Days came and went, and time began to bleed into a seemingly eternal stretch that was driving Jay absolutely up the wall. The search for a way to contact Colt continued as she had expected it to, but results were minimal. Lana and Jubilee were efficient when it came to finding new information, but it never quite seemed to be enough. The lack of action left Jay feeling particularly impatient. After years of being used to constant action, needing to wait around for such an extended period of time made her feel terrible, and she felt as if she always had to be moving around or doing something with herself so that she didn't feel completely useless. The newfound buzzing sensation that had settled beneath her skin was already beyond uncomfortable, and she detested it with everything that she had.
It wasn't as if Jay had been expecting this to be easy. That was far from being the case, as a matter of fact. Jay knew what they were going to be getting into was difficult from the outset, but that didn't seem to ease her discomfort in the slightest. All she could do was buzz around like some kind of eager honeybee desperate to land on a flower. It was upsetting, and Jay wished that she could banish this feeling for even just a few moments so that she could sleep in peace. It was exhausting to constantly toss and turn before waking up without having received any decent rest the night before. All in all, she just wanted this stress to end.
However, Jay knew better than to believe that it was that simple, so she allowed herself to sigh and continue on as she had been doing. They would be able to figure everything out soon enough, but until then, she would simply need to be patient. The world needed her to calm down and keep from acting rashly. Repeating such phrases to herself scarcely helped to calm her raging nerves, but it was something, and she needed the mantra far more than she could have ever anticipated initially.
Jay glanced over to the other side of the small hotel room that the group had settled down in. It was far from being as large or extravagant as the one that they had been sharing near the tavern Jubilee used to work at, but it still worked. Plus, it was far cheaper, so they were able to save on funds by a significant amount. It was far more effective given that they had no idea how long they were going to be searching for Colt.
As it turned out, Otholle was far more picky about what information slipped through the cracks than Jay expected. Most information about the Colt figure that Jubilee had come into contact with had been shoved aside and drowned out by other tidbits of the truth with perhaps a few lies mixed in for the sake of adding nice flavor. Those who did claim to have seen a shadowy mage with darkened eyes and shattered goggles said that he appeared be more phantom than human and wondered if perhaps he truly existed at all or was merely a figment of their imaginations instead.
Jay let out a small sigh and closed her eyes as she sat down on the bed that she had been sharing with Lana for the past few nights. The group had been sharing this room for the past few days, and Lana and Jay split one of the two beds while the boys took the other one. Jubilee used the couch for her space and folded it out so that she could have all the room in the world. She often made joking comments about how she wouldn't object to sharing with Colt when they were able to eventually find him, but all that did for Jay was rub in the fact that it was going to be a while before they did anything to get closer to the frustratingly avoidant mage that had been ducking through their every suspicion.
Then there was the matter of the final mage that they were meant to be tracking. Jay had found herself thinking about this figure a lot as of late, especially when she remembered the fact that Lana was positive that she knew something the rest of the group was unaware of. Jay wondered about the mage of Fire who had seemingly been brought to the land of the living by Mersall. She didn't like the idea of potentially having to ally herself with someone who had collaborated with the recent generation of Fearbringers given all of the chaos that they had caused, but she understood that she couldn't afford to be picky given the circumstances.
Jubilee was a different story in Jay's eyes. Jubilee had been a cooperating party in a Fearbringer group many centuries ago, and she hadn't been involved with the Hanilia faction in a great many years. It would be ridiculous of Jay to remain petty with Jubilee because of her grudges against the modern group of Fearbringers when Jubilee hadn't ever been involved with them in the first place. She knew that she couldn't allow her feelings of negativity to get in the way of finding the truth. She was going to have to be careful, and she would keep from being too petty or snappish when the final member of the Skylian Mages did show themselves.
Jay's eyes fell upon Lana in particular, and she resisted the urge to scrutinize every small crease on the girl's face. If she didn't know any better, she never would have guessed that Lana, as kind as she was, could hold such terrible secrets. It wasn't that Lana was a bad person; that was far from being the case. The two of them wanted to get to know each other better, and Jay could sense it from a mile away. However, their differing thought processes on Jay's past issues were what drove them apart, and Jay couldn't help but cringe at the idea that she would one day have to give in and tell everybody what she knew. Lana was going to make sure that she did it so that the group of traveling fighters would be able to rely on one another.
It was going to have to wait until after Colt appeared though. Jay wanted all of the Skylian Mages to be together when she told the story so that she wouldn't have to be involved with all of the emotional aggravation that came with telling it all over again when a new member joined their ranks. It would be a story that she told once, and then she would refuse to acknowledge it ever again. That was what she believed would be for the best, and she wasn't about to back down from such an assertion.
But for the time being, all she could do was wait. It was frustrating that she had nothing to do but simply sit there and wait for Lana or Jubilee to find something that they could use to track down Colt, but she didn't have much of a choice in the matter. They knew what they were doing, and Jay was sure of it. All she could do was be careful and continue looking to the future hopefully. Heaven knew that they were going to need all the optimism that they could get if they were going to get out of this mess with their sanity intact.
~~~~~
Jayler tapped the eraser side of his mechanical pencil against the paper in front of him, willing his brain to shove him through his geometry homework. Math had never been his forte, and he was perfectly fine with confessing that it was his least favorite subject in school. He enjoyed reading and writing for the sake of being taken to faraway worlds that reminded him in some way, regardless of genre, of Hyperion and the fact that he seemed to live a fairytale each day. He loved science out of a basic curiosity to understand how the world worked, and his connection with history seemed to be similar to how he felt about English.
Math, on the other hand, had never made sense to him. Who gave a damn about finding out the measure of congruent angles? Jayler knew that he certainly didn't care about it, and he didn't know how this was going to be relevant to him in the slightest. After all, it wasn't as if he was going to be looking into any careers on Earth. He had everything that he could have possibly wanted in Hyperion, and he was positive that the other dimension was all too eager to accept him for what he was. After all, he was a Hanilia, and it was his job to keep the realm safe. Jayler wanted to embrace such a position fully, and homework simply seemed like a buffer between his true goals and what he was being forced to live through day in and day out. It was pointless.
Jayler hadn't actually spoken to any of the Clan Leaders yet on their thoughts regarding the future. He knew confidently that he was going to turn his attention to Hyperion in the future because he wanted to do everything that he could to help those who needed it. If the others were more attached to Earth than he was, then they hadn't said anything about it. He figured that the topic would come up sooner or later, and they could address it collectively when the proper time came. After all, they were in high school, and that meant that it was only a matter of time before teachers began to pester them for information on what they were planning on doing with the rest of their lives.
"You look miserable."
Jayler glanced up to see that Gemini was standing above him, and he gave her a dramatic sigh as she slid into the seat across from him. They were in the middle of a study hall period at the moment, and Jayler was desperate to finish his homework as soon as possible so that he could focus on the more important things in his life. He couldn't daydream about Hyperion until after he had taken care of his primary issues, after all.
"Yeah," Jayler replied, a teasing smile spreading across his face. Gemini gave him a light roll of her eyes, but the action was entirely playful, and Jayler knew it. Despite her stoic exterior, Gemini was far more kind and open to joking around than one would expect. Her glares were still stony and sharp, but she was just as caring as she was hardened. It was a strange paradox, but it wasn't one that Jayler objected to in the slightest.
"You only need to give me one guess for me to figure out what you're thinking about," remarked Gemini, continuing without any need for prompting. "Still, we can think about that after you do your homework. I'm not here to offer you a distraction; I want to make sure that you get everything done so that we can go out for our next scheduled meeting in Hyperion."
"I know," Jayler muttered, trying to force himself to focus on the paper in front of him. He let out a groan when he saw a diagram that resembled proofs, and he shoved his hand against his face before sliding it downwards, leaving his eyes and lips somewhat contorted as a result of the dragging motion. When was this going to be over? When was high school in general going to be over? He was positive that he would far prefer the realm of Hyperion and its teachings to the boring stuff that Earth shoved down his throat constantly.
Gemini reached into her bag and pulled out a book that almost appeared to be thicker than Jayler's head at a first glance. His eyes went wide as soon as he saw how small the text found within was, but Gemini didn't seem to notice. If she did realize that he was responding to her actions, she chose not to reciprocate such as a way of encouraging him to do his work.
In a way, it wound up working out as she had planned, and Jayler put away his surprise before turning his attention back down to the paper in front of him. He wanted nothing more than for this to simply finish itself, but he knew that wasn't possible. If there was any magical spell that could cheat for him, he was unaware of it. Jayler wondered if perhaps that was for the best given how frequently he would have wound up using it.
Jayler began to make his way through the proof in question, though his pencil moved mindlessly without him putting any attention towards it. He wanted to go back to Hyperion and help the Draconic Superiors with their recent endeavors to finish cleaning the castle. They were so close to being done that Jayler could almost feel it. There would be other Hanilia in there soon enough, and Jayler couldn't wait for that.
Unfortunately, he would have to finish his homework first. As Jayler finished the proof, he let out a sigh of relief, realizing that he had reached the bottom of the page. However, the light glinted off the pale surface of the paper, and Jayler could see something on the other side. His stomach twisted with dread, and he turned it over to see even more questions waiting for him to fill them out.
Jayler let out a groan and resisted the urge to slam his face against the table. Gemini flipped to the next page of her book. This school day could not be over soon enough.
~~~~~
Zephyr hummed a tune under their breath as they navigated their way through the palace. They almost skipped from place to place, allowing the bright sunshine overhead to shine down on them. Zephyr resisted the urge to do a twirl, not wanting anyone to see. After all, they were a Draconic Superior, and they were meant to be professional. As for if they actually fit the bill or not, that was a matter that could be debated at a later point.
Zephyr stopped beside a window and leaned out of it, allowing their right hand, which was holding tightly to a notepad, to droop through the open hole in the wall. They had been taking inventory on the rooms that were finished and ready for occupation since Tuila had noticed how passionate they were about this project. Zephyr had accepted readily since it gave them an excuse to get away from the suffocating efforts to rebuild over on Daragon. Zephyr wasn't fond of politics, and even cleaning duty was more interesting than that, especially if the building in question was a palace with too much history to ever be properly recorded.
They looked up to the sky and let out a dreamy sigh. It was a beautiful day, and it seemed like the world was all coming together perfectly. They were away from Daragon, not a cloud was in sight, and it seemed like absolutely nothing could go wrong.
Oh, they should have known that it was too good to be true.
Zephyr's ears began to twitch a moment after they thought about how perfectly serene it all was. They frowned and perked up to their full height. As a Rauleighan, Zephyr had stronger senses than most other mages. Dragons had always been stronger in categories of sight, smell, and hearing, and while Zephyr's skills were nowhere near as refined as some others' were, they were still able to pick up on things that most others might have missed.
They could hear something, though it was impossible to pick out what specific words were being spoken. Zephyr leaned out the window once again and began to search the region for any signs of the people that had caught their attention. They were pretty damn positive that people they didn't know well were making the noise, and there were a lot of them. The Draconic Superiors wouldn't have come back to Skylia without a warning. Tuila was far too organized, and all information of that nature would have gone through Valdez or Liathine before they arrived. If it wasn't them though, then who in the world would want to stop by the castle?
That was when Zephyr realized, and their jaw dropped in the blink of an eye.
They scrambled away from the window, doing their best to not drop their notepad and pen in the process. The path to the stairs was quite long, and Zephyr realized a bit too late that it would have been faster to simply jump out the window and either transform into combat form or utilize their draconic half. Zephyr wound up following through after they finally managed to slide to a stop beside a window, and they didn't hesitate to shove their notepad into the space between their teeth and jump. Flesh transformed to scales, and powerful webbed wings sprouted from their back before easing them towards the ground. Zephyr returned to human form as soon as they touched down, and they returned to their full height after correcting their posture, though it did little to make them more threatening due to their general lack of verticality.
Then again, only someone such as Tuila or Valdez would have been able to frighten the large crowd that had gathered in front of the locked doors of the palace. Zephyr frowned as they glanced out over the figures, picking out the faces that they recognized before settling on one particular person in the front. Their eyes narrowed, though it wasn't out of malice as much as it was blatant curiosity. Of all the people that they had expected to see, the Fearbringers had to be some of the last.
"What are you doing here?" Zephyr questioned, unable to maintain their regular casual nature at first. They were too surprised to even bother utilizing a mask of conversational relaxation. The Fearbringers hadn't been seen publicly in ages, and it was shocking that they were even still completely together as a team of twenty-five at all.
The last time that the Fearbringers had shifted into action had been during the war on Daragon against the greater army of false Hanilia. The final fight against Mersall had been a difficult one, especially because of the way that the had set up his forces. The army had been allowed to grow to such a magnitude because of his promises that all who joined him could be considered Hanilia. He had sabotaged the Fearbringer title, transforming it into a group that fought only for his twisted desires as opposed a team dedicated to the legitimate defense of Hyperion and its planets. The true Hanilia among the group, a party led by Zelda Artem, had vanished into thin air after the fighting drew to a close, and nobody was quite sure of where they had gone. Tuila had instructed the Draconic Superiors to leave them to their own devices for the time being, sure as could be that they would be crossing paths soon enough. It appeared to Zephyr that Tuila's words had been correct, and all they could do was stare and take a quick head count to ensure that everyone was present. Sure enough, they were all there.
"We heard of your recent endeavors," Zelda explained simply. Everyone remained silent behind her, and Zephyr did their best to keep from glaring in her direction. Even though the Draconic Superiors and Clan Leaders had formed an uneasy alliance with the true Hanilia of the Fearbringers during the previous war, tensions were still high. Zephyr didn't think that they would ever be able to forget the actions of Zelda in particular during the war. Her strength was certainly welcome on the side of good, but Zephyr still had an uneasy feeling about working with her. They knew where her morals rested, but it still posed a few challenges as far as adjustment was concerned in Zephyr's eyes.
"So you came by to see what everything was about," Zephyr concluded, doing their best to keep from sounding too overtly bitter. They knew that they were supposed to be working together, but it was far easier said than done to set aside so many years of concerns towards the people who had once been their enemies. The pain from the war was still fresh even after it had ended, and Zephyr didn't think that they would ever be able to forget. Mersall was the primary fighter who was personally responsible, and luckily he had been dead and buried ever since the fighting ended, but Zephyr's grudges would remain. They had never claimed to not be a petty person, and they wondered if any amount of peaceful conversation would be able to soothe their endless concern and previous spite.
"You intend to gather together the Hanilia, yes?" Zelda questioned. If she picked up on Zephyr's poorly masked anger (which they were positive she had), then she chose not to acknowledge it, keeping her expression even instead. Her gaze shifted upwards to the castle itself, and a light sigh left her lips.
"Yeah... One of these days," Zephyr replied. "But I didn't think that I would see any of you around here anytime soon. It's not like anybody has heard from you since the war. What have you been doing all this time anyways? I take it that you weren't causing problems, but I'm still pretty curious about why you just wiped yourselves off the face of the planet for a while."
Zelda gave a brief glance over her shoulder to her right-hand, and Zephyr found themselves inwardly scrambling to place a name to a face. As soon as he began to speak, they remembered. Tavi was his name. Tavi Keshran. "We were investigating certain matters that we believe may be of concern to you," he finally managed to say, crossing his arms over his chest. He seemed to be just as shady as ever, and Zephyr found themselves frowning. He had always been trailing in Zelda's shadow, and he was almost even more concerning and shifty than she was. They weren't going to openly say this, especially not when Tuila was undoubtedly trying to foster positive relations between their groups, but the unspoken hostility remained.
"Oh?" Zephyr prompted, raising an eyebrow. Now that was something that they wanted to hear about. If the Fearbringers had truly been looking into other matters, then this was something that Tuila would undoubtedly need to be made aware of as soon as possible. The leader of the Draconic Superiors had primarily kept to her work on Daragon, but it wasn't out of the question for her to travel to Skylia to oversee the Hanilia base operation. In fact, hearing about something like this was bound to drag her away from her other duties. With how long the Fearbringers had been gone, Zephyr was positive that they had some juicy information to distribute when Tuila arrived.
"I would rather only state our findings once, if it's all the same to you," Zelda said again, seeming to snap out of her previous trance. Her eyes had shifted into something oddly melancholy and guilty, and Zephyr found themselves frowning even deeper than before. Something about this place was clearly bothering Zelda, and they were desperate to know what it was.
"I'll take care of it then," Zephyr replied. They took a step backwards towards the entrance of the palace before shoving the large doors open. Zephyr was strong, yes, but there was only so much that a person so tiny would be able to do against the pair of huge doors that led to the inside of the palace. They grunted under their breath from exertion, careful to not let the Fearbringers hear, before making their way inside. Zephyr was thankful when the other Hanilia chose to not move, instead simply watching from afar. Zephyr didn't think that they would have been able to tell them to wait even if they wanted to. They were still too surprised that the Fearbringers had actually returned to even think of raising objections.
Zephyr let out a heavy sigh once they were alone in the castle again. They truly didn't know how to respond to all of this. The Fearbringers returning was sudden and unsettling, and this was the last thing that they had anticipated having to deal with. After all, who could have known that they would choose to crawl out of hiding at the exact time that Zephyr was alone at the castle? It was a perfect storm in the worst way possible.
Zephyr supposed that this was inevitable, and they reached for a small metallic sphere resting in their pocket. A holographic image appeared before them, and they started to slide their fingers across the pictures in the air, internally thanking Liathine for sharing her technological advancements with the rest of them. Zephyr was used to being chipper and optimistic, but they found themselves oddly still as they examined the holograms, navigating to the function that would allow them to call Tuila. Normally, they only left messages for Tuila regarding the updates in the castle, but this felt far too urgent for that, and they were sure that Tuila would agree.
Zephyr's thoughts flashed back to the peculiar expression that had settled on Zelda's face, and they began to frown. What could have caused her to be so upset when she first arrived at the castle? It simply didn't make sense to them. After all, wouldn't this have been her first time in the area?
When Zephyr remembered that wasn't the case, they had to resist the urge to hiss, unwilling to risk the chance that one of the Fearbringers outside would be able to overhear them. Of course this wasn't Zelda's first time at the castle. She had been there once before, back when the Skylox Heroes still inhabited it, and she had changed the course of history forever with a single slash of her sword.
Back in the days of the Skylox Heroes, all of their souls had been connected to the Sapphin Tablet. It was an easy way to keep them eternally tethered to the land of the living, and even long after mortals would have perished, they continued to thrive and flourish. Lyloc herself had allowed such a powerful magic to be possible, and she had been all too happy to lead the Skylox Heroes into battle. Nobody ever thought that they could have been stopped. Skylia was always safe, and those who aligned themselves with the Skylox Heroes were granted security that not even the most powerful of armies would have been able to break through. They were a group to be admired and feared.
But that was when a figure even more terrifying appeared. Zelda hadn't hesitated to destroy the Sapphin Tablet when the Skylox Heroes were distracted in a fight for their lives against the Fearbringers in the small town of Nadia. Skylia was left in chaos, and their primary form of protection fell apart in the blink of an eye. Much to everyone's surprise, the Fearbringers never even shifted their attention to Skylia again. They simply wanted to eliminate the possibility of the Skylox Heroes offering backup to the resistance fighters on Daragon. If the Skylox Heroes hadn't been so completely wiped out, leaving behind no survivors thanks to Zelda's actions, it surely would have been cause for war.
Instead, the Skylians lived on in their blissful ignorance, unwilling to acknowledge the issue at hand. It was simpler for them that way. The issue couldn't hurt them if they refused to believe it was true, after all. That was the common belief, and all eyes were shifted away from Daragon. Those who had previously called for Skylia to fight alongside Daragon in the war against the Fearbringers fell silent, understanding that their safety mattered above all else. Zelda had changed history forever thanks to a single order from Mersall and a swing of a blade, and there was a strong chance that the world would never recover.
In a way, it was Zelda's fault that the Hanilia alliance was even being considered at all. If she hadn't destroyed the Sapphin Tablet, killing the Skylox Heroes in the process, there would still have been a powerful fighting force to defend Hyperion with the force of multiple teams of Hanilia. Instead, only inexperienced members of a new generation were left behind, and instability could be found everywhere if one looked close enough. The ignorance of the Skylian people wouldn't be able to protect them forever, and when that innocence shattered, the glass was bound to embed itself in every part of life. There would be no escape, and the ensuing bloodshed would all fall on Zelda's shoulders.
But Zephyr voiced none of this, instead letting out yet another even breath as they began their call with Tuila. A gentle ringing sound echoed throughout the empty entryway of the castle, and Zephyr glanced around the room, desperate to find anything that would distract them. They had no idea how Tuila was going to take the news, but they already had an awful feel about it.
"Hello?"
Hearing Tuila's voice from the other side caused Zephyr's expression to melt into a nervous smile. They knew that Tuila wasn't able to see them, but they could still hear the stress in her voice, and they realized that this wasn't going to be easy. Then again, all they had to do was say the words, right? Tuila could manage her reaction on her own time after the message had been passed along.
Zephyr cleared their throat. "You are not going to believe this."
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Wrote this while playing Fire Emblem and procrastinating woo
-Digital