Reclaim thy Clouds

Onboard the Kenichi Modern, Haruki and his co-pilot, Marina, approached a distant island whose length spanned half their horizon. At the center of it were lights—spotlights it seemed like, beams of light projecting from devices mounted on what looked like towers. Haruki couldn’t tell; It was nighttime, after all.

Catching a breath, he recalled the plan.

The objective was to fly the KM into Bellfry City, set fire to key locations to draw attention, which will allow Haruki to land somewhere safe while the city’s defenses are diverted. Then, while that was happening, Haruki and Marina would rush to where she thought Anemone would be held captive: the Temple of Lacrimosa.

An entire temple dedicated to the worship of the Lacrimosa: the Inverted City.

A temple worshipping another entity when the Federacy only believed in one Divine—but oddly enough, allowed, nay, encouraged by the state to exist.

But none of that mattered. Anemone was there. That was all that mattered.

They would fly in, hidden by Marina’s magic, through enemy lines and make landfall. Hearing the KM’s engine roar though, he wondered if the sound alone wouldn’t alert the city’s defenses.

Though Marina assured him that was fine. Perfect, even.

Fearing death—and failure, he glanced over the city one more time, circling it until he was ready.

“You’re turning against your country,” Haruki raised his concern over his shoulder. “Have you thought about what happens to you after? You sure you wanna be here, with me, when you could just hang back and not get killed on sight?”

Marina laughed. “My. What’s with the questions now? Are you delaying?”

“You goddamn right I am. I’m nervous. Not just for myself, but for you too.”

“There’s no need to concern yourself over me. Let’s just do what both of us do best. I’ll handle my own fallout later.” Marina’s voice then wobbled playfully. “You shouldn’t be so concerned for a girl you rejected so casually.”

“What? I didn’t reject you!” Haruki shot back, confused.

“You said you’re not sure if you can return my feelings. After I kissed you oh-so-tenderly…”

“That’s not a rejection, that’s just…” Haruki cringed. “Gah. Fine. If we stick around, I feel like you’re just gonna keep going on about that.”

Marina harrumphed. “Good boy. So you know.” Her voice then turned straight. “Let’s move in. Stick with the entry point and we’ll be fine.”

“Right.”

Haruki heard a splash though they were nowhere near the water. The scenery before him wobbled, like looking through a glass ball, before eventually stabilizing. The lights now appeared brighter, and he could feel trickles of water splashing on his cheeks. Her magic must have been active.

He approached Bellfry City, flying to the “entry point” east of the harbor. When he neared the city, he tried to discern its features through the dark of the moonless night. Low lying houses were lined up in neat rows overlooking streets, with those same streets ending in large, expansive mansions as their dead ends. Their architecture angled on one-side, and their arrangements reminded him of quaint Italian villages as he saw them in tourism photos.

Hearing his own engine as he approached, multiple spotlights from the watchtowers looked up. Some lights even hit the KM, but whoever was watching just didn’t register their presence. Instead, the lights’ movements became more frantic, more confused, the closer they got.

“They really can’t see us?”

“My water mirror is bouncing off their light. I’m making it so that I’m projecting an image of the sea convincing enough that they don’t notice on time,” Marina said, concentrating. “I can really only pull this off at night, so we have to get this done before sunrise.”

“Shouldn’t be a problem,” Haruki said with confidence.

The Kenichi Modern flew over the watchtowers and lights, until they reached a spot where it seemed the spotlights couldn’t reach. A blindspot. This must have been where Marina wanted to go.

The search of the watchtowers continued, looking up. Ah, so that’s it. The reason she said making noise was perfect. Bellfry would be too busy looking up to notice them going down.

Flying lower, he could see the silhouettes of cannons mounted on the watchtowers. They were only a little smaller than the KM itself, and some just as big. He shuddered, seeing them up close. The image of these things turning to shoot the KM chilled Haruki’s spine.

“See those warehouses?” Marina pointed out, though they really couldn’t see each other. She described the exact street layout and light arrangements, all from how the magelight lamps were lined up. “Land us on that lake near them. They’re abandoned, but filled with a lot of flammable material to burn. I trust you can make do?”

“Of course.” Haruki conjured a small ember in his palm. Nothing as big as Flare’s, but even a little spark can start an inferno.

“After we’re done, we head for the temple,” Marina said. “Just trust me and we’ll be fine.”

####

Bells tolled in the distance, and the rushed, confused screams of soldiers rang out from outside the temple walls. Anemone sat in silence, puzzled, watching from an elevated window as an inferno began to rage several blocks away.

“Anemone. Sit.”

Ako, rolled up to a nearby pew and patted it, inviting Anemone.

“It’s him. Haruki.”

She looked back, seeing the majesty of the temple in view again. Its interior reminded her of Ka-Ilyah’s masonry, though pillars of steel stood where wooden ones should have been. Stained glass depicted unknown men and women dressed in peculiar clothing, though she swore they wore fashions similar to Haruki’s. Some windows were broken inwards, some shards still freshly strewn on the ground under it, alongside the bricks used to break them.

Ako del Alfons—her biological mother—patted the seat again.

“Come.”

Feeling an instinctual subserviency, she plopped down on the pew’s edge beside Ako and her wheeled chair.

“Mother,” Anemone said, hesitancy and confusion rampant in her tone. Then she strained a smile, convinced the fire was Haruki’s work. “I told you he’d come for us.”

Ako simply closed her eyes, as if in silent acceptance of the coming events. If she knew Haruki was coming, why? Why look so sullen?

The doors of the temple burst open, the force nearly removing it from its hinges. Three men came in: Two blue-armored soldiers, and between them, Lias del Romero, all three pointing nocked crossbows at Ako.

“He would as well.”

As if on reflex, Anemone flipped and balanced herself on top of a pew, conjuring a magic-made arrow in the process. She aimed at Lias, fingers twitching at the string.

“How brazen of you to bring yourselves here and not your manor,” Lias taunted. “Like you brought her here for me. Do I thank you for your generosity, or scoff at your foolish parody?”

Ako sighed. “You would torch the city to reach Lacrimosa. I hold all members of my house valuable. Hiding there would only put them at risk. So I’m here, where only the two of us would get hurt.”

“And here I thought you wanted in with this plan,” Lias sneered. “Then again, she is your flesh and blood. Even if she wasn’t born out of love but divinity.” He bowed at Anemone facetiously. “O child of virgin, loveless birth.”

Anemone grit her teeth. “You tried to kill my friend. All for this Lacrimosa. What for?”

Lias shrugged and grinned. “Don’t be mistaken. Having you for the Lacrimosa and killing your friend are two different things. Where would you like me to start?”

“You can start by leaving us alone.”

“Have you noticed?” Lias looked around all over. “The Federacy, despite all its strength, still lives under fear of the Sky Legion. But also by the power of it. Our sciences, advancements, architecture… all derived from research on the Legion. And yet we live in its shadow, fearing the days they terrorize our people. But Lacrimosa… it is the door to a world of further sciences. Sciences that allowed the existence of miraculous otherworlder technologies—that you, del Alfons, know well. However, we are only blessed by these advancements by the whims of the Divine. If I could open the door, we could study these technologies as we pleased!”

“So it’s just greed, then,” Anemone said in a growl.

“It is to protect this world, and to strengthen our sovereignty. Surely, you understand, being a future sovereign, Princess Anemone.” He snickered. “Then again, sensing the energy from your bow, your quiver is full. You have never shed the blood of men, have you? You likely do not—and will never understand the responsibilities I carry.”

Nonsense. Anemone understood perfectly well the calling she denied. It was her choice—and her desire to be free that strayed her from that path. But she understood.

And she could never imagine shedding blood for that goal.

She released the arrow.

It flew at Lias—and grazed his cheek, barely drawing a drop of blood. He grinned.

“If your bow has never taken life, how could it ever hope to take mine?”

The soldier to his left thrust forth a familiar white crystal—that which nullifies magic. It pulsated with an invisible glow. So did Anemone’s head throb, and her joints exploded in pain.

She fell on the pew, hitting her head and sending her in a painful, dizzied trance.

Ako moved her chair forward and shouted, “Lias, stop!”

She paused when Lias aimed his crossbow at her—right at her heart.

“Do you know the reputation this temple has nowadays?”

Ako knit her brow, enraged yet helpless. “Abandoned because those who believed in Lacrimosa could not produce results. Now, it is a den of lowlives with nowhere to go.”

“Good that you know.” He looked down on her. “If I shot you in the heart now, it’d look too professional. Clean. A quick death. But if you were to die a crude death, they’d think you suffered an ignoble end to some ruffian. Wrong place and at the wrong time.”

“You can try.” She inhaled deep. The scent of burning wood and sulfur invaded her senses, but everything was as she wanted. “But I’ve already denied you your ritual. This place will burn down, and this will have all been for nothing.”

Lias chuckled. “Ritual? What ritual?”

“The one you’re going to do to open the way to Lacrimosa. Are you daft?”

“Ah.” Lias shook his head in slow, mocking condemnation. “Another bit of deliberate misinformation on my end.”

“What?”

“Do you think I, Lias del Romero, would believe in such nonsense? I thoroughly convinced you and your scholars of the existence of this ritual.” He laughed. “But no. I don’t need such archaic means to reach the Inverted City. I only need the princess’ blood, and the rest… will be up to me know, and for you…”

He aimed the crossbow lower, away from a vital organ, but below her lungs.

“...To never find out.