End of the Beginning

"So, what can we expect?" Yu asked as he tried to keep pace with Yalathas.

The paladin didn't so much as glance at him as he turned another corner, "You can expect a lot of yelling and a lot of disagreeing, enough to drive you insane."

Beside him, Yosuke huffed, "Great."

"Just be polite and respectful. Remember, you're talking with kings and queens. They'll expect fealty from you," Yalathas informed them.

It had been a full week since the attack, an attack many were calling 'The Battle of the Broken Bridge', and it had spread through the halls since then that Yu and his friends were a thing. Maybe not that they were the counterparts to their Champions, but ones who had pulled of something incredible, and that was all the fuel the citizens needed.

As such, it had been inevitable it would reach the other kings and queens ears, and they had immediately called for their presence as well as that of the Champions for this meeting to decide their next course of action.

To say Yu was nervous was a bit of an understatement. The silver brocade he wore was hot as well, and he was constantly fiddling with the gilded sleeves to distract himself from what was to come. Rhysana had been adamant they dress nicely, even if it was uncomfortable.

The private war room Queen Edda had summoned them too was nearly dead center in the castle, with huge double doors of heavy bronze emblazoned with a dragon in flight. A golden one, Yu noticed, and after that he tried not to stare at it too hard. Two long cloth banners of blue were draped along the columns girding the door in place, and twin braziers of blackened steel were set below them, burning bright and hot to let others now that a council was in session. From beyond the plated doors, voices echoed through, loud and argumentative.

The Chamber of Andras, they called it, in honor of a king Yu did not know.

The guards stationed there saluted once before clacking the butt of their glaives against the stone, and the doors slowly ground open. Yalathas carried on unperturbed, and after a quick, reassuring nod to his friends, Yu followed him inside.

The war room was a huge, circular room fifty feet in length, with a forty foot long table at it's heart. The oak wood was ancient, but the varnish gleamed strongly in the light of the torches affixed to the walls, their flickering blue flames obviously magical in origin. The surface of the table itself was grooved, sloping inward to create the illusion that the floor was sinking, and richly painted to resemble an ornate map of the continent of Andalar. There were pitted divots running blue to mark rivers, molded rises in the wood in place of mountains, and realistically painted figurines of the castles of the other seven kingdoms. High cushioned seats were raised around the entirety of the table, each king and queen sitting apart with their banners lifted behind them, in heated discourse with one another. The rest of the Champion stood at the fore, and at the sound of the great doors opening, the entire chamber fell silent to watch.

"Ah, so these are the children," King Friedrich nodded, appraising them through wrinkled eyes, "Young indeed, and with such a curious resemblance to our own Champions."

"It is a sign, my King," Queen Gisela waxed, holding her husband's arm and staring wide-eyed, "It must be!"

"Are you certain?" Queen Amalia commented, lips pursed into a small, frumpy pout, hands fisted into the green silks of her skirt.

"I believe we can trust the Champions judgment," the old, wizened Queen Ida said, voice creaking with age in time to her bones as she leaned over, curiosity bright in her aged eyes, "Tell us, younglings, of what magic did you use to strike down the dragon Nyverak?"

All the kings and queens tilted their heads in very obvious interest, and for a moment, Yu floundered for what to say. The real story was too long to explain now, but how could he shorten it down in terms they'd understand?

Then, with a bolt of lightning realization, he knew what to use, "Mythic."

Several murmurs rose up around the hall, Queen Ida nodding in slow, slow cadence, "For true? Such powerful souls, indeed, to generate such a tremendous amount."

Yu licked his lips. While true there persona's were powerful, it would not have been possible for he and his friends to summon them had it not been for the sacrifice of another, and he wanted these kings and queens to know that, "With respect, Your Majesty . . . Tiruviel helped us that night. At the cost of her life."

"And she will be honored, in time," Queen Edda spoke out. There were dark rings under her eyes, but she held her head high despite her clear exhaustion, "But now, we must find a solution to this new problem. And I believe-"

"For the last time!" King Meinrad interjected sharply, snapping an irate hand out, "Your proposal cannot be maintained! Our armies are needed to defend our own homelands, and an exalted march is simply not feasible!"

"And where would our unified armies even go?" King Stephen barked, gaunt face near skeletal in the light, "This is no World Wound we can simply march on. We do not know the nature of this phenomenon, nor do we know its source. We are blind!"

"Then we must hunt for its source!" Queen Edda snapped, her patience thin, "Sitting idly will only worsen our chances! Surely, you must see this will not stop here!"

Prince Roland crossed his arms, his look not without sympathy, "No, it will not. But without an adequate idea of what is to occur, we cannot march blindly. And that is not all. The Naedarish still harass the coast, of which my kingdom is a vanguard. I know you grieve for your people and the dragon Tiruviel, and I will gladly offer men to aid you in rebuilding, but I must return to defend my home."

"Bah, feckless, the lot of you!" King Borris spat, waving an irate hand at the gathering, "Once, our kingdoms stood strong against hordes that beggared belief! Would that I could, but I would gladly take up my hammer again and take this fight to the ones responsible for this mess!"

"Would you now?" King Meinrad snorted derisively, "Well, unless you have gained some sudden knowledge as to their whereabouts, I would hear it happily!"

"Knowledge," the hall fell silent when Queen Ida spoke, a queer hush as sudden as a candle's light snuffed by a puff of air. The old woman leaned against her staff, her smile toothless but eyes twinkling with something far more than just humor, "Knowledge is something few truly grasp the importance of. Oh yes, there is knowing how to steer a horse, to wield a sword in your hand, to lead an army into battle. But true knowledge, the sort that can turn the tides of those battles, the same sort our enemies have, that is what we need. You ask the question: where is our enemy? How may I destroy them? I ask a different one; what is the Night of No Stars? How may it be stopped? Those are the ones we truly should be asking."

The rest of the court shifted where they stood, until Queen Edda's voice rose in the silence, "There may be something. Before the Assembly, Tiruviel and I, along with the Champions, searched high and low for an explanation for the phenomenon that had been happening throughout my kingdom. And while what we found was vague at best, Lord Yvir suggested an alternative."

The sylph nodded, stepping forward, not cowed by the curious eyes that fell on him, "I did, and it still stands, Your Majesty."

"And what was this suggestion," King Friedrich asked, peering over his spectacles, "Pray, let us hear it."

"An expedition into the Green Wood," Yvir explained, standing straight and proud, "Where my mother lives. She might have the answers we need."

Yu gave a quick, puzzled glance in Yosuke's direction, the brunette looking even more confused, brow pinched so tight they looked almost as one. But the rest of hall . . . they did not look confused. They looked knowing, and also very uneasy as they traded glances with one another.

Then, Queen Ida chuckled, "Ah, and there it is. What we seek is not the work of armies or kings, my royal men and women. This is the work of Champions. And, mayhaps, even a few apprentices."

Her twinkling eyes flicked to him, filled with a knowing that left him uncomfortable. He wondered who this queen was, truly, and how she had come to gain such a look.

"Well, I've certainly heard of worse compromises," Queen Elena commented in her sweet, soft voice, smiling up to her husband, "Don't you think, my brave heart?"

King Adalbert grunted, but his nod was plain for all to see, "Worse, yes. But as for wise, well, that we will have to see."

"Well?" Queen Edda addressed the Champions, "Will you do this for us, and find the answers we seek?"

Yalathas drew his sword, the blade gleaming azure in the light of the torches as he fell to a knee, "We will, Your Majesty. In the name of Irun, I swear it to you."

One by one, the rest of Champions kneeled as well, vows ringing solemn and true against the ancient stone of the chamber. The lights flickered, casting strange shadows along the walls, and it felt as if something was watching them, something unseen.

So perhaps that was what made him so jumpy when the bronze doors behind them suddenly opened. Yu wheeled around with the rest of his companions, staring as a small procession of well-armed guards in shiny, gleaming breastplates walked inside in uniform lines.

"Ah, he's arrived," he heard Queen Edda say, tone sour with dislike.

There wasn't time for him to question why, because that was when he saw who was leading the procession.

A young woman stood at the head, robes of rouge samite flowing down her body, gilded with stitched whorls of gold. A choker of beaten silver was around her neck and shoulders, its several shiny plates divided by raised lines of braided metal. On each was embedded a dark topaz, the gems burnt black in the light of the torch flames yet shimmering with unknown power. A symbol hung at her waist, a hollow circlet of silver with a blade and a quill crossed together, and immediately knew she was a cleric of some sort.

But more interesting was her face. Long, brown hair was coiled beneath her head in an elegant bun held in place by a hair net made of silver threads so fine they resembled spider silk. Dark red pearls were looped to every place the threads would cross, and it looked as if droplets of blood had been strewn through the woman's hair. Her face was petite and heart-shaped, her brown eyes appearing huge on her fair face. But they were warm as well, a smile breaking across her face like a dawn when her eyes found something behind him.

"Brother," she said, in a voice that was familiar and unfamiliar at the same time but unquestionably touched with joy.

That was when Yalathas strode past him to stand before the woman, and when Yu saw the softness in his gaze, the happiness in his eyes, and heard that single, spoken word, it hit him immediately.

"Natalya."

Nanako . . .

Behind the pair, the soldiers slipped aside as two massive, heavily armored men pushed forward, dragging another figure between them.

He was slender and pale, dressed in prison garb that was dirty, frayed, and smelly, with manacles of beaten iron clapped around his wrists and ankles. But even so, he was still walked tall and proud, refusing to be weak before this assemblage of kings. Small horns crowned the dark, unkempt locks of hair, eyes as bright and red as a newly blooded sword darting from one face to the next with almost lazy boredom. Something slithered behind him, a black, leathery tail tipped with a hook of barbed flesh flicking into view before vanishing again.

But his face had Yu's eyes. His face, and the cruel, irreverent smile that brought glistening fangs into view, an expression that sent a cold, cold chill down his spine. He felt Yosuke grasp his arm, fingers clasping tight with bruising strength, trembling not from fear, but from rage.

The not-stranger noticed, and the man wearing Adachi's face grinned even wider, "Well . . . looks like this is one hell of a party I've just been invited too."

(*)

Far away, a door stood.

Chains wrapped it's exterior, steel and diamond and silver and iron and many, many others that webbed it closed to the outside world.

A woman stood before it, and beside her, a dragon with scales of gold.

"This is . . . problematic," the woman said, whisking a strand of ebony hair out of her face.

The other nodded, "Indeed. I fear even the Champions will not be enough now, for all their power."

"Don't underestimate them," the woman chided, emerald eyes flashing warningly, "They've won against impossible odds before, and they will again."

The dragon's eyes glimmered amusedly, "You hold much faith in them. It shames me, truly."

"Of course I have faith," the woman replied blithely, turning back to the door, "They stopped my other half, after all."

The door creaked, and both tensed.

After a moment of breathless anticipation, the dragon narrowed her eyes, "What shall we do?"

"I am going to find this door's erstwhile guardians," the woman said, "You are going to gaurd it until I do."

The dragon scoffed, "There is little to gaurd it against except itself. Surely I can do more!"

The other sighed, "Before, maybe. Now, not so much. You came here to help. Here's helping."

The dragon rolled her eyes, but knew better than to argue with this one, "And what of the Champions and their new wards? Do you plan to keep them in the dark?"

"Unfortunately, the rules say I cannot meddle in the affairs of the Material Plane unless sought for advice or for a needed divine intervention. But I don't think it's needed. They're already on the right path," the woman turned away, stepping out into the plain, stark whiteness around them.

The dragon's gaze followed her, "When do you suppose to return?"

"Who knows," the other replied truthfully. Lying even sweetly never suited her tastes, "But I will return. Good luck, Tiruviel."

"And to you, goddess."

The woman vanished with no fanfare, and the dragon was left alone. Slowly, her gaze shifted to the large, ominous device that had been left to her care, "Let us both pray we find salvation soon."

The door creaked once more, chains groaning, and the darkness beyond stirred.

~To Be Continued~