Southern Shores of Nua,

Southern Nua,

Near Portland

Meanwhile as the discussion in Raynor Castle is in progress between the highest authorities in Nuan lands, a small merchant ship approaches from the southern seas of the Nuan Continent. It’s raining heavily; despite this, two travelers on board a merchant ship are in its exterior embracing the weather. Artemus, a young and handsome dark orange haired man steers the ship, through a wavy ocean. Not wavered by the weather, he isn’t wearing a jacket or cloak to keep him warm and remains in mostly leather. Beside him is his companion and friend Ariel, a pretty pinkish purple haired woman with glowing violet eyes. She is dressed up in a uniquely designed steel armoured suit with leather texture at the joints of her body. Ariel stands beside Artemus clueless of her surroundings, a blind woman. Artemus gets out his goggles to look afar for land. He spots the southern shores of Nua ahead. There seems to be a dock at the far outskirts of the region of Portland, a port realm.

“Well I’ll be damned” Artemus commented.

Regardless of the comment, Ariel doesn’t reply but makes a facial expression of wonder and curiosity.

“Hey Ariel, I’ve spotted land” said Artemus.

“Really? We are in Nua?” Ariel questioned.

“Yes we are. I’m finally home!” Artemus chanted.

In excitement, he throws his fist up into the air pointing towards the sky. Giving a bubbly smile despite her sense of sight, Ariel can sense that Artemus is in a cheerful mood. She can detect his excitement about arriving in the land of Nua, a land that awaits him.

“You sure it’s ok to be so relaxed considering…Arty?” said Ariel.

Smiling back confidently at his companion, Artemus replied “Trust me, I got it all planned out. I just need to find my brother.”

Then Artemus spots the dock some miles ahead with his goggles. After taking a detailed peep, he can make out the terrain. The two aren’t far from Portland, a seaside realm of the south in Nua.

“I can just make out land just ahead. Here Ariel, you take a look...” Artemus suggested.

He put out his arm for Ariel to grab the goggles off him and waited with patience. It didn’t take long for her to heed to his actions. Though blind, her hearing was heightened so she knew Artemus had stuck out his hand with the goggles in grasp. Despite being blind she is a good anticipator especially of him. She hesitates at first as she can’t see like everyone else, everything is dark with some dots of light in sight. Suddenly a blur of dots enter her perception. She gathers that it’s Artemus passing over his goggles to her. Ariel sticks her hand out slowly towards the blur leaving Artemus to direct what is in grasp directly to her hand. Little does Ariel know that the goggles passed over are actually specially designed for the blind with her condition specifically, they are no other than Storm Goggles. The alchemic sensations that vibrate in the eyes when used add to the sensory perception of the individual. Artemus bought these in Sealand Shinda just for the occasion, another port town but in the Shinda continental region of Treter.

“Arty, my eyes won’t be able to make it out” Ariel claimed.

After Ariel eventually replies, she grasps the goggles. She looks at the blurry visage of the object feeling around it to find the point of placement so she can put it on her face.

“Come on, give it a try. It’s raining and with the vibrations all over the place, surely you should be able to see it a little.” Artemus believed.

“Alright, I’ll give it a go” Ariel replied.

Ariel presses the goggles on her face. Strangely enough she can feel some heat emitting from the object onto her eye sockets. But that’s not the most shocking thing for her. She can make out the light imagery, constant lines of it is what she sees as it corresponds to the oceans setting and the land ahead. She is bedazzled.

“By Tarquin! I can see the southern shores of Nua.” Ariel exclaimed.

She was shocked. The technology the goggles had was sophisticated to tune her sights and she marvelled. Artemus gives a short chuckle at her moment of fluster. He knew what to expect from the gadget he had purchased recently. The goggles were special; they were designed for people with her optical disorder. With the rain all over the place, the goggles worked even more effectively than usual.

“I knew you’d be able to. I bought them recently just for you. Their Optical Storm Goggles” Artemus replied.

Ariel doesn’t take too much notice of the fact that Artemus bought the goggles specifically because of her sight. She doesn’t want him to feel sorry for her with her condition. She decides to ignore the sympathy projected and focus on what’s right in front of her, Nua, the largest continent in the world.

“Isn’t it a wonderful sight” said Artemus.

“It’s magnificent, it really is” Ariel replied.

“Yeah it sure is, brings back so many memories” Artemus exclaimed.

*****

King’s Meeting Room,

Raynor Castle,

Central Nua,

In the meantime, whilst the two travelers approach the Southern Nuan Shores, the discussion with the ruling powers at Raynor Castle continues. Hyperion almost in a daze constantly glances in different directions at his three superiors as they converse. He’d been finding it hard to get a word in during their meeting. It seemed every time he mentioned doubt regarding the King’s agenda, General Dhyule seated to the far left side edge of the table would interrupt him with another matter that concerned the King.

“Damn…this meeting isn’t going as I’d hoped it would. What now?” Hyperion mused.

Suddenly General Orham Dhyule gets up to show his support to the King. Hyperion had zoned out for a slight moment and missed some of the chatter. He struggled to make sense of the sudden gesture.

“You are sure about this” General Orham stuttered.

“Of course and we don’t have much time in hand for that matter. I haven’t been able to sleep for some time to think of a suitable resolve. The agenda is justified, we have a problem on our hands that needs to be dealt with. We need to be rid of it as soon as possible.” King Yomato suggested.

Initially Orham struggled to find suit. However the flashbacks of Yomato’s brilliance in battle reminded Orham of Yomato’s late father, a man of magnificent promise who met his end far too early for his liking. With his offspring now in power, Orham Dyhule had no choice but to support the claims of that which is the highest of supremacy, the King.

“Your father was an honourable man and I trust your words. You have my complete support” Orham stated.

He then sits down instantly. In a moment of spurred aggravation, Hyperion stands up quickly from his seat immediately afterwards and places both hands on the table to challenge the King with his own words of intellect.

“But your majesty, surely there must be another way. I beg you to reconsider your thoughts. How can you expect fellow men to go out and betray those they have known since childhood? And all this because they are simply blessed with magica” Hyperion argued.

Hyperion stepping out of line didn’t know what came over him as he slams the table hard. The Kings response is an empty stare at his subordinate. Hyperion starts to shiver at the cold look in his ruler’s eyes. Instead of speaking loudly, he lowers his tone and his eyes look elsewhere rather than directly at the new King.

Responding like a targeting snake, Yomato Tharal replied, “You are young Hyperion and I cannot expect you to understand the lengths of my tedious orders.”

Then, in the heat of the moment, King Yomato slammed his hand on the table.

“You are young Hyperion and I cannot expect you to understand the lengths of my tedious orders. But I do this for Nua and the Kingdom” Yomato exclaimed.

“But your majesty, that remark is yet almost outrageous.” Hyperion argued.

The King raises one eyebrow up at his subordinate. Hyperion realises he has stepped out of line with the use of improper words to argue his point as he knows he is speaking to the nation’s leader. He continues.

“I don’t mean any disrespect but how can you go out and expect us to perform such cruel acts?” Hyperion challenged.

“It’s simple, you are obeying the laws of the land, the order set forth by your King.” Yomato exclaimed.

Then Yomato placed the bottom part of his right-hand on the table and leaned slightly forward.

“I have already made all the necessary preparations for you. A small branch of the Imperial Army has been sent to all the major regions to gather the magnicks. Then their imprisonment will be in your hands at the institutions you control. That is until we start publicly executing them.” Yomato claimed.

“This is happening so fast” Hyperion replied.

As Yomato placed his right hand with it rested on the table, he raises the upper part adding pressure to his elbow. To dominate over Hyperion, Yomato puts his hand over his face and it temporarily covers both eyes. He then slowly pulls his hand from blocking the view of his eyes and reveals one eye, for a moment his stare is that of a predator looking down at Hyperion for questioning his motives.

“I just realized some of your concerns in relation to the magnicks. Isn’t one of them close to your heart? If I’m right then I mean that girl in your home city known for having healing powers.” Yomato deduced.

Shocked and bewildered, Hyperion can’t believe the King knows of his love interest.

“We all have to make sacrifices my friend and you must prove to me that you are a General” Yomato commanded.

Just as Hyperion is about to dispute, King Yomato slams his spread open hand onto the table interrupting Hyperion before he can speak against him.

“After all…don’t you trust your King?” Yomato quenched.

“I do, I mean yes your majesty” Hyperion replied.

The Saint General had hesitated to answer his sovereign. He knows Nua’s laws. He knows the King is under God and that his hand is God’s hand on the entire world of Treter to the people of the continent. It is a belief that the ruling parties enforce to the masses and practice themselves to keep the authority in their hands.

“Then this meeting is adjourned.” Yomato concluded.

Swiping the air with a chop shaped hand, King Yomato ceases all discussion ending the meeting. General Orham Dhyule gets up from his seat. Lord Dugal Tharal does the same action as well just afterwards. Hyperion, the last warlord to get up from his seat knows his visit to the Castle isn’t finished yet. There are more endeavors to deal with as Hyperion has to talk to some of the Captains under the Imperial Army about how they would communicate with the Saints.

*****

Abadar Outskirts,

Eastern Nua,

Eastern Bridge.

Parallel to the on goings at Raynor Castle, a regional distance away from the Castle premises on a bridge in Abadar, the neighbouring region to the east of Raynor, there lingers an elf. This long eared fair faced man with blood red hair, standing at 6ft with a strong slim build and armed with a foreign sword strapped by his waist is a male with beautiful feminine facial features. He is gazing at the backdrop of Abadar City just ahead. One of this elf’s arms is rested on the rails of the bridge, a bridge built on two hills near the city ahead.

“Abadar awaits me” the elf groaned.

Moving from the railings in front, just as he is about to proceed to the other side of the bridge, he closes his eyes briefly before drawing his sword out of the strap by his waist at exceptional speed. His left hand’s fingers are tensed but spread out ready for combat and he draws his sword with his right hand getting the tip of the blade to directly be by his left.

“Mother, they will pay for their crimes and I will see to it” the elf conjectured.

He would give in to fate knowing the heat of his resolve as conflict would be ever near with his intent to punish.

*****