestured to a series of news drones that had 'covertly,' entered just seconds ago. Poised to watch the two converse.*

Antares: Last year's graduates had an astounding high completion rate at 97%. They were a tight knit group, when one was falling behind, in droves they would support. Whether it be academic, mentally or financially. They supported each other and were an exemplary bunch. You weren't here for their studies this year or the last four B-b-but, they had ambition, Seer. The entire graduating class joined the crown jewel and your daughter, slaughtered every Vesta member of that class, including the children of key members of parliament. To further add salt to the wound. She did so with an abhorrent projection of your image.

Zeik....

Anterese:This kingdom lost their sons to a child this community has never seen, born of a hero who abandoned them.

Zeik:...

Antares:Silence? Typical. Ya'know…shes just like you. When you were her age you'd throw little tantrums just like that. You'd lose yourself in some fit of rage, seemingly unprovoked, devoid of emotions and immune to reason. Just scorching unwavering fury and when you awoke…all you had to offer? Silence. And that same, goofy lost expression.

Kurai:For fucks sake zeik, he's killing you. He needs the people's opinion on his side. Say something. Tell them what you found? *Her voice pleaded with him through a device in his ear*

Zeik:.. Rimahla, the first king and the other clans chose the 9 challenges, rules, and goals of the crown jewel. They, with great effort and precision, curated the trials to represent the challenges our ancestors had to overcome to carve our names into history. They feared our youth would grow weak under the lavish future they believed inevitable with their combined intentions and Anthem

Antares:Yes.....that exert is written all over this desert. It's included in brochures to our amusement parks.

Zeik:Then you understand...their deaths, while tragic, is the very weakness our ancestors feared. You can't expect me to believe Nagase sought them out. Nor do I believe a unit as tight as you described them,would separate during the Jewel. She couldn't have just soloed the entire class.... I doubt she could survive an all out brawl with a small army. I'd wager they each had something to prove and poked the dragon's tail and was met with her fire.

Antares: You're not only defending her massacre, but insulting their deaths?! I was wrong about you before, you have changed. You're not FIT to be crown of Solara.

*As the heated argument between the two men reached a boiling point, a sudden gust of air swept through the room, and a woman materialized seemingly out of thin air. Her unexpected arrival froze the argument mid-sentence. Both men, their faces flushed with passion and intensity, now stared at her with a mix of astonishment and wary curiosity.

The room, once filled with the sound of clashing opinions, fell into an uneasy silence as the woman's presence demanded attention. Her sudden appearance disrupted the flow of their conflict, but rather than diffusing the tension, it seemed to heighten it, as the two men were now grappling not only with each other but also with the mysterious newcomer.

The woman, standing with an effortless grace, showed no sign of concern or anxiety despite the palpable tension in the room. Her demeanor was marked by a carefree nonchalance, as if she were simply a visitor passing through a mundane affair. She moved with a fluidity that suggested a deep, inherent confidence, her eyes glinting with an enigmatic light that hinted at powers far beyond the ordinary. In the presence of the old and powerful warriors, her calmness seemed almost audacious, as if she were untouched by the gravity of their dispute. Her presence was like a ripple in a still pond, drawing all focus onto her with an air of detached amusement.

Despite her seemingly casual attitude, the aura that surrounded her was anything but comforting. There was a palpable undercurrent of danger in her serene composure, a silent threat that lingered just beneath the surface. Her aura exuded an unsettling blend of mystical power and fearsome authority, enough to make even the most seasoned warriors feel a shiver of apprehension. It was as if her calmness was a mask concealing a formidable force, a reminder that her nonchalance was not to be mistaken for weakness. The room, now charged with a new and ominous energy, bristled with the tension of uncertainty, leaving the two men to navigate their conflict amidst the shadow of her formidable presence.

Nagase:my my. I've never heard you usher such flattering words, father. Save for your misguided remark about small armies, you were right on the money. I didn't seek them but it wasnt by accident that those newts lost their lives, they were ignorant and sexist peons and I wouldn't be much of a Arch Deus if I let such vile and repugnant life forms breed in my kingdom

Antares: ...You're kingdom?

Nagase: Which is precisely why I'm here. Exalt me to crown or-

Zeik and Antares: Not a chance.

Nagase: Then ready yourself for war. In less than an hour's light the sun will set on your last day to respond to my victory within the jewel. You'll be forced to revoke your position as Vesta crown or face me in combat to prove I'm unfit to be crown.

Antares:Ruthless and ambitious. You sure thats your seed, seer? However…by crown law

Zeik: I know the law…

Nagase:Great. Then we have no objections, ill just…,ya'know, be around while you puppets bicker; but, just know since my ambitions are laid forth as ‘ritual combat,’ i dont wanna hear any cries about ‘murder,’

*Just as suddenly as she had arrived, the woman began to dissolve from view, her departure as effortless and enigmatic as her entrance. She moved with the same graceful ease, her form blurring and then vanishing entirely in a soft shimmer of light. The two men, still reeling from the shock of her presence, watched in stunned silence as she disappeared, leaving behind only a faint echo of her unsettling aura. Her exit was so seamless that it seemed as if she had never been there, yet the impact of her presence lingered like a ghost in the room.

Her departure left a palpable bitterness that permeated the space, a stark reminder of the unresolved tension between the two crowns. The argument they had been so fervently engaged in now seemed insignificant compared to the enigma she had represented. They were left grappling not only with their own discord but also with the unsettling realization of her influence. The unresolved nature of their confrontation, compounded by the mysterious woman's interruption, left a lingering taste of frustration and unease, an intangible yet potent reminder of the imbalance she had introduced.

Outside, the entire village had witnessed the dramatic events from a distance as the entire show was blasted on live tv, their curiosity piqued by the spectacle of the woman's arrival and sudden departure. The villagers, who had gathered to observe the argument, now buzzed with whispers and speculation. They watched the two men, their expressions hardening as they confronted the aftermath of the intrusion. The sense of unresolved tension and the cryptic nature of the woman's visit left a shared sense of discomfort that would linger long after the spectacle had ended, casting a shadow over the village and leaving everyone to ponder the meaning and implications of her brief, enigmatic presence.*

*As Antares paced about, one arm rested in his pocket, a subtle yet deliberate gesture of restraint. His movements were deliberate, each step measured and heavy with unspoken emotion. While his eyes, however, betray the storm within. The anger they reflect is fierce and unyielding, a burning intensity that seems out of place for a man of his years.

Despite his age, there is an undeniable gravitas to his presence. The combination of his robust build and the formidable energy he exudes makes him an daughting figure to be left alone with, even more so at such anger. His silence after listening to the vesta crown and his daughter only served to heighten the tension. The air around him thickens as his emotions mixed with the naten in the air, as if he is harnessing a monumental effort to control his reaction. His restraint and anger become palpable, each moment stretching with the weight of his unspoken fury.

Zeik:Whats your problem. Im the one who has to fight her.

Antares: Neither of you will wake these halls as Crown in my country.

Zeik:Is that a challenge, Antares? You haven't the power nor legal backing to deny either of us our right to rule. Solara isnt a dictatorship, nor yours solely to protect. Solara isnt a monarchy!

*Zeiks temper flared at the mere implication of Antares statement. Insulting his potential, mocking his troubled upbringing were not worthy of his anger. But, treating his home as though it weren't his to protect, attempting to deny his daughter her right to the throne? Those were actions worthy of anger, war and blood. The seer was known for his immense power and soft-spoken demeanor and was rarely seen showing any sign of anger greater than a grimmance. However, in a rare moment of frustration, he lost his temper for just a second. His normally calm voice, which typically carried the weight of wisdom and restraint, was suddenly raised in a single, thunderous sentence. The effect was immediate and overwhelming; his words reverberated through the village with such force that it felt as though the very air had been charged with his fury. The sound waves ripple outward, shaking windows, rattling doors, and unsettling the villagers who stood in stunned silence.
The Seer's outburst was so potent that it seemed to have a physical impact on the world around him. The winds, which had been gently blowing, suddenly coiled into a violent tempest, whipping through the streets and causing chaos among the townsfolk. The ground beneath them trembled as if the mage's emotions had reached down into the planet's tectonic plates, causing a deep, unsettling vibration that hinted at the raw power he could command. It was as if his brief loss of composure had the potential to alter the very fabric of nature itself.
But as swiftly as his anger had flared, the mage regained his composure. His voice returned to its usual soft, controlled tone, and with a few deliberate gestures, he restored balance to the environment. The tempestuous winds calmed, the trembling earth stilled, and the village gradually returned to its normal state. His ability to so quickly manage and neutralize the turmoil he had caused was a testament to his mastery and control. The villagers, though still shaken, watched in awe as the mage’s serene presence reasserted itself, leaving behind a profound respect for the immense power that lay beneath his gentle exterior.*


Zeik:You can't hide your true face forever Antares. You try to mask your bigotry as righteous, like you're maintaining order and for some that's enough to deceive them into supporting you. But to the Initiated, it is clear to see youre simply full of hate.

Antares:oh please. You have more hellgate blood on your hands than those who fought in the Hellation War, the civil war that broke out during our early history. Don't talk to me about indignation, I've never spilled the blood of my brothers YET I forced to work alongside those who have;but, I've had it. After im done with you, your daughter won't have to face you for her right to be crown She'll have to face me for her right to live.

Antares removed his hand from his pockets and began pace towards the Vesta crown who had readied his posture for battle. Unbeknownst to Antares Zeik remained in conversation with his wife, who waited at their village.

Kurai:Kill him.

[Inariel Myotis]

Antares:oh please. You have more hellgate blood on your hands than those who fought in the Hellation War, the civil war that broke out during our early history. Don't talk to me about indignation, I've never spilled the blood of my brothers YET I forced to work alongside those who have;but, I've had it. After im done with you, your daughter won't have to face you for her right to be crown She'll have to face me for her right to live.

The emotions filled the room with unprecedented angst. A sweltering melting pot of conflicting ideals and perturbing proclamations of hidden sovereignty. Hidden, yes, because, despite Zeik's minute yet awe-inspiring display of fury, he had to admit that much of the Hellgate power was consolidating around him because of who and what he was, the Legacy of the Vesta. It is one of the most prominent names and bloodlines the whole of Vescrutia has ever known. To sit upon its throne was nothing short of being one of the strongest voices in the nine. Perhaps his humility was the only thing his uncanny sight could not see past. That veiled him to the truth of what was happening in his home. Of course, the Holgurd would feel insignificant, huffing and puffing down the Vesta crown's boundaries like a big bad wolf. Antares true emotions were clear as day if one listened to the howls of his accusations.

What would transpire next would expose him for the wolf in sheep's clothing that he was, even if that meant peeling back the layers of his skin till naught but his true nature be revealed. But as the tension grew, so did darkness began encroaching upon Solara. The fleeting whispers of light from Xelphis faded from view as Kirin creepily began to rise; Dusk had come, and the night was soon to follow. Yet this erier black seemed premature for the time of day. As the clouds rolled in, the city began its murmurs of concern, for these clouds were not white nor gray but a thick crimson. The darkness gave way to a brilliant red glow that sired into the skies—replacing the black night with a vibrant cardinal. A notion that would bring back the traumas they faced the last time the skies became downed in red. His coming was fated to be an advent in and of itself, for before the time of the crowned Jewl, none had even laid eyes on his kind, yet they were sure the scars of damage still sat fresh on the many long-lived residents.

As the city's folks clamored for understanding, they peered towards the red skies, and what they saw struck fear and confusion in their hearts. A pair of winged enigma hovered before the sanguine clouds. One emanated a deep red aura; the other shined with a wondrous gilden flare. Through the giant stained glass of the building on its west side, the light was exotically heinous, bathing the gathered group of noble judges in an iridescent array of colors.

RAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!

The blood-curdling screech filled the silent city with a cacophonous bellow, striking terror in the already nervous residents. This onslaught of sound shattered the glass of the building.

Shortly after, the pair became encased in those same clouds, which began to seep slowly through the shattered entrance. The vermillion fog filled the halls, absconding everyone from view.

"No matter how many ages pass or the moon's circle, the endless prattle of dustling lords never ceases."

The voice seemed to bounce all around them, echoing like the squabbling of birds. Though their forms were hard to discern, their magical presence could be felt crawling on the necks of all in attendance. Like a gnawing madness in the reaches of their minds, Their essence carried a foreboding nature that would only further the uneasy tension. To any especially sensitive to magic, they would feel the weight of untold ages of arcane majesty befall them. The vicious fangs of the moon etching ever closer to their jugulars. They had been here, witnessing on the many screens the happenings of this shit show. And after Nagase's rather timely entrance, they had heard quite enough. Their forms could be discerned as the fog began to wane, thinning into a mist. A pair of Myotis elvs, for anyone who attended the Crown, the hairless elv with the crimson mane would be easily discernable. Inari, the current crown of the Myotis. The other was an elv with a fleece, more enchanting than the purest gold, but his presence was anything but divine. They had come to settle a score.

"It's craven cackling like a murder of crows whose flesh is feted from feasting on rotten meat."

Though the words of the gold fur had less bite than those of the red one, the underlying vehemence could not be mistaken. He was revealed to be about 3 meters from Zeik, while Inari would be about that distance from Antares.

"Your lies, Holgurd hume, flock together like such. A well-woven soliloquy of withered truths and hollow declarations, born from the pile of courses that you once called breathe."

It took everything Aurelius to contain his fury as his piercing eyes laid on Antares. All the years of oppression and being hunted came back to him like a torrent wave. Inari could feel his smoldering aggression yet merely gave him a look. The gold fur steadied his hand, his naten calming, dimming his light to a subtle glow. Inari continued his walk towards them. As he made it past Anteras, they shared an exchange of glares. Inari's lime green mirrors seared with a silent retribution. But he would not act, not now.

"Never spilled the blood of brethren? Then tell me...do you recognize this?"

As he made his way past Antares, stopping a few feet away from him and Zeik from under his massive red wings, which, being stretched, released a powerful gust that swept away the remaining mist, the head of Udiah resting within the palm of his hand.

"Then tell me why over half of my family lies dead in their den?! This swine served you! Don't deny it...his screams, his truth, yours."

He said as his crown tossed the severed head on the floor, stopping just short of Antares feet. Inari's gaze became like arrows trained on Antares. He would admit that accountability had come; should he refuse, Inari would not promise that this deliberation would not become a blood bath. That is what they all expected from his people anyway. His word-like fangs lashed at the crown.

[Zeik]

The air between them was suffocating, heavy with the weight of what was about to unfold. Anteres face was etched with the lines of countless battles and decisions that had shaped the kingdom, he stood with an unwavering gaze fixed on his fellow crown. His eyes, once filled with the wisdom of years, now burned with a cold, unyielding fury. He could not—would not—allow this reckless force of change, to undo all that he had spent a lifetime building.

Across the room, the much younger crown, Zeik, stood tall, his eyes alight with the fire of conviction, which served as a shelter for his anxiety about facing the eldest in ritual combat. He knew he lacked the will of the people as most of his methods were unorthodox, bordering on the sacrilegious to some, but he knew in his bones that change was necessary. The old ways had grown brittle, crumbling under the weight of their own stagnation. It was the very future the founding kings feared. He had seen the cracks, the rot that the elder’s refused to acknowledge, and now, in this moment of destiny, he would shatter them—no matter the cost.

Neither man spoke. Words were meaningless now. The clash between them was inevitable, a dark storm gathering on the horizon, its thunderous approach heralding the end of one era and the birth of another. The kingdom watched, breath held in collective suspense, knowing that this battle would decide their future. Victory for the old would mean a return to the past, to a time of rigid order and suffocating tradition. But if the young man prevailed, it would bring a new dawn—one of uncertain freedoms and perilous change.

Their eyes met, and in that brief, electric moment, everything was said without a single word. The elder’s resolve hardened into something like stone, unyielding, immovable. The younger man’s determination crackled like lightning, ready to strike, to burn away the old and usher in the new. The kingdom held its breath. In the silence before the storm, they both knew: only one would emerge from the shadows of this day, and the kingdom’s fate would be forever altered by the victor’s hand.

But as the tension grew, so did darkness began encroaching upon Solara. The fleeting whispers of light from Xelphis faded from view as Kirin creepily began to rise; Dusk had come, and the night was soon to follow. Yet this erier black seemed premature for the time of day. As the clouds rolled in, the city began its murmurs of concern, for these clouds were not white nor gray but a thick crimson. The darkness gave way to a brilliant red glow that sired into the skies—replacing the black night with a vibrant cardinal. A notion that would bring back the traumas they faced the last time the skies became downed in red. His coming was fated to be an advent in and of itself, for before the time of the crowned Jewl, none had even laid eyes on his kind, yet they were sure the scars of damage still sat fresh on the many long-lived residents.

Anteres and Zeik were fated to clash, yet before either could make the first move, their focus was broken by the sudden emergence of a friegthed crowd clawing for answers. Without warning the setting of the twin sun's brought about an omnius crimson hue, the likes of which illuminated the Crowns Halls with a devilish glow. Neither Zeik nor Anteres had answer to the change and both looked to one another as the perpetrator. Yet, the look of concern and confusion on both of their faces quickly answered their silent inquiry.

Anteres: Impossible.....

He said as his pupils rapidly dilated. He began frantically patting his pockets as if he were searching for something.

Zeik:A blood moon....we aren't due a lunar eclipse for another few years.

As the city's folks clamored for understanding, they peered towards the red skies, and what they saw struck fear and confusion in their hearts. A pair of winged enigma hovered before the sanguine clouds. One emanated a deep red aura; the other shined with a wondrous gilden flare. Through the giant stained glass of the building on its west side, the light was exotically heinous, bathing the gathered group of noble judges in an iridescent array of colors.

Antares:This isn't astronomy, you fool. It's Sorcery....Myotian Sorcery.

He said, the rasp in his voice betraying his sheer disgust.

RAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!
The blood-curdling screech filled the silent city with a cacophonous bellow, striking terror in the already nervous residents. This onslaught of sound shattered the glass of the building.

The Crowns Hall was magnificent relic of an ancient kingdom, adorned with opulent tapestries and towering stained glass windows. But at this moment, the grandeur was lost, drowned in a sea of tension so thick it seemed to pull the air from their lungs. Even the friegthed citizens of the kingdon found themselves physically ill under the weight of these two titans..

Without warning, a piercing screech shattered the silence, tearing through the air with a fury that froze their blood. The winged Duo's screams resonated through the chamber, a cacophony of malevolent glee that reverberated off the walls. The sound was a physical force, shattering the ornate glass windows with a resounding crash. The shards exploded inward, swirling into a storm of glistening knives, cutting through the air.

The Holgurd Crown, Antares, stood rigid, his knuckles cracked under the pressure of his tightened fist. Every muscle in his body was tense, especially his face, which was twisted into a disgusted grimance. He glanced over at the young crown , who wore a mask of calm determination amidst the storm, his eyes betraying only a flicker of the turmoil within.

Zeik shielded his eyes from the small storm of shrapnel while igniting his Aura to destroy the shards that would inevitably get near him. He glanced over his shoulder and watched as Anteres stood motionless, glaring at the myotis elves that lie wait outside of the crown hall. He could hear the cracking of Antares knuckles over the small tempest that lashed inside the building. While the glass that collided with Antares body couldn't so much as scratch his suit, but made a strange noise with each collision.

As the razor sharp hail began to subside The duo of Antares and Zeik would be seen staring at the winged enigma, their previous enmity momentarily forgotten in the face of this new, more terrifying threat. Their presence filled the air with fear and a creeping sense of inevitability. Clouds spilled through the shattered windows and from them spawned a strange pair. One clearly of elven nature, while another whose cast was difficult to discern.

They were furious, filling the rooms with charged statements and axioms. Speaking in poetic rhetorical with a dialet that was difficult to follow. Their forms now fully revealed took up close space next to the crowns, with the golden one standing closest to Zeik. Antares, silent and seething, listened intently to each of their pithy proverbs.

"Never spilled the blood of brethren? Then tell me...do you recognize this?"

Antares looked at the rolling head with a blank and emotionless face a stark contrast to the wrath that had been brewing within. He kicked at the head on his flood, rolling it to get a better look at the face before grabbing a stroker that rested at a near by fire place.

Antares:The myotis elv makes an appearance and stands beside the Traitor? Big surprise. These are parlir tricks, but I wouldn't expect much from a loathsome beast.

He said as he stab the head and lifted it up for the Camara to see. The severed head uttered a pained whisper. 'Mas...ter,' most likely the last words it utter before subcoming to his gruesome fate.

Antaras:This is your kind, which haven't graced this walls, excluding your crown jewel appearance, since you massacred your own family under the very shine you emerged in....today. Who isn't aware of this creatures? His crimes against humanity are known within every country from here to Bhalia. How he ended up this way or why a severed limb only remaining functions is a desperate plea for salvation ifnof no concern. But in certain you two know the answer. Killing is what you monsters do.

*He said with a chuckle that was quickly interrupted by nagase's appearance, who strangly enough appeared beside the holgurd crown humming an unfamiliar tune.

Nagase:"uh uh. Uh huh. I do what i want" what...oh...Alley-poo? You've been eating well I see- Ain't missin no meals.

Antares looked over to the strange girl, before returning his attention to the elve and zeik. Neither her song, accent or idiom had any relevance. Nor had he ever heard someone say the phrase. It was as if she spoke pure nonsense. Yet, without a second thought he replied to the elves who had aligned themselves with the Vesta crown.

Antares: Why don't y-

His words were cut short by the rising chatter of the crowd, whose numbers had grown exponentially since the arrival of the myotis. Their proximity to the crown Hall was of little concern but something they said struck a chord with the Holgurd crown. He could hear in the distance that many had taken to mythologizing the vesta. Tossing around statements like "Both heaven and hell fight with the vesta crown?" He shook off the irratation he felt and tossed the undying head towards the fire place with enough force to nail the limb into the stone wall.

Antares:You tell me why a den protected by an Acrix crown has spilled blood? Don't blame me for your failings. Divining some pathetic epic of tragedy.

*He said coldly while staring at Aurelius's*

[Inariel Myotis]

Antares:The myotis elv makes an appearance and stands beside the Traitor? Big surprise. These are parlor tricks, but I wouldn't expect much from a loathsome beast.

"You believe we have come to the aid of the Vesta? Ha, I am not prone to laughter but even I know a joke when I hear it. Please, let us be serious..."

Inari said as Antares spat his pitiful rhetoric. As far as the fledgling crown was concerned though Zeik was the lesser of the litany of evils, his refusal even to investigate the actions of the Myotis the night of the blood was inexcusable. But Antares had a direct hand in it, he would be addressed first.

Antaras: This is your kind, which hasn't graced these walls, excluding your crown jewel appearance, since you massacred your own family under the very shine you emerged in....today. Who isn't aware of these creatures? His crimes against humanity are known within every country from here to Bhalia. How he ended up this way or why a severed limb only remaining functions is a desperate plea for salvation of no concern. But in certain you two know the answer. Killing is what you monsters do.

" And by whose hand was it that were they forced to leave? The one truth you have spoken is our nature. The art of killing comes to the Myotis as effortlessly as breathing. Mortal constitution is often so fragile and to cull it is ingrained in our very DNA. Such is the way of nature, it is not a law the Myotis spontaneously created, there is no morality in the natural world, only the whims of the strong, and the crisis of the weak. However, how we lived our lives before the nine is irrelevant. Since becoming Hellgate, we have been your philosophers, your healers, we have fed and guarded your children, shared with our songs you, and danced on these very sands with you under the gaze of the same moons we find ourselves pressed over. And yet...this has become my qualm with man. No matter how long you live your memories are as fickle as a flame in rain. So sheltered in your feeble walls, your baubles of gold and trinkets of leisure, you fooled yourself into believing you are deserving of something great, hatred for the elder races, concocted from some ill-manufactured piety as if the blood of legions of my kin do nath saturate the flesh of the mother. Like they have not fallen before your gavel of self-righteousness."

Nagase:"uh uh. Uh huh. I do what i want" what...oh...Alley-poo? You've been eating well I see- Ain't missin no meals.

His eyes landed on her softly, how long it had been since he had heard that name, the one of the life he lived before his current incarnation. It brought back the nostalgia of that scarlet eve and the journey he underwent to uncover the mysteries of his origins. Who would have thought that it would be here, that Nagase would witness him addressing the acrix as a crown?

"Ah Nagase, I see you as "bashful" as ever. But the name you call is a dead one..."

Antares: You tell me why a den protected by an Acrix crown has spilled blood? Don't blame me for your failings. Divining some pathetic epic of tragedy.

Aurelius's gilden fleece ebbed as his anger rose. His claws elongated even being talked to by this demon. The gall to ask such a thing knowing what he did!

"You FLEA! You dare to pose such a statement knowing full well it is your call that Udiah-"

Inari walked solemnly behind his companion firmly placing his hand on his shoulder. He couldn't have imagined how hard this was for Aurelius. To come face to face with the one who single handle concocted a scheme that leftover half their small police dead in their den. Inari could feel the trepidation in his heart, the seething hatred terminated from him as if it was his own, but they did not come to repeat the scarlet night here...but Aurleis's emotions, Inari would not allow them to go unattended.

"For centuries my people have lived the lives of scavengers, starved, left to rot in burrows having had the skies taken from them. Aurelius, like a true brother of the Myotis, was the only reason they even lived this long. But even as amazing as his resolve and dedication to their survival were, he was not a true crown. Udiah came under the cover of black, skulking through their home reaping their lives before they even had the chance to defend themselves. But just like you, there was one flaw in his plan...."

Inari stepped forward in front of the others a mere 5 feet away from Antares. His lime green gaze trained on him like arrows. Even from this distance, Inari could feel the awe-inspiring ebb of his power, the longest-lived of the Hellgates was not a pushover, but he would not fold.

"He did not account for one such as I to be present, One with the proper claim to the Myotian throne, One with the power to cull his foolish ambitions and any other that seeks to bring further harm to the Myotis. Riddle me this, not only you Antares, but you As well, Zeik, and even then the rest of those gathered here. Before the Advent that led the myotis to slaughter, how long have their fangs and claws stood to watch and guard over the lands and skies of the Nine? How many turns of the planet, how many orbits of the moon passed, how many of their lives had they laid down in defense of you all, knowing full well the hatred and festering contempt for them simmered underneath."

Aurleis, having calmed himself faced Antares as Inari turned from him now facing Zeik. Aurelius eyes shimmered with a humming gilden fury that was practically primal. His indignant glare could not be quelled nor diluted more than this, even with Inari's counsel.

"Are... any of you here without sin? Who amongst you can claim to be without blemish? Who else, but the only non-human family has been crucified, your very crown contest, a blood bath of kin flailing for the title of would-be lord. To what aim?! The Scarlet Moon impacts ALL life on Vescrutia, and while it does tend to bring the more visceral sides of our kind, we have always been diligent, sheltering ourselves from the rest of the world, using this time to grow closer to each other and usher in the coming of a new moon, to welcome a deeper bond with our loved ones. So what was it then, Antares, what could've caused the moon that led to the betrayal to be so different? Perhaps..."

His hand began to dance with naten as the black one's head resonated levitating off the ground and floating beside him and the Holgurd crown.

"We should ask the devil himself..."

Aureilous gilden aura became thickly red like that of his crown. Invoking the magic of his moon Udiah's consciousness returned to it once more. Myotion sorcerer? No, this was Inari's ability to reinvoke the memories and experiences of those he had consumed. It could be attributed to necromancy, but one needed not to be dead for its invocation to work, so long as their blood flowed through Inari, their will, their words, were his own. As his naten conjured the essence of Udiah to possess his form once more Inar could not hold back from addressing Zeik. How fitting his fleeting rule would become the topic of conversation once more with Nage's looming knife so close to his throat. Perhaps he would finally be pressed to speak of his negligence.

"How is it Zeik, that your vision, fabled to be able to count even the innumerable stars that ignite out skies above, and yet, while your head drifts amongst them cannot tell when a demon is wreaking havoc throughout your kingdom? You, who have sworn to be both blade and shield for the nine, were the Myotis so insignificant to you, to all of you, that it was easier to just run with hatred, rather than fight for the truth? Whose lives are you trying to save Hellgate...who is going to be welcomed in your changed world?... Call him, Aurelius..."

"Come to me...Udiah"

His eyes shifted from gold to green both his and Inari's eyes now glowing with the same gleam. Inari turned from Zeik, not giving him the chance to respond. Though he had come here to confront Anters he at least needed to fling a dagger of words Zeik's way, whatever his reasons for being absent from the Astra, he hadn't lifted a single finger in defense of the Myotis, to the nature of this change he wished to bring to the nine families Inari could not share confidence in it, whatever that vision may be, for the had all shown their lack of concern for those of elvn blood.

A mystical chill would run through the spine of those in attendance as Udiah's wafting essence was brought back to his head. His eyes are the same color as his killers.

"Udiah, fallen blade of the Myotis, tell us, who was it that Issued the contract for the Myotis culling?"

The head twitched, bound by the magic to speak from facts, unable to conjure fiction bound by magic as it were.

"Hhhhhoooolllgguuurrrdd...Crrroowwnn"

A sly smirk crept across Inari's face as the raspy voice spoke its truth. Oh to be able to taste the boiling blood of the Holgurd Crown right now, truly a delicacy he was sure.

" And where would he get such an idea from?"

The creature struggled to answer, as if even in death it was afraid to reveal the name of the one who it considered with. Fear of the color? Perhaps though the twin moon felt it was deeper. Inair eyes gleamed compelling the beast beyond its fear, it could not resist the truth, it must oblige.

" From the Demon, Baaaaal..."

The mere utterance of the name sent the magic into a flux shutting off their connection and returning Udiah's head to a lifeless bauble once more. But the pudding and its proof have been given. Sure they could dismiss the claims of the bat elvs but something told Inari by the clamor of the audience, that they had suspected foul play for quite some time. How fitting he should be the cherry on top of this mountain of corpses that lie at Antares's feet.

"I, will not apologize for my actions in the Crown game, For those who came before me were warriors first, nobility second. What I will say though, is this...while it is not my desire to war with the whole of acrix nor even the Holgurd who are innocent. Know this...any further persecution of the Myotis will be met with bloody retribution. The next time any of you dare to bear your fangs at my people, without lifting so much a finger to find the truth of the matter...it will not be them you need fear."

Inari and Aurelius stood side by side both their eyes staring at the Holdgurd crown.

" For it is I, Inariel Myotis Hellgate, Cardinal Crown of the Myotis name, who will safeguard them from all threats, even from family...

The head crumbled away into nothing in Aurelius's palm, the dust of which faded into nothingness. There could be no more avoidance...

"So Antares, I will ask you the same question I asked you minion before he was devoured, Who. Is. Baal?"

[Zeik]

Zeik fell silent as the winged duo paced around him. His ears were full with their anger and even more so with his wife's concern, she'd been calling out to him for some time now and with no answer-she was beginning to worry. ARCHER allowed precise information about his vital, so she knew he wasnt dead. She could keep close eye on him thanks to the machine they had build, allowing her to see the entirety of Solara citizens and distinguish them from the two myotis who entered the village. It wasnt hard to identify them from the rest of the crowd-They were the only bat elves present in the village. ARCHER gave wind of their approach on the Crowns Assembly Hall and the effect that had on the citizens. Their rising anxiety and terror wasn't just information on a keyboard, it was an experience she shared with them, despite being on the other side of the country. The machine's capabilities stood as enigmatic as the location of Astral city and allowed for a level of awareness that neared a omniscience

Kurai's worry rose exponentially with the citizens, her pleas becoming more frantic but remained secret to those in the assembly. Maintaining her composure was of utmost importance while using the ARCHER system, losing control of her emotions could have devastating consequences to people within the operational area. A danger she constantly reminded him of as she scolded , perhaps even cursing , him for not responding.

Zeik was beginning to feel the rising torsion, a word he uses to describe the very tangible presence ARCHER can exude on an operational area. He wanted, no needed to answer her, but each time he motioned to speak he noticed an unfamiliar gleam in his daughters eyes. Something about her standing beside Antares triggered an unusual memory, one he'd forgotten until this very moment. His thoughts ventured to a simpler time, one of a strange with his daughter, just days after her conception.

His worry shifted from his morally ambiguous daughter and lingered on The Golden and Red Elves that stood at his flanks. The torsion produced by archer felt like a subtle thickness in the air and fortunately The duo had substantial words for Antares, which gave him enough time to test Archers limits and sort his thoughts. Things had progressed so rapidly and violently that he'd almost forgotten why he ventured to these chambers. He was following a whim, a hunch that he'd find answers to the whereabouts of his son-Azazel.

He was convinced that he'd be able to expose Antares in the process, but...nothing was as his vision foretold. There were no indignat Myotis elves in his vision...or nagase for that matter and now he stood on the precipice of war. It was hard to shake the gnawing feeling something was wrong and even harder to losen his thoughts on nagase being the perpetrator. He shook his head, tossing his deliberation to answer Kurai's frantic calls.

► Show Spoiler

Zeik:I'm sorry. Im ok-For now. It good to see ARCHER is working as intended?

Kurai:Careful what you say,zeik. It's incredibly difficult and unlike they can hear our communication;but, your visitor are skilled are know for sensitivity to sound. Being myotis elves and a....not sure about the other one. Theres a lot going on in the red dawn. His physiology, dna, and naten are interesting. You maybe dealing with a Mongrel.

Zeik: Mongrel? I'd say you were wrong, but ARCHER's data is infallable. Assimilator like Mongrel are usally killed at early ages. Fortunately they're pissed at Antares, accusing him of treachery and murder.

Kurai:their intentions for you?

Zeik:Given the glares, they've come to extract their pound of flesh from the Holgurd. They want blood that's for certain but whatever Antares has done, dug deep into their skin. They want something from him before they lash out.

Kurai:Perfect. Let them extract their retribution and save your strength if they have bad intentions for you.

Zeik:Cant....The chances are slim but a wild card like an Assimilator could actually topple a titan like Antares...not to mention your daughter is cornering me into a fight, she wants to be the Vesta Crown.

Kurai:She always been quite ambitious,I believe she would make quite the leader;but,cornering you at a time like this, devious. Do you think this is a cry for attention? Maybe she wants to spend more time with you? .

Zeik:....Cry for-- Shes threatening me. Nevermind. I can say with full certainty. Youre the only person who trust Nagase.

.

Antares: I've been more than patient with this behavior but this facade...this rhetoric around comradery is too much. You say "Your People," like you walked among them. Like you know there customs -as if you even appear as one of them. I don't need psionic gifts or the eyes of a Seer. *He said looking at nagase and ,Zeik respectively.* No. My old age is all I need to see what you are, Inariel. You're here to covet power, same as the Vesta Crown's witch of a daughter. *Nagase face twisted into a grimmance of pure malice only to dissolved into an agreeing shrug..* Neither of you care about this country, this kingdom, our legacy. It's just another ark of power

Soaking up righteous indignation in an attempt to weaponize their pain. A tale as old as time on this sphere. You're no Myotis. You're no Hellgate. Just another nameless, orphan of war in this twisted menagerie of shattered dreams. I don't care how you people treat one another, but you won't blame me, nor this council for your history. Your blood soaked history. Your blood thirsty beast were exiled from city limits, which at the time was a humble act of mercy from your victims. Your 'people,' claimed thousands of lives in a single night.

*He broke the stagnation of his statement, which had drifted dangerous close to a lecture, with a full on hearty laugh. He laughed with his whole being, eyes closed and hand grasping at hisn stomach without so much as a flicker of fear.

Antares:Youre young, Inariel and even more so...you seem not from around here, hell....with that accent, I'm not so sure youre from this planet at all. In all my millenniums ive never had to try so hard to understand what someone speaking my language, was trying to say. So, before I execute the both of you...i'll learn you a thing or two. Rubbish like your slain cousin walk a particular path of life, one little golden boy over there wouldn't know a thing about, but an orphan like yourself should know better.. Animals like your cousin kill anything they can get a few coins for and covet anything that makes them feel like a big man. That snubbed- nosed mut probably over heard an old fang at the tavern, regaling in fables older than the rodents dandruff and got carried away delusion of grandeur, probably thinking golden boy was something hes not.

Antares glanced around the room and rested his gaze on Nagase, who remained near his side, uninterested in their conversation and bouncing her head to a song she hummed just under her breath.

Antares:

"So Antares, I will ask you the same question I asked you minion before he was devoured, Who. Is. Baal?"

*He said with an eerily precise tone , perfectly mimicking the way Inariel had poised his statement just moments ago.

Antares:You could've gathered all the Intel You needed on that subject matter from the Boundary, Baal is not a person, nor lord, nor an individual for that matter. Baal is a prestige, a title given to fabled creatures from an ancient, now extinct, species. They were said to be born from a source beyond the veil of our world. Yet, there is more debate about the credibility of that claim than any other facet of their existence. A few fossil records loosly validtae their exsistence and theyre thought to be the first naten sensitive being present during the earliest history of our world. Arguably they are more than a myth, but insufficient data make it impossible to truly validate the claims of their divinity. There isn't a lot of credible info on the matter, mostly just fables , wives tales, legends among other hogwash. I happen to be quite read on the matter. In fact, the aboriginal people of Maaluki,another dead race, regarded the mentioning of their name as an omen, stating whom ever said the name aloud would be marked for death. Which is ironic. Considering you and your...friend traveled here to acquire this trivial data and in turn you've thrown away your futures.

[Inariel Myotis]

"You insuffer-Inariel…I am reaching the extent of my patience-"

Aurelius snarled at Antares for his antagonizing words. The gold fur was reaching his limit placating around like some posh lordling. His claws yearned to be soaked in his wet ancient flesh, to sip and then get drunk on his crimson. To sit here and have his people trivialized was a graver insult than the murders themselves. His leash was getting shorter by the moment and soon it would snap if his growing fury could not be contained. Inari listened intential to every word allowing his body to adjust to the venom of every word, every dagger thrown. Inari was no less furious, he unlike his other half was used to dealing with rage, so flying off the handle now would only venerate him. They had to clear their names, not stain it further.

"Hmm, so such beings still walk the planet? Unparalleled, ancient, beyond so."

Though his anger is a force to be trifled with, his will is even more frightful to behold when grounded. He would not bend his stance, nor shift his use of words. Antare's observations were even enlightening to a point. He had never questioned how curious his speech was. He consumed Bora around the same time he awoke so he could not recall whether understanding mortals was difficult for him or not, language-wise at least, he felt he would always find the social queue of others perplexing no matter what form he inhabited.

"Huh...you believe I did not know power before the Myotis? Ha..haha....hahahahah!"

Inariel's deep cackle disrupted Aurelius's temperament able to feel the literal joy in Inari's heart at Antrares ignorant presumptions.

"Please, Antares, this is quite a serious affair, you MUST stop with the humor. What power could I grab from them? From any of you? Look at this country... A blade battered, broken, a spear chipped, a weakened fang. You point fingers at each other, deflect accountability, plot, scheme, simmer."

"Your voice ununified, your bonds in question, your trust in disarray. Miniscule man, you reach for the sun yet fear its burns. So you plot with under the moon, cavorting with demons is a Hellgate pastime. But to do so to tear a limb from the nine...well...perhaps you not are as pro Hellgate yourself. as you claim"

His assumptions and callous words were spoken from a place of bliss unawares. Inari found it time to educate the educator. He could not fathom what it was like to be face to face with the man partly responsible for denying you the life your parents sacrificed them for.

"I can smell how old your blood is Antares, even from here, an elixir of crimson I just know tastes as sublime and refined as the most notable wines. Compared to you many of us are but specs of dust on the mantle of time. A footprint of the long cobblestone road you tread, I suspect you have laid many of those same stones that create that very path..."

Inari folded his arms casually cracking a condescending smirk (Just like his character avatar)

"But you cannot tell me the Eldest of this great nation does not know how Inherited Mastery works. Did you think I was some common-born mut who just happened to by chance stumble upon the crown jewel?"


"I'm being crude, forgive me. Of course, you know the workings of inherited mastery, but do you know how it functions in the blood of a myotis? Surely you must know the anatomy of what you kill? No? Well, I suppose that's another difference between us, you see when myotis feeds, when we sip from the sweat succor of blood we do not acquire glimpses of our precursors like others do. Know, we receive completion, the totality of the who what when, and why of a being. Like experiencing their lives again through their eyes, their sorrows become our own, their joys, their fears. It is the main reason we must chill our hearts and have learned to kill without sympathy for our prey, or else we'd starve from being too empathic. I have felt firsthand the weight of my ancestor's guilt, So no, I will not use "I" statements when addressing them, for as their crown their burdens have been passed to me.... their veneration, my duty. I suspect it has been a long time since you understood those words..."

"We remember many of the old ways, the structures of before. Before the Advent, The Progenitors, leaders of the Myotis family, were pillars that supported the crowns. Each member is appointed to support the efforts of the other families. How they once toiled and plotted as well, but not on how to damn the lives of their family, but how to improve it. How it must have ground your gear to dust Elder one, Elvs here so established in the land you coveted, the lands you wish to solemnly rule..."


At this point, Inari's claws dug into his biceps as his arms remained folded, his growing fury like a sweltering pot, a simmering volcano. To be face-to-face with his father's betrayer. This was the part about nobility and diplomacy he loathed...he would not oblige much longer.

"Betrayer, though I am young compared to most of you, I am far from being inept. Perhaps the only one alive who knows the truth and root of the darkness that has spread through the kingdom you profess you care for. My claim to the throne was mine to do so by blood born right, for my mother once sat upon this very counsel, My father a former crown, my parents both victims of your devilish scheming...their lives lost, their Karma, their blood passed down to me. You use the term ophan so loosely, using it to dismay and hinder the validity of my claims. But tell them all by whose hand was I orphaned!

His eyes gleamed with a piercing retribution.

"Tell everyone here how my father came to you, pleading for the guidance of the one once revered to be the wisest and noble of the nine. Tell the court how you admonished him to keep the coming of the asteroid, the body of the demon, between you two to not sow fear amongst the people. Stand before his only son, who you so...brazenly fling the word orphan at..."

His naten began to manifest around him like a creeping red veil of hatred. He had been trying to stuff his and Aurelius from boiling over. His arms began to bleed slightly as his nails seeped into his flesh. Aurelius walked over to him, but he did not seek to quell Inari's growing fury, but instead fed it embers. He had enough of all the verbal conversation. He was more than prepared to go to blows.

"Answer him...Kinslayer"

Aurelius said, his golden fur now rattled and spiky(Like a jolteon)

"Tell me how you murdered my father! It must've been riveting for you...to have the proud Myotis crown come groveling for your help. I can almost remember the smile you wore as you cut him down...the betrayal was so deep, so jarring for my father his blood remembers it. I wonder...If you will smile for me the same way...when it is me standing over you…”
[/color]

[Zeik]

The Crown Hall, once a sanctuary of order, now bore the scars of violence. Shattered glass lay strewn across the floor,scattering the memories of the old order into obscurity. Yet, as Antares began his slow, deliberate stride around the room, he gently ran his fingers acorss the Wall. His touch mending the fractured walls behind him, reversing their destruction.

Aurelius and Inariel’s voices cut through the silence like jagged blades. They were passionate, their anger pulsing through each word. Their accusations, their frustration, all laid bare in the harsh red lighting of the room. Yet Antares, moving like a shadow, said nothing. His fingers brushed lightly along the jagged edges of the broken glass, the surface cool to the touch. It was as if the violence of the moment barely registered with him, the echo of conflict something he had long grown accustomed to.

The walls healed as he moved, but there was no triumph in it—only the slow mechanical process of repair, like his own attempts to patch the broken pieces of this kingdom. He closed his eyes, the sound of Inariel’s voice fading into the background, replaced by the low hum of a melody that escaped his lips.

It was a habit, this humming, a song without words—something to fill the silence when the weight of decision became too great to bear. He continued to circle the hall, weaving in and out of the tension that clung to the air, never once acknowledging the fury behind him. It wasn’t their anger that stirred him, nor the damage left in the wake of Inariel’s entrance. The stakes were higher than shattered glass.

Zeik’s steps were almost imperceptible at first, a careful retreat from Antares’ orbit. But the tension in the room shifted the moment Zeik began to move toward the center of the hall. His steps were deliberate, each one cutting through the quiet. Inariel’s eyes never left Antares, even as his voice carried on. He watched the old crown pace about the room, the melodic click of Zeiks approaching footsteps matching in perfect harmony with antares' own.


Then, it appeared—an ancient tome, thick with age and knowledge, manifesting from the ether directly into Antares waiting hands. His fingers moved over its pages with unsettling precision, tracing the ink like a ritual he had performed a thousand times. He barely needed to glance at the contents as his lips silently mouthed the words. And then he stopped. His gaze found Inariel’s record, the entry stark against the vellum page. The significance hung heavy in the air, unspoken yet clear as the frigid silence that followed.

Antares opened his eyes. His pacing ceased. The room, once alive with the fervor of argument, now felt frozen in place, all eyes drawn to the silent exchange between him and Inariel.

Aurelius's voice faltered for the first time, the fire in his words flickering as Zeik’s presence suddenly shifted from a patience flame to a raging storm,his aura igniting like wildfire, his presence now loomed over the golden fur crown like an unspoken threat. And yet Antares remained still, his mind a storm of calculation and doubt. The glass had been repaired, but the fracture between them had only grown wider.

His fingers moved subtly, as though brushing invisible strings, his thoughts circling back to the inevitable. To fight them—Zeik, Aurelius, and Inariel—meant to unravel everything he had built, everything he had kept together. But not fighting them was a deeper betrayal: it would be an acceptance of his failure, his inability to face what lay ahead.

The tome, the repaired walls, the stained glass between his fingers—it was all fragile. Everything was fragile Antere’s breath hitched, the weight of realization crashing down on him like an avalanche. His gaze sharpened as he muttered, voice low and taut, “You’re Khalid’s heir. I should've known …” He sucked his teeth, bitterness swelling with every word. “I see it now, that vehemence, that look in your eyes. Ahh, its all so clear.”

A brief pause settled between them before Antares’s eyes darkened, resigned to the path they were about to tread. “No. I won’t deny you your chance. A blood debt deserves blood.”

Zeik’s heart pounded as he leaned closer to Aurelius, his terror barely veiled beneath the urge to strike out like a cornered beast. His voice trembled, both desperate and urgent. “Don’t let his left hand touch you,” Zeik whispered, his eyes now dark with his own conviction.

In an instant, Zeik leapt from the center of the room, Grayish flames erupting from his aura in a violent flare. But before he could fulfill his attack, Nagase appeared, her detached glee cutting through his fear like a blade. Alongside her was a strange prismatic creature, its iridescent form twisting through the air. “Aht aht,” she teased, her dagger dangerously close to his throat. “Cannon event time.”
They both moved with deadly intent, striking at Zeik from opposite anagles, but his flames rose to block their advance,with large draconian-like arms erupting from his Aura. The heat crackled in the air, sending shockwaves across the room, clashing with pillars and stained glass of the room, bending the glass, but never breaking any portion of the infrastructure. Their attacks illuminated the harsh red-lit room in a blinding display of power.

Zeik’s eyes locked onto Nagase, a contrast of emotions flickering across his face—terror and rage, struggling for answers. Her smile was unsettling, as if she was dancing through the battle without a care in the world, while Zeik’s every movement was driven by desperation. His back is now pinned to the wall of the building, fending off a slurry of slashes from Nagase's prismatic puppet. He knew he couldn’t hold both of them off for long, but worried about retaliating with nagase devious use of portal.

Meanwhile, Antares stood firm, his presence towering and unshaken by the shockwaves of nagase strike, his own will keeping the building intact. His gaze bore into Inariel as he spoke, voice cold and commanding. “Can you shoulder the weight of my conviction.”

With a simple squeeze of his fist, Antares unleashed a deadly force. “Can you....endure this?”. Space itself seemed to warp and compress around Inariel, the pressure forming at several points across his body with no clear sign of why. No swirling orbs, no pulsing crystals. Inariel’s head and knees felt the crushing presence first, followed closely by his hands and chest. Methodically bringing him to his knees. The intensity of his arbiter, Crixus, was unbearable, like an atlas shouldering the weight of the world Inariel felt trapped in an invisible vice. Antares’ sorcery was swift, unrelenting, and as overwhelming as the shifting tides. Gravity Arbiters of this efficiency was only seen among the most gifted of Obius. To impose such gavitic forces on a single space, leaving infrastructure unharmed would take an obius eons of study, Antares had several. Overcoming his grip would be costly, every second draining strength from Inariel’s limbs, threatening to crush the boy before the fight even began. Yet, despite the relentless assault, Antares deliberately left Aurelius untouched, his focus solely on the ones he sought to crush, ignoring the golden fur like a common civilian. The battle took a turn when a sudden, piercing strike cut through the air—a sting of immense precision, execution. The Vesta crown flashed with a blinding brilliance despite being on the defensive from his daughter’s attack, he found the time to unleash his fabled Arbiter. Her voice shrieked in concern, as the beam cut through the air, grazing her face as the beam screamed passed her, howling like banshee as it ripped through the air, its hellish caw, scratching at the ears, its pitch growing more terrifying as it gained speed.


Antares grunted, staring the approaching arbiter dead on. His face twisted into a frightening display of tenacity. “How Mighty!” He shouted as he puffed his chest and confronted the beam, slamming his body into it, with a triumphant and furious shout, a cry he retained throughout the entirety of the beams duration.

He glared at everyone in the room as the dust settled, his eyes bloodshot with rage, his body now steaming and glowing with a deep purple hue. “Wow. That used to hurt a lot more.” He said through staggered breathing. “Your age weighs on you. You've lost your edge as youve matured." He gripped his fist again, the same ava he'd used to command his Arbiter before.

[Inariel Myotis]

Though the silent room bore no other sound than the calculated clacks of Zeik and Antares footsteps beneath the veil of aggressive rhetoric laid a cesspit of malignant malice it's mass like molten magma a seething song of festering fury pouring into the unseen its sacrilegious score a boiling ballad that could only end in a calamitous cacophony of irate indignation and yet…neither of them moved. Just transfixed on the nature of the other.

“You’re Khalid’s heir. I should've known …” He sucked his teeth, bitterness swelling with every word. “I see it now, that vehemence, that look in your eyes. Ahh, its all so clear.”

The crimson crown's glare slithered into serpentine slits at the mention of his father’s name. In Inari beats a heart of lamentation. Grief for the life stolen from him, bereft of the chance to ever get to know his parents. What would it be like to learn to hunt from his father, To properly be raised as an heir? To learn the songs from his mother how she once serenaded the moon. To know what it could’ve been like to be loved by a community…and not the mad ramblings of a cranky nature spirit.

Zeik’s heart pounded as he leaned closer to Aurelius, his terror barely veiled beneath the urge to strike out like a cornered beast. His voice trembled, both desperate and urgent. “Don’t let his left hand touch you,” Zeik whispered, his eyes now dark with his own conviction.

Aurelius, brazenly stood before the time-forged crown manifesting a worn tomb more aged than he. The elvs could hear Zeik's increasing heart rate, its tone trepidatiously trembling with ticking terror. The sudden shift in his state was the only thing to alert them of the danger ahead. An arbiter of such power that it even stuck fear in the heart of a man whose micro spurt of anger was enough to nearly bring tectonic-inspired destruction to the astral.

And yet

The elvn pair did not despair, they surprisingly so the calmest folks In attendance. Was it mere willful ignorance of the enormity of the Holgurd crown's magnitude as a caster? Inariel was surely a prideful creature, refusing to ever bend a knee in reverence or subservience to another entity. It seems that those who covet power often desire to see others with their bodies bowed before their boldness. He was most certainly one of them. The devastating exchange between Nagase and Zeik heaved great waves of force that battered into the walls Aurelius veiling himself from its bludgeoning with a borg of naten he didn't bother to extend it to his crown. Even with the immeasurable weight of the twisting time and space, Inari did not immediately crack beneath his conviction. He was seen struggling to smile.

The magicks at play here, were ancient, dwarfing what Inari could have ever hypothesized him capable of. A Holgurd using gravity magic? Magnificent, truly, and try as he might resist the force of his he could not help but buckle beneath the insurmountable weight of the crown convictions forcing him to grovel before him. For whatever reason Aurelius was not forcibly bound to the dogma of the crown magic as his moon was. Perhaps Antares did not perceive him as a threat, while it was true that the gold fur's powers alone were paltry in comparison to Inari let alone the antagonist before him, what he lacked in raw strength, he excelled in utility.

The twin furs wondered in unison if Antares knew that feeling if he even remembered the one who gave birth to him. When his memories returned Inari thought he would reclaim the joy of his younger years, that the happiness of his time with his parents would be enough to quell this unrelenting beckoning of destruction ebbing within him….and yet the only thing he found in the the well of truth was another void, a wider abyss of questions whose answers he could spend centuries trying to discern only for new questions to take their place.

It was an endless dance, a cursed eternity mired marching into the maw of misery.

However, within the body of the Myotis beats the primal bellowing of not only one heart but two, and the Ava within Inari did not sire a symphony of sorrow. Nor was his desire diminished in any way for within him beats the heart of a being that is fated to stand at the pinnacle of all things. He was no longer a deranged savage, mad at the moon, lacking direction nor purpose, for the path his bloodied feet pitter-pattered upon was one that would seem him victorious in the end...for if there was one thing he was for certain about...was the hateful nature of mortals would always serve as their downfall. It seems that Antares was indeed no exception. Much to Aureliu's dismay, he had lost their bet.

"Well Inari, it seems I lost our wager."

A coy smirk etched upon the crumbling crown face, the weight cracking his form oozing yet it was not blood that flowed from him but a mist much like the cardinal fog they entered from.

"I was sure you'd crack first"

Aurelius said as his form began to emit the same red smoke as his counterpart.

Clone magic

The clone of Inari dispersed under the gravitational might of force its form fumbling, eviscerating it completely. The clone of Aurelius would also dissipate as Zeik unleashed his fabled arbiter Execution. In the clone's places would be a pair of swirling voids of red magic that would swiftly cost Antares after splitting into four. One slithered beneath him, one bolted above him, and the other two rose into the air twisting around each other before putting a few feet between them out of the aoe of the gravity magic.

“Your age weighs on you. You've lost your edge as you've matured." He gripped his fist again, the same ava he'd used to command his Arbiter before.

"And you've become complacent in yours"

From the pits of the crimson void, a crisp callous voice would ripple in duality after the Execution's wail. Two sets of blazing azure eyes could be seen staring at Antares from the void beneath and above him.

"Consume, Amrit"

The command given and from the voids, not one gaping maw riddled with lunar-infused fangs would manifest but two as if the spells themselves echoed in total unison. They aimed to ensnare him In a viscous pincer attack(The top consuming him from head to torso, the bottom from feet to waist) leaving naught but the hand wielding his tome to be left behind. From the other further away portal the elven duo glared at their target, before emerging from the void looking nothing like their forged doppelgangers but mirroring each other like identical twins. The Moonglow Trance, Amrit's second omen. Under the gaze of the moon, the Myotis can invoke full vampirism which entices their bestial feature and magnifies their physical and magical parameters, Inari's familiar allows him to take this a step further merging his vampiric form with the essence of his familiar ravenous nature endowing this surplus of magical fortitude. Aurelius, bound to Inari by a blood oath having consumed great amounts of Inari's crimson can wield his crowns arbiters as if they were his own allowing him to also mirror this trance. Employing the Myoti's true anthem, Twin Moons. The second command of Amrit consume arbiter was given by Aurelius allowing him to double the offensive efficacy of the magical assault.

"You must learn to stop underestimating me, Aurelius...My name means fox after all"[/color]

The waves of sapphire majesty ebbing from them carried their ebb and flow completely separate from the naten flows of the others, to blind ones who could still perceive energy they were almost alien. Their azure fur covered their exposed skin with Aureliu's carrying notes of twinkling gold and Inari's of sparking crimson. The power of Kirin's celestial dogma saturated them in a seemingly bottomless well of possibility.

"Lesson learned..."

"I cannot be concerned with the weight of your convictions Antares. That burden, your sins are your cross to bear. As mine belong to me to hold"

The twins began to weave a swift array of signs as their hands opened causing a flood of crimson to baptize the floors beneath them with a sanguine river. However, the flow from Inari did not descend to the ground instead it moved around him forming a pair of horrific clawed tendrils, his arbiter, Reach.

"Upon my shoulders is the tonnage of thousands whose lives that I failed to save...lives that I have taken in my quest for vengeance against a foe I have not seen for over a millennia. My mind writhes with their lingering regrets and the scores of their mournful souls. You have your mantle....and I have mine."

On their way here the duo had considered a little wagger. To see who would lose their cool first, Inari or Antares. Aurelius was sure that due to his short virtually non-existent fuse, he would swing first. However, Inari will be not so fragile, having been reforged in the essence of the deeper personal truths and acceptances he has undergone since he awakened. The red fog served as the perfect cover for their clones to enter and surmise the intentions of the court before they appeared while they waited for the moon to reach its zenith when they were at their most powerful if they hoped to stand a chance at surviving. The bout between Zeik and Nagase was personal, and though the twinned moons felt they should oblige him with help, to turn their eyes from Antares would mean immediate destruction. He was not to be underestimated.

Had Antares proved them both wrong the clones would have dissipated and their consecrated power dismantled, allowing them to enter unguarded but true to the nature of one with something to hide, he followed suit proving them right before the court. Quite the theatrical performance but Inari was nothing else if not dramatic. Though it was close, and Inari had reached the end of his rope ultimately Antares failed, but of course, he had. Hit dogs will always holler.

"You have let your age and power corrode the once valours cords of your heart, an aria that at one time inspired your house. You've boxed yourself in, not believing any but you could shoulder the burden. Had you not killed his father, my crown might have been inclined to listen. But he, The Crimson crown, he who is to usher in a New Moon, we have chosen to bear the pressure of our crown's mantle with him. As Inari ascends on his path, we will balance him, and has offered for us to walk alongside him. We, his family, will support him, and serve his aims, and in doing so, he will lift us beyond what we once knew. He is evolution-given flesh, there is only one use for the past Antares..."

Both moons speaking at the same time

"To path the way for a greater future!"