When the Fearbringers came back with new information, it did what all new pieces of knowledge seemed to do within the palace. It spread rapidly and excessively, and soon enough, everyone who had ever set foot in the castle since its renovation was in on the theory regarding what it was that Alba was seeking. This was ultimately for the best, and everyone was aware of that, but that did little to ease the consistent sensation that all of this was unsettling to imagine.
The Clan Leaders weren't there that day, though that was to be expected given the circumstances. It was a weekday, and on top of that, Lex and Jayler had been quick to proclaim that they had a huge test that they had to take care of the following afternoon, so their time had to be dedicated to studying. Lana figured that this had to be a big deal for them given how regularly enthusiastic both Jayler and Lex were about coming to Hyperion. If it was something that had earned a concerned reaction even from them, then it was certainly something of note, and she figured that it would be best if they were left to take care of it the way that they requested.
Lana had to admit that recent events had given her quite a bit to consider. All that had unfolded with Alba sat poorly with her, and she found herself needing time to think over everything to try and find a way to rationalize it. Alba was clearly attempting to play the role of some higher power in a way to try and become stronger, and Lana didn't like it in the slightest. It felt like a personal grudge to have, but Lana felt its pull nonetheless, and it was nearly impossible for her to escape from.
Her relationship with life created in ways aside from natural means was complicated, to say the least. It wasn't as if Lana had been formed as a living creature the way that others had been. It was clear as could be given the fact that Lyloc had been the one to forge her so long ago, and Lana had taken to creating other artificial beings, robots, on her own time after she became the mistress of the City of Steel. She should have had a positive outlook on the concept, all things considered, and yet, Alba existed.
Alba's boldness in creating so many falsified beings surprised and upset Lana, she had to confess. It felt twisted to see someone misusing their power in a way that had always touched Lana's heart in ways that she struggled to articulate. Alba was playing the figure of a god, and in a way, it made Lana wonder if there was any way that others were better on that front. It was a tricky subject that certainly required deliberation on her end. She was going to have to put much thought into the matter, and she hated that fact.
Cryai would linger in Lana's mind forever. That much she was sure of. He was an artificial creature made of Ice magic, the most advanced of Alba's group. He might as well have been immortal given the knowledge that Lana had on him. He was a mystery to her, and Alba was the only one with the knowledge that would answer Lana's inquiries. Alba was creating an army of artificial creatures to carry out their bidding, and the beings in question were seemingly monsters at a first glance. Cryai was the most human of the bunch, but even so, he could scarcely be considered more than a puppet executing Alba's will under their distant instructions.
Lana was sitting in her room of the castle when she pressed her face into her hands and let out a heavy sigh. Alba's actions were frustrating, to say the least, and she wished that there was an easier way for her work through her thoughts on the matter. If Lana was being honest, she had been procrastinating on offering judgement ever since she first heard about what Alba was capable of, but the recent revelation made her feel as if she had to provide a response sooner rather than later.
The concept of artificially created life had existed in Lana's life from the instant that she was completed. She was the first of many, and she would not be the last. Jubilee, Colt, and Arian were proof of that much, and that meant that most of her team fell into the same category as the creatures made by Alba by some twisted, detached sense of heavenly design. Lana didn't think that any of them were deserving of attachment to such a concept, and it made her almost nauseous to think about if she concentrated on the subject too much.
Alba was working to create artificial life, and their plan was to find another person out there who would be able to make their creations even more powerful. It had taken quite some fine tuning in the first place for Lana to be created, that much she was aware of. There was quite a bit of experimentation that went into Lana's initial forming, and it took Lyloc a long time to finally pin it down. In the end, Lyloc had kept her methods a secret, and not even Lana was fully sure of how it had taken place in the end. Lyloc was seemingly trying to prevent too many people from getting the same idea that she had as far as creating new life was concerned, and yet, here they were anyways.
Lana didn't know how anyone else had pulled it off either. Jubilee, Colt, and Arian all seemed to know little of the circumstances behind their own creations aside from the fact that it ended with them being living, breathing human beings much the same as any other. Lana figured that this was for the best. Part of her wondered if this was even meant to happen in the first place. Perhaps her mere existence was some twisted sin in the eyes of Hyperion, Soluna, and Skylox. Lyloc had always served in the name of her goddess, and those had been the days where Hyperion walked plain earth much the same as any mortal did. Was this even meant to be? Perhaps Lana was overreacting and thinking too deeply into the circumstances of her creation. That was what she desperately wanted to believe, she had to confess.
On the other hand, Lana found herself once again wondering about what it was that set them apart. Deep down, was there even a difference between what she was doing and what Alba was capable of? Lana had created robots over the course of her time working as the leader of the City of Steel, and they could be considered artificial life if one wanted to get technical. Lana hated the way that her mind seemed to push her in the direction of implying that she was more similar to Alba than she let on, but once the thought arrived, she simply couldn't escape it. Alba was using their beasts of false creation to terrorize the people of Skylia, and if they succeeded in finding the person that they were looking for, Lakinya or otherwise, then Alba was going to try and take over the planet as a whole. Lana would never even dream of going that far, but the concept of creating life in the first place still drew a parallel between them that was beyond unsettling to her.
Lana willed herself to stop thinking about it all with as much force as she could muster, but she kept crawling back to the same old song and dance. What was it in basic facts that set her apart from Cryai? How were any of the other Skylian Mages, save for Jay and Ronan, any different from Cryai or the other beasts of Ice that had invaded the castle? Lana knew realistically that their morals, ethics, and shared sense of justice pulled them in a different direction, but she could only feed herself such a thought process so many times before she started to feel as if she was simply lying to herself. Hearing herself turn the words over internally only seemed to lessen their impact in a moment when she needed them to strike strong and true to her core.
In the end, Lana was pulled out of her thoughts by a knock at the door, and she looked up to see that there was a person standing in the entryway of the room. Jay was the person in question, and her gaze was just as detached and distant as Lana would have expected given the circumstances. Jay hadn't been all that happy about the news from Zelda, Tavi, and Lila either, though Lana supposed that none of them were truly satisfied with it. Why would they be happy to hear about something so openly dismal?
"There you are," Jay commented as she shut the door behind her. "I was worried when you were late to our training session earlier. It isn't like you to be behind schedule to anything, so I figured that something had to be wrong. I didn't want to ask in front of the rest of the group in case you wanted to keep it private though."
Lana smiled to herself at Jay's kindness and observational skills. "Thank you for coming to see me, Jay. I appreciate it," she said softly. "I guess that I've just had a lot to think about as of late." She didn't bother to elaborate further at first, figuring that she would have to talk about it sooner or later. Jay was going to pick up on what was happening; Lana could simply tell. If Jay was perceptive enough to see that Lana was upset when she was less than three minutes late to their training session earlier that day, then she was going to figure out something was happening here as well.
"It's about Alba, isn't it?" Jay questioned, getting right to the heart of the issue immediately. Lana shouldn't have expected anything less, and judging by the way that Jay's lips tightened into a frown, Lana was sure that Jay had picked up on the wince that she had let out when Jay got to the truth so quickly. "That's what I thought. It's not like anything else of particular note has happened around here recently, right?"
"Yeah," Lana whispered to herself. She was picking up rather quickly on the fact that there wouldn't be a way for her to hide the truth completely from Jay. She was going to have to tell the other girl what was on her mind sooner or later, and she figured that she might as well make it easier on them both by cutting out the middleman. "It's... It's about the way that they've been creating new life. I guess that it's just been bothering me more than I would want to admit openly. I've been trying to avoid it, but I don't think I can do that anymore."
"Everything is starting to catch up with us," Jay said, and Lana nodded her agreement. Jay hummed under her breath before clearing her throat. "Well, if you ask me, you really don't need to be worried about something like that. I get the feeling that it's more than just the general blanket statement of 'concerned about what they're doing', and if that's the case... I want you to know that not everybody is like them."
"Maybe not, but it still upsets me that from a basic perspective, without the factors of emotions and ethics, I'm similar to what Cryai was. He was terrible, and... I don't want to be placed in the same category as him no matter what. I've been thinking about it too much, and I wish that I could just stop it already," Lana confessed, all of the words coming out in a string of lengthy syllables that she couldn't stop once she started. She wasn't even finished there, and she found herself breaking off her eye contact with Jay to stare at the floor, unsure as to if it was a good idea to even look at her companion as she revealed something that she had hoped would never become a concern. "I don't want to be anything like Alba with the people that I've made within the City of Steel. I don't want to be anything like Cryai as a false creation that could cause problems for others. I don't want to be compared to either one of them, but it seems like the similarities are just too much for me to ignore as soon as I start to get into the subject critically.
Jay was silent for a long minute, waiting for Lana to finish. When she was sure that Lana was done with her rambling, she cleared her throat. "You know... None of us think that you're like either one of them. I know that you're worried about the comparison that seems so clear to you, but it isn't something that any of us have considered. We know you, Lana, and we also know that you aren't going to misuse the power that you've been given to hurt people. It might seem like the similarities are all too clear through your eyes, but the same is not applicable to the people around you who have seen all of this unfold in much the same way."
Lana was quiet even after Jay's words, prompting the other mage to go on. "We know you better than that. We understand that you aren't like them at all, and you should come to understand it too. Even if you're uncertain because of your own doubts, know that we believe in you completely. If we didn't, I don't think that we would be working on a team together. Even if there's doubt in your heart and mind, you can lean on the rest of us, who trust you enough to be willing to set aside our previous lives to be with you," she said.
Lana nodded softly, the action almost impossible to notice to all but the most perceptive of eyes. Luckily for her, Jay certainly fell into that category. "Thank you," she murmured, suddenly feeling ridiculous for having brought it up in the first place. Her mind continued to spin against her will, and Lana would have been willing to do anything to silence it in that moment of hatred and paranoia.
Suddenly, Jay's fingers wrapped around Lana's own, and the world seemed to stand still. All of Lana's previous thoughts of panic came to a halt slowly but steadily, and by the time a minute had passed, Lana's mind was completely blank and empty. She almost liked it that way, and instead of protesting the action, she allowed the moment to consume her. Both of them needed this whether they were willing to admit it openly or not.
~~~~~
Later in the afternoon, life at the castle was continuing on as normal. In a way, the day felt like it was a drag simply for daring to exist. Nobody had been in much of a festive mood given the lack of information that they had at their disposal regarding Alba. It would be difficult for them to figure out who it was that Alba was after given the limited details that Zelda and Tavi were able to uncover during their trip away from the castle a few days prior. They didn't have any indicators as to where other Lakinya were either, and that only made things more difficult. If Alba truly was searching for another member of the Lakinya group that had caused so many problems in the past, then that left the palace's occupants at a serious disadvantage. They had only discovered that the Lakinya still lived less than half a year ago, and Mersall and Alba were the only ones who had done anything to even somewhat show their faces.
Jay had spent much of the earlier segments of the day concentrating on Lana. It was rare for the other girl to show signs of insecurity, so Jay felt as if she simply had to nurse the girl back to full confidence when the chance came for her to do so. Lana had acted in her best interests in the past, so it only felt natural that Jay would do the same in return. even if Jay hadn't liked it at the time, it had been good for her in the long run, and she wasn't about to deny such a thing after she had started to feel so much safer once her secrets and past had been revealed.
Time had grown to be an exhausting and nauseating beast in a way, and Jay found herself frustrated by how slow the day was going by. She had gone through the motions of her regular training session with the rest of the Skylian Mages, and they had enjoyed themselves despite the tension that fell over the castle like a thick, suffocating blanket. It was a small mercy, but it was still comforting regardless. Jay found herself desperate for something, anything to happen in spite of this. Part of her was fully aware that no news was good news, but at the same time, her aggravation at the world and her burning itch to do something was practically driving her up a wall.
Jay had taken to sitting in the front area of the castle. She had only found the boldness to take to this segment of the palace when she heard from Lana that Zelda and Tavi were going to be in a tactical meeting for much of that afternoon alongside Lana herself and Tuila. Jay still knew that she was going to have to confront Zelda at some point or another if they were going to truly move past what had taken place previously, but that didn't mean that she had to like it. For the time being, it was easier to simply not acknowledge the reality of the matter, and Jay was willing to take any break that she could get.
She leaned her head back so that it was resting against the cushion that made up the back half of the couch. The new piece of furniture had been a recent addition, and it was one that seemed to truly tie the space together to make it feel like something resembling home. Jay knew that it would be impossible for the castle to return to the way that she remembered it being ages prior, back when the Skylox Heroes still roamed the halls of the building, but she still found herself pulling for any piece of sweet reminiscence that she could get her hands on.
Jay had been sitting in the main area of the castle for about three minutes, simply allowing herself to enjoy the chance to be free of her room, when Liathine slid into view. Everything about the Metal Rauleighan told Jay that she meant business, and Jay found that her stomach was sinking before she could do anything to calm herself down.
"What's going on?" Jay asked, though part of her insisted that she wasn't going to even want the answer. Something about the way that Liathine's shoulders were held, tight and knotted with every piece of fear and anger to ever exist, made it clear to Jay that something awful had happened. Come to think of it, hadn't Lana said that Liathine was meant to be in the strategy meeting as well? Liathine had been a key tactician during the war on Daragon alongside Tuila and Valdez, so it certainly would have made sense.
"My radar says that there are enemy forces coming towards us," Liathine replied. She sat down next to Jay and pulled up a set of projections that showed off the full capabilities of her magic. Liathine's eyes moved at a rapid pace, and her fingers slid across the surface of the projected screens as she tried to map out a plan for what was to come. "And it seems that it was right. Damn it. We have to get ready to prepare for a fight, because that's what's coming our way as far as I can tell."
"Should I make an announcement to the rest of the castle?" Jay questioned before she could even stop herself. Fear started to pound inside of her chest, frustrating and overwhelming, and Jay wished that she could return to the concept of no news being good news. Why had she dared to take such a thought process for granted?
"Yeah," Liathine replied, though she was scarcely paying attention to what Jay was saying. Jay could see that there was a radar of the castle set up on the projection that Liathine had summoned. There were many small blips of data that were scattered throughout the surrounding space, and Jay knew that they had to be Alba's beasts of Ice magic. What other faction would have such a desire to cause problems in this way? The group certainly would have heard about it if others were trying to take them down. That was Jay's thought process, anyways. Whether or not it was true remained to be seen.
Liathine pressed on one of the circles of data before humming to herself. "Just like I thought... That's one of Alba's Ice beasts. It seems like they're going to try with their surprise attack tactic once again. It didn't work last time, so they're giving it another shot. Of course they are," Liathine snorted with a shake of her head. Jay could tell that the rejection of Alba's plan was a way for Liathine to keep from showing how frustrated and afraid she was. The last attack would have ended incredibly poorly if not for Jay's help, after all. She had sent an attack flying after Alba during the previous encounter, and said blow had wound up being their saving grace.
Well, it was half of what had saved them if one wanted to be technical. Another attack had hit Alba at roughly the same time, and Jay knew that it had to have come from someone else in the castle. She hadn't asked around about it, figuring that she would be able to hear the story at some later point. Did it even matter who had done such a thing to free the group from Alba's clutches? They had been effective in their methods, and that was all that mattered.
Before Jay knew it, she was moving to the wall. There was a small panel mounted against the space's exterior, and Jay had been the one to suggest its presence in the first place. It was meant for communication within the castle, allowing for everyone to hear what was happening from wherever they were in the building. It had been a feature back when the Skylox Heroes were still the ones living in the castle, and it had been useful back then. Jay figured that there was no reason for them to neglect such an ability in present times, and she was glad for that much given that there was an attack on the horizon. It would certainly make communication simpler. Jay wished that they had been able to use such a thing when Alba attacked previously, but there wasn't a way to change the past, so she would just have to put up with what had or had not been done.
Jay acted primarily on instinct without focusing much on what she was saying. She knew that she had passed along the message that there was an attack coming, but the details were far from being at the forefront of her mind. It didn't matter what she said specifically at the day anyways. All that mattered was that everyone was ready for the invasion to come. She was doing what she could, and she hoped that would be enough.
After that, Jay returned to Liathine's side, looking over the Rauleighan's shoulder to see what else had appeared on the screen of radar. Liathine's jaw was set tight against the regular appearance of her face, and Jay hated how stressed she was after such a short span of time. "There are even more of them than last time, and we have fewer allies on our side. We have to do everything that we can to be ready for what's to come," Liathine murmured, talking more to herself than Jay. In fact, Jay was halfway convinced that Liathine wasn't even paying attention to her at this point, too wrapped up in other things to notice that the girl was still present at all.
Jay let in a careful breath before exhaling through her nose as she looked at the screen before Liathine. The Rauleighan certainly had a point when she stated that there were more enemies this time compared to the previous attack. Anybody would be able to see that, and Jay hated such a fact more than she could ever hope to articulate. They were going to have quite the fight ahead of themselves if they wanted to come out victorious. Then again, they had to win, didn't they? There wasn't any other choice.
Part of Jay dared to dream that perhaps they would be able to defeat Alba permanently then and there, but she knew better than to put too much stuck into such a thought of whimsy. Alba was the one with the upper hand because the group was less prepared than they would have liked to be. Certain precautions had been put in place to make sure that they weren't completely caught off guard next time that an attacker appeared, but they were also down a handful of fighters compared to the last encounter while Alba had even more soldiers at their disposal. The tides were tumultuous, and it was hard to say who was going to ultimately come out victorious.
"What's going on?" came the soft, wavering voice of Ronan as he came down the stairs to the main segment of the castle. His eyes were wide and transparent, markers of how terrified he was at the mere concept that they were under attack again. Ronan deserved better than to experience this, Jay thought bitterly. Even if he fell into the same category of immortal that many of the other Skylian Mages did, he lacked experience with the outside world, and it was unfair of him to be thrust into such an unfortunate series of happenings as his first time away from the confines of his hometown.
"Get into your defensive position," Liathine instructed, not bothering to look up from the screen that she was still playing around with. "There are a lot of enemies coming our way, and we have to be ready to face them as soon as possible. I'm sure that we're going to be fine if we put as much attention into defending ourselves as we can, but we can't take this for granted."
Ronan nodded in response, though it was clear to see that he was still unsettled by the situation. He dashed up the stairs afterwards, and Jay found herself following him. She and the rest of the Skylian Mages were meant to be together in case there was an attack. Tuila had been the one to decide such a thing, declaring that if members of specific factions who got along well were placed together in defensive positions, morale would be higher, increasing chances of success. Jay didn't have a reason to not follow after Ronan, and her body practically moved on autopilot as she trailed in his footsteps.
Unfortunately though, Ronan's footsteps meant walking past the room that Tuila had elected would be the strategy space until there was another room that presented itself to function better under this label. The group that had been in the tactics meeting was leaving the room behind, and Jay assumed that Liathine had been in there before she began to sense that something was wrong. Liathine likely left to use the emergency communication system, though she wound up passing that duty off to Jay when the time finally came to use it. That was a sensible theory, at the very least, and Jay figured that she might as well accept it.
One thing that Jay was not eager to accept though had to do with Zelda. The brown-haired Fearbringer was walking out of the tactics room, Tavi at her heels. Zelda nearly collided with Jay for a few breathless moments, and the two stared at one another for what felt like an eternity. Time seemed to stand still, and the general cacophony that came with preparation was little more than a distant buzz that left Jay's mind feeling hazy and filled with static.
Jay and Zelda stared at each other for a long moment before Lana's fingers curled around the former's wrist. Jay was pulled out of her trance as she turned to face the other girl. "Come on. We have to go and get ready for what's coming our way," Lana reminded her, getting down to business without a moment of hesitation. Jay, beyond relieved to be liberated of her unfortunate eye contact with Zelda, nodded and allowed Lana to drag her away.
Zelda stared at Jay for a while even after Lana began to pull her away. In the end, the girl shook her head and let out a dismayed sigh before walking in the opposite direction, Tavi walking a few paces behind. He knew better than to mess with her when she got like this, and Zelda was glad for that much. This was hardly the time to be distracted, after all. They were in danger, and fending off the attack had to be their first priority. Zelda shrugged off her thoughts of convenient yet twisted relief as she disappeared around the nearby corner to get ready for the battle ahead.
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Mario Kart is poggers
-Digital