In a quiet study in Novarista's castle, Matin Catorce lay against plush blue pillows, a book of stories in her hands.
She had been waiting three days now for news from Falo. Could it be true? Was her brother alive and living in Azuelgatt?
She hoped that the news would be good.
Matin put her book down and stood up. She felt excited and somewhat nervous, for she had made real progress in the reincarnation project, which had been set up by the first emperor of Noigllado long ago. There had been many stumbles, mostly due to failed efforts to persuade Azuelgatt to join with Noigllado, but since a peace treaty had been signed, the rulers of Noigllado had stopped interfering in the affairs of other nations and taken the project entirely into their own hands.
It was a project to reincarnate the lost planet.
Matin had a sacred sword called Trisagion that had been passed down from the first emperor. With it, she had practiced channeling magic by singing in the hopes that one day, she would be able to use Trisagion to further the goal of reincarnation.
It was that very night that she went to Trisagion's alter, picked up the sword and headed through a secret passage in the castle.
Falo hadn't dared to speak to Nox, or to Adhuk, his former captain of the guard, who he was surprised to see there. All thoughts of communication vanished when he heard they were part of an anti-Noigllado resistance. Nevertheless, Falo watched them. He learned that the resistance contained not just citizens of Azuelgatt, but also of Noigllado, and that they were fighting Agiona's unjust laws.
When he'd first heard the words "Agiona" and "tyranny" in the same sentence, Falo couldn't believe his ears. According to the people from Noigllado, no one lived comfortably outside of Novarista due to overly high taxes imposed by Agiona. Falo had never heard of this, and Matin had never indicated she knew about it. Why would Agiona be so cruel to the people? They had been created to keep the peace between Noigllado and Azuelgatt…
Then Falo thought. He remembered leaving Noigllado and seeing how much poorer other cities looked. He'd thought that it was simply a side effect of life on a refugee ship, but now that he thought about it, and compared those other cities with the elegance of Novarista…what if these people were right? Falo shuddered to think that the emperor's council would do something so horrible, but it was beginning to make sense.
He knew that, if Agiona was indeed so very bad, there was no way Matin could know. He had known her for her whole life, and he couldn't think of a kinder, gentler soul anywhere. She would never stand for such a thing.
That was why he absolutely could not believe it when he overheard the resistance's suspicion that Matin was in on Agiona's cruelty.
Falo almost blew his cover and shouted that no, Empress Matin had a pure heart, but he stopped himself. These people hated Noigllado soldiers, and it seemed to be with good reason. Falo shivered as he remembered what had happened just after Matin and Nox had turned a year old. The queen of Azuelgatt had been murdered and the people blamed Noigllado's army, having found their weapons at the scene. Rhineland, the then-emperor and the twins' father, had investigated the army and heard that no, no one had done such a terrible deed. The only thing left had been to talk to Agiona, but before he had a chance to do that, Emperor Rhineland suddenly fell ill and died before the next morning. Nox had disappeared, and Zalieri had told the knights, including Falo, who was a fairly new recruit then, that the prince had died of the same illness as his father.
Falo remembered being asked not to tell Matin, who was placed under his protection, about her brother's existence to spare her any grief. So Zalieri must have either been mistaken or lied to everyone.
He snapped out of his thoughts when he heard Nox say, "Tonight we storm Novarista Castle!"
Falo's face paled. He had to go back and protect Matin!
Matin followed the passage out of the castle, and out of Novarista and even the border of Noigllado, and came to the center of the Ark of Zektbach. Here was a huge reservoir that Agiona called the Flask Sea. Matin had asked many times why it was there, but all she'd ever heard was that it was essential to the plan.
Still gripping Trisagion, she crossed the bridge over the Flask Sea and came to a door. Opening this, she stepped into the room at the very core of the ship, where what looked like a ball of light hovered in between two rotating rings. This was the microquasar, the center of power for the Ark of Zektbach.
Matin took a deep breath in and raised Trisagion in front of her. Then, she began to sing.
An aura of magenta light surrounded Matin and the sword, and when the song was done, the aura left them and dove into the microquasar, where it exploded in a shower of sparkles.
Then something came out of the microquasar. It was a sphere of light that hovered and landed on the bridge next to Matin. The light elongated and transformed into the shape of a woman. She looked human except for her hair, which was made of dancing waves of blue, green and yellow light.
Matin had reincarnated one of the souls of the people who had stayed behind when the planet had died.
"Hello," Matin said.
The woman smiled warmly.
"Hello, Empress Matin Catorce," she replied. "Call me Sigma."