The Hundred Reigns

Chapter 164: The Sanctuary in the Sky (13)

“Simon.”

Mmm…

“Simon…”

Simon began to wake up to the sight of the morning sun shining through the window’s curtains. Eole lay on his chest, bare naked and smiling at him.

“She’s still asleep,” she whispered while pointing at Belzemine, who was snoring lightly on the bed next to their own. “Want to fool around before breakfast?”

“Mmm… I don’t know.” His hand moved to grab her thigh. “I like it better when you sing and squeal…”

“I know you do.” She rose and sat on him, her hands traveling up his torso. Eole’s wings limited the number of comfortable positions they could share, so they usually settled on one mounting the other. “Take it as a challenge then. I’ll try to hold back, and you’ll have to prove so good I forget myself.”

Simon smirked back as he pulled her closer. “Challenge accepted.”

And in the end, she squealed. Not loud enough to wake Belzemine up, but she did squeal.

After their first lovemaking session of the day, the two of them dressed themselves and moved to the kitchen to prepare breakfast. Simon sliced up the vegetables while Eole set the table, as they did dozens of times before.

Whereas spring had been nearly all work, summer had passed in the blink of an eye. Simon spent most of his time with his friends, swimming in lakes, exploring the archipelago’s hidden redoubts, performing songs for the islanders, and sharing tender moments with Eole.

Her intuition had proved right. Three months in, and Simon wondered why they hadn’t sealed the deal earlier. He had spent so many reigns with Eole that he understood her like few others, and she was kind, caring, and honest. He just connected so well with her in a way he hadn’t since Remedia.

Things were just good.

Truly, the only event that gave Simon pause during the summer was the long-feared fall of Kaikias Island, from which they extracted the manaliths used for Crestone production. The magic keeping it afloat simply ceased to work one morning. The scariest part was that there had been no warning, no gradual weakening of the anti-gravity effect.

Kaikias was floating fine one second, and then falling the next.

Thankfully, the island only had golem workers toiling on it and it fell into the ocean, so there were no victims. What worried Simon was the result of the fall itself. The collapsing island had detonated upon hitting the sea, sending a geyser of water reaching so high it touched the Sanctuary and caused tidal waves to rise in its wake. The impact would have likely devastated coastal communities had it happened closer to the mainland.

Simon dared not imagine the result of an island the size of Boreas or Zephyr falling onto the earth below. The damage would make the Oracle’s attack on Frightwall look like a child’s firework in comparison.

“What’s that?” Simon inquired upon finding Eole checking a smooth, polished stone. “You stare at that manalith each time we get out of bed.”

“It’s a baby stone,” Eole replied as she set the stone aside on the kitchen counter. “If it shines, it means I’m pregnant.”

“You don’t need to worry about that,” Simon reassured her. “A spellcaster… friend… of mine taught me a basic protection spell to avoid any issues.”

“Truly?” Eole giggled. “And here I thought Lady Junon’s herbal tea was even more effective than advertised.”

“It’s strange.” Simon pulled his arms around her waist. “You seem more beautiful every time I look at you. How do you do that?”

“I try to live up to my boyfriend’s flattery.” Eole smiled sweetly, her hands moving to his neck. “Ready for your first skyball match?”

“I fear it less than breaking the news to your family.” An entire season had passed since they sealed the deal in the wishing well, and while Lady Junon was clearly aware of their relationship from the way she smiled each time she saw them, they hadn’t told Tybalt or Ruto they were together yet. Simon had the suspicion that they already suspected the truth though. “Any suggestions?”

“It’ll be a formality,” she reassured him. “They expected us to become a couple since the day I moved into your home, Simon. I think they’ll just be surprised it took so long.”

“I guess I could sing you a love song in public,” Simon suggested, inspiration striking him in a flash. “‘The Kish Who Stole My Heart.’”

“Now you make me sound like the Rogue!” Eole lightly kissed him on the lips. “How about ‘The Dark Lord and the Maiden Fair’?”

“Whatever you want.” Simon let go of her, his gaze wandering to the ‘baby stone’ on the counter. “How do kids work here?”

“In the Sanctuary?”

“Yes,” Simon confirmed. “I assume you must limit your population growth to avoid overcrowding?”

“Yes, Lady Junon must give her permission for couples to have children. Gaining access to the wishing well means the couple has her blessing to start a family.” Eole caressed the stone. “Receiving her benediction hasn’t been much of an issue since we’ve had a few deaths in quick succession in the last year.”

“I’m sorry,” Simon apologized. Eole had told him her mother had passed away from a disease soon before she left the Sanctuary. “I didn’t want to reopen old wounds.”

“It’s fine,” Eole reassured him. “Do you want to have kids one day, Simon?”

“I considered starting a family twice.” Simon had thought about it with Anna back when they were set to marry, and Remedia briefly broached the subject of siring an heir in Cocagne. “It didn’t work out in either case, and I don’t feel ready to have a child anytime soon.”

“That’s not a no,” Eole teased him.

“That’s not a no,” Simon admitted. While the rational part of his mind told him it would hurt to sire a child during a reign only for them to vanish in the next, another truly did want to start a family with a woman he loved. The Sanctuary was perhaps the one place where he could safely raise a child for decades should they survive the Zodiac Parade. “Do you want children?”

“Yes, but not now; and especially not with a demon attack being months away.” Eole’s eyes darted to the bedroom door. “Besides, we already have a child of our own.”

“I suppose we do.” Though he was starting to consider Belzemine more like a sister. That must have been how Lauriane felt about him when he first arrived in Frightwall, shy and lost. “You think she’ll like skyball?”

“Of course she will,” Eole mused as they heard Belzemine yawn her way back to the waking world. “Everyone loves skyball.”

Eole was right. Everyone in the Sanctuary loved skyball.

The sport was all the rage on the archipelago and most popular during the autumn, when the summer sun had finished drying out caldera basins that could then serve as stadiums. The most prestigious tournament, the Eidolon Cup, lasted the entire season.

The rules were simple: two groups of six players—one goalkeeper, two defenders, three attackers—fought over a single ball which they used to score points by hitting the opposing team’s goal with it. The ball could be thrown with the hands or feet, and the players could tackle one another to steal it.

And the game took place entirely in the air.

While buffs, Classes, and magical items were forbidden, flying spells were allowed for the likes of elves wishing to participate. Moreover, the volcanic hot air current produced by the caldera ensured the participants were kept afloat at all times. Simon’s Darkflight and Belzemine’s fire-powered flying method allowed them to form a team with Eole’s family and Anaximander, who relied on anti-gravity magic to fly and guard the goalpost.

They were an atypical group, but Simon had a good feeling about their chances. The tournament’s favorites were Culebre’s Harpie Ladies and Vayan’s Aces, but the team they would fight today in the inaugural match, the Baha-Mutts, weren’t really all that strong.

“Go, go, go!” Carbuncle shouted from the crowded stone stands while waving a flag alongside other supporters. Each team needed a patron eidolon to sponsor them during the season’s tournament, and he had agreed to support Simon’s team under the condition that they call it the ‘Carb-Uncles.’ “Crush them! Break their backs!”

“Is he always like this during matches?” Simon asked Tybalt as the two of them floated at their team’s forefront with Belzemine, who had insisted on serving as an attacker with them.

“His competitive side comes out during the season,” Tybalt mused. “The harpies’ eidolon is even worse.”

“That’s a disturbing thought,” Simon replied before checking on Belzemine, “How are you holding up?”

“I will do my best not to embarrass Your Majesty,” Belzemine promised him shyly.

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“You don’t need to call me that anymore, Belzemine. Simon will do.”

“I… I can’t… I wouldn’t dare…” Belzemine cleared her throat. “I’m sorry, it would be too disrespectful…”

“It’s not, but take your time,” Simon reassured her. She was steadily making progress, but she still had a lot of work ahead of her before she could break out of her servile mindset. “Can I trust you to cover our left, then?”

“Yes, of course.” Belzemine nodded with resolve. “I would give my life for victory.”

Simon sighed and turned back to Tybalt, clearing his throat as he did so. “I’m not sure if I should tell you now or after the match, but… Eole and I–”

“I know you and my daughter have given yourself to each other,” Tybalt replied bluntly, before laughing at Simon’s embarrassed face. “Did you think you were being discreet? My daughter moved into your home and never came back.” He gave Simon a light pat on the shoulder. “We've had to keep Queen Zeal off my daughter’s back for months now. She does not take competition lightly.”

“I’m… I’m sorry,” Simon apologized. “I thought I had sternly let her down.”

“She never takes no for an answer,” Tybalt said, tensing up as the enemy team flew in formation over the caldera. The referee was moving to the center with the ball. “Alright, follow the plan. Press on the left and all will be…” A shadow passed over the stadium with a thunderous sound. “Fine…”

Simon looked up in surprise, as no cloud should reach higher than the Sanctuary’s islands; and indeed, they did not. The object darkening the sun took the shape of a familiar bird with metal wings, but it wasn’t the only one. A familiar, dark carrack ship floated after it, its deck shrouded in mist and its hull carried by a horde of ghosts lifting it up in the sky.

“What is this?” Tybalt wondered as he immediately put on his Class outfit.

“Friends,” Simon replied with a scowl. They shouldn’t have come back so early. “And bad news.”

The Adventurer was back in town, and she had brought the Necromancer with her.

The inauguration match was promptly cancelled, and Vayan called an emergency meeting of the Sanctuary’s council. Simon showed up alongside Eole’s family to welcome back Alcyone and her pirate friend.

“Did you miss us? Of course you missed us,” Alcyone teased the Sanctuary council before turning to Voltobauta. The vampire lord’s butler kept them both in the shade with a thick umbrella that let no sunlight through. “See? See?!”

“Yes, yes, I am not blind,” Voltobauta complained as he looked around. “No wonder none of the ghosts I interrogated knew about this place. Your people’s souls do not mingle with the rest of the Worldsoul.”

“You must be the valiant Necromancer Lady Alcyone told us so much about,” Lady Junon said with a polite nod. “It is an honor to welcome you among us, Lord Voltobauta.”

“Alas, I am lord of nothing but my ship’s deck nowadays. My writ used to extend everywhere the tide struck the land, until Endymion sank my fleet to the bottom of the sea.” Voltobauta spotted Simon. “Greetings, Overlord Magnos.”

“Greeting–” Simon froze in place, his eyes widened as all color left Alcyone’s face. “What did you just say?”

“Do you see the look on his face, Alcyone?” Voltobauta replied as he smiled thinly at his fellow Noble Class user. “That is guilt.”

“Are you kidding me?” Alcyone glared at Simon, a scowl of outrage forming on her face. “You’re the Overlord?! Seriously?!”

Simon tensed up, but he guessed he couldn’t exactly hide it much longer, especially since they would need to fight side by side against Nodens and the Sanctuary’s council would stand by his side. He was still ready to bring out his Class outfit at the first provocation.

“How did you guess?” he asked Voltobauta, while Alcyone fumed in anger.

“When Alcyone pointed out a Magnos prince had magically fled to a hidden flying island right after the Overlord Class vanished, I realized it sounded like a rather fortuitous coincidence.” Voltobauta chuckled to himself. “I figured you were the new Overlord hiding out in a calmer harbor where you could weather the storm.”

“Well, you got that right, Lord Voltobauta,” Simon admitted. “Except I have no wish to return to the surface, at least for the foreseeable future.”

“A laudable strategy.” Voltobauta met his gaze. “This Second Doom you foresaw must be pretty terrible if the Overlord himself would rather hide here than face the music.”

“Or it was all a lie,” Alcyone spat.

“Everything I told you earlier was true,” he informed Alcyone. “My brother Louis slew my father and I fled here to live in peace rather than partake in the succession crisis.”

“Oh yes, you were so truthful, you just left out the small detail that you were the Overlord in disguise! You were being so honest with everyone!” Alcyone looked at the rest of the council for signs of outrage, only to realize they were more embarrassed than anything. “Wait, you knew? You all knew?!”

“Simon has proved his worth and goodwill many times,” Lady Junon replied calmly. “He has earned our trust.”

Queen Zeal shrugged. “He is strong and on our side. That is all that matters.”

“I was skeptical as well, but Simon is a noble soul whose Class does not define him,” Vayan insisted. “Whatever happened between you and his predecessor, I please ask that you refrain from any violence, Lady Alcyone. Do not judge him by his family’s sins.”

“Simon is one of us,” Eole added upon grabbing her boyfriend’s arm. “You will not harm him.”

Simon’s heart overflowed with warmth. “Thank you, everyone,” he told them with all of his sincerity. “I’m truly grateful.”

Alcyone crossed her arms. Although she was clearly distrustful and skeptical, she didn’t strike or summon her Class outfit. “I see you’ve wrapped everyone here around your finger.”

“Does it matter anymore, Alcyone?” Voltobauta asked with a shrug. “We are all castaways who abandoned a pointless fight.”

“I… I suppose we’re beyond that now,” Alcyone grumbled, scratching her head. “You can’t be worse than the new emperor…”

“The new emperor?” Simon asked. He hadn’t checked on Shabram in a few weeks, and the last news he received pointed to Muse and Illusea declaring war on Endymion in support of Lore. “Wait, did Louis–”

“The bastard crowned himself emperor after pulling a coup against your father’s widow,” Alcyone confirmed, sneering in contempt. “He slew the Judge and started a purge against her supporters in Cocagne. It’s a madhouse downstairs.”

Simon scowled in distaste. He knew it was bound to happen, since Louis always started a war for the express purpose of leveling-up quickly, but Euphemia’s demise had removed the last power that could prevent him from mobilizing all of Endymion’s resources. The world could only look forward to a bloody and terrible era.

He worried for Shabram. He had to contact her again and ensure Louis hadn’t smelled out her true loyalties, or intended to dispose of her. Her days might be numbered if he was indeed starting a purge.

“Either way, I would like to officially request a right of safe harbor for my ship and crew,” Voltobauta asked Lady Junon. “Amadeus Voltobauta is no ingrate, so I shall lend you my sword and powers against the fiend threatening you.”

“A Noble Hero willing to defend our home is always welcome in our Sanctuary,” Lady Junon replied with her customary openness. “Still, we didn’t expect you to return so early. Did something happen?”

“Besides a world war?” Alcyone let out a heavy breath. “It’s a long story.”

Alcyone proceeded to recount what she did after leaving the Sanctuary, though Simon had already guessed much of it from Shabram’s report. After proving the Sanctuary’s existence to Voltobauta, she had both recruited him for the White Unicorn’s war against Endymion and investigated the Demonbarrows. The anti-imperial alliance did relatively well against the empire’s invasion in the first few months until Lauriane’s new miasma-powered warbeasts tilted the balance firmly in House Magnos’ favor.

“Muse and Illusea joined the war after that,” Alcyone concluded, “The first deployed its own airship fleet and a new kind of ‘mana cannon’ weapon, and the latter sent a squadron of high-level elves so strong they required tons of manaliths to even fight outside their homeland. They stopped Endymion’s advance into Lore at the cost of turning Valne into a field of ruin.”

“I decided to rescind my alliance with the White Unicorn after that,” Voltobauta said with clear distaste. “I was never truly loyal to Valne, least of all the anti-imperial alliance, but a man cannot stand idle after watching his allies bomb his homeland and deem the death of its people an acceptable sacrifice. When both sides of a war are rotten, a man keeps his dignity by walking away.”

“And then there’s that whole mess with the crystals,” Alcyone complained with a darkening expression. “I asked my friend Frea—” Belzemine, who had listened in silence so far, immediately tensed up. “—who had no idea and contacted the Oracle over it. And guess what?”

“She knew about the Second Doom?” Simon guessed.

“She knew!” Simon could almost taste the sheer disappointment in Alcyone’s voice. “She knew from the start and told us nothing!”

“But… why?” Lady Junon asked in disbelief. “Why would the Oracle keep it a secret?”

“According to Frea, the Oracle believes the crystals will be Endymion’s undoing, and that the empire cannot be allowed to rule the world,” Alcyone said with a sneer of disdain. “She considers it a worse outcome than demon warlords running around.”

Simon squinted at her. “Worse for the world, or for Illusea?”

“That is the very question the elves failed to answer,” Voltobauta admitted. “I lean towards the latter, but my friend here is too much of an optimist to see the writing on the wall.”

“I mean, to her credit, the Oracle wasn’t entirely idle according to our investigation,” Alcyone replied. “The miasma crystals located in allied countries like Muse, Valne, or Lore have been either removed or ‘neutralized.’”

“She’s either lying or mistaken,” Simon replied. “I foresaw that a Demonbarrow might be located in Lore.”

“Frea insisted that one was contained and wouldn’t escape even should the comet shine on its constellation, whatever that means,” Alcyone replied. “She apparently intended to deal with the Minotaur crystal in Magvolia should we ever retake it.”

“But she left the other demon crystals inside the empire’s borders unattended like ticking time bombs,” Simon guessed, his fists clenching. “She hoped they and the Overlord would tear each other apart.”

And worst of all, that plan would have probably worked. The Zodiac Fiends all saw the Overlord as Mardok reincarnated and would have no doubt immediately feuded with Simon or Balzam, had he avoided his assassination. They would have all been too busy killing each other to threaten Illusea or the western continent.

Still, it was an incredibly callous plan, and the fact that the Oracle only intended to help Magvolia meant she likely deemed the rest of the empire expendable. No price was too great to take down the Overlord.

“Frea…” Everyone turned to Belzemine as she dared to speak. “Is she… is she alright?”

“Yes, she is,” Alcyone confirmed. “She stayed in Lore alongside Alphonse and the rest of their team to hold the line against the empire. They managed to fend off the Berserker last time I saw them.”

Simon didn’t consider that much of an achievement, but Belzemine didn’t hide her relief. “I’m… I’m glad she’s alright,” she said, holding her hands. “Maybe I should…” She turned to look at Simon. “Umh…”

“Perhaps we could contact them after we repel Nodens,” Simon reassured her. The mere fact that she wanted to reconnect with an old friend rather than fearfully keep avoiding her was an encouraging sign.

“Thank you, Your Majesty,” Belzemine replied, biting her lips. “Forgive my selfishness.”

“I have nothing to forgive you for.” Simon focused back on Alcyone, who had observed the scene with a thoughtful expression. “Why didn’t you stay with them in Lore?”

“Because I can’t fight with people I don’t trust, and the Oracle has gotten too shifty for my tastes,” Alcyone replied, her words heavy with bitterness. “People aren’t pieces on a board to be sacrificed willy-nilly. You can’t throw the masses oppressed in Endymion under the cart just because it will make their oppressors miserable.”

“Hence, I suggested we move here to prepare for the demon’s escape,” Voltobauta concluded. “A fight is decided before the weapons sing, I always say.”

“Your help will be welcome and valuable,” Vayan said. “We have not been idle in our efforts. Our Champions have progressed well.”

“Still, you will be fighting side by side with the Overlord,” Simon warned Alcyone. “Are you okay with that?”

“Mmm… well you did keep that secret from me, but you didn’t rig our airship to explode on our way out, so…” Alcyone hesitated before reaching a conclusion. “I guess I can put you on probation, if Junon and the others trust you that much…”

“I would suggest Your Majesty hasten the process by picking up her considerable bar tab,” Voltobauta mused, causing Alcyone to hit him in the shoulder. “It may, however, prove ruinous.”

“I will keep that in mind,” Simon replied before nodding in gratitude. “Thank you for your trust. I swear to you I won’t misuse it.”

“It is settled then,” Vayan declared. “Let us prepare and teach Nodens that the Noble Heroes have risen again to throw him back to hell.”