Tidebreaker

March 20th, Imperial Year 880
Cordelia Estate

"Oh master Rayne, you certainly have a sense of humor." An elderly maid cleared out the teacup in front of Rayne as she laughed.

"...thank you, Zena." Rayne looked out the window to his room, and snorted. "The greater good, eh?"

"Rayne, about time." Ionos stepped through the door, and motioned Zena out. "Nevermind. Is the food good?"

"Certainly beats camp food." Rayne shifted in his seat. "So, what's the business this time? Politics? The war? I grow bored, Ionos."

"Apologies." Ionos shook his head, with a gentle smile. "Unfortunately, with the rebuilding efforts ongoing, we do not have much in the way of entertainment. Not that there was much to be done regardless. Do you want to try your hand at weaving, perhaps? Phoebe spent much of her time learning weaving from Zena. Not that I see much use in having a nobleman learn weaving, but if you are so desperate to pass time..."

Rayne chuckled.

"Perhaps you can have me inspect the siege equipment? Back at Cartethene Academy, I spent much time doing that with J-"

Rayne cut out, his face darkening. 

"I beg your pardon?" Ionos asked, confused.

"It's nothing. Forget it." Rayne's face brightened, as he returned to his relaxed stance.

"I'm surprised no one has questioned the great 'Tidebreaker of Fiorenzo' being away from Princess Calli for this long." Ionos said. "We...thank you, for your cooperation when the main detachment came to check."

"It was the least I could do. Besides, that's only what the nobles of the Red Rose Banner of Aureol calls me. Those old feudal remnants just call me 'Rayne Fiorenzo, enemy general.' A dull lot." Rayne's face darkened once more, with a small look of exasperation growing. "Can...we talk about something else, Ionos?" Rayne looked out the window again, overlooking the carnage.

"Ah, of course Rayne."

The two men were silent for a moment, as Rayne looked out of the tower and stared at the opposing one.

"...how does Phoebe do?"

"...the usual."

"I see." Rayne looked away at the opposing tower. "So. You wish to discuss something else, yes?"

"A moral question. An experiment, so you will."

Rayne rolled his eyes.

"You're starting to sound like a certain someone I know." He peered back out of the tower, looking directly at Phoebe's. "A certain...couple I know."

"Bear with me, please." Ionos said. "Imagine, you are exploring a mine, yes? Let's say you are a high ranking noble, and your magecraft has the ability to flick wooden switches."

Rayne sighed, but listened to Ionos.

"Alright."

"You are currently, on a level overlooking a junction. Let's say there is a track, leading down the mine, and the tracks split into two. Follow?"

"Yes."

"Carts can be diverted left or right, depending on how the switch is placed. Now, let us assume there is an out of control cart, racing down the tracks. It is full of flammable materials, and if it crashes, the mine will set on fire."

"Then I would stop the cart."

"No no, listen here. There are five miners on the leftmost tunnel, and twenty miners on the rightmost tunnel. The mine is flammable - whichever hole the cart heads down, the men inside will not be able to escape, as the fire will burn too quickly for them to run out, while the men in the other side will be able to."

"Who designed this mine?"

That doesn't matter. What I wish to say is that at this rate, the cart will head down the right tunnel, and kill twenty. There is a wooden switch however, that you can flick to switch the cart. What-"

"Then I would flick the switch. It's quite simple, isn't it?"

"Y-yes, precisely!" Ionos looked at Rayne, slightly surprised. "Now, let's say there is only one hole the cart is racing down, with...a number of men on it. Let's say ten. No switches. However, there is a very fat man you can push onto the tracks, and the weight of his body-"

"...would stop the cart? Wouldn't that still cause the material to-"

"The fire will be averted!"

"Oh lord, you really do remind me of that old fool." Rayne rubbed his temples. "Well of course I'd push him."

Ionos paused.

"...now, what if that fat man was..." Ionos paused. "Your father?"

"My father oversees the lives of thousands. I would doom the lives of-"

"Erm, how about this. A normal sized, or even smaller sized human could stop the trolley? It's still flammable. And you can't jump onto the tracks yourself."

"What are you getting at?"

"...what if you had to push Phoebe onto the tracks? If you do not, ten random, nameless soldiers that you do not know will-"

"Is that what you're trying to tell me?" Rayne stood up, annoyed. He shook his head, and sat down. "No. I apologize for the outburst." Rayne once more glanced out the window, before collecting himself. "Yes, I would."

"You...would?"

"In a heartbeat. That's what the Red Rose Banner is. I'm not like those other scum that think they will be exempt from the new meritocratic world that will form. Parasites who think they can keep their hereditary privileges by sticking with the winning side."

"I...see." Ionos sat silent, stunned. "Rayne, what do you know about prophecies?"

"That they are inaccurate, and often wrong. It would require centuries of work and...human sacrifices, to even begin to approximate accuracy."

"You are familiar with the late tyrant, Caliros Baseli, yes? The last emperor of the Baseli dynasty, the mad wizard of Galeria?"

"Are you saying you found something?"

"Rayne, what do you think has been the largest battle in the war?"

Rayne bit his lip.

"Don't lecture me on what I was there for." He sighed, and shook his head. "Fine, the Third Battle of Cartethene, 90,000 dead. Personally slew some...I don't even remember how many."

"What if I told you that this entire war, is but a foreshock of a much greater conflict to come, all across Andoria? And the Kingdom of Galeria, regardless of who wins, will be dragged again into yet a bigger, more terrible war?"

"And your evidence for that is...?"

"The miracle of Hector the First, Rayne. You know that old story."

"The one where Hector Aureol rejects Saint Leonard's request to use Caliros Baseli's miracle to overthrow him?" Rayne snorted. "That's a moral story, Ionos, one that the Church peddles to justify their grip on power. Even children know that it's not a real-"

Ionos slowly pulled out two small sheets of parchment, and presented them to Rayne. The first, was clean and pristine - the other one old and worn. Rayne gazed at Ionos with a strange look.

"What is this?"

"The first is the inner workings of the Miracle, Rayne. And the second...is proof that it happened."

Rayne gazed down at the worn paper first, before redirecting his attention to the clean one.

"...I suppose it did match the description..." Rayne once again looked out at Phoebe's tower as the sun gradually set. "But, that's no explanation. You can't possibly tell me that that's what you're doing."

"Rayne. There's another war coming. A bigger one. No one will remember Rayne Fiorenzo, the Tidebreaker of Cartethene for what he did in the opening chapter. Caermor and Arranbari have already intervened in this war, and now Vistoria is considering entering. You of all people should know how things are looking across Andoria."

"Diplomacy will win out, Ionos. We've had succession crises, border disputes, religious tension, and even minor conflicts, but when in the last 200 years have we had a major war?"

"You think that will last forever, Rayne? Wake up. You said as much yourself, the old system is falling. Even the Blue Iris Banner concedes that feudalism is over. The very system Calli - that you seek to create makes grain doles and competent stewards in times of peace, but powerful generals and centralized armies in times of war." 

"That's for defense. For the good of the Galerian subjects."

"Look at what you've been doing this entire past year."

Rayne was silent.

"Bullshit." Rayne glanced over the papers again, reading them. "That's...bullshit..."

"Think about reality, Rayne. Everything you've been working towards already. The war will kill millions, Rayne. Millions. The prophecy shows a three month interrim after whoever wins the war." Rayne and Ionos sat silently in the room, before Ionos spoke up once more. "This is the limit of humanity, Rayne. As long as humans remain the way they are, the cycle of war, death, and killing will never end. Just one person, Rayne. One, versus a million."

"...get out of my room." Rayne snarled. "Out I say, out!"

"Alright. I'll leave. But if you ever want to talk to me, you can walk down the stairs and come to me anytime."

Rayne stood defiantly as Ionos exited the room, but the moment he felt that he was out of earshot, he picked up the parchment and began to read once more.