Chapter 1
Euthalia and Gorgo
The Province of North Centra was autonomously ruled by a female Governor called Euthalia Chrysanthe. The Empress had always preferred female Governors for her Provinces. Sadly, many of those who would have made effective female Governors were either serving officers, such as Selena Vlahos, or had already been killed during the war. The Empress once had high hopes for the disgraced Hikaru Akechi and the turncoat Tyris Pandemona. Likely, those two would have been offered Provinces after the war's end.
Governor Chrysanthe was now in her late forties. Never one to dodge middle age, her shoulder-length hair was a mixture of grey and brown. Her cosmetics were minimal, still a natural beauty with her high cheekbones, doe eyes and slight chin. She had neither needed nor wanted of any of those now easily affordable implants, her figure still impressing those who beheld her on her frequent public appearances throughout the Province. Now within her office, she had shed traditional Esthari robes for a pale blue blouse and a light grey skirt.
Having never served in the military, Euthalia was recruited by the Loire regime following her postgrad in economics, eventually being picked to become President Loire's personal secretary. It went without saying that that vacancy was for someone who was prepared to do much of the President's work for him, as Laguna had never meant to become a politician, let alone a president.
The president had grown on a younger Euthalia, who had come to provide the tense and widowed Laguna with a mutual comfort during his later years in office. In time, she had fallen in love with the Cowardly Lion, despite the age gap. Sadly, Laguna's heart remained irreparably broken after being forcible separated from not one, but two lovers during his eventful past, both of which had tragically lost their lives in his absence. Thus, Laguna never once lowered his barriers enough to truly reciprocate her love.
This had remained the case after the Lunar Cry. Euthalia had rarely left the president's private chambers during that hell, try as she might to ease his stress. Yet when Laguna conspired with Seifer Almasy and Fujin to flee the ravaged country, he did not take Euthalia with him. Worse, he dropped sleeping medication into her wine to ensure she did not wake in the night and follow. Euthalia had always tried to convince herself that he had done it for her own protection. That even with two GF bearers attempting to spirit him around the Lunar hordes, Laguna could not guarantee her safety. That if they had been acquired by the newly emerged Sorceress Reina – who had already raised Adel's old banner over Mordred and publicly executed Kiros and Ward – Euthalia would have been killed, too.
Like the rest of the Esthari, Euthalia had been enthralled by their new Sorceress saviour and sworn lifelong fealty to her. With her credentials, and likely because of her gender, Euthalia had been allowed to remain within government service. Because she was no fighter, she had even been spared a vetting mind contact. The Empress did not learn of her past affair until later, though due to her loyal service, Euthalia was forgiven. After several years, Euthalia rode the Empress' favour and eventually became the youngest Secretary of the Treasury. She served with distinction for several years, continuing to stymie the fallout of the Cry and in later years proving adept at regulating the hard currency coming in from the Empire's territorial gains.
That was until North Centra's previous Governor, Claudius, was assassinated by White SeeD. Euthalia was summoned to the Empress' private chamber that same day, a room she had once been very familiar with. There, the Empress offered her to be Claudius' successor. Suddenly, someone who had never even thought of leading would have dominion over a thousand square miles of Empire territory, answerable only to the Empress.
Of course, Euthalia was naïve. Her first thought was that she would be a kind and unselfish Governor, always finding the right balance between righteousness and being regarded weak. Her first actions were to drastically improve conditions in the notoriously brutal Centran mines and munitions facilities. Many of the malnourished children labouring within them had ended up crippled going into adulthood, or otherwise, atrophied with stunted growth and poor posture. Few were as fortunate as the turncoat Lieutenant Pandemona had been; many were unsuitable for future military service.
Euthalia convinced the Empress that with the abundance of POWs seized in the recent Timber campaign, there really was no need to staff the mines with child slaves. Euthalia brought in an amendment specific to North Centra that outlawed the use of any bondspersons under the age of fifteen – which was recognised as adulthood in the Empire, keeping in with the spirit of ancient Centra. Mines were emptied of child slaves overnight and these children would be 'easternised' by being offered to an abundance of adoptive families migrating here.
Timberian and Galbadian POWs filled those vacancies. Conditions were made humane for these hardy men and women. 'Hard labour' was redefined as being no more than forty-five hours per week, and they were given weekends off, so long as they were obliging and stuck to all rules within the facilities. They were even paid a small salary. And with these former solders being naturally fit, productivity increased by a huge margin. The Empress was pleased with the increase of raw materials, and Euthalia was considered an effective Governor. Reina had been expected to move on Galbadia within a few years, and Euthalia had been given leave to grant the POWs their freedom after the war, so long as they swore fealty.
North Centra was seen as the second most favourable place to relocate to within the Empire, behind only Balamb. Their largest settlements, Mysidia and Palamecia, had grown to modest towns of thirty thousand apiece. Imperial patrol ships kept the lawless bandits and pirates of southern Centra at bay. And while North Centra was not as picturesque as Timber, it was not fraught with the insurgency of the Forested Plains.
Now far from her Empress, Euthalia risked re-establishing contact with Laguna. She had been married since, and had two children, but was now divorced. Not to mention lonely, within her sparsely populated Province. And even after twenty years, Euthalia still firmly believed the Cowardly Lion had been the one who got away.
Literally.
With the help of a hacker, the Governor had been shown how to infiltrate the western social media networks. Euthalia created a false profile, able to locate the ever-careless Laguna without any help from her experts. The two had messaged back and forth after she had revealed her identity, warming her heart each time her private inbox lit up with his name. Craven Lagoon, she had endearingly named him in her contacts. For Laguna's sake, it was fortunate Euthalia would never reveal his location to the Empress, which she had pinpointed almost immediately. He spent most of his time at his lavish home in Wilburn, journeying to Galbadia City biweekly by train for his ambassadorial role to the Caraway administration.
Still, Euthalia honestly had not known if she would ever see him again. Laguna was now a senior citizen. If he survived the looming Galbadian invasion, he would be on the run for the rest of his dwindling life. The uncolonised southern Centra would be the only place he could call a haven. And some haven that would be, rife as it was with nomadic tribes, drug barons and piracy. Southern Centra had become much like the 'wild west' that post-Jadis Dollet had been before the First Sorceress War, inspiring that uncouth western genre of movies.
Then the unthinkable happened. On the cusp of world domination, the Esthar juggernaut retreated from Galbadia. And then Dollet – a shadow of its former imperial self – declared independence barely a week later, now calling itself New Sarona.
And now, things were changing again. A few days ago, White SeeD had infiltrated North Centra with a company of cactuars. Euthalia had given her highest ranking officer command to capture them. Lieutenant Astinos, formerly a Colonel, had once been regarded highly enough to be a magicite holder. Though he had been scapegoated for the loss of two divisions during the Battle of the Alcauld Plains thirteen years ago. It had been that loss that allowed the Armageddon Fist to get within striking distance of the Empress, and Astinos had been lucky to have survived execution. Demoted to Major, Astinos had been allowed to serve the remainder of his career here, eventually reclaiming the position of Lieutenant.
Yet Astinos had failed spectacularly at dealing with White SeeD. His shock detachment of cyborgs had been obliterated first, and then Astinos himself had perished at the Necropolis, along with most of the soldiers stationed at the Province. The Lieutenant had been at the centre of that mysterious white explosion. This left North Centra with less than five thousand troops, most of which were marines and navy personnel stationed at Mysidia. They barely outnumbered those robust Timberian and Galbadian POWs being held in the mines.
Euthalia had just been on the hotline to the Empress – Empress Ultimecia, as she was now calling herself. The Governor had heard reports of the change in the Empress' appearance, but it was the first time she had seen them for herself. The Empress was younger than her, and Euthalia could not fathom why such a young Sorceress would already be losing control over her appearance. Or why her accent was changing.
'Deal with it, Governor!' the Empress had said sternly. 'Yours' and Astinos' inkompetence has allowed our enemies to awaken Griever! I am about to disembark to Timber, where the kourse of this prolonged war will be decided!'
Ultimecia must have used her mind to terminate the call, as she had not moved an inch to push the end-call button.
Even though the Empress was thousands of miles away, Euthalia felt a chill slowly inch up her spine. She immediately went for her e-cigarette. Traditional smoking remained banned indoors, even though she had the power to change that here. As a compromise, she had ensured vapes could be used in designated smoking areas. At this moment, her office was one.
Twenty years of fealty. Euthalia had once been personally praised by the Empress, and now stood a mere figurehead that could be replaced overnight. A scapegoat for the jeopardy of a Province. A mere number. Her letter of resignation was already on its first draft on her computer.
So, the enemies of the Empire had awoken the Winged Lion. The western continent remained outside of the Empress' shadow. Euthalia had seen the satellite images from the events at the Necropolis, and she knew the 'Allies' - as western media referred to them - now commanded many more Guardian Forces than the ones unfortunate enough to be entrapped in magicite. She thought of Laguna again. Maybe there was a future for the two of them. If the Empress could lose the western continent, and if Laguna could remain in Galbadia.
Her Deputy Governor entered. Gorgo was ten years her junior and named for one of the Original Four. Sorceress Gorgo had been the queen of Shalmal - one of the most influential Centran city-states pre-unification - living for so long she had eventually transfigured into a snake. Yet the queen's diadem had remained on her head even as her hair became viperous tendrils. Sorceress Gorgo had been fond of turning those who displeased her to stone, and many of her petrified victims could still be found throughout the Shalmal Peninsular. The outlander Matoya had been Gorgo's Successor.
Gorgo's namesake was attractive, though not without cost. The niggling grey roots in her raven hair were hidden, her nose was too perfect, her lips a little too full, and her curves too exaggerated to be natural. Her robes were deliberately tight, and she never wore the hats commonly wore by Esthari. She was also devious and snake-tongued in nature. Gorgo's family lived on the colony, but Euthalia had heard many whisperings of affairs in the past.
The Deputy Governor originated from working-class Esthar City and had retained the twang, in addition to a crass attitude when not in the public eye. During the Cry, much of the aristocracy had been mauled in their lavish homes on the outskirts of Esthar, or left helpless out on their multi-acre estates on the Great Plains. This had opened many doors for the working class in the two-decade reconstruction process. Gorgo's intelligence in state school had been noted early, and she had been awarded a higher-education grant that springboarded her ride through the political hierarchy.
Gorgo disdainfully looked at the e-cig in Euthalia's hand. She preferred the real thing, albeit of the minted variety.
'What do you want, Gorgo?' Euthalia asked her bluntly.
'The officers at the mines defied your orders, ma'am,' Gorgo said. 'They started gunning down the POWs in cold blood!' She paused. 'This led to an uprising, and all the sentries were killed. Thousands of POWs survived, many of them have weapons, and they are loose on the plains as we speak! If they join forces, they are high enough in number to threaten us!'
Euthalia had given the Wardens command to leave the POWs and relocate all prison sentries to Mysidia. There were not enough guards to halt that strange alliance marching from the Necropolis, and the Governor knew she swiftly needed to marshal her remaining forces.
'How will you respond to this, Governor?' Gorgo asked, with thinly veiled contempt.
It was no secret the Deputy believed Euthalia to be naïve and fickle, with her sights set on the top position - before she reached Euthalia's age.
'You should have just bombed the shit out of the prison camps!' Gorgo said crassly. 'We've still got the ordnance, and they're unshielded! It's a heartless move, but it would have been the only way to prevent thousands of trained killers from joining White SeeD. Men and women that you allowed to remain here and stay healthy!'
Euthalia said nothing. Instead, she slowly rose from her chair and walked to one wall. In Esthari fashion, the wall served as a giant south-facing window that filtered in sunlight.
'Tens of thousands of Centrans are also gathering north of the Lenown Plains,' Gorgo went on, 'led by the Uncrowned King!'
Steiner of House Christophe could not bring his people here. Not without many ships. This put an obvious target on the naval base at Mysidia. White SeeD were in league with the Centran nomads and could give them the ferry they needed. Worse, White SeeD had the power to take Mysidia now, even if Euthalia marshalled her whole force there.
Euthalia believed that no matter what she decided, North Centra was already lost. Should the Empress be victorious in her new offensive, the Province could be easily retaken. But that did nothing for them now. They were on their own. There was nothing left for Euthalia in the Empire other than disgrace. While pretending to ponder on Gorgo's information, she was already formulating the seeds of a plan that would see her defect to the west and reunited with Laguna.
'Well?' Gorgo prompted, then reluctantly added, 'Ma'am?'
For the colonists, the most sensible option would be evacuation. Euthalia cared about her people's safety. And that way, they could one day return to the home they had laboured hard to make for themselves. If the Empress lost the war, then perhaps the colonists could live in harmony with the subjects of the Lost Kingdom. Euthalia moved from the window after a long drag on her e-cig, exhaling in Gorgo's direction. She firmly met the audacious Gorgo's stone-grey eyes.
'All citizens under the age of fifteen will be evacuated to the Homeland,' the Governor answered. 'For the remainder, I will invoke Article Fifteen. All who can bear arms – including you and I – will safeguard our land until the arrival of the Empress.' Gorgo recoiled. 'However long that may be,' Euthalia added.
Gorgo blinked in disbelief, her mouth parting. There were no exceptions to that Article. Like everyone else, Gorgo had agreed to it when she had signed her residence papers. Although it was too late, she quickly put on a mask of false confidence.
'A fine decision,' she allowed. 'It's the only way to safeguard our people. And it gives us the means to capture the cutthroats that murdered Governor Claudius!' Her smile was blood-red and cruel. 'We will present Edea's rats to the Empress on a silver platter!'
Gorgo, Euthalia knew, cared little for avenging her predecessor in reality. If not for Claudius' assassination, neither of them would be here.
'I'm pleased you agree, Gorgo,' Euthalia said. 'This is our Province. We have made our home here, and we will defend it as such.'
(A/N: This short story wasn't planned. Though as I reached the culmination of the Centra arc in The Third Sorceress War, I felt like it was reading more like an overview, and I simply wasn't happy with it. Seeing as I set a trend with Children of Sarona, I decided to do the same thing here.)