Chapter 231. Inauspicious Welcome (Patreon)

A molten yellow glow wreathes Sah’s maw as he snarls. The arrow is embedded in his left leg, though the point hasn’t sunk in far, and thankfully hasn’t started rotating again. The restraining power of my practice prevents the dragon from thrashing or bucking into the other floating arrows.

Maria understands the situation almost immediately and darts forward, pulling the arrow free. She soothes Sah’s injury by summoning heat to her hand, a soft red glow manifesting around her fingers.

Behind Sah, Crystal and Karanos slink in. As always, the fish’s expression is inscrutable, her eyes wide and calm, but Karanos seems perplexed, his brow furrowing slightly.

I clear my throat, then finally return my attention to the people in the room. A cage of arrows remains interposed between us and the ogling bystanders. I don't want to verbally converse with the others while we’re under public scrutiny.

Maria must have the same idea; Crystal relays her thoughts: “This is a rather peculiar welcome, Karanos.”

“The arrays in the Hangar of Entry don’t typically react so violently,” the old ascendant replies, smoothing down his vestments.

“Are they going to disengage?” I ask, flicking the arrow I’m holding in my hand with a finger.

Karanos snorts and steps forward, giving the arrows a look of disappointment. He touches one of them and the arrows collectively fall to the ground and sink into the floor, becoming nothing more than a pattern on the marble. The arrow in my hand strains against my palm, its thin shaft threatening to cut flesh before I release it.

“Let’s go get changed,” Karanos says softly, his expression intimidating in its severity. He gives me a knowing look; as discussed previously, I dismount Sah and follow on his left, standing nearly shoulder to shoulder. Behind Karanos, Maria rides Sah, while Crystal walks behind me.

“Everyone is still looking at us,” Maria points out, her composed expression betraying none of her misgivings. “Is there something we should know?”

“No,” he replies tersely. “You came with me. What did you expect? Anonymity?”

Karanos leads us to a tall, skinny door painted blue. “This is the room of reflection,” he says. “Crystal, stay outside with Sah; we’ll be out soon.”

Within the room is a single mirror that fills the entire back wall. The rest of the room is unadorned, and there is no furniture; the mirror is the central focus.

“The name of the room is rather fitting,” I murmur.

Maria’s eyes pan over the chamber. “Are we to disrobe here?” I understood her unspoken complaint: what good is a room set aside for changing clothes if there aren’t any areas offering privacy, or even a bench or chair upon which to lay out an outfit?

“Watch and listen,” Crystal interjects. “Focus on Karanos’ reflection in the mirror. What do you see?”

It’s just Karanos, dressed in his normal jacket and pants. But suddenly, the reflection changes: Karanos is wearing a black cape with a large brooch draped over his other clothes.

Karanos cocks his head, wearing a contemplative expression. “Crystal, what color shirt?”

“Light blue.”

Karanos nods and a blue linen shirt with a plain geometric pattern displaces his protective overcoat. To finish off the outfit, he switches out his brown pants for onyx slacks.

“The best part about this suit is that it’s lined by vike fur,” he remarks. “The cloth is thin as spider silk, yet still warm.”

“Vike?” Maria repeats.

“Wolf-bear,” I mutter absently. My attention is focused on the mirror. “Are you simply imagining yourself in different clothes, or is it doing something more profound?”

“Try it yourself,” Karanos replies.

Frowning, I try to imagine myself wearing something formal from Suncloud’s ring, but I’ve only worn the formal set of clothing once and can’t envision it. I activate the ring, intending to look at the clothes themselves for reference. But instead of seeing the ring’s interface on my vision, I see the clothing thumbnails reflected on the mirror, hovering next to my head.

I turn to Karanos. “Can you see that?”

“You haven’t changed yet–there’s nothing to see.”

Catching on, I mentally select a set of formalwear. Rather than the clothes appearing in front of me like normal, they manifest on my reflection, taking the place of my current attire.

“Now I see it,” Karanos says.

Maria’s hand caresses her void storage, a small diamond-shaped enclosure on a thin chain that circles her waist. She recoils slightly as an extravagant red gown appears in her reflection, replacing her old shirt and worn pants. A cape made of thousands of cloth flowers trails on the ground behind her, while sloped shoulder pads, elegant vambraces, and a shining breastplate give her the air of a warrior queen.

The metamorphosis is so complete and sudden that the breath catches in my throat.

“My appointment dress,” she murmurs, running a finger over her torso. “I’ve only worn it once, the week after the Sezakuin passed, when I assumed my title.” She laughs softly. “From its extravagance, you’d think I was being crowned empress of the West.”

She tilts her head and the dress in the reflection disappears, replaced by a simple black gown that falls to her knees. “This should do.”

Karanos rubs his jaw. “For now. I wasn’t aware you had something so exquisite in your possession, Maria.”

Maria didn’t have much in her void storage when I spirited her to Eternity–she hadn’t exactly prepared for a journey across the cosmos with no return. I’ve seen the Maria who prefers life in a tent to a palace, who wears provocative dresses to celebrations, who dotes on her son...but I’ve only seen a nostalgic Maria when I entered her soul and saw her innermost thoughts and desires. This is a side that she keeps hidden.

“What now?” Maria asks. “Do I simply dress myself the normal way, now that I’ve picked out my outfit?”

“Summon ascendant energy around your storage device and the mirror will take care of the rest.” As he speaks, Karanos taps one of his rings. A flush of red ascendant energy covers his finger. With a flash of the mirror, Karanos becomes indistinguishable from his well-dressed reflection.

Blue energy dances over Maria’s fingers; the mirror glints, and a black dress falls over her shoulders, velvet sleeves clinging to toned arms a few inches past the elbow.

I summon blue ascendant flames to my fingertips, then bring them near my ring, eyes keen with curiosity. As the flames hover just beyond the pale band, the mirror begins to shimmer. My energy crackles and a spark of blue falls upon the ring.

That’s enough to send the mirror flashing. I feel a slight shifting of cloth on my skin, then the cool of unwarmed clothes. Looking down, I see black dress pants and a violet brooch resting on my chest, clasping my dark cape-coat together. Karanos and I look like we’re matching.

“I haven’t seen an artifact like this before,” I note. The mirror must be interfacing with our storage implements. I didn’t think such a thing was possible.

“Your dagger interfaces with the world to evoke dramatic change,” Crystal remarks, evidently following our activities from outside. “Maria’s circlet changes her body on a fundamental level. Ascendant artifacts are as arcane as they are awesome, even if some are rather simple.”

Why are some so much simpler than others? I wonder, thinking of the artifact I found that helps the body adapt to an oxygen poor environment. In a way, what it can do is still remarkable, but compared to the dagger or this mirror...

“That is a question to which there may be no clear answer.”

Karanos turns away from the mirror and leads us out. “This room isn’t special–it really is just a changing room. People who pass through think nothing of using the mirror to change their clothes.” He passes through the door. Sah is leaning against the wall outside, with Crystal awkwardly scratching his stomach with a paw.

“The faction grounds have existed for a very, very long time, and artifacts abound,” he continues. “Don’t be caught flat-footed.” He gives Crystal a serious look. “Listen to the fish.”

Upon exiting the changing room, affairs seem to have settled–people no longer take interest in us. Looking around, I see numerous doors lining the chamber.

“Where to?” I ask.

“I’m thinking,” Karanos says quietly, his gaze inscrutable. But he doesn’t move like he’s just thinking–he walks with purpose toward a door with neat array inscriptions around its frame. There isn’t a door knob or handle; instead, Karanos places his hand upon the threshold and it melts, dissolving into the walls. Crystal and Sah stay behind as we enter, the door closing up behind us.

The room is stark white and small. A woman in a violet pantsuit and a man in cyan are lounging on an antique looking leather divan, engrossed in conversation. The only other piece of furniture is a desk upon which rests a pitcher of water and assorted pastries.

The conversation halts; both look up when Karanos enters.

“Void Seeker,” the woman in the violet suit says, tucking a curl of dirty-blond hair behind her ear. Her expression is morose. “I’m sorry for your loss.”

The cyan-suited man looks intentionally impassive, like he’s trying to mask his emotions. He inclines his head. “We didn’t think you’d be coming.”

“Jeseria, thank you for your concern,” Karanos says stiffly. “Maximus, you should really know better than to speak around me.”

“I’ll leave,” Maximus says softly, reminding me of a mouse as he scampers away, part of the wall melting to permit his passage. In a flash of gold light, the wall reforms.

I’ve never seen Karanos bully anyone aside from me and Maria; it’s incredibly cathartic.

“Karanos, why are all your associates women?” Crystal inquires, her face as innocent as ever.

His eyebrow twitches. “What are you implying, minnow?”

“Marina, Charise Laad, Cayeun Suncloud...and Ari. Now Jeseria.”

“Quiet unless you want to end up like Maximus,” he threatens, though his lip twitches upward, betraying his true amusement.

“Who are your companions, Karanos?” Jeseria asks, dropping the formality of his courtesy name.

“They’re actually the reason why I came to the admin room,” he admits. “When they entered the hangar, the arrows accosted them. Why would that be?”

She frowns, her eyes tightening at the corners. “That should only happen if an enemy of the faction is detected.” Her heart begins to beat slightly faster.

“Not because a potentially dangerous entity like a frost dragon entered?”

“It is unlike you to ask meaningless questions,” she replies, her hard gaze disjointed from her polite smile.

“I’m not used to being challenged,” Karanos murmurs. He has a powerful presence as he walks forward, but Jeseria seems unintimidated.

“Just ask what you want to ask,” Jeseria mutters. “What is your companion’s name?”

“Ignatius Julian Dunai.”

She freezes, her eyes locking on me for the first time. “The one who...?”

“Yes.”

“With all due respect, Void Seeker, you haven’t been attending to the faction for the past thousand years, and Dunai’s crimes are steep. You’re courting disbarment.”

“I appreciate your concern, Fleetwing, but that is irrelevant. There are things you don’t know.”

She takes in a deep breath. “You’ll need to go directly to Kuin, but you probably already suspected that.”

“That’s fine. Does he...?”

“Still hate you for poaching Ari?”

Karanos nods.

“He got over it, oh, two hundred years ago. But that was before she died.” She snorts. “He hates you.”

“He always hated me,” Karanos quips bitterly. “Summon him.”

[ i'm playing chapter catch up, will be writing as much as possible this week, we shall see how many chapters i produce! there are some writing monsters on royal road who can churn out 10k words a day. i am not one of them but i'll be doing my best. thanks as always for reading! :) ]