The car stops and I get out. I nod to him and we start moving, he goes to inform everyone of my decision. I've got a few things to prepare. Well more then a few things. The king of nothing had been taken in by Asterion. No matter now little I talked with that man during our time in song clan, I know one thing. He is spiteful, when he finds himself wronged, he swings back twice as hard. If the information heat seeker said was true, and from how they acted I'm sure they think it is, then mordret no doubt will cause another domain war no matter what. With my citadel being so close to the hollow mountains, with only one other being technically closer. I'll have to keep panic down, while preparing the civilians for evacuation. I already informed Sebastian on the ride back to prepare everything so thats already started. I catch something out of the corner of my eye. I stop walking over to it
"how did...?"
I quickly take down the poster of that absolutely terrible Antarctica movie. I am being messed with i swe- theres a note on the back of it. Written in the language of the Kingdom of Hope. I had taken some time to learn it a while back after their second nightmare, and their research paper came out.
'When your gods abandon you, when the bodies fall to the heart, when all you can see is snow, it will be your words that tell the fate of the beast. Elli, do not let the light fall, when the time is right say your truth'
I don't look away from the paper for some time. Who could have put this here? I doubt it was a prankster, was it the same person who wrote the note? I start walking, I put the paper on my desk adding a note under the last 'found who wrote this' finally i go to the dream realm
A few days later I tap my foot watching the two troublemakers. They keep their heads down they speak at the same time
"I'm sorry lightning slayer"
I nod
"you two have been causing problems for ages now. Committing quite a few acts of vandalism"
I sigh. Their both at most 15, just kids being kids. Still they need something to discourage them from doing more
"you two will be taking down all of the posters, and cleaning all of the spray paint"
the two teens, Maverick and jack, both groan
"but come on man, we didn't make anything bad!"
"Yeah what he said!"
I shake my head. It's hard to not get annoyed at them, but I have to remember not everyone grew up like me. I have to give leeway.
"Are you sad that you have to clean up your own messes? That is rather childish of you"
the two get clearly embarrassed. Goodness even i wasn't.... no I was worse. I have to be realistic, I was a brat.
"But yes I mean it, the han li clan can't keep cleaning up after you. Surviving the dream realm is a collective effort after all"
they both look down
"yes lightning slayer"
sometimes I really do wish my citadel hadn't become a tourist spot for their fans. Maybe it would have grown enough for me to not have to to personally deal with these situations.
A few weeks, at most later I am dealing with those same teenagers yet again. This time in a far weirder situation.
"Break it up! You, your from the red hill citadel, part the maharana clan if I'm right?"
The man nods
"yes saint caster"
I sigh, heavily at that
"what are you doing, picking fights with teenagers like that?"
His face twists into something close to anger
"they disrespected lord Asterion!"
I start tapping my foot
"and your response to two teenagers was that? You are acting like a child. I know you have strong feelings about the new supreme but get a hold of yourself"
I turn to maverick and jack
"you two?"
Maverick points to him
"we had only been talking about sovereign heat seeker when he came up to us! It isn't our fault that he started bashing the supreme of snow!"
"To our faces too!"
The two are quite abnormally angry, their troublemakers, but their mostly light hearted. I turn back to the awakened
"I will have to ask you to not interrupt conversations like that anymore"
he looks at my face
"you'll see the greatness of lord asterion one day"
this guy is far too insistent isn't he. The red hill saint needs to get control of his clan better. I can't have people from his clan causing problems over here.
A few days after that incident another happens, and thus more paperwork. Theres only about 3 people around the citadel that have strong positive feels about Asterion and they've all been causing trouble, left and right. My pen scratches in the paper, I glance over at the poster on my wall. That message. I can't stop thinking about it. Its so deeply odd, just how long was it there? I look away going back to my work. Shipping some of the local lumber to ravenheart soon too, all of it only adds to my workload. The door is slammed open by awakened tai, shes terrified.
"Caster!"
She leans on the door almost breaking the handle. I'm by her side quickly
"awakened tai what happened? What's gotten you like this"
she looks up at me
"its red hill! The king of nothing has killed everyone!"
I still for a few seconds
"what?"
It took years last time. Fuck.
Only hours later I had already started the evacuation, who knew the carts for lumber could be so useful for this.
"Everyone stay calm. Half of the clan will be going with you, that includes 5 masters. You'll all be okay"
countless are voices overlapping making a almost deafening cacophony. There's a lot of feelings on the matter, fear is the most prominent of them.
"Yes i hear your fears. I'll help hold off the king of nothing at the Weeping Goddess with countless other saints. You have no need to worry."
If anything i should be worried. He wouldn't value civilians that highly, but a saint? That's someone he would go after.
"Changing star will stop him!"
"Heat seeker will come with their army!"
"Lord Asterion will save us!"
I heavily sigh.
"Everyone calm down, you'll get to ravenheart safely i swear!"
Speeches will always be a nephis thing, won't it? Only a hour after the civilians get moving the rest of my clan is already on the move to the weeping goddess.
"Saint caster, do you think we are going to win?"
I smile at awakened tai
"I mean of course, there's 3 sovereigns teaming up to fight just one. There's no doubt he will be defeated. I doubt he will be killed but he will be defeated in this battle."
Only days later i am staring down at a mirror like lake, at my own reflection. All sound is drowned by the weeping goddess. I doubt it will survive this
"Get... dy... ate... ing!"
i hold onto my sword with both hands. Never did i think as a saint i would fight a sovereign, is this how they felt? No the king of nothing is far different to the last two.
"Get ready! The Gate is opening!"
I've yet to take my transcendent form, I have to be careful with the use of my aspect after all.
"We're all going to die!"
Now what would they have said 'now isn't that nice to hear' or some other snippy comment. I glance at kai and seishan. Then I look away, no point in dwelling on the past now.
"It used to be that we only feared Gates opening in the waking world, unleashing Nightmare Creatures upon humans. But now, here we are in the Dream Realm, full of dread because of an imminent descent of a Gate... which will unleash a human."
Seishan slightly scoffs, quiet yet something she doesn't normally do
"i wouldn't call that man a human."
I shake my head
"semantics, not that if he is or isn't matters now"
the lake shimmers, a cold almost fog like wind blows, the gate has opened. Very few battles I've lived will compare to this.
"Archers, nock your arrows."
I take a deep breath
"loose!"
And i make a heavy sigh as the countless bodies of the king of nothing spill out.
The whole day passes, fighting, fighting and more fighting. I think i understand why some people hate combat now.
"Oh hello caster, you don't look so well"
I side step a fast moving attack.
"I've been quite stressed. Due to you and someone else as well"
there is countless points of laughter around me, some almost human, some like that of a true demon.
"Oh wow, I've been stressing you out? Well I can't say thats hard"
in a wide sweeping attack i kill quite a few vessels. Yet not that human one that seems to be his way of speaking to me.
"It isn't."
I drive my blade into a creatures at the fallen ranks heart. I jump off everything is almost slow due to how fast im going
"a shame, ■■■■ kinda likes you, I find you not too annoying. You could just leave, I spear i won't follow"
I finally stab the ascended human in the chest
"unfortunately I can not do that"
I cut down one after another. I feel so old. I can't use my aspect too much, my age is a resource I need to carefully manage. I hear a noise, is it that of hate, or delight. Either way by that living metal and that half goat now covering my back, it seems the valor exiles are here
"saint jest."
The half goat half man looks back with that I assume is a cheeky grin.
"Oh hello caster! Been some time since I last saw you, what was it last? Us almost dying?"
This is going to be too long.
I think I've been fighting for days, it has to be days at this point. I hope its been days. Sure felt like it. I end up fighting closely with kai. It feels natural.
"We can't continue!"
I slice down a corrupted beast. My original sword had been broken this one is a good amount weaker.
"We must abandon the remaining civilians and retreat!"
I try not to look back at seishan. She's right we can't keep going
"Not yet."
I grit my teeth, or well I would if a few hadn't been knocked out, that came with a laugh and a comment too. He's been nonstop messing with me. For fun I'd guess.
"If you don't command a retreat, you'll lose both the civilians and the soldiers!"
I'm almost grabbed but a arrow goes right through the attackers head
"This is your burden. Carry it!"
Why will the sovereigns not come? I don't quite get it. I dodge another swipe ramming the sword haphazardly into its head taking another swipe to my side.
"Aster-"
everything stops for a few seconds, as a gate breaks open a flying ship leaving it.
"Storms last hope..."
its heat seeker! I look down, even mordret is looking and he seems quite excited. Weird. I look back up as about 72 figures jump from the ship. All saints, the domain of snow has finally gained its saints. They've finished their third nightmare.
"Just in time old friend"