"L-luna! How did you get here?" Alex stammered quizzically.
"Get here? I'm a normal person, born under interesting circumstances, given powers known to few mortals."
"You rehearsed that, right?"
"Yeah."
"What circumstances?"
"I was born at midnight in the crossing of years, under a full moon with the beams of the lighthouses shining upon my face."
"Crossing of years? You mean that you were born as one year ended and another began?"
"Yes."
"So you aren't a true Luna adept…"
"I've heard rumors of them. Why did the thought of me being a Luna adept excite you?"
"I thought I wouldn't need the Incarnations."
"Why is that? And why do you need the incarnations?"
"I'll tell you later, if you gain my full trust."
"I guess I will leave to begin my task."
"Good." After Kunos was well gone, Alex began to talk to himself. "If I had a Luna adept, I could get another, and bypass the seals… But as it is, I must place trust in Kunos to accomplish the task I have given him. If only I had found the incarnations during my reign…"
Kunos was leaving the palace, taking as many corpses as possible out using Carry psyenergy. When he got out, a villager from New Vale saw him, and Kunos lunged for his throat. Kunos began to crush, but remembering Alex's words, didn't kill him.
"I won't kill you. But spread this message: The palace is under new management." He dropped the villager, and the makeshift messenger ran off. "I guess I should go for Imil and Lemuria, and find the Mercury incarnations…"
---
A few days passed, and interesting news slowly crept to Lemuria.
"King Dokke! I have important news." Some random guard yelled.
"What is it?" responded some teenager, barely looking like a king.
"We have received news that Alex has returned. Spies snuck into the palace and saw him talking with some person in black armor."
"And…? Do you think he'll start with Lemuria again?"
"No. His soldier took the palace single-handedly and gave it to Alex, and now is kidnapping teenagers!"
"So…?"
"We need to increase your protection."
"If he took Alex's palace on his own, why do you think you stand a chance?"
"Just humor us."
"Fine. Place extra guards. But no extreme stuff, like food tasting. He wants to kidnap me, not kill me."
"We'll keep half the guard on you at all times."
"…That didn't sound right."
"I'll rephra-" the guard fell over, revealing Kunos.
"Did you kill him?"
"No. I want a bloodless mission. He's just unconscious. Will you come with me?"
"I guess I have no choice."
"Good." Kunos grabbed Dokke, and teleported back to Alex's palace.
"Alex, my lord, I bring you Dokke, King of Lemuria, Son of Piers."
"He's wrong then."
"You didn't test him!"
"It's logic."
"How so?"
"How old is he?"
"116!" Dokke interrupted.
"That isn't possible."
"Why not?" Kunos asked.
"I killed Piers in my first attack 217 years ago. That's a century before Dokke was born. So how could his father be a hundred year old corpse? And even if he was Piers's biological son, he couldn't be the Incarnation. Piers was an Incarnation, and there can't be two Incarnations at once."
"Okay then. But how old IS he? And who is his father?"
"Mind read him."
"I'd rather not unless I have to. Will you tell me?"
"I AM 116, but Piers is not my blood father. I just inherited his psyenergy through a vial of life."
"A vial of what?"
"Vial of life." Alec interrupted. "A potion, of which one ingredient is blood, to pass on psyenergy from one generation to the next. They are incredibly hard to make."
"I was given it when it was determined I would be king. Piers's legendary blade now determines the king if there is no heir."
"Okay then. We will return you to your kingdom now."
"Wait! I can help you!"
"You don't need to shout. How?"
"I am King of Lemuria. I have kept it secret, but I have supported you since I learned of you. Judging by your ruling methods, you only caused suffering if there were rebels. If no one rebelled, the world would have been great for all but warmongers. I can help you rebuild your empire. I can give you supplies and adepts, and when you rebuild your empire, Lemuria itself."
"Interesting. Lemuria is my first true ally. Never thought that would happen."
"I just have one question. Why did you attack Lemuria first?"
"I needed to start a war. Lemuria posed the most of a threat."
"Makes sense."
"Might as well tell both of you at once. I'm a g-" Kunos tried to say, then the ceiling collapsed, and guards started rushing in.
"Shit! My guards!"
"Run to a back room! Someone'll get you later!" Dokke ran off, and Alex and Kunos drew their weapons.
"This'll be fun…" Kunos said.
"Strike to wound, not kill. Any one of them could be an Incarnation."
"Aww… Take away my fun…"
Alex lunged for the nearest guard, and cut off one of his arms. He became surrounded by other guards, so he responded with a shockwave which knocked out all the guards surrounding him.
Kunos was leaping around, hitting guards in the back of the head with the flat of her blade. Eventually, a band of guards with psyenergy-proof armor appeared.
"These are veteran soldiers. Strike to kill."
Alex got into a counterattack pose, and waited for the guards to come to him. Three guards lunged at him, and he blocked all their strikes at once and threw them back. Meanwhile, Kunos was on the offensive, forcing back soldiers with constant swinging of blades. They could barely do anything to hold back Kunos, until a few other soldiers turned up behind him and knocked him down. One of them was about to plunge his sword down, and then his head was on the ground, decapitated by Alex. He pulled Kunos up, and they both began to strike wildly. They would defend each other, and soon enough, all the Elite guards were down. Then the dragon came.
"Shit! What is that?" Kunos yelled.
"Neo Eclipse. Ultimate weapon of Lemuria. Designed shortly after I disappeared. We can't handle it. Go get Dokke, and tell him to tell his guards that he was rejected."
"Okay." Kunos ran into a back room, grabbed Dokke, and threw him to the dragon. After the dragon left, Alex rebuilt his palace.
"Alex, I've been trying to say something for a while, but I always get interrupted." Kunos said in a feminine voice.
"Your voice…"
"I'm a girl."
"Why did you hide it?"
"It's harder to gain respect as a bloodthirsty empress if you're a girl. People just don't take you seriously."
"Hmm… But why didn't you use your normal voice every time you tried to tell me?"
"To be honest… I hadn't used my normal voice in years." Kunos then took off her mask.
"Huh. Well, I guess we should find some other incarnations."
"I guess so."
"Actually, I think I'll tell you what I'm actually after."
"You will?"
"Yes. Have you heard of the Elemental Capitals?"
"No…"
"They are the original four kingdoms. Lemuria, Anemos, Kterox, and Venta. The Lemuria we know is not an Elemental Capital, however. Our Lemuria was built over the old. Anemos is the Capital of Wind, Kterox is fire, and Venta is earth. The only way to enter a capital is with two Luna adepts, two Sol adepts, or the two Incarnations of that element."
"What lies in these capitals? And what are Luna and Sol adepts?"
"These capitals hold true psyenergy of their element. If you could enter, you could absorb ultimate power for an element. Luna and Sol adepts used to be orders of adepts who had trained in all four true elements, but now they are their own type of element. We'd be lucky if each of us could handle one at a time, as we are. That is why we need the true elements. Soon, Luna and Sol will fight, and Weyard will be their battleground. They took their own chunks of land to make their own kingdoms, and no longer are attached to Weyard. Will you help me stop them?"
"I will."
A/N: You have no idea how many times I typed "her" instead of "him" when talking about Kunos. For all I know, I left some mistakes in there. This chapter is actually very different than the original version, because I delayed a big event. And thanks to the ONE PERSON who reviewed. It's funny that I only have one review, and this has been up for a few weeks. Some stories get a few reviews hours after being put up. But whatever. Muffin away!