Hello and welcome to the second part of Circle of War! I forgot to mention this last chapter but this story also follows the technological advances that are made during this time. As well as the political history of this world. Anyways, please enjoy this chapter!
It had been a week since Otto Evadeus retrieved the middle piece from the meteorite in Delray. Hyde and the others were forced to flee as hundreds of Black Army soldiers gave chase to them. However Hyde and his friends did not give up hope. They were sheltered by Fairy Tail and Illuminati and they stayed at the guilds for several days. Goliath had yet to report news to Hyde and everyone was on the lookout for the top piece that would be critical to the upcoming struggle. But deep within the criminal and political world, the balance of power was shifting….
Assassin Guild, Nox
The entire guild was dark, the old wood floors cold. The only activity of life was a group of men surrounding a bed in which a very old man lay, sick and weak. The man had a great grey beard that went down to his feet, dark grey eyes and a black shroud was covering his entire body besides his head. Death was reclaiming one of her angles. The man shivered as the men around his bed murmured. They were all of various sizes and they were all guild masters of the guilds that made up the infamous group of assassin guilds, Blood Oath. Nox was the oldest and strongest of the assassin guilds. Their only rival was Inner Circle, the guild that Wulf led and he stood at the foot of the bed where the old man lay. Nox had not been a guild until the year 0 when the guild system was approved by popular vote. But before that time, Nox had been a group of notorious criminals who banded together to combat law enforcement. The guild master was named Sakren Bolos and he had served under the Sagonian Regime and had been a trusted advisor of King Matsu, the last king of the Black Isles.
Nox took hundreds of years to eliminate those who had joined the group only for protection against law enforcement. The group eventually became a select group of criminals that eventually started to polish off into assassins. They were the oldest dark guild and Sakren was about to return to his position as the first servant of the goddess of death who they had worshipped so greatly. Suddenly he let out a violent cough that sent all the men into a flurry of whispering. Sakren regained control of the cough and spoke, his voice soft and weak.
"Tell me brothers. What is the assassin's law?" he asked, his dark grey eyes reflecting the darkness of the room.
"Strike by night. Kill only what you can kill in the afterlife. Send your victims on a road to our protector, Death. Know that those who die are not in pain any longer." All the men said at once, creating a huge chant.
Sakren slowly nodded and he reached underneath him to pull out a half circle made of pure silver. There were words written into the shining silver and everyone fell silent as Sakren started to read the inscriptions etched into it.
"Peace. That is what the inscription says. Soon, I will have peace. I have carried this burden for over a thousand years waiting for the perfect time to let the world decide its own fate. Matsu told me this before he sent me off with it. He split the accursed circle into 3 parts and handed me the upper half and gave the 2 other pieces to his sons. Each was told to protect it!" Sakren suddenly spit angrily.
Sakren seemed to shake with dark anger and dark storm clouds started to gather outside of the building in the deep woods. The bed started to rattle and the windows started to shake. Everyone didn't even seem fazed by this. They knew of Sakren's great power even in his dying state. Sakren looked in each of the men's faces that were surrounding his bed.
"Everyone failed but me! I did what I was told! The young fools of Matsu took the pieces and joined them together! Power they said they wanted! It brought only ruin to them and it seemed like the pieces were cursed to those who did not follow Matsu's directions! I now know that I was right to follow his directions. I led the Blood Oath for over a thousand years and it is finally time for me to relinquish this silver piece. I chose my successor now, at my death bed, according to tradition!" Sakren shouted dramatically as the storm clouds sent hail and thunder roaring outside.
Sakren pointed to Wulf and the silver piece seemed to glow black and it suddenly disappeared.
"Wulf! You will lead the Blood Oat and Nox! Let go of your leadership at Inner Circle and choose your own successor!" Sakren said weakly, suddenly he stopped and laid back in his bed. His voice was growing softer and softer. "Strike by night…."
Sakren's eyes closed and all the men bowed to both Sakren's body and Wulf who bowed to them in return. The room suddenly flashed with light and a woman was standing next to Wulf. She wore a grey robe and her long red hair trailed down it. She seemed to be at tears.
"Sakren! My son!" she wailed as she held onto the cold corpse of the assassin master.
All the assassin guild masters bowed to the woman. Jalginfer, the goddess of death! Both Jalginfer and Sakren's body started to fade away as the men stood and watched their old leader disappear in a slow fading grey light.
The balance of power had shifted dramtically.
The fortress of Adrianople
Natasha de Grace stood in the gardens at the very back of the fortress. Her white hair blew in the slight breeze and she was quite content with the sunlight that warmed her old and feeble body. Legend said that this was the garden of Noel Evadeus, the saint of healing and medicine and that he had tended to this garden during his short life. Natasha also knew that it was turn. She had led a good life. Being chosen by the prince, that dashing young man, the devilish grin he gave her when she had filed past him when all the girls visited him in the fortress. It was sad that he was not here to see her for the final time. Natasha laid down in the soft green grass, feeling the warmth enter her old bones and wrinkled skin that had once been beautiful. She closed her eye and said her final words to the air.
"My husband, Adrian Evadeus. Such a fool you were to choose an old woman like me to be your bride forever. Until death do us apart. Saint Evadeus, hear my prayer now, bring me to peace and satisfaction in the world beyond this wicked world of evil and strife…" she said quietly to the slight breeze.
Her gilded robes seemed to shift in the wind a voice was barely heard through her fading hearing.
"That is my title. I guarantee you, Natasha de Grace, the first consul of the Garlan Empire, a life of happiness in the afterlife. Should you accept, you will leave behind a spot that will have to be filled by the ambitions of others. Do you accept this burden upon your soul for all eternity? Your time has not yet come but you choose to rest forever now. Speak for time is short."
Natasha already had her mind made up.
"I do." She whispered.
"Then the words of marriage and death have been spoken. Rest and be happy forever."
Natasha felt a warm feeling, and then slowly opened her eyes. She was standing in an open field with the sun's rays shining down on her. She had peace.
Natasha's death was the biggest news of the year. The first consul had died and Francisco Ortega was quick to seize the title of first consul for himself. Tate became the second consul and Livia became the third. The balance of power in the world of politics was greatly upset by the death of Natasha. Who knew what schemes Ortega was planning with his new found power? The news swept through the world like the Burnholt Plague and soon, word reached Bermin. Adrian dropped everything and hurried to Adrianople. Cyrus withdrew to his room but Otto and Bartholomew were not affected greatly by the death of their grandmother. The royal family wore black as a sign of respect and great black flags were hung from the castle walls. But there were much more sinister things happening within the fortress.
Bartholomew
Bartholomew stared down at the grey lacrima that lay in the hands of the family doctor. Bartholomew didn't trust the doctor and with the recent lose of his left eye, he didn't trust anyone but family. The doctor was a short man, entirely bald, wearing a white lab coat and wearing gold rimmed glasses.
"What is it?" Bartholomew asked suspiciously.
The doctor smiled slyly and whispered to Bartholomew.
"It is a lacrima of great power. It was a historic moment for any child who received a blessing like this one. Rare, it was to come across a child who could use such power." The old man said as Bartholomew took the lacrima from the man's hand.
It was grey, small and about the size of his eye. At his touch, the lacrima flared up, turning a dark red color. It would occasionally shift colors, from red to orange in his hand. Bartholomew looked up at the doctor.
"What did you say this was again?" he asked.
The man whispered to him the answer to his question.
"Dragon Lacrima."
Ahaha another cliffhanger sort of thing for you! I hope you enjoyed this! FF
