Leon stared at the Sunlit officer whoād come to Argos in shocked disbelief. āPeace?ā he said. āYou want to discuss peace?ā
With a nod, the Sunlit visitor said, āYes, such is the order I was given. I am to discuss peace.ā
Something in the manās tone stuck out to Leon, some barely concealed relief that engendered quite a bit of suspicion within him, and it seemed like he wasnāt the only one to pick up on it. Marcus pointed out, āYou donāt sound like you want to discuss peaceā¦ā
āThatās because I donāt,ā the visitor freely admitted with a wide smile. āI want to get out and away from the Sunlit Empire as quickly as I can. Place is a damned madhouse. Makes the Sky Devils look inviting, you know?ā
Leonās eyes widened and he had to force himself not to stare with his mouth agape at what heād just heard.
Gaius shared his confusion and asked, āCould youā¦ clarify your position?ā
āYeah, yeah,ā the sixth-tier Sunlit envoy said with a wave of his hand. āApologies for the lack of decorum on my part, Iām justā¦ well, ecstatic to get out of the Empire for a moment, you know? So, anyway, things have deteriorated in the Empire. Lots of officers getting purged, things like that. Iām not well-liked by my regional Commander, so when we were ordered to send someone to pretend to discuss peace with you, they sent me.ā
āPretend?ā growled an eighth-tier Tiger elder as many others in the room began whispering amongst themselves.
āYou have no intention of negotiating in good faith?ā an Eagle elder asked.
āThose were not my orders, no,ā the Sunlit officer said in a tone that was almost chipper and upbeat, even though he was essentially committing treason. His attitude almost as much as the words he spoke set off another round of whispering among Leonās retainers, Chiefs, and elders.
However, with a single rapping of his knuckles on his chair, Leon brought silence to the room. He then fixed the Sunlit envoy in his golden gaze, the intensity of the stare finally breaking through some of the manās strangely joyous exterior to the terrified man beneath.
āYou haveā¦ left me with many questions,ā Leon gravely intoned. āYou are going to answer them.āšÆšš®š®šš®ššš¤š«š®š.š¬š¤š¢
His voice faltering slightly, the envoy replied, āY-Yes. Ah, Your Majesty. Yes, Your Majesty.ā
Leonās lips twitched upward in amusement for a moment, and then he launched right in. āLetās trace the order of events, then. You were ordered to, I suppose, buy time for your Empire to dig in by feigning peace negotiations?ā
āYes,ā the envoy replied. āIf they were serious about any kind of negotiations, my superiors wouldāve sent an entire team of diplomats, not just me.ā
Leon nodded in understanding. He remembered his short time in the Bull Kingdomās Diplomatic Corps well enough to have known that already. He supposed that wouldāve been enough not to take the envoyās words at face value even if theyād started negotiations, but he hadnāt expected the envoy to freely admit that his mission was duplicitousā¦
āThose orders came from above your regional leaders?ā Leon asked.
Again, the envoy replied, āYes. They came all the way from the Imperial Palace, thoughā¦ Iām not sure they came from the Emperor.ā
Leon cocked his head slightly in interest. āWho did they come from, then?ā
The envoy hesitated a moment before answering. āAn old friend of the Sunlit Emperorās named Metellus recently replaced Deucalion as His Imperial Majestyās chief military advisor. This man is as corrupt as they come, if the rumors are to be believed. Heās also allied himself politically with my regional Commander. I heard from my Commanderās secretaries that he received a letter from Metellus shortly before sending me on this mission.ā
āSo you claim this order came from Metellus?ā Leon asked.
āIād stake my life on it,ā the envoy replied. āI meanā¦ I kind of have staked my life on it, havenāt I?ā
Leon softly chuckled in amusement. āYou kind of have, yes. Are there any others who mightāve sent that message?ā
āNone that I can think of,ā the envoy admitted. Leon couldnāt detect any deception in his words, but he still made a mental note to consult with Arcaion, Apollonios, and Heavenās Eye later.
Leon turned what the envoy had shared so far over in his head a few times, contemplating what it all meant for the rest of the punitive expedition. Argos had been seized quite easily without bloodshed thanks to the Sunlit Emperorās insistence on sowing division within his own Empire, and this was the first true sign that that feat had a chance of being replicated.
Of course, the very fact that the envoy was sent also meant that those west of Argos were planning on fighting, they just needed more time to prepare.
āNot enough time to send a whole team to drag out the negotiations,ā Leon quietly mused. He felt almost insulted at this token gesture, even if it was given in bad faith.
āSo, then,ā Leon continued, āyou jumped at the chance to get away from your Empire and delivered yourself to the arms of your Empireās sworn enemies. Yet you seem so happy about these circumstances that I almost want to tie your feet to the floor to keep you from bouncing around the room.ā
It was the envoyās turn to laugh. āThatās true, thatās true,ā he said. āAs I said before, since the retreat from the Sword and Metellusā rise as the man in charge of the Sunlit Empireās armed forces, heās been engaged in a campaign of his own purging his political enemies and those he perceives as disloyal. He hardly even tries to hide his intentions, though he at least forces most of his political enemies into āretirementā, which is honestly more akin to house arrest than anything. But there have been enough targeted executions to make a lot of my peersā¦ nervous. That anxiety has given me and my fellow officers quite a few sleepless nights, so to speak. Hard to do our jobs when just about all of us personally know someone who was purged, and a not insignificant number personally know someone who was executed on trumped up treason or corruption charges.ā
Leon gave the envoy a thin-lipped grin. āThat makes sense. But why come here? If you were so intent on deserting your Empire, why are you so enthused about coming to your enemy?ā
The envoy almost jumped at the chance to answer before faltering almost immediately. āIā¦ Well, Iā¦ā He paused and glanced around the room, sucking his lips in a bit in a show of nervous reluctance. āA few things, really. I knew that Iād be safe. Itās well known that you took prisoners on the Sword, so that in itself was enough to convince me to follow through on coming to Argos. But on the wayā¦ uhā¦ wellā¦ā The envoy paused again and anxiously rubbed the back of his neck. āItās a little embarrassing, but I also had a dream about this.ā A few chuckles went around the room, but it wasnāt even close to a majority of those listening to him. Most people in the room were simply watching and listening.
āTell me about this dream,ā Leon said with some amusement. He was no stranger to strange magics coming to him in dreams. Heād even gotten his first glimpse of the Great Black Dragon in an injury-induced coma, after all.
āIt wasā¦ lifelike,ā the envoy recounted in a dreamy tone. āIt was short, and I remember it perfectly, like it was stamped into my head. I had decided to camp in a fortified position that had been abandoned when you lot took Argos, and I hadnāt even realized that Iād fallen asleep because I was pacing around that small fortress in my dream. I donāt know for how long, but eventually I realized that someone else was there. I couldnāt discern his features, but he assured me that I would be safe coming here. That you, King Leon, āwere a man of honorable, ifā¦ā please forgive me for saying this, these arenāt my words, āā¦ a man of honorable, if limited, virtue.āā
The hall was filled with the sound of angry muttering and Leon even saw a few Chiefs and elders stepping forward to castigate the envoy on his behalf. However, another rapping of his knuckles on the arm of his chair once more silenced the room.
When he turned back to the envoy, he asked, āYou donāt think this was just your mind playing a trick on you?ā
āNo, Your Majesty,ā the envoy quickly replied. āI remembered everything far too clearly.ā He paused once more and slowly made a show of raising his hand in a non-threatening way before calling upon his magic. Many in the room still tensed, but the envoy only retrieved a feather from his soul realm. āThe dream was so real that when I awoke I simply couldnāt believe that Iād been dreaming. But this feather was left behind, still pulsing with enough magic that I knew it to not be a trick.ā
Leonās eyes narrowed as he curiously regarded the feather. It was purest white and looked as soft as it possibly could be, putting even most of Leonās feathers to shame. It even seemed rather familiar to himā¦
āMight Iā¦ have a closer look?ā Leon asked as he waved the envoy forward. However, the envoy only made it a few steps before Marcus and a couple Tempest Knights intercepted the envoy. Marcus nodded apologetically to Leon as he took the feather from the envoy and brought it to Leon himself instead of letting the envoy do so.
Leon just chuckled and accepted the feather. But when the feather touched his fingers, all traces of levity vanished.
The feather hadnāt felt like a particularly powerful thing. The feather of the Eskellion Dove heād used for a healing potion for Xaphan back in the Knight Academy had felt stronger than this, so he hadnāt thought much of it. However, as the feather made contact with his skin, it sent a powerful pulse of magic reeling through Leonās body, his internal defenses seemingly evaporating in front of it.
Fortunately, this power didnāt seem at all malevolent, and in fact, vanished entirely when another pulse of magic emanated from Leonās soul realm, a pulse of magic that originated from his armor.
Or more accurately, the tau pearl within it.
Leonās fingers closed around the feather, a sense of calm falling upon him as the featherās magic dissipated. Then, he smiled. āVery well,ā he said. āLetās assume your dream was realā¦ You want to be here. You donāt want to be in the Sunlit Empire right now.ā The envoy nodded along as Leon spoke. āWeāll take you in as an official prisoner of war, and as such, protected. You wonāt be tortured or mistreated, and youāll be housed alongside your countrymen. In the meantime, I hope youāll cooperate with my people and tell them all they want to know about what we might be facing aheadā¦ā
āOf course,ā the envoy replied. āIā¦ donāt particularly want violence visited upon my people, but I also believe that for my Empire to survive, we must have a new Emperor.ā
Leon nodded again, though his mind was already growing more distant, focusing more on the feather in his hand than on the envoy in front of him. He waved and allowed his advisors to take over the questioning of the envoy from there on, with their questions turning to more tactical and operational details of the Sunlit Empireās defenses that the envoy would know. This questioning went on for an hour before growing so granular that Leon called the impromptu interrogation to an end. The envoy would continue to be questioned, but Leon and the rest of the leadership had other business to handle.
In Leonās case, he decided to take an hour or two to retire to his familyās quarters to contemplate what the envoy had told him.
āYou doing all right, Leon?ā Marcus asked as Leon led him, Gaius, and his complement of Tempest Knights out of the citadelās main hall.
āIām fine,ā Leon replied a little curtly. āWhy?ā
āYou went quiet after receiving that feather,ā Marcus said. āIt was obvious that it meant something. I think everyone in that room was curious as to what it meant. You basically offered Sebas as much hospitality as you could after he gave you that thing. If I didnāt know any better, Iād almost assume some kind of mental enchantment.ā
Leon scoffed. āMy lightning wouldāve torn anything like that to pieces. Also, whoās āSebasā?ā
āIām sure it wouldāve,ā Marcus murmured. āAlso, āSebasā is the envoy. We asked his name after you got lost in your own world, which proves my point, doesnāt it?ā
āIt does,ā Gaius softly added, āAnd yet, the main part of the question remains unanswered.ā
Leon gave his secretary a bitter and somewhat reproachful smile.
āIām calling it as I see it,ā Gaius responded with a grin of his own.
āThe tau that we went after way back when we were trying to get into Heavenās Eye. This is his feather.ā
Marcus and Gaiusā expressions immediately to intrigue and curiosity.
āAny particular reason why?ā Marcus asked.
āI have no idea why heās reaching out,ā Leon replied. āOr if itās even doing that. Could just be telling me that heās watching, I guess. But Iām thinking heās going to reach out soon, now that Iāve received the feather.ā
āIāll make sure to tell everyone that itās coming, then,ā Marcus said. āUnless you want the guards to try and catch him?ā
āNo,ā Leon replied as he felt the faint magic in the feather pulse again. āThat wonāt be necessary.ā
Once they reached the doors to Leonās chambers, Leon bid the two farewell for the day. They left to see to their other duties while the escort of Tempest Knights remained in the antechamber, ensuring that no one disturbed Leonās restāat least, from any conventional direction.
With his ladies and Anzu being absent either training or seeing to their own duties or wants, Leon just fell onto the nearest sofa to contemplate the tau feather. However, his head had barely hit the couch pillow before his eyes closed and he passed right out.
He found himself in a great white void so quickly that he felt like he blinked. He detected no time between the moment his head hit the pillow and his eyes opened in this voidāit was like heād just blinked and been transported somewhere else entirely, somewhere decidedly different from where heād just been.
But he barely even had time to process this change in scenery before a shape began to appear in front of him, resolving from a white mist not unlike the Mists of Chaos, though much brighter. In a moment, the tau stood before him in human formātall, handsome, appearing rather old, and with red eyes so dark that they could be mistaken for black.
āLeon Raime,ā the tau said, sounding normal and even grandfatherly despite the obvious magical nature of their meeting. āItās good to see you again.ā
āā¦ Same to you,ā Leon replied as he got his bearings. āHonestly wasnāt expecting to ever see you againā¦ā
āYou bear one of my pearls,ā the tau easily replied. āI keep an eye on all those Iāve invested in.ā
Leon suddenly began to feel rather regretful about leaving the tau pearl in his armor despite the use it had had so far. Were it not for it proving so powerful as to keep him alive when fighting both Sunlit and the Keeper, heād even consider removing it as soon as he could.
āThatāsā¦ discomforting,ā Leon admitted.
The tau smiled and shrugged. āThatās why I didnāt tell you. I didnāt want my gift to be discarded.ā
Leon sighed and straightened up. āAll right, fine. You clearly felt some reason to come here now of all times. Whatās going on?ā
āA question for you, first, if you donāt mind?ā
After a moment of thought, Leon nodded in acquiescence.
āYour intention remains to reach for the Nexus? To try and reestablish your Clan amongst the greatest powers in the universe?ā
Again, Leon nodded.
āI would like to join you,ā the tau finished. āAs I said the last time we met, you are a man of virtue; it just needs to be properly nurtured.ā
āAnd you think youāre the one to do so?ā One of Leonās eyes rose skeptically, already quietly judging the tau a little bit for his presumptuousness.
That judgment immediately vanished when the tau loudly laughed and replied, āNo! No, no, no! As far as Iāve been able to tell, youāve been operating admirably! Not perfectly, mind you, but much better than I feared! Iām almost embarrassed to admit that youāve quite exceeded my expectations!ā
āIām going to consider being offended by that,ā Leon drily stated.
āLet me know what you decide,ā the tau quipped back. āIn the meantime, please consider the following request: I would like to join you when you depart from this plane.ā
Leonās eyebrows fully shot up in surprise. āIā¦ didnāt know that you wanted to leave this plane.ā
āThis plane is my home,ā the tau said. āItās been my home for a very long time. But itās time for a change, but I donāt want to justā¦ leave. I want to be doing something meaningful. And lending a young King any meager wisdom I might possess sounds like a good use of my time if I do say so myself.ā
Leon stared at the man for a long moment, then sighed. āIāll run this by the rest of my people. Weāll see.ā
The tau smiled. āI didnāt expect any other answer. Until then, know that there areā¦ other powers at play here.ā
Leonās expression turned suspicious again. āWhat āpowersā?ā
The tauās dark red eyes narrowed substantially. āThatāsā¦ not yet for me to say. But Iāve been asked to facilitate your business. Myā¦ friend would like for you to be done and to have nothing more of importance on your schedule for a while. And when I say āimportanceā, the normal duties of a King are unimportant in this context.ā
Leonās mouth slowly turned to a frown. He felt like he could hazard a guess as to who mightāve made that request, but he decided to keep that suspicion unspoken, at least for the moment.
āFine,ā he said. āWhat are you doing to āfacilitateā my business?ā
āThe Sentinels will back off,ā the tau claimed, nearly knocking Leon flat with the power of that surprise. āIāll also clear a way to the Sunlit Emperor, that he may be dealt with in a timely manner. A long and sustained war is not what this plane needs. Itās not what anyone needs, and if this whole matter can be resolved with something as simple as single combat, then let it be so.ā
āYou say it like itāll just be that easy.ā
āIt wonāt be,ā the tau admitted. āFor now, know that Iāll be working to make it that easy. If you have any trust in me, wait in Argos for just one month. When I return, youāll see that I have been nothing but truthful. One month, and the path to the Sunlit Emperor will be open to you. You neednāt suffer any more death, nor dispense it on your road to Thunderhaven. Just one month.ā
Leon grimaced. āThatās a lot to ask. Iāll think about it.ā
The tauās smile tightened but he bowed slightly and said, āThatās the best Iāll get, wonāt it? Very well, Iāll take it. Goodbye for now, Leon Raime! When I return, I shall bring good news!ā
With that, Leon immediately awoke on the sofa in his chambers, feeling not groggy or tired at all. Instead, he shot back to his feet and left his chambers. It seemed he had some new information to share with his advisorsā¦