To make their conversations more comfortable, Samateus and Xerxes brought the group of Alliance leaders from the bridge of the world ship, to the conference room, and then teleported back to the Aurora's table room, after bidding Khilseith farewell as he would prefer to hear the condensed version of their tales. Xerxes and Samateus chuckled at how quickly Tibia had gotten past her apprehension to teleporting, enjoying the familial relationship of the extended alliance leadership and figuring out quickly that Samateus would answer her almost immediately if she were confused about something.
The inclusion of the Obsidian Blade, and learning it had been left to the Firians by the Makers themselves, made her pause though, the rest having similar reactions and becoming almost concerned for Pyrus when each remembered the earlier revelation that Emperor Magmus had been a commoner. Few knew that Pyrus' mother, Amber, had been Blaze's cousin, and also second-cousin to Emperor Cinder, so the idea that a commoner had wielded the Obsidian Blade of the Makers made all wonder just what the Firians were actually capable of.
Some accounts, even Blaze himself had seen it, of those who had seen Emperor Magmus, claimed he had evoked the Inferno itself, the air around him erupting in flame when in battle. Blaze explained to the group while they had walked, the assassination of Emperor Cinder, Pyrus and Zera most invested, yet all listening and making note of some of the details that did match up.
"The prior General had made a plot to take the crown for himself, had sent away the guards to help the civilians during a raid that saw several Boneans sneaking into the palace with his help. They had been thwarted by Magmus, Coal and I-" Pyrus raised a hand for a moment to stop him.
"Coal?" Pyrus inquired, though already suspected he knew who Blaze referred to, but waited for the answer.
"The Vizier..." Blaze paused a moment, Pyrus nodding and motioning for him to continue. "However the General before me took the opportunity to kill our Emperor, by stabbing him in the back and attempted to use the same blade to kill himself out of shame, or so we assumed. In retaliation though, Magmus had roared at him, Coal and I had to back away as waves of flame almost knocked us into the walls before he launched himself at the traitor, the flame taking on the shape of wings that allowed him to knock the blade from the old General's hands, but just a moment too late as the blade had been laced with poison. Emperor Magmus had been extremely loyal to Cinder, moving to hold our fallen Emperor's head on his lap to provide him some comfort. Cinder soon shakily took the crown off his brow and pushed it into Magmus' hands and to his chest, unable to speak as the poison took hold of his lungs and he was no more."
"Many on the streets saw the plume of flame that rose from the palace, Magmus did invoke the Inferno, though how and without the Blade at the time, I could only guess." Xerxes said after a moment of respectful silence, the group having heard different yet correllating stories to how Blaze explained it, and Xerxes' furtherance of the tale's accuracy from his viewpoint left no room for skepticism.
Returning to the Aurora via teleport, the length and events of the day started to take their toll on the gathered leaders, Samateus moving at one point to support Zuma who appeared ready to fall asleep on her feet. While the revelation of the fact that the Maker's had left behind an Ark and their alliance headed toward it, the excitement of such did nothing to stave off the tiredness in all of them. Xerxes smiled, chuckling lightly and looking to Capacitor.
"You have your scale-stone on you?" Xerxes asked, the comment confusing a few of the others.
"I do, I suppose it has been a long and eventful day." He chuckled, Xerxes looking around the room and smiled at the confused expressions on nearly every leader present.
"The scale-stone is something the Taalrulthians came up with. It's one of their scales, infused and imbued with elemental and psionic energy to turn it into a crystalline stone. It's great for telling individuals apart at a distance, only a few are ever given out, but we make a point that any who are high-value to the alliance as a whole are given one, especially those in command positions who may need to get their teams out of situations immediately and cannot otherwise send for help." Xerxes explained, Samateus chuckling.
"Not to say civilians are not high-value, however we cannot just give them out as they take a great deal of time and energy to develop properly. Each is directly connected to the Taal that creates it, and usually takes on the colour of their energy. For example, as a Fire element my scale-stones take on an orange or reddish hue, but are primarily golden as I am an Avatar, and no longer use Flame as much as I do the Light of Ashtareen." Samateus added, Capacitor removing a small red-gold stone, about the size and shape of a grape, polished to a gleaming shine, from one of his storage compartments to show the rest.
"Okay, so why does having one of these make it easier to help those who are in bad situations?" Zera asked, having trouble keeping awake at this point.
"Unlike the Ahr'aht, the Taalrulthians have an innate psionic connection that every one of them is a part of from birth. Think of it like a hive-mind, it's always there, but you don't always have to listen to it." Capacitor explained, becoming more comfortable around these new people, from the example put forward by his betrothed and his leader.
"We can reach out over vast distances, far more than most communications systems are able to, and without power. That's why one of my kin is stationed with every capital ship, and others come and go as needed." Samateus smiled, lightly purring. "I can tell though, all of you wish to return to your beds to rest and think on your own about everything you've learned from us, and we have our own duties to attend to."
"I must agree, however, you're covered in fur, are the stones transformed feathers perhaps?" Sternum asked, looking to her.
"Oh, we have scales under our fur, really small ones that protect the arteries on our necks, tails and extremities. Removing one for a stone takes a great deal of time and effort, usually we make one a year, at most, if needed." Samateus provided, smile held. "Capacitor can reach me anytime, my teleport is more of a personal one, so I can pop up wherever if there's room."
"Though within reason, of course. Is anyone in need of a teleport to their homes?" Xerxes offered, Tibia shaking her head and heading out of the room.
"Lobe is here, Sternum, Femur, Pelvus, if you want a ride he can autopilot us back..." She called back, winking at Samateus with a grin before she disappeared into the hall. Femur and Sternum had to hold their laughter as Pelvus almost moved to hide when Tibia walked toward and then past him, Pyrus and Zera looking to Samateus questioningly. Pelvus only followed when Sternum gently grabbed one of his fins and motioned him to follow as they bid farewell to their friends, Sternum wanting to debrief Pelvus on what had been happening aboard the Aurora while he had been with Pyrus and Zera earlier. Tekla and Capacitor then also slipped away to the engine room and to explore the ship, as Capacitor had wanted to do so much more after helping her with the coding for their weapons array.
"Tibia is very no-nonsense, and Pelvus tried to prank her once. The result ended up with him fearing her anytime she's nearby. It's not my story to tell however." Samateus grinned, Zera lightly grimacing at the lack of information. She would have to ask Femur or Sternum later, Pyrus having much the same thought.
"There are temporary rooms available on the Aurora, enough to accommodate everyone, if you would wish to stay here." Cryos offered to Xerxes and Samateus, Samateus perking up but Xerxes sadly shaking his head.
"I need to gather some things, get the schematics for the temperature and humidity regulators so we can possibly look at what might be done to make things a bit more comfortable for the Firian people on the Battle moon." Xerxes explained, looking to Samateus who perked up further and almost leapt up into a hover. "I understand you likely have worried Flare a bit longer than intended, Samateus has asked to return to the battle moon with you." Blaze and Pyrus shared a glance, Pyrus grinning when Blaze nodded.
"Only if I could request my ship be teleported to its berth on the moon, just in case?" Samateus' enthusiastic trill to Pyrus' response made Graveheart and Xerxes chuckle.
"Of course. Though, I suggest you wait until you've rested before you investigate the Blade, the Maker's legacy can be fickle, as I'm certain Jade can attest." Xerxes grinned toothily, Jade giving a shudder. Pyrus nodded, smiling and offering an outstretched hand, which Xerxes gently took and shook it, feathers rippling lightly as he felt the warmth from the young Prince almost pass through him where they touched.
"Thank you, for everything. We'll see you tomorrow?" Pyrus' smile became infectious, Graveheart meeting Xerxes' gaze briefly as the Ahr'aht turned to him, he and Jade nodding before Xerxes turned back to Pyrus and Blaze.
"Definitely." Xerxes purred as he released Pyrus' hand as Samateus moved to gently bump and rub her crest along his arm in thanks before she moved to Blaze and Pyrus. Pyrus thought of the throne room, where Blaze had left Flare, directing her to teleport them to the outer rung before the door to the Vault. She nodded, craning her neck toward them as she enveloped the three of them in light, and were gone in an instant. Zera then sleepily bid Jade, Graveheart, Xerxes, Zuma and her father goodnight before she headed off toward the room she knew would still be considered hers, Xerxes bowing to the others before disappearing himself. Jade went serious then, frowning.
"There's more between Blaze and Xerxes that they aren't telling, and Samateus has to know, so why has she not said anything?" Graveheart shook his head at her outburst, finding he agreed with her and disliked it, the three jumping slightly when Zuma spoke to them, having lingered behind instead of following Zera.
**What they omit is dangerous for the young Prince. Please, let them work it out.** Zuma's words deepened Jades frown, Cryos sighing.
"I must agree, Xerxes... When I knew him as Galen, he was secretive but never worked against my father and would run important messages between my grandmother and some of the guard in the outer colonies. Few knew how he managed it, though I suspect it's because he still likely had access to a teleporter at the time, but he could be in the palace in one moment, and appear at an outpost in half the time required. None suspected a thing, I remember even Frost trying to bring it up with my father who shot his concerns down." Cryos offered, Jade raising a brow.
"Do you think they knew?"
"I believe he did, only as my grandmother had likely ordered him to keep it secret as she had come across him first. My mother, unlikely. Sadly, only a few years after the event that Galen had been reported dead in, my Grandmother, Mother and Father were caught up in a vicious battle that claimed their lives... I'll have to check, however I believe it had been Firians that had performed the feat." Cryos trailed off, shaking his head lightly at the idea that Xerxes might have been there and killed his parents, despite saving him.
"I don't understand why you are both so worried about this, Xerxes... He talked to me privately for a minute earlier, when he was showing us the Hydroponics setups via hologram."
"You didn't ask him, did you?" Jade asked incredulously, a bit of a frown still showing through the brows that had shot up in shock.
"I didn't have to. We were both thinking about it, and how many times we talked it over... He picked up on my question about Mica way faster than I could think about it, said no, but... He thanked me for putting aside all of that hate, to help Pyrus, I can't... I can't believe he would do something like take part in a raid that wanted nothing more than to cause damage." Graveheart frowned, glaring at Cryos for the open ended suggestion that Xerxes might have been among the Firians that had killed his parents and the same Icean that had taken Xerxes in to show him their ways. Cryos bowed his head apologetically, hearing in the determination and emotion of Graveheart's voice that he had been in the wrong.
"I will reserve judgement until we can converse with him. I apologize Graveheart, it has been a very eventful day." Cryos carefully worded, Zuma turning then to find somewhere quiet to meditate as Jade and Graveheart padded off to their temporary chambers. Cryos sighed, looking over the now empty chairs and almost jumping when light enveloped him and deposited him in a white room, Xerxes lying carefully on what looked like a couch. He stood, and Cryos gaped as Xerxes shapeshifted before him, into a Firian. Xerxes met Cryos' gaze evenly, at first Cryos not recognizing him, and realized that he had lied to Pyrus and their entire group, as he did not strain or appear pained at all.
"You will tell him and the others nothing. Do you understand? This could kill him." Xerxes hissed, the voice instantly recognized, adding to the four ear spines that only this one individual had been recorded to have. Cryos could not speak, gaping for a moment before he realized what this could potentially mean to Pyrus, and all the Firians. Xerxes shapeshifted back to his natural form, shaking himself lightly once he had.
"Will you? I'm sorry but these omissions and the private conversations are making it very difficult for me to trust you again." Cryos seethed, wide awake again and enraged by being shown the biggest secret Xerxes and Blaze could possibly keep.
"Your Grandmother lived after that day. For a few months, yet age claimed her." Xerxes then tapped the collar around the base of his neck again, part of it opening to show the diadem Cryos' Grandmother had worn from the day he had been born until the last he had seen her. The one Zera's crown had been modeled after. Cryos fell silent, rage deflating to sadness as Xerxes removed the diadem and brought its crystal to his forehead reverently before returning it to Cryos, his hands shakily held up to receive the delicate jewelry.
"She fought valiantly, thought she was hearing things but when I told her to attack on one side and I would block, which she did and almost stopped dead in her tracks. I managed to get her away from the line of sight of the others, and used the teleporter from my ship in the system to get her off world. She protested, screamed profanities and raged at me for not saving your parents, but you know why I couldn't." Cryos' emotions rollercoastered up and down so swiftly he almost blacked out, Xerxes eventually moving to steady him, each hand on either of the Icean's shoulders. "I tried to get out of the mission, even Coal tried to help, but he couldn't, our commanding officers wanted us to see what the other worlds were like, and to get us and Blaze out of his hair for the week. Two days each direction, and all that was accomplished was murder."
"That's why... the Golden Jubilation? You promised to do that for her?" Cryos gaped as Xerxes nodded. "Almost succeeded too. Spine really hated you."
"And never even met me as you know me now. I wanted to show you the truth, when I was still Galen, your Grandmother almost slapped me herself, as you were too young to be involved in such dangerous politics." Xerxes chuckled, both relaxing slowly as they reconciled the admissions Xerxes had just made.
"Blaze knew?"
"Yes, only because he caught me half-shifted once in Coal's room. We were very lucky no one thought anything of us dragging him in unceremoniously before anyone else could see me. Coal had found my ship crashed in the opposite side of the Capital volcanic ridge and I was completely unconscious. He wasn't as much a speciesist as you remember, not always at least." Cryos laughed lightly at this, moving to gently pat Xerxes' hand on one of his shoulders.
"I'll be alright, but it's going to be very difficult to keep this to myself..."
"We only have to wait until he is eighteen in a few months. I can give him his birthright then and no one else needs to know."