The Lone Wanderer

“Grandpa!! Why are they taking you?” Floria cried as the members of the Divine Root placed Bronn in handcuffs, escorting him out of the building. The man could free himself of course – if he wanted – but he didn’t seem to have any intention of resisting.

The girl just couldn’t understand how things had come to this. Hadn’t her grandpa been the one who came forward with the information the gods wanted? Why was he getting punished?! Panicking, she rushed behind them, ready to fight against the powerful mages if she had too – blessings be damned. Of course, she wasn’t stupid – she knew she’d probably get killed too, but how could she just watch them take her grandpa away?!

A firm hand descended on her shoulder, however, locking her in place. Floria instinctively tried to lash out, but withdrew her mana upon noticing who it was.

“Dad! Are we going to let them take him?!?! This… it isn’t fair! They should be treating him like a hero!”

But Fyn shook his head.

“This all happened because we went behind the Order’s back to buy those elixirs… for me. We’re lucky the Divine Root agreed to our terms. They’re going to place our House under their protection for the next two hundred years. And they’ll even spare me, letting me reach Violet and replace father. That way, we’ll have a chance to recover. This is what we wanted – what we traded the information for…”

“But then why?!” the girl shouted, her voice cracking.

“They can’t just let us go entirely unpunished. It would send the wrong message…” her father patiently explained.

Listening to him, Floria couldn’t help but shudder. She hadn’t realized how close her dad had come to being arrested too. Turning back to her grandpa, she noticed he’d been escorted quite far already. She frantically wiped her tears away, trying to look at Bronn one last time, just so she could remember him. Yet her vision kept blurring.

“Floria… Your grandpa knew this would happen when he sent that letter. He is a hero. To our family at least. Remember that…”

The girl nodded, her gaze still glued to the group in the distance.

***

“Lord Asclepius, care to explain this situation?” an authoritative voice asked, the passive presence it radiated leaving all the others in the room with their heads bowed. Nobody dared lift their eyes. Not the dozens of Blues, nor even the handful of Violets. None but Lord Asclepius himself – a fellow White.

“Theseus, we’ve known each other for thousands of years already. I thought we were on first name basis by now.”

“I’m here on official business, Machaon. I do need to maintain appearances, lest I wrongly give the impression that I’m going easy on you.” Theseus clicked his tongue, before scanning the others in the room, each shuddering as his eyes brushed over them.

“It doesn’t matter whether you go easy on me or not, old friend. The answer will be the same. You know how our agents operate. Better than most in fact. I hope you haven’t conveniently forgotten how often the Divine Root employs our services.” Machaon replied sharply.

“Be that as it may, I’m sure you understand how much pressure I’m under to get to the bottom of this.” Theseus said.

“There’s nothing we can do to help you. Just like our field agents, the people who registered the mission have also erased all details from their minds. Nobody can recall anything about the one who hired us.”

“How the hell did it even come to this?!” Theseus snapped. “Your agent should have never agreed to transport those elixirs! They should have rejected the mission and reported it right away!”

But Machaon shook his head.

“How was anybody supposed to know those were elixirs – let alone ones as revolutionary as this? Lacking any other information, our agent must have assumed they were just a new variety of potions or something. Or did you want them to taste them too?!”

Theseus didn’t respond right away, considering his words. Next, he looked Machaon in the eyes before speaking.

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“At the end of the day, it doesn’t matter whether your House is in the right or not. You know that, right?”

Machaon clenched his fists as he unleashed his own presence, pushing back Theseus’s as the two domains collided, prompting the others to retreat a few steps just in case. The clash went on for several minutes, as neither of the powerful Whites was willing to back down. At least, not at first.

“This is as stupid as it is pointless…” Machaon eventually waved in exasperation, withdrawing his aura. “Just tell me what you want from me...”

“A scapegoat.” Theseus cut to the chase, before elaborating. “We both know there’s no way to identify who employed you, but a head is going to roll today all the same. If you can’t find the specific agent who took the mission, pick a different one. I don’t care who.”

Machaon’s eyes widened at the sheer audacity of the request. It wasn’t until a moment later the words sank deep enough for him to grit his teeth.

“Must we resort to such a barbaric outcome?!”

“Machaon… I’m not playing games here.” Theseus said, his tone not leaving room for debate. “Either you sacrifice one of your agents, or it’s the two of us who’ll lose our heads.” ꭆÁꞐố𝐛È𝙎

***

“This is amazing!” Uncle Gareth exclaimed. “If we get those elixirs, even I could reach Violet!!”

“Aren’t you a little too excited for something that would still be over a thousand years away?” Dad shut him down, though it didn’t last long.

“Still, I’ll reach Blue much faster too!” Gareth spoke again after a few moments, his enthusiasm clearly not so easy to douse down.

“Silence.” Uncle Galahad said. “If and when the Divine Order decides to mass produce this Aurora Dew, we will give priority to the Yellow-borns. Whether anyone else gets any will depend on the cost and availability.”

Hearing them discuss the topic of the elixirs, Elaine gave her grandpa an odd look, as he also tossed a fleeting glance her way. It hadn’t been long since they allowed her to attend these strategy meetings. Yellow-borns were given the privilege younger, as they represented the future leaders of the family. Though she didn’t say anything. Today, she was only here to listen.

Archibald cleared his throat.

“Just a reminder that we’re here to discuss House Tantalus. Not the fancy new elixirs.” he said, putting the debate to rest.

Hearing him, Uncle Balin slammed his fist, shaking the long table. He must’ve held back too, or it would have shattered to splinters.

“What’s there to discuss?! I say we attack them head on already! Are we afraid of those bastards?!?!”

The others averted their gazes following his outburst, Elaine included. Everyone still stepped on eggshells around him, knowing the man was grieving. It hadn’t even been a year since Hector’s death.

“Calm down, son.” Grandpa said. “We’d probably win an all-out war, but our losses would be greater that way. Though I agree we need to escalate our attacks too, if we want them to stop.”

It had already been months since their House started fighting back, having killed many of House Tantalus’s members in that time. Still, that only seemed to pour oil in the fire, as their enemies retaliated even more aggressively. They appeared determined to weaken them regardless of the cost, their goal probably being to prevent Galahad from consuming a petal. After all, they already had their hands full against Archibald – a Violet core with a powerful bloodline. They clearly didn’t want to deal with a second one in possession of a composite affinity.

‘I bet they’ll escalate even more after that announcement…’ Elaine smiled bitterly.

The meeting continued for a few hours, as everyone exchanged ideas and plans on how to best defend the western side of the Camelot province from their enemies. River Glein had always served as a natural barrier, splitting the province in two down the middle, but the recent unrest had made the rival House a lot more daring.

It wasn’t until the meeting was over that Elaine approached Archibald. She waited until they were alone in the room before speaking.

“Grandpa… Those elixirs… Do you think…?” she trailed off, though the man clearly caught her meaning.

“Hard to say. The fact he managed to become a full-fledged alchemist in a few years is impressive… But coming up with a new recipe so quickly? That sounds a little farfetched.”

Elaine nodded in agreement, though Archibald wasn’t done.

“Still, it’s quite the coincidence this happened so soon after he arrived there. The old elixirs had remained mostly unchanged for tens of thousands of years… I suppose it’s not impossible he was involved, given his ability…”

She gasped.

“Do you think he might be in trouble?!?!”

“How should I know? We aren’t even sure it’s him. If it is, it was smart of him to not tell us through the letters. These things are better shared in person. Let’s just hope he knows what he’s doing…”

***

Similar scenes played out all across Remior, as those involved with the new elixirs tried to hide, and everyone else couldn’t wait to get their hands on the miraculous product. Percy would have been shocked had he seen how far his actions had reached.

In fact, the ripples extended all the way to a dark room hidden in some remote location, where no sound was ever heard, nor any soul did ever visit. It was a simple room, lacking any furniture. There was only a mat, with two incense burners lit up on either side. The faintly sweet scent of agarwood permeated the place, as a hooded figure meditated silently atop the mat.

Had somebody stumbled upon the room, they might have thought the person was a corpse – and not a very important one at that. After all, they were dressed in naught but the cheapest clothes, a ragged outfit of worn linen. It was as if somebody had picked the lowest commoner off the street and left them here to starve for whatever reason.

Yet, here, in this room in the middle of nowhere, amidst the thick veil of darkness and hidden beneath the unassuming hood…

…a pair of lips curled upward.

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