Echos Chapter 5 (Patreon)

No Echo next week as I need a break from writing 3 chapters a week but we will continue the Echos after that small interruption.

As always enjoy.

***

Echos Chapter 5

Darius Blackwell watched as his grandfather talked to the man in black leather armor.

He knew what they were talking about because he had been training for this moment for the last five years.

His great great grandfather, the very ancestor he’d been named after, had been sponsored by this man close to two hundred years ago, which was a mind boggling thought. The family had figured that would be his only investment into them when he hadn’t appeared for Darius’ great grandfather, but they weren’t upset.

The man’s initial intervention had propelled Darius’ namesake from a poor orphan into a well respected, if only locally known fighter. That had allowed Darius I to establish himself in Lilly after the rift breaks, and earn enough to settle down and start a family of fighters. No one had expected him to return in his grandfather's generation to sponsor the man on The Path.

Alfonso Cortes was an enigmatic man who no one had been able to figure out.

The fact that he was alive to this day meant he was at least Tier 7, if not higher. And from what his grandfather had said, Mr. Cortes only looked a few years older than when he had come to recruit him.

And now, it was Darius' turn.

His grandfather, despite being a Tier 5 himself, couldn’t sponsor him. He had only reached Tier 4 on The Path, and had reached Tier 5 after stepping off and having Darius' father.

It was just hard to advance beyond Tier 3 on Lilly. Even his grandfather was talking about leaving Lilly and going adventuring to another planet with higher Tier rifts, but he had been waiting for Darius to grow up and either join The Path, or choose a life outside the rifts.

Darius couldn’t really imagine living such a life though. His father was a merchant and spent most of his days bartering goods and materials. Darius had seen how that worked and found that idea far too dull.

At least his mother had a slightly interesting job as a smith, but even then, she mostly just worked with the metal his grandfather brought out of rifts. It made the profit margins great, as she resmithed the metal into weapons and armor, but it was all Tier 1 and Tier 2 stuff since she wasn’t an enchanter.

Darius' uncle was an enchanter, but he spent most of his time making Tier 3 or Tier 4 items. Production at that Tier took forever, but they had a much better profit margin according to his father.

Darius wanted nothing to do with that. No, he wanted to delve like his grandfather.

Fighting was in his blood.

The Talent reader even said so.

Tier 1 Talent: Increase physical cultivation relative to heart rate.

No one could say he didn’t belong in a rift after that.

And it was his turn to go to the PlayPen and start his own adventure.

Or it would be, if his grandfather could stop talking to Mr. Cortes.

He shot his grandfather a pleading look that seemed to sway the man.

Laughing, he stood up. “My grandson is getting impatient. I really must thank you Mr. Cortes, for your continued kindness to our family.”

Mr. Cortes shook his head even as he took Darius’ grandfather's extended hand. “Nothing of the sort. I understand how he feels. So do you. And this cost me nothing, so think nothing of it.”

The two adults smiled in a way Darius didn’t really understand, but he did his best to not fidget. His heart rate was up, and that made him feel like he chugged an energy drink. Moving was the best cure he knew of.

Mr. Cortes waved over his shoulder as he led Darius out of the family estate.

It wasn’t large, but it was home.

Part of Darius was excited to leave, but another, much smaller part, was worried.

He had already said goodbye to his parents, but they and his aunts, uncles, and cousins stood there waving to him.

Darius waved and almost tripped over his own feet as he spun back around.

Mr. Cortes chuckled even as he caught Darius. “Careful there.”

Blushing slightly, Darius smiled at his family, but his smile was cut off when he didn’t see a car outside the estate.

How were they going to get to the PlayPen? Or rather, the train station? From what he understood, his grandfather and namesake had been delivered to the nearest city, where he had then made his own way to the PlayPen.

Mr. Cortes pulled a blade out of a small bag on his waist and Darius blinked as he realized the bag was a spatial item.

He had seen them before; his family had a few of them they used in their various business ventures, but he had never seen one so small.

His excitement only mounted as he realized that Mr. Cortes had a flying sword.

“Hop on, Darius.”

Following Mr. Cortes' instructions, Darius jumped on the blade and marveled at how stable the sword was. It didn’t even wobble as he landed.

They took to the air and Darius used the opportunity to view the family estate from above.

The Blackwell estate was large and sprawling, but it was still contained inside the ten foot high walls that the original Darius had created. A dozen smaller houses surrounded the main house, which was where most of the smaller extended families lived. Farther behind the main house, he was able to see the fort-like building containing the family’s rifts.

A rift of each Tier wasn’t necessarily impressive, but it ensured the family never needed to worry about outside resources for their rift access. They still delved the surrounding rifts as part of their responsibilities as an outlying family, of course. It was their job to ensure the rifts were delved, which helped prevent rift breaks and monsters from wandering into the nearby city. But those rifts were still technically owned by the Baroness, unlike the rifts inside their estate.

Mr. Cortes let him watch for a moment before he took off into the clouds.

Darius’ heart was racing, and he couldn't help but imagine he was flying under his own power.

It was a marvelous feeling that didn’t last nearly long enough, as they quickly reached the nearest city. It was normally a five hour drive through the mountains and forest, but on Mr. Cortes' flying sword, it had only taken them an hour.

As they landed at the edge of the city, Mr. Cortes looked down. “I’m sure your grandfather told you all about it, but let me go over some of the things you will need to know about the PlayPen. First things first, take some lessons with the fighting instructors and rent out a training room. You get a small credit limit that can help you buy weapons and armor, but you should take a lesson on the local rifts. The Tier 1 rift is a goblin rift, and while it's not a hard one, it can be dangerous if you aren't prepared. The Tier 2 rift is a bug rift, and while the individual monsters aren't too dangerous, they can easily overwhelm you if you aren't careful. The Tier 3 rift is a winter rift with wolves. It's a large step up in difficulty, but not that difficult if you take it slow and pick them off. Also, get good cold weather gear. The cold will seep into your bones before you know it, slowing you down.”

Darius already knew all of this, but he nodded and recommitted everything to memory. Preparation was how to survive a delve, after all.

His grandfather wasn’t too old at ninety years old as a Tier 5, but if he didn’t start to advance once more, age would start to catch up with him sooner rather than later. That meant Darius needed to be ready to step up and keep feeding the greater family resources.

They were a family of fighters, but the Tier 5 potion was expensive. It had taken a lot of their family’s wealth just to afford the breakthrough potion his grandfather needed after he’d left the Path. He’d heard stories, legends really, of those who managed to reach Tier 5 without a potion, and he wanted to be one of the few and brave who managed it, bring honor to his family’s name for finding such a lost, forgotten technique. He’d excel and exceed, and make everyone know the name of Blackwell!

If he was able to do well on The Path and reach a higher Tier than his grandfather, he would be able to support the family from afar, and give everyone access to resources and skills they could only dream of.

Even his grandfather only had two skills due to how expensive they were.

Tier 5.

Then he’d get his first skill.

He could do that.

He was so lost in his thoughts, he almost missed when Mr. Cortes handed him a ticket and gave him his contact.

The train ride to the PlayPen took five days, but Darius was excited, and the time flew by as he practiced what sword skills he could on the train.

Mr. Cortes had sprung for a single room, which felt spacious when compared to what he was used to at the estate.

When he arrived at the train station, he felt giddy as he saw a dark skinned woman standing there holding a sign with his name on it.

As he came up to her he smiled.

“Welcome kid. My name is Amanda and I’m the Tier 15 of the PlayPen on Lilly. We are waiting for two more people, but then we are straight to the island.”

Darius knew a Tier 15 would be who came to get him since he was arriving off cycle of the normal awakenings, but knowing that and actually meeting an immortal still struck him to his very core. An immortal who knew his name.

This woman could be a million years old for all he knew. What secrets did she know, what power lay behind her ageless gaze? Could she destroy the street? The city? The planet?

He wanted to reach her level, and she must have been able to read that in his eyes because she laughed. “Work hard enough and you can reach Tier 15 as well, Darius. It's not impossible. First, you need to not die. Really, I’m not that impressive. I only made it to Tier 9 on The Path before I stepped off. If you want to really be impressed, look to Light and Shadow. Or better yet, Quill and Torch. Tier 25 in two hundred years. Now that is impressive. Rumor has it, they’ll be proper Ascenders in a few months.”

Darius nodded eagerly. He’d seen their movies, read their novels, gotten their posters. He had a “My Heart Burns for Torch” t-shirt in his bag. They were his heroes, and he’d be like them, he would be them.

He wondered if they’d followed the legends of potion-less Tier 5. Surely geniuses like them, from hundreds of years ago, they’d know all of those pieces of ancient forgotten knowledge? He wondered what powerful and forgotten skills they’d claimed at Tier 5 on the Path. Maybe it was that big rain of fire? The heaven-piercing spear? The wings of fire?

He’d show them all.

The next week seemed to fly by as he learned all about the PlayPen and got accustomed to its facilities.

With his years of training, he was quickly cleared to enter the rifts, but he didn’t forget everyone's warnings. He spent a full two days practicing with the training dummies before entering a rift.

He took a few small cuts and walked out with a black eye, but he felt good. Fifteen mana stones was almost double the average seven, which seemed like a fantastic way to start his career. And his parents were proud of him when he shared the news.

Then, things went sideways.

Quill, Torch, and Scoop were finishing The Path of Ascension.

The news spread like wildfire, and everyone buzzed with anticipation as they waited for the date to be confirmed for nine months later.

When it was confirmed, everyone went a little mad and Darius wasn’t immune.

The attitude was infectious. He wanted to complete The Path. If they could do it, so could he.

He was nearing the peak of Tier 1 when the ceremony happened.

The entire PlayPen closed down and mountains of fancy foods were brought in from the mainland, bringing the atmosphere to a near fever pitch. Darius’ Talent had him running hot the entire time, but there were enough parties for him to burn off his excess energy without too much issue.

He was in the dining hall with everyone else when the face reveal happened.

“Matthew Moore and Aster Alexander from Lilly.”

It took a moment for the news to sink in, but Darius found himself screaming with everyone else.

Matthew Moore had walked through these very halls.

His blood was pumping as that thought coursed through his mind.

All his dreams, all his hopes. They were possible. Matthew himself had done it, delving the same rifts and fighting at the same training halls, and now Darius would be the next. Why couldn’t he?

There didn’t seem like a reason why he couldn't.

If he worked hard enough the sky was the limit.

After all, Matthew had done the impossible.

Why not Darius?

***

Cynthia Sinclair spun in her chair as she let the screen that took up most of her far wall drone on.

She had tried muting the feed, but that had paradoxically turned her apartment into a cacophony of sounds, which only served to drive her already strained nerves up the wall.

She was a fox damn it, not a cat. She wasn’t supposed to go up walls.

Pulling a brush out of her storage ring, she ran it through her long white hair and then through her long tail.

Trying to distract herself, she remembered back to the last time she had been waiting for Jared to call her.

Cynthia was just settling in for a nice brush down when her AI beeped at her.

Jared was requesting a voice chat.

Finally.

“Hey darling, how are you?” His voice was far too cheery for the subject they were supposed to be discussing, and she had to resist snapping at him.

Sadly, he was the best agent in the entire dukedom, and didn’t have to cater to her.

“Jared, did I get the part?” She couldn't contain herself and blurted the question out.

“Sorry kiddo, but no. They went with Martha. Still, we expected th—”

“What?!” Cynthia almost flew out of her chair as she heard the news. “She’s a fire fox! How can they go with her?”

She could hear Jared’s shrug even through the voice channel. “She's hot right now. After she played Demetha in Flex’s Grand Adventures, people are clamoring for her. But that's fine w—”

“No it's not Jared. I haven’t been in a movie for the last three years. I needed this part.”

“Yes, we could have used this part, but it's fine. Not ideal, but we can manage. I have something else we can—”

She could feel Jared putting up his hands as he tried to calm her, but she barreled over him. “No Jared. Call the casting director up and get them to change their minds. I already played the part in the first movie, how can they recast me? It was dragon shit that I needed to audition in the first place, but I put up with it! And now they’re giving my spot to my biggest rival!? This is not ok!”

She flicked her eyes to her screen and Jared appeared on it, pushing the show she had been watching to the corner.

His deep purple skin was immaculate and matched perfectly with his orange suit, but his expression was too calm for them losing this contract.

“Cynthia, deep breath.”

“Jar—”

“Cynthia, deep breath.” There was a level of command in his voice he rarely used, and it made her stop.

For all that she complained, her career wouldn’t be even a tenth as successful as she was today without him.

Taking a deep breath and letting him see it, Cynthia cocked her head and waited, ears twitching cutely. “Okay. I’m calm.”

That was a lie. She wasn’t calm, but she was in control.

Jared smiled and nodded. He had taught her that little trick for when she was in a stressful situation..

“Good. Now listen to me. I told you the studio was trying to do a four seasons thing for Blare. You are already an ice fox, and they were talking about having the second movie be about the character transitioning into earth or wind. With how hot Martha is right now, it’s not unexpected that they decided to shift the narrative a little and move the character into fire.”

Cynthia bit her tongue and nodded. She had known that, but she had at least expected to get a contract to send Blare off to another actor. The fact the character went to Martha of all people just rubbed her fur the wrong way.

Trying to remain positive, she asked, “You said that you had something else for me?”

Jared smiled wide at that. “Yes, and I think this will blow up into Empire wide stardom if we play it right.”

Hearing that, Cynthia bit her lip. A lot of agents made promises like that all the time, but Jared wasn’t the type. If he was claiming the part might send her into stardom, she trusted him.

“What is it?”

Jared took a deep breath, which set her hair standing on its ends. “You’ve heard of King Leon and Queen Mara’s youngest daughter, Elizabeth?”

Cynthia quickly did a search to refresh her memory and nodded. It had been a good century since she’d been in the gossip rags, but they looked familiar. “Yeah I’ve heard of her, what about it?”

Jared smiled. “Toucan Productions got the rights to a feature length movie about her and her husband’s time on The Path, and they want to focus on the vassal war between the Kingdom of Seven Suns and Alliance of Allied Queens. There was a Pather war there, where the two of them were standouts. Or rather, three. The son-in-law has an arctic fox bond.”

Cynthia fell back into her chair and groaned. She hated acting in her fox form. She was damn good at it, but that was a quick way to get typecast into irrelevance.

Still, she didn’t dismiss the offer out of hand. Toucan productions was one of the largest movie making studios in the Empire, and even a bit part in one of their movies would be a massive step up in her career.

“Jared, I hate this. I—”

Jared held up his hands in a placating gesture. “I know kiddo, but hear me out. To start, Aster got ahold of a Fruit of Perfection before the war you’d be playing in. She’s not just a normal sub-ten bond, she was nearly to full sapience in real life, so don’t worry about that. Besides, I got them to sweeten the pot. If you take the deal, they will cast you in any future roles they get starring Aster Alexander. There is already talk about a comedy-drama-mystery show about her time in the Bond Academy. Toucan Productions might be known mostly as an action movie studio, but all of their titles do well. Cynthia, hear me out. Exclusive acting chops for the bond to a son-in-law of royals. This is huge.”

Cynthia was about to agree, but her bull shit sensor started going off. “Toucan Productions? Why aren’t they using Patricia Alco? She’s a fox as well and she’s a mega star, way bigger than me. Why not cast her? Even if not her, how did the role trickle down to me?”

Jared grinned like a shark who smelled blood. “Ahh, and that's the beauty of it. Little Aster has made it abundantly clear that she’d be incredibly displeased if a non-ice fox was ever cast to portray her in a movie. No one is going to cross her wishes and risk the ire of a fucking Tier 48 to put a earth fox in her place, so here we are. You are only really big in Harper’s kingdom, but I know Demmie, who works with the head casting director at Toucan, and I put your performance in ‘A Winter Dream’ forward. They said you are perfect for what they want in the role, and already set up the contract so you can start working on your base make-up right away.”

Cynthia started to pace as she mulled the offer over. A Winter Dream had her acting like a half-sapient fox as a supporting role, and while she had been awarded several accolades for her part in the movie, she always felt like the movie had type cast her for the next few decades. She had to really work to break free of that net and wasn’t sure she had it in her to do it again.

Going through some news reports, she tried to get a feeling for this Aster Alexander by resonating what she saw with her Makeup Box Anchor to get a feeling for the other fox.

At least the girl had good taste and had kept white hair, fox ears, and a floofy tail in her human form. From the headlines of the reports, the girl was a little more playful than Cynthia usually went for, but she could work with that. Even her Intent agreed with the idea. She could slip into this role if she allowed herself to.

Or she could, if there were promises of larger roles. “What are the actual odds of the project with Aster as the lead?”

Jaren waved his hands. “Basically guaranteed. They have been wanting to do something a little more teen based for a while, and bonds are trending. The War of the Seven Suns, name pending, movie is designed to drum up some of the more bloodthirsty audiences and get them used to the faces. Best of all, I’ve heard they want to tie Matthew and Elizabeth into the Quill and Torch movie as side characters, which means even more work for you. They were at the same Pather Tournament or something. It doesn't really matter. People love royals, I know this, you know this, the studio knows this. They intend to play this out for all it’s worth, and do a series of works with the characters. Come on Cynthia this is big.”

Cynthia really wanted to reject out of her principle of not doing more work in her fox form, but she knew she couldn’t really afford to let this opportunity pass. Even if it was just this single movie, she couldn’t pass up working with Toucan Productions. Their movies were distributed Empire wide, and even a mediocre movie of theirs grossed dozens of times more than her best selling movies ever had.

“Send me the contract.”

Her AI bleeped and she quickly scanned the contract. It was standard enough and had all the bits Jared had said it did. If she took the role, Toucan Productions would be forced to cast her in the next three projects that starred Aster. There were even caveats about the required significance of the parts.

Like Jared said, there was even mention of the teen series of Aster at the Bond Academy, which was what Cynthia was really interested in. She’d be the lead star, and those kinds of shows always did well. Being able to say someone related to a royal was the main character meant there was little chance the show didn’t at least break even.

It would lock her into playing one character for a while, but that might be a good thing. Toucan Productions was huge, after all. She could use this to launch her career another step higher.

Still pursuing the information about Aster, Cynthia watched an interview where Aster went from making fun of her bond to giving a serious diatribe about the state of the Empire. It was an intelligent answer that didn’t just pander the Loyalist talking points, but also brought light to some real struggles that people faced. She could have been coached through such an answer, but it felt a little too off the cuff, the words a little too casual and indirect to be a prepared response.

If that was Aster Alexander, Cynthia could work with this.

“I accept.” Putting action to words, she accepted the contract and it beeped as it was accepted and verified.

Jared smiled. “Wonderful. I’m telling you kiddo, this one is going to pay off for you.”

Throwing herself into her couch, she waved him off. “Whatever you say. Sure doesn’t feel like it.”

Jared laughed before telling her when she needed to start going to the Beast Kingdom’s capital, where Toucan Productions had their main studios. Cynthia ordered her favorite street food since it seemed like she wouldn’t be here soon in consolation.

Two years later, she was sitting in a much larger apartment on the Capital and awaiting yet another call from Jared.

The movie had sold amazingly. ‘When Sun’s and Daughter’s Bleed’ had been both a critical and commercial success, propelling Cynthia’s name into most households' mouths for the last few months. In fact, it had been so good that Aster Alexander herself had even commented on the movie, saying Cynthia should play any movies that had Aster in them so long as she wanted, due to how well she had played the part.

An incredibly sweet comment that Jared had used to push for the greenlight of the show about Aster's time in the Bond Academy. If everything went well, the response would be coming today. Probably tomorrow, with the Ascension. With so many micro portals being opened, Empire wide communications were cheap right now, Cynthia hoped Jared might be able to get word back to her today.

She’d turned down a couple of offers to go to Ascension parties, wanting to make sure she was free all day. Instead, she just watched it at home. People understood and that was a good thing as her heart wasn’t fully into it. She was just too distracted, brushing her hair again and again as she lost herself in thought.

Her own show with her as the lead. She couldn’t imagine the fame that would bring her.

Cynthia’s eyes were drawn to the screen and she wondered why — how — there was a commercial for the movie playing during Torch and Quill’s Ascension. How much was their advertising… budget… wait, no. That was still the Ascension.

But that was Aster.

Cynthia blinked a few times as she tried to process what she was seeing. She knew those ears, she knew that tail, she knew that small smirk.

Aster was… an Ascender?

That didn’t make any sense, but there she stood beside her bond and his wife.

Aster was an Ascender?

The same Aster who she had been publicly praised by two days ago?

The same Aster who said she wanted Cynthia to play all of her roles, Aster?

Cynthia’s mind spun, and she was forced to steady herself with her Makeup Box so she didn’t pass out.

Blinking, she watched the trio of people she knew all too well walk down the throne room. After all, she had been pretending to be them for the better part of a year.

It really was that Aster.

Jareds contact lit up on her AI, but Cynthia didn’t bother to answer it immediately as she would have a few minutes ago.

Cynthia realized she didn’t need to answer to know what he had to say about the show.

She already knew.