November 9, 2152
Emory yawned and stretched out her arms, feeling like she had rested for an eternity. The light of the star was already filtering in through her windows, and as she checked her wrist, she made a contorted look on her face. When she went to sleep, it was midmorning of the seventh, but now her watch said it was midmorning on the ninth. Brushing off her concern for the moment, she changed into fresh clothes after a shower like she normally would. Afterwards, she headed to the Command Center, noticing the long line of troops heading out towards the teleportation pad. In the Command Center she found Shepherd working diligently from the conference room opposite of Greg's room. He smiled warmly at her as she walked in.
"Well, good morning, Miss Reiss. I was beginning to wonder when you would wake," Shepherd grinned.
"Have I really been asleep for two days?" Emory questioned, "Why did you all let me sleep that long?"
Shepherd chuckled, "Tethys tried to wake you yesterday, but in your sleep, you gently used your magik to scoop her out of your quarters and sealed the door. You must have been quite exhausted."
"Clearly," Emory shyly shrugged, "I'm sorry for sleeping for so long. I hope it hasn't impeded any of the plans we put together."
"Not at all," Shepherd shook his head, "A few of the Elandrian and Witches volunteered to operate the teleportation pad, and troops have been steadily traveling to Temia without incident. Tethys went to Vostea yesterday and explained the plans to your friends there; they have been moving troops from Bustrun to Vostea since midafternoon yesterday. The probes are on their way to the Trappist-1 system. No attacks or ship readings have been detected either."
"Good, I was a little concerned. Well, what can I do to help?" Emory asked.
"There's nothing to do for the moment, except perhaps contact our Elandrian allies and see if they would also like to be a part of the meeting you planned," Shepherd rubbed his chin, "It would be good to get all the leadership together for this entire alliance."
Emory nodded, "That's a good idea. I'll check in with Tethys and then contact them. Do you know where she is? Oh, I forgot to say thanks for watching over everything while I was asleep."
"No problem. I believe she is helping with enchantments in the forging area," Shepherd beamed. Emory left the room and headed directly to the crafting room which was fairly close to the Command Center. When she opened the door, a wave of heat blew on her face while the smell of molten iron rushed into her nostrils. Mags and a few Witches were hammering away at some projects while Tethys stood quietly off to the side. She instantly rushed over to Emory and gave her a big hug when the pair met each other's gazes.
"Emory!" Tethys squealed, "I'm so glad you're awake!"
Emory smirked, "Well, I couldn't just leave everything to you, though I heard you've been doing a good job of managing while I was out. What's going on here?"
"We're working on upgraded cannons," Tethys explained, "They were a great help in the last battle, and they take the longest to make. How did you sleep?"
"Honestly, it felt like I slept a lot longer. My body is still a little stiff," Emory answered.
"That's to be expected," Tethys nodded, "You did fight all day and then stay up all night. You probably pushed your stamina to its absolute limit. Well, as I'm sure you already heard, everything is going well here."
Emory smiled, "Good. You've really done well here and in general without supervision or much input. I think it's time I did something that's long overdue." She took Tethys's wrists in her hands and grabbed the bracelets still hanging. A light blue glow came off Emory's hands for a few moments before the bracelets made a fizzling sound and came unclasped.
"What spell was that?" Tethys's eyes opened wide, "I've never seen the color of magik before. Also, thank you for taking those off; I've always worried that they could be used against me, not by you or our friends but the enemy somehow."
"That was Negate, the final Arcane spell. I felt my body reach level five when Perceval died," Emory replied with a mixture of joy for reaching level five and sorrow for losing Perceval.
"I heard he died smiling," Tethys mumbled, "He was happy in the end to lay down his life for us. Even though I didn't know him as well as you, he will be sorely missed."
Emory shed a single tear, "Yes, he will. Well, I just wanted to check in on you, but since everything is good here, I've got a few more people to check in with. Let me know if you need anything."
They hugged again before Emory left the room. Once she was out, she snapped her fingers and vanished into a flash of light. When she reappeared, she was standing on the stone tablet where she had trained so many times. She sat down, closed her eyes, and focused on Athos. After a couple minutes, she could feel a connection to his consciousness.
Emory boomed, "Athos! How are you doing?"
"Emory!" Athos roared, "It's great to hear from you! Things are getting a little rough here, but we're doing fine for the moment. How are things going there?"
"We successfully fended off another Apleem attack on two of our outposts. They sent eight million Mantoan and Uthid to each of the outposts, including two generals and a Laxtros named Selena. It wasn't easy, but we dealt with all of them," Emory explained.
"Two generals and Selena, huh? They weren't playing around, were they?" Athos mused, "You dealt them a serious blow then, which makes more sense for why the situation has changed here. I wish I had as jovial news as you do. They've been deploying Laxtros to the battles here, making things quite difficult."
Emory gasped, "Multiple Laxtros? How are your forces doing?"
"It's been rough," Athos grimaced, "Even a few at every battle would cause problems, but they've deployed hundreds. Our forces have had to abandon two bases just this week. Worse, Bramimond was gravely injured on the main front, so Soren has replaced him as the main army's commander. All that said, I hope you're calling for good news because we could use a win."
"I am. Well, sort of. I have a plan to strike a blow deep into the heart of their territory because we suffered heavy losses in the last fight. Could you and the rest of the Five that are available meet me at the stone tablet we first met at in five days?" Emory asked.
"That should be doable," Athos agreed, "I'm excited to hear what you have to say because you always come up with something bold, something that could really change the war. Soren will need to stay in the field, but the others should be available."
Emory grinned, "Good! Besides you four, I'm also bringing the leadership from the two human factions, so everyone can be on the same page. I have a lot of other news to tell you, but I'll save it for your arrival. Be safe until then!"
"Oh, you tease!" Athos joked, "I knew you had more news than that. Very well, we shall see you soon."
The connection ended, but Emory could still feel something in her mind's eye. She sat at the edge of her mana pool until a shadowy figure came walking towards her on the beach. It was an older man with long black hair down to his waist. His body was chiseled to its peak; though none of his muscles were bulging, they were all incredibly well defined. She couldn't quite make out his face though except for his piercing golden eyes.
"Tiamat?" Emory called, "Is that you?"
"You're progressing at an incredible rate, my dear child," the figure responded, "You can see most of my form now, and a short time ago, I was but a shadow to you."
Emory nodded, "My Arcane sphere has reached level five, and my Chaos sphere has reached level three. It won't be long until I reach all the requirements of the crown."
"Yes, indeed," Tiamat rubbed his chin, "Even without it, there's only one I have sensed through you that is as strong as you are. But I did not come to just pat you on the back. It's time you learned about the crown's special power."
"Special power? You mean Magik Mastery?" Emory questioned.
"I'm not the biggest fan of your translation, but yes, that is what I speak of," Tiamat frowned as he nodded, "Tell me, what do you think it is?"
Emory paused, "Well, the way you described your use of it makes me believe it allows you to do whatever you want with magik. Which sounds like a truly incredible trait."
"You are mostly right," Tiamat agreed, "It allows you to use magik in whatever way you see fit. It can be used for something as small as casting a sphere of magik you don't have, or it can be used for something as big as allowing more species to wield magik. That's why I said your translation is bad because it better translates to 'Master of Magik'. Anything you want to do with magik, you'll have the power to do so."
"That's incredible! But why do I get the sense there's still more you haven't said yet?" Emory raised an eyebrow.
"Well, that's because there is more to say about it," Tiamat gritted his teeth, "Using that much power comes with a cost. The bigger the action you take, the more strain it puts on you. You see, when I used it to allow more creatures to access magik, it gave me stage five magik poisoning. At the time, we had medicine that would dramatically reduce the effects of magik poisoning, but I have not seen such a medicine through your senses."
Emory shrugged, "One of my allies has a concoction that reduces the effects of magik poisoning, so I should be fine. I don't even know what I would do with all the power right now anyway."
"Nevertheless, there will most certainly be a time when you need to use that power," Tiamat went on, "You should have that medicine nearby should the need arise because you will go through the progression of magik poisoning quite quickly. Out of the rulers before me that used the power of the crown, half of them died from magik poisoning."
"I'll keep that in mind. Of course, I need to reach level five with my Chaos sphere first. On a different note, who was the person that you said was as strong as me?" Emory changed the subject, so she didn't worry about things that hadn't happened yet.
"I believe you and your friends called her Petrine," Tiamat replied, "With all your equipment, you two are the same strength right now, though I cannot say which of you would win in a fight."
Emory sagged her shoulders, "That's what I was hoping to ask. I know I will have to fight her eventually, so I had hoped you would have some insight into how that battle would go."
"Be patient," Tiamat suggested, "By the time you are level five in the Chaos sphere, you will be stronger than her."
"I understand," Emory sighed, "I'm going to train; do you have anything else to tell me at this point?"
"No, not for now. Train well, queen-to-be," Tiamat smirked as he turned away.
Emory opened her eyes and took a deep breath. She had assumed there would be a cost to use the crown's power, but it was much steeper than she had imagined. Then again, it had the power to rewrite the laws of the universe, so of course, it inflicted a sharp cost. Pushing those thoughts aside for the moment, she focused on improving her Chaos sphere. Still, as she sat in silence and tried to focus on her training, one thought kept creeping in. What would she use the crown's power for?