Realms of Magic: Demon Invasion

29. Cleaning Up

"The Queen hath abandoned us!" a mermaid, taller than her peers, shouts dramatically, "Then, thou, vanquisher of the previous Queen, shall be King!"

She is referring to Mr Arctus, of course. "Then, return to the seas where thine belong!" Mr Arctus orders. "Gee, these mermaids are so melancholic."

The mermaids leave the area, leaving behind heaps of their dead, as well as two damaged ships. The mist has vanished. 

I carry Alice's corpse; it has a huge hole in her stomach and half of her face is blown off. "She deserves a proper funeral," I murmur.

Just as I do so, however, an orb falls out of Alice's stomach.

"An information orb?" I mutter to myself.

The orb is swiftly caught by Sir Surya. "A vampiric information orb," he says, noticing the colors of the orb. He hands the orb to me.

Royal is lightly damaged, but it is formidable enough to continue the voyage.

"I will bring the orb back to Erwing," I say.

"If I were you, I would bring it to Ad Astra," Dame Luna comments.

"Ad Astra? What is that?" I ask.

"It's a cult of knowledge. They are obsessed with books and such, and they're very skilled codebreakers," Mr Arctus answers, "I'll lead you to the secret hideout."

We leave Blazewing's ship. Aelita has recovered somewhat. Royal continues her journey to Ad Astra's hideout.

"I never know Madam Rita is an Order member as well," Aelita comments in the ship. Turns out Royal is equipped with an autopilot system; captains are useful, but not necessary.

"The Order's not big, but we have enough influential members," Mr Arctus says as he applies medicine onto his chest.

"And we have allies, too, like this Ad Astra that is going to crack the code for us," Mr Arctus cheerfully adds.

"So who do you think put that orb inside Alice's stomach?" Aelita asks.

"I've tried to crack the vampiric code; it's a very ancient one. I only have four candidates," Mr Arctus replies, "The Princess of Terror, the White Witch, the guy who leads the Brotherhood of the Stars-we really don't know who he is, and the Puppeteer. Actually, I don't know if the Puppeteer knows this code, but since he turned Alice to his puppet, it might be him."

"So they're all enemies," I say confusedly, "it doesn't make sense."

"Indeed, it doesn't," Mr Arctus laughs, "but things rarely make sense in war."

The journey lasts four days. The incident back then is continually broadcasted in TV channels. Apparently, many merchant ships were attacked and destroyed in that incident. The arrival of Lady Sakurako and the White Witch only flares up the sensational news.

"Look! There's even footage of us!" Aelita points out when we are watching morning news.

"Reporters rush in when duels occur," Mr Arctus says, "It's good money."

Attention shifts to a loud alarm. A barrier suddenly materialises in front of us.

A young lady approaches us from inside the barrier. Her long dress and headscarf covers her entire body sans face.

"Art of Puppets: Marionette of Fire!" she throws a gemstone to the ground, summoning a puppet; the humanoid puppet is heavily armored and armed with fire on his hands.

"Blood–" I am alarmed. Puppet magic is exceedingly rare and difficult. Puppets are controlled with the puppeteer's brain; if it is not strong, the puppeteer might drown in madness.

"Wait, Vio! She's a member of Ad Astra" Mr Arctus shouts, "Nisa, It's me, Arctus Pompey!"

"Arctus? Oh, thank goodness," the woman sighs in relief.

She allows us to enter the barrier. The inside of the barrier is strangely empty, except for a few rocks. The rocks open, revealing a majestic lift beneath.

"Ad Astra doesn't usually patrol their territory," Mr Arctus notes as we ride the lift, "what happened, Nisa?"

The puppeteer named Nisa replies, "Our leader Jonathan was severely wounded a few weeks ago by the White Witch. Our barrier strength dropped by a third."

"I see," Mr Arctus says worriedly.

"Empire patrol boats are harassing us regularly," Nisa says, "there are multiple sights of an unknown demon Lord and the White Witch."

"Why don't you report it to us?" Mr Arctus asks as the lift descends.

"We tried; ask your Queen Seira about it," Nisa replies sharply.

The lift stops and opens. "Surely, you want to visit our library," Nisa says, "and I see the Twelfth is with you."

"We repulsed Lady Sakurako-the new Lord-and the White Witch a while back. Here is our spoil," Mr Arctus hands her the orb, "I hope your codebreakers can decipher it."

"Vampiric orb," Nisa says as we walk through the library, "Piece of cake for them."

The library is massive. Bookshelves seem to be boundless and many Ad Astra members are sitting on the floor and on the chairs, reading.

"I heard Ad Astra dedicates itself to knowledge," Aelita says.

"Indeed," Nisa replies, "seeking knowledge is our goal."

Nisa brings us to a section of the library with a huge table and multiple orbs on it.

"Vampiric orb," Nisa mutters to a codebreaker, "Crack it quickly."

"Understood," the codebreaker replies.

A middle aged thin man on a wheelchair approaches us. His hair is short and black; his lips curl upward when he sees us.

"Jonathan," Nisa addresses him, "we have company."

"Arctus Pompey," he says, "you haven't visited for a long time."

"We're bit busy back in Irvine," Mr Arctus replies.

"A bottle of wine for our reunion, Arctus," Jonathan offers, "Batavia red wine."

He opens the bottle, pouring it into two glasses. "Cheers."