Book 1: A dragon flaps its wings
Chapter 3: Crest Talk
14th day of the Guardian Moon of Imperial Year 1176
xXx
After Crow had told Hanneman about his theory in regards to the Crests, the professor had invited him to his quarters. As a result, the young man and his companion found themselves inside a smaller room with bookshelves all around them.
Something that caught Crow's attention was a strange circular device embedded in the center of the room.
"Oh, you have noticed my little masterpiece." Hanneman spoke while preparing three seats around the desk in the back of the room.
"Well, it really stands out compared to the rest of this room." the man from Erebonia admitted. "I assume that it doesn't exist purely for decorative purposes?"
Hanneman began smiling like a child. "You're correct. This device allows the user to determine if a person wields a Crest or not. All it takes is a little bit of blood and the device will show which Crest a person possesses, if they have one in the first place. But please, let us continue this conversation once we all sit down." With these words he invited his guests to take place on the chairs he had prepared, an invitation that both Crow and Johan followed without delay. "And now, can you elaborate your theory about Crests a little bit more. You stated that you assume that it requires the person to undergo a trial to awaken it."
Crow nodded. "That was my first idea."
"Your first idea?" the professor sounded surprised. "What changed?"
The silver haired man pointed at the device to determine the Crest behind him. "In my theory a person already has a Crest, but only can use it's power once they have cleared some sort of trial. But in your explanation, you said that your device can determine if someone possesses a Crest, not if someone awakened a Crest or something along these lines." Crow elaborated.
"Simply marvellous. I didn't expect you to evolve your own theory so soon." the professor admitted. "Tell me Mr. Armbrust, you're not from Fodlan, correct?" His answer was a nod. "Well, your first theory was a dead giveaway of that fact. Johan, can you please elaborate for Mr. Armbrust why his theory was false?"
The guard looked perplexed for a moment, taken by surprise. Only after a nod from Hanneman did he start. "Well, if Mr. Armbrust's theory was correct, then our country would have many more storied deeds and more nobles with Crests?"
Hanneman nodded before turning towards Crow once more. "Your assumptions about completing trials were one of the first theories that came up in conjunction with the inheritance of Crests. Many nobles send out their heirs to overcome impossible challenges or find magical items, but not one of them awakened a Crest that way." the older man explained. "Sometimes I wonder how many lives were wasted in these endeavours." For a moment the three sat in silence, before Hanneman continued the conversation. "Well, now that we know that your theory is wrong, how would you change it?"
For a moment Crow and Johan didn't know what to think. "Excuse me, sir." Johan began. "But if this theory was wrong, why should we continue thinking about it?"
"My dear boy." Hanneman sounded shocked. "If we gave up on any theory after just one little setback, we wouldn't get anywhere. And while the trial theory is wrong, it is still the baseline for many theories we study even to this day. As such, if we want to understand the way to the present, we have to walk the way of the past."
Crow suddenly was reminded of a certain history teacher back at Thors. And just like that man, Professor Hanneman had this air around him that reminded Crow of a child that was happy to talk about his newest toy. Just that the professor managed to radiate the air of a scholar at the same time, unlike Instructor Thomas.
"Mr. Armbrust? Mr. Armbrust?" the voice of the professor pulled Crow back from his thoughts.
"Excuse me, sir. I was lost in thoughts all alone. What did you want to talk about again?" The Erebonian man ignored the looks that Johan gave him.
"I asked you to extend your theory a little bit more. How would you change it?"
For a moment Crow fell silent. "Maybe by adding a lock and a key." He then answered. The gleam in Hanneman's eyes told him that he had given the answer that the professor wanted to hear.
"That's right. A key and a lock." The grey-haired man turned towards Johan. "In your opinion, what would represent these two things for the inheritance of a Crest?"
Johan took a little bit longer, before he answered. "I would assume that the lock would be the bloodline. It would be something everyone of that line possesses, but not everyone can access." Seeing the approval in the teacher's demeanour, he continued, "which would mean that one parent offers the lock. As such the other parent has to offer the key to unlock the Crest."
"Correct. Even if one person of a bloodline doesn't possess a Crest, that person's descendants can still have one. This is also the reason why a person with a Crest can become a noble, even if he or she was born a commoner. The blood of the Ten Elites or of the Four Saints still runs through their veins."
"But I assume that this theory also doesn't hold up." Crow asked.
"You are correct." It was Johan who answered. "If we assume that one parent holds the key, then the right pair of man and woman would only give birth to children with Crests. But that isn't the case. One of the noble houses in the Kingdom of Faerghus, House Gautier, is a good example. Lord Gautier has two sons, but only the younger one has inherited his Crest." the guard explained.
"Well, what if we combine the two models then?" Crow asked. "What if the mother of these two heirs managed to absolve some sort of trial after she birth the first son but before she births the second? In this case, she would have lacked the key to give her firstborn access to the Crest, but she was able to grant it to her second born."
"This sounds very far-fetched." Johan retorted. "There aren't any heroic deeds that Lady Gautier did in that timeframe."
Hanneman watched the two young men continue their argument up to this point. He couldn't believe his luck that he found two such bright young men right here under his nose. Maybe all he needed to do was give them a nudge in the right direction. "But what counts as a heroic deed?" His question turned the focus back on him. "As I already explained, not one heir awoke a Crest due to a heroic deed. But what if these deeds weren't the ones needed for the awakening?"
The reactions of the two young men's faces were different. Johan fell silent, thinking about Hanneman's words and how to fit them into the key and lock theory.
Crow on the other hand watched the professor for a moment, before he shook his head and laid himself back. "Sorry professor, but I feel like continuing on this path wouldn't bring us any result."
"What?" Johan jumped up from his seat. "Mr. Armbrust, didn't you listen to Professor Hanneman? To be able to step forward we need to consider the past. If he thinks that it is important to look deeper into this theory, then we should do it. He is one of the most renowned researchers of Crest in all of Fodlan after all. And he gives us time and attention to go over these ideas, so you just can't…"
Crow raised his hand, stopping the guard's words. "And yet, this way of thinking won't help us in this situation. We simply lack enough information to evolve this theory further." he replied.
"But…"
"Tell me, what kind of factors come into play to obtain the key? Is it a deed? Or maybe it is the place? Or maybe time plays an important role. As of now we have nothing to give this theory a solid base, which means that all of our ideas would end up as nothing more than that." Crow looked down. These words reminded him of his own jump to conclusions in regards to the Crests. The story of the Crests and the numbers had reminded him of the Divine Knights. As such, he had drawn a conclusion without looking deeper into the matter. This much was clear now. But why couldn't he shake this feeling of similarity. The Azure Awakener recalled the story of Nemesis into his mind. The Crest of Flames, the Ten Elites and the Four Saints. Was there something he had overlooked?
"You seem to be lost in your thoughts again, Mr. Armbrust." Hanneman mused. "Neither of you have to worry though. I'm not mad that this talk ended up covering the basics of Crest research. It's the opposite actually. I mean, Mr. Armbrust was capable of coming up with great deductions even though he was missing the basic knowledge of Crests. And you, Mr. Johan, were open minded and did a great job to give counter to Mr. Armbrust arguments. It was a pure joy watching you two."
"Something is missing." Crow suddenly mumbled. Both the eyes of Johan and Hanneman turned towards him. That is the reason why it reminded him of the Divine Knights. "The King of Liberation, Nemesis, he didn't have an heir, right?"
Taken by surprise, Hanneman nodded. "That's correct. Unfortunately, Nemesis was corrupted and needed to be put down before he could sire an heir. As such, the Crest of Flames is lost to time."
"I don't know about that."
This statement caught both guard and professor off guard. "
"Mr. Armburst, please. The history books and legends are clear about that part." Johan replied. "In every story and legend Nemesis had no children. And with no children, there is no way his bloodline is still intact. I also think that the Crest of Flames would have appeared if it still existed."
"From the span from the start of the war to his death there is a gap of 60 years so in that time frame there was a reasonable amount of time for him to have an heir," Crow asked. "As you explained, Crests can skip generation. What if Nemesis had an unknown heir that did not have the crest and thus was able to live in relative peace being able to continue the bloodline of Nemesis in secret away from the eyes of the church. There is even the possibility that they have just layed low waiting for the right moments or even perhaps they fled to another country to rebuild their strength."
For a moment there was silence in the room. "But wouldn't that fall under the same way of thinking like the key and lock theory?" Johan then asked. "I mean, we don't have any evidence that Nemesis' bloodline still exists and by extension his Crest. And how would one more Crest help us here anyway, since for your theory to be true, the Crest of Flames must fall under the same rules like all the other Crests."
Crow had no answer for that. He couldn't tell them about his own experiences, couldn't explain to them the connections he could see that they were lacking. As such, he had to put everything on one last card. "Why did the goddess give the Crests to us humans?"
Both Hanneman and Johan looked at each other, surprised by this question. "The Crests are blessings bestowed by the goddess onto humanity. She granted the first Crest, the Crest of Flames unto Nemesis. Giving him the strength to liberate Fodlan from the Evil Gods. Then, after Nemesis was corrupted by its power, the four Saints obtained their Crests to oppose Nemesis and free Fodlan."
Crow nodded. "But why did the goddess decide to let humanity keep the Crests after Nemesis' death?" he asked. "Wouldn't it be better to take them back to prevent the raising of another Nemesis?"
Hanneman's eyes got small. "So, you assume that the only reason Crests still exist is so that Fodlan can protect itself against another Nemesis if your theory is to be believed?"
Johan however had another thought. "Wait, do you mean that the goddess will allow a second Nemesis to rise? I mean, she gave the Crest for us to defend against Nemesis, so why not use her power to prevent a second coming all together. Or are you saying that the goddess has forsaken us?"
A sigh escaped Crow's lips. "I don't think that the goddess gave up on you. She put way too much effort to simply ditch you, you know sunk cost fallacy and all that. I think that she is still watching you, but maybe she too is waiting for something. But what exactly this something is, I'm unable to tell."
"Excuse me." a female voice suddenly spoke from the door. The three men turned around to see Shamir standing in the entrance. "Johan, your shift's over. Seteth wants you to report back. I'll be starting my watch now."
The two youngest men in the room looked at each other, before the guard stood up. "Ma'am." he saluted. He then turned towards Hanneman and Crow "I thank you for this opportunity and this conversation. Professor, Mr. Armbrust." he then turned around and after saluting once more, left the room.
"I assume that this marks the end of our talk as well." Professor Hanneman rose from his place. "I thank you for your time, Mr. Armbrust. Maybe we will get the opportunity to talk more in the future." He guided his guest towards the door. "And you are always invited as well, Miss Shamir."
"Thank you, but I have to decline." The archer replied bluntly. "Armbrust." She stepped aside to let the young men pass, before she left the room as well.
With a sigh the professor walked back to his desk. He had hoped that he could have asked Mr. Armbrust to test his device. Even though Crests were mostly found in Fodlan, there was always the chance of finding some new ones outside of its borders. And even if the chance of it was small that Crow Armbrust truly possessed a Crest, the chances weren't zero. His hand went to a drawer, opening it. Inside of it was a viole filled with a red liquid. "Seems like my latest deal with Manuela paid off in the end." the professor mumbled. Even though fresh blood could deliver better results, for the first few days these drops of Crow's blood, drained by Manuela during the boy's unconsciousness, would be enough.
xXx
Crow had waited for Shamir outside of the office. "And now?" he asked.
"Well, you aren't in any trouble, if that is your concern." Shamir explained, giving Crow a sign to follow her. "Lady Rhea is very tolerant towards other beliefs. As long as you don't denounce the goddess or ridicule the belief in front of her, you can speak your mind."
"I assume that you listened in on our conversation, then?"
"You don't seem surprised?"
Crow chuckled. "I already got a feeling that someone was listening in on us. I didn't expect it to be such a beautiful lady."
"Don't expect your words to sway me in any way, Armbrust."
"Ouch, how harsh." he rubbed his head as if he had been hit by something. "You should try relaxing or that stick will never get loose." Crow evaded the punch that Shamir threw with ease. "Oh my, please forgive me." The young man couldn't help himself and overacted. "What can I do to earn your favour again, my lady?"
Shamir stopped and turned around. In her eyes there was no reaction to Crow's acting. "During the conversation you said that the goddess could be waiting for something. Do you have any idea what this 'something' could be?"
The man from Erebonia sighed. "You could have asked me anything and you go with that? What a wasted opportunity for you." Getting no reaction from Shamir, Crow got serious. "I don't know what gods think. As such, I have no idea what the goddess could be waiting for... if she even is."
He tried to pass Shamir, but the woman reached out her hand, grabbing him by his shoulder. "In Hanneman's office, you wanted to say something more. What was that?"
"You really want to know?" It was the first time that he stared directly into Shamir's eyes. Seeing no hint of indecisiveness, he continued. "In my assumption I only talked about the goddess, but I left one factor out. Humanity itself. The goddess granted humans Crests and humans built their society around them. It would be easy to pin everything surrounding the Crests on the goddess. But what does humanity do with the Crests? How does mankind's weakness contribute to any disaster that has befallen Fodlan? This is something we have to consider as well."
"I see." Shamir let go of Crow's shoulder. "Follow me." With these words she started moving again.
"Where to?" Crow asked.
"To the infirmary." Shamir answered. "Your friend has woken up."
xXx
In the city of Enbarr, a pair of siblings was walking through the main street, their hands full with supplies like alcohol and food.
"Come on, sis. You know how cranky dad and the others can be without their booze." The brother said. But when he turned around, he saw that his sister had fallen behind, breathing heavily. With a few steps he was next to her. "Are you all right?" he asked, his face showing signs of worry.
The girl nodded. "Yes, I can do this. The others are counting on us." She raised her bags and started walking again.
"Be careful." her brother warned. "You know your body isn't in good condition so don't push yourself." He grabbed his own bags and followed his sister, regretting that he had allowed her to come along. But he couldn't help it. Whenever she pulled out her teary eyes, he had no chance.
Thankfully the way to their campsite where their family was staying wasn't too long. And once they were back, he would make sure that his sister would get the rest she needed. Lost in thoughts he didn't notice the shadow that was following them.
Suddenly his sister stopped moving.
"Do you need a break?" he turned towards her. His sister was looking all around, her face suddenly growing worried.
"Did anyone follow us?" she asked, her voice sounded timid and weak.
The brother also started looking around. People passed them left and right, no one waited or even seemed to perceive the siblings. He then focused on the alleyways, but couldn't see any suspicious movements there either. In his head he really cursed himself for taking her with him.
"Here," he offered his arm towards his sister. "It isn't far towards the camp." He hoped that the unspoken promise of the warmth and protection of their family would give the girl enough strength to keep going.
Without a word, his sister took his arm and the two siblings started walking again. For the first five steps everything was fine. After the next ten steps, his sister started to go slower and slower. And after the fifteenth steps, she stopped moving, before she suddenly put her hands on her ears.
"Hey," panicked the boy who grabbed the arms of sister, trying to pry them away from her ears.
"No! No! Something is here! I hear it!"
Now the people around them started noticing the strange acting girl.
"Sis, come on. Calm down." The brother tried to reach out to his sister. But his words didn't reach her. Suddenly all went dark and she became deaf to the noise around her as dark foreboding words echoed in her mind continuously. The girl felt as the energy left her body.
"Relinquish it!"
'What?!'
"Foolish girl! It is mine!"
'What is?'
"Relinquish your body to me!"
'No!"
A shadow was floating around her swaying body, unseen by the eyes of the brother and the other people on the street. She was alone. The shadow came towards her, reaching towards her. She wanted to scream but she had no energy to. Images of fire, blood, and dead bodies flashed in her mind. Faces she knew and faces she didn't know. Rain. Light. Storm. Darkness.
"Sis!" The brother could only catch the body of his sister as she fell. The bags with their purchases fell to the ground. "Sis!" Her eye rolled to the back of her head as she blacked out barely breathing, so little reaction.
A few meters away the shadow entered an alleyway. Just because he was so weak right now the girl had been able to repel him. She had been the perfect candidate for him. Weak but full of incredible potential, his rush to gain a new host made him act rashly in hope to find one before he faded, but his recklessness failed him.
Suddenly he felt another person. A person full of immeasurable sadness and rage, another potential host.
The Ebon Knight Ishmelga sank into the shadows and left the scene of the unconscious girl behind.
XxX
Thanks and shoutout to Infinite Zangetsu for helping me writing this story.
