Rehearsal

March 20th, Imperial Year 879
Cordelia Estate

"How goes the experiments, Aeneas?" Archbishop Simos smugly rested his arm upon the armrests as he adjusted a small projection crystal. "I assume someone as brilliant as yourself would have no problem with such a simple experiment." The blue smoke of the scrycast filled the workshop as the wispy visage of Simos's face filled the room.

"Silence, Archbishop. This is the result of 500 years of research. It cannot be completed in a day."

Simos snorted, a twisted smile on his face.

"Well, good luck with your experiments, Aeneas. Since you are clearly smart enough to do this on your own without my help, I will simply be taking my leave. Ta-ta, my friend." 

The archbishop stood up from his chair and dispelled the scrycast. The man and the chair faded from the room, leaving a faint afterimage before that too, dissipated.

Aeneas sighed, and for a moment, the room was silent.

"Damn that Archbishop!" Aeneas roared, breaking the silence. "He thinks, just because he is archbishop now-" Aeneas ground his teeth.

"Should we retrieve the vessel, sir?" A young man with silver hair walked up to Aeneas. "I can have her perform a rehearsal."

"That will not be necessary today." Aeneas put his hands to his head. "That priest. He won't have a spot in the new world." Aeneas turned to the young man. "Ionos, do we have any lines with the Rose Banner faction?"

"I thought we were supporting Prince Alex."

"Simos is supporting Prince Alex. I will not."

"We still need the Church's resources. Even if you burned the entire Cordelia fortune into this, there are too many rare artifacts we still lack."

"A double subversion." Aeneas leaned over to Ionos. "We tell Simos we have more baskets. I'll just transfer all the eggs over when he isn't looking."

"And support Calli sincerely?"

"I won't need to lie for that. Calli is...preferable, not necessary. I care not who truly wins in this...insignificant little skirmish."

"I see, sir."

Aeneas leaned over to the side of his chair, his hand on his forehead. Alchemical formulas and potions full of strange liquids were strewn around, overcrowding the massive workshop desk.

"Actually, no. We will do a rehearsal today." Aeneas looked over at Ionos sharply. "At the double."

"Sir, shouldn't you get some rest? It has been three days since you last slept-"

"At the double!"

"Y-yes, my lord."

***

Phoebe gazed out of the small window, her gentle locks flowing in the wind.

"My lady, it isn't so bad here." An elderly maid shambled about the room, cleaning up the dust from the windowsills. "Your room is much better than mine."

"Yes, it is so, Zena." Phoebe stood up from the windowsill, looking down at the old woman. Her toes touched the floor, and she let out a small stretch before heading over to the maid. "Here, let me help you-"

"My lady." The door to Phoebe's room creaked open as Ionos stepped inside. "Your father requests your presence."

"Now?"

"Now."

Phoebe bit her lip, and sighed. 

"I - fine, just let me get ready."

"I'm sorry, Phoebe."

"It's okay."

Phoebe got up and walked out the door as Zena bowed before the two of them, before descending down the massive spiral staircase.

"Is it today, Ionos?" Phoebe asked, as they descended down the long, dark tower. A few slits let in light from the outside, but otherwise, the tower was dark.

"No, today is merely a rehearsal."

"I see. Then perhaps I live for another day."

Ionos was silent.

"I'm...I'm sorry, my lady. Do acknowledge I mean no harm."

"I know Ionos, I know."

"Your father is trying to create a just world, my lady." He smiled to himself, with almost a snort. "The salvation of humanity will be achieved via a miracle."

Phoebe stopped in her tracks, facing away from Ionos. Ionos too, stopped, his feet halfway between a step.

"I...yes, I know, Ionos. Please, let us not talk about this any further."

"I apologize, my lady. I have a family to protect as well."

Phoebe stood still for a moment, before starting back down the stairs.

"Is your wife doing well, Ionos? How about your son."

Ionos smiled.

"My son took his first steps, yesterday." Ionos looked out the tower slits before continuing down. "My wife told me. I...wasn't there to see it."

"May the saints bless him." Phoebe clasped her hands together, almost mechanically. Her eyes were still hazy, as if her mind were elsewhere. "Perhaps if father's vision will make a better world for the children, it is not such a terrible sacrifice."

***

"Igallia." Dozens of candles simultaneously lit up, surrounding the circle with a warm glow.

Phoebe lay in the center of the circle, her hands clasped around her stomach. The white robes which she wore gently fluttered as a gust of wind blew in from the outside.

"Should I close the window, sir?"

"I must have forgotten. It won't matter for the real deal." A small carcass of a chicken lay limp on the ground. Aeneas grabbed the chicken by the throat, and scattered it's feathers. "Kan-tur."

Phoebe opened her eyes slightly, and gazed around the room, until they landed upon a small butterfly that had managed to make it's way in somehow. She sighed.

"Phoebe." Ionos chided, giving her an understanding, but slightly annoyed look. Phoebe rolled her eyes, before closing them once more.

"Sorry."

"Silence, both of you." Aeneas said, as he sprinkled a reagent onto the floor, then wrote a strange set of letters on the floor with his boots. "If this were real, I would require absolute perfection. Ionos, knife."

"K-knife?"

"I've decided it's a dress rehearsal." Phoebe opened her eyes and looked over, a modicum of fear in her eyes, before closing them. "This will, hopefully, not hurt too much."

Aeneas walked up to Phoebe and grabbed her wrist, putting a small cup underneath. With a swift and sudden movement, he slit her palm. A trickle of blood emerged from her hand, which Aeneas redirected into the cup.

Ionos diverted his eyes away from the scene.

"Nng..." Phoebe bit her lip again, doing her best not to squirm. Aeneas paid her no mind, until the cup was full.

"Arias no." Aeneas dropped her hand, and sprinkled the blood over the circle, which began to glow an eerie blue. "My god."

Ionos opened his eyes, and looked out at the scene.

"Is...is it working?"

"Yes." Aeneas stepped back, in awe. "Were this the real altar, I..." His face twisted, calculations running through his mind. "No. Not quite."

"Huh?" Ionos stood up. "But, the circle is lit up-"

"Magecraft works not via fancy lights, but via a practical application of theories." Aeneas looked over as Phoebe got up, resting her hand in her arm. Ionos quickly ran over with a handkerchief. Aeneas shook his head, and bent over to pick up a small glass orb. "These placeholders are not artifacts. What appears like success now may have disastrous consequences during the enactment of the miracle."

"Can I go now?" Phoebe asked Ionos, who gave Aeneas a look. When Aeneas did not respond, he nodded to her. Phoebe slipped out of the workshop.

"There are still several reagents I feel I have not gotten right." Aeneas said. "There's something missing, I just don't know what." Aeneas walked over to his table, and began looking over at the equations. "This, is for the salvation of mankind. I cannot get anything wrong."

"I thought we merely needed to prevent the upcoming greater war."

Aeneas looked back at Ionos, with a smug expression, before he raised his arms up into the air dramatically.

"Fool. My dream is greater than just that."