Frozen Memories – 1.8 Bridge
Hidden Past - Back Cover
Xeir – Awakening
Chapter Three – The Masters Keeper
Arko Memorial Park
Sunset
"An interesting day was it not ?" Kiyori was lost on the days events as a whole but somehow managed to keep himself calm enough to not get thrown off course. The days events were a confusining one for sure yes but the days events were also something to be thought carefully upon as well.
"I would assume so sir" Said the man within reach, always present at the High Priests side was a large brute of a man. Smart enough to follow orders, and dumb enough to never ask questions concerning those orders. In short. Manfred as most knew him of the name of Manny, was the perfect gentleman. He was a butler, a driver, a bodyguard, a brain to pick and above all loyal to a fault.
"You assume so ?" Kiyori asked his bodyguard, eyeing the much larger man carefully as if to probe his thoughts deeply. "Please elucidate for me, what you assume."
At those words Manny slightly looked upset. "Permission to speak freely ?"
"You'd better" Kiyori told him.
"Based upon what I have witnessed while working with you, the kingdom fears you, the man and woman we saw in the market this afternoon used a weapon that presumably can unlock the Bonsai Prisons as we witnessed in the battle it can unlock shorn souls. I assume it is some kind of key. Both a weapon and a key." Manny said.
"And what do keys do ?" Kiyori asked
"Keys... Unlock things." Manny surmised.
"Exactly" Kiyori said with a nod.
"So we are going to find the key ?" Manny said
A moment of thought came upon the two men. Finally Kiyori shook his head. "No" Manny looked at him confused. What did he mean by that word ? "Why look for the key when we do not know what it fully unlocks ?"
Manny was not the brightest bulb in the box, but he was also not the dimmist either. "So, we're going to find what the key unlocks ?"
"Again no, we're going to find exactly what the key is made of. Send for the woman known as Emisary, she should be in the Warrens" Kiyori said
"The key unlocks the woman in the warrens ?" Manny asked.
Kiyori stared at the thug briefly struck dumb before setting his face in a grim thoughtful line. "No, you are going to send word to the guard to ask Emisary to come and speak to me, Manfred dear fellow. The hell am I paying you for ?" the High Priest snarled
Manfred turned and left the office, muttering in Arabic. "You do not pay me at all" it was true, Manny took on the job because it paid, in food. And it had a roof over his head. He had to want for nothing as he was on the High Priests payroll. When Elsa had left with Mark, and her sister and a friend at Marks insistance to do so on a yearlong sabatical, Manny figured it was his chance to get a pay raise.
About a week after the Queen had left Arendelle, everyone forgot about her, and her sister, Princess Anna, and lastly, Mark Wolfe, the Wolfe Clan remained destroyed, as far as Kiyori cared the Wolfe Clan manor had been restructured into a massive apartment complex like hotel, it was a means of money as well.
And then for a year or so, Manny tried to remember a time when Elsa had once lead Arendelle, it wasnt easy to try and focus on, but it was doable. He knew that at one point Elsa did indeed reign as queen of Arendelle. But then there was the Council, and now Kiyori was pretty much at its head. Up until a week ago Manny had always figured that Kiyori lead the Kingdom with Xercine as his puppet at the council head.
Manny never did get that raise in pay, hell it never occurred to him that he had no idea what an Arendellian Eisa coin even looked like. But he at least still had a roof over his head.
-8-8-8-
On a hill overlooking the kingdom of Arendelle a man in a dark hooded cloak stood observing in silence the kingdom as a whole. It was most interesting to be honest. A place that from afar looked to be a peaceful war free haven away from the rest of the world. But now. Time had lost its meaning, and the kingdom was catching up to the rest of the world rapidly. A portal ripped into reality behind him. "Has it occurred to you that we may now be sought after after witnesses observed you and the others fighting in the streets, and using your Keyswords to do so ?" The cloaked man asked, never turning to see who came through the portal.
"It was either that or get prisoned within a scale model. According to witnesses, those imprisoned scream in great pain at being torn apart and shrunk to nothing." Said the newcomer, Xercine did not like the idea of becoming nothing more than a scale model within a train set.
"Even then, your task is now much harder, all thanks to Two, Six and Nine revealing their Keyswords in combat to protect you." Xeirn said, his tone revealed that he was upset at the days events. "We were to not be seen, and yet, Xendras, Xinxin, and Xiaoden have revealed themselves in combat. Soon things will unravel. Our job is to prevent that. That was the deal we had struck" Xeirn was indeed upset.
"Deal ?" Xercine asked. He was unaware of such a thing occuring. Before getting recruited into the Star Council, Xercine was known by the name of Kerosene. A up and coming chemist with a nack for making stuff explode for demolotion companies and the defense department of Equator City. He still experimented at times. As a Star Council Member however his abilites to mix and use chemicals was twice as strong. And twice as dangerous.
"Yes" Xeirn replied. "By entrapping the lady Sapphire Wolfe, and forcing the others to reveal themselves, the deal has to be adapted. If only slightly."
"Sapphire screamed" Xercine said simply
"Yes, so I heard" Xeirn replied. Before becoming the current head of the Star Council, Xeirn was a mayoral canidate in a section of the Equator City, named Eric Rhodes. The now white haried immortal man was in charge of a vast network of informants, theives, and gangs. His cartel as some called it, was more than a cartel.
"Witnesses say that being shrunk and imprisoned causes great pain to be shrunken down to nearly nothing" Xercine said simply.
"Do you know the scale of the models ?" Xeirn then asked. The pain depended entirely on the scale of the model.
Xercine nodded. "HO scale from what the guards say, the High Priest has a train model in his home he has worked on near constantly. One Eighty-Seventh scale is the scale terminology I believe" the current head of the Arendelle Council said.
"So to become so small, one has to go through such great pain." Xeirn said. "Very well, the woman, Vaeyuko has been trapped upon such a model has she not ?"
"For many months now yes, nearly a year now in fact. Sapphire was shrunk to the bonsai model directly before the palace gates only earlier today." Xercine replied. "Why ?"
"Vaeyuko is a master of puzzles, she will solve this one on her own time" Xeirn said. "When she does, the spell of the bonsai models will be broken, and she will have a means of escape every time she goes into one." It made sense, sort of.
"So what do we do now ?" Xercine asked
"For now, we simply wait for the fallout to begin. I'd recommend taking a leave of absence from the council and allow Lady DiT to uphold her end of the bargain." Xeirn replied calmly, his hands behind his back.
-8-8-8-
Mark didnt much like entering his own mindscape, normally it was packed with memories, his and Kaldas own memories jumbled into one huge mess of wire and twine held together with strings of hope and faded dreams. Nothing Mark enjoyed to an extent.
"How the fuck did I get here ?" Mark asked aloud, Kaldas place was normally pretty well organised, but whatever the High Priest, Kiyori, did, caused Kalda to go belly up and the place was a landfill out of nowhere. "Kalda ? What happened ?"
"Whatever that high priest hit us with, it did more harm to me than it did you" Kalda grunted, he was sporting torn scales and a broken horn among other things.
"You gonna be alright ?" Mark asked him seeing his condition.
"I got no clue dude, I think from here on out I can only give advice, I tried summoning some armor and all I got was a huge migraine and it wont go away" Kalda grumbled. "I recall Kiyomori offering to teach you some Essence Flames ? Using those can give you an edge against Kiyori, that High Priest is nasty, and his Star Formation, hidden from even Elsa for so many years, I dont recall if any other Arendelle Queens knew of it, if at all" Kalda said thoughtfully. He lumbered over to a low sofa and fell onto it.
"So what happens now ?" Mark asked
"For now, you wake up, and see your cousin, Irie. Doubtless she is worried that you got trapped by the High Priest already. But her aunt already told her otherwise. And she'll be the first person you see on waking up. Until Kiyori, the High Priest, is destroyed, I cant help you. You'll need to rely on your wits, and learn from others, learn what Kiyomori can teach you so you can take him on again. I'm out of this fight" Kalda told him.
Mark processed all of it. Kiyori was strong enough to take Kalda out of him, which meant he could not summon his armor. But there was still the Tigris and Eagle sides of him left to fight with. Couple both with the Essence Flames and Mark could take on Kiyori again. He finally nodded. "Alright, I will see what I can do. But before I go, what was that thing he showed me, us ? That start field thing ?"
"Its called a Star Formation, but even looking at it we could tell that it was damaged and slowly breaking further regardless of what he tries to do it make it better or even fix the damage" Kalda explained "Without a Star Map the Formation is useless and will degrade further to the point of self destruction."
"We were in space!" Mark barked, how could that even be possible without a spacesuit or magic to prortect him and enable him to breathe ?
Kalda just looked at him "I am a dragon remember ? Space has no meaning for us" The dragon sighed, "Look, when you wake up, look for a man named Nara, he'll hopefully be able to explain things further"
"Nara ? As in the guy you try not to think about ?" Mark asked
"The same guy every family rarely talks about until he does something so incredibly stupid we can only talk about him, yes. That Nara. No doubt he showed off some of his skills already and Kiyori is on edge now. Xeir will be home soon, and I want you to greet her." Kalda gave Mark a look, and Mark nodded, his time in the mindscape was over for that moment. Mark faded from Kaldas vision as Kalda slumped and tried to relax, begininng a healing trance for his body.
-8-8-8-
Mark woke up, and the first person he saw when he grunted in pain of what happened to him when he took on the High Priest was his cousin Irie. "I figured you trapped" The younger woman said, no older than a common teenager the wildhaired girl. "Glad to see I was wrong" Iorie's eyes were an interesting set, one was a beautiful shade of brown, the other, completely colorless, but she could see perfectly fine through both eyes, but her colorless eye made people nervous so she commonly wore an eyepatch when out in public.
Mark stared at her for a moment before speaking "You look different" He finally said simply. Calmly at that. Almost as a statement yet something akin more to recognising that she was infact different and there was nothing wrong with it. He sat up in the bed and groaned, his hand went to his head and he rubbed his face before feeling his need of a trim beard. "How long was I out ?"
"Most of the day" Irie replied calmly.
For a long moment Mark said nothing then with his hand still on his chin he dsaid simply "I need to trim my beard"
"No razors are available and I know what you are thinking, you want to off yourself, it wont work" Irie replied calmly. She knew her cousin too much. As far as he had known, Irie was a good friend of his older sisters Serena and Serenity, the twins regarded her more as the cousin they'd rely on for advice and technologies.
Irie was in a sense, the technology providor, weapons, armor, new cars, hell even money she had for them. Somehow the perks of being a half nuts trillionaire with access to pretty much every gold reserve in africa, not to mention a full control monopoly on oil and magnetic reserves made Irie, and in a sense, the Assassins of Egypt, the richest people in the world.
But there was something that bothered Mark. "Alright, so, the High Priest has something, something that was even before Elsa, her mother had it and used it apparently too"
"What ?" Irie asked him as she handed him a cold compress to help his haching head. "What does he have, what did Elsa have ?"
"Its called a Star Formation." Mark told her, he explained how it worked. "I think it is broken, the bonsai models are all models of the Arendelle Jail building and arent tied to it, but the High Priest is looking for something, for what I have no idea." Mark mused. "When I saw the state of the Star Formation, it was as if not working correctly, it was still lacking something, control more than likely."
"So you're saying what the High Priest has is broken ?" Irie mused
"Possibly." Mark replied
"So what he is searching for is a device to fix it ?" Irie was already planning out bits and pieces of what could and couldnt work on that end of things.
"Possibly" Mark replied, he had some ideas of what to look for, he saw star constellations in the star formation. So there had to be a atlas of some kind to map the stars properly. "But I will worry about it later" Mark bhad to figure out a means to take on the High Priest without his armor, or access to Kalda.
"Let me guess, you dont have any means of defense or attack against Kiyori ?" Irie said
"For the most part you're one for one" Mark replied simply. "Yes, I do not have any means of facing him again and walking away from it. My only means to defend against him was locked away by him." Mark growled then. "He called me an outsider. Said I was not royalty." Irir snickered loudly at that. "What ?"
"If you marry the queen, according to your family's history books, that only makes you royalty in title only, not in blood. So in a manner of speaking Kiyori was right in saying you're not a royal. However, I dont know about the outsider comment." Iri mused.
Mark looked at her "Alright so now you're two for two," He said, he knew she was the main one who did all the technology for the Elisar clan as a whole. It was through her idea of training the kids, she and her cousins, with the Slashes, with new types of technology every few weeks. At one point she began using flowers as a means of technology to train with. Mark half smiled, his headache nearly gone. "Alright Irie." He said, she stared at him, he rarely called her by her name, always One Eye, her nickname, she didnt resnet the name but from Mark he almost always called her Cousin.
"You know I cant take on Kiyori on my own now, I've lost my armor and means to access most of my draconic magic. But I still have my Tigris magic available to me, but I dont think that will be enough to take him on." He said. "What do you have for me ?" It made sense.
Irie smiled, she was ready for Show and Tell. Only in this case it was more Show and Practise With shit. That smirk made Mark slightly nervoius. "You ready ?"
"Can I have breakfast first ?" Mark asked, though he knew the answer would be no.
"No, its best to do this on a empty stomach, come on" Irie said, she waited outside the room while Mark got dressed then lead him down to her lab that she had under the den. All sorts of dangerous stuff was in there and only Vaeyuko was not scared to be down there with her. Irie though was like a proud parent showing off her craft booking skills.
If one counted craft booking as making weapons out of mundane items as a skill then yes she was good at it. Mark wandered through the rows of shelves after his cousin. The two went right to her workshop. "Without your Duradaeden armor, you're going to need a new set. Though it wont be identical to your design, but it will give you an edge against Kyrori." Irie said, snapping Mark out of his memory walk when he spotted a gauntlet that was similar to his own. He remembered using it and testing it on various missions for his cousin before she went into mass production with it.
When Mark didnt answer right away she barked out his name. "Mark!" Her tone jolted him back to the present. She smiled however seeing what had made him stop. "Infinity Grip, that's what mother called it, can tackle any surface with a suregrip, like a spider." She patted him on the arm, "Come on, you're new toys are this way." She turned and lead him down a row of empty shelves.
Finally entering her workshop, her playroom so to speak. Mark saw the only thing in it. A rather nice suit of armor, with an overcloak in the Arendelle colors. "The Infinity Grip is incorporated to this armor suit." She said as Mark stepped up next to it. He saw the tiny hexagonal designs in the cloth under the metal. "Bioreactive bodyglove. Nanomesh." She pointed at the thing using her magic the armor broke apart and shrank down into the size of a bracelet. She held it in her hand.
Holding it to him she said "Try it on." Mark took the bracelet, it was no larger than his normal everyday wristphone. It fit snug on his wrist. "Tap the screen" He did so, in seconds the armor started growing up his arm, first it grew down to his finger tips before growing up his arm and spreading across his back and chest, it felt like a full suit of armor, it was for a brief moment rather heavy. At least until the boots were formed at which point any sense of weight had been removed.
The cowl formed and a full HUD appeared before Marks face, a good few centimeters off his nose infact. And yet the cowl was made of cloth. As the suit formed and properly colored itself, the weapons Mark normally carried were kept in a pair of holsters on his legs, and the small of his back. Irie explained everything. "When I had to take into account for your sword mother recommended something I had tried before. Flatspace is useful. Using it your sword can fit snugly like a belt and is reachable by your left hand at your left hip. I know you favor a .50 Deagle, so I modifed the holsiter, When the armor is deactivated it appears as the braclet on your arm. However, it will also remove your weapons into that nanomesh unless you remove them before deactivating the armor."
She pointed at the cowl. "The cowl and nanomesh cloth both are resistant to small arms fire, you might have to ask Aunt Blackmane to enchant it to resist against pretty much everything short of a acidia salt bomb or sallowblade." Irie could only do certain enchantments. In this case she had added a chamelioian blending enchantment, making Mark or any wearer of the armor, literally appear as the local police or soldiery force. "The HUD is updated in realtime, you can set the speed of which on your own and it will only appear visible to you when you have the cowl up. When the cowl is removed you look and appear like a common Arendelle resident when wearing the armor when its activated, once the cowl goes up, you look like this."
Mark liked what he saw, and felt so far. "When I first activated it the armor felt heavy. Why was that ?" He asked her. At first the armor was heavy, and then no more weight whatsoever ? It didnt make sense
Irie smiled "That's the armor modifying itself to match your body and weight directly." She explained. "The armor at first was heavy, but once fully formed the weight disappeared because it shrank and shifted to match your current body tempertures and the nanomesh is more or less a bioreactive bodyglove. Once it had your bodytpe in its memory, the next time you activate the armor it will not have any weight to it whatsoever." Irie loved explaining things to her cousin as he tried out the armor.
"If you want to change stances, left or right handed for your sword or gun, that's easy to do via the HUD settings, you can even change the font settings, opacity settings and map designs as you wish. Right now I have it all at default setrtings, you can change those later." She had her own set, she was wearing it on her wrist.
"Do you have anything else for me ?" Mark asked her, for now he shifted things, he had to find Haversham, he'd given him a bow to use over a gun. "Right now I'm using a bow and a sword, so this wont be easy to carry them on my belt or on the armor itself" Mark said
"Easy" In your HUD you can set the current weapon profiles as you prefer them to be. In this case you said you're using a bow, so under weapon profiles that would show as ranged silent; if you had your gun, you'd be using ranged pistols or otherwise" Irie explained, she then told him how to access the controls to set the armor to that setting he needed, to carry the bow on him somehow.
The hostler Mark saw faded and melted so to speak into the leg armor and seemed to move around before reforming nicely on the left hip as the right side formed his belt buckle that was actually the hilt of his sword. "I dont get it, how is this armor going to help me against the High priest ?"
"When mother got sucked into his models I got to work, I designed this to withstand his transport spells, even had aunt Blackie hit me with it when I wore the armor to ensure it wouldnt srink or even let me shrink, aunt Blackmane was kind enough to get me back to normal when the tests failed, but thankfully we found each time the test failed of what caused the failure and fixed it. Of course Kiyomori was a big help in fixing the issue too. This armor coupled with the Essence Flames will actually keep you from getting harmed by anything the High priest or his men throw at you."
Mark smiled. "You mentioned the Infinity Grip ?" He asked her
She nodded. "I incorporated the Infinity Grip design at Mothers suggestion when I first started working on the new armor before she got trapped. Your hands and feet have it built in, any surface you want to climb, it'll let you climb. Just try not to hang onto a airplane or hovertruck over three kilometers off ground, the grip will fail due to the wind pull" Irie said thankfully Blackmanes portal landed her safely on the ground at that time
"So dont try to catch a plan, check" Mark snickered, Irie cracked a rare smile, Mark could tell she was hurting. "Hey, relax, the High Priest only wanted to speak to me and then he tried to kill me. He trapped Sapphire, but once Aunt Vaeyuko figures out the puzzle, she's freed of it easily. Same thing for Sapphire, sadly she's in the bonsai model directly before the Arendelle Castle Gates so trying to move or get to her beforehand wont be doable at all." Mark said
"It makes sense, to a point" Irie said. Mark just looked at her as she brought out his Assassin gear, attaching each one to his left and right arms and wrists. "Each weapon you're normally familiar with, Grappilng hook, phantom blade, minicrossbow, with reddot laser." Each weapon Mark noted meshed perfect into the arms of the nanotech level armor. As if when he needed it, the weapon formed from the arm directly. "Like I said, this armor will only resist most of the stuff Kiyoris men will throw at you. You'll have to ask Aunt Blackie for more enchantments on the bracelet directly." Irie said
Mark nodded, looking to his wrist, where it would appear to be a watch, he normally wore such a thing, it reminded him of his childhood. Even the Wolfe Gauntlet was unable to get summoned, for the moment, thanks to Kiyoris foul magic at the time. The armor looked like it had a common watch at the wrist, Mark saw it worked similar to a fitbit, but only he could see the surface. He tapped it, the HUD lit up with instructions on how to deactivate the armor into the bracelet form.
He had all his weapons and gear now, there was just two things he needed left, Blackmane to enchant the armor, and Kiyomori to teach him a few Essence Flames. Mark smirked. "Is show and tell over ?" He asked as the armor finally faded into the bracelet
"For the moment, you might need this though, some pages are missing so as you test the armor out, it'll record everything and you just need to access a printer to fill the missing pages." Irie said handing him a book thicker than a pair of DK Publishing World Atlases. "Page numbers will not be an issue, as you fill out the pages and stick them in, when the cover is filled bring it back to me and I will sort it properly" Irie said.
Then she smiled and waved at him in a childish manner. "Have fun!" She said, it was more of a forced smile and yet she was happy her cousin got some new toys to play with his new playmats with. Mark thanked her, gave her a quick hug, and took his leave from the workshop. He had to find his aunt, and fast.
-8-8-8-
Mark found Blackmane in the main part of the den going over a report that had long since been finished well before the High Priest rose to power, She was looking at the details of how it had been concluded and how the Assassins assigned to the mission had improvised on the job. Seeing her nephew enter she saw his new piece of equipment. "Did Irie come through ?" She asked
"She did" Mark replied, "Kiyori took away my normal armor, Irie had some toys for me and I really like them so far" He explained. Blackmane had to smile, her niece had been working on the armor overtime. In the case her cousin needed it, and now he did. He always field tested her new toys first. But he never knew why.
"What's your plan now ?" Blackmane asked
"Find Aunt Vaeyuko, she should be freed of her bonsai prison by now" Mark told her, he then explained to her what he knew of the bonsais, "Each model is an exact representation of the real Arendelle Royal jail directly. There's dozens of them all across the kingdom. Kiyori says they are harmless, but the fear of word of mouth that spread across the kingdom only makes them more useful as a prison than a threat" Mark then explained their weaknesses. "Once aunt Vaeyuko figures out the puzzle and gets herself free, Sapphire will also get freed. But right now there is a more pressing concern"
"More pressing concern ?" Blackmane turned to her nephew. Normally she wore a beautiful black gown edged with dark royal blue that was almost black in certain lights and a deep reflective oil black in other lights. "What exactly is this, more pressing concern ?"
"Kiyori has a Star Formation, Elsa never knew about it, but her mother did" Mark then explained what he knew, he used what Tigirs magic he still had to conjure a brief model of what he could remember.
A long moment of quiet was felt between them before Blackmane spoke. "It is broken" She said simply
"What ?" Mark asked her
"The formation, if that is what it is, is broken, Kiyori has not the means to ensure its continued strength, even when using the pieces he is able to use as a map to set it aright." Blackmane explained calmly. She smirked, Crossing her arms over her muscled chest, "Over time it will grow weaker, the bonsais are not related to it ?"
"No, he confirmed that much when I asked about the connection, he said that the bonsais were just the jail spread across the kingdom" Mark said with a brief shake of his head. "As I said Aunt Vaeyuko should be freed by now, I'm going to go look for her, and also Kyomori, Irie said that a few Essence Flames, even just one, will prevent the high priest from transporting me to a bonsai"
Blackmane smirked. "You never were good at puzzles" She snickered then as Mark glared at her. She took a breath and smiled, "Here, you're going to need this" She threw something at him, a glittery ball of energy slammed into his new "watch" "A little something I threw together for Irie and Kiyomori a few months back. Sure drove the guards crazy. Activating that enchantment will make you entirely invisible to the naked eye and all technology as long as the enchantment is active"
"How long will it last when active ?" Mark asked her as he activated the armor though with the cowl down at that moment.
"The enchantment lasts as long as you want it active, however once deactivated a timer will start and show up in your HUD of a countdown to when you can activate it again. Anything you pick up when the enchantment is active will turn invisible with you and cannot be seen."
Mark smirked, so a countdown to when he could reactivate it ? "Anything else this does for me ?" he asked
"Yes, glad you asked that now that I think about it" Blackmane said, he activated the cowl when she asked him to do so, he spotted a new gift that was most needed. "You have a full map, full color and also set up to friend or foe readings automatically. Trigger your Eagle Vision" He did so, Blackmane appeared to him in brightest beautiful gold. Even on the HUD map she showed up he saw as a perfect circle lock of a ring that span around a golden dot.
"The map can be set once you are inside a build on a floor by floor basis when needed, its fairly easy to do." Mark shifted the map a bit, spotting then on the floor by floor side view of the Den that Irie was at the bottom in her workshop, and Kiyomori and Diana were on the third floor of the six floor structure. He also saw someone coming to the door outside, and they were in red.
So Mark simply sighed and deactivated his armor without a word. "We got company" Blackmane then said simply knowing full well who was at the door as the guard hammered on it heavily. Mark simply smirked, activating the armor he appeared as any other Arednelle resident. He raised the cowl and acted like a soldier as Blackmane let the guards inside.
Of course Blackmane had no idea what to do as her nephew acted like a guard, but he whispered in her ear "Trust me" Blackmane knew it meant that it was time to go full improvision.
She had to act as if she was cornered. "I told you already, if I knew where the others were, I'd tell you, I woke up they were gone!" A lie, Blackmane herself had sent the others out of the kingdom with Georgina to help liberate Chinas, mostly at the request of a certain woman asking for their aid. And it was a week later when Vaeyuko got trtapped. "They've been gone a year, why bother me about this now ?"
"Word on the street three people with hoods came into this building. I was sent to make sure and called on backup to help if I took too long or was hindered" Mark replied in his guise of an Arendelle soldier. "The council sent me on this task and I intend on returning with it completed or with a prisoner.
"You want a prisoner ?" Blackmane asked her nephew, that was taking the plan too far.
"That's funny the captain of the guard said, "That's exactly what we came here for, good work Higgins, what were your orders exactly ?"
Oh boy, more bullshit to fire up, luckliy Mark was a born bullshitter. "I was to come here and search, if hindered in any manner, I was to take the landlord, this lady" He took his aunt by the Elbow in such a manner that it made sense, she didnt resist him. "Directly to the Councilor Xercine himself. He insisted I do not harm the landlord."
For a long moment the guard said nothing, the men with him looked at each other, finally the guard nodded, his orders were from the high priest to go after Irie, and word on the street was that she normally worked the shop out front. And she wasnt there. "Alright, looks like your orders supercede my own. We'll take our leave unless you wish for an escort to the Palace ?"
Mark spotted one soldier he knew he could trust. "An escort wont be required, But a second would be welcome" He pointed out his own cousin Kiyomori, "Lt, with me please, we have a prisoner to take to High Councilor Xercine" He said, Kiyomori saw the impish look in Blackmanes eyes, she hoped that the woman knew what she was doing.
The guards all left, waiting outside as Blackmane and Mark stepped closer to Kiyomori, "What's the plan ?" The latter asked
"Dont look at me" Blackmane said, She jerked a thumb at her nephew, "He's the planner on this run" Thankfully Kiyomori had two Essence Flames and held them out.
"Eat this quickly" She said, "The High Priest will try to trap you first chance he gets once he sees you outside. Even with Xercines orders he'll go after you, dont think you're safe. You can cultivate it later" Kiyomori said, the two took one each, Blackmane taking the Heaven Flame, known as Primrose Root, and Mark taking the Beast Flame known as Angry Lotus Dragon, they tasted like sweet berries.
-8-8-8-
The three then left the building and headed out into the street, it was long a walk from there to the palace especially with all the onlookers. But it didnt matter, seeing the Arendelle Guard escorting a prisoner made things slightly better and easier for the three some as Mark still acting like a common soldier under orders, took his aunt to where Xercine was.
The man was somewhat surprised to see the three enter the Gazing Lake park. There were two honor Guard waiting nearby and let the three pass after being briefly stopped. Xercine was with two others, and man, one that Mark easily recognised, and a woman whom he didnt not recognise right away.
The woman had dirty blonde hair, whereas Haversham was the least bit clean shaven, yet the older tomcat was calm, and had a knowing look. "Right on time" Haversham said seeing the two Honor Guard stop Mark as he lead his aunt to the two.
"Halt, state your business" One of the two guards said, the feline features of the man betrayed what he really was to Mark.
"Prisoner for questioning" Mark replied, "Orders were to bring her directly to High Councilor Xercine"
"It is alright Prowler." Xercine called out, The two guards, apparently a mated pair of Tigris traded looks, Mark saw that Prowler was a siberian tiger, and his mated wife, whom Mark later learned was named Veronica were Xercines trusted bodyguards and right and left hands respectively.
Mark took Blackmane to Xercine, "I can walk, Nephew." She said, well the jig was up.
Giving the three a careful look Mark took stock of the three under the gazebo. The woman he saw was tall and thin, and she looked alarmingly similar to Spike, Whom Mark was sure was dead at the bottom of an alley in downtown Sacremento, boy was he wrong.
"This is him ?" Jek asked calmly to Haversham, the older man nodded. "He does not look like much. But you have the chance to prove us wrong. From what I recall, his girlfriend killed my sister, but she's over it."
"Let us let... wait what the hell are you on about ? Your sister ?" Mark asked, removing the cvowl the armor shifted from the Arendelle colors as he gazed hard at the woman.
"Spike said she had to see a chriopractor for a week, but otherwise shes over the pain. Talak can only do so much to get rid of it entirely. The Name is Jek, Jek Milligan. Haversham contacted me and said you needed help here."
"I am not sure I can trust Spike, or Talak." Mark said as he felt eyes on him, the eyes of his aunt.
Blackmane stared at her nephew. "How did she survive your mission ?"
"She was not present" Mark replied, he sighed seeing her look, "Its a very long, very complicated story" He admitted, "But she wasnt present when I raided the house that mission" It was true, Talak had fallen off the cliff and started an entirely new life. "But what I can say is that Talak started a new life, one she enjoys better than anything the Templars could throw at her. After I left I thought her dead, I had just whacked her head clean off. How is she still alive ?"
"Magic" Jek replied calmly, "though she said that your battle with her made her see how things really were, The Assassin's, The Templars, those inbetween, the truth behind things. She went her own way, rebuilt her palace, and still oversees Sacremento, but, she does so in contact with Ruth Big." Jek explained. "You killing her made her see the folly of the Templar cross and turn things around properly"
Mark had to think carefully on what Jek just told him. "So Talak saw what I did as a good thing or a means to an end ?" He wondered
"She saw it more as her having to now live with her own actions. Nothing is true to her means that she can believe what she wants to believe, and take everything else as false at best. Everything is permitted she knows now that she must control herself, and work with those around her to reap the fallout of her actions properly." Jek smirked. "You saw how Sacremento fared when she leads the place"
"Yes, it was peaceful, there was no bloodshed, the children were happy" He smirked and nodded. "Alright, Haversham contacted you and said we'd need help, he's right. I hope you have magic to defend against the High Priest's own magic. I trust your word then, seeing how Haversham trusts you." Mark didnt know it at the time but Talak herself was planning on sending Spike to Arendelle. She wanted to broker an alliance between Sacremento and Arendelle, and possibly build up strength between the two in a manner of speaking, kingdoms.
"That explains how you came back revitalised" Blackmane mumbled as she magiced away the twine holding her tied up.
"So aside from looking for me, why come here ?" Xercine asked them giving a brief nod towards Blackmane
"We had to improvise, the soldiers were looking for my niece under orders from Kiyori. So Mark improvised on the spot and we went looking for you." Blackmane explained to him.
"Try as I might, the High Priest needs to be eliminated, but not just yet. No, not just yet, there are too many pieces on the board at this moment, we need to clean the board before taking aim at the guy directly" Xercine said
"Which is why we sent for Jek, she and her brothers and sisters will help us out here." Haversham said
"Who else is coming ?" Mark asked
"Two women, Ammison and Sydney, and three men, Daniel, Ezra and Maximilian." Jek said in reply. Mark raised an eyebrow. "The other three brothers and youngest sister will come later when needed." Mark smirked, a good always had a backup plan. And it seemed Jek had those in spades. "So what's your plan ?" She asked to Mark
"Nothing solid right now, like Aunt Blackie said, we had to improvise." Mark told her
"Well you came to me, that is something. The soldiers know that any orders sent out by me superscedes those sent by others. If the soldiers were after your niece. Something must be going down." Xercine said calmly
"So what happens now ?" Mark then asked as Blackmane went over to the table in the gazebo and took a seat as Xercine poured her some tea.
"At this moment I was told by my boss to simply wait and watch." Xercine said, Mark was about to speak when Xercine raised a calm hand, the black coat, and dark elbow length gloves made the man look more unknown than ever. But the blonde spiky hair gave away that he was a member of the Star Council. "But that does not mean you have to sit back and wait for the High Priest to hunt you down"
It made sense. "With us here the soldiers wont recognise us at all." Jek said, "My brothers and sisters are staying in a nearby tavern, Roughwater I believe its called. Interesting name for a tavern." Mark had to smile, Roughwater was the first district outside of the Marketplace and docks that was liberated
"Its a nice place" Mark replied calmly. Jek just looked at him confused, but it didnt matter at that moment. "Alright I think I have the startings of a plan. But I am not sure of how it will work just yet." Mark turned to leave
"Where are you going ?" Blackmane asked her nephew.
The man stopped and turned towards her. "To get some ice cream or comit a feloney, I'll figure it out on the way." He said Blackmane smirked. She had nothing to be scared of at that moment thanks to Kiyomori standing nearby.
Xercine seemed to know where Mark was intending to go. So he spoke up. "Try the Talz District, that was where lady Vaeyuko last was seen before clashing with Kiyori." Mark thanked him and left.
It was time to find his Aunt.
-8-8-8-
Vaeyuko sat at a table. The Bonsai was well kept, she had to wont for nothing. The food well stocked and it lasted a good long while. Anything at that scale was long lasting, and in some ways it only made her slightly hungrier. But it didnt matter. No what mattered was the puzzle.
A year she had tried to figure it out. A year spent finding solutions, and each one failing. But she knew it was solveable the question was just how to do so. So as she sat at the table she felt another get trapped. It indeed was a painful experience to get shrunk so small.
One Eighty seventh scale was a small model, yet so well detailed it was scary for her to get trapped in there initally. It was painful, more painful then having to watch your loved ones die in front of your own eyes.
But Vaeyuko loved puzzles. And this was a puzzle. She knew she could solve it easily. So for long moments she sat at the table as she did for every day of the last year. She knew her time was almost up. So she waited. And sought other solutions. And then as the sun was setting that day, a full week before the time was up, she saw it. Vaeyuko smiled and formed a gun in her hand. The 11mm pistol formed to majestic life and she took aim. One shot was all it would take.
Vaeyuko had finished the puzzle.
She aimed her gun at the hole in the sky. And fired.
Seconds later she was standing on the solid ground and once more her full height. It had been nearly a full year since she had been trapped. Four Guards stood nearby guarding the model. They had their weapons drawn and were ready to fight as she was suddenly freed.
"Hello boys." Vaeyuko said in a calm very deadly tone. "What day is it ?"
"The day you get back in that jail" Said a guard.
Vaeyuko smirked.
"Whats so funny ?" The guard asked getting right in her face
"Nothing" Vaeyuko said, "I just wanted you to focus on me so he could get behind you"
"What ?" The guard asked as he turned to see Marks fist colliding with his face.
Vaeyuko watched as Mark easily took down the other soldiers, the model rendered useless by Vaeyuko shooting her way out as she solved the puzzle. "That was a fun puzzle" She said
"Did you have fun Aunty ?" Mark asked her
"I did, for the most part, but now I am starving." Vaeyuko replied. Mark smirked as Vaeyuko smiled. "I win." She said before all but collapsing into his arms. For a slender very well built gothic woman, Vaeyuko was heavy
Mark took her to the den. Irie saw them as they entered the shop, her eye went wide with wonder. Quickly turning the sign to saying CLOSED she darted to her cousin and took hold of her mothers other arm, the two helped Vaeyuko over to a nearby couch to sit upon. "Mother ?"
"Irie, are you alright, you look scared, have you eaten ?" Vaeyuko didnt know how to word it, but seeing her daughter after a year and after getting shrunk to pretty much nothing had put Irie into a state of extreme shock. PTSD, the most extreme level of it, multiplied by three.
"With you back I'll be alright. Things... happened when you got trapped I... well its not exactly something I can explain. How did you get free ? Did you figure out the puzzle ?"
Vaeyuko smiled and pulled her daughter into a hug. "I did, Kiyori has no power over me anymore. The second I solved the puzzle I was returned to normal and the model burnt itself up." Vaeyuko explained how it worked. A hole in the sky, the place where there was a void of air. Shooting it with magic was not easy, but shooting it with a bullet or well placed arrow was also doable.
"So if you get shrunk again, you'll just come right back ?" Irie asked, she was happy her mother was back. A hammering on the door brought them all to reality as briefly Mark simply watched as his cousin and aunt reunited, lost in the moment. The hammering got louder.
"Open this door!" It was the guards.
"Well, fuck me" Mark growled. He stopped his cousin as she made to get up. "Starting a scene wont do any good, you two hide, now." Mark disappeared as the two found places to hide as the door was broken open.
A half dozen guards swarmed in. "Search the place, the girl is here somewhere, Kiyori wants her alive!" Within minutes the guards were dead and it was just Mark and the guard captain.
"You know, messing with Blackmanes family is a crime. Not sure what type though." Mark said as he stepped into view. Leaning calmly against the counter the man smirked behind his cowl. "And messing with her is a very bad idea. Why would you want her niece ?"
"The High Priest gave orders" the guard replied
"Did he tell you why he wants her ?" Mark asked. "Are all guards this stupid ? It seems that nobody asks for details anymore!" He suddenly was in the gaurds face, holding him against a pillar. "Now, asshole, tell me why your boss wants with my cousin ?"
"Your cousin ?" The guard asked. The man started laughing. "Take the family away, leave the rest. An interesting propisition." He reached for Marks arm around his neck and started to pry him off. "The High Priest gave orders, we aim to fill those orders. Any questions ?"
"Yeah, one" Mark snarled, he slammed the man against the pillar, hard. "Tell me why he wants my cousin. Do not make me repeat myself. Or I will let her play with you" He saw the guard smile with mirth. "What ? You think a girl like my cousin will be weak ? She just got her mother back, and now you want to split them up ? She would destroy you, after fucking you six ways to tuesday" Mark slammed him against the wall again before letting him drop to the floor. "Get out of here asshole, I kill you and yours I see you in here again"
"The High Priest will hear of this" The guard snarled. Mark smirked
Leaning close he took hold of the man and span him around. "Good, because you overstayed your welcome, now get the hell out of here" Mark roundhouse kicked the guard in the ass, sending the man sailing into the street with a crash. That done Mark turned and looked over the store carefully, unable to find at that moment his cousin or his aunt, he then figured them downstairs in the workshop. He was right.
Upon entering the workshop he saw Irie going over things like she had with him but this time showing her mother the armor as she wore it. "I see you incorprated the Infinitiy Grip as I had suggested." Vaeyuko said
Irie nodded and showed off more bits of the armor, and then held out a bracelet to her mother. "Even more so after you got shruken down, Kiyomori was kind enough to teach me a Esscence Flame in order to keep from getting trapped by the High Priest. Here, I even made one for you"
"The puzzle is remarkably easy sweetie. It just took me so long to find the right solution. And once I found it I was free, and now I am starving. With those guards taken care of we can eat." Vaeyuko said.
"I take it we're good with the High Priest now ?" Mark asked as Vaeyuko slid the bracelet on. Mark for the moment thought she had just put her watch back on. A flick of... something and her clothing even changed to a white gown that on the sleeves were sheer and Mark could have sworn his aunt was completely naked had she not built it up a bit in certain areas. Then again he realised Vaeyuko wanted a proper swim.
"For this moment yes" Vaeyuko said as she stood from her seat. "However his soldiers are a different story, judging by the cuts Irie has shown me, they are rather abusive towards her."
"They are, when I first came back and spoke with Aunt Blackmane a soldier had pushed her against something" Mark said, "Aunt Blackie said for the guy to apologise, he did, but I dont think he meant it, did he ?"
"No, the guy is an asshole, and I want to slit his smug smile off his face myself" Irie said, yeah he had apologised, but he hadnt meant a single word of it whatsoever.
"For now though I am back, and for that you can relax, Irie, lets go swimming, I need a bath." Vaeyuko said. Irie smiled happlily and scampered out of the workshop, she had to get her swimsuit.
As Vaeyuko passed her nephew she stopped. "Remind me to thank Blackmane for caring for her all this time." She told him.
"I can do that, but first let me ask you, what is the solution to the puzzle ?" Mark replied with a nod.
"There's always a hole in the sky, shooting it will unlock the gate." Vaeyuko said, she felt as if she had explained it already to him. But Mark was too busy getting her to safety and some proper food to hear her explain the puzzle properly. Mark thanked her and let her leave. He himself took his leave as he had to find someone important, his heart told him that Diana was looking for him, Kiyomori had already given him and Blackmane a Esscence Flame to protect themselves from the High Priests model traps.
Or maybe he should go find his cousin Sapphre instead ? Mark chose to kill two birds with one stone and headed out of the den, locking the workshop door behind him.
-8-8-8-
A good hour later found Mark staring at the haggard body of Diana as the woman was dismissing a strange keylike weapon from her hand, the weapon seemed to break apart into digital lines and electrical power before breaking apart entirely. "The hell happened here ?" Mark asked her as he saw the slew of bodies around her.
"Oh just some assholes wanting to play" Diana had to struggle to not call Mark her brother just yet. She hadnt found her mother yet, but she did find Tiri. "You alright ?"
"I'm fine, its nothing. For now though I need your thoughts on something" Mark said to her
"Hit me" Diana said
"Walk with me and I will explain on the way." he said, Diamond nodded and the two started walking calmly as Mark explained things. Even showing off his new armor. "So far only me, Irie and Aunt Vaeyuko have a full suit of this armor. Its quite light too."
When the armor faded out into the form of a watch on his arm, Diamond smirked, "Mark, that's a watch, and it becomes a suit of nanomesh armor, and something tells me you learned a Essence Flame as well"
"Yes, Kiyomori gave Aunt Blackmane and I both a Essence Flame, I just have to cultivate it." Mark replied.
"Best you do so, once its cultivated the raw power from it will keep the High Priest from trying to capture you." The two walked along as Diamond spoke, when she saw where they were going she came to a slower walk. "Why are we on the main road to the Palace gates ?"
"Because we're here to pick up Sapphire, Aunt Vaeyuko got herself free, so its only fitting we find Sapphire here somewhere. With our Essence Flames we should be safe from any attacks by Kiyori or his men" Mark explained what had happened to Sapphire when he went to speak to the High Priest.
"So she is trapped in one of these models ?" Diamond asked under her guise of Diana. Marion didnt like it one bit. "Should we split up ?"
"No, we stay together, if Kiyori is around he wont be able to take us down, not now at least. Though I think I know of a way to get closer to him" Mark began thinking up a plan in his head, it might work, but then lately most of his plans recently started failing rapidly upon even trying to get started with them. The two went model by model. But Mark knew that they'd have a better chance of finding his cousin the closer they got to the palace gate itself.
"Since you were out cold for better part of a day, how long do you suppose she was a prisoner ? Would Kiyori have set her free ?" Diamond mused aloud
"Doubtful, and only a few hours at best a full day, at least the better part of a day" Mark explained the two headed closer to the castle, not entirely sure of what they'd find.
But it was only a few models later they found on fire. The jail model destroyed, Sapphire must have gotten herself free. Mark bent down, balanced on his feet as he bent his knees he carefully studied the burnt model. "Sapphire was in this one, I'm sure of it. But she might have gotten herself free, or had help" He said.
"She had help" Diamond said, she pointed at the ground around the modle, Mark touched it, then sniffed his fingertip.
"It's gold" He knew that ability, a Light Dragon helped his cousin ? "Who set her free ? Can you tell ?" He focued his vision and spotted a trail of beautiful gold and briefly saw the echo, an outline really, of his cousin and another woman going away from the memorial gardens.
"Sapphire is safe" Diamond finally said calmly, she recognised the handiwork and magic.
"If you say so, any idea who helped her ?" Mark said standing back up. It wasnt easy to just give up and hope for the best, but something in Dianas tone made Mark believe that Sapphire indeed was safe.
"Maybe Xeir ?" Diana said, She had mentioned the name before, Elsa returning was no longer possible and in his heart Markl knew Elsa, his queen and wife, was dead. But Diana said that Elsa was returning, but as someone else, was it her ?
"Xeir ?" Mark asked
"Elsa reborn basically, its hard to explain but you remember the dream right ?" Diana asked, Mark nodded. "In that dream I met a woman, she spoke about how Xeir, or rather, Elsa, was a nobody, sure she lead a kingdom for a few years and even married you, but she was really a nobody, a Nothing. Xeir was the real deal, is the real deal" Diana as Diamond explained Mark then realised what she was saying
"So Elsa, was a part of Xeir, I think I get it now, in the dreams Elsas and Anna were referred to as Xeir and Diamond, I never could make sense of it, but when Xeir comes back, she is back now. Maybe it will make more sense when we see them." Mark said with a nod. Diamond smiled and simply nodded in reply. Mark took a deep breath and let it out. "Alright, lets get back to base, Aunt Blackmane is most likely done with Xercine now." He said, the two then headed back the way they had come.
-8-8-8-
Sapphire was upset, her body tingled with pins and needles like she had been knocked out, but in truth everything outside the border was truly fucking massive. She couldnt put her finger on it but she wanted out of that model, the leaf smacked her in the forehead, she shrank to a fraction of her size right then and there and was rapidly transported to that model.
The model was realistic enough, it seemed that the High Priest loved to make them and do them so realistically it made more sense to make them enmasse instead of one at a time. But she was upset as well as her body tingled. She felt funny again after a pair of hours had passed, was someone coming ?
"So you shrunk down another sir, I see you managed eve nt to take the Captain of the Honor Guard" Said a cultured butler like voice.
"Yes Mannfredd, yes I managed to take down both an Outsiderm and one of his relatives." Kiyori replied calmly, "But I am not sure how long this will last, according to reports, the other woman had figured out the puzzle and is now free. If this one figures it out just as quickly, we may have troubles on our hands. Have you got everything ?"
"Yes sir, everything you requested is outside the Doors" Manny's voice echoed loudly for Sapphire to hear clearly. Doors, what did he mean ? Did the High Priest have a secret ? Sapphire wanted to learn more biut another voice broke in.
"Your excelency" It was a soldier "I have reports of a woman showing up and freeing imprisoned Assassin's in the Greensky, Wolfe, and Yaeko Districts." Sapphire had to smile, it seemed that Vaeyuko had indeed figured out the riddle and Kiyomori was releasing prisoners with it.
Kiyori growled something. "Very well, send men to raid each district you mentioned, they are to take them back under our control" the three men then left the model alone, Sapphire's model was directly before the long bridge to the castle gates itself before another man gently moved it to another space out of the middle of the street.
Sapphire paced and rubbed her arms, Kiyori was hiding something important in the Palace, and he had full reign over it even with Xercine as head of the Kingdom Council as a whole. That meant more than one issue was coming and Sapphire wanted freedom. Sadly all of it was too much and she found herself passing out on the grassy ground of the model in a heap.
-8-8-8-
Hours later Sapphire was awoken by the sounds of a gentle voice, and lots of magic. "Sapphire ?" It sounded hauntingly familiar, a soft echo. "Sapphire wake up!" Sapphires eyes blinked open. She found herself laying on the ground, stonework under her feet and not the static grass of the model. Looking up she smelled smoke and saw the model jail was on fire. How did she get free ? How did she not feel herself getting freed ?
"What happened ?" Sapphire asked calmly, trying to get her bearings, how had she returned to normal and not felt it ?
"You were trapped in a Bonsai model" Sapphire looked to the owner of the voice. A woman in pale gold and white robes was on one knee next to her. "Can you stand ?"
"I think so" Sapphire was then helped to her feet by the unknown woman. "I feel like I know you from somewhere" Sapphire said.
"I am Xeir" Xeir said softly to her as she helped the woman to her feet and started off towards the Galasia District at a rapid pace, keeping to back allies and in many cases some rooftops. Soon they were at the Galasia District den and two other Assassins helped take Sapphire inside. Once inside Xeir made to leave but Nara stopped her.
"Did you see Mark or Diana, Perhaps Anna ?" Nara asked her
"I did not" Xeir said, "I only went and found Sapphire, to keep her safe and get her back here. Last thing I want is Mark doing something stupid. But I fear he already has." Xeir replied.
"He did indeed do something stupid" Said another voice, that of a young man, Xinxin stood nearby. "He spoke with the High Priest, and got his ass handed to him for it. As a result apparently he's hurting, but he's got some new digs. He'll be fine" The brown spikey haired man said calmly. It was not often Xinxin spoke so plainly, normally it was his elder on the Council, Xiaoden who spoke so plainly and did other missions, leaving Xendras, and Xinxin to do the dirty work.
"Worse case scenario he has to rely on others to aid him and get him back on his feet" Nara mused
"Fine, I got Sapphire here, where is Diamond ?" Xeir asked
"Dunno, Jem and the guys are scouring the Yaeko District now. Fuiu said she could do what she could to get more Spiders on our side in the Kreen District as well." Nara explained, "Dont get me wrong Spiders are alright, when they're small. Anything the size of a small truck scares me a little bit"
"Because you are human sized ?" Xeir asked him, giving ther Force dragon who she remembered as a close dear friend and in fact her brother in law.
"Because I am, HEY!" nara started to say before realising he was echoing his sister in law. "Alright, you owe me!" He said, alright a good punching run in the training yard it was!
The two went outside and set up their training session with ease. "First thing is first is to remember, the High Priest has magic, somehow it knocked Mark on his ass, I cant feel Kalda around so it must have done something to take the Silver out of the fight" Nara explained to Xeir.
The two Dragons started fighting in a sparring match, of course their types of sparring matches were infact much more deadly. A flick of the wrist was all iot took however to send Nara flying before he got back onto his feet and sent Xeir flying as well, the two traded blows and rapidly moved around the training yard. All the while Nara explained what he knew about the High Priest
"He's hiding something in the Castle, if we can find Anna she can show us some secret routes in the building and quickly. If the High Priest has a secret so big we can find and uncover it to gain the upper hand, then so be it" Nara explained what he knew of the kingdom.
"Little over more than two hundred years ago a high ranking offical who worked for Elsas grandmother Queen Ingrid II, otherwise known as Queen Ingrid the Strong, a weapon was created to harness the power of the stars and constelations, it was called The Star Formation. Only that man and Queen Ingrid knew what it looked like, and when her daughter was old enough, Queen Iduna was shown the item as well, Elsa, that is, your Nothing, was never shown the weapon because your mother had died at sea."
"So this Star Formation thing, the guy who made it for my Nothing's grandmother, he had to have some sort of map to work it with, right ?" Xeir said when they locked their clawlike hands together in a arm lock briefly. "Think about it a second Nara, if the guy who made the star formation also had the full means of controlling it, would he take it to his grave, or would he instead scatter it ?"
"It makes more sense to scatter it over the world or at least the kingdom." Nara agreed calmly as they broke their hold on each other. Both Dragons relaxed then. "Tell you what, I'll inform Jem to find out what he and his men can, if they find antything related to the map or whatever if there is one, what do they do with it ?"
"Bring it back here as fast as possible. Also, dont let anyone leave without being in pairs at all times" Xeir said, "If Kiyori had trapped Sapphire, the Captain of the Sword Corps, it means that the man will not stop even if I were to show up as Elsa"
"I do not think he believes Elsa will be returning ever again" Nara mused, he smirked as he watched her. "He wont be expecting her true form, you. Xeir Zith, daughter of Light, and Queen of Arendelle, wife of Mark, Wife of Kalda, my sister in law. If you were to show up as Elsa they'd try to kill you, but if you show up instead to retake Arendelle as you are it would rthrow them all off."
"It was said that Xercine has named two possible heirs however" Xeir said
"Then it is also possible that you can be a third named Xeir, should I contact him ?" Nara asked
"That wont be required, but thank you Nara, for the sparring session, and also the history lesson, I think I know what to look for." Xeir said before taking her leave of her brother in law she headed for the Royal section of the Arendelle cemetary. If there was anything related to a map of some form for the Star Formation, her grandmother, Ingrid the Strong would have some knowledge of it for sure.
-8-8-8-
"So you're telling me Sapphire got free and is now somewhere in Arendelle ?" Blackmane asked her nephew as the two conversed over a beer or two in the kitchen of the den. "Sapphire got trapped, who could set her free ?"
"The only possible outcome I can think of dear Aunt Blackie is that Xeir saved her and took her to safety somewhere" Mark replied, "Diana and I went to where she was imprisoned only to find the model of the jail on fire as if she was set free, there was gold in the stonework below and around the model, Lightfire is my guess to get such a result."
"So Xeir has indeed returned to Arendelle, and you're sure the Star Formation is not at full strength ?" Blackmane said, the black dressed woman was more relaxed for once and for the moment seemed ready to take a nap. "Lightfire is a powerful weapon" Blackmane said thoughtfully.
"Yes, when Kiyori showed me the weapon of his, it was broken, one of the stars was not aligned or shining correctly. Kiyori was using his own magics to kee pthe star formation working propelry." Mark said to her. So Kiyori had a broken weapon that needed fixing, and the only means of it was to have the Star map found and then used to solidify the Star Formation to ensure it was properly connected and working.
"For Elsa to have such a weapon and never know about it" Blackmane mumbled thoughtfully before smirking, it didnt matter, things were settled at that point so there was little else to do. Other then befgin to search for the Star Map, if there was such thing. "Have you eaten ?"
"I have not" Mark replied, he had been so intent on getting Sapphier back to safety but now that he knew she was dsafe someewhere in Arendelle, in this case, in the Galasia District, the most culture mixing bowl of the kingdom really on the southern tip of the space where it resided only made things somewhat easier. "Let us then eat" Mark said, Blackmane smiled and the two left the den to find something to eat.
-8-8-8-
"Why save me ?" Sapphire asked the bright haired woman. Xeir had returned inside the structure in the Galasia district after sparring for a good two hours with Nara outside as it was getting to be close to evening. "Of all people, why me ?"
"Because you are Marks cousin by blood, and he and I are going to need all the help we can get in this venture, from what Nara has told me and what I have learned so far, we're going to need as much help as we can get to finish the fight" Xeir told her, the woman was dressed in a much more demure black and brown outfit, not as bright or light colored as she originally wore at that moment, so it did the job. Normally Xeir wore white and lime green with gold and dark silver cloth and dressrobes of a sort. At that moment she wore something similar to Nbara's black coat, only in this case it was brown with black accents with bits of gold.
"How did you know what bonsai to go to ?" Sapphire asked her. It was a rather confusing thing for Sapphire to be saved instead of others.
"It was the only bonsai in the area that had any character models within it. You, when shrunk down formed a model to us that fit perfectly in that model, so, looking for the bonsai model that had model figures in it meant I could find you. I freed others, they mostly scampered off or were helped to safety." Xeir explained to her as Sapphire hadnt eaten yet.
"The Bonsai models in the Castle Gates area are set up every ten paces, other districts the models are more spread out. Your model was the only one in the distrct that close to the gates that had any figures on it. In this case you" Xeir explained calmly.
"So you did save others besides just me ?" Sapphire asked
"Yes" Xeir replied calmly, it was the truth. There was no way in hell that the Silver Dragon was going to let people continue to suffer under Kiyori's yoke. "Every model that had figures on it I set those figures free with my magic."
"Dragon magic is a powerful thing. Tiri could only get arrested and taken to jail instead of trapped on a model. Nothing can harm her it seems." Sapphire said.
"How did you know Tiri was magical ?" Xeir asked as the woman in question stepped into the Den
"Because nobody I know can shatter like she does." Sapphire said, explaining what she had seen. Tiri smirked
"I'm standing right here" The Icewraith said. She wore clothing similar to Xeir and the other Assassins only with a wine colored pattern. "I'm actually an Icewraith, so similar to a dragon yet not the same, anymore."
"What do you mean ?" Sapphire asked as Tiri sat down at their table.
"Its a long story, a story I do not want to bore you with" Tiri replied as Xeir ordered some more drinks..
"I have nothing but time now" Sapphire said, she was on the mend, first trapped, then returned to normal a few hours later, now it was the more confusing time for her. Was there a way to keep from getting trapped again ?
"Alright, I will abridge it so it makes sense." Tiri said she leaned on the table after the waiter left their drinks and began to explain to Sapphire what was what