CLOMP! CLOMP! CLOMP!
The horses ahead trodded rhythmically as they pulled the carriage forward and down the road. In the sky above, Nesher — Nahasch's golden eagle — flew ahead, as Nahasch promised he would. He'd stick with them until they arrived.
Inside, Jacender and Aleximus sat facing the two Archbishops. Jacender had placed Leon in his bag, allowing him to sleep while he stared off into the wall next to him. Strangely, there had been only one window on the left wall, near Aleximus and Richard, while on the right — where Jacender and Damien sat — carved into the wall's surface, was a heavily shadowed stone image of a hooded man and some words underneath his head:
"The meek, guided and culled by the waves of unfairness, will find reward in our Lord's mercy."
Aleximus found the words strange, but didn't bother to bring them up. He felt it would be better to ride in silence than to risk letting Richard or Damien somehow catch onto who he and Jace really were. Aleximus was especially guarded around Richard, who he found was more alike to him than he cared to admit. Despite the Archbishop's kindness, he was leagues more perceptive than his older brother.
As if reading his thoughts, Richard smiled and inclined his head towards the twins. "How old are you two?"
Aleximus opened his mouth, afraid that Jace would say more than what needed to be said, but his brother had already beaten him to it.
"Twelve," Jace said. "We turned around three months ago."
He glanced at Aleximus, passing between them a silent look. He wasn't that foolish.
Jace blinked and turned back to Damien. "Where were you guys headed before you came to pick us up?"
Richard's bangs covered his eyes, so Aleximus couldn't tell if he would interrupt and lie, but just as Jacender had done to him before, Damien took in a deep breath and erupted gleefully with a powerful shout:
"NAZARETH!"
Aleximus cringed at his voice and winced. Damian, he discovered, was much too active. He couldn't go a second without being excited by something; a trait he seemed to share with Jacender. He feared the worst, knowing that his brother would only be reactive to Damien's energy and match it. If this idiot gets too rowdy, Aleximus thought, then—
"WOAH! WHAT'S NAZARETH?!" Jace jumped, his eyes teeming with excitement. The sudden movement caused the carriage to slightly shake; made only worse as Damien released a hearty laugh.
"Nice joke! Who doesn't know about Nazareth?"
Ugh! I knew it! Aleximus groaned, agitated that Jace had nearly blown their cover. He sucked his teeth and palmed his forehead with an annoyed thought: These two are the same type of idiot!
Through his fingers, he stole a peek at Richard, who simply stared ahead, unbothered by the ruckus. It was as if he hadn't seen the two jump at all.
"Calm down," Richard said softly to Damien. "You'll scare the horses."
At first Aleximus had chalked up the Archbishop's indifference to just being familiar with his brother. He'd figured that after several years of so much screaming that Richard had merely grown accustomed to Damian's incessant annoyance. But the crack on Richard's lips said otherwise. A faint smile. Barely noticeable but there. Maybe it was true that he had gotten used to Damien, but Aleximus suspected that there was something else — something more obvious.
Richard, noticing him, sat upright in his seat. "You've been staring at me for a while now, Aleximus. You can ask your question."
Jacender turned to his brother, brow raised. "Question..?"
Aleximus's eyes narrowed. Looks like my guess was right.
"You," he began, looking past Richard's bangs. "...You're blind aren't you? How long?"
A flicker of disbelief flashed across his face before his head spun back around to Richard. Something was starting to click.
Damien passed a pensive look to his brother and squeezed Richard's hand — a signal that he didn't have to say anything he didn't want to. "Maybe that's…"
Richard chuckled and squeezed back Damien's hand. "It's alright. It's not all that interesting of a story anyway."
He looked back in his mind a few years to the same scene that had shaped both his and Damien's lives: the day they'd met Father Jeremiah, the Church of Gabriel's pope. Richard brushed back his bangs and lifted his palm so they'd see his greyed-out irises. "The fires that burned our home not only claimed our mother's life, but both my brother's left leg and my eyes."
Jacender and Aleximus sat there, stunned. "What did it?" Jace asked with a gulp. Damien looked at him quizzically and managed a confused smile.
"You sure are strange! I don't mean to brag, but most people in Sanctaefi know who we are! Are you saying you don't know about Verglas—"
"—Damien," Richard cut in. "That is not something children should bother themselves with. They'll learn about it soon enough in school in they're enrolled."
"RIGHT!" Damien grinned, catching himself. He shook his head dramatically, throwing away the thought and pointed comically at the twins. "YOU'LL LEARN ALL ABOUT IT IN SCHOOL!"
Though he was irked again, the name "Verglas" sounded familiar to him. He racked his brain and thought back to the Axis.
"Mercurius died on Verglas! That's a fact!"
That's it! Aleximus realized. He hadn't noticed at the time because Anna had been fading away, but he vaguely recalled his uncle screaming something at Hatagi as he grilled him for information.
Uncle Matsuda said they wiped out the Eclipse Guild over a decade ago along with this Mercurius person… And it was all done on Verglas.
He tried to make sense of it all, putting every small piece of information he'd amassed so far to the task, but came up short. There was still so much he didn't know.
Over a decade ago, Aleximus's forehead veined. That would be around the time we were born, right? Uncle Matsuda was very adamant about not letting us know what happened before we came to the Axis. Not to mention his strange connection to the Eclipse Guild. Did he know someone there? Maybe its leader?
His veins became more pronounced as he dug his fingers into his arms. Hidemi isn't that much younger than us either, which means Mr.Ivan had him around the same time as us. According to Nahasch and Mr.Ivan himself, he also met our parents when he first went out into the outside world. If I had to guess, that's probably when he met Hidemi's mom, Gwentyn, too. All of these events line up pretty well, but what happened in the time inbetween that? What happened after, with this Verglas place? And why is it so important?
Aleximus was so caught up in his own mind that he barely caught the tail-end of Jacender's last sentence.
"...? What?" Aleximus asked.
Jace wore a plastic smile as he turned to him. "I was telling them how our parents don't let us go out much and that we're homeschooled!"
Aleximus nodded, taking in the lie and made sure not to change his expression in any way in case the Archbishops realized they were lying. No more questions, he thought. …There's too much we don't know.
"Right."
He made the message clear as he and Jace locked eyes for a split-second. His brother had saved them from what would have otherwise been a very tricky situation to escape; especially considering the fact that they were being transported from Xastol — a place no human was to have any business being at. Besides, it wasn't as if the Archbishops were that foolish.
"Tough parents, huh?" Damien laughed. He slapped his knee and chuckled even louder with his eyes closed. "Our mom was just like that, wasn't she, Rich'?"
Richard leaned back against his headrest with a reminiscent smile. "Yes," he said gingerly. "Yes, she was."
KA-CLUNK! KA-CLUNK!
Jacender could hear the hooves of the horses outside clearly now. Without a look he could tell that they'd transitioned onto a smoother road.
He threw himself at Aleximus's window and pushed past him to get a better look. As he anticipated, the wildlife around was starting to fade into the distance, with trees narrowing more and more as they picked up speed. Aleximus groaned and pushed him over to get a look as well.
The first thing he noticed overhead was two large, floating blue emblem: the Church's symbol — a dove clutching two keys — and an unfamiliar one: a resting dragon sitting protectively around a sword that had been thrust through a crown. Below them both sat a few sentences:
WELCOME TO THE TOWN OF ZENICA!
WE HOPE YOU ENJOY YOUR STAY WITH US!
FOR ALL WYVERN GATE TERMINALS, PLEASE MAKE YOUR WAY TOWARDS TOURVIK ON THE NORTHWESTERN WATERFRONT!
"Ah!" Damien said with a look out of Richard's window. "Looks like we're almost there!"
"Almost?" Jace repeated.
"Look forward," Richard smiled. "You'll miss it."
The moment he said that, the road curved, taking on a downward slope as the carriage descended down the path. The road they were taking was a descent route headed straight for Zenica. Aleximus recognized that to mean that they were not on any ordinary road — they were barreling down a mountain ridge's pass!
As the carriage climbed down, the wind ripped inside the windows, filling the car with an invigorating scent of fragrant oils and crisp, clean mountain air. Nesher flew ahead of the carriage, his duty done, and soared freely into the sky with a smug caw.
After another turn, the boys finally laid eyes on Zenica.
Nestled in the sprawling valley below, the town was as marvelous as it was ingenuous and comfortable. Jacender gaped as the town stretched out before him, a patchwork of gleaming black diamond, brass, and dark timber roofs. Yet high above the town in the skies, lay the town's most eyecatching attraction:
Mythical creatures larger than Dragons Breath Tower drifted in the air, dragging behind them airships larger than any structure the boys had ever seen. The beasts had bodies similar to dragons while flying with wings shaped like those of a bat. Attached to their mouths were colossal contraptions stemming from large cylinders affixed inbetween their fangs that connected them to the ships.
They were the most magnificent sights against the azure sky.
"W-What the hell are those?!" Jace gasped. Damien pressed his palm against the glass and grinned.
"Wyverns," he said. "The closest relative to the dragons."
"Dragons?!" Aleximus stammered. Those exist?!
His eyes flitted to the northwestern corner of the town, where a few wyverns had already begun settling gracefully onto the massive, gear-laden docking terminals that jutted from the town's waterfront, while others — fresh from rest — were beginning their majestic ascent into the air, beating their powerful wings to catch the updrafts. Almost in resonance, the hulking ships behind them shone with Sanctum Energy that only grew stronger with every beat of the wyvern's wings. Soon, they stabalized, floating without assistance and were pulled away.
To the east, Jace nearly drooled at the sight of the elegant villas perched on the terraced slopes of the honey-like grass enclosure. Their intricate gables and clocklike ornamentation reflected the warm sun and basked the villas in a glossy aura of expensiveness. And at the heart of it all — in the town's central district below — lively chatter could be heard despite the carriage's distance. Aleximus admired the cobblestone streets teeming to life and how different it felt from Xastol. Brothels, taverns — the glittering lights of gambling establishments…. The air crackled with the energy of thousands of stories, each one more exciting than the last.
It was all he'd ever dreamed of when they'd still lived in the Axis.
Aleximus faced Richard, and at the risk of giving himself away, he asked: "Those ships… they take you anywhere?"
Richard nodded. "Anywhere with two connecting portals."
Aleximus tilted his head, like he hadn't heard right and furrowed his brow. Somehow, Richard noticed.
"Look closely at the terminals over in the distance. You see those Wyvern Ships taking off? Once they're in the air, they fly a few miles out across the water and go towards one of the portals levitating above the sea. Each one has a connecting portal to a different place on the continent. After, when a ship goes through, they arrive on the other side a few minutes later and make their way towards the terminal over there."
"You sure were homeschooled alot, huh?" Damien asked. "Your parents didn't teach you anything! How will you board the ship?"
Jace laughed drly, the realization that they hadn't thought this far ahead hitting him just now. "Uh, we— um…"
"We have a little bit of money our uncle gave us," Aleximus said, tapping his bag. "But we'll need identification, right? We don't have anything like that."
Jace glanced at him. His brother was smart enough to leverage their misinformation as a cry for help. Judging by what Richard and Damien had told them about Evangelist Hall, the twins knew that they would help them.
"That's weird!" Damien said with a suspicious brow raised. "Everyone in the continent should be registered in the Imperial Database from the day they're born! You should be alright!"
"It's our first time out without our parents," Aleximus said definitely. "I don't feel comfortable leaving that up to chance."
Richard shared a soft smile. "I suppose that would be a problem, with you appearing in Xastol and all, isn't that right?"
Aleximus averted his gaze as the Archbishop reached into his breast pocket and fished for something. "Here." he said, tossing something red and black to Aleximus: a coin made of something similar to silver. On its front face was the hooded face of the Archangel Gabriel, who the church worshipped. On the back was the Church's symbol and the same words that were on the right wall of the carriage.
Richard tilted his head toward the northwestern front of Zenica. "That coin is known as a Vitra. It's a very rare coin and is only held by select members of the Church and the Paragons of the Coalition. Not many are left, so one day I'll expect it back."
"I don't get it," Jace said, questions filling his mind. He wanted to ask, but knew bringing more light to their ignorance wasn't the best option. "What do we do with this?" was what he eventually chose to settle with.
"The Evangelist Branch of the Church was formed to spread our lord's gospel amongst those not fortunate enough to hear it, therefore our members are always out on the move helping when we can. That coin is proof that you have our blessing to board the Wyvern Ship without any formal identification."
CLOMP
The carriage slowed down and came to a stop by a wooden post flush with arrows towards every notable place within Zenica. At last, they had arrived at the town entrance. Inside, the twins sat in silence, eyeing both Damien and Richard to test if they were telling the truth.
"You're serious?" Aleximus asked, sternly. "You'll let us go that easily?"
Damien chuckled. "We came to deliver you from Xastol to Zenica, and that's exactly what we did! You two are spunky kids, but I don't think you'll be going out of your own way to cause trouble, right? There's obviously something you don't feel comfortable telling us and that's fine! We're not enforcers anyway! We'll leave that to the Punishment Force!"
The door to the carriage opened as elaborately as it had in Xastol, creating a descending staircase.
DTHOK! DTHOK! DTHOK!
"We've kept our promise, so our jobs are done." Richard smiled. "We hope that whatever you're looking for in Pendragon is worth all the secrecy."
Jacender let out a deep sigh and slumped his shoulders. "Guess you saw right through us, huh? Sorry we lied."
He looked to Aleximus, who's cheeks burned completely red and then back to Damien. "We never could have made it without you."
"Nonsense!" Damien bellowed happily. "The journey can only start once the traveller takes the first step! You made it here on your own!"
Aleximus picked up his bag, slinked out of his seat and walked down the small staircase the carriage had created without a word. Disappointed, Jacender shook his head and followed after him. "You could at least say thanks," he muttered, grabbing his own bag. Leon stirred slightly and pawed away his hand.
As Jacender hopped off, the staircase began to fold in on itself again and again until its original door form had returned and slotted back into its hinges. Aleximus stood in front of the open door with a grumpy expression. He'd been completely outmaneuvered by Richard several times.
"I…" he began. "...We…"
His cheeks bloated and filled with air.
Richard held his hand up. "I understand, Aleximus. I wish you a well journey as well." Finally, Aleximus sucked his teeth, grumbling again and spun around.
"Whatever."
Jace smiled awkwardly and turned to join him, but Damien stopped him, saying: "Just a second, Jacender!"
He dug into his own breast pocket and brought out a hefty bag of coins and threw it to him. "These are gold Sol coins. It's not much, but there should be enough for plenty of Wyvern boarding passes, got it?"
Though he didn't know much about the price of gold in the outside world, nor its worth, Jacender could tell with a single look that what he held in his hands was more than just "not much". The Archbishops had done them both an extraordinary act of kindness.
"We'll be going to Nazareth later today, but if we're ever in Pendragon, we'll make sure to visit you!" Damien grinned.
Jace gripped the gold tightly and grinned. "THANK YOU SO MUCH!"
He spun around and chased after Aleximus, who had put some distance between them. "I'll pay you back one day!" Jace laughed.
Damien watched as they went off into the city with a huge smile plastered on his face. He hadn't been with them long to know enough, but the feeling the twins gave him was the same as the one he's so often feel when among the other Evangelists. It was a true sense of family.
"So much lying and yet not one hint of malice!" he said to Richard. "It's rare to find such straight-forward kids these days!"
His brother smiled, closing the open carriage door and faced him. Aleximus was one of the most interesting people he'd met in a long time.
"Yes," he laughed for the first time. "They do have a sort of sincerity to them, don't they? It's wonderful."
The horses stomped their hooves and went off in the opposite direction, back up the pass toward the Black Institute.
Down the cobblestone streets, Aleximus silently watched the carriage speed off into the distance with a measured look. The Church Of Gabriel, huh?
An organization he'd never heard of until recently had somehow become one of his biggest interests in addition to getting to Pendragon. It wouldn't be now, he thought, but one day, once he had the means and power necessary, he'd make it his mission to find out what relation he and Jace had to the Church. And regardless if they were good or bad… he'd deal with it anyway.
But in the meantime—
Jace caught up to him and pounced, hoping to jump on his back, but Aleximus side-stepped him just in time and shoved his hands in his pockets.
"Let's go, Jace," he said as he looked at a nearby sign. It pointed to the northwestern end, where the Wyvern Ships stood. Their journey to Pendragon was almost at an end now.
"We've got a promise to keep ourselves."
-------🅰🆂🅷🅵🅸🅴🅻🅳-------
[ZENICA, SILAS'S CLUB FOR PLAYERS — SIMULTANEOUSLY]
A stunning woman walked down the aisle of the VIP balcony and stopped in front of the last room, hidden only by a curtain reinforced by Sanctum Energy. Her clear, dark skin glew like dewdrops inside the off-shoulder black-and-gold bodice that kissed her figure like shadowed ink. Draped over her shoulders was expensive red silk — now a shawl, but a marker of her standing in the club as the owner and manager of the club.
Below her, on the open club floor, danced intoxicated patrons, uncaring of the world around them. They had all come to Zenica for one reason or another, be it as a pit stop or to experience the town's joys, but one thing was clear: many couldn't help but to be drawn to her silent movement — her mystique. Her skin was that of burnished mahogany — rich and tempting to touch, but too precious to risk staining. Her eyes were as sharp as chalcedony and her lips curved, almost unreadable, like her wild and curly windswept curls — obsidian and iron that were crafted for impact, not ornament.
The woman smiled, her simple expression like trouble in the eyes of an ordinary man. If she'd given just anyone such a look, they'd collapse with awe. "Your time is up," she said to the curtain in front of her. "You have to pay your bill or leave now."
Giving the person behind no time to answer, she pulled aside the curtain — sure now that its defences were down due to the allotted time being up — and calmly eyed the young boy who sat in the premium sued fiery-orange sofa positioned against the wall. He grinned glutunously as he brushed his storm-tossed hair. It was short on both sides, tapered close to the scalp, but the top flared upwards in windswept waves like a flame caught mid-flicker. The back was cropped short, but the top carried the most volume like a mohawk — not spiky, but wild in rhythm. Just one look at his jean-jacket and pants and it was clear that he was the rebellious sort. He couldn't have been older than thirteen.
Lounging around, bored, were older girls in bunny suits and other revealing clothing — dancers. The manager smirked and entered the room, drawing stares from the dancers and motioned for them to leave. It was only then that the boy finally looked up at her.
"Huh?" he asked. His voice still carried an edge of boyhood — still light and noy yet cracked — but it came out shaped by an oddly sincere sense of discipline and daring. "Where are you all going?"
There was a kind of forced formality to the way he spoke like someone trying to sound older and sharper. The manager clicked her middle finger against her pointer and formed a flame at her fingertip. In it, a zero sat glitching in and out before she dispelled the flame.
"I did Riz a favor by letting you stay here, Alexander," she told him. She inched closer and folded her hands together with a raised brow. "You've taken advantage of that kindness. It's time for you to go back home."
The dim light from the "Silas's Club For Players" sign above his head, that had casted a shadow over his face, slowly vanished as he leaned forward to reveal red-orange eyes the color of a summer sunset. An earpiercing — a miniature sword — hung from his ear, connected to a gold chain and crown.
He smirked, putting down his comb and crossed one leg over the other, making himself more comfortable in the emptier sofa. "But why, Silas? I'm not in any rush to get back to Pendragon. Can't I have some more fun?"
Silas stepped closer again, a beguiling smile stretching across her face. "Fun you say?"
She came to the other end of the sofa and dragged her finger along the corner, locking eyes with him all the while. "You've have weeks of it, Alex. Don't bite off more than you can chew."
Alexander watched her stop in front of him with a suggestive smirk and pulled out a golden Sol coin from within his jacket pocket. "I have one coin left. I think I can handle a bit more biting."
She grabbed the coin from him him and covered it with her fingers. She opened them again to reveal that it had disappeared. "Do you think I run this place because I smile pretty?"
Her voice was soft like silk, but clear enough to cut through skin. "No darling, this club is successful because even the wolves know not to bite here."
"I'd protect you from the wolves," Alexander responded with a tempting grin. He rose, his hair barely poking above his chest as he looked up at her.
"I am a knight after all."
[THE TOWN OF ZENICA]