Chapter 2: Planting the Seeds

The Palace of the Stars was even more eerily silent than usual in its never ending nightfall. The thousands of stars dotting the sky cast a dim glow on the gray structures bathing floating castle in a soft shade of blue and purple. The castle was as large as any large city in the word. Structures of varying sizes from a one or two story shot to a spire hundreds of feet tall filled the area. All the architecture was reminiscent of of the Renaissance of the 16th century but on a grander scale. Elevated walkways hundreds of feet in the air connected several of the larger towers while cobblestone streets allowed easy walking at ground level. Created by the Crimson Lord Gavida the "Soaring Tower of Quintessence," it was to act as a counterpart to the Palace of Heavens Road which is contrast is bathed in eternal sunlight. This is caused by the Crypta, an unrestricted method used to conceal both palaces from any magical or visual means. In the past it was used by Gavida for his own means, but has since fallen into the hands of Bal Masqué to use as their base of operations.

Bel Peol walked one of the many vast hallways, her footsteps and dragging chain, Tartaros, leaving a noticeable echo as she moved. The room was a warmer color than the outside thanks to the flame braziers spaced in such a way that no light ever dimmed. Dentalion had kept her longer than she would have liked. No amount of babble about scientific calculations or his fifteen layers of fail-safes would change the fact that their Statue of Pride, an attempt to birth a Crimson Denizen in the human world had failed. She left the mad professor with the order to decipher the cause of the defect so later plans would not be affected.

She walked up a couple flights of spiral stairs to on of her preferred rooms in the castle. Several rinne servants bustled about the room as she entered. Each servant was identical to the other. They all had blonde hair under a dark grayish red mantel that stretched down to their wrists when their hands were at their sides along with a light gray gown tired with black sashes around their waist. Bel Peol motioned with her left eye and eye in the middle of her forehead for the rinne to come to attention. Her right eye was covered with an ornate circular eyepatch. "You are free to leave now." The rinne lined up in front of her, bowed, and filed out in single file, closing the ornate wooded door behind them with a small thump.

The room was sparsely furnished aside from a pair of sofa chairs each with their own end table and a larger table between them. Bel Paol walked to her preferred seat with the best view out the balcony and picked up the bottle of wine that was left on the table. The read the label and rolled her eyes. Such a poor vintage. With a shrug she popped the cork and poured herself a glass and by instinct she filled a second. "Must you make such a cliché entrance, Sydonay. It's not befitting of you." She took one of the seats and took a sip from her glass. Horrible as she expected.

Light reflected from the black sunglasses Sydonay wore at all times as he walked towards the second seat. He was an imposing figure, grizzled from centuries of battle. He stood over six feet tall and carried a long spear in his hand, the shaft resting across his shoulders behind his neck. He flicked the cigarette between his lips and took the second seat across from Bel Paol. Known as the General of Bal Masqué, he along with the Strategist sitting across from him were responsible for organizing and leading the hoards of denizens following them. "So what did that professor have to say about the statue's failure."

"Dentalion doesn't know anything yet. Though if I had to suspect anything," she flashed Sydonay and taunting smile, "I would say it had something to do with that vessel we used."

"So you blame Hecate for all this."

"Not entirely. It just seems that the human emotions her vessel collected had some adverse reaction when the Flaming Haired Flame Haze and Mystes attacked it."

Sydonay sat forward in his chair and pushed his glassed down his nose so his eyes were visible. "My Hecate did exactly as you asked of her."

"Calm down, Sydonay. It was an oversight on my part." She hated to admit it. Since they began operations in that forsaken city her abilities appeared to have faltered. Once the Reiji Maigo was discovered in Japan, she began to put the pieces in place to begin the Grand Order. The fountain of existence had nearly saturated the city with enough power to begin the creation of their new word. What she had not predicted was the involvement of three Flame Hazes and the resilience of the Mystes holding the Reiji Maigo. Just having the Flame of the Heavens' involvement is cause for concern. His Flame Haze was nothing to trifle with either. When she had seen the girl cast the Temppa Jousai, Bel Peol though most of her troubles were out of the way. Manifesting the Flame of the Heavens into the human would was supposed to destroy the Flame Haze using it. It happened over 400 years ago when the previous Flaming Hair, Blazing Eye hunter used it. But luck did not seem to be on Bel Peol's side when news arose that this time the Flame Haze had lived.

Then there was the matter of The Chanter of Elegies and the Specialist of Everything. She was aware that The Blazing Eye hunter and Specialist were together for some time at the Palace of Heavens Road so it was only logical that the two would support each other. But what about The Chanter? She was feared by many in the Crimson World for her wanton murder of any and all denizens and was known to only work alone; even sacrificing less experienced Flame Hazes to protect herself. There had to be something else to it. Something she was overlooking. Was working with the other two a means to an end for her? Perhaps teaming up provided the best opportunity to sate her unquenchable blood-lust.

Regardless of how Bel Peol looked at the situation, it all boiled down to one person, the blazing eyed one. All leads pointed toward her being the leader of the group; surprising in that she was only known to be a Flame Haze for a very short time by Flame Haze standards. Something began to click in Bel Peol's mind at that thought. Perhaps she could use that inexperience to her advantage. Humans could be very emotional and volatile creatures, especially the female species in early development. If she could find a way to get through her rough skin...

"I suggest we consider putting the plan for the Second Great War into action." Sydonay suddenly blurted out, breaking Bel Peol's thought process.

"You do remember that we are to wait for the master to return before such actions are to take place."

Sydonay flicked some ash off the end of his cigarette. "My soldiers are beginning to grow restless confined to this palace. I don't blame them. All the excursions to various Outlaw outposts can only quell a small portion of them. We could have a mutiny if we delay much longer."

Bel Peol chuckled. "A mutiny you say?" Oh this was going to be good. "Aren't mutinies the result of rebellion against inept leaders?"

Sydonay stood and tossed the remains of his smoke into an empty wine glass. "Action is better than inaction." Even in his anger, he kept his voice even and calm. "So far all of the back door scheming had failed to produce any results. What make you think anything apart from crushing the Flame Haze into submission can help advance the Grand Order farther?"

"We have enough trouble with just three Flame Hazes right now. If we can eliminate them, the path should be clear and we can strike even before the rest even know how to respond."

"And how exactly do you plan to do that, Strategist? Enlighten me." Sydonay sat back in his chair, his head resting in the palm of his hand as he waited for whatever Bel Peol was plotting.

"It's quite simple really. All we have to do is sow dissent in their ranks. Flame Haze never work well together for long periods of time. This alliance cannot last much longer. Especially not with the Chanter of Elegies among them"

"Ahh... Margery Daw." It almost sounded like he was fantasizing about her. "How I want to settle the score with her once and for all."

"I'm sure you will eventually get your chance. But by far the most important target will have the be the Blazing Eyed one. She seems to be their rallying point. Take her down a peg and I cannot see things staying the way they are now."

"And how do you propose to do that?"

"I am still working that one out." Bel Peol finished off her glass of wine, "You know humans and their emotional connections with each other. We just need to find one strain in their relationships and exploit it for our goals. But once we get our hands on the Flame of the Heavens..." She felt giddy at the thought. She has been made a fool of by that little girl and her friends for the last time.