Again, credit to LordsFire for beta-ing this.
Chapter Ten
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Titania swung her glowing one-handed straight sword in an arc, following up with parries and stabs. Sweat ran down the side of Titania's face, her hair and her skirt swirled in the aftermath of the Fairy Queen's movements. The current GM of Alfheim had taken a break from working on the patches to the cities, and decided to exercise her body instead of her mind. Installation of modern plumbing networks to the Faction Capitals had been completed earlier in the day, though a few minor touches, like a spell to transform the stored excrement into fertilizer were yet to be implemented.
As for her exercise, Titania chose to work through the various melee weapon styles, trying to find a way to defend herself when it came to close quarters combat. Alfheim Online might have been a VRMMO focused on flight and magic for combat, but that didn't mean all there was to battle was shooting spells at each other from afar. Additionally, Titania felt she needed a way to defend herself against Kirito if necessary; with the Spriggan's speed and power, there was no guarantee her spells alone would be able to defeat him. Not to mention Immortal Object condition applied to a body of flesh and blood wasn't completely reliable, as things were at that moment. Weapon skills good enough to hold him off were deemed to be necessary as well by Titania.
After more movements, Titania furrowed her brow. The weapon in her hand shifted form from the handle up, transforming into a katana. The light-beam sword once again cut through air within her throne room, this time in a distinctively different style. Titania didn't base her sword skills upon the ones available in Sword Art Online, but instead on the myriad of different resources stored within the memory of the ALO servers. Cardinal scoured the internet for information to use in its Quests, and while it was buried very deeply within the server it was possible to access the data. Anything by the year 2024 that was publicly available on the internet could have been accessed by Cardinal, though the ALO server alone didn't hold the collective electronic knowledge of humanity. Due to this space constraint, the knowledge available would be mostly to do with topics related to the VRMMO; it would be more likely to find knowledge on ancient Nordic myths within ALO servers than journal articles on rocket science, for example.
It wasn't that Titania couldn't borrow SAO's sword skills for herself; Yui had shown her how to access SAO server data once before, and Titania had memorized the access route to do so again without having to resort to needing MHCP-001's help. Navigation would take longer without Yui's aid, but was not impossible. No, Titania decided to build her weapon skills up from scratch because Kirito would have come across anything from within that death-game – after someone has logged as much hours in a game as the SAO Frontliners did, they would likely know the game in great detail. Especially when the same sword skills were used by both players and Bosses within SAO, if the Mob had a weapon available to it. Using SAO's system-assisted skills in a fight would only lead to being seen through and then herself being cut down, this Titania was certain of.
What she was currently occupied with was going through various weapons and seeing which was the best for her. Weight and leverage of the weapon was not an issue, seeing as Titania made the blade out of pure energy that could theoretically burn through even Adamantium. The handle of the blade was detached from the lower end of her sceptre, and provided a focus for Titania to channel the energy. The Fairy Queen could have created the weapon without using this handle, but for training purposes this would suffice for the moment. The sceptre itself could have made for an adequate close combat weapon, but Titania personally felt it was too slow. Against normal humans she could have been a terror on the battlefield, but against superhuman reflexes the fae possessed she was only slightly above normal. That was why Titania chose a weapon with its blade made of energy, to be able to strike even faster.
The katana danced around Titania, the blade flashing more rapidly than even the one-handed straight sword before; this was mostly because in Titania's mind-set this weapon would be faster, considering the weight of the weapon didn't change, only the shape. However, even at this speed it was still not enough by Titania's standards.
Faster, Titania thought. Faster!
The blade of the katana became paper thin, and the various attacks all had shaved off even more time to perform; though technically the blade was practically weightless to begin with, the speed increase came more from Titania's belief it would be faster than any physical reasons. Even with this speed increase however, Titania strived to go further; to slash and stab at not just equal to Kirito's speed, but beyond him. He could dodge arrows or cut them out of the air, it would be no surprise if he could dodge her barrage of light. What Titania needed was an edge that would be able to match even the Black Swordsman's dual blades.
Titania's weapon changed shape once more, this time forming into a rapier. The energy blade looked like a large needle, the blade itself at its thickest only the width of a finger. As Titania struck once more at the air however, she knew this was it.
Her speed skyrocketed; that was the only term Titania could have given for her improvement. Her senses, both mundane and system-assisted, could barely catch the strikes she performed, launching multiple stabs within a single second. This weapon form simply felt right within her hand, and her body danced with her blade like a woman possessed. It was exhilarating, adrenaline pumping in her veins as Titania pushed herself to her limits.
Finally, after some time Titania stopped, her breathing heavy and her muscle ached. The energy blade vanished, leaving only the physical handle present in Titania's hand. It was healthy to exercise both the body and mind, and Titania found she did not dislike this feeling of tiredness; it felt like she had accomplished something, even if it was time not spent on making Alfheim a better place than before. The white-clad woman decided the feeling resulted was from finally having a way to counter Kirito if necessary, and didn't think any more of it.
I need a new change of clothes, Titania thought as she reattached the handle back to her sceptre. More clothing could be created by the administrator console later, but first and foremost would be to clean herself up. The Yggdrasil Citadel is also in its final stages of being modified. I'll make do with the showers present for the moment, but maybe the bathhouse up above when finished would be a good way to relax-
Titania paused, incredulous at her own urges. Did she seriously just contemplate wasting time on petty luxuries? She must have been more tired than she thought. Her body of flesh was playing with her exhausted mind, that had to be it. Maybe exercising to this extent wasn't a good idea after all.
Any further thought on this topic was cut short by a request submitted by one of the Faction Leaders; Mortimer, of the Salamander's Faction. The fact Nishida had passed it along instead of handling this himself suggested this was a serious matter. With a mental shrug, Titania opened up the message, and the text appeared on a floating screen in front of her.
What the message contained made Titania inhale sharply.
Gatan was attacked, hundreds of players couldn't be revived in time, widespread panic, and substantial damage was done to the Faction Capital's buildings – and only one mage was responsible for all of this.
The euphoria from exercising earlier had vanished from Titania, replaced by a cold feeling of dread. The Fairy Queen had been confident whatever the locals could have brought against Alfheim, the players could have handled them; this view was reinforced by Kirito's report on what happened at the Tristain Academy of Magic. In retrospect, this belief may have been a mistake; there were no reason to believe fear from sheltered teenagers and academics would have held true to every one of the local inhabitants. A few scattered reports from officials stationed in Sondref and Sylvain noting local authorities fleeing upon the sight of the faeries also couldn't be used as a basis of generalizing the reaction to the entire nation, strictly speaking. Additionally, the mages of the Academy hadn't shown how capable their spells were during any of the visits there by the ALO players; any one of the instructors there could have easily been just as much of a menace as the captured mage in Gatan, except they were biding their time as Osmond tentatively dug for information.
Titania stormed out of the circular meeting room she used for her training session, making her way towards the showers. The sooner she cleaned herself up so her physical body's health wasn't compromised, the sooner she could start repairing the damages done to Gatan and make plans to avoid this in the future.
If the locals wished for nothing more than conflict, as suggested by their preference of an preemptive strike instead of requests for dialogue, then Titania wouldn't limit herself to only obliging them; she would bring Ragnarok upon this world if necessary, with all the resources Cardinal and the World Tree had available to her, in the name of protecting of the ALO players.
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Karin sat in the corner within a small and windowless room, bound in Chains that made her look like her head was poking out of a cocoon of metal. The Duchess' current prison was on the verge of total darkness, with the only source of light being from a crack of the hidden door being left open for air. There was no other ventilation within the cramped room, and if the door had shut completely it was likely Karin would have suffocated to death within at most a few hours.
The ex-Captain of the Manticore Knights had no idea what sorcery was worked into her bindings that restricted her ability to perform magic; her spells were greatly weakened, and trying to brute-force her magic into summoning gusts of wind only barely rattled the chains of varying sizes. That was not taking into account the other measures the 'faeries' – Karin still wasn't certain if they were truly the cousins of the elemental spirits – had placed upon her. Underneath the chains was a pair of shackles restraining her hands that were obviously magical, more than mundane metal, but Karin didn't know what they did exactly. An earring was stabbed into her left earlobe, and the effects of this particular item was more obvious; in the instant this piece of jewellery was placed upon her, Karin felt difficulty in focusing her sight, like it was forcibly sent into a Daze. Even if she had targets to attack, Karin was unsure if she could aim correctly at them with only her peripheral vision left – and she had spent much of the afternoon trying to fight off the mental effects of this jewellery. The efforts used to do so, combined with trying to adjust to the impeded sight, had given her an irritating headache.
Attempts to break out through physical force were even more futile, as the some of the Chains were as thick as her wrists. Her shoulders were healed by the faerie's foreign magic, and she was changed out of her now-mangled chestplate and the battered clothing underneath it by two fae women with hard eyes. Her strength was sapped by the myriad of enchantments the faeries had placed upon her at the time of her capture, so even if Karin had wished to resist at that time, she had no means to do so. In exchange for her old armour, after giving Karin a layer of low-quality clothing for her modesty, the fae women began to strap extraordinarily heavy plate armour made of unknown metal onto her; the armour was only marginally around Karin's size, and it chafed at her body at various places. The entirety of her form was clad in these plates of metal, with a full-faced helm unceremoniously forced upon her head. The ex-Captain still worked out and kept her body in shape even in retirement, and she suspected even without the Chains around her it was likely she wouldn't have been able to stand up with the weight of this armour; no human could possibly move under so much weight, let alone fight. For all intents and purposes, Karin 'The Tempest' was locked up inside a coffin even stronger than her Rule of Steel.
It had been hours since her imprisonment, and Karin had received no food or water during that time. Having said that, even if she was offered food Karin might have rejected them, for fear of mind-altering drugs laced within them. The elves are known to possess potions and poisons beyond any of Halkeginian make, and it was likely the faeries would be similarly skilled; the two Firstborn races shared many similarities such as physical appearance and overwhelming magical might compared to normal mages, it would not be surprising if this was yet another area they were the same in.
Heavy footsteps began to approach, armour clinking as people moved. The door grinded open, and two blurry figures stepped inside the room towards Karin. With a grunt those two lifted Karin up, armour, chains and all, and carried her outside of the prison. A crude trolley, not much more than a slab of metal with wheels underneath it, was pushed under her. Seconds later, Karin was pushed down along a corridor, inside another building made of the red stone that was unbelievably resilient to damage. Judging by the footsteps, more guards accompanied the two that carried Karin outside, with another two in the immediate vicinity and many others further away on both sides of the corridor. After many twists and turns, the ex-Captain was stopped in front of a nondescript wooden door. Her full helm was removed, and after that so did the earring that had given her much trouble during the afternoon.
"Hand the earring back to Darius for me, Tanyryn," Eugene's gruff voice called out, as Karin's vision cleared and Eugene's visage became more distinct. "And tell him we'd be borrowing his Thorn Manacles for a while longer."
"Yessir," a crimson-armoured figure said sullenly as he took the piece of jewellery. After directing a hostile glare to Karin, the figure with a sheathed scimitar attached to his belt clanked away down the corridor.
"Was he…?" Karin croaked, her lips dry due to the desert air.
"The guy you personally pulped the upper body of when he charged you? Yeah, that's him," Eugene grunted in acknowledgment, opening the door and pushing her inside the room. "Everyone else, stay alert. Check in every 30 minutes."
Stony silence greeted his words, and the others present merely nodded. Many of the guards didn't bother with disguising their hatred towards Karin, and it was obvious only their respect for Eugene restrained them from immediate vengeance. Eugene ignored those reactions and closed the door behind him. In the room, there was only a plain table on one side of the room and a few small windows showing the evening sky outside. Apart from Mortimer, the figure in the same red-and-gold robes she had seen him in earlier, there was no-one else within this spacious meeting room.
"Some introductions are in order, I believe," Mortimer spoke slowly, observing the ex-Captain's chained form. Eugene, after he finished positioning Karin, went to stand guard from one corner of the room. "You've already met my brother Eugene here. I'm Mortimer, the current Faction Leader of the Salamander faeries. Would you care to give us a name to call you by?"
"… Just 'Karin' will do, for now," Karin said hoarsely. No reason to point the faeries at her husband and second-eldest daughter immediately, and remove her family's chance for more preparation. And it wasn't like Karin, or Karina, was a uncommon name; even prior to the ex-Captain's rise to fame this was the case, considering how Centurion fell in love with another Karina before her sudden death. Never mind that after her rise to fame many more parents began to name their children after the legendary Captain of the Manticore Knights.
"Would you like something to drink?" Mortimer asked Karin politely, pouring a glass of water for her. "It's not poisoned, by the way."
To demonstrate, Mortimer took a sip from the water he poured; no reaction that it was harmful to him was shown. He then placed a straw into the cup, and placed it closer to Karin's mouth for her to drink.
"... It wouldn't be the first time in my life I've been poisoned by a drink my host partook himself, as he dosed himself heavily with the antidote beforehand," Karin muttered; while it was prudent to not provoke Spirits due to their tendencies to retaliate harshly, trusting Firstborns unconditionally would be foolishness. "Do I have your word - and that of Eugene's - that any food and drink I'm offered are safe for human consumption with no side effects of any kind?"
"For the duration of this meeting, at least, I promise you that you won't be harmed through anything you consume," Mortimer nodded. From where he stood, Eugene replied tersely in agreement as well.
That brought a small measure of ease to Karin; at least the Champion of the Salamanders was someone that appeared to keep his word. And even if these Firstborns had wanted to poison her, they could very well have just shoved it down her throat hours before and bypassed the charade of having her willingly take in poison; that was one difference between this situation and other dangerous meetings, at least.
Karin drank from the offered glass, and sated her parched throat. Moments later, Mortimer removed the glass and set it back down onto the table.
"Now that we've got the pleasantries over with, to business," Mortimer said coolly, and his politeness became strained. "We - that is, the Salamander Faction under my current rule - wish to know who have sent you to attack us. If you cooperate and direct us to the ones responsible, Karin, and after we have verified the fact I am willing to let you go free and unharmed once we extracted reparations from whoever ordered this assault on my city. There's no point blaming only the murder weapon and not the murderer behind it."
"No offense, Lord Mortimer, but am I supposed to take your word for it?" Karin said doubtfully. "I've seen your men showing intense dislike for me; if you let me go, they'll likely attempt to hunt me down. Even if you're speaking in good faith here, do you really expect me to believe you can control every last one of your subordinates from striking out on their own and attack my people?"
"While it is true that the suit of Adamantium armour we've placed upon you does as much holding your magic back as it is preventing my subordinates sinking their blades into you, this current situation won't last," Mortimer commented. "Emotions can't be sustained forever, and like fire it will burn out eventually. Once they settle down somewhat and reparations are made from your side, we can go back to pushing for peaceful relations between the pla- people of Alfheim and Tristain."
"What?" Karin was taken aback. "Your people have been negotiating for peace with Tristain? Why?"
If it was after her attack, and they entered negotiation through some misguided notions of her strength, then it would be understandable. However, going by their words Karin noted they'd been in negotiations before her assault; and Karin has no idea why the faeries would do that.
"Because we wish for peace between our two sides, obviously," Mortimer replied. "We would like to have peace, even if we don't necessarily need it. Even after your actions, Karin, I don't think it's worth open war. There is no need to involve innocents that have no reason to fight, let alone the ability to."
That struck a chord with the Duchess; much like how she felt it was her duty to protect those under her, those that lacked the magic of the nobility, the Salamander Lord's values and focus seemed comparable. However, this was under the assumption the 'faeries' were trustworthy; Spirits might be so if you entered a pact with them, but other Firstborns are not guaranteed to be so. Goblins and Vampires as a rule for example felt no obligation to honour any agreements made to someone that didn't have the same connection to the world as they did. If what she had heard about the faeries are true, beings overlapping the boundary between Spirits and Firstborns of flesh and blood, Karin felt she couldn't afford to cooperate with the fae without ironclad assurance they could be trusted.
"Though come to think of it," Mortimer said casually, taking Karin's silence as a sign of refusing to cooperate. "How common is pink hair among the local people?"
"What does that got to do with anything?" Karin narrowed her eyes in suspicion; this had no direct relation to his earlier topic.
"Humour me, please, and answer the question."
"You might not have noticed, but I have no obligation to answer anything you ask," Karin stated stubbornly. "No matter how great or inconsequential your questions are, especially in light of how you may use my responses to harm the people of Tristain."
"True, that," Mortimer conceded. That alone rang warning bells in Karin's mind, as the Faerie Lord didn't seem even slightly angered by her words. "And whatever you do say isn't guaranteed to be true, too. No matter; the next time our agents in Arrun visit the Tristain Academy of Magic, I'll request them to ask Louise Valliere if she has a relative named Karin who is obscenely powerful with Wind magic. We'll go through other channels of information to get what we want to know."
"What?" Karin exclaimed, before regaining her composure. The combination of tiredness from spell-laden combat earlier that day and no sustenance given to her had slightly cracked the Duchess' discipline. The fact her youngest daughter's name was mentioned only exacerbated the impact. "What business do your people have at the Academy?"
"To rephrase your own words, we have no obligation to answer your questions," Mortimer said with a small, knowing smirk on his face. He figured that to some extent there was a connection between Karin and Louise, even if not exactly what it was. "And thus far you haven't demonstrated that there would be any value in giving you anything important. It would be pointless to explain the greater scheme of things to someone unimportant, a mere tool of whoever is higher up in the hierarchy.
"How about this, Karin?" Mortimer's reptilian smile widened. "'Give and take'. You have information I want, and it is likely I hold the same. Unlike you however, I can find out what I want to know elsewhere – such as that small girl named Louise; whereas if you decline to answer you'll be left to rot in a cell for the time being. Depending on how the peace-talks go, you'll either be ransomed back to the local authorities eventually, or be the first life we take as the opening ceremony if war erupts between our two sides. Your choice, Karin."
Karin refrained from making several comments about Mortimer that were unbefitting of nobility, no matter how powerful or petty they were - he was threatening one of her daughters, even if Mortimer might not know it now. Lashing out in anger solves nothing, as her time in the Manticore Knight Corps had shown. Her feelings towards the current situation were conveyed nonetheless, as her expression tightened slightly and she clenched her teeth; there was no way Mortimer could have missed that, standing so closely.
"Fine," Karin hissed. "I'll talk, on the premise everything you say is trustworthy and truthful."
"There are legends back home in our world about the fae, that they're incapable of speaking lies," Mortimer said, satisfied Karin had agreed to his offer. "While that's not necessarily true here, I personally like to stick with the truth as it makes things easier. You have my word to be truthful, if you give yours to do the same."
"Done," Karin agreed. "Now speak: how do you know of the name 'Louise Valliere'?"
"I don't believe you're in a position to demand anything here, Karin," Mortimer admonished. Karin gritted her teeth; she hated being looked down upon by others, and now Mortimer here was doing so both metaphorically and physically speaking, considering his standing form towered over her as she sat on the trolley. "Nevertheless, I am willing to answer your question first: The Sylph and Cait Sith Leaders forwarded the accounts of their people when they visited the Academy. Lady Sakuya and Lady Alicia Rue were in Arrun at the time when the… Incident, or 'Transition' might be more accurate as a description now that we've found out more about this place, happened. The Neutral Capital and the World Tree appeared in Tristain, close to the Academy of Magic, and it was the first place their scouts visited. Louise Valliere, a small, pink-haired girl, was one of the people the scouts they came across on the way to the Academy, and was involved in leading the scouts to a meeting with Headmaster Osmond.
"Now your turn: who sent you here?"
"I decided to come myself," Karin said, trying to keep a lid on her emotions and order to her thoughts at the many revelations. The Chains around her rattled slightly, and not because of her movement in the armour. At that point, if the faeries did proceed to ask her daughter about her then her identity would be revealed; might as well let it out into the open now. "I am Duchess Karin Desiree de la Valliere, and upon the failure of the mage-knights to return and report about the sudden appearance of this desert after we'd sent them in, I decided to investigate personally."
The two of them exchanged information slowly, neither side giving everything but whatever they said appeared true, at least on the surface. Among other things, Karin found out about the faerie settlements and their World Tree somehow being displaced into Tristain. Mortimer was given Karin's relation to Louise, and a general idea of hostile attacks from what the Salamander Lord called 'Mobs'.
"I see," Mortimer finally said, after the exchange dwindled to a halt. "Well, at least Sakuya will be happy to hear this wasn't a deliberate attack from the Tristianian Crown; continuing peace efforts are not off the table, yet."
"So what are you planning on doing with me?" Karin enquired neutrally. "Ransoming me back to Duke Valliere? Or keeping me as a pawn for your politicking?"
"Less 'ransom', and more 'negotiations'," Mortimer stated. "In the sense that we aren't asking for monetary reparations, but for other goods instead. If the Duke – or yourself, Duchess, if you have the authority – would give us a contract for supplying us material goods such as food that is steeply in our favour, to the point where it arguably justifies the lack of bloodshed to my people, I will release you unharmed back to your people; similar deals will be made at Arrun in the next few days between the people of Alfheim and Tristain merchants for food supplies to the Faction Capitals, and I expect anything you or the Duke to come up with to be even more favourable. Right now Gatan needs food for its citizens more than it needs vengeance, and keeping you as a prisoner here would be an annoyance I would not want to inflict upon others.
"However," Mortimer's tone changed abruptly. "The Salamander Faction will not let such an attack on Gatan go by without response, and an example must be made to ensure there will be no repeats upon our Capitals. Monetary reparations will help towards that end, but that is not sufficient by itself."
"What do you have in mind, then?" Karin asked coolly.
"I would like to achieve this by only going as far as a show of force," Mortimer declared, walking back to the table to pour himself a drink. "And not have to do any of the 'pillage and burn' routine to innocents just to show we are not to be crossed. Fairy Queen Titania has granted me 3,000 of her World Tree Guardians as an advance force, both for preparation of war if it should go that far, and to act as additional peacekeeping force in case some of the Salamanders decide to ignore my authority and attack local settlements. Countless thousands more of her Legion are ready to fly to the Capitals' aid if necessary, along with other measures being taken by Titania even as we speak."
Mortimer took a long drink from his glass.
"If things can be resolved peacefully, then that's all well and good; however, if Tristain wishes for war then the Salamanders will retaliate. Even if we have to face an army of mages of your calibre, Duchess, Alfheim can still emerge victorious.
"We faeries understand mercy, Duchess; Titania does not. Hope that we don't have to resort to using her tools of war."
Next chapter, the Faction Leaders' meeting with Titania.