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[MENOCHT] Chapter 369. Overdue Calls
🕑 Added 2024-11-02 21:03:48 +0000 UTCThey were in an isolated area, one without protections set up, but Ian was fully confident in Maria’s ability to keep him safe. He pressed the button to activate Suncloud’s artifact, then fell backwards as his mind left his body.
Karanos was alone, sitting in his room in the white faction, apparently lost in thought, his dark brown eyes staring at the floor.
Ian cleared his throat. Karanos flinched. “Ian,” he said. “It’s been weeks. Are you...?”
“A lot has happened,” Ian said.
“You look better than before,” Karanos said. “No need to transform yourself with your knife?”
Ian smiled. “No need.”
The Light practitioner nodded. “Where exactly are you? Last we talked, you were on your way to Achemiss.”
“About that...”
It took Ian a few minutes to give Karanos the broad strokes. The ascendant’s face was characteristically stoic through the entire explanation. Only at the end, when Ian explained the ongoing execution of his plan, did Karanos run a hand through his short, dark hair.
“Ian... A lot has happened? Really?” His voice dripped with sarcasm. “You never thought to contact me once? Not even when you retrieved Ari?” Real anger colored his voice as he said her name. He shook his head, averting his gaze. “It’s situations like this that remind me of your true age.”
“But tell me this, Void Seeker–would reaching out before now have accomplished anything? What could you have told me?”
Karanos seemed momentarily at a loss for words. His brow furrowed dangerously, like his eyebrows would tear off his forehead. “Ancient Dunai, despite your title, your wisdom and experience are lacking. Let’s see. To your conundrum about where Achemiss is located, I probably can’t add anything–as you pointed out, it’s a bit of a long shot to guess without more information. But as for what he has in store for you... Well, he’s had a while to prepare, and a plentiful supply of powerful souls for him to steal. His signature artifact, the source of his fame and success, allows him to capture powerful peak practitioner souls from other worlds. Its absence is hardly important given the current circumstances.”
“I’m aware he’s had time to create powerful artifacts,” Ian said. “That’s why we’re moving as fast as we can.”
“I’m sure you are.”
Ian chuckled bitterly. “What would you have us do? Anything productive to suggest?”
“Achemiss will be prepared to wage a one-man war,” Karanos said. “You can’t rely on your constructs to defeat him on their own. Not even Maria will be enough. Not when Achemiss is using ascendant energy to empower his army. He doesn’t need to win–he just needs to distract you long enough to escape, unnoticed in the chaos.”
Ian crossed his arms. “I think you’re underestimating us. Underestimating my constructs, and underestimating Maria.”
Karanos paused, his fiery expression fading. “You’re that confident?”
Ian shrugged. “Me and Maria have both had breakthroughs since we’ve been here, her with arrays, me with my practice. Helped that we captured one of Achemiss’s constructs, one attached to his soul, for me to study. Also helps that my soul troubles have been largely dealt with for now.”
Karanos’s gaze was long and hard. Then, it thawed into exhausted resignation. “I apologize for how dismissive I was,” he said. “I just–” He cut off. “If you don’t return to Eternity, Cayeun Suncloud will have my head. She still needs the transmission artifact back. Don’t fucking die.”
Ian snorted. That was definitely the real reason why he wanted Ian to return successfully. His face felt hot with emotion. “I wonder how many times she’d kill you before she’d be satisfied.”
“Too many,” Karanos said blithely. “Based on how calm you are, I suppose you really do have things under control.”
“Hopefully.”
Karanos cracked a small smile, one filled with an inexplicable emotion. “Contact me again after it’s all done. Promise me.”
“I promise.”
Then, Karanos made a shooing motion. “Then get to it, Ancient.”
Smiling, Ian ended the transmission. He felt like he’d sprinted a mile.
How about we don’t call Germaine? he thought, giving Maria a pleading look. Seeing her unamused reaction, he sighed and prepared himself for just what he didn’t need before a big fight–to be overwhelmed by his emotions. He had clear ways to numb them, but still.
Maria’s right, though, he thought. Better to go into this final fight without regrets.
Not with the transmission artifact, Maria suddenly added. Remember, she’s being watched for her own safety. But that means if you appear near her seemingly in the flesh, it’ll cause a stir.
Ian frowned. What should I– He looked down and pulled out a glossY from his void storage, the one he’d used to call Soolemar. Maria had forced him to input several numbers into it, including Germaine’s.
Grimacing, he called his sister. It rang once, twice–maybe she won’t pick up–and a third time.
“Hello? Who is this?”
Her voice... Ian swallowed. “It’s me, Germaine.”
The line went silent for a second. “You– You’re back?”
He hummed in confirmation.
“That’s amazing! So this means you succeeded? You won?”
Her exuberance was infectious.
“Almost,” he said. “Soon, it’ll all be over.” He hoped. “Tell me about what you’ve been up to since we last spoke.”
She launched into a recap of the past month without hesitation. Ian figured she must have picked up on his unwillingness to speak about his own situation, which he appreciated more than she could ever know. She even sent him an image halfway through the call, a selfie taken in an unfamiliar locale, somewhere wooded, outside. It was dusk. Germaine was sitting on a small boulder, a sketchbook in her lap, her one visible hand stained by graphite.
“You’re there now?” he asked.
“Yep! You called me while I was sketching. It can’t hold a candle to where you brought me using the, uh, transmission thing–are we allowed to talk about that stuff?–but it’s still a good spot.” She became quiet. “Is there anything you can tell me about what you’ve been doing?”
“Well, I’ve seen our mutual friend the ex-prince,” he said. “He’s doing okay. I’ve been driving him a bit crazy. Too much to do, too little time.”
“Yeah, he called me a few days ago. Sounded stressed out of his mind. Just told me not to worry about it, which is ridiculous. Also told me not to worry about you.”
Ian blinked. Eury had called Germaine and hadn’t mentioned that he was back? His stomach felt tight. Eury had a million things he had to balance, and yet his friend had checked in on his sister while also respecting his wishes to let Germaine know he was back on his own terms.
Eury really was too good to him.
“You were worrying about me?”
“Not that much,” she replied, though there was an uncertain tinge to her words.
“Well, don’t,” he said. “Remember, my affinity is great for letting me do things from afar, keeping myself out of harm’s way. I can’t tell you what I’m doing, but I was serious when I said things would be over soon. Why don’t we make plans to meet?”
“I’d love that. I’ll do you one better–here’s a carte blanche. Just come anytime you can and I’ll be free.”
“Can’t wait,” he said, smiling.
He ended the call.
Maria was suddenly at his side, an arm strung behind his back. “Was that so bad?” she asked, speaking out loud.
“No,” he admitted.
And now we only have–wow, forty minutes left to wait, Maria continued, switching over to the lich bond. Time for lots more calls. Remember who else I put in your phone? Your mother–
Nope, Ian said firmly. No more calls. I’ll take some alone time, thank you very much.
During his short call with Karanos, the constructs had navigated entirely autonomously. It had been... fine, considered they had so far to go. He’d taken some manual control during the call with Germaine, multitasking with his Beginning affinity. But it was nice to give the constructs more dedicated attention.
So far, they hadn’t encountered any issues. The majority of the drones were currently cruising across the Bay of Ramsay, most headed south, and a single pair headed northeast. Ian knew there were Achemiss constructs all around, but he didn’t think they were prepared for constructs of this caliber. Even without Ian doing anything, the constructs had minimal Death energy emissions due to the way Ian had constructed the decemantic components, embedding them in the wood. And if Ian actually took control, that signature faded to almost nothing as necromancy supplanted decemancy.
He thought back to his conversation with Karanos. It had taken a turn he hadn’t expected. He’d thought that Karanos would maybe ask more about Ari, or for more details on how he tore Achemiss to shreds, or simply just wish him good luck. He hadn’t expected Karanos to be angry and to be so... Confrontational?
But Ian had to admit–the ascendant questioning his competency was exactly what he needed. In defending his own competency, and Maria’s, he’d also taken the step to truly believe that they were ready. And he really did think they were.
We actually can do this.
I know, love, Maria thought.
It’s crazy that we can actually do this. Not too long ago, we considered the only path to victory assassination. Now we’re confronting him head on, wherever he’s lurking.
I mean... you did already defang him by stealing all his artifacts, Maria noted. And you’re a three-affinity ancient, which doesn’t quite put you on the same level as Achemiss’s peak Death and Dark, but it gets you close, and gives you versatility.
Maria–
But yes, it is incredible.
He smiled and pulled her down to the grassy ground, hugging her tightly. They stayed like that for a while, the minutes lovingly wasted as the time to depart drew close.
And then, it was time. Ian pulled Maria to her feet.
What a gentleman, she teased. Shall I blast us off?
Ian could fly them up courtesy of his decemancy, but it would be faster if Maria took care of the launch. Besides, they didn’t have to be as cautious about the noise wherever it was the Eldemari’s Guards had taken them.
Please, Ian replied.
Shooting him a wicked grin, she turned and gestured to her back. Ian shook his head. I’m taller than you–grab me from behind. He smiled pleasantly and tapped his shoulder.
I’m stronger than you, she retorted.
He raised an eyebrow. Doesn’t that mean you should be the one to hold onto me?
She held up a finger, her mouth open with a response on her lips–a performative gesture since their conversation was purely mental. Y’jeni. I suppose you have a point.
Besides, the Eldemari is too esteemed to be reduced to a lowly steed, Ian added, brandishing the dagger. Channeling ascendant energy into it, he slashed it across his chest, triggering the transformation.
Maria wrapped her arms around him as Ian lifted them a few feet off the ground. Then, Maria’s flames burst forth from her feet, rocketing them skyward. It was exhilarating to move with such speed. A boon of his dark, rugged skin was that it withstood the rapid velocity much better than normal flesh, barely rippling in the wind. With Maria’s ascendant-energy-enhanced flames, they were flying incredibly fast, faster than falling from orbit, and much swifter than Ian’s decemancy could muster. Maria couldn’t steer effectively with her arms wrapped around him, but she didn’t need to. Ian kept them on target with his practice.
As long as they remained within the atmosphere above Selejo, there shouldn’t be any issues with the strong heat signature. But as the air thinned more and more, the world becoming so small beneath them, Maria cut her fire and Ian took over, seizing on their momentum to shoot across the world, heading south toward Sere. He observed the world from above while directing his constructs below. None of them were in the terminal flight phase yet, but it wouldn’t be too far off.
I feel oddly calm, Maria thought.
Yeah. I know what you mean. On their end, the plan was relatively simple–they just needed to get Ian’s necromantic constructs into position, then make a last-minute arrival. There wasn’t much complexity, and very few ways for things to go awry... at least until they actually reached the rifts.
Ian had a feeling he wouldn’t be feeling calm then.
Eventually, their flight across the continent came to an end, and they started their descent south of Sere in the middle of the ocean. Unlike Holiday’s Discardia trials, there was no incentive to crash dramatically to the earth, making a stir. Ian controlled the terminal part of their fall with decemancy, slowly lowering them to the water’s surface.
He timed it well–soon after, the last of his constructs arrived within proximity of Achemiss’s rifts. When assuming manual control, he could hold up each construct’s arm, pull the sleeve back, and view a coordinate readout and a compass.
It was finally time to kick the nest.
Comments
Jakob
Thanks for the chapter!
