Halkegenia Online v2.0 – Chapter 7 Part 2
Frowning, Alicia Rue, First Lady of Freelia eyed her oldest remaining friend unawares, a hint of worry flashing in her eyes. "You know, at this rate, you're going to end up with wrinkles way too young."
"What was that?" Sakuya asked as she set down her pen and closed the last notebook with a blessed sense of accomplishment. The battle with paperwork was at last won for the day. It seemed the bureaucrats had wasted no time in making Halkegenia just like home. In the annoying ways as well. And just in time too, she noted the sun beginning to sink on the horizon through her office window.
"I was saying you need a new hobby." Alicia repeated, stretching her arms behind her back. "Maybe flower arranging," She grinned mischievously, "Or tea ceremonies."
Sakuya scowled as she stood up from her desk, dropping the papers into the outgoing pile before heading for the door, Alicia in tow, they would be late if they didn't hurry. "I don't have time for a hobby." She said tiredly, eyes narrowing at Alicia Rue. "And you don't either! Miss Likes to be a Cat!" How she got her work done when she fell asleep in the middle of the afternoon was still a mystery to Sakuya. Probably the same way she'd done it in that other world.
The Cait Girl raised her hands helplessly. "What can I say, I'm good at delegating!"
The Lady of the Sylphs didn't try to contest the matter. For one thing, there was very likely some truth to it. It was never quite clear why, but when Alicia was around, things just seemed to get done, often faster and more efficiently than Sakuya would ever have imagined possible. Nobody was quite sure why, and when asked about it, Alicia would only suggest that a game bug must have let her keep her [<Super Secretary]> special ability after changing classes to Leader. It was almost comforting that Alicia could remain to flippant after everything.
A pair of guards fell in quickly at their backs as they departed Sakuya's office and headed for the main lobby. Sakuya felt faintly uncomfortable as she eyed one of the Sylphs at her back. She had nothing against the man personally, he simply had the misfortune of filling a pair of shoes that she would have rather left empty. After Novair's death, his murder, Liliana should have taken over directing her guards as the senior Sylph watch Commander. But with Liliana also murdered, Sakuya bit her lip, the job had gone to the severe man at her side now.
Before yesterday, Sakuya had never met Ephi, a competent swordsman and even more competent mage who had proven himself while serving in the Mob patrols. All that she'd known was that he had been one of Liliana's Lieutenants and the first to volunteer for the job after learning that his superior had been killed. That really should have been enough, Sakuya thought, anyone brave enough to volunteer after what had happened to Liliana and Novair was deserving of her respect. If only he had the slightest hint of tact, clinging to her side, and watching everything she did.
Ephi noticed her watching him and gave a small nod. "Do you need something, Sakuya-sama?" So formal, she thought, none of the warmth that had grown up between her and Novair. It reminded her of just how isolated she was with only Alicia to rely on.
"No, it's nothing." Sakuya said, brushing back a loose strand of hair.
The elevator was being held for them when they arrived, a cluster of guards waiting patiently and more standing guard at the main sky entrance to Arrun Tower, predominantly Sylphs, Cait Syth, and Salamanders, but also a few of the illusion masters promised by Morgiana.
The Spriggans stood back, clinging to corners and shadows, from time to time one of them would complete a whispered chant as they renewed the [<Detect]> spells that they had set over the entire area.
Sakuya gave a nod of approval at the first sight of the white and black logo of the Guild Kurotaka. Morgiana had brought out her elites, it was good to see that someone was acting sensibly. Which inevitably brought her back to the issue she'd have rather not had to think about.
A day ago, as she had promised Mortimer, Sakuya had gone forward with divulging the identity of the first Faerie murderer. As expected, the news had hit the message boards with all the subtlety of a hurricane, spreading across Arrun in less than an hour, by word of mouth, or by the hastily printed broadsheets that the Daily ALfheim staff had been able to throw together. The same scene had repeated in the other cities as word was relayed by Moonlight Mirror.
The effect had been immediate and decisive. By mid morning, Arrun tower had been flooded with Faeries demanding to see their Leaders and know what was being done now that the murderer was known to the authorities. Thankfully, by then Sakuya had her answer.
In an unprecedented step, it had been decided by unanimous vote of the Faerie Lords and Representatives to declare a manhunt with the intent of bringing the Spriggan Assassin Rip Jack to justice. The City Watch was being bolstered with additional troops from the defense forces and a reward had been posted for any information that led to Jack's capture.
In exchange for an interview with her and Alicia, a young Cait Syth reporter named Netzel had put them in contact with a Tristanian printer who had been working with the Daily ALfheim staff to produce their new broadsheet editions. Alicia had forwarded the witness drawings of Rip Jack showing sketches of his Spriggan form as well as Morgiana's best impressions of his Sylph and Cait Syth disguises. These drawings had been replicated in wood cuts and mass printed for dissemination in all of the Faerie cities. It would be as simple as Jack changing faces again to render them a useless measure, but every little bit helped, and there was always the faint hope he would get sloppy again.
And of course, there were the Spriggan illusion masters coming out in force at Morgiana's request to sweep the streets for any hint of a person using the faction disguise spell. Their visibility and ongoing efforts did a lot to prevent them from being painted with the same brush as the murderer they were hunting. Only a few people had dared to suggest out loud that the Spriggans as a whole were untrustworthy, and most of those had been quickly silenced, often by their own friends and coworkers.
But not everything important was said out loud, Sakuya thought, there were probably far more people who harbored suspicions than would ever willingly voice them. Too many people who let their impressions from the game of ALfheim govern how they perceived people who were now their neighbors. And each silent doubter was another disaster waiting to happen. Now that she'd had time to cool her head, Sakuya was glad that Alicia had talked her out of the more rash announcement she'd originally planned.
"Something on your mind?" Alicia asked as the elevator doors closed, isolating the two Faerie Lords for the brief trip down to the main lobby.
"I'm just glad we didn't mention Mortimer." Sakuya admitted quietly. No, they had enough problems dealing with the mistrustful looks cast at the Spriggans right now, they didn't need to add the Salamanders to the pile. With their comparatively small population, they simply couldn't afford to offer a shattered front either within or without.
Alicia closed her eyes and smiled. "Neh? Not like I did that much. Besides, you wouldn't have done it anyway."
"Thanks for the vote of confidence." Sakuya said, returning a little of Alicia's smile. "But this is one time I think you're wrong."
Alicia's smile faded to be replaced by an expression of bemusement. "What is it about him that gets under your skin?"
"Its . . ." Sakuya paused as she tried to think of a way to explain it.
Really, for something she couldn't put plainly, she felt entirely too strongly about it. What was her real problem with Mortimer?
Mostly it was that he was the sort of person who saw things differently than other people, and one of the ways he saw things differently was that he saw other people as things. She'd watched him talking strategy with General Gramont and explaining military concepts to a room full of Noblemen fascinated with the ideas he was suggesting, for ships, for foot soldiers, for artillery, and mage cavalry. The Success of Dunkirk had bough him and and his allies in the Tristanian Court a tremendous amount of sway.
And yet, he still treated it like a game. Soldiers were tokens and the world was a playing board. The day before, the need for trust, his blasé dismissal. He was proving to be exactly the sort of person she'd feared he would be. Self absorbed and self interested and entirely too much like Sigurd for her liking.
A week ago, two days ago, she could have chastised herself for thinking like that, convinced herself that she was just letting her own irrational fears cloud her judgment. Now, she wasn't so sure. Two days ago, she hadn't known about Rip Jack. And two days ago, she hadn't known Mortimer was trying to keep secrets.
"I'm just not so sure he hasn't forgotten that he's wearing a mask." Sakuya decided. Or at least she hoped that's what it was. She hoped there was a decent human being someplace inside of the cold outer persona. Or maybe she didn't. If Mortimer really were a cold blooded lizard, it would make hating him so much easier. "He's still playing general."
Sakuya had expected that Alicia might say any number of things back, she didn't expect the small snort, and then a slightly louder snicker as the petite [<Queen of the Cat Girls]> tried to stifle a laugh.
"What is it?" Sakuya asked shortly.
Waving a hand as she wiped a tear from her eye. "Sorry, sorry, it's just, well, pot, meet kettle."
The reply got a rise out of the Lady of the Sylphs, Sakuya was woman enough to admit it, the nerve of Alicia implying that there was anything alike between her and Mortimer!
"And just what does that mean?" She asked, voice as sharp as the sword she still habitually carried at her side.
Alicia was back to serious mode again as she looked up at the taller Sylph. "It means that maybe Mortimer's not the only one whose forgotten that they're wearing a mask." She said softly and without a hint of humor.
"Wait." The Sylph's brows rose. "You think I'm LARPing?" Sakuya was unable to keep the disbelief from her voice. Certainly she had treated Mortimer as her enemy in ALfheim, that was the entire point of the game, but think that it would in any way extend to a real world . . .
A small hand encompassed Sakuya's wrist, squeezing gently. "Look, if you ever need to just talk . . ." Alicia shook her head. "No, even if you don't feel like talking, we should have a sit down and sort this all out, okay?"
Face a little more composed, back a little straighter, Sakuya extracted her hand from Alicia's grip and gave her a small look of displeasure. "That would imply I had time for myself." Something that had become a bit of a unicorn, the figurative kind, over the past few weeks.
Alicia's smile returned, shaking her head casually as she leaned against the curved wall of the elevator. "You're a Faerie Lord, you've even got the fancy crest thingy!" Alicia pointed to the sylph crest hung from a golden chain wreathed atop her head. "You can make time!"
The two women held their stares, Green eyes and Gold battling in a test of wills. This time, it was Sakuya's turn to try and suppress a snicker. Only when she laughed openly did Alicia really relax and wait for her to get control of herself. "Alright. Alright, I get it!" Sakuya wiped at her own eyes. "If it's that important, maybe we can have a few drinks, but not before next day of Void." She was sure she could make room in her schedule for that, hopefully. "We'll talk things over then."
It seemed like Alicia had more to say but the Cait Girl held her tongue, simply nodding instead. "That works for me."
The needle set above the elevator door came to a stop pointing squarely at the brass letter G announcing their arrival at the ground floor, a small bell chimed mechanically as the elevator car secured itself.
"And Arisa . . . Thank you." Sakuya said.
The Lord of Freelia's smile widened. "It's nothing, Sakura-chan."
And then the elevator doors were opening, depositing the two women into cordon of guards that separated the elevator banks from the a gathering crowd . It was almost time to begin, and Sakuya had no intention of missing this, especially as one of the participants.
It occurred to the historian in Sakuya that they were living in a time of many firsts. First contact with a whole new world, the formation of their own government, the first written laws and treaties negotiated on their behalf, and of course, their first war. Today was the day of another first in the nascent history of the Faeries. Tonight was to be the first official interviews and the first opportunity for the Faerie Lords to truly stand before the people that they lead.
Any populace, be they born in the early modern age or the information age, was forever hungry for information, and if they didn't get it from a credible source, they would happily devour their own tails. The result was inevitably rumors, lies, and gossip that left people ill informed and ill prepared. The message boards helped a little, and the Daily ALfheim was shaping up to be an important resource once they had a broad enough distribution to actually publish on a daily basis. In the mean time, the Leaders needed a way to present themselves to the people and also defend against the accusations of the opposition, such as it were.
Sakuya wrinkled her nose as she saw an unwelcome face on the other side of the cordon, surrounded by a crowd of sycophants and assorted hangers on as well as a particular Cait Syth hungry for a few quotes for tomorrow's paper. As Sylph's went, he was as handsome as Sakuya was beautiful, tall, high cheekbones, hawkish eyes, green hair almost as dark as her own pulled back to expose a widow's peak. Sakuya wondered just how much he'd spent on that avatar or if he had just gotten absurdly lucky. No, she thought, probably not, if he were lucky, Rio wouldn't be in this world at all.
Once, what felt like a lifetime ago but really couldn't have been more than a year in the past, Rio had been a contender for Lord of the Sylphs. He had the voice and speaking talent to back up his looks and knew how to carry himself well. If only he wasn't an utter troll and completely devoid of common sense.
Though that might have been a little unfair, Sakuya had had help, of a sort, in the form of Sigurd who had also been running for the position of Lord at the time. The two men had ended up locked in a battle of wills that had allowed Sakuya to slip past and win handily. Her performance as Lady of the Sylphs had ensured her reelection every voting period since.
She suspected that Rio rather resented her for that. It might have explained his latest idiocy. Though maybe she was giving herself too much credit for his bad behavior. In any case, she hadn't spared Rio a thought until a little less than a month ago when he had started to make waves. Small ones at first, finding every leak and problem and complaining about it until Sakuya or one of the other Lords managed to get it plugged.
The technique was crude, but effective in the short term. Rio had begun to develop a small but very devoted following among the disenfranchised players, the Gankers, Trolls, and generally less wholesome crowd who didn't really belong anywhere else. They styled themselves 'the Friends of the ABC' with Rio as their face to the rest of the Fae. He almost certainly couldn't be providing the brains.
The success of operation Dunkirk had almost shut him up, for about a week. But now he was at it again, this time using the murders as ammunition for his cause. The dialogues exchanged every day with Regin had been his latest bid to gain relevance.
Regin was taken relatively seriously by the population and tended to voice their concerns with a degree of eloquence and even flare. By debating with Regin, Rio had hoped to latch on to the Puca's popularity and become perceived as the officially endorsed opposition. It was a surprisingly clever strategy for someone like Rio if only it hadn't been backfiring so horribly.
Put simply, Regin had been taking the Sylph apart in every one of their exchanges, stripping Rio of his modest gains until only the diehard followers remained. Today most likely would be the final death blow. Sakuya found she rather enjoyed the prospect. Now if only she wasn't on the firing line as well.
As much as she hated to admit it, Rio did make one very good point. Over two thirds of the Fae were currently ruled by Leaders who had never been elected. They'd been selected by their fellow players to play leader in a game, they had not been chosen by their fellow Fae to be their Lords and Lead them into a war.
Where Rio had been most effective was hammering home this fact. Dunkirk had been a tremendous military success that had saved the lives of hundreds of their trapped fellow players, it had also embroiled them in a war that could very possible cost thousands of them their lives and committed the Fae to the defense of Tristain without any hope for repreave if things went badly for the Kingdom.
Sakuya knew why this was necessary and had resigned herself to the fact. She had to, that was her job as a Leader. But there were many people who didn't share her belief, either out of ignorance or shear pig headed belief that they could stick their heads in the sand and not get involved despite every shred of evidence to the contrary.
This debate would be as much a Trial in the eyes of some as it was a discussion in the eyes of others and it drained much of the enjoyment that Sakuya might have otherwise felt as her guards parted the crowds so that she could take to the stage. The others were already waiting.
Not all of the Lords were represented here tonight. Seeing to the new security measures had taken Zia and Zolf back to their home cities and while the Gnomes had selected an official mayor to rule to Tau Tona, they had yet to decide on who would represent them in Arrun and by extension in Tristain. Lastly, Morgiana had bowed out to personally direct the Spriggan guards scattered across Arrun. The last Sakuya had seen of her, the Lady of the Spriggans had looked every bit the stocking huntress, hungry to disembowel something, anything with that ludicrous spear of hers.
Here was to hoping that Morgiana wouldn't be the cause of their next incident.
Alicia slipped past, stepping lightly to take her seat in one of the chairs that had been carried up onto the stage. Choosing to make the sacrifice of sitting between Rio and Rute. The Lord of the Leprechauns sat heavily, grumbling under his breath in a fashion that caused his mustache to twitch as if it were alive. Beside Rute, the Undine Thinker was seated casually in his semi martial uniform flanked by Mortimer. Sakuya paused only long enough to meet Mortimer's eyes for a heartbeat, her displeasure rising as she realized the only remaining unoccupied seat was between him and the last attendant, a scholarly looking Puca.
There wasn't much that could be said for Regin prior to ALfheim's actualization in Tristain. There wasn't much to say, because Regin had the grave misfortune of being a complete Newbie to ALfheim when the transition had hit, claiming to have logged less than twenty hours total. Reborn into the Puca Race with little in the way of useful skills, he'd gotten by at first like everyone else by accepting the rationed handouts and the charity of his fellow Players turned Faeries. That was, until he began to try his hand at political commentary and his reputation had taken off.
Sakuya had read his work devoutly, and though he hardly had any new insights, what he said was consistently reasonable with an eye towards addressing the fears of the populace. Sakuya was impressed by the way he managed to keep a level head and rather wished their first in person meeting could have been under better circumstances, and farther from Mortimer.
Kicking herself for not arriving sooner, or else insisting on a seating assignment, Sakuya took her place.
Regin gave her a small, courteous nod as she came to take the seat beside him. One slender hand rose to rub at his eyes and thin nose.
"Tired already?" Sakuya asked, trying to make conversation to distract from the man to her right until the debates began.
Smiling, the Puca lowered his hand. "Not at all, or perhaps just a little." He admitted with a note of apology. "Keeping up with Rio-san is quite the challenge."
Sakuya nodded. "I can only imagine." Except she didn't need to, she counted keeping track of the ongoing dialogue as part of her job as Lady of the Sylphs. She knew exactly how much effort Regin had to be devoting to keep up with Rio's attacks. It had to be exhausting, not to mention exacerbating.
"I have to apologize in advance Sakuya-san." Regin smiled wanly. "I have to confess that I've never been in a debate like this."
Sakuya tilted her head as she smiled. The man looked positively ill at ease, something that was almost endearing really. "You really shouldn't worry so much. In fact, I think I'm the one who should be worried tonight if your writing is anything to go by."
"Really?" Regin glanced back at her. "That's too kind Lady Sakuya, but that's not really what I'm worried about. Everyone's going to see this. Everyone."
Sakuya was forced to pause as Regin's words sank in. It was easy to forget, sitting up on the brightly orelit stage that that the lobby turned auditorium of Arrun tower was filled to capacity with almost two thousand attending Faeries. And that wasn't all, through some clever spell exploits by the Imps, Puca, and Spriggans, the debate was going to be relayed live to the other Faerie Cities and even to the Royal Palace in Tristania. The Darkness Masters were already setting up their Moonlight Mirror spells at the back of the room, a row of Silver ovoids looking down from the Lobby's second floor.
Slowly, Sakuya felt her own smile fade. Just what had she gotten herself in to? She'd known intellectually that they would be facing not only the people living in Arrun but all over Tristain and even the Nobility, but she hadn't really felt it, that was, until now. But she didn't have time to linger as the massive clock at the center of the Lobby slowly struck the hour. It was time to begin.
"Good evening everyone!" A clear, voice amplified by the special Puca ability [<Ventriloquism]> rang out across the lobby as the volunteer proctor for the night took the stage, a Puca woman in her best black maestro attire, probably the most formal piece of clothing she owned. "I'm Noel, and I'll be proctoring tonight's discussion and also forwarding questions to the attendants. But first, I'd like to thank you all for taking an avid interest and for taking time to attend." Nodding to the crowds, the Puca next turned to the five Lords, Regin, and Rio. "And of course, we would all like to extend our greatest thanks to the Fae Lords for making time in their busy schedules."
Sakuya nodded and smiled serenely, Sylph hearing picking up the murmurs of approval, and also the less pleasant mutterings coming from Regin's supporters who had somehow managed to hijack the front rows.
"Without further delay, we will now open the panel for the first question."
Noel reread a small card of paper held in the palm of her white gloved hand. "The first question is actually concerning an issue that has been foremost on everyone's mind for the last six weeks. Understanding that our options and ability to probe the phenomena that brought us here are limited, what measure are being taken by the Lords to search out a way to return home?"
Sakuya raised her hand smoothly. "Actually, I think I would like to answer this one if that is alright."
Noel nodded to the Lady of the Sylphs. "Of course Lady Sakuya."
"Well." Composing her thoughts carefully, Sakuya began hesitantly. "As has been said, our ability at this time to actually analyze the effects of the Transition is limited, we lack both the scientific tools and expertise to examine the Transition as we would another physical phenomena, and the training to determine how magic may be involved. For the time being our understanding is thus limited to simple observations." The words began to come more easily as she spoke and Sakuya found herself having to try harder to slow herself and avoid babbling. "What we can say for now is that the discovery of an artifact from Earth in the Tarbes region most certainly suggests a recurring connection between this world and our own."
Noel allowed the crowd's murmurs to settle before going on. "You mean of course the Iroquois helicopter that was found by the consultants sent to deal with the Pixies at Tarbes?"
Sakuya heard Mortimer mutter something under his breath that sounded vaguely like 'Huey' but chose to ignore it. Instead, she nodded in agreement with Noel's conclusion. "Yes, that would be correct."
More mutters, and then the raising of another hand. Noel nodded to the hand's owner. "Yes, Rio-san?" Rio, oozing with false charm, smiled straight at Sakuya. "Actually, I'd be rather interested to hear how our present Leaders see this discovery helping us to find a way to return to earth, and how that factors into the course they have currently set us on."
Noel, and the eyes of the entire audience returned to Sakuya. The Lady of the Sylphs sank down in her seat as she prepared herself for a very long two hours.
