Chapter 24
Lonely, Cold and Dire
Shulk looked at the giant mechanical body. Maintaining the Ferronises since Agnus and Keves had announced a truce until the crowning of the next Sovereign was certainly a dream come true for him given his interest in robotics but he still just couldn't shake the feeling that something was wrong. Still, that was a concern that had to be put aside for the time being. In walked Eunie. "Still at it, eh?", she said. "Indeed I am.", Shulk said. "Not that I don't appreciate your efforts in helping maintain the Ferronises, but us Consuls have a crowning ceremony that the Ferronises need to be ready by. Of course, the Crown Contest has progressed at a sparking snail's pace but we still need them ready soon.", Eunie said. "It's not that they're too hard to maintain, though. It's just that the ether technology used in these Ferronises is a bit too advanced for me to properly maintain. Not helping is the lack of proper schematics so I understand what I'm working with- I'm making progress already, but I feel I can progress much more smoothly if I know what I'm working with. Is all I'm saying, really.", Shulk replied. Eunie gave an exasperated sigh at this before saying, "Typical. Absolutely typical.". "It's the truth though.", Taion said as he came in to the hangar. "Still, to think that my son Nikol was able to create his own weapon purely by himself. Brings a tear to my eye.", Shulk said.
As Shulk and Eunie worked out how to properly secure the blueprints necessary to ease maintenance of the Ferronises, Byleth entered the Holy Tomb underneath Garreg Mach, gazing upon the crimson throne that replaced the throne where Sothis once slept. "What are you thinking about, Your Majesty?", Veyle said, gazing at the King with her dull crimson eyes. "Nothing really. It's just that I feel that since one of our own has gone rogue and helped an unknown entity, we may need to subject her to Personality Rehabilitation like you were to set her straight again. At least if she doesn't wake up to what she did.", Byleth replied. "You mean helping that young ingrate Jack by guiding him to the Renas Alma, right?", Jin asked. "Indeed I do.", Byleth said. "Still, there's much we need to do before we can finalise the crowning of the Sovereign.", Jin said. "You know, I believe it's not even a contest. Yuito will definitely win and lead us to victory against YHVH.", Veyle said. "That's assuming everything goes well though.", Byleth said. Watching them from a distance, Kasane then experienced an acute feeling of fear. "Oh no. I've got to warn Rachel!", she said to herself.
Sitting down in a chair, Melia asked Nia, "Alright, Nia, what did you want to talk about?". "Don't get me wrong, but I think that the Ascension Project might not succeed. Or if it does, it might not succeed how we want it to. Remember, my great-great grandchildren and their friends had to work very hard to hijack the Endless Now from Z without him noticing. If we want the Endless Now to never end, we need to stop Jack before he finds a way to summon the Great Astral Spirit to Cyber Space and stops us. Remember, we entered Cyber Space in order to protect Jack from YHVH and I am willing to protect him from himself if I have to.", Nia said. "But won't his parents object to that?", Melia asked. "Come on, those two wouldn't act if their child was in danger even if their own lives depended on it. Besides, even his cursed legacy wouldn't be enough to convince them to turn against us if it meant doing the right thing and saving the world. Not that they wouldn't deserve it after the pain they put him through but they would need to have an extreme moral crisis to even consider saving him and putting the Ascension Project in jeopardy.", Nia said. "That reminds me, we still haven't found a way to break out of this digital prison yet.", Melia said. "Trust me, I'm working on it.", Nia said.
As they watched Melia and Nia talk, Lanz and Sena had a strange feeling in the back of their minds, as if they were forgetting something important. "What are you thinking about?", Rinwell asked them. "Nothing in particular.", Lanz said. "Bullshit.", Rinwell replied. "Anyway, Rinwell, have you been in contact with either X, Y or Z?", Sena asked. "No, I haven't. Why did you ask?", Rinwell said. "No reason. It's just that we're doing something very dangerous and we cannot risk Z finding out and ruining our plans. Jack ruining our plans is one thing but if Z were to find out…well we'd be in great trouble.", Sena said. "That's quite understandable.", Rinwell said. Turning around, Rinwell then entered a dark red bedchamber where Rhea was waiting. "Rinwell, have you located the final Chaos Emerald in the Agnus Castle Ring Vault?", Rhea asked, curious. "Not yet, Your Majesty. However, I feel it might be quite easy to get to. I just feel dumb knowing that the green emerald was right under our noses before Jack and Clive destroyed it.", Rinwell said, crying. Rhea walked over to Rinwell and stroked her hair, saying, "It's OK, poppet. Not even I knew that the green emerald was so close to us.". Rinwell looked up, tears streaming down her face. All of a sudden, she collapsed into Rhea's chest, crying even louder. "It's OK. There, there.", Rhea said, calmly hugging Rinwell dearly.
Entering a stony chamber, Noah sat down. "Good, you've arrived. Now we can begin.", Ivy said, smiling. "Come on, you know Consuls like us have to stick together. After all, it's the only we can properly perpetuate the Endless Now.", Blanc said. "I know that. It's just that I have a feeling that the Ascension Project will fail. I don't know why I'm feeling this way though- when we established the Sovereign Empire, I felt great.", Noah said. "Maybe it's a case of buyer's remorse.", Goldmary said. "No, it's not that.", Noah said. "Well, what else could it be?", Joshua asked, looking at a painting of a dark and sinister phoenix. Noticing his concern, Blanc asked, "Something bothering you, Joshua?". "Yes, actually. When we, or rather, Ouroboros, the Founders, the Heroes of Alrest and the Liberators of the Bionis faced Jack at Prison Island, I felt a strange feeling coming from him, as if he was using a dark version of the Phoenix Force. I don't know why, but it seemed familiar to us somehow.", Joshua replied. "How so?", Ivy asked. "Well, it's a bit hard to explain but I think that maybe Jack was made the Dominant of Phoenix for a very cosmic reason. Like a group of cosmic deities gave him the Phoenix's power in order to prepare him for a great purpose, like becoming the next Sovereign after Alphen and the Dominant of Phoenix at the same time.", Joshua said. "I have to say, it does seem like a very interesting idea that the author may very well follow up later on in the story.", Blanc said.
Meanwhile, Edelgard entered a very expensive looking room. The room as you might expect was quite lavish, containing a red satin floor, an assortment of expensively carved wooden chairs and expertly woven silk couches, several cabinets containing nothing but the finest silverware and glassware and absolutely beautiful jewellery. Inside was Yumi, calmly drinking tea. Edelgard sat down, sighing. "Why so glum, Edelgard?", Yumi asked. "Yumi, have you ever made contact with Jack ever since he came to Nintentopia?", Edelgard asked in response. "To tell you the truth, we spoke a few times, yes. Why do you ask?", Yumi said. "I don't know why, but I have a strong feeling that if Jack is the person I think he is, we might need to stop him in the future.", Edelgard said. "Well he didn't seem like that type of person to me. He may have been ruthless against the Sin Eaters, but aside from that he seemed like a completely normal person. And it's not like the Sin Eaters didn't deserve what they got as well.", Yumi said. "True, what the Sin Eaters did was unforgivable, what with them spreading the Flood of Light beyond The First with YHVH's help and menacing the people of The First for some 100 years, but even so, I don't see why Jack just couldn't coexist with them like us.", Edelgard replied. Taking another sip, Yumi then sighed. "Still, we need to make sure the Ascension Project succeeds, no matter the cost.", Edelgard said.
The story continues in the next chapter.
