Chapter Four:

…surprised for a moment that he was not in his uniform. The dream had seemed so real, so true, that he had mistaken the beginning of it for reality. Not, of course, that it had remained that way. It was one thing, he knew, to have visions-the legendary dream walkers of Etansel had spoken in dreams for centuries-but to converse with them was another thing. Were these two figures dream walkers, interested in whatever it was Hikari was working on? Had they seen something in dreams, something only he could avert?

Ky lay back on his pillow and sighed. He had been warned, by Misawa and by his mother, that when dealing with magic, sometimes things got strange. But this seemed beyond magic, beyond the Art. He felt he should talk to someone about it, but the only person he really, really trusted to discuss this with was in Gilead. He found it strange that he missed Embla; it wasn’t that he did not care for her, but in many ways she had seemed like some kind of ideal, something that even though he had attained, was still beyond him. That he felt something as simple as missing her was rather strange to him.

Ky rose and dressed, in his uniform pants and the sleeveless shirt that went under his coat. For a moment, he debated leaving Thundercross behind, but his training was too ingrained, and he buckled it on. He left his room and began walking through Mars’ home, which was quiet and still; his senses told him that Mars and Orochi still slept, though there was some minor life force down stairs, in Mars’ study. Ky doubted that it was an intruder, but then again, stranger things had happened.

He made his way downstairs cautiously, not just because of fear of alerting an enemy, but because it was rather dark. Only a few lights, mounted on the walls, lit his way. He made his way to the study and found that the doors were unlocked; he opened the door and let his eyes adjust to the dark inside. The life force he had sensed was in the room, near where he recalled a bookshelf was. He carefully made his way across the room, now fairly certain that there was no danger; even masters of masking their fighting power, such as himself, could not drop their levels this low. Ky made his way to the bookshelf and looked up. "Hello?" he whispered.

A black streak-small, rather quick-bounded from the top shelf and smashed into his shoulder. It let out a familiar sounding yelp, then bolted towards the door. Just then the lights came on and Mars said, sarcastically, "Hail the conquering hero," as the black cat ran up to her. She was dressed in a peach-colored night shirt that fell off of one shoulder, which was the only normal garment that Ky had seen her in. She bent over and picked up the cat, which purred contentedly. "Gally. I was wondering when you were coming back." Ky saw as she did that the cat had one blue eye and one green one; he wondered if it was a familiar, like Sephira’s, or just a cat. "I haven’t seen her since the day before you showed up. You know how cats are."

"Only by reputation. I haven’t ever had a pet. You sensed her too, then?"

"I sensed you. Came down to make sure you didn’t break anything battling my cat."

"I’d have put money on the cat if that happened. Uhm, is she your familiar or…"

Mars laughed. "No, no. Just a cat. A pesky little nuisance of a cat. I’m not much for familiars, though they have their uses." Gally, clearly done for the next week or so with affection, squirmed to be free, and Mars turned and dropped her to the ground. As she did, for a moment a tattoo was visible on her back, near her shoulder blade, in an unfamiliar language to Ky. Ky was still staring at it, trying to figure out what it said, when Mars turned around and regarded him. "Find something you like, Ky?"

"I was just trying to figure out what that tattoo said," he replied, turning a deep shade of red.

Mars smiled widely at him. "This girlfriend of yours Orochi mentioned, she must think you’re either adorable or a total goof. Anyway, you wouldn’t understand it even if you could read all of it; it’s in a dead language that only the Bloody Moon uses now. It says, "Bella Nostra."

"Which means?"

"Our war. It’s the short form of a saying…sort of an oath…amongst the warmasters of the Bloody Moon. ‘Bella nostra officiae,’ which means ‘our war is my duty.’ I got it as a reminder, I guess, of what I am supposed to be."

"And that is?"

Mars took a seat in the chair that, two days ago, he had sat in. "Nitaru’s warrior. The others-Sephira, Sakkariah, and Strawberry-all can fight, but they’re not soldiers. I decided long ago that Nitaru was worth fighting for, and I wanted to do it right. Even if the Templars hadn’t come this way, we would have been forced to fight someone…you know how the Domains are."

"That I do."

"At any rate, I didn’t come down here to debate my past. Why are you up so late?"

Ky thought about it for a moment. "Strange dreams, Mars. Guess it’s being away from home or something."

"Perhaps. Around a Domain, though, sometimes dreams aren’t all that they seem. However…" She sat quietly for a moment. "Sakkariah is rather adept at the study of dreams and visions. Perhaps she could help you."

Ky thought about this. "She did ask how my sleep was this morning. Perhaps she senses my troubles?"

You are a crafty one, Ky Kiske. Mars knew that they had to tell him the truth, the divination that Sakkariah had made and his place in it, and the best way to start was by bringing him to Sakkariah in that mindset. She would have to discuss it in the morning with her, of course, but it was a way to break it to him easy. "Well, Ky, I’m going to feed my cat and get some sleep. I suggest you do the latter. I doubt Haroy was pleased with the results of his attack on Nocturnus."

"If it was an attack," Ky said thoughtfully. "Those golems…I doubt they transferred there, and Keiko sighted no airships. So the Templars must have left them there."

Mars frowned. "So they already knew about Nocturnus, then. We suspected that from the start, right?"

"True. But…those golems, even when they powered up at the end, weren’t that strong."

"To you maybe," Mars grinned.

"The point I’m making is, I doubt we saw their full strength today. Haroy knew we were expecting him to respond, and he already had the golems in place, so he simply used them. We’re dealing with a man who thinks ahead."

"Wise is the man that doesn’t underestimate his foes," Mars said.

"And I don’t. I just didn’t have much to base Haroy on until now. Rest assured, our next move will be far more thought out." He nodded to her. "I’ll see you later then, Mars. Assuming I don’t run into Gally again."

"One hopes you’d fare better in the rematch, but I doubt it," she called after him as he left the room.

In the Library, Hikari worked, alone.

Once she had returned from the expedition, she had immediately headed for the Library, her mind whirling. She could not truly explain what had happened to her, in the vaults; in fact, she had been throughout all of the vaults on all the islands during the earliest days of her studies. And in all those visits she had never sensed what she had today. Whatever had happened, it had inspired her to work even harder, if that was possible, on the paratext. She had assembled the energies and concepts that made up the paratext and instantly saw that she had made errors in translation, a few, but ones that once added up she saw that they caused further errors. She altered the text with but a flick of the Art, and she had realigned the power of the paratext. Simple as that. She then set to work on the remainder of the work, suddenly seeing, as clear as day, how to do it. It would not be long before Hikari had completed the paratext, and then…then she supposed the Council would decide what to do.

It was all, she guessed, because of the whispers she had heard.

She had been just looking around, in the vaults, not really working, when she had heard a voice, a whisper, so faint that she thought at first she was imagining it. But the voice came again, calling her, bringing her over to a particular pattern of runes, ones that, before, she had dismissed as being merely directional, pointing out a specific grouping of vaults. But, touching the runes, she felt their deeper meaning, and the voice spoke to her, telling her things that she needed to know in a tone of familiarity. She knew what to do now. She had sent Daimira and Gunderson home, and from there, she had worked. She had been tempted to alter the workings around her lab so no one, not even those cleared to be there, could interrupt her work, but after a while she dismissed that thought and went to work.

She assembled sections of the text with a speed that, in any other frame of mind, would have concerned her, but lost in the thrill of the breakthrough, she did not care. As she built the text, she began to sense something of the history of the Brotherhood of Dark Elucidation, of the madness that possessing such knowledge as they did, knowledge from before the First Cataclysm that had wiped out the first magical civilizations. She began to sense, dimly, the kind of power the Books had, power that could level cities, that could change the world. She did not care about that kind of power-she merely sought to learn, to discover and broaden the knowledge of magic. But for the first time, she wondered if perhaps it was a mistake to assemble this paratext, to actually find the Books. Perhaps it would be best if such power remained hidden…but they had crossed that rubicon once the Templars had discovered the existence of the paratext. If she could assemble it, then others could. So, it was best if the Books were located and if possible destroyed by Nitaru, not anyone else.

Yet a small part of her, the part touched by the whispers, yearned to find the Books, to understand what the Empyreal Lexicon was (and she was convinced that it was real, something connected to all of this), to see what the Books contained. And she was uncertain of what she thought of that. Still, she was driven to complete the text, compelled by the sheer joy of discovery, of problem solving. She would let others debate the questions of morality about the Books.

The door to her laboratory opened, and Gunderson walked in, looking a bit shocked to see her there. "Gunderson? What are you doing here so late?" she asked. With a gesture and a few words, she sent the paratext to its secured place within the energy patterns of her stored knowledge. She was uncertain why she did that…it just felt right.

Gunderson looked first at her, then at the table that, not so long ago, had held the meeting of the Council and the ones from Gilead. It was covered with texts, hurled almost randomly in a fashion he had never seen from Hikari. Hikari looked at once, somehow, exhausted and filled with manic energy. He supposed that she had not left the lab since the last time he had seen her. "Ah, Hikari, it’s nowhere near late. It’s morning."

"Morning?" Hikari blinked in surprise. "I worked all night? Well, how…odd." She stood up and stretched, knowing now that she had sat here, pausing only once for a bathroom break, for over twelve hours. "It was worthwhile. I found considerable errors in our translation last night. The sort that created more errors in the text as we went on. Let me go take a nap, and then I’ll come back and tell you and Daimira what I’ve found. But we’re very close, Gunderson. Very close indeed."

Gunderson smiled, a smile that, under normal circumstances, would have sent a shiver down Hikari’s spine. He was a very competent man in his field, yes, but his way of leering at anything female was off-putting, to say the least. "Very close, eh? That, Hikari, is good to know." For some reason, the news that Hikari had given him resonated deeper within, as if it had a greater meaning than he knew. Then he set that aside and watched as Hikari passed him. Gunderson was a definite believer of the theory that beauty was to be admired, in any form.

Mars took Ky and Orochi to Sakkariah’s home around mid-morning, long enough, she had judged, for them to receive word from Gilead about the current status of their mission via thought-engine. To both their surprise, their orders, despite the battle of the previous day, remained unchanged. Misawa did indicate that he had placed the Sixteenth officially on combat alert, and that word of their mission would have to be sent to New Jerusalem, to the Assembly and to the Holy Father. Likely their situation would change once that happened, but, as Misawa had joked, "given the usual amount of debate in the Assembly over matters such as this, you’ll have at least a week to finish affairs there." Ky had finally managed a few hours of sleep, undisturbed by dreams, and looked somewhat presentable; Orochi was quiet, thinking about the implications of Ky’s dreams. There was so much that was at stake, she knew, with Ky, more than even he realized. She wished that Mars had not suggested going to Sakkariah to look into his dreams, but there were some things that could not be stopped.

Sakkariah’s home, on this particular day, had the appearance of a gothic castle, from a period of Aeuropan history long gone. Tall towers rose towards a sky that Ky fancied should have been dark and stormy; the walls were made of what appeared to be ancient stone, though Ky knew the castle could not be any older than fifty years. Mars stared at the castle for a moment and said, "The girl’s showing off. Normally her home is less…elaborate."

The front doors, gigantic, wooden things that rose to an arc over forty feet from the ground, opened, and Sakkariah stepped out. For once, she was not in her cloak and hood; she wore a tight fitting black dress, slit high on her left leg, and knee high boots. The sleeves of her dress were long, ending near the wrist in arcane designs that neither Ky nor Orochi could identify. She regarded them cooly for a moment, then smiled. "I was experimenting with the appearance of my home. I chose to build it based on the expectations of others, caught in the flux of Nitaru. It seems that this was the result."

"You could change it," Mars said as they walked in.

"And lose this wonderful ambiance?" She led them into the room beyond the entrance, a wide, dark space, the ceiling nearly invisible in the gloom. Ky and Orochi realized that the room was, although on a more dramatic scale, identical to the layout of the room the Council had first met them in, only the desk omitted. A fire burned in the gigantic fireplace, yet it put out no heat. The couch and chairs, Ky saw, were upholstered in black, a shade somehow deeper than any black Ky had ever seen. Sakkariah sat on the couch and patted the cushion beside of her. "Sit, Ky. Mars tells me that your dreams are troubled?"

Ky sat beside of her, mindful that he did not stare at the considerable amount of leg that her dress revealed. Orochi would never let him live that down if he did, he thought. "You could say that. I suspect, though, that you were already aware of this."

Sakkariah shared a quick look with Mars before she answered. "Yes. I did ask you of such things yesterday. I have certain, shall we say, sensitivities which I shall explain later that enable me to sense dream patterns. Yours were definitely disturbed yesterday, and I sense they are far worse today."

"You could say that." Ky took a breath, knowing that Orochi was bound, by order, to report this to Misawa and his mother. In fact, he was probably going to be in a certain amount of trouble for not reporting anything to Avantasia, relying instead on Orochi’s reports. The perfect warrior is not exactly the perfect administrator; no wonder they sent Orochi with me. That caused him to relax, and with little effort, he told Sakkariah of the dreams he had been having, the dreams of the Gray Lady, of Katrea, of the sound of clockwork and the Gray Lady’s warnings. "I can only guess that the Lexicon she referred to was the one that Hikari mentioned yesterday, this ‘Empyreal Lexicon’. But as to the rest, I do not know."

Sakkariah raised her hand and laid it against his forehead. "Forgive me, Ky, but I must do this. Dreams are strange things, and one can forget much in waking. Might I look into your mind?" Ky nodded, and Sakkariah closed her eyes. Ky expected to feel or sense something, perhaps re-experience his dreams, but nothing came. Sakkariah, though, stiffened, her hand against his head going cold. "Such dreams…" she whispered, "such strange dreams. You…you are the one."

Across the room, Mars, who was thought casting the scene to both Sephira and Strawberry, sighed. Well, if we meant to hide it from him, we pretty much can’t now, can we?

We knew this would happen when we set upon this path, Mars, Strawberry replied. We must place our hopes in fate.

Sakkariah opened her eyes and looked at Ky for a long moment. "Ky, poor Ky. You do not dream. Something has chosen you, because of what you are, to receive this warning. In truth, I suppose we owe you an apology, for we placed you in the path of such a destiny."

Ky scowled at her. "I don’t understand."

Sakkariah drew herself away from him. Her demeanor, Ky thought, was that of someone who expected him to be outraged. "Perhaps we should have told you sooner. I had a vision, you might say, after I interrogated the shade of the mercenary who was killed during the first attack on Nitaru. In that vision, I saw what would happen if we did not take action. I saw some of the future, and I saw that the only way that Nitaru would survive would be if we asked Gilead for help in the fashion that we did. Only by doing that would it insure that you, Ky Kiske, would be here. Without you, Ky, Nitaru will fall."

Ky looked to Orochi, then to Mars, then he smiled. "This is gratifying to my ego, Sakkariah, but I don’t sense the offense here. Why should I be mad?"

Sakkariah closed her eyes again. "In my vision, Ky, I see you leaving this world. I fear that we have called you to your death."

The room was silent for nearly a minute. Then Ky spoke, quietly, yet without fear or anger. "Well, that’s something you don’t hear every day."

"Understand, Ky, that only Sakkariah saw this vision, though she transmitted the details to us through thought-cast," Mars interjected. "But we agreed on most of the details. We think that if we had not brought Seikishidan here, then Nitaru would have likely fallen."

"But you saw Ky’s death?" Orochi asked.

Sakkariah stood and walked across the room, over to the hearth, standing before the fire that burned without heat. "My divinations are not prophecy, at least as it is known amongst the seers of the Domains. They see the various paths of the future and pick the one most likely to happen. My rites are older…bloodier. I use the remnants of the living in ritual to create patterns that I read, that inspire my visions. This vision was unlike any that I had before or likely after."

"By remnants of the living, you mean you use their bodies?" Orochi asked.

"In part. In truth, I learn much from their harvested organs." She turned and smiled. "I’m certain that two Knights of the Cross will find such things distasteful."

Ky felt remarkably calm for a man who had just heard that his death was prophesied. "You’d be surprised how many souls, once upon a time, were sacrificed to the altars of my own Church. We of Gilead are a dying breed, we know. So, tell me of my death?"

"I’d almost think you were being sarcastic, Ky," Sakkariah said. "Very well. My divination told me this; that the fallen followers of the Cross would come to Nitaru, and lay waste to all, and claim the Books. If we were to survive, then we had to ask the ones of the Faith, those of Gilead, to aid us. We could not tell why they were to come, for then the one needed would not come. In my vision, I saw that the one who came would possess a mighty power, and he would stand against the enemy in our moment of greatest need, and in doing so would pass beyond this world."

"And you think that I’m that person?" Ky was silent for a long time, looking down at his feet. When he finally spoke, what he said made no sense to Sakkariah or Mars. "I had hoped that they were wrong about me. Truly I had." Ky rose to his feet. "I don’t see how this changes things, ladies. Pre-destination is a tricky thing at best, and in all honesty, would you have asked Gilead for help against the Templars without this vision?"

"We would have been more open," Mars said. "More of what we knew would have been revealed."

"And we could have gotten aboard the Ars Nova and told Avantasia that what we had encountered was beyond us and left," Ky replied. "The die is cast, now. My concern is my dreams. Someone is warning us about the Lexicon. It might be good to discover if such a thing exists."

"Are you angry with us?" Sakkariah asked.

"In truth, no. A soldier’s fate is to die in battle. While I do not believe that I am going to die, or at least in this circumstance, I do not hold you responsible for anything." He turned to Orochi. "You have been working with Hikari and the others. Are you up to researching the Lexicon?"

"Certainly, Ky. In fact, it’s best to get started soonest. We should warn Hikari of what we know as well. With your leave, ladies, I’m going to the Library. Ky?"

"I’ll accompany you," Ky said, and the two fighters made their farewells and departed. Behind them, Mars frowned. "That did not go as badly as I expected it to," she said, puzzled.

"He doesn’t believe. Perhaps if I showed him what I saw, his thoughts would differ."

Mars pondered this for a moment. "No, Sakkariah, I don’t think it would. Ky seems to be a man accustomed to hearing such things. ‘I had hoped they were wrong about me,’ he said. Who is ‘they’ and what did he hope they were wrong about?"

"I suspect that we’ll never know, Mars."

At any rate, Sephira sent, just because Ky did not become angered doesn’t mean he won’t leave, or tell his superiors back home. We may have been bound to tell him, to offer him a chance to know, but that doesn’t mean that he will act in our best interests.

He will, Strawberry thought-cast. I don’t know how I know, but he will. What we need to do now is act on what he told us. More than just Nitaru, it seems, is endangered. We need to meet, soon, and discuss the Books…and what we are to do about them.

Ky and Orochi were within a quarter mile of the Library, having walked there in silence through the streets of Nitaru, before Orochi spoke. "You took that very well."

Ky watched two children, a boy and a girl, run past them, the girl chasing the boy and promising revenge for something he had done, then spoke. "A normal life, Orochi. I’ve never really had one, have I?"

"You’ve had as normal a life as the next person, Ky…though coming from me that doesn’t say much." Orochi patted him on the shoulder. "You don’t believe them, do you?"

Ky smiled. "Oh, but I do. I believe they saw something. Whether or not it was my death, I can’t say. It’s just…my dreams, their belief that only I can save them…it’s dangerously close to all the things my mother and uncle say to me. Of the power they say I have."

"After your little display on Nocturnus, I’d say you have the power they think you do. I wonder what Mars would think if she knew that yesterday you weren’t going all out?"

"Considering that she wasn’t, either, then I’d say we were even." Ky looked up and saw they were outside the Library. "Back to the unexciting paperwork for you, I’m afraid. Shall I write up today’s report to make up for it?"

"You have been slacking off seriously, Ky. But the division of labor seems fair…you save the world and I’ll write the reports." She grinned. "May I assume that you don’t want me to mention the reports of your impending demise?"

"We do want to keep the Templars handy. Send a report like that home and Mother will come screaming over the horizon with the Sixteenth, and probably a few Cardinals from the Church to come and declare Sakkariah back there a heretic. At the very least. And then Haroy and friends will be somewhere beyond Nihon by the time the dust clears. And leave out the mystic warnings of my dreams, as well. For personal reasons." Ky actually managed a smile over the whole affair. "Misawa and my mother hear enough strangeness about me from the Lumineux of Jumi as it is."

"Very well. I’m off to the Library, to continue my lonely life of research and trying to find a spy. You?"

"I think I’ll take a walk. Think about a few things." He turned and walked away, and once he was out of earshot, Orochi sighed. "Poor Ky," she said to herself. She had known Ky for a very long time now, and in her life, she had never met a gentler, kinder soul. And yet he had been raised to become a warrior, and if everything that she had heard was true, then there was a great shame that to make such a warrior, one had to use a man like Ky to accomplish it. Then she set that aside and concentrated, as always, on her duties.

Afternoon at the Shining Wizard found a considerable crowd of Guardsmen, more so than usual.

Partly they were there to mourn their dead, the men who had fallen defending the airships on the beaches of Nocturnus; Foxfire had wisely given all of those who had gone there the day off, to spend as they will. Most had gathered at the barracks and talked about the battle, of their losses and what would happen if a true war had started. It was not long before someone suggested that they needed a drink, and without delay the group had moved to the Shining Wizard.

Foxfire, Kristof, Neu and Enii had taken a table near the doors, as so to watch the rest of the Guard present, around fifteen of them, in the event that they got out of hand. Other than the Guard, though, the place was rather empty, as it usually was until after sunset. That left the four with considerable time to talk amongst themselves, and in the case of Foxfire and Kristof, drink. Not that Neu and Enii were abstaining, but they knew better than to drink to the extent the two men did. Foxfire poured himself another beer and raised his glass. "Here’s to those of us who didn’t make it here," he said, somewhat somberly.

Kristof, who had actually removed his hat for a change of pace, raised his glass in salute, "Here, here." The two men drank, bringing a smile to Neu’s face. "What prompted that, Neu?" Kristof asked.

"It’s just odd to see you take something serious for a change, Kristof," she replied.

"My dear Neu, I take everything seriously. I just refuse to let it get me down for long. Those who brood ceaselessly miss out on a lot of fun."

"I’ll drink to that," Enii said, raising her glass. "Here’s to taking things lightly, which we seldom get a chance to do. Lady Mars is very serious minded."

"As well she should be," Neu added. "She is the only fighter amongst the Founders, and she feels responsible for the defense of Nitaru."

"Not anymore," Enii took a drink, a modest sip compared to Foxfire and Kristof’s gulping, before continuing. "That Kiske fellow…wow, what a power."

"Gilead won’t always be here, Enii," Neu pointed out. "But Nitaru will remain."

"Very true, oh fair one," Foxfire said. "When Kiske and his lovely companion return home, we’ll still be here, taking care of business."

"Which in your case means running from irate fathers and equally irked boyfriends," Kristof quipped.

"Only if they find out about it, Kristof." Foxfire grinned. "Only if they find out."

Further discussion on the matter was silenced, more or less, when the doors to the Shining Wizard opened and Ky Kiske walked in. He looked around, noticed the quartet at their table, and walked over to them. "I thought I sensed Neu and Enii in here. Do you mind if I join you?"

"Not in the least," Foxfire replied. "Though I must admit that I find it unusual for you to be here."

Ky took a chair from a nearby table, drawing an amazed stare from the other two people who sat there. He placed the chair between the two men and sat down. "Why is that? I was just…walking, and decided to see what you were up to here."

"Well, you’re a Knight of the Cross." Foxfire poured himself another drink. "I thought you were devoted in your service to the Church of the Faith."

Ky smiled. "In theory, yes. We of the Seikishidan are sworn into service by the Holy Father himself, to serve as the ‘terrible, swift sword of the Lord,’ but we aren’t bound to any oaths of austerity to the Church. So, yes, I’m allowed to go into a tavern." He looked around. "Though I must confess that I haven’t spent much time in them."

"Oh, really?" Kristof asked. He looked at Foxfire and smiled a secretive grin. "Why is that?"

"I spent almost all my life training for battle. I was sent to the Academy when I was six, and when I was sixteen I qualified for the Seikishidan." Ky seemed a little sad for a moment. "I haven’t had much time for a normal life."

"Well, then," Foxfire said, putting an arm around Ky’s shoulders in a gesture of camaraderie, "we owe it to you to introduce you to the finer things of a normal life. Barkeep! Another pitcher and a glass for Sir Kiske here!" He let Ky go and smiled broadly. "And while we are here, Enii can tell you about the frying pan."

"So she can," Ky said, leaning back in his chair. A waitress came to the table with a new pitcher of beer and a glass for Ky. Foxfire filled Ky’s glass to the top and remarked, casually, "It’s best if you drink it quicker, so it stays cold."

Ky’s eyebrow raised. "Oh, really?" He lifted the glass and drank half of it at once. "Not bad," he said. "So, Enii, about the frying pan?"

"Okay, it goes something like this," she began enthusiastically, leaning over the table to speak (the better to be heard over three of the Guard at a nearby table who were belting out, off tune, some song they’d learned from a sailor.) "See, before Lady Mars began training me and Neu, we were just normal members of the Civic Guard. Assigned to your typical policing duties, that sort of thing. Anyway, when Lady Mars returned, she began a program of studying the Guard, looking for people amenable to her training techniques. She wasn’t looking for so much skill as she was a certain mindset, an attitude."

"Your drink is going flat," Kristof pointed out to Ky, who finished the remainder of it in one swallow. Neu shook her head, a little despairingly.

"Anyway! This is where it gets fun," Enii continued. "Most of our work, before the recent incidents, pretty much involves dealing with visitors to Nitaru…airshipmen and sailors, traders, that kind of thing. Very rarely does it involve much more than just breaking up a fight caused by a card game or a dispute with someone over money, which tends to be more or less the same thing. Well, one night, we ran into a doozy over at this restaurant just off the docks."

"It seems," Neu said, "that there was some sort of rivalry between two trading vessels-ocean going ships, from the islands of Oceanida, something to do with the captains I believe. And by chance, a great many of both crews wound up at this one restaurant. Needless to say, it was not long before words were exchanged and it escalated into your standard knock down, drag out brawl."

"Yeah!" Enii took over the conversation as Foxfire re-filled Ky’s glass. "So we get called in, and it’s absolute mayhem in there, like twenty, thirty people brawling, chairs flying everywhere, the works. It’s like me, Neu, Foxfire was there…didn’t you show up when we called for back-up, Kristof?"

"Along with half the airfield Guard, yeah," Kristof replied.

"Anyway, we try to quiet it down by basically yelling a lot, but that didn’t work. So we waded in, batons a-flying, decking people, the usual. But there was one guy, this huge guy, who wasn’t going down so well. He knocked over two of the Guard and was making a break for it out the back." Enii grinned widely. "One of them, I have to admit, was me. He ran past me while I was apprehending someone else and sent me flying. Knocked my baton away, and that was all I had. So I went after him, and since we were running through a kitchen and all that, and I needed a weapon…"

"You grabbed a frying pan." Ky finished for her.

"Exactly! So the big guy runs out the back door, and I go after him, and all of a sudden he stops. He assumes what I later found out to be a stance of a martial art from Miifan, and I kind of think he’s gone nuts. So I just swing at him with the frying pan. BLAM! He drops to the ground."

"Where did you hit him?" Ky asked.

"Oh, in between his shoulder blades. I wasn’t gonna hit him in the head. Though maybe I should have. Anyway, he turned around and swung at me from his knees, and I blocked it with the frying pan. Broke three of his fingers. About then I realized that the reason why he had stopped was because Mars had showed up; she was blocking his way. It turned out that the guy I had hit with the frying pan was actually a wanted criminal on several islands in Oceanida, so there were a great many grateful folks when we locked him up. Lady Mars liked the fact that I had gone after so large an opponent with only a frying pan, said I displayed considerable initiative, so she decided to train me."

"My teachers would have said you were reckless for going after him alone, but then again, you did act quickly, so I’d say it balanced out." Ky raised his glass. "This is good beer, you know?"

"So it is," Foxfire said. "Have some more, why don’t you?"

In the Library, Orochi watched, amazed, as Hikari continued working on the paratext.

She had tried, one last time, to look into the prospect of someone else looking into the same information as Hikari had in order to find someone who could have reported on the existence of the paratext to the Templars. She had not found anyone, save Hikari and her assistants, who had accessed the texts referring to this matter, and only Hikari had done that before she reported her findings to the Council. That left them with a spy, and instantly Orochi had dismissed that thought. Daimira came, from what she had learned about the alchemist, from one of the first families to settle on Nitaru, long time friends with Sephira, and beyond that, it simply felt wrong to suspect her. Gunderson, on the other hand…he was crude, constantly stared at women in a way that made her feel…dirty. And for that reason, she dismissed him as a spy. Frankly, he seemed too perfect to be a spy, she mused. She had been debating her next move-trying to find out something about the Lexicon, most likely by talking with Hikari- when she realized that Daimira and Gunderson were staring in awe at Hikari.

Most of what she was doing made no sense to Orochi; her hands were moving, leaving behind patterns of light in shades of yellow and green. Patterns of energy appeared before her, and she seemed to study them for a moment before moving her hands again. Occasionally she spoke in a whisper, and it was this that gave Orochi a clue what she was doing, for her tone was that of someone reading. Suspended in the air before her was what appeared to be a simple parchment, but one that gave off light yet not heat. This, Orochi knew, was the paratext, the thing that Hikari had been working on, the location of the Books of the First Cataclysm. Hikari was assembling it, Orochi deduced, though how was a mystery to her. Hikari’s expression was beyond focused; she looked, Orochi thought, like the definition of driven. Clearly something had just fitted itself into place after their visit to Nocturnus (Ky had told her of Hikari’s unusual behavior in the vaults before turning in last night.) and work was proceeding at a far greater pace than it had before. She could not help but wonder what had happened to cause such a thing, but it was certainly speeding things up.

Daimira came over to where she sat and said, quietly, "Amazing, isn’t it? She’s done more work today than we accomplished in weeks before."

"Really?" Orochi considered this for a moment. "Is this…unusual?"

Daimira shook her head. "Perhaps the extent is, but usually, in translation and breaking of runic codes, there usually comes a point where we reach a breakthrough, a kind of understanding of the system that allows us to make assumptions. Hikari seems to have reached that point."

"Have you?"

Daimira thought about it. "No, but Hikari has always been on another level when it comes to this sort of thing. I’m certain that, once I have time to study it, her breakthrough will be clear to me. Of course, it won’t be long until it’s complete."

"She’s almost done?"

Daimira nodded. "At a guess, I’d say she’s within ten percent of the total text being finished. There are certain markers, and textural clues that…"

"I’ll take your word for it." Orochi stood. "I think I’m going to go look for Ky. I’m not accomplishing much here, and there are things we need to discuss." She collected her things-mostly her sword, which she had removed when she had sat down-and left, trying to seem casual. Inside, though, her mind was whirling, stunned by the implications. They’ll know where the Books are soon, perhaps even by tomorrow. That means that the Templars will have no reason to hold back. If they find out that Hikari is this close, Nitaru could get attacked. She would have to find Ky, as soon as possible, and talk to him about it. She cast her senses out, working her way through the vast power that one felt when one was in a Domain, knowing that it would be a while before she picked up his aura, and then reached him. Since it was already early evening, she judged that she might not find him until after the sun went down. She got about her business, wishing, for a moment, that she had Ky’s senses; it would make her job easier. Of course, she mused, that meant she would have all the other problems attendant with being Ky, so, on the whole, she decided that she was better off without them.

In the Shining Wizard, Neu slowly came to realize that things had not quite gone to Foxfire and Kristof’s plan.

For a man who had not spent a lot of time in bars-and Neu found that easy to believe, given how much of a military cadet’s life in Gilead was devoted to training for the first twenty years of their lives-Ky was not becoming drunk from his rapid drinking. In fact, after six glasses, he seemed only a little inebriated at best, some flush showing in his cheeks. His speech was steady and unslurred, and his movements perfect.

Foxfire and Kristof were another story, however.

Kristof had put his hat back on, though it sat at a crazy angle, nearly falling off every time he moved his head. Foxfire had taken to giggling uncontrollably at virtually everything that was said, regardless of whether or not it was meant to be funny. Enii was watching the proceedings with a grin on her face; it was always fun when Foxfire and Kristof tied one on.

Foxfire leaned over closer to Ky, spilling a little beer from his glass on the table before him. "So, Mr. Kiske," he said with some effort, "have you been enjoying your stay on our island? Seen any of the local beauties that you might fancy?"

"So that Foxfire might tell you of his failures with them," Kristof said, probably thinking he was speaking in a low tone; he was, if the listener was on, say, Nocturnus.

Ky finished his beer and leaned back in his chair. "There are many fine ladies here on Nitaru, in many different ways, all quite lovely. If my heart weren’t taken, I would say this is a fine place to look for someone."

"So, you have a girl?" Foxfire leaned over and jabbed his elbow into Ky’s ribs. "A fondness for ladies with blue hair, is it?"

Ky seemed puzzled, until he realized what Foxfire meant and laughed. "Oh, no, not Orochi. She’s a friend, and at any rate, she once told me she preferred guys who were less skinny. No, my heart belongs to a lass named Embla."

Kristof blinked. "I don’t mean to offend, but I hope that she’s fairer than her name."

Ky chuckled. He reached into his overcoat and pulled, from an inside pocket, a slip of a paper of a sort usually not seen in a Domain, since images could be recorded there magically, photographic paper. He handed it to Foxfire, who looked at it, then whistled. "This is?"

Ky nodded, pointing at the picture of him, in a black uniform that looked like a school uniform, beside of a long-legged, beautiful young woman in a knee-length blue dress, in front of a stone building of considerable age. "That’s me and Embla in front of the Grand Cathedral in New Jerusalem, just after I was ordained as a Knight of the Cross by the Holy Father, Lucian XIX."

"I just meant the girl, not the rest of that," Foxfire said, showing the picture to Kristof. "I’d say she’s fairer than her name, wouldn’t you?"

"Indeed." Kristof looked around the table and then stood up. "Ladies, Foxfire, I do believe I am going to go to the men’s room now."

Foxfire handed the picture back to Ky and rose, somewhat unsteadily. "I’d best follow him, or he might just get lost. Stranger things have happened." The two made their way through the now-mostly full tavern, before going out of sight around a corner bursting into song. Admittedly not the same song, but it was the thought that counts, Ky knew.

"I didn’t know they had photography in Gilead," Neu said. "I thought that was strictly an invention of Neo-Olympus."

"Actually," Ky said, standing up, "it was invented in Gilead first. The Mechanics, bless their souls, were the ones to refine it, and to try to use it to make money." Ky buttoned his coat shut and then bowed politely to both ladies. "Enii, Neu, it has been a pleasure, but I must go."

"Before you go, one question…" Neu began.

Ky smiled. "Why aren’t I drunk?"

"Yes. You seemed to be falling into the classic tricks that wise guys pull on inexperienced people, but you aren’t drunk."

"Ah, yes. First off, my training in combat involved more than just learning how to swing a sword. There are meditative techniques that allow one to ignore pain, blood loss, even some poisons in the world. Skills that allow one to even control one’s metabolism."

"You used some of those?" Enii asked.

"Oh, no, though I could have if need be. No, just because I said I had never been in taverns much doesn’t mean that I know nothing of drinking. A cadet at the Combat Academy I knew was not a great fighter, but he was quite the chemist. He made a working distillery that produced some rather powerful drink. Now that was a lad who knew how to get one drunk. Until we meet again."

Ky left, leaving Neu and Enii with much to ponder. Mainly, though, they were considering just how hard they would tease Foxfire and Kristof over this latest disaster. Still, Neu thought, it went to show them just how little they knew of Gilead. No wonder the Templars fear them so; what kind of power does Gilead truly possess? Before her thoughts could turn too serious, Foxfire and Kristof reappeared, still singing their separate songs. It’s going to be a LONG night, Neu thought with a smile.

Ky had walked perhaps two blocks from the Shining Wizard, the cool twilight air managing to dispel what little effect the beers had had on him, when he saw Orochi walking towards him. She seemed concerned, though as she grew near to him she smiled. "Ky Kiske, have you been drinking?"

"If you could call what they have here as beer drinking, then yes. Just needed some time to think…and then I decided I didn’t want to worry about things, so I wound up having fun."

"You should try that more often. Sadly, I bring news which will force you to think again." She related to Ky everything that she had observed of Hikari, and of the speed at which she was working on the paratext. "I wouldn’t be shocked if she completed it tonight, Ky. I don’t know what happened to her, but she’s totally, I don’t know…driven now."

"Damn. Not good." Something was nagging at him, though he could not place it. "We still don’t know how the Templars are getting their information, so we aren’t going to be able to stop it. When they find out that Hikari has finished the paratext, they’re going to make their move."

"And all hell breaks loose. We don’t know their strength, their location, their…well, their anything."

"True. So very true." Ky sighed. "I don’t see how we can keep from having to bring in help now. Misawa and my mother at least will want a standing force present…even if they have to over-ride the Assembly."

"We can only make our report, Ky. What they do with it is up to them."

Ky nodded. "Let’s go, Orochi. Looks like I’ll have to contribute to your report after all." He led the way back to Mars’ home, all the while thinking only of what Sakkariah had said to him that morning.

If that was so, then he would fight until his last breath, but inwardly, he doubted his time would come so soon. He suspected he would not live a long life, but he somehow knew that he was not fated to die in the defense of Nitaru. He just hoped his feelings were superior to Sakkariah’s visions, if such a thing were possible.

Olav Kloften, once again freed from the shell, the false persona, of Gunderson, knew elation as he prepared his latest message working for Haroy.

Gunderson had remained with Hikari and Daimira until midnight, watching more than helping, as Hikari assembled huge sections of the paratext, all of it falling into place with stunning rapidity. Hikari seemed almost possessed, burning with the desire to see the paratext finished. Gunderson’s memory told Kloften that, by midday tomorrow, the location of the Books of the First Cataclysm would be known. And that meant that time had run out; Gilead would have to know by now of the peril that existed, and likely an air fleet was already assembling to come here. Haroy would have to act quickly to gain the advantage, and that meant striking as soon as possible. He knew that nothing mattered-not the Templar fleet, not the lives of the thousands of mercenaries that Haroy had hired, depleting much of the Templar treasuries, none of it mattered-all of them could be lost so long as the Templars had the Books. And Kloften would see to that. He composed his message, spoke the words that bound the working, and sent the raven out into the night. Soon, he thought, Gunderson would fade away. Olav Kloften would assume once again his true role, and would bring to the Black Templars the greatest power in the world. He chuckled, and decided to stay awake for a bit more. After all, soon he would have to grow accustomed to being himself all of the time.

The raven arrived some forty-nine minutes later aboard the Atavism of Twilight, embedding itself into Aesgir Haroy’s very soul and flooding him with information. The sheer depth of the message, its import, astounded him, shocking him out of the light sleep he had been taking sitting on the bridge of the flagship. He stood up, startling the duty staff on the bridge, but he found he did not care. He looked at one of the men, the one who manned the main controls and such had command when the captain wasn’t present and said, "Awaken the captain. We leave for Nitaru in three hours, and the devil damn those who can’t make that." He grinned as the hapless crewman got on the intercom system to speak to the captain, delivering the word that the mission was about to start. Haroy had much to do; he had to talk with Mickelson, of course, about the orders to send back to Kloften, and talk to Turilli about the invasion plan for the city, but that could wait. For this one moment, he and he alone knew the joy that every Templar had waited over a thousand years to feel; on this day, the war against Gilead began again, and it was a feeling he wished to savor, privately, before sharing it with his brothers, with the thirty others of the Brotherhood who had come with him to strike at Gilead.

In the Library, Hikari worked on, oblivious to all, even to the fact that Daimira had fallen asleep an hour earlier, her head laying on a closed book. Her face was at once suffused with joy and at the same time drawn in hard lines, a sign of her effort and drive. She worked at a furious pace, the air around her crackling with energy as she drew from the Library what she needed.

And as she did, the whispers continued to speak to her, telling her what she needed to know.

To be continued.

Author’s Note:

Again, in this chapter, I foreshadow events that will take place in later works, which have no bearing on much of this story, namely Ky’s musing "I had hoped that they were wrong about me. Truly I had", and Orochi later thinks about Ky and implies that he was made to be something. I know what that is, and in fact I hint very broadly at Ky’s ultimate destiny by the end of this story, but I hope I haven’t confused you all. I do know what I’m doing, believe it or not. Well, later!

J.R.