Germania – Emperors Hall.
"You absolutely useless fools!" Emperor Albrecht of Germania roared as he stood up from his throne and threw a mace across the room, it embedding in the floor in front of the squad that was reporting to him.
"B-but sire, that island would have been perfect for-" the head of the group, its lieutenant captain, began to say in his defense.
"I will not hear your excuses!" Albrecht roared, causing the squad of knights before him to cower and step back in fear. "Your orders were to investigate the damage to our coastal holdings and towns, and see if you could discern what used that massive gust of wind, not to invade an island and declare war on its population!"
"But sire, they were some kind of monsters that were not human, and there could not have been many, that island could have be one a perfect outpost for Germania's glory!" the same soldier said, taking hesitant step forward as he spoke. " if we can just defeat them we can-"
"Defeat them? These same creatures that, , according to your report killed your captain and vice captain with singular blows and were unfazed by your captains fires?" Albrecht said with a scoff. "That fool could not gauge the strength of his enemy, and neither can you it seems. We have no knowledge of these new creatures aside from they are strong, can speak our language, and acc ording to your report, are made of precious gems. And now because of your rash and arrogant actions we may be at war with a seemingly new race of sentient beings that otherwise may not have had problems with us. Get to the barracks, I do not want to hear a peep of any of you leaving until I say otherwise, understood!"
"Yes your majesty!" all of them yelled before they turned and made a hasty retreat out of the throne room.
Once they had left Albrecht let out a sigh. His throne room was, admittedly, smaller than those of the other reagents of Halkeginia. It was fine that way though, for as the emperor of Germania all served him, and he did not need to deal with his own Nobility on a regular basis like Albion or Tristain did. He liked his throne room though even if it was small, because it was comfortable for him in its design. Unlike the castles of other reagents his was not made of stone, but solid logs like many Germanian homes. The floor was made of uneven cobbles, while the ceiling was vaulted with logs and decorated with the heads and hides of various animals and blazing torches. It was like the log Mead halls of old, and he liked that about it. He would spend all of his time in the hall, if it wasn't for idiotic fools grasping at history and foolish pride.
"If you sigh so heavily my emperor, your subjects may think you are tired of them."
"Was I sighing so hard?" Albercht asked, not looking toward the feminine voice, and instead staring at the mace he had earlier embedded into the floor in anger, realizing he had thrown it with a bit to much force.
"Hard enough that I could hear it as I neared the door," the woman replied, sounding closer and prompting Albrecht to look up toward her. She was near his own age but looked younger than she was. Her bodies shape was athletic and modest, and her skin and hair were both nearly as pale as the snow that was so common to germania. A black dress that only showed a bit of her ankles, shoulders and neck outlined her body and contrasted her skin, while the small knife sheathe on her hip and her stance showed her skill and prowess in a way only those similarly skilled could see.
"I see, then I apologize Evelyn, I should not allow anyone to see me in such a state."
"It is fine, I would not think ill of you even if I found you crying over the corpse of a loved one."
"As you are the only one, I should worry if that Should come to pass," Albrecht said with a dark chuckle.
"Also be careful of this as well please, while I agree with the sentiment, our relationship would not be well received should it become public knowledge," Evelyn said seriously as she came up beside the throne and lightly bowed.
"Yes, you are right," Albrecht said with a light sigh as he slouched back in his throne. "I was not expecting to see you so early today."
"I had some free time, so I figured I would report to you, and help you vent a bit."
"I see,then please, how is your work going?" Albrecht asked seriously, though he did not stop slouching.
"Of course. My work is progressing well. Most of the common folk are looking upon your reign, and the potential changes, in a very favorable light. Of course, inversely, those nobles that have heard of the proposition are vehemently against it. And with your second son's failed marriage to Henrietta of Tristain, there is more resistance on that front now as well."
"Not surprising, he called it off as soon as he heard about her past love for the prince of Albion. To think an almost decade old letter has ruined what could have been a powerful and great alliance of nations so seriously," Albrecht said with another heavy sigh. "Damnable prideful fool of a son does not realize what he has done."
"Neither do the masses of the nobility. But this is not the time, may I ask what our Manticore knights discovered?"
"An island, north of what remains of Albion. Grassy with high cliffs a single beach and a single structure not dissimilar from a grand hall or church. And populated by creatures that could speak our language and are supposedly made of precious gems, yet shaped like people. The fools tried to take over and had their captain and second killed. With little difficulty if their report is believable."
"Oh my. That is surprising."
And it gets worse, because the manticore knights of Tristain were there as well."
"Ah, so if they are on good terms, they may make an alliance with these creatures, and we do not know their capabilities."
"Precisely," Albrecht said as he straightened his posture. "As such, I would ask you to go there and try to mend relations, try to fix what those fool knights have done, and find out as much about these, stone beings as possible."
"I will do my best, though it seems that will cut into our time together," Evelyn said.
"Yes, I'm sorry, but you are the only one I can trust to try to diffuse this foolishness," Albrecht said with a sigh.
"It is alright, I shall make this mission take as little time as possible while still finding an answer," Evelyn said before kissing Albrecht on the cheek and then walking away from the throne, only to stop and turn back to him. "Oh yes, it seems the Empress has finally talked to your second son today. I expect she will arrive with complaints shortly, so be ready."
"I will be, thank you for the forewarning. Be safe."
"I always am," Evelyn responded before leaving the hall, leaving Albrecht alone with his thoughts. And the knowledge that the Empress would be visiting him.
Which unfortunately happened barely a minute after Evelyn had left.
"Why are our soldiers not preparing to move out?!" the empress hollered as she stormed into the hall through a wide entrance, her overblown and gaudy ballroom gown fluttering behind her as she walked straight up to the throne. She was a few years older than Albrecht and unlike many Germanaian women, her age was visible on her face, the ample makeup on her doing little to hide it, or her slowly but surely deteriorating health.
"And where would we send them when we are not at war?" Albrecht asked calmly, deciding to see how this would go. It wasn't like she would realize he was toying with her after all. Their marriage had been decided upon by his father, and even then she was not the prettiest woman, nor the brightest. She was from a high ranked noble family, but had truly little else going for her aside from an overabundance of excessive pride.
"Tristania of course! That harlot princess of theirs dares insult our boy by pining for Another nations blood, she needs to be punished!" the empress declared as if she herself had just been slighted.
"You would have our national be at war, simply because our son called off a wedding and the unification of our nations simply because he did not like finding out she had a crush on another prince almost a decade ago?" Albrecht asked coolly just to be sure that she knew what she was saying.
"Of course, that harlot clearly did not understand how generous germania was being before. She should have immediately cut all ties to him and declared her love tor our Albert's, but she has not and for this insult she-"
"Loving someone years ago is not a crime!" Albrecht roared, silencing the empress in a second before standing up and looking down at her, in more ways than one. "That alliance was not meant to sully either of our nations, but end centuries of pointless conflict and make us stronger as one, and now because of that arrogant son of ours that possibility is no longer viable at this time. None of it is Tristains fault as all fault lies with our son and you for convincing him that it was a bad idea because of that damn letter. And do not even think for a moment you do not know what I am speaking of woman, I know what you have been up to these past months!"
"What, husband what exactly are you insinuating? " the empress asked in mock surprise, for it was clear she had no ability to hide any of her emotions on her face.
"No, you know exactly what I am talking about," Albrecht said grimly. "Now unless you have something important to speak about, I have work to do that does not require your presence even remotely.
"There is actually," the empress said, her tone as serious as it Could be. "I spoke to our Manticore knights earlier and they told me there is a new island off the coast that is, held by creatures made of precious jewels. Such an amazing amount of jewels would make germania very wealthy very quickly, so I assume there are plans being drafted to claim them for the country?"
Albrecht felt sick at the insinuation , both of harvesting jewels from beings that could speak and were therefore sentient, and at the empresses unsaid hope to acquire such jewels for herself. However he took a deep breath to calm himself down before speaking, as he had already yelled enough for one day. "They were reported to be able to speak and that fool captain tried to attack them and was killed for it. They clearly are strong and could potentially make useful allies, so I sent Evelyn to go and attempt to undo the captains failure and pursue diplomacy."
"What?! How could you even consider such a thing? They are not human, they have no rights to deny us what we desire! They should be-"
"Enough!" Albrecht interrupted as soon as he had heard enough, a disgusted look painting his face. "I will hear no more of such indecency. Begone."
The empress seemed surprised, shocked even, at being called indecent, and scowled. "Very well, I will take my leave. But know this, Germania is the greatest land of all Halkeginia and it is our right to rule all the continent. The people know this, and they will not abide you weakening our glorious homeland!" the empress declared as she stormed off, leaving Albrecht once again to his thoughts.
"You stupid bitch. I have tried teaching you for years that pointless conquering leads to nothing but hatred and destruction, yet you still crave for it despite being unable to cause it yourself. You are a fool, and will die a fool if you keep it up. I'll be sure to see to it."
Tristain -Royal castle
"Your highness, the manticore knights have returned and Duchess Valliere is waiting to give her report," Agnes said as she came into the doorway to Henrietta's room where her hair was being fixed for the day.
"Thank you Agnes, please have her meet me in the study, I will be there presently," Henrietta replied calmly as her maid was just finishing up her hair.
"Of course," Agnes said as she bowed and then left.
"I'm done your highness, do you require anything else?" the maid asked as she stepped away from Henrietta so she could see herself in the mirror.
"No, thank you, I shall be fine," Henrietta stated as she stood up from her chair a little too fast, startling the maid a bit. "I apologize, if you have other work to be done do not worry about me, otherwise enjoy your day," She then said before quickly leaving the room and heading to the study.
Duchess Karin Valliere was one of the strongest mages in all of Tristain, so there was no worry about her having completed the mission, but how the mission was completed, and what it could mean was just as important as her return. And judging from her expression when Henrietta entered the study, it could have gone either way.
"Captain, I see you return unharmed, I take it the mission went well?" Henrietta asked professionally as she closed the door behind her, mentally noting that Agnes was not present.
"As, well as it could have, considering the circumstances, your highness," Karin said as she stood, saluted, and bowed to Henrietta.
"Then please, sit and I shall listen," Henrietta said as she went over to a chair and took a seat across from where Karin had been sitting.
"Very well, then I shall report to you what the situation is," Karin said as she retook her seat. "My knights arrived on the island to investigate to find Germanian knights there intent on claiming the island. Amid trying to speak on equal terms with them a number of strange creates made their presence known to us. They looked similar to humans, but appeared to be made of minerals or precious jewels. They called themselves Gems and stated the island was theirs, while asking our intentions," Karin explained before taking a breath and noticing that Henrietta looked absolutely giddy. "The Germanian captain ignored their overtures and stated he would kill and harvest them for jewelry, prompting One of the Gems to strike first and nearly overpower him. It shortly killed him after being proven to seem immune to fire. Another Germania was killed by another of them before their words and actions made the Germanians leave."
"So you were able to speak to them after I take it?" Henrietta suddenly asked with a hopeful smile. "What did you learn about them?"
"They do not know how their island came to be offshore, they have no dedicated leadership, and they have no particular stance toward humans yet,"
"They have no leadership?" Henrietta asked curiously.
"They have some sort of elder it sounded like, but they made it sound like they made choices together, so no, they have no set leadership,"
"That will complicate any form of dealings with them. Was there anything else you discovered? Do they have names?" Henrietta asked, seeming hopeful.
"Of the five I saw, one introduced themself as Yellow Diamond, and another was referred to as Bort."
"Odd, I've never heard of a gemstone called that, and I've only heard rumors of diamonds that had yellow streaks in them. Which one spoke to you?"
"Another who was a very dark green in color," Karin said simply while keeping her expression neutral.
Henrietta nodded in understanding before smiling in a way that did not suit her. "Was it her?"
"Pardon?"
"I'm sorry, I should have been more specific," Henrietta apologized before looking Karin dead in the eyes. "Was it Louise?"
Karin looked at Henrietta for a few seconds before letting out a sigh. "The ones voice was similar I admit, but-"
"Good, then we will need to prepare a way to have a meeting done here," Henrietta suddenly said, stopping Karin from immediately continuing.
"Your highness, if I may speak freely, I do not believe you should put much faith in a diary and coincidences. It is not healthy, and there is no way to prove anything that was in my daughter's diary."
"That island proves everything that she wrote, meaning she is there among them, and can be brought back home to where she belongs. And she will be!" Henrietta said seriously before smirking slightly. "You need to give her a firm few words after all, do you not?"
Henrietta's words made Karin falter slightly, her neutral expression cracking and showing how uncomfortable the topic now was for her, if only for a moment. "The more I think over her writings, the more I realize that there is little I could say to her that could help anything. I failed as a mother and have no right to argue her choices when she worked for them as hard as she did," Karin stated with a sigh, feeling somewhat relieved to admit the fact to someone other than her husband. Yet still sad it had come to what it had.
"Well, I suggest you find the words to make her understand her mistakes then!" Henrietta said cooly, much to Karins surprise. "After all, she will be brought back home to where she belongs, and those who led her to such an act will be punished accordingly . Then, and only then, yes, then Tristain will be more powerful than ever before. With her by my side again, nothing will stop us!"
"Your highness, that is-" Karin tried to speak up, inwardly shocked and terrified by the way the once innocent, pleasant and friendly girl was now speaking.
"Thank you for the report Duchess," Henrietta suddenly said, her tone a bit more normal, but still too serious for her. "I will have an envoy prepared to be sent to these gems and invite them to speak to me. They should be made to understand Halkeginia, and they will be very powerful allies, I am sure of it!"
"Your highness, if I may be so bold, I would request being the envoy to speak to them," Karin quickly spoke up, knowing that the situation was be coming extreme far faster than most would realize. "They have already seen my face, so I would be familiar to them."
"Then please do, Duchess. Oh, and don't forget to make sure that Louise is brought back home , for her own sake and that of Tristains!" Henrietta said as she stood up and left the study, silently saying that Karin had been given her orders.
Once alone, Karin sat in the study for nearly a half hour before placing her head in her hands. "This, is worse than I thought. She's, barely the same person, she's getting worse. Mr Colbert was right. We will need to think of some way to fix this. I just hope we can without it becoming treason.
Gallia - royal castle
"My lord, I have information you may wish to hear,"
Joseph, king of Gallia, turned his head to the door to his study to see his Familiar, a woman named Sheffield, standing there awaiting his response. She was a pretty enough woman with a very cur y figure and large breasts, but Joseph held no care for such things. Luckily she did very good work as his familiar. "Of course, please enter. Tell me what you have discovered."
"Of course my lord. I have been looking into the sudden destruction of Albion and have discovered an island north of it that was not there before . It is surrounded by sheer cliffs, and holds a large building that's design is unlike anything in Halkeginia. There also is e evidence that some non human entities exist there and that both Germania and Tristain have had contacts with them as of two days ago."
"I see. What do you have on the creatures there?"
"They appeared humanoid from a distance and wield swords, but the gargoyle I was using to scout the island was destroyed by something before it could get closer. A second I sent was then destroyed by dragons from Albion that appear to have begun going feral due to lack of handlers for them."
"I see . . . Have you heard or seen anything regarding survivors on Albion?" Joseph asked, surprising Sheffield.
"No my lord, I have not. I would not think that anyone could survive such a cataclysm."
"No, I should think not. Very well, investigate the island and find out if anything on that island can be of use to my plans. The loss of Albion hurt them, so I will need more pawns, lest my plans be pushed further ahead in time," Joseph ordered.
"Of course sir. Do you care how it is investigated?"
Joseph raised an eyebrow. "What are you considering?"
"Why not send your niece. She failed to harass the water spirit effectively, so why not send her to that island with orders to make its resources, both items and people, yours?" Sheffield suggested with a sly grin.
"Hmm, very well. She may be of use in this. Make it so."
"Of course lord," sheffield said as she turned and left the room, leaving Joseph to grin to himself with hope for the futures destruction.
Romalia – The holy cathedral of the Founders faith
"Julio, I have a mission that requires your endless faith in the founder," the Pope of Romalia said as his Familiar entered his office.
"of course, what would the Founders will have of me?"
"I have had a vision that there is now a land north of where Albion has crashed into the waves. There are beings there that look as people. You need together and discern what they are, they follow the faith, and if they are responsible for the destruction of Albion."
"And if they are?" Julio asked calmly.
"If they are responsible for the deaths of so many of the faithful, or if they are faithless in the face or the Founders divine will, make it clear to them that will have one chance go right themselves in his eyes. If they cannot do that, then it may just be that a crusade may need to be called."
"I understand. I shall make them see the error of their ways if it is needed. If they prove to be heathens, am I to give them their punishment, or simply tell them of their fate?"
"I cannot lose you, my most faithful one. Simply tell them and return should it come to that."
"I understand your holiness, I shall depart immediately! " Julio said with a bow as he turned and left.
Alone in his office the Pope stretched and stood up, making his way to a window that faced to the east, allowing a sea breeze into the room as he looked out to the horizon and noticed something that was very wrong. "I shall speak with our priests and astrologers. I don't ever recall such a small third moon ever existing! In the founders sky. How curious."
Western Halkeginian mountain
"I don't like this. The humans shouldn't be capable of such destruction unless that demons magic is the cause," one of two cloaked Figures said as they sat atop the highest south of a great tree that allowed them to overlook much of Halkeginia.
"Even with their void magic I do not see how they could destroy that island," the other said with a sigh. "The elders predicted it would fall, but not so violently, nor so soon."
"Well it clearly has, and it was clearly not due to the wind stones within it. . . . Do we, check for survivors?"
"You are suggesting saving humans? I am surprised."
"Their nobility are the ones who arrogantly rule over others, and it is their foolish church that calls us heathens for having beliefs that differ. If there are regular humans who could survive, well, I would not want even my worst enemy to die such an ignoble death as being buried alive or starving around the bodies of those they loved. If nothing else, those not buried under cities of rubble should be given their last rights."
"We have a mission given to us by the elders. And if humans found us burying their dead, they would not take it well due to their hatred of our kind."
"I know that, but fear should not stop us from doing what is proper. The dead deserve proper burials at the very least. And that island is close enough that it should not be that much of a detour, right?"
"That is true," the one said as a guest or wind blew their good off, revealing pointed ears and short golden hair. "Very well. Let us give the dead their last rights as all should have. Then we shall see if that island is that 'Ark of Dead Morals ' that the elders spoke of!"
"then let us be off. It will take many days just for us to reach the shore without being seen after all," the other said as they both dropped off the tree and back into the forest without a sound or trace.
Kibble scribble: whoo another chapter. Now I know what some people are thinking here so I'll say this, politics are complicated. Okay I'll say a bit more. I always hated Germanias position in FOZ. They're always called Barbarian nation and what not, so I figure let's change it up. Same with the elves. Fanfiction can be fun and different and should be so some nations will not be the same, as I hope I have clearly shown here.
Either way I hope everyone likes what I have prepared in this chapter for the future. The gems will certainly be busy XD