The Third Power: TTS AU

Chapter Eight

"Ok so that's... c-cliff? No. No no no it looks more like... no wait it is cliff."

Varian breathed through his teeth as he wrote down the Coronan translation of the symbol. It had taken him hours but he finally had about a half to two thirds of the text translated. So far it read:

A final secret. One I hope Zhan Tiri never gets hold of. If she were to find this, it could spell doom for us all.
With the discovery of the third divine power, I pray that someone may happen upon it and use it. I hope they may find the Sundrop and Moonstone and, united, the three powers will finally finish a battle I never wanted to start.

To the one reading this, you must be of great intelligence to have translated my code. For that, I applaud you and hope you are on my side. I hope you also wish for Zhan Tiri's fall.

With that in mind, here are directions to the third divine power and fifth incantation:

A cliff

Varian couldn't help but smile at the idea of Demanitus applauding him. The idea that his idol could place so much trust in a stranger who could happen to read his code was a wonderful but scary idea.

The alchemist stretched his arms and back. He'd been hunched over for a long time.

He looked out of the nearest window and saw the sun reaching the other side of the sky as the afternoon began. Was this his fifth day locked in this place? He couldn't remember anymore but he knew it was somewhere between five days and a week.

Varian's mind wondered to memories. He thought about his father and frowned. Was his dad ok? He wasn't worried was he?

He could just hope Quirin thought he'd gone on some quest for more alchemy supplies or to do some field work.

—————

King Fredrick sat on his throne, his queen next to him on her own, as they began the afternoon session of seeing what problems the kingdom's villagers had.

"It's a relatively short list today, Your Majesties," said Nigel as he looked at the scroll in his hand.

The king sighed with relief. It had been a while since they'd had a short list.

"Who's first then?"

—————

It was about three in the afternoon when they reached the last person.

"And finally, Quirin from Old Corona," Nigel called loud enough for Quirin to hear from the hallway.

Fredrick smiled. It had been a while since he'd seen Quirin and he wanted to thank him and his son for their work on the technological advancements to the kingdom.

However, the king was not ready for the sight that befell him.

Quirin looked awful. He was pale and had dark circles under his eyes. His hair was a mess and his clothes looked like they desperately needed a wash.

"Sir!" Nigel yelled, his accent ringing through the throne room. "That is not appropriate dress for-"

"Nigel," Fredrick called to his advisor sharply. "Quirin is obviously distressed about something. Let him speak will you?"