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Arc#5 Chapter 4: A Helping Hand
🕑 Added 2024-10-31 02:47:19 +0000 UTCWith a sigh, Reivan turned to the anxious darkin, still halfway into prostration once again. A lofty Ascendant, bowing to three mortals. What a time to be alive.
“The Outlands are profoundly expansive, Lady Iselle," Reivan said, trying hard not to sound too dismissive. He was on their side after all, but he was also on the kingdom's side in that he wanted to lower the risks to the knights. "How would we go about finding them? You've shared that your clan is a nomadic one. That will make things much harder, no?”
It was said in passing earlier, that one of the ways their tribe survived in the Outlands was to be on the move constantly.
Apparently, they could see thrice as far as humans even in the Outlands. Ascendant darkin could perceive things around ten times as far as an Ascendant knight—barring knights with special loopholes that helped extend their perception range like Dame Lamorak. And though they loathed it, they even built hovels underground to hide, staying there for a few weeks at a time. Even the mortal members of their species could fly, so traveling was relatively manageable.
'They're like migratory birds. Except they migrate every few days instead of, y'know, every few seasons.'
With all their innate advantages, the darkin could sustain a nomadic lifestyle in the Outlands. That probably meant that they had no permanent base or stronghold to retreat to, nor did they have a set rendezvous point if part of their tribe got separated. As such, even if the kingdom wanted to help the other darkin, it would be a perilous undertaking that could possibly result in catastrophic losses. Finding Iselle and the others had just been a matter of luck, after all.
Aizen was practical in that it didn't expect luck to favor them a second time.
The main reason why the recent operation even got the go-ahead was because the kingdom spent months scouting out a route and investigating clues presumably left behind by the darkin. There was a trail to follow, in other words. And only after extensive investigation did the kingdom feel safe enough to send a force of a hundred knights out in search of... something. Anything, really.
Because of that, they found what they didn't know they were looking for.
It was just extremely unsafe to try again, given how the party got attacked by a horde of Ascendant nightmare spawns on the way back. No knights died, but the situation had just gotten a lot riskier than before they departed. Fumbling about in the Outlands without knowing which way they needed to go made it even more so. Furthermore, if the darkin was being chased by a horde of Ascendant nightmare spawns, they obviously wouldn't leave behind a trail of breadcrumbs for the knights to follow—it would be nigh-impossible to track them as they did before.
'Plus, if her tribe really had a Transcendent, then the fact that they were placed on the backfoot means...'
That they were faced by a Transcendent spawn. Perhaps the horde was the Transcendent Nightmare Spawn's doing, in fact.
A very dangerous situation indeed.
“I am of the matriarch bloodline.” Iselle feebly spoke, looking up at them. She had undoubtedly noticed their reluctance to take the risk of helping the darkin. “I have an innate sense of where my kin are... though only in the general direction. It has felt a bit strange after coming to this world, but I'm confident I'll be able to rejoin with the others... Naturally, I am resolved to accompany any attempt. My people and I can serve as the vanguard or a distraction should retreat for your forces be necessary.”
King Roland turned to his brother questioningly, prompting Reivan to nod. There were no lies so far.
“If your warriors and your mother were so powerful,” Jiji said, raising a brow. There was no edge to her tone, just pure curiosity. It was very different from how she talked to Helen, Mira, and Elsa. “How did you, the equivalent of a princess, get separated to the extent that you almost died? I would have liked to think that you’re high on the list of targets to protect.”
“It is because the others and I were foraging for food when it happened. We were taken by surprise and had to flee in whatever direction ensured a greater chance at survival."
‘Well, that kind of makes sense.’
Reivan hadn't asked what the darkin ate in all their years roaming the Outlands, but he could imagine it wasn't easy to procure whatever it was. Doing so probably demanded them to risk their lives constantly. And they likely couldn't afford to pass up any opportunity to do so.
"As long as we live and someone from the matriarch bloodline is nearby, the group can always regroup with the main flock," Iselle continued. "Unfortunately, it seems the main flock also came under attack, so we couldn't rejoin them. Mother must have used her special technique...”
"Special technique?" Jiji echoed questioningly.
Iselle glanced at each of their faces before nodding. "Mother can manipulate space to a certain extent... Though I haven't the foggiest idea how it works. She can teleport herself and even the entire tribe with her if she must. Though it takes a lot out of her."
Roland and Jiji said nothing, but Reivan was sure they both believed her. If the darkin matriarch was truly a Transcendent, then doing something like that was par for the course. The kingdom had an Ascendant that could do that, for crying out loud. And the Sword Star naturally could too.
Their silence must have stoked Iselle's anxiety, however, because she prostrated once again. "Please help us. And if you will not, then I implore you to allow at least myself to go back."
"Aizen welcomes your kind, Lady Iselle," Roland said with a small smile that hid whatever it was he truly felt. "And we would like to aid you in any way we can. But our knights... our warriors are very important to us as well. Please understand that we wish to lessen the risks to their wellbeing as much as we can, even if circumstances sometimes force us to send them somewhere dangerous."
"I do." She looked up and nodded gravely. "It is the same for us."
"That's good. Then you understand that even if we were to help, we would still need to make our own preparations, yes?"
"Of course." The darkin woman nodded again. "Just the fact that you are considering it means a lot to us. We already feel thankful that you are willing to accept us into your world."
Roland smiled and sighed. "Then I think we'll end our talks here for today. We must deliberate on how we will respond to your plight. But please be assured that we are on your side on this matter."
Iselle gracefully stood up and smiled before closing her eyes as she bowed. "Thank you for your kindness. Please do not hesitate to summon me if you need me. For anything."
The three royals watched quietly as the beautiful winged woman flew off into the sky as a pleasant breeze swept through where she had once been.
Scratching his head, Reivan turned to his brother. “I think we should help."
"Was that ever a question?" Jiji grinned at him, playing with a few strands of her beautiful white hair. "They have a Transcendent. Taking them in and fostering gratitude is a no-brainer. Rather, we will benefit greatly from this. All our problems might go away upon success. We can even break that treaty with Argonia outright—Sentorale would belong to the crown without question. Then we can turn our attention east..."
'Well, my purposes weren't as calculating, but sure. Let's go with that.'
Roland looked at them both and shrugged, his gaze finally falling on their sister. "Bringing in a Transcendent may be a boon to us, but it may also be a seed of conflict. It is naive to think that someone will feel grateful if you help them. And even if they do feel gratitude, that doesn't necessarily translate into peaceful coexistence."
"I agree." Jiji nodded before divulging her thoughts. "But we can simply make their kind dependent on us. We are, after all, their only point of connection with this world. How about instead of teaching them English, we learn their language instead? That way, they wouldn't be able to communicate with other factions without us. If they choose to strike out on their own anyway, Argonia will be on their case, not to mention how every other faction in the world won't even consider negotiating with them. They'll be utterly isolated in a world where alliances between factions with Transcendents exist. More likely than not, it'll be the second coming of the Sage King, beaten down like a dog by sheer numbers."
For a moment, Reivan couldn't help but marvel at the manipulative woman his sister turned out to be. It was kind of scary but he couldn't help but be a little proud. How in the world did she turn out that way? Sure not because she was mistreated by the royal family. Hadn't they showered her with love and care? Yet she still turned out this way when he wasn't looking.
Truly, kids grow up fast if you look away for even a moment. He'd make sure to pay attention to his own children in the future.
'In this case, it's advantageous for us though. But I don't know how to feel about this...'
On one hand, he was relieved that his sister probably wouldn't be scammed into anything. But on the other hand, he didn't think having such a twisted mind was a good thing.
"Hm. That's what I thought too," Roland said, not looking particularly impressed by Jiji's insights. Almost as if he had expected her to think the same way as he did. "But assuming they're not idiots, they'll realize what we're aiming for. Our intentions would leak through and that would sour relations. And besides, our dearest brother over here has already ensured that hundreds of darkin already know English—it's a bit too late to deprive them of our language."
"Oh, I’m so sorry.." Reivan rolled his eyes upon receiving the blaming gazes of his siblings, though he knew they weren't actually serious. "How'd you expect us to communicate with them if I hadn't?"
Jiji shrugged. “Maybe just infusing the meaning of what you want them to do into the pearl you gave them instead of the entire language? Tell them you want one of them to temporarily deposit the knowledge of their language into the pearl.”
After that, Roland also put in his two cents. “We could have also not used the pearls at all. Tasking scholars to learn their language slowly was an option too. It’s not as if it couldn’t be done. That’s what we did with the Sutherim orcs. Despite how difficult it was, communication was still established.”
“That’s…” Reivan licked his lips and frowned. “Okay. I didn’t think of that.”
His siblings shared a look and they both smiled.
“Don’t worry, Yani.” Jiji clapped his shoulders and stood up. “We love you anyway.”
Roland bobbed his head and stood up as well. “That’s right, brother. You're wonderful just the way you are.”
“I hate both of you…” Reivan sighed and also stood up. “I think both of your ways are too cumbersome though. The first one has the unnecessary risk of coming off as unwelcoming of their kind. The second one just takes a crap ton of time. I still think I was right in doing it my way.”
“I suppose you have a point.” Roland hummed and ruffled Reivan’s hair. “But the fact of the matter is, you didn’t think there were other ways. That has limited our options now.”
To that, Reivan could only groan as his elder brother ruined the hair he’d spent an entire minute setting.
‘Can’t really argue about that…’
Not really wanting to inflict mental self-harm, Reivan changed the subject. “If we do end up sending a party out to find the rest of the darkin, I should probably go, no?”
“Absolutely not,” Jiji immediately replied. "Yani, are you crazy? You really only think with your..."
Roland was also against it, letting go of him and grabbing him by the shoulders instead. “It would be far too dangerous for you to go. You have many responsibilities to handle here, not to mention your marriage. And Mother wouldn’t even hear it.”
Somewhat expecting that he’d be against everyone on this, Reivan shrugged. “But I’m the only one unaffected by the Outlands’ fog. I’d be extremely useful for finding stuff in there.”
“This is an Ascendant level undertaking, Yani.” Jiji rolled her eyes. “No matter how good your eyes are, you wouldn’t be able to see an Ascendant coming from any distance unless they stood around like an idiot before attacking. Last I heard, nightmare spawns weren’t polite enough for that.”
“It is out of the question until you reach the next realm,” Roland chimed in. “Which won’t be happening any time soon. Not because your talent is in doubt, but rather, because Ascendence prevents you from performing one of your other duties. Remember?”
“No, Yani has to be a Transcendent first.” Jiji looked to the king of Aizen and shook her head. “There are Transcendents running around out there. The expedition this time was just fortunate enough not to have met any. But remember, the developments Lady Iselle shared earlier imply there was one, otherwise, her clan's matriarch wouldn't have fled and simply annihilated the horde of Ascendant nightmare spawns. Additionally, the Sword Star fights one every once in a while, so it isn't beyond the realm of possibility to meet after straying too far.”
Reivan raised his hands up in both surrender and exasperation. “Alright, alright. I get it. I’m sorry. Didn’t expect both of you to go off on me like that. I feel so loved.”
“If you spout nonsense like that again,” Jiji harrumphed, crossing her arms across her chest and turning away. “I’m telling mom.”
“You wouldn’t dare…”
“I would.”
"We're adults, no? Shouldn't we keep our parents out of this?” Reivan bit his lip and spat. “When did you grow up to be so nasty?"
The catty princess snorted, glaring at him with disdain. “When I realized my Yani is a womanizing man-whore who brings home a different woman every time he leaves home for more than a month.”
“That’s not…”
Just as Reivan was about to deny the accusations, he suddenly had to stop and think for a second. Because she wasn’t exactly wrong.
Having just watched their little verbal spar with a grin, Roland finally clapped his hands and drew their attention back to the matter at hand. “Anyway, the matter of the darkin will have to be put aside for now. Far to the side. With a Transcendant running around somewhere, setting out immediately is dangerous, to say the least. Both of you will just have to focus on your current assignment: the creation of a vassal nation with Lageton as the capital.”
“Fine…” Reivan nodded and was just about to leave it at that, but he was suddenly struck with inspiration. “Wait. Didn’t we have one free request for the Gladiator King? The one that I won for us by negotiating away the technology for the trains and the rights for running a transportation system?”
Jiji clicked her tongue and couldn’t help but mutter. “Damnit, he caught on…”
“That was one of the ways I was considering, yes.” Roland nodded, smiling proudly. It seemed he was glad that Reivan made good use of his brain. “But it’s a very important card for us if we ever come into conflict with Argonia. You know that too, right?”
“I do…” Reivan licked his lower lip in thought. “But still.”
“Why do you want to help them so much anyway?” Jiji frowned at him. “Is it because their entire race is composed of beautiful women? You want to add an entire race to your harem, is that it? I can’t believe you!”
“I didn’t say all that! I had no intention of doing so! Where are all these allegations coming from!?”
“Psh. Wouldn’t put it past you, Yani. You’re an irredeemable horndog!”
“You little…” Reivan clenched his fist, already imagining how he was going to teach this brat a lesson. The most intense noogie in history was about to unfold but was stopped by his brother.
“Alright, break it up.” Roland, again, clapped his hands to force them both back on topic. He then turned to Reivan with a raised brow. “Though you exchanged something owned by the kingdom for it, ultimately, the exchange wouldn’t have happened at all if it weren’t for you. So I won’t go against whatever you decide to use the Gladiator King on. Are you sure you want to use it for the darkin?”
Reivan thought back to the favor Zell asked. Truly, if it hadn’t been for that cosmic horror disguised as a woman, Reivan wouldn’t even be here. He’d be dead, swallowed by oblivion that lasted for eternity, right after living an unsatisfying life where all he could do was be a burden.
Then he thought back to the darkin. It wasn’t their fault that their world suddenly became like that. To them, they were living peaceful lives until fate decided to douse them in boiling hot shit for no apparent reason. The world they knew collapsed, and a bleak reality replaced it.
Was that not similar to his own circumstances?
As Reivan laid on that lonely hospital bed, looking up at the same ceiling he'd stared at for more than a decade, he remembered wishing for someone—anyone—to help him.
It didn’t have to be god. Hell, it could have been the devil and he would have gladly taken their hand. So long as it was anything but his sister or Hanzo, he was ready to give up anything and everything.
Yet, no one came until the very end.
This time, he could be the help that someone out there was desperately wishing for. The hand in the dark, the silver string that would lead them out of hell.
A hero.
Well, there were probably a lot more people in similar situations. And if he looked hard enough, he could find them—especially given the recent tragedy that has befallen what used to be Arkhan. But helping the darkin satisfied his desires and served as completing a favor for someone he owed tremendous gratitude to.
Even Zouros wanted to help out the darkin, so another reason to help was added.
“I’m sure.” Reivan turned to his brother. “I want to help them out as much as we’re allowed.”
“Alright.” Roland smiled at him and chuckled. “With your recent accomplishments and the responsibilities you’ve willingly taken up recently, I’m not shameless enough to refuse at this point. Seeing as your future office is closer to the Gladiator King, you do the negotiations when it is convenient for you. It’ll have to be after the wedding. You owe it to everyone to wait until after that.”
“Hm. Alright.”
“Is it really okay?” Jiji asked, the uncertainty in her voice clear. “We’ll have to reveal the portal’s existence to the Star of Fortune if we want to enlist the Gladiator King’s help.”
“It matters little at this point.” Roland nonchalantly rolled his wrist. “Saintess Frey has been diligently expressing her desire to aid in the reinforcement of the defenses around the portal. She has even agreed to spend time and infuse… I don’t know what to call it. Hymns? She sings and things light up and become stronger for some reason. It didn't make sense to me, but it happened anyway. Anyway, the Sage King is gone so the only hostile Transcendent that would want to use the portal’s existence against us is the War God.”
“The Star of Fortune are merchants though,” Jiji reminded him. “They go to the highest bidder.”
“They wouldn’t unleash an unlimited amount of horrors on the continent for any amount of coin. They're not fools.”
“True… It’d be bad for business and they wouldn’t have the capacity to endure the fallout. Every other Transcendent on the continent is going to be out for their blood. Maybe infighting will happen too, as is the case for profiteering enterprises.”
Roland turned to Reivan again. “During the negotiations, try to frame it as if the portal is everyone’s problem—not just ours. It’s true, so you wouldn’t even be lying. We soak up most of the risk, so it is in their best interest to ensure our attention isn’t diverted into anything but the portal. For all our sakes.”
“Duly noted.” Reivan nodded resolutely, making a mental note reminding him to tell Gwen afterward. With the heavy topic somewhat settled, the lighter ones started to resurface in his mind. “Are we seriously just going to house them in the Sanctum?”
“It’s convenient for us because there are an endless number of eyes present here to watch them.” Roland tilted his head and hummed in thought. “But it does feel wrong in all sorts of ways. They're guests and we're just letting them rough it out in the woods.”
“I know, right?” Reivan agreed, noticing that Jiji also made a noise of affirmation.
The Sword Sanctum technically referred to the set of structures near the top of the mountain, serving as the home of the Sword Star and housing countless caves where Ascendants meditated in an attempt to reach Transcendence. Mortals often went into seclusion there when they tried to Ascend as well.
But in actuality, people included the entire mountain as the Sword Sanctum in their hearts. That included the sea of trees leading up to the top, each one symbolizing a knight that had either fallen in the line of duty or died of old age after failing Ascendence.
It was, in many ways, a very special place to the knighthood and the royal family.
Housing a group of people who weren’t knights there was… strange, to say the least. It wasn’t unpleasant nor would anyone act like a "Karen", clamoring for the darkin to make themselves scarce. But all the same, the darkin shouldn’t stay there. Aizen kingdom was all about practicality, but some things couldn’t be waved away—they had to be treated with the gravitas they deserved.
The Sword Sanctum was one of them.
It was a place that housed heroes of the past, inspired the warriors of the present, and awaited the fallen of the future.
“Any ideas?” Roland turned to him with a raised brow.
At that question, Reivan could only shrug. “I mean, I can’t really suggest anything when I barely know anything about them. I’d suggest the Wolf’s Jaw, but who knows? They might be uncomfortable with some other aspect of the place I’m not aware of. Not to mention the place overlooks the Grey Wastes, so it’s not a place I’d want civilians to live in.”
Roland grunted. “The Jaw acts as a military facility, so it’s out of the question anyway.”
“Right. There’s that too.”
“Let’s suggest the Undercities regardless,” Jiji suggested. “You never know. They might be okay with it. Just as an alternative. I’ll talk to them and try to learn more about their culture. That’ll help us decide.”
“Now that’s what I wanted to hear.” Roland chuckled. “Can I leave this to you? You have your own duties, after all.”
“Not as much as you, Your Majesty. But it won’t be a problem.” She smirked, twirling a few strands of her hair around her finger. “In fact, I can use the excuse of our new citizens to escape a number of social calls I’m supposed to do.”
“Ah. The truth is finally revealed.”
Reivan raised his hand. “Me. I wanna get to know the darkin too.”
“You stay away from them, Yani.” Jiji glared him down. Far from being intimidating though, she just looked adorable. “I don’t want you getting any of them pregnant when I’m not looking.”
“What the hell?” Reivan’s jaw slackened, aghast at the accusation. “You say that like I push every woman I see down. And they reproduce by laying eggs so I can’t even get them pregnant even if I tried!”
‘...Hm? Now that I think about it, they didn’t explicitly state they couldn’t do that. Wait, no, no, no. It doesn’t matter if they could because I’m not gonna try!’
“You’re getting married in less than a month,” Jiji said, looking at him as if he was a clump of sewer sludge that had grown a pair of eyes and a mouth. “And you want to chat up a race composed only of women? How do you think your wife will feel about this?”
Reivan’s shoulders twitched. He couldn’t deny her words at all. Honestly, his interest in the darkin was entirely innocent, but others wouldn’t necessarily perceive it that way.
‘I mean… They’re fallen angels, for crying out loud! How can I not be interested in them?’
All weebs underwent a phase where they thought fallen angels were the height of coolness. Hell, Reivan still thought fallen angels were awesome. The black wings that sprouted from their lower back, crimson eyes that shared the color of blood, and just their general aesthetic were amazing.
It just awakened that edge lord within him that he’d beaten down and kicked to the very back of his psyche at some point.
Maybe he’d be too embarrassed to be a fallen angel or even dress up as one. But the darkin had nothing to be embarrassed about because being fallen angels was their reality… except they probably were an entirely different race, not divine servants that fell from grace.
He wouldn’t sweat the details though.
In any case, real-life fallen angels were right there. How could he not want to learn more about them? Naturally, he’d want to. They could have been an all-men race and he would have still felt the same.
‘Ah, well… I won’t deny that they’re nice to look at though. Especially Lady Iselle. But that’s beside the point!’
Saying it out loud would also incriminate him, so he justifiably kept that sealed.
“Well, what’s the harm?” Roland secretly winked at him, being the best brother ever. “He’s probably bored, having nothing to do all day.”
“Shouldn’t he help out with the wedding preparations though?” Jiji raised a brow, her arms crossed under her chest.
“Everything is perfect already,” Reivan robotically insisted. “So I would just ruin it if I tried to do anything.”
“Uh-huh.” She rolled her eyes. “Sure. Let's not pretend as if you just think it's a pain in the ass.”
“Anyway, I’m coming too, and that’s that.”
“...Fine. But only if I’m around. I don’t have to explain how bad it’ll look if you associate with a race composed only of women too much, right? Leading up to your wedding too.”
Reivan begrudgingly nodded. He saw no problem in that arrangement anyway, though he was a bit miffed at the treatment he was receiving. He did admit that he deserved some of it, given how many women he was involved with—both romantically and physically.
‘...Okay, yeah. I deserve it.’
There were just so many that his face heated up in shame if he even tried to deny it. And he was supposed to be good at lying too. His reputation was so horrible that his ability couldn't help him cover it up anymore, not even activating when he denied accusations.
“Well, that’s settled.” Roland clapped both of them on the shoulder with a smile. “Now, if you’ll excuse me. There’s a steadily increasing pile of work on my desk. Every minute, another document of some kind is added to the pile.”
“Understandable.” Jiji shrugged. “A lot of your staff is going to move over to the vassal state after all. Lots of rearranging, I assume?”
The king shook his head. “Not much of a problem on that front. The academic school year has just ended, so there are a lot of scholars fresh out of the college. I just pulled out a few veterans to teach them here and on-site.”
Reivan listened in as best as he could, but matters of bureaucracy were just extremely boring to him. Which was why he was so glad his sister was coming along.
She loved that stuff. Probably.
After that, Roland went off to return to his neverending battle against domestic affairs like he usually did and Jiji left to apparently train up the newly minted ministers he would be bringing with him overseas. Gwen was also recruiting her own set of personnel, but the more the merrier. One could never have enough internal staff, especially considering how he’d probably be conquering additional territory in the name of the yet-to-be-named nation he was supposed to lead.
Chatting with the darkin would have to be left for tomorrow. The winged beauties were undoubtedly tired and it would be incredibly rude to disturb them. Poor things deserved some peace and quiet.
As such, Reivan went off and tried to find something to occupy himself with.
‘Ah. It’s about time for me to go check on Mira.’
And tell her that she and her family could probably go back to living in Arkhan, though at a different location given how their previous hometown was probably an imperial protectorate now.
He didn’t know how she’d react to being pulled away from the royal archives though.
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