The Seer, his tapping rod echoing on the ash-laden streets of Cinder, continued his solitary walk away from the Emperor's castle. He soon encountered an old, bustling figure known throughout Aethelgard as Rodgers, the Broadcaster. Rodgers was the founder and owner of Rodgers Newspapers, the sole news distributor in the empire, whose reach ensured that even the news of the assassination attempt had spread nationwide in hours.
"Hey, Rodgers," the Seer greeted, stopping in his path.
"Great one, it's amazing that you can tell it's me even though you're blind," Rodgers replied, impressed.
"Haha, I have a very keen sense of smell," the Seer said with a dry chuckle.
"That's even more amazing, if you ask me," Rodgers said, adjusting his spectacles.
"You think so?" the Seer asked.
"Yes, great one. What brings you to Cinder?"
"Well, Rodgers, I want you to do something for me," the Seer said, his expression hardening, his light tone vanishing.
"Is it important?" Rodgers asked, suddenly serious.
"Please," the Seer insisted, the single word carrying the weight of ancient command.
Meanwhile, the battle in Flux raged on, the unstable province serving as a chaotic, lethal arena. Thunder tore the sky, and torrential rain connected the chaotic heavens with the broken earth. The battleground was littered with fractured, elementally charged rocks left from the earlier attacks. Caius ran between these crumbling shields, guarding against the relentless assaults of Tetrarch Xevez.
Caius caught his breath while hiding behind a particularly large shard of rock. What kind of ability does he have? he mused
At that moment, a massive thunderbolt struck the rock formation where he was hiding. Caius dove away just in time, the residual elemental energy washing over his cape.
Xevez erupted in a cacophony of menacing, mocking laughter. "How intriguing! You challenge me, the master of Flux, and now you will have to pay with your life!"
Xevez began to attack randomly, not aiming for Caius, but for the terrain. With terrifying precision, thunderbolts lashed the ground and small earthquakes shook the foundation. Finally, a perfectly aimed lightning strike hit the shattered remnant of the rock Caius had been hiding behind, revealing his soaked cloak lying discarded on the floor.
"What? His cape? Where did he go?" Xevez demanded, squinting through the rain. "I guess I'll have to force you to come out myself!"
Xevez bent down and placed his hand directly onto the sodden earth.
Caius watched from his new, precarious hiding place. "What is he doing?" he wondered, a creeping sense of dread forming in his stomach.
Suddenly, the earth beneath the entire region began to quake violently.
"What the…?" Caius yelled as the ground beneath him fractured.
The earthquake hit Caius with tremendous force, sending him flying into the open air. He landed heavily on the fractured, cold earth, coughing out blood.
As he struggled, the pieces clicked into place. "The earthquakes, the hurricanes, the thunder strikes, the erratic weather shifts... they weren't natural disasters. They were man-made."
Xevez erupted into another sinister laugh, watching Caius struggle back to his feet. "You're such a weakling. Challenging me was your undoing."
Caius breathed heavily, trying to clear the ringing in his ears. "Hey," he called out, struggling to stand.
Gwen, the young woman from Blight, watched the spectacle from where she had been thrown aside, terror and worry etched on her face.
"Hmmm?" Xevez answered, intrigued by the spy's resilience.
"All those thunder strikes, earthquakes, hurricanes, and abnormal weather shifts were your doing, weren't they?" Caius questioned, his voice strained but his fury reaching a boiling point.
"Oh? You finally noticed? Hahahaha. Of course they were," Xevez sneered. "I am the Tetrarch of Flux. I command the elements themselves."
"Why?" Caius yelled, wiping blood from his mouth.
"Because some Aethelgardians are not fit to be among us. Their very existence is a mistake," Xevez declared with cold conviction.
"What?" Caius snapped.
"Anyone from Aethelgard who desires peace and coexistence with the Thorenzians doesn't deserve to live! They weaken the empire!" Xevez yelled, his voice carrying over the sound of the rain.
"Who the heck gave you the right to decide who deserves to live or die?" Caius roared.
"The heavens did!" Xevez screamed back, a terrifying, zealous light in his eyes. "The heavens made me an executioner by giving me this divine power!"
At that moment, powerful thunderbolts struck the earth all around Xevez as he laughed menacingly, a vortex of elemental energy surrounding him.
Just then, Xevez turned his head and shot a concentrated blast of Lightning Hera straight toward the defenseless Gwen. Caius noticed the shift in target and reacted instantly, his mission to save the innocent overriding his own survival instincts. He ran and dived forward, throwing himself between Gwen and the attack. The lightning bolt hit Caius squarely in the chest, the pure electrical energy arching through him before it could reach Gwen.
"No!" Gwen screamed in horror as Caius collapsed.
Xevez let out a satisfied, sinister laugh and began to walk away, victorious, leaving the spy twitching on the ravaged earth.
Gwen rushed to Caius's side, shaking his still body, trying desperately to make him open his eyes. The lightning bolt had left him smoking, his skin charred.
As Gwen shook him, a new, ethereal voice—ancient and resonant—rang through Caius's head, cutting through the agony.
"Son, my time is up. You're next. Use your powers to protect our people."
At that moment, Caius's eyes snapped open. He struggled, a guttural groan escaping his lips, but he forced himself to stand. Blood streamed down his face from his head wound, but he stood, his gaze fixed on the retreating figure of Tetrarch Xevez.
"Hey, Mr. Tetrarch," Caius called out, his voice hoarse but clear.
Xevez stopped, his eyes widening in genuine shock as he turned to face the supposedly vanquished spy. "How can you still be alive after that?"
"Hah," Caius smiled, a grim, blood-stained grin that defied his injuries. "Sorry to disappoint you."
"Well, I'll make you die for sure this time," Xevez growled, his hands already beginning to summon more lightning, thunder once again lashing the earth around them. The relentless rain showed no sign of stopping.
"There's a rumor spreading around Aethelgard currently, you know," Caius said, his eyes now closed, blood flowing uncontrollably from his tear ducts like dark, crimson streams.
"Hm? What rumor?" Xevez asked, momentarily distracted by the macabre sight.
"The rumors about a puppet master, capable of controlling just about anyone," Caius continued, the blood from his eyes now dripping and dropping onto the sodden ground, staining the earth dark red. "Have you wondered who this puppet master is?"
At that moment, a chilling realization struck Xevez. "Wait a minute, don't tell me… You!" he yelled, and with a roar, he lunged angrily at Caius, lightning striking around his body, already forming into a lethal bolt.
Just as he closed the distance, Caius's eyes suddenly snapped open. They were no longer the vibrant color they once were; they glowed with a deep, pulsating, dark-reddish hue, like fresh blood itself.
Immediately, Xevez's eyes also turned the same unsettling dark-red. The Tetrarch's furious assault ceased, his elemental powers dissipated, and he stood frozen, his powerful body now utterly still.
Xevez slowly turned to face Caius, his dark-red eyes blank and devoid of will. "Master," he bowed deeply, utterly subservient.
"You're going to do something for me," Caius commanded, his voice strained from the lightning wound, but firm, infused with the power of the Curse of Zaa. "Kill Emperor Arthur Delacronix."
"Yes, Master," Xevez bowed again, his eyes unblinking, unfeeling. With a flash of his inherent lightning ability, he launched himself into the sky, flying away towards Cinder, a new, unwilling assassin.
Immediately, as Xevez left, the relentless rain ceased, the thunder vanished, and the tumultuous weather of Flux became eerily normal again, as if the storm had simply been an extension of Xevez's power and will.