Cecilia
I looked at Sylvie as we walked the halls of Taegrin Caelum, both of us silent and angry. We were going to go see Agrona, we had just gotten back after what Virion did to me, he out played me, he stole Nico from me. Sylvie was angry as well, he wanted Virion to die so badly, it was obvious that it hurt to lose to him.
"Uhhh!" Sylvie finally made a noise, exclaiming her anger. "You clearly were stronger than him, he was just running away from you the entire time! Virion is the Devil, he needs to die a painful death, I don't care how anymore!"
"I'm sorry Sylvie." I told my bond as I rested a hand on her shoulder, walking down the long hallway still. "I tried to kill him, and if I would have let Nico and you help me, we would have done it, but we will kill him, I promise you that."
"No, Cecilia, it wasn't your fault, he taunted you like the bastard he is, then took Nico, there was nothing you can do about it." Sylvie told me, shooting me a slight smile, but the anger was clear in her face still. "Let's just figure out what to do now, if we attack Sehz-Clar, they will kill him, and I know you don't want that."
"Yeah, I don't think Virion would lie about that threat, he is a Devil, like you said." I told her, nodding my head as we arrived at the entrance to Agrona's room, I could feel him inside, he was waiting for us, his anger, also very clear. "We will figure something out, I'm sure Agrona already is thinking of something."
"Yeah, my father is smart, smarter than Virion, he'll figure something out." The maids outside the door opened it for us and we went inside, taking a couple steps into the room, Agrona was sitting on the couch, looking up at us.
"So." Agrona said, eyeing us up as we sat down across from him, he examined us both. "I didn't want any more failure, and look what happened, you didn't just lose a fight to Virion, but now, we need to halt our attack on Sehz-Clar."
"I'm sorry." I said, looking at him as I shook my head. "I couldn't even tell that there was another person there, and the purple haired bitch came out of nowhere." He just listened to me, my excuses, I knew they were, but I didn't have anything else to say.
"Hah." Agrona just looked at us. "Now, we need to figure out how to handle this, you've put me in a bad situation, Cecil, I hope you know that." He paused, then added. "I can't just let my enemies attack, sooner or later, we are going to have to attack. If that puts Nico's life at risk, so be it, we can't not do anything because Virion Leywin took him."
"I will not put his life at risk!" I exclaimed. "But I understand, just as long as we wait a little. Virion said he was going to hand him back at some point, he said he needed time." I paused, looking at him with a serious face. "There has to be something we can do in the meantime, right?"
"He only said we couldn't attack Sehz-Clar, so Virion must be planning something, so yes, there is more we can do." Agrona said, looking at me with an annoyed expression. "I'm waiting for word on Maerin, Virion is not there, but supposedly a Vritra is, so I'm assuming it is one of his creations." I was going to say I could go, but I shouldn't, I'm still healing from all the cuts and bruises. "Cecil, you disappoint me." I didn't say anything, knowing I shouldn't still. "The half-breeds are still adding up, even with him delaying our attack, our force is building up, so that isn't an issue, our force won't shrink, but I don't like waiting."
"Well, if our numbers are still increasing, that's a good thing." Sylvie spoke up, then spoke some more. "We don't need to wait, he only said we couldn't attack Sehz-Clar." Agrona nodded his head, agreeing with Sylvie's words.
"With our half-breeds numbering over fifty thousand, and all our Wraiths, we could take Dicathen back right now." Agrona said. "There are also a number of soldiers there already, numbering over a hundred thousand, if we combine the force, the second invasion would be greater than the first."
"But Virion would kill Nico." I said, looking at him with a serious face. "We can't do anything until he gets back, not in Sehz-Clar or Dicathen." I told him, and he just continued examining us, trying to put a finger on what we should do.
"There is something we can do." Sylvie said, speaking up, looking around with a smirk on her face. "Father, while you are here, building up the force, I say we pay Arthur Leywin a visit in the Relictombs." My eyes widened, Grey, if I could take him down, I could trade his life for Nico's. "If we kill him while we wait for Nico to be returned, then we could ---"
"No." Agrona told her. "You need to be here, I'm not liking what Virion Leywin is planning, this whole Etril situation. I need to hear what has happened before we make any decisions on how to proceed." That attack should have either happened or was about to happen. "Once I get word, I will decide on what to do, Sylvie, in the meantime, I am going to need you to come with me."
"Alright, dad." Sylvie said. "What is it? You still need my help with what you are working on?"
"Yeah, with everything, your aether arts has been changing and improving my research." Agrona said, I still didn't know what was going on, what he had planned. "Your aether arts with time is beyond what I thought was possible, and it has allowed me to come up with some ideas."
"I'll go up to the roof to practice using aether myself, I may not be like Grey, but with the Dragon Will, I should try to get better." I spoke up, and Agrona just nodded, I haven't practiced it really at all, but I need to learn how to manipulate it.
"Aether has changed so much, and Sylvie, I liked your idea about going into the Relictombs, but if you were to go in there, from what I've learned from everything, you wouldn't focus on killing Grey, but in mastering your aether art even more." Agrona said, looking at his daughter, but that was when a maid came walking into the room.
"High Sovereign, we just got word from Sovereign Exeges." The maid said, bowing her head to Agrona. "All the Wraiths survived, but the people of Maerin are dead, and the town was recovered."
"That Devil!" Sylvie exclaimed in anger. "He killed all those people, for what, for nothing!"
"Not exactly." The maid said, her voice shaky. "It appears that the Wraiths killed all the citizens." We all turned to the maid in confusion, the Wraiths killed the citizens. "There was a shield that appeared over the town, and supposedly, it was going to kill everyone if they didn't kill one race, it was either the Vritras or humans, so the Wraiths killed all the citizens to live."
"I see." Agrona smirked. "He is trying to turn the people against the Vritras like Seris, very clever, except it won't work, the half-breed promotion is making a lot of people rich and happy." He paused, then shook his head. "Etril, so that is his target, send word to Exeges that we are going to sending over men, we'll be ready for any other attack he has planned."
"I will." The maid said, bowing her head once again, then leaving the room as there was nothing else for her to say.
"He might not have killed those citizens, but that is still awful." Sylvie said, shaking her head in disgust as she thought about it. "He forced the Wraiths to kill them, how would that even make the citizens turn against us?"
"It won't." Agrona said. "The citizens will only serve him if I die, and that won't happen, so they will never serve him." I believed that, they were threatened by Agrona, I was too. "Cecilia, change of plans, Sylvie was right, the Relictombs, not Grey, but the Relictombs." He smirked. "I don't need you hunting down Grey, not yet, I need you to master your aether art."
"Mine?" Sylvie asked, and he nodded his head. "B-but what happens if something goes down here? Like you said, if we were not here, we would be in trouble." I've always wanted to go into the Relictombs, but Agrona has kept me here the entire time I've been in this world.
"If Virion said something about giving Nico back at some point, I don't imagine he'll do anything too serious until he does, so go in to the Relictombs, master aevum, and get back here. The Relictombs are where Grey learned how to control aether, so it'll help both of you, Cecilia, if you learn to control aether with your mana arts already above most asuras, you'll be able to kill Grey and Virion."
"You think I can master aevum in the Relictombs?" Sylvie asked and Agrona nodded. "Then we need to get there soon, and in the process, I can help Cecilia, we can train together, then come back even stronger."
"I'll be sending Wraiths with you." Agrona said, making sure we were going to be safe. "I'll call back Dragoth, Melzri should be able to hand out the serum by herself." The only two Scythes left, well, I heard Viessa was alive, but she was locked up. "I'll have Dragoth run some errands for me and put him in charge of obtaining Nico when the time comes."
"Thank you." I said, feeling a little better about the situation. "I know you don't really care for Nico as much as I do, but putting a stop to your plan until we get him back, means a lot to me Agrona."
"Of course, Cecil, I wouldn't do anything to get him killed, I know that would hurt you." Agrona told me, seeming to be serious about the words that he had just said. "In time, we will get him back, and when you finish in the Relictombs, you will be able to take down whoever, whenever." Sylvie and I nodded; his words sounded good to me. "While you are there, I'll finish up what I am doing here, so before you go, I need to some experiments with your aether arts, Sylvie, twenty to thirty minutes, then you can leave."
"Okay, dad, I can do that."
"Cecilia, the Wraiths will bring all the supplies, I'll send word for them to stock up." Agrona added. "Virion Leywin is everywhere, and nowhere, my spies told me he never left Xyrus, so that's obviously a clone. I'lll need to wrap my head around everything, figure out his plan, why abduct Nico just to protect Sehz-Clar?" He slowly stood up, looking at his daughter. "Sylvie, we can go now, come with me to the lab, I need some aevum."
Sylvie stood up and looked at me. "I'll see you soon, make sure to get ready, I don't know much about the Relictombs, but I know they are unpredictable." I knew that, I nodded my head at my bond, feeling all her mix of emotions.
I stood up and looked at Agrona as he started toward the exit, but he stopped right beside me. "Tell me, was Virion even strong than the last time he fought him?" I defeated him the last time, so the obvious answer was yes.
"Yeah, he was, but I don't know if he got stronger." I told him, and he tilted his head as he looked at me. "He kept on talking about how he wasn't trying before, so I don't know, he definitely was trying this time. I took him lightly, but if we fought right now, again, knowing what I know, I would kill him." I paused, smiled, knowing I had figured out how to take him down. "I'll take the next and final round; his blood magic will fail him in ways he didn't think about."
"That is good to hear." Agrona said, turning back to the exit. "That is if I don't have him killed while you are gone." Sylvie patted my side as she followed her father out of the room, leaving me in here alone.
I stood there for a second or two, then started toward the exit as well, preparing myself, knowing that we were about to go into the Relictombs. There was a chance we ran into Grey, and if we did, even though Agrona doesn't want us hunting him down, I will kill him for everything he has done to us, then I will retrieve Nico, and kill his little brother.