Act 1 - Chapter 1, Part 1

Chapter 11: Arthur, Vagril 6th, 343SR; 06:00

The winds passing by broke the silence of the night. Arthur stood by the window in his room, tapping his foot against the stone floor. The short hand on the clock in the room hit six, Arthur yawned. He leaned out the window and looked toward the Lightbringers tower, it was at the adjacent corner of the inner wall. ‘Where is he… He’s usually on time…’ Arthur took a deep breath as he turned to the desk in his room. He took a seat, leaning back into the creaky wooden chair. He opened his drawer, and pulled out a stack of files. The one on top was a large stack of applications, specifically to House Pendragon. Arthur reached to the back of the drawer, and found a small gap he could just barely fit a nail under. Under the false bottom was the white book, ‘The Legend of Ragnarok’.

Arthur squinted at its cover, still pondering its odd differences to what he found at the library. ‘Lanaris… Silsta… I’ve searched for records of those places, but I can’t find anything…’ A knock at the door made Arthur flinch, he pushed the drawer closed then walked across the room as he glanced back at the window. Upon opening the door, he saw his lieutenant, the current spy of House Pendragon. A chill ran down his spine.

She had lustrous black hair just passing her neck, deep red eyes like her mothers, and small facial features. She wore a sleeveless white nightgown, but there was a thick layer of bandages wrapped over her left arm. It concealed her gift, the red petals embedded into her arm, passed down to descendants of the Kagami family. The velvety scent always reminded Arthur of what he did to Leia, it made him feel guilty. She moved her bangs behind her right ear as she looked down the tower’s stairs with an annoyed expression.

“Freiya, what’s the problem,” Arthur asked.

“Oh, sorry if I am… Bothering you…” Freiya peaked into Arthur’s room. “Were you sleeping? I’m sorry, I’ll deal-”

“It's fine, I've been up for an hour already… What’s the problem,” Arthur sighed.

Freiya gulped with wide eyes. ‘Unlike her mother, she’s always nervous around me…’

“Uh… Liam came out of the washroom last, but… He’s angry that the sink was blocked… And it flooded…”

Arthur raised an eyebrow, he felt his shoulders slump slightly. “Doesn’t Liam know how to fix it?”

“He doesn’t want to because he thinks Hana blocked it…”

“Oh… I see…”

Arthur stepped out of the room and let out an extended sigh. ‘Those two just can’t get along…’ He shut the door to his room behind him and walked down the curving staircase. As he got further down, he started hearing his other two lieutenants bickering. ‘I hope Lawrence doesn’t send the signal right now… I better solve this quickly…’

“You were in there last, now just own up and fix it!” he heard Hana shout.

“Nah, nah, not this time! Last time too, it was blocked before I got there! And you were in there last! Taking your sweet ass time as per usual!” Liam yelled back.

“Well, I have to wash my hair? What are you, stupid?”

As Arthur passed the door that led to the top of the wall, he reached the bottom of the steps. He entered a tight hallway which led into a wider living room. The floor, walls and ceiling were also made of stone. The rooms around the inner wall were mostly tight corridors, but each of the nobles towers had similar living rooms, which included a kitchen, and a washroom. Across from the kitchen was a circle of couches where his other two lieutenants exchanged glares that could probably pierce steel.

“I’m stupid?! Exactly how many papers have you published?” Liam asked, smiling with grit teeth.

The five foot nine slim man stood with his arms crossed, and his long face tilted as his nose repeatedly twitched. He had dense black hair that was barely combed, sideburns down to his jaw line and a bit of acne. His light blue narrow eyes switched over to Arthur as he walked over. He wore black pants and a white shirt, as well as slippers to avoid the cold stone.

“Oh here we go again…” Hana rolled her eyes. “You published one paper and hold it over everyone constantly! You probably got a lot of help from your father with that study anyways!”

Hana was just shorter than Liam, standing at five feet and eight inches. Her pink hair was usually tied back into two braided tails, but she usually let it free before she slept. She stood with her hand on her hips, her lip twitching and just barely flashing her grit teeth. Her eyes were a darker pink than her hair, she had small facial features and nearly perfect skin. She wore a bright beige nightgown that covered her down to her ankles. A thin gold string tightened the gown around her waist.

“Everybody? No no no, I only hold that over people who think I'm stupid! And it's only you who just loves calling me an idiot?!” Liam shook his head.

“Hey… You two, you shouldn’t be yelling at this-”

“Hold on Freiya! If Liam’s so smart maybe he should just fix the damn sink instead of complaining to me about it!” Hana stomped.

“I have! And the same problem happens over and over because of you! It’s always messed up after you use half of your fucking soaps!”

“None of those block the sink. They were made to be washed down a sink! How is it me?!”

“Well…” Liam, flinched as he looked up. “That’s a good point actually… But I didn’t break it either!”

Arthur took a deep breath and walked toward the washroom that was located to the right of the kitchen. He opened the door and entered a small room. The sink was on the left side, next to the toilet. The window across from the door was slightly open, the glass was murky and the room felt damp with steam. To the right was a bathtub, with a glass panel separating the shower from the rest of the room. Freiya peeked into the room as Arthur looked for the problem, the sink was drained. He turned the knob, but nothing came out. ‘The faucet’s blocked? That wasn’t any of us then…’ Arthur turned and walked out, Freiya moved out of his way at the same time.

“Then don’t come yelling at me!” Hana hissed, before turning with a huff. “I’ll accept your apology in writing, and I better see your best handwriting, or I’ll know you aren’t sincere!”

“Huh?!” Liam’s head snapped to the right.

“And all the apology letters you still haven’t written to me,” Hana turned and shot a sharp glare at Liam.

“Haha, yeah, keep waiting, I’ll most certainly spend my time writing letters for you, yeah, definitely Hana, go have a great night!” Liam sarcastically shouted during the last part. “Rich kids… They’re always jerks…”

“The water line is blocked or closed… It’s not an issue with the drain…” said Arthur. “I’ll go ask Angela if her sinks are also blocked, she’s usually awake at this time…”

“Can I come?” Liam asked. “I need some air…”

“I’ll, I mean…” Freiya stuttered. “Can I accompany you as well?”

“You really don’t need to,” Arthur yawned. “But I don’t mind… It’s your choice…”

Arthur walked to the door he had come from, climbing up two steps at a time and taking the first door on the left. Upon opening it, he was met with the cold winds of the night and two perpendicular pathways. The one on the left led to House Rael, and across the pathway on the right, was the tower House Lightbringer’s squad stayed in. The tower House Rover stayed in was at the opposite corner of the wall surrounding the Celestial.

Arthur glanced to the right, the strong winds pushed his hair to the right. The northern side of inner Helios was built on a hill. The rooftops of buildings got lower the closer toward the ocean they were. The blue ocean was silent at that distance, the light from the moon casted shimmering sparkles along its surface. To the left of the path was the Celestial, stretching straight into the sky.

“Hey sir, can I ask you something?” said Liam.

“What is it?” Arthur replied.

“You’re only a few years older than me right? My dad said you were the youngest person to become a noble in history…”

“Liam…” Freiya elbowed Liam.

“What? It’s amazing isn’t it? No ones ever-”

“Liam, please stop-”

“It’s alright Freiya,” Arthur sighed. “I only became the noble to fill in for my father after he died. I’m not that special…”

“Oh… Right…” Liam kissed his teeth as he smacked his own forehead. “My bad, I forgot about that… It’s been so long, I was a kid when that happened… But, you are pretty special… I mean you have two Celestial gifts…”

“The Celestial blessed me with Reiu when I was seventeen…” Arthur recalled that day, and smiled. “Right before I beat Alexander Rael in a sparring match… This pendant is the only reason I won, I think he still hates me to this day because of that…”

“You sparred with Alexander?! And won?! He’s almost twice your height!” Liam shouted.

“I was lucky if anything… I don’t think I'd survive an actual fight with him…”

“Even with Balakin?”

“Heh, not a chance… Father always told me he is probably the strongest angel, no questions asked…”

Arthur lifted the pendant hanging on his neck, his fingers rubbed over the rigid silver surface. His smile faded as he reminisced, remembering how much joy he used to have. The three of them made their way across, Freiya broke the silence.

“Did they… Ever find out what happened to House Pendragon’s last squad? The only one left is… Akovo Musagi, Ando’s mother…”

Arthur looked down, his heartbeat quickened. “No… We still don’t know the culprit…”

Liam looked around as he started to scratch his head. The silence became even more awkward. Freiya’s sniffle cut through the cold winds. Arthur gulped, he felt disappointed in himself.

“I’m sorry for bringing that up…” Freiya apologized timidly. “I shouldn’t have said that…”

“It’s alright, I understand…” Arthur said under his breath as he glanced to the left.

Between the wall Arthur and the others walked over, and the Celestial itself, was a large gap. It was at least one hundred meters wide. Arthur looked down, there was nothing but a sea of darkness between the inner wall and the Celestial. But Arthur knew, at the bottom of that darkness was the secret his father found. The revelation that caused everything.

“Everytime I look down there, I just feel nervous…” Liam shuddered as he peaked between the bricks on the left side.

“Then why do you keep looking?” Freiya asked.

“Mostly curiosity…”

“I doubt there's anything down there, Liam…”

They were almost at the tower to House Lightbringer. Arthur glanced up at the window he had been looking at before. His eyes widened as he noticed the light in the room turn on and off three times. ‘Why did he have to signal now of all times! Dammit… I shouldn’t have brought Liam or Freiya along…’ They reached House Lightbringers tower, the path forked left, or into the tower. Arthur went left, it was another stone path over the wall, but this time House Rover was at the other side.

“Or maybe like, a really big insect!” Liam sounded excited.

“Why do you sound so giddy for that…” Freiya cringed.

“Hana hates bugs, so I can use that against her,” Liam grinned as he rubbed his hands together.

“You’re gonna go down there just to find something to scare Hana?” Freiya sighed. “That’s silly…”

“It’ll be so worth it, trust me! Remember when she was screaming threats down the hall because I left a spider in front of her door? Heh, hahaha!”

‘I still have no leads on where that kid Shinra found is… Could the Lightbringers have found him by now? Could Lawrence be hiding that?’ Arthur continued forward, staring blankly at the stones in front of him as he walked. He glanced back at the two lieutenants. ‘I have to hurry up, then meet with Lawrence…’

“What’s with that laugh…” Freiya raised an eyebrow. “She was literally chasing you with her rapier… Why do you want that to happen again?”

“It was probably the hardest I’ve ever laughed,” Liam chuckled just thinking about it.

“Hm…” Freiya stared blankly at Liam’s face. “Liam, do you like Hana?”

“Huh?!” Liam suddenly snapped to the right. “Like… Hana?!”

“Yeah.”

“She’s such a nag! How could I ever like someone like her?! I like my ears where they are!”

Arthur looked ahead, he saw Angela leaning against the brick wall. She was reading something from a folder, but turned and looked up as she heard Liam. Her short and icy blonde hair blew strongly in the wind, she was still in uniform. The button on her blue dress shirt collar was unbuttoned.

“It seems like you want her attention sometimes...” Freiya poked.

“Huh?! Arthur, are you hearing this?!” Liam’s face warped to one of disgust.

“Well if you get so defensive, it seems like it might be true…” Arthur added.

“What?!” Liam scowled.

Freiya laughed slightly under her breath, she even pursed her lips and looked away. Angela took one more draw from her wooden pipe, the substance within it crackled from the heat. Angela pulled the pipe out and exhaled, before stretching her arms and letting out a yawn.

“Well if it isn’t doctor little,” Angela greeted Arthur.

“You aren’t funny,” Arthur smiled. “Why are you out right now?”

“My lieutenants hate it when I smoke inside, especially Leo. Hey Freiya, Liam. you two seem well,” Angela said with a soft smile.

“Yo,” Liam raised his palm to greet her.

“Good evening, how are you?” Freiya bowed her head slightly.

“Same old… Kinda wish I was still in Hiria though…” Angela sighed again as her shoulders slumped.

“Oh yeah, your squad was sent to Blue County four weeks ago, right? Ando told me about it…” Liam asked.

“Yup… That place is just… Something else…” Angela leaned back and recounted her journey. “You gotta go to Tempa’s Woods sometime Arthur, the whole forest is literally shrouded in blue leaves. And when they burn…”

Angela pulled on her pipe, looking down at the inside of it in front of her. She pointed at it and lowered her head, revealing the contents. As she inhaled, the ash seemed to glow a bright blue.

“Woah! That’s cool!” Liam leaned over and looked over Arthur’s shoulder.

“Hm,” Arthur squinted. “Painting your lungs blue, rather than black isn’t much of a difference, don’t you think?”

“Pft, hahaha!” Angela choked on the smoke, before bursting into a coughing laughter. “That’s funny! But trust me, it's cleaner than what we got here in Helios.”

“Yeah well, I wouldn’t know…” Arthur shrugged.

“What brings you three out? You get one of these?” Angela fanned the paper in front of them.

“An application?” said Freiya.

Arthur squinted at the paper she held, it was a single document. He could just barely make out the name on it.

“Actually, I was meaning to ask if your sink was working… We’re not getting water on our side…”

“Huh… Well…” Angela turned as she dragged the word, she looked up at one of the windows of House Rover’s tower. “Nope, still got water… One of my lieutenants is taking a shower…”

Arthur looked up at the window, steam bellowed out from the lit room.

“Huh… Might just be our side then…”

“You’re going to have to make a request to the Lightbringers to get that fixed…” said Angela. “Unless you know how to do it, Freiya.”

“Huh- I am not doing any plumbing, nope, no way…” Freiya suddenly jumped where she stood.

“Don’t worry, I'm kidding! I was kind of hoping you would though,” Angela smiled.

“Why do I have to ask the Lightbringers for that?” Arthur asked.

“Helios uses two separate sewage systems, one is accessible by the public and used around most of the city, but the other is only connected to buildings we nobles use,” Angela explained. “I think it’s to keep people from sneaking in through there.”

“Someone’s tried?” Arthur raised an eyebrow.

“Well… Maybe not in my lifetime… Our sewer systems have been like that for as long as I can remember…”

“Huh…” Arthur squinted upon hearing that.

“Anyways, back to what I was saying, you’re getting a fourth lieutenant too right?” Angela asked.

“Fourth?” Liam reared his head back.

“Yeah… I talked to Alexander about it this morning, every squad seems to be getting an extra lieutenant. Alexander didn’t think much of it, but this is weird to me…”

“I… Have no idea what you’re talking about? I didn’t get a letter like that?” Arthur leaned forward and looked at the application a bit closer.

“You didn’t get one? That’s really weird… Maybe because House Pendragon got new lieutenants not too long ago?”

“But… Every house has had three lieutenants… Why the sudden change?”

“I’m not sure… Even weirder, it’s not an application, it’s kind of just a letter saying… This is how it is now,” said Angela.

Arthur squinted at the name of the new recruit. ‘Zeus? What kind of name is that…’

“Where is his last name?” Arthur asked.

“That’s another weird part… Apparently the one joining House Rael doesn’t have a last name either… Well, whatever, the more the merrier I suppose.” Angela yawned again. “I’m gonna get going, I have to go to the office for something…”

“Alright…” Arthur handed the letter back to Angela. “I’m going to head back… I’ll see if I can get it fixed today…”

“Have a great night!” Angela waved as she entered the tower.

“Fourth lieutenants?” Freiya pondered. “Why the sudden change?”

“Who knows… I wish we could get a fourth member… Why are we being left out?” Liam complained.

“Well, the three of us joined House Pendragon over the last two years… Most of the other squads have been around for a bit longer…”

“Well… It’s only like one more year for House Rover? They’ve replaced their squads recently too…”

Arthur, Freiya, and Liam continued back along the wall. ‘The Lightbringers are assigning new squad members? Why isn’t House Pendragon isn’t getting one, unless they are just slow with the mail… Wait… No last names…’ Arthur squinted as he remembered the boy his father found. ‘That kid didn’t have a last-’ Arthur’s thoughts stopped as he looked up at House Lightbringers tower, there was a figure by the window. ‘Huh…’ A green light flashed in the hands of the black silhouette. Arthur took a deep breath as he glanced back at Liam and Freiya. The two of them continued to discuss the new changes as they passed the Lightbringers tower, and made their way across and back to the Pendragon tower.

“You two head back up. I'll put in that request right now,” said Arthur.

“Now? It’s really early isn’t it? Will anyone be available?” said Freiya.

“It’s urgent, so I'll go ask right now, I’ll be back soon.”

“O-Oh, yeah that’s probably a better idea,” Freiya smiled.

“Hopefully it gets fixed by tomorrow,” Liam yawned as he stretched his arms. “I hate going all the way through the bureau just to take a shower…”

They entered the tower, Liam and Freiya went left up the stairs. Arthur took a right and went down. At the bottom, he reached a small corridor, to the left was a balcony at the bottom of the tower. Arthur turned right and walked through a door, entering a long hallway. The ground was made of stone, rigid shapes of moonlight were formed by the windows and evenly spaced down the length of the hallway. Just like above, the hallway split into two paths, both with a pair of guards keeping watch, their gold masks sparkling in the light.

“Over here…” Arthur heard a voice behind him, it came from the balcony.

Arthur turned quickly, he looked back at the guards, they were still staring out the window and into space. Arthur went back into the corridor, closing the door behind him and slowly crept through to the balcony. He poked his head out and noticed Lawrence leaning on the railing.

“What… The fuck are you doing?!” Arthur swore as quietly as he could.

“Yeah, I know, not the usual meeting place…”

“Were you seen by the guards?”

“Of course not, who do you think you’re talking to…” Lawrence sighed. “I was trying to send you a signal… Then noticed you and your lieutenants outside… Figured it’d be faster if I just met with you here…”

“Yeah, you were late…” Arthur leaned against the railing and looked over the north east side of Helios. “We shouldn’t use this spot… Any of my lieutenants can walk down right now and they’ll see us…”

“Yeah well, this is the last time…”

“What?” Arthur reared his head back. “What do you mean? You told me we’d stop the Lightbringers! We’ve waited all this time for that!”

Arthur felt a violent anger stir within himself. Lawrence took a deep breath as he scratched his blonde hair, then rubbed his neck. He didn’t wear the black and white cloak the Lightbringers usually wore, just a white shirt and black pants. ‘He’s usually calm and collected…’ Lawrence’s eyes furled as he looked down.

“All we’ve done is stall! You told me you were my best bet at revenge, but we’ve done nothing!” Arthur whispered angrily. “You really were just trying to save your own skin! Weren’t you!”

“There was nothing you could do! And there was nothing I could do either! All we had to do was wait till they made their move… And… The Lightbringers made their move…” Lawrence shook his head.

Arthur froze. “Huh… What do you mean?”

“Lucifer and Arid made an expedition down there recently, about a week ago… Down to the place your father found… And… I don’t know what happened but…”

“But what?”

“To put it bluntly… They are freaking out…” Lawrence nodded.

“Huh…” Arthur squinted. “You mean?”

“Yeah… They know the kid went missing… They don’t go too often… Last time I remember was over fifteen years ago… But only Arid went at that time… If Lucifer and Arid both went…” Lawrence sighed. “Something had to have been different this time… But I think something went wrong…”

“Does this have to do with those new squad members being assigned? I saw one of their names… Just like the kid my father found, the one joining House Rover doesn’t have a last name…”

“That’s the odd part… I was eavesdropping on them as I usually do… I thought they’d just try again… But they’ve deemed the entire project to be a failure… And they can’t continue it…”

“What?”

“Project Archangel was a failure… Not only that, I think something else happened down there… I overheard the king while he was throwing a tantrum…”

“A tantrum?” Arthur squinted harder.

“He kept saying things I didn’t understand…” Lawrence looked up as he recounted what the king said. “He kept talking about someone named Leazra… Screaming and cursing her name out loud like a wild animal… It was… Disturbing to say the least…”

“Leazra?” Arthur tilted his head. “I’ve never heard a name like that…”

“Whatever she did… I think she had something to do with Project Archangels failure… He kept screaming about how much time and resources have been wasted… And… The last thing he said was…”

“What? What did he say?”

“He said… It won’t be long… Before Alexander Rael comes for their heads…”

Arthur paused. “Huh?! Alexander? Why would Alexander do that?”

“I… I don’t know… I’ve never heard them like that, but when the topic came to Alexander… They sounded… Very afraid…”

“I mean… Alexander is intimidating… The guy’s eight feet tall and freakishly strong…” Arthur looked down in thought. “But he’s completely loyal to the Lightbringers? He hates me more than them if anything… It makes no sense that the Lightbringers would be so afraid of him…”

“I don’t know… I wish I had a better answer but…” Lawrence turned to Arthur and looked past him. “That’s all I-”

A pop was heard in the distance, Arthur and Lawrence turned toward the south. ‘What the… What was that…’ Despite the strong winds, Arthur knew he heard something.

“Did you hear that?” Arthur asked.

“Yeah… It sounded like an explosion… Really far away…” said Lawrence.

As Arthur and Lawrence leaned off the railing to try and look south, they both noticed something in the night sky. Arthur’s jaw dropped as a bright light descended from the clouds. ‘What… Is that…’ A whistle followed a strong flap as two white lights descended through the black night sky..

“Am I seeing things?” Arthur turned to Lawrence, whose expression was equally dumbfounded by what they were witnessing.

Lawrence didn’t say anything, he just stared up in awe. There was a silhouette behind the small lights. The thing came down quickly, too quickly. It was like the entire world had stopped moving for a moment. His previous concerns about the Lightbringers became irrelevant, as he watched the falling object glide through the sky.

“A meteor? No… It can’t be…” Lawrence uttered.

“Hey… That’s coming this way…” Arthur uttered.

Lawrence and Arthur were motionless as the thing crashed directly into the peaks of the mountain south of Helios. The thing pierced through the mountain like it was nothing, massive boulders were hurled over Roverswood. It spun off its course, ruthlessly smashing the trees in its path.

“Holy shit…” Lawrence uttered.

The object crashed into the forest, sending a quake through the land unlike anything the two of them had ever felt. The tower shook, causing Arthur and Lawrence to duck. Several more quakes followed as the boulders smashed into the forests, the snaps of tree’s could be heard behind the rumbling. Lawrence stood still for a moment, but then reached into his pocket. He pulled a small glass panel from his pocket with a golden sphere embedded into it, and handed it to Arthur. The glass was about a centimeter thick, its edges surrounded with silver.

“Arthur… Take this, and go!” said Lawrence as he handed him.

“Huh…” Arthur replied, still taking in what he had witnessed. “Is this one of Lector’s communication devices?”

“Yeah! I have the other end, I'm going to go inform the Lightbringers of this! It’s constantly transmuting sounds that come near it, if you keep it in your pocket, it shouldn’t pick up much, but don’t say anything too loud, I'll let you know if it's clear first, don’t talk about anything you shouldn’t speak of until you know I'm alone! Go, now! Find out what that is before the Lightbringers do! You can get there faster than anyone!”

Arthur gulped, he hesitated for a moment, then put his foot on the wall. The lights across the city all turned on slowly. Arthur climbed up, then jumped off. The wind blew past his ears, his hair rose and his cloak flapped.

“Balakin!” Arthur called.

A red light flashed beneath him, the black snake-like dragon’s head materialized out of it and slithered forward quickly. He landed on the metal helmet covering its head, crouching as the rest of the dragon’s body slithered out of the red light. Arthur glanced to his right as he passed House Rael. Alexander and his squad were already outside their tower, staring right at him. ‘Shit… They’re pretty fast themselves… I have to hurry up!’ Black armor surrounded his legs, clicking into place as each piece arranged itself. After a minute he passed the inner wall of Helios. ‘They’ll most likely use Bruno’s gift to get across the city… It’ll take them about ten minutes to reach the crash site…’ A red light flashed under Arthur’s feet, the energy fluxed as he prepared to jump. Balakin was just passing the outer wall of Helios, its scales glowed red as Arthur released him.

“Dragon driver…” Arthur chanted.

Arthur kicked off Balakin’s helmet as the dragon disappeared. He launched himself straight into the sky over Roverswood, a stream of red light following his path. The wind blew past his head, pressing against his face as he squinted. His hair rose as he began to descend at the peak of his height, he looked over the land. A pillar of smoke rose from the middle of Roverswood, and another rose from the mountain’s peak. Arthur soared past the crash site, landing on the side of the mountain. His black greaves pressed into the cliff face, he stopped for a moment as he breathed out. Arthur looked back toward the clearing, then kicked off again with less force. He landed in the forest, rolled against the ground, then sprinted through the forest. Arthur breathed heavily as he hurried, but as he got close, he heard a voice near the crash site. ‘Someone got here first? That’s impossible! Who-’ Arthur crouched behind the bushes next to a fallen tree.