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Succession

A Council of Thirteen universe story

One shot

Beta:

The Twelfth Lord of the Council of the Thirteen, looked around his Tower, his home for millennia in its various iterations, with a wistful eye. If all went well he would soon finally be saying goodbye to it. And that pained him. There were plenty of memories wrapped up in this old hunk of stone.

"Ah, wasn't that gem something Carlos gave me as a souvenir of his victory over those crazy Aztecs who thought to summon Huitzilopochtli into the world?" The Twelfth asked as he looked over a large ruby that one of Dominique's ancestors and predecessor as the Thirteenth Lord had gifted him to commemorate one of his greatest victories. One of the hundreds, perhaps thousands of such knickknacks that he'd hoarded over his long, long life.

For a moment he allowed himself to reminisce about the jovial Spaniard that had during his tenure as the Thirteenth Lord during the 16th Century had been one of the Twelfth's closest friends. The day he had been killed and succeeded by his son, Miguel, had been a day of great sadness for the ancient.

But he could not spend the whole day reminiscing, so he drove the bittersweet nostalgic memories out of his mind and turned away from the ruby. He had a task to accomplish.

"Enough daydreaming!" The ancient said with uncharacteristic enthusiasm. "Time to do some spring cleaning!"

He had no idea if his successor intended to make his Tower as her residence but if she did, it would not do to hand it over whilst it was a mess. Besides, with the many artifacts it contained, even if Nexus chose not to make it her home, the rest of the Council would likely want to convert it to a vault or museum or some such. More than one of his colleagues had joked that it was one already after all!

"Well, whatever they decide to do with it I'm going to make sure they receive it spick and span!" The Twelfth declared as summoning a dozen projections of himself, he began the laborious task of cleaning his Tower from top to bottom with a urgency he'd rarely felt.

He could feel it. His end was nearing. And he wanted everything to be in order when the time came.

"It looks so cool!" Nexus couldn't help but gush as she ran her hands over the staff that Dante-nii had forged for her where it lay in a box on a table before her.

It was a beautiful thing with a metallic shaft that had a small spike at the bottom, the point of which was a small blue crystal. Its top was capped by metal sculpted into the shape of branches that cradled a single large crystal the same shade of blue as the smaller one at its base.

"I'm glad you like it." Dante-nii told her with a smile where he stood next to Rose Iris-nee against a wall of his workshop in the home the couple had set up in Milan. Apparently they'd visited the city on a holiday once and fell in love with the place and decided to settle down there. "I forged it to your exact specifications."

"And you have outdone yourself." Dawn complimented. "I'm not one for Mystic Codes but looking at this, I can't help but be slightly tempted to change my mind on that."

"Well, if you do, let me know. I'll be happy to forge one for you." Dante-nii offered graciously.

"You should really consider it, Dawn." Rose-nee advised helpfully. "It really does help make casting easier. Especially with the more powerful spells."

"Yes," Iris-nee agreed with a nod. "And even with one, it shouldn't hamper your continued use of the other more specialised foci that you use now."

"Not if it's designed correctly at least." Dante-nii corrected. "But I have some ideas on how to get over that problem already. So if you're keen, let me know."

"I'll think about it." Dawn said, seriously considering the matter. Which was something of a surprise to Nexus since she'd been hesitant just to allow her to forge a Mystic Code of her own. And now she was considering making one for herself?

"But enough about me," Dawn said before Nexus could question her about the sudden change of her mind. "Today's about Nexus."

"Yes, it is." Nexus declared happily, rolling with Dawn's evasive change of topic. She could drill her wife for answers later. For now, she had a Mystic Code to claim as her own. "So what do I have to do? Anything special?"

"Nope," Dante-nii said with a shake of his head. "Just attune it to you like you would any other magical focus and you're all set. Just pour more magic into it than you would for those. You should know how, I'm sure Sensei taught you how."

"Gotcha," Nexus said with a nod of understanding as she lifted the staff from the table and held it in front of her. "Let's get this show on the road!"

Dawn and her siblings chuckled at her enthusiasm but nevertheless offered her encouraging looks.

Smiling back at them in thanks, Nexus began channeling her magic into the staff and began attuning it to her. Normally, this was a simple process of her magic engraving itself onto a focus, marking it as hers. This process was similar during the attunement of all magical foci. What set the attunement of Mystic Codes apart from that of normal foci was the depth one engraved their magic into it. For normal foci, this was superficial at best but for Mystic Codes one was expected to pour themselves into the focus, transforming it metaphysically into an extension of one's self.

So it was the latter that Nexus did and she poured her magic deeply into the staff, carrying with it not just her power but also her heart and soul, and carving it all into the very matter that made up the focus. In response, the crystals at the top and bottom of the staff began to glow brightly, first a soft blue color but steadily shifting into a prismatic light. One whose intensity just grew stronger and stronger.

"Dante! Is it supposed to do that!?" Rose Iris-nee shouted in alarm.

"No," Dante shouted back as he tried to walk towards Nexus and her staff, only to be thrown back by a surge of raw magic.

"Nexus!" "Dante!" Dawn and Rose Iris-nee both shouted in concern.

Nexus was only dimly aware of all this happening though. Most of her focus was centered on the immense power that was surging through her and into her Mystic Code. No, that wasn't correct. It was more like, attuning her Mystic Code had somehow unlocked something in her. Like expanding herself a little more to encompass her staff had opened a door inside of her that until now had been closed.

And through this door poured power on a scale she couldn't properly put into words. Power on a scale she'd only ever felt when Mummy or one of the other Lords of the Thirteen were channeling the full breadth of their power.

That's because this is exactly that, little one. The voice of the Twelfth whispered into her mind as a projection of his appeared in her mind's eye even as she struggled to avoid being overwhelmed by the torrent of power surging through her.

Lord Twelfth? What do you mean? Nexus sent back telepathically, surprised by his appearance. Particularly as he was not manifesting physically but purely within her mind.

This is the power of a Lord of the Thirteen. Your birthright.

My birthright!? I'm a Lord? But all the Lords are accounted for! Did someone die!? Nexus cried out in alarm despite the terrible strain she was under.

No, but I soon will, my successor.

I'm your successor!? Is this that joke you pulled on Mummy when I was born!? Nexus shot back irritably. Annoyed that the Twelfth would joke when she was on the verge of being drowned by the magic tearing through her being.

It was never a joke, Nexus. The Twelfth said kindly. The moment you were born, the Compact of the Thirteen decided that you are more suited to be its vessel than I am. Influenced in part by my own desire for my final rest. But it has not had the opportunity to transfer itself to you until now.

Until I opened myself up by attuning to my Mystic Code. Nexus realised. Sure, she'd attuned to the odd magical focus before now. When your wife was notorious for using them by the dozen, it was a given she'd end up using them at some point. But attuning to a proper Mystic Code, opened her being to a degree that was on a whole other scale.

Exactly. The Twelfth agreed with a nod. And normally that would be enough for the transfer to complete itself instantaneously like it does with the transference of the mantles of the other Lords, but our mantle is different. Fortunately, I've been bound to the Compact from the beginning so I can manipulate it to a degree. So here I am, guiding you through the process.

You haven't been doing much guiding.

Because you haven't needed it. To be honest, I am greatly impressed by how you've managed to weather the power surge. I'd expected to need to help you with that, but you've done so all on your own. He complimented. But now comes the hard part, so be ready.

The hard part!? Nexus sent back, her teeth gritting as the power surge finally forced her to her knees. The harsh meeting of her flesh with the floor giving her enough of a jolt to gain an awareness that Dawn, Dante-nii and Rose Iris-nii were desperately trying to blast their way through the swirling vortex of magical energy that had formed around her as she struggled to tame the magic pouring into her being.

Yes, the Compact will begin to anchor to your being now. The Twelfth told her solemnly. It will burn its way into your soul and bury its roots into your essence. It will be excruciating but you will need to endure the pain and not lose control of the power that will continue to pour through you. Normally the latter wouldn't be a problem-

But we're in the middle of Milan. Nexus realised. Her wife and siblings could probably survive the explosive release of her magic if she lost control. They were powerful enough to do so and her magic would instinctively refrain from hurting her loved ones too much, but she doubted many among the millions of Milanese would survive.

You could've warned us and-

I am not fully prescient. I knew you would succeed me soon but the specifics eluded me, it was not until you started attuning your Mystic Code did I realise the danger.

Sure you di- Nexus began only to be cut off as the pain hit. It was accompanied by the mental image of a black mass, a mass of raw power, of laws written into the very fabric of reality. It seemed to be made out of individual alphabets and pictograms and every other form of written character possible, all swirling together so tightly that it gave the appearance of a singular sphere. This was the manifestation of the Compact of the Thirteen, Nexus realised as it proceeded to unravel into tendrils of those indecipherable, ever shifting characters that proceeded to pierce into her very being.

Nexus screamed. More loudly and more hoarsely than she'd ever thought possible. Anything to give vent to the incredible agony that she was feeling as the Compact wrote itself into her very soul, searing ever last one of its innumerable characters into her being. It was like every part of her, from the cells in her biological body, to every unit of her essence spread across the thousands of wards she governed, were all on fire. But ten times worse. No, a hundred, a million, times! There were just no words to describe her pain.

Yet through it all, she kept her grip on her Mystic Code firm and though she felt herself almost coming undone thanks to the pain alone, she refused to lose control of her still surging magic. To let it explode outwards and decimate Milan.

Just a little longer. The Twelfth offered comfortingly an indeterminable amount of time later, his voice somehow piercing through the haze of pain that had become Nexus' world. Just a little more!

He's right. Nexus thought to herself with some relief. In her mind's eye, she could see the Compact was almost done. There were only a few characters, a couple thousand at most, that hadn't yet flowed into her and they were already doing so, scorching their way through her very soul as they found their place within her essence and burned their way into it.

It is done. The Twelfth said with a massive sigh of relief as he pulled away.

Nexus let him go. She was in no position to ask how he was still alive. Not when the strain of what she'd just been through finally caught up to her and she collapsed into a dead faint, oblivious to the concerned cries of her wife and siblings.

"It is done," the ancient man that had for so long gone by the name Twelfth Lord that he'd forgotten his own said as he felt his body, long sustained by the magic Compact, began to break apart, crumbling away into motes of light.

For in the end, what was it but just another projection? He thought idly as he collapsed into a chair at the top of his Tower and admired the view of Sanctuary beyond for one last time.

Despite his impending death, he felt no regret. He'd lived too long already. And it has been a fulfilling life. No, he had no regrets.

So it was with a smile that he met his demise.

"Finally," he said, his happy smile never leaving his face even as the crumbling of his body gathered momentum. "After so many ages, I can finally see my old friends. Jambres, Peng Xian, Carlos, everyone… I'll be with you soon at long last."

Dimly he sensed Dom teleport behind him. She prepared to say or perhaps do something, but he raised a hand, already half crumbled away, to stop her.

"It is my time, Dom." He told her, his face still sporting his happy smile. "Tell the others, it has been an honour to serve with them. Farewell, my friend."

With those last words, the first Twelfth Lord of the Council of Thirteen faded from existence.

Done!

I tried to be sentimental here and don't know if I succeeded. Things definitely weren't tear jerker levels of sentimental but I hope it was still acceptably so. If you'd be so kind please do let me know if I succeeded.

Till next time, ciao!