AN: Thanks to LordsFire for beta-ing. This chapter includes spoilers up to Vol20 of ZnT, so in case there are still people don't want ZnT LN spoilers yet following this story, read at your own risk.
This chapter might be a bit heavy on the info-dump at places ^^;
Chapter Twenty-One
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Siesta, a maid working at the Tristain Academy of Magic, tried to hide her nervousness as the faerie next to her listened intently to her summary of the text in front of them. All of the serving staff within the Academy who could read were delegated into helping the faeries do their research, and Headmaster Osmond had given them extra pay to make up for any possible danger coming from the Firstborn visitors.
Paradoxically perhaps, but after the initial surprise and fear at the faeries' appearance the commoners of Tristain had less to fear from the faeries than the nobles did. If they did not go out of their way to meet with the Fae, the commoners were left alone as the winged Firstborns went hunting down the newly appeared monsters or pursuing some other obscure task. Apprehension was rife, of course, but as far as anyone who Siesta had talked with about the faeries has shown their new 'visitors' were generally cordial towards the common citizens.
The Fae woman with Siesta, for example, focused her interests more on the books and knowledge than the people; only keeping a casual eye out to make sure nobody tried to attack anyone else while she's around. The shy maid could understand the faerie's wariness. According to rumours, it had only been less than a week since some of the nobles attacked one of the faeries' cities. It was a miracle that the peace treaty between the Faerie Lords and Tristain's upper nobility had still gone ahead.
While the faeries needed someone to read the books aloud for them, they were by no means simpletons. Siesta and the rest of the reading aides had been given instructions in how to read a book quickly for information, 'skimming' as they called it, in addition to other advice in how to conduct research in the optimal manner. The team of faeries sent into the academy were all scholars of some kind, or students close enough to count. Furthermore, they had their own written language, complicated runes and scripts that nagged at Siesta's mind. She felt like she had seen them somewhere before…
"Siesta?" The fae woman queried, pausing in her note-taking. All of the faeries had some kind of glowing medallion on their person, and with a few short commands they brought up a screen of light of sorts that they could write as many things upon as they wished, without need of quills or ink. "Do you need a break? Your mind has been wandering off for the past few moments."
"Ah, n-no," Siesta stammered. "I'm fine, milady."
"You don't have to be sound so formal outside of hearing range of others," the faerie shrugged. "Just 'Argo' will do. All that formality is kinda grating. And don't worry if you get tired. It's only natural to get exhausted after focusing on things for a while. Especially for studying like this."
Siesta only nodded in response, not trusting her own ability to speak right then. There had been tales about how bloodthirsty and cruel the Firstborns could be; the occasional goblin raids and vampire attacks on small villages closer to home for one thing, not to mention the faraway elves who were the ancient enemy of Halkeginia. Even if the fairies seemed nothing like that, Siesta still felt cautious about them.
"By the way, you've been staring at my writing now and then when we worked," Argo commented, glancing at the maid. "If I'm not mistaken, you're not just wondering at what kind of magic allows us to do so in mid-air like some of the other servants; you're curious about the words itself, from what you were focused on. Mind if I ask why?"
"Ah, um…" Siesta froze, like a prey being held under the gaze of a predator. The analogy was apt, even if Argo's sight held no enmity within her clear eyes. Faeries were stronger and faster than humans, even without bringing their magic into account; much like the advantages of a vampire over that of a human, except the Fae don't actually choose to eat what their Firstborn cousins do. Siesta considered lying about her curiosity, but she doubted the faerie – a Puca, if she understood the faerie races or caste correctly – would be fooled by her words. Argo had a quality about her that suggested she could see through such things easily. Withholding information didn't seem like a good idea either.
"I was just wondering where I have seen similar writing before," Siesta said meekly. "After learning how to read, I did like going over books. Occasionally I get sent to help the Academy's librarian to do some work with the less valuable books as well. Even back home when I was younger I flipped through all the books we had in our village-"
Siesta's eyes widened. She remembered at that point, where she had seen that kind of writing before. Not the Academy's library, where Siesta had seen runes and glyphs of ancient writings on older books as she passed by.
"-Great-grandfather's Journal," Siesta spoke mostly to herself in realization. "And on his tombstone. He was said to have come from the Far East riding a winged creature of steel. After settling down in Tarbes he kept a diary about important events that our family kept mostly as a memento. I had taken a look at it out of curiosity at one time, and he left short notes in the margins occasionally in his home tongue. Those letters look a lot like what the faeries use-"
The black-haired maid was startled when Argo suddenly placed her hands on maid's shoulders, and the Puca's eyes shone with intensity.
"May we please take a look at that journal?" Argo asked urgently, face to face with Siesta. "Please. This could be a very important find for us."
"Um…!" Siesta gulped in fright. "Yes, of course!"
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At the end of the day Alfheim's entourage returned to the nearest Capital, and Kirito contacted Argo through a video-chat PM as soon as Kirito found a private room to do so. He hadn't had the chance to properly talk with Argo as he had to guard the treaty proceedings, and it was bad form to check his messages during the discussions. Also, without any iron-clad evidence, Kirito was not yet willing to raise the hope to Sakuya and others about a possible way back just then.
Professor Colbert and Old Osmond were notified of Argo's findings at the Headmaster's office, after the Tristainian academics were released from the treaty meeting that day. The Puca's request to take Siesta, the maid that ended up as an unintended informant to Argo, back to Tarbes was approved with a dizzying quickness, as with the preparations for their trip. Argo and the maid would set off to Siesta's home village once morning arrived.
"Take Furinkazan with you," Kirito said to Argo. "They should be able to protect you guys."
"Isn't that a bit over the top, Kii-bou?" Argo asked with a raised eyebrow. "I appreciate the thought, but won't you need them for something else? I don't think sending the best people we have off on an Escort Mission is a good idea."
"You're chasing up possibly the biggest lead we have to getting back home, Argo," Kirito replied, with an urgent undertone to his voice. "I don't think sending an elite guild with you is a bad use of what we have. You might run into a Field Boss or something, and Klein and others should be able to handle even that. If you guys were planning on going through the Warp Gates between Capitals then I might have considered sending someone else with you, but since you guys are going by horse instead you'll need all the help you can get."
Kirito grimaced; upon notifying Titania of that development, she had argued for them all to travel through the teleportation network between the Faction Capitals. Argo and the others going with her could take the Gate in Arrun, appear in Sondref in northwest Tristain, and then it would be only a few hours' travel to where Tarbes village was. Those gates had never been used by a human however, with no telling what might happen if such an occurrence transpired, and upon considering that fact Osmond had decided for them to travel by more mundane methods instead. Better to take a few days on the road than to risk a magical mishap killing them all. The SAO players didn't feel like chancing death either, as while they could come back from it easily enough it would still hurt a lot. Considering the faeries' strength, the risks from a malfunction was higher than the danger bandits or other monsters posed.
"Only Siesta is going to ride a horse," Argo clarified. "I'm just going to fly at the same speed she's travelling at next to her. I don't know about you, Kii-bou, but I'm not interested in getting saddle-sore if I can avoid it."
"That doesn't mean you guys shouldn't have the best we have with you," Kirito stressed the point. "You're too important to risk losing, Argo. You helped out a lot in Aincrad, and I'm sure we'll all need your help to get out of this mess as well."
"Fine," Argo sighed. "Get Klein and others to gear up and meet me at the Academy by dawn. We'll leave soon after that."
"Alright," Kirito nodded. "If anything happen though, don't hesitate to call for help. I can get the World Tree Guardians to teleport in to your location; someone from the Furinkazan will be carrying a Homing Beacon just in case. I'll also go request emergency Teleporting Crystals for all of you. You guys' safety comes first, I don't want to have to sacrifice anyone to get the rest of us back."
"You know how I work, Kii-bou," Argo said with wry amusement. "If anything troublesome happens, we'll be running away as fast as we can – or in this case, flying away. You don't have to worry about us; you do enough of that on just about everything else already."
"Good luck for your trip, Argo," Kirito said seriously, and then the screen blanked out as the call ended.
Kirito sighed at the end of the conversation, one hand rubbing near his eyes. It was a relief for him to know that they had found an important clue to their way back, something that would hopefully hasten the release of Asuna. The Yggdrasil Knights, about 100 volunteers from the SAO players, had been undertaking various tasks given to them by Titania. They largely did 'bug-fixing', for example finding and replicating any glitches within the Medallion windows for Titania's knowledge, rather than being forced into any combat; about thirty SAO players made up the real combat groups, people that knew and were prepared for the risks of life and death combat, an experience left over from their two years in Aincrad. Among them, Furinkazan, Klein's guild, was the best not just because of having the highest levelled players on average but also how they fought as a team.
Despite all that support for Kirito however, the Yggdrasil Knights didn't really achieve anything notable in the long term, in regards to fulfilling the criteria to get Asuna back or for everyone to return to Earth. Still, it freed up Kirito's time for more crucial things, instead of having the Black Swordsman stuck running errands. Having people to delegate responsibility to was something Kirito was still unused to, as he was a Solo Player back in SAO and most of the planning was left to the larger guilds such as the Knights of Blood; but being able to do so at that point was extremely helpful. There was only so much Kirito could do by himself, and even Kirito could understand trying to shoulder everything Titania wanted to accomplish alone was like trying to clear the frontlines of Aincrad all by himself; something that would take an exceedingly long time to achieve, if not outright impossible.
Furthermore, it wasn't like the others were incompetent. Kirito left the treaty discussions to Sakuya and Alicia, and trusted them to keep things under control, because he wasn't sure he would be able to do any better. Dealing with people was not his strong point; and for all his frustration about how Mortimer and Rufus were handling the discussions he had even less chance of getting them to listen than the Sylphs' and Cait Sith's Leaders. Kirito could have arguably taken over the discussions as Titania's 'Royal Protector', but being that heavy-handed would have alienated the Faction Leaders' support for him. That would have set back the progress for restoring Asuna more than it could help; as while the state of the treaty was turbulent, at least it was progressing and Tristain as a whole was amenable to peace.
Kirito shook his head; ultimately, he trusted Sakuya and Alicia to do their part, more than anyone else available for that role. He'd leave second-guessing the political situation for others more familiar with it than him. For the time being, Kirito was better served working on things only he could do. For example, it had been a while since he last paid a personal visit to Titania and checked on her health…
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Far away from the events in Tristain, Pope Vittorio Serevare, a young man who was barely over twenty years of age, contemplated recent events in his office within the Papal Palace of Romalia. One of them being the emergence of the 'faeries' in Tristain, and the subsequent politicking with the Country of Water as the faeries banded together under the name of 'Alfheim'.
The other was the surprising revelation that Founder Brimir's consciousness still existed. The Will of the Founder was sealed within the 'Shaitan's Gate', as the elves called Brimir's greatest work, and simultaneously with the faeries' emergence reached out to the inheritors of his power. The means which the Founder did so was through the Void Artefacts he left behind.
Normally, Romalia's Round Mirror was one of the more useful Void Artefacts; it showed the life of the Founder, allowing a Void mage to understand the past and what needed to be done to follow in Brimir's footsteps. Unlike the Prayer Book, which only activated when the Heir who held it had an intense desire, a need for a spell, the Round Mirror would activate at any time as long as the Void mage possessed one of the four elemental Ruby rings of the Halkeginian royalty.
In light of the new situation, however, the Round Mirror was arguably the least useful of the Artefacts in terms of being a conduit to Brimir's consciousness. Through the Incense Burner, the Void mage would enter a trance-like state and be given a vision – or a hallucination, strictly speaking, though it would take a blasphemer to compare an Artefact of the Founder to something as base as drugs – allowing the Founder to communicate with a Void mage. The Music Box allowed a Void mage to hear his voice, and the Prayer Book to read what the Founder strove to achieve. Compared to the others, the Round Mirror lacked those abilities. Romalia's Artefact was a storage for knowledge, arguably one better than any of the other nations', but that was nearly all it was. Pope Vittorio had to make do with the Round Mirror showing select scenes from the Founder's life in response to his questions, like some kind of twisted pantomime, in order to divine what the Founder wished for the successor to the throne of his Gravekeeper to do. When asked, the Round Mirror equated the 'faeries' that appeared in Tristain to the image of elves, or even that of the Varyag and other races that had plagued the world more than six millennia ago, nightmares long forgotten by humanity at large by that day and age. Vittorio gathered that the faeries were to be treated the same as those ancient enemies of humanity would be – extermination.
However, that was easier said than done; Romalian agents in Tristain had reported the Fae had shown they outclassed the humans in martial prowess as the elves did. Even if Vittorio were to declare a Crusade, naming the faeries as the enemies of Halkeginia, it would likely lead to nothing but a disaster. Against the elves alone victory was possible with the help of the Void mages; but if Halkeginia were to raise arms against the faeries while the elves still existed they were just begging to be slaughtered. The elves may not deign to just sit by if Halkeginia was tearing itself apart, and being caught in a pincer between the elves and the Fae would almost guarantee the humans' defeat.
Therefore, what needed to be done against 'Alfheim' was something less obvious than open war. Vittorio needed to play the long game, to wait until they could be sure that when they struck, Alfheim would fall; because Halkeginia could not afford the ire of a second Firstborn race on the level of the elves. Let them be allied with Tristain for the time being, as in the process it would buy time for Romalia's other preparations. There could always be a pardon from the Pope later on, forgiving Tristain for whatever they had done in the circumstances of being forced to work with the Firstborns.
Using what he had found out from the Mirror, Vittorio deemed the best solution would be to follow the old instructions for the Rebirth of "Brimir's Void", the full might of the Founder that he split into four. Gather together the "Four Four's" – the Void mages, their familiars, the elemental Ruby rings, and the Void Artefacts – then no matter what obstacles humanity had to face, Vittorio was sure they would prevail.
Gallia's agents were searching for Albion's Artefact in the chaos caused by Reconquista at that time, and Vittorio was willing to let them be; if he wanted the Music Box, it would be easier to take it from the Gallians after they found it than to search for the proverbial needle in the haystack. Despite being one of the smaller nations of Halkeginia, Albion still had a lot of ground to cover. Instead, the Pope decided to aim for the Air Ruby, which was possessed by Prince Wales of Albion at that point.
Vittorio murmured an incantation, and pointed a wand to one side of his office. A circular pane of light appeared, and exiting from it was his aide and Familiar; Julio, a young priest who bore the Windalfr runes, with 'Moon Eyes' – a Halkeginian term for people whose eyes were of different colours.
"Your Holiness," Julio gave a small bow as the light behind him vanished. "You have mastered the 'Portal' spell?"
"The spell that allows travel anywhere within our world, yes, somewhat," Vittorio said wearily. "Other variants such as the 'World's Gate' are still beyond my skills. The Round Mirror wasn't the Artefact meant to act as the main teaching tool for spells, and even after seeing the Founder casting those myself it was not easy to find the feeling for the spell. I am still vastly limited in the range I am capable of using this spell, even without taking into account that my willpower is nowhere near our Founder's capacity.
"Once I am able to use this proficiently however, I have a mission for you Julio: contact Prince Wales, and retrieve the Air Ruby along with him. Getting him out of Albion will be helpful in many aspects for our plans, and with the Portal this will be possible."
"What about Tristain?" Julio queried. "Did the Founder not say that was to be a priority?"
"We don't have enough information to intervene at this point," Vittorio replied, shaking his head. "Let our agents find out more about these 'faeries' first, and while we wait for the information we deal with Reconquista – and by extension, Gallia. King Joseph is likely the one responsible for Albion's rebellion, considering the possibilities of who is in a position to gain from such turmoil and also has the means to support them. Like us, King Joseph seeks the 'Four Fours', though I doubt he does it for the goodwill of the Founder. A fractured Halkeginia will not prevail against the Firstborns, so we need to prepare first before we act.
"And as for the Founder's possible displeasure at his Heirs' infighting… I will argue that we are ultimately following his Will. There was a reason why he split the Void into four. Competition, growth, metamorphosis… under the pretence of splitting his power equally as his inheritance for his sons and student, Founder Brimir wished for conflict to improve his legacy across the years. Our clash with King Joseph will only strengthen Halkeginia's position."
"As you wish," Julio bowed once more. "I'll get in touch with our contact in Tristain best suited for this task; he could help in finding a reason to visit Prince Wales legitimately, and possibly allow us to obtain the Water Ruby in the process-"
"No," Vittorio interjected. "Leave the Water Ruby with Tristain. The Void mage there would need it to unlock the Prayer Book, and unlike the situation in Albion the Founder has not determined Tristain's Heir to be a traitor to humanity. We should not alienate or weaken our new Brother or Sister in the process of our fight against Joseph."
As Vittorio talked, his eyes glanced towards the Round Mirror at one side of the room. In the Pope's inquiry for the situation on Albion's Void mage, the Mirror had shown in response two things: The first, a visage of Sasha, the first Gandalfr who was alive more than 6,000 years ago, caring for her sword Derflinger. The second was the scene of Brimir's demise, his heart impaled by Derflinger via Sasha's hand. Vittorio could not come to any other interpretation on the Albion's Heir, with the betrayal of the highest magnitude in the Founder's lifetime being linked to his or her very existence.
In comparison, Tristain's Heir has been born already, that much the Mirror was sure of; but beyond that there was a large gap in information. Unlike the situation in Romalia or Gallia, the Heir didn't have access to both the Ruby ring and Artefact of Tristain, and without that proximity the surety of identifying the Heir was greatly lessened.
"Beyond that, get our people to start looking for the signs that would suggest the presence of a Void mage in Tristain," Vittorio added. "We may need to intervene to get him, or her, to embrace the Founder's legacy in its entirety."
AN: ZnT canon recap, the 'Rebirth of Brimir's Void' is from Vol8 Ch8. 'Portal' is the spell Brimir used in Vol14 Ch5, though the name wasn't mentioned. The reason to why the Void was split into four was not stated in canon, so I'm making one up.