Chapter 12:

First Year of Unfavorable Circumstance

Gray Skies Below


With Erebos’ assent, the Headmaster was free to pursue his goals. Both pragmatic and idealistic, Erebos saw the logic in initiating a war now rather than later, when casualties and suffering would be far less significant. Both prospects were still sickening, however, and other than agreeing to break the Four Towers' seals when the time came, he wanted no part in the fighting.

As long as he deluded himself on the ends, he could look past his compliance in a horrible, premeditated conflict. If he thought of the necessary conclusion, he could rationalize the deaths of others to accomplish that. But greatest of all, if a war was the only way to bring about the destruction of the Barrier, Erebos was prepared to sacrifice his innocence to bring that result.

If it was the only way for Erebos to share more time with the girl he met in the tunnel between worlds, he could stomach the consequences.

That being said, Erebos still visited the tunnel occasionally to chance another encounter. She never came, or if she did, they were never present at the same time. For his last few weeks of his first academic term, he often avoided his friends and sat alone in the tunnel, a space where nobody besides one could breach.

His friends were worried about him, but it was hard to continue socializing normally as if nothing was amiss. The Headmaster had told him that Erebos’ services would be needed before the year was complete. This among many were statements of the Headmaster that haunted Erebos in the days after his visit to the study.

His solitude gave him plenty of time to work through some of these statements. He couldn’t begin to guess how he would actually go about breaking the Four Towers' seals, so instead he focused on the mysteries in front of him.

From what he gathered in their conversation, the Headmaster knew about some of the peculiarities of Erebos’ vision. The fact that he couldn’t see the stars in the sky had been brought up, but the Headmaster’s additional words on the subject were far more provocative. He had said that Erebos was “free from the shackles of the stars,” implying that those who weren’t were ensnared or limited by them. If it wasn’t the stars that Erebos drew his power from, what was it? He thought of every time he had interacted with the flux from starlight, every time he had been seared by the pain associated with it. Even after he had left the Headmaster’s study, when he walked outside into the central courtyard, Erebos had unexpectedly been flashed by that pain once again.

From his first bout with the testers in his exam to when he had passed out from touching the panel in the outdoor classroom, two different pains existed. When he was indoors, like during the exam and when he had used the transporter to get to and from the study, Erebos felt only a single wave of pain from absorbing flux. When he was underneath the sky, however, a second wave always accompanied the first.

If he could somehow gain a different kind of energy, opposite of flux and from the darkness around the stars, that would explain his experiences and the Headmaster’s words. Unbound by the stars, Erebos could conjure darkness itself into the same application as others did with light. Was he really the opposite, the antithesis of all other artificers, creating inscriptions out of another energy that couldn’t normally be seen?

That would explain why his writing was invisible to others. That would explain why he destroyed every artifice of light he touched. He couldn’t find a contradiction between the theory and the observed effects, so how could he not believe in it? The only hesitation he had, if it were true, would be that it was incredibly lonely.

It’s not like that wasn’t already the case. Sitting in solitude, Erebos realized that he was already incredibly lonely after coming to terms with this reality. The only one he could trust to fully understand was somewhere beyond the Barrier in front of him, contending with the circumstances and problems unique to her world.

As this trend continued, his friends grew more and more concerned for him, and Erebos’ guilt grew as well. Reaching a boiling point of frustration, Erebos stopped himself from stealing away after his classes and went to the outdoor classroom, the place where Jiron and Vanov usually hung out after class.

Emerging into the open air and seeing his two friends sitting in the far corner, Erebos began his desultory march. Rumina wasn't with them, so he'd probably find her later and apologize for the way he'd been acting, but for the moment the two were all he had to worry about.

Erebos had avoided them for a week, so he wasn't sure if he could just drop in without a proper explanation. But a proper explanation wasn't something he was at liberty to give, so he tried to think of some excuse he could give as to why he'd been so evasive. Cursing himself for not thinking of something before he decided to face them, Erebos slowed his walk until Jiron and Vanov noticed him. Jiron was fiddling with something in his lap and Vanov was sitting to his right and watching him with slight concern, but both looked up towards Erebos when they saw him approaching.

Jiron: "Hey, what's up, bro. You like my new toy?"

Somewhat a relief, Jiron opened up the conversation casually. He had a slightly pitying expression, but overall he looked pretty accepting of Erebos' unannounced return. Vanov smiled at him and looked back towards Jiron's lap, returning to his worried expression and posing a question.

Vanov: "Maybe he'll listen to you, Erebos, but can you tell Jiron to be a little more careful with Rumina's rifle? He's making me a little nervous."

Erebos: "Err, Rumina's what now?"

Not sure what a rifle was, he didn't get a good view of what the long, slender object in Vanov's lap was. After he got close enough to get a different angle, he recognized what the object was.

Erebos: "W-what are you doing with one of those th-things?! Isn't that an Edithino weapon or something, how did you get one??"

The only way to react to Jiron messing around with that thing was exasperation, but Jiron waved his hand with a tranquil expression.

Jiron: "What, you don't know? The Capital took volunteers from the staff and older students to make a volunteer guard, probably just in case something like last week happens again. I'm just watching over Rumina's for a bit, that's all."

This was the first time Erebos had heard of this, but to be fair, he had noticed some of the rifles and other equipment being moved around. He had assumed that they were just supplies being prepared for the impending war, but he hadn't known that even students were already being trained under the guise of forming a guard. And even though he knew that truth, he was forbidden from telling others about the premeditated conflict. He didn't know who could be convinced like Erebos had, but it was an unnecessary risk to find out. The others would learn soon enough.

Shaking his head to cast out such depressing thoughts, Erebos focused on the issue at hand.

Erebos: “Are… you allowed to have that? If Rumina joined the guard and got issued one, won’t she get in trouble for not having it and you for the opposite…?”

Jiron: “She just had to go meet with a friend quickly and told me to watch it, nothing else. It's not like anyone said she couldn’t leave it with someone.”

Giving a wink, Jiron looked back down into his lap and continued with his fiddling.

Erebos: “All right, but was taking it apart also part of the deal?”

As he made this comment, a large something-or-other fell off the partially disassembled rifle and clattered onto the ground. Jiron scrambled to pick it up and dropped other loose parts in the process, and after an embarrassing minute of brushing debris of the fallen bits of metal, Jiron hastily put it back together.

Jiron: “See, good as new. She won’t even know anything happened.”

“Is that so? I'll make sure not to tell her.”

All three jumped at a new voice outside of their attention. Approaching from the same way Erebos came was Rumina, smirking with a slight glare towards Jiron.

Rumina: “That’s not a toy, you know. If I left you with a cartridge, you’d probably have shot yourself by now.”

She sat down next to Jiron on his left, giving a nod to Erebos and flicking Vanov’s forehead in the process.

Rumina: “It was your job to stop him from doing something like this, but you’ve betrayed my trust, Vanov.”

Giving an overdramatic wave and exasperated voice, she took the rifle out of Jiron’s hands and looked it over. Deeming it to be in satisfying order, she took a small tube out from under her coat.

Rumina: “I see even Erebos showed up for the demonstration, eh? I don’t blame you, even I think these rifles are pretty neat. They’ve got cool artificery and mechanics, so there's a bit of fun for everyone, right?

Breaking a week-long suspension of dialogue, Rumina casually brought Erebos back into the conversation. Maybe they knew about how he’d learned something from the headmaster that upset him, and they all agreed to act casually about it. Whatever the case was, he appreciated that they weren’t pressuring him to talk or doting over him either.

His mind drifted away from the supposed demonstration at hand, up until the point where Rumina stuck the little tube in front of his face and waved it around.

Rumina: “Hold this for a sec, and DON’T break it. It’s full of rock crystal dust, and that’s not something you want to be scattering around.

Gingerly taking it into his hands, Erebos scrutinized the little tube. It felt as if it was made of paper, with a heavier rounded nub at one end.

Rumina: “All right, time to show how my training’s paid off.”

Suddenly standing and bringing the rifle to rest against her shoulder in a snappy motion, she marched away from them and turned back with a precise spin of her heels. She brought the rifle down against her chest and marched back, leaned it against her shoulder once more, and then took the tube out of Erebos hands.

Rumina: “Give the callouts, Jiron!”

Distracted by her precise movements, Jiron had been ogling but snapped back to attention.

Jiron: “Rifles, ready!”

Standing in place with firm posture, she brought the rifle down to her chest once more.

Jiron: “Safeties, engage! Rifles, load!”

She then flipped a small lever on its side and turned a handle attached to a cylinder towards the back end. The whole cylinder slid back and revealed a hole, into which she stuck the paper tube.

Jiron: “Rifles, shoulder! Ready, fire!”

Bringing the back end of the rifle to her shoulder and pointing its front end above their heads, she took a deep inhale and pressed the lever sticking out its bottom.

Her breath quickly turned into a gasp and a cry as the rifle fired, sending a plume of smoke scattering around them. Amid the coughs from Jiron and Vanov immediately to the left of the cloud, Rumina started shaking as she brought the rifle down and shook it.

Rumina: “W-w-what the h-hell! The safety’s on, why did it fire?!”

Her posture and neat movements falling apart, she sat down next to Jiron and started pushing on the lever she called a safety. Erebos imagined that how she flipped it originally was supposed to stop the rifle from firing, which had obviously failed.

Jiron shared her anxious expression, shrinking back when she took a closer look at the safety.

Rumina: “It’s in backwards? It’s in backwards!” You idiot, you put the damn safety in the wrong way!”

Jiron: “M-maybe they shouldn’t have let you put it in back-GUH!”

Raising her voice to a shout, she gave him a bunch in the gut and sent him recoiling.

Rumina: “Ah, damn, I’m in so much trouble! If that hits someone, it’s all over for me!”

Vanov: “It’s all r-right, probably! You aimed it into the mountain, r-right? I’m sure nobody knows it was even you…”

He trailed off as he turned his head towards the way Erebos and Rumina had come from, and the others quickly followed. Approaching from the walkway to the outdoor classroom was Professor Zantiloran, a stern look etched into his face. Despite looking around 30 or so years old, his glare could have existed for thousands.

Professor Zantiloran: “What in the world was that racket, you lot? Do not tell me you fired your rifle without permission, Kalthira?”

He took an exasperated tone with Rumina, evidencing that he was acquainted with her well enough to know her last name offhand. While many would have been intimidated by his presence, Professor Zantiloran was one of the few Erebos actually took a liking to, for he completely disregarded Erebos’ abnormalities and taught him without bias. It didn’t seem like he disliked Erebos either, so maybe him coming across them was the best occurrence.

Rumina: “I-I can explain! The s-safety, doesn’t w-work, I didn’t…”

Waving his hand as if brushing the issue aside, he closed his eyes and continued with a sigh.

Professor Zantiloran: “Yes, yes, you can explain yourself later, I’m sure. But your accidental discharge is only the immediate cause of my presence, only interrupting me in my search for the serendipitously present Afkoran. The Headmaster has called upon you once more, and tasked me with finding you in great haste.”

The only way he could’ve better finished that statement was with a bow and applause, but i Erebos didn’t mind his dramatic and verbose way of speaking. If anything, Rumina looked relieved that she wasn’t being immediately detained and slightly relaxed.

Professor Zantiloran: “And, if I happened to be you three, I would abscond from this area with great haste instead. I have more important matters at hand than a disturbance caused by a problematic student such as yourself, Kalthira.”

The three nodded and hurriedly gathered their things, leaving on the walkway while Erebos and the professor watched their backs.

Professor Zantiloran: “Well, Afkoran, it's time we left for the Tower. I’m well informed on the immediate situation, so I can tell you that the time has finally come for your services to the Headmaster. It’s… a difficult decision to make, but I trust you’ve come to the same conclusion as we have.”

A small nod was enough from Erebos to get them moving, and soon enough they were at the base of the tower outside of its doors. As they swung open and revealed the chamber holding the secretary and the transporter, they revealed the Headmaster, a few other old men, and a vacant desk. Stepping into the room with a heavy atmosphere, the solemnity of the faces inside was enough to convince Erebos of the purpose of his summoning.

Headmaster: “Thank you, Ankonim. As for you, Erebos, I believe you have an idea of why you’re here. The preparations are in place and no time can be spared, so we’ll begin immediately.”

Guiding him towards the center of the chamber to the transporter, the professor then left his side and joined the other men. The Headmaster stepped forward next and raised his hands, tracing letters into the air and leaving a floating afterimage.

Headmaster: “You will be received into the first and second of the Four Towers. Once you decipher the method to break their seals, the war will have begun.”

With these few words, Erebos felt the prickling sensation he had experienced many times before and saw the lines of the world fade away. Before he could let out a gasp from pain, the world had rematerialized into surroundings not entirely unfamiliar.

He stood on a similar platform to the transporter under the dome of the Capital’s Tower, and the room itself was remarkably similar to the Headmaster’s study. The dome above him was definitely a smaller diameter, but other than that, the structure was identical.

As he took in his surroundings, a group of different old men approached him from the edge of the dome.

Old Man: “Erebos Afkoran, your arrival here is a fated occurrence. You are free to observe the inscriptions of this room and determine the method to release its seal.”

They all gave a deep bow to Erebos, but he only stuttered and bowed himself.

Erebos: “It’s all r-right, I’ll start looking immediately.”

Rising from his bow and stepping off the pad, he surveyed the curving walls coming to the zenith above him. Countless inscriptions wrapped around the walls, enough to fill more papers than Erebos could imagine. If he had to scour all of these for previously unseen instructions, he had no idea how he would manage to find something specific that was missed before.

Erebos: “How much of the writing can you see on the dome?”

Old Man: “Every word has been studied by us for the majority of our lives, and not a single letter more could be fit on this dome from where it meets the floor to its apex. There is nothing written here that we have not scrutinized, yet no clues have been yielded.”

The dome itself looked to be packed with writing, however, nothing was overlapping and the old man had said every inch of it was packed for them. There wouldn’t be any gaps with writing invisible to them.

Giving up on the dome for now, he lowered his gaze instead and inspected the floor. There also seemed to be a band of inscriptions circling around the transporter platform, but the old men stood on it and paid it no heed.

Erebos: “What about the inscriptions you’re standing on?”

The old men looked at each other and their feet while murmuring, and one finally spoke up.

Old Man: “Forgive me, but there doesn’t seem to be any. Is this what the Headmaster described as your extraordinary sight?”

Not sure if he would label it as extraordinary, but it certainly seemed to be the only lead Erebos had. Nodding sheepishly and moving closer to examine the words on the floor, Erebos paced around the ring and read each inscription carefully.

It wasn’t that difficult, for he quickly realized that the same phrase was repeated countless times over the entire ring, multiple lines down and absolutely excessive. Erebos couldn’t even call it an inscription, for it seemed to bear simple instructions and had no other function.

Erebos: “Center, five feet above. One important word.”

Repeating this simple phrase hundreds and thousands of times, Erebos walked the entire ring and confirmed that no other words appeared. Whatever the meaning of these words was, they were probably enough to decipher the hidden process on their own.

He walked to the center of the room under the gazes of the old men, standing back from the center of the platform and brushing his right hand around the instructed space. He was about six feet tall, so he waved his hand around his neck but didn’t really expect anything to happen. A world was necessary, but he wasn’t sure what word or where to write it.

If this floating space was where he was supposed to write it, that would prove to be a problem. Writing in the air certainly wasn’t impossible, but that took far more skill and practice than Erebos had. And to even begin writing he would need to know the word itself. Racking his brain for one word that would be sufficient, he imagined that simply writing break wouldn’t be important enough, whatever that implied.

In the back of his mind, however, one word surfaced that could be considered important, at least to him. He instinctively unsheathed his wand as if he was preparing to make a normal inscription, but instead of pressing its tip against a surface, he held the point in the air. Murmurs from the old men showed their confusion at Erebos’ actions, especially since writing on the air was supposed to be impossible until one could channel their flux through a finger alone.

Those murmurs gave a discouraging background noise as Erebos focused all of his bodily energy into that one point. Even if he wasn’t skilled enough to use his finger, something told him that this could be enough.

And enough it was. A thin line emerged from the tip of his wand, suspended five feet over the center of the room and rippling as if rustled by the wind. Tracing out a string of letters, he finished the last character of his name. Shimmering and fading away, the EREBOS ceased to exist as the old men broke into gasps. They all seemed to suddenly become clumsy and blinded, feeling around as if in total darkness.

Unknown to Erebos and the old men, the First Tower from the outside bore a much stronger reaction. It might not have appeared spectacular to Erebos, but for the people of the world, a column of light brighter than any star pierced the sky, followed by another only minutes after. Unbeknownst to the average man and woman, this light signaled the coming of war.

And not even an hour beforehand, the first shot between the Capital and the Western Coalition was exchanged. Flying from the outdoor classroom of the Capital and across the mountains, a lead ball embedded itself into the boardwalk of an unsuspecting Torgemprino village, a truly innocuous opening for the stage of battle.

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