Fog of War

Chrysanthos.

Equinox Celebration Day.

02:00  Hours. Ballroom, Chrysanthos Castle.

Gleeful banter and golden lights surround Seren and Aiza. They stand, with hundreds of the elites, under the lush, painted sky in the exuberant ballroom. Gold crests and swirled imagery frames the just as well dressed guests. 

Fireworks outside blast the partiers with shifting colors, painting them in cerulean, mandarin, and cherry. The explosions were silent fireworks, magically created to blossom as close to the castle as possible, for guest enjoyment. And enjoy they did, for after the last firework bloomed… A roaring applause followed. 

Among the dainty claps were Seren and Aiza, who were dressed like they were attending a knight's commendation. 

"Amazing…! I wanna learn how to do that too!" Aiza comments, watching the fireworks magician bow to the crowd. She stuffs her face with a pile of hors de veures. A big silver platter sits on her back, laden with a mountain of exquisite food that Seren embarrassingly asked her not to hoard. The vespire sighs at the sight. The nearby nobles gawk at the two, covering their frowns with fans, particularly at the munching pouf and her ill table manners.

"You're asking for a stomach ache." Her mentor warns her. 

"Mumfb phine! (I'll be fine.)" Aiza replies.

She gulps and grins. 

After a wipe from a silky napkin, she muses, "I'm so happy we could make it to the banquet…" 

A flicker of worry suddenly appears in her eyes, remembering the horrible event that happened months earlier. Her ear twitches at the memory of the corruption she caused in the Chrysanthos plaza, and her head droops.

"This is the first time we stepped back into Chrysanthos since… you know, that day."

"Yes. It was quite a time." Seren replies, uneasily swirling her glass of champagne. 

Aiza remembers the day clearly. Seeing Seren constricted painfully by vines. The dealer, who laughed at them both, holding them hostage with rampant plants. The guards were caught in the mix, their swords useless against the ivy. Their strained breaths became chokes. 

"Save me and Seren!..." She heard herself plead. And the distorted void's voice had replied. 

Good choice.

Dark tendrils lashed out at every living creature in the plaza, protruding from her chest. The deep black covered the statue of Queen Nouvel. One by one, the tendrils infected those in the plaza. The guards dropped their swords as they became darkened, red eyed beserkers. Then it crawled up to Seren. Red bloodthirsty eyes replaced her mentor's soft golden ones. 

"Aiza…" She had coughed, before turning, like the others, into corrupted beasts.

Then… 

Darkness.

…

Since then, Aiza had defeated the dealer. She regained control over the void. But the incident struck fear across the country as news and gossip travelled. Doors and gates were closed on them. Civilians and guards turned them away at every post. Only farmers and rural villagers welcomed them for work, and even then, with hesitation. 

"Man, that sucked." Aiza comments, a pained expression lingering. An expression only harbored by countless nights spent alone in the wilderness with Seren after rejections left and right. 

But a grin returns to her face as she looks up, admiring the room and food.

"At least we have today to celebrate!"

"Don't forget we're just here on business." Seren says, thoughtfully. 

"Geez you're no fun." Aiza sassily retorts. But she admits Seren was right… They were asked to be here… via a gold printed letter that was delivered to their carriage…

A burst of gold flame teleported the thing into the office one day. It came in an exquisite envelope engraved in swirls, with a thick purple wax emblem bearing the royal mark. In shimmering sentences, Seren carefully read: 

"Salutations, Black Mage.

The Royal Family of Chrysanthos thank you for your service to the kingdom. Your investigation on the sky crack preceding the Rift War proved valuable. Without it, fighting the corruption would be nigh impossible. We graciously invite you and your apprentices to our Equinox Banquet in celebration of our victory over the rift."

Magical mini fireworks fired off at the end of the letter. Then, underneath that, a more discreet message appeared, glinting orange. It was written in a code Aiza couldn't read. 

"I see." She remembers Seren saying, her mentor's eyes absorbing the mysterious scribbles. 

"We must go to this." 

"But won't they turn us away?"

"No. The final message says its urgent. The Queen is asking me to personally see to something."

"Seeing the prisoner was the reason, right?" Aiza asks, trying not to get crumbs on her white vest. The silver platter of food tilts precariously on her back.

"Correct." Seren replies, casting her eyes across the ballroom. In the far off corner, under the grand chandelier, sits the person who waived Aiza's incident for this one night. The one with the largest swirled horns of the room. The one that stood taller than the rest. Queen Nouvel. 

She was conversing with the knights. A reassured smile from cheek to cheek as she acknowledged them. 

"I should thank her!" Aiza exclaims, about to head over to the Queen herself. But Seren pulls her back. Some appetizers fall off the platter.

"No. Best keep your distance… For now. She trusts us. But many of her allies do not. Especially her right hand." 

Her golden eyes narrow at a particularly sour looking pouf next to Queen Nouvel. 

…

Seren's gaze is caught by one of the knights. One who stood next to Queen Nouvel closer than the others. One bearing the longest, heaviest sword. Her white hair and rose horns sharply turn with her head as she glared back at the black vespire. 

"I don't like this." She says, to Queen Nouvel, with a defensive tone.

"I don't like that they're here. That her apprentice is here. She's the one that brought back the corruption, to Chrysanthos no less!" She paces back and forth, her sword swinging at her side. "Why did you invite them? They're dangerous!"

"Relax, Perth." The queen gives a sigh. She furrows her brow with patience at her friend.  "Must I remind you again…I only asked her to come because I had concerns about the prisoner." 

"I know… But what if they do something? What if that apprentice unleashes… whatever that unholy power she has on the whole castle?"

Perth's pace quickens, and her sword bounces faster against her waist.  

"What if it spreads fast! Then we'd have to evacuate you, and find wherever Fiorel ran off to– and– "

"Perth! Calm down." Nouvel's stern eyes flash at the captain, and the sword stopped jangling. Perth's eyes clash with her friend's.

"I understand the risk. But… I had a terrible feeling in my gut that the prisoner was up to something." Nouvel spoke, with conviction, her eyes as firm as stone. Somewhere within her deep eyes, a sense of worry permeated. 

Perth wavers, looking sideways. "Your gut is never wrong." She concedes. But she stamps her metal foot. "Still. If anything happens. They'll be the first on my list to question." 

"Do what you must as Captain of the Royal Guards." Nouvel sighs again, at Perth's hard headedness for the hundredth time. She smiles though, for this was the thoroughness she expected out of the best of the royal knights. 

"Just relax. Tonight is a night of celebration." She reassures, adding, "We have our best mages and knights on watch." 

The captain grumbles, calculating the last reports of the night. She then sighs, plopping down at the table, resting her sword on the floor. "Fine, you're right. We fought hard last year. And won. We deserve this… No, all of Bellacoste deserves this."

Perth raises a glass of shimmering drink. The rare smile that Nouvel waited for her to make spread shyly across her face. She gestures, tone raising. "Cheers. To another year for the kingdom."

"Cheers!" Nouvel remarks, returning a grand smile of her own. 

The two rejoin the banter of the other knights around them. Their voices combine with the excited, elated air of the ballroom. Chefs continue to bring food out, pleased by Aiza's endless compliments to them. Seren watches and smirks, slowly savoring the sweet drink in her claws. The night was perfect. Peaceful.

A great end to a year of struggle. The rift war. The unexpected affinity. They had survived it all, and overcame it.

But like many stories, and many events before it, peace never lasts.

They did not know that chaos had already broken loose from below them. 

And it did so, with a brilliant explosion.