- The Black Wings have risen once again to revive the Black Mage. But this time, there are no heroes, no legends of Maple World. In the midst of this, one unfortunate group of Adventurers find themselves caught within the mess – and the most unlikely heroes rise up above all.
Chapter 4: Discussions and Disputes
Word Count: 4832
It was a fairly simple ship ride to Ereve. The wind was light and simple, which served for an easy journey through the sky. Silas managed to engage in small talk with Eunjin and Riven, while Analise was off coddling Prin, and Kain was chatting with Skylar. He leaned against the railing of the ship as he listened to Eun’s story, but he was more focused on the Alliance meeting. By the rules, every group had to attend – including the Dual Blades. Which, of course, would mean hostility between them, the Adventurers and Victoria Island.
It was inevitable. It always was. Neither of them could help the fact that both of them had been wronged by each other. It was simply an odd pair of events that the other thieves had been trapped in – Eckhart, who had once been a companion of both of them, seemed uncomfortable when he glanced between both the Dark Lord and Lady Syl.
And of course, there were the students themselves … Most of the younger thieves – those under twenty-five – had no idea of the conflict … Eunjin, Aischeron, Raiaxarin … None of them really knew how it had escalated, because they were too young to coherently understand. Even Silas had struggled to understand the reason why the Dark Lord had suddenly declared the Dual Blades their enemies.
But, now that he really looked back on it, it was a bit obvious.
Like the others around him, he had hated Eun and Vir’s brother for deserting them. Eunjin had only been about twelve when the entire event happened … Silas, barely fourteen. And Virtuiti had been even younger – only age five. It was completely unfair to them, that Renvinoir had left them so young, but if the eyepatch over his eye had anything to do with it …
He could understand why. A girl in his guild, Issald, had spoken to him about the Dual Blades’ methods of punishment … And to have an eye taken must have been something alarming … And considering that Eunjin himself was a Night Lord, it was simple to him.
They both wanted to protect their brothers, after all.
“Yo, Silas!” He heard someone call, and he blinked, glancing over the railing of the ship.
His face split into a large grin. Down on the island was a tall and thin man with black hair and light blue eyes. He was dressed in simple black clothing, with a skullcap on his head and goggles around his neck. The boy had a bright smile on his face, and he waved at the orange haired man.
“Ai!!” Silas exclaimed, jumping off the ship and landing firmly on his feet. He brought the thin man into his arms, laughing. They held the grasp for a few moments, before the taller man pulled away, smiling at his younger brother. “How’ve ya been? It’s been a few months since I’ve seen you.”
Aischeron laughed, scratching at the back of his head. “Not really exciting. Chief Eckhart’s been taking us through drills, but we haven’t been preparing for much. Kina, Kiran and I are stationed around the conference hall for protection.”
The conference hall was grand – a large, ornate and white table in the middle of a glass dome. The Empress was at the head, already seated, with Mikhail and Neinhart standing at her right and left sides respectively. Eckhart, despite his constant involvement, would always choose to lean on a pillar near her. From there, it descended in no particular order – Dragon Master Evan, the Resistance and the Dual Blades at her right, and the Victoria Instructors, and the Adventurers to her left.
Which, of course, always caused some hostility.
Silas whistled as he saw the venue. “Impressive. It’s like I’m being regarded as some sort of war hero!”
Aischeron snickered, hitting his brother in the arm. “If you were my hero, I think I’d become evil.” He laughed loudly at Silas’s hurt face, but it wasn’t long until Silas started laughing along with his brother. Even with months between their visits, it was always to get back into Silas’s comfortable life where he could laugh and make jokes with his brothers, and the world would be okay.
Except, well, it wouldn’t.
He walked through the corridor leading up to the chamber, glancing briefly at the knights surrounding them … There were some Night Walkers themselves, and he idly thought – his brother was one of them. It felt him with a brief sense of pride, before he sighed at the large chairs that they would all have to sit in.
He gave a deep bow to the Empress when they entered, noticing his brother doing the same. He stood up straight and looked through the chairs. With his finger, he counted down the chairs on the left side. Athena, Grendal, the Dark Lord … Analise, and then his. He pulled the chair out and sat down, glancing over to see the masked Night Walker idling behind the Empress. He let out a sigh. The rest of them would be Kain and Skylar, in that order. Behind them, Riven, Eunjin and Prin would be standing.
The Empress seemed more comfortable talking to her confidant Neinhart, and sooner or later, Silas found himself subject to Eckhart’s idle chatter. He glanced around with hope that his brother would save him, but no luck.
To say that Eckhart and he didn’t like each other would honestly, be an inaccurate portrayal. They didn’t have any problems per say, but … they were around the same age, and Silas never liked Eckhart’s methods. He was always a bit more underhanded, and took the lesson of a thief to his heart. And likewise, Eckhart always viewed him as unprofessional, too emotional … But despite this, the amount of respect they had for each other was immense.
Which is most of the reason that Silas tolerated his conversations.
“Silas,” came his voice, muffled by the mask. It always was aggravating to have to talk to the slightly older man when he wore a mask all the time. “I need to talk to you about something.”
The orange haired man glanced at the Empress from the corner of his eye, before nodding and turning to the man clad in black. “What’s up.”
He heard Eckhart take in a deep breath. “There is trouble waiting for us. No matter which way this conference goes, I need you to promise me that our alliance will stay stable.” At this, Silas could feel himself frown.
“Shouldn’t you be taking that up with the Empress or Neinhart? Or even Mikhail?” Silas questioned sharply, wondering if Eckhart had been considering … betrayal. However, at Mikhail’s mention, something in the man’s demeanor changed.
“That’s the problem,” Eckhart hissed at him. Through the holes in his mask, he saw a golden eye glance back at Mikhail. “The Empress and Neinhart would understand completely, but it’s no point if Mikhail doesn’t agree. He’s too stubborn to understand that we can’t win a war by ourselves – even with the sheer amount of forces we have. We simply aren’t strong enough as a force.”
He was about to call bullshit, but he could hear the tone of voice that the other thief was talking with. And either way, he had never known Eckhart to be the kind of person to joke about something this serious … or, well, anything at all. “What, so you’re asking for our help?”
Silas could almost feel the difference in Eckhart’s personality, and his eyes flashing, but their conversation was cut short by the entrance by other people. From the corner of his eye, he could see a short black bob and a long black ponytail … And behind them, a mass of blond hair, and a girl with dark brown braids. The Dual Blades.
Eckhart clicked his tongue in annoyance as he saw them. Sometimes, it was hard to forget that he had been a thief before a Night Walker, and that his hatred for the Dual Blades was interestingly deep. He stood up straight, pulling his cape around him and stalking off towards the Empress … But, before he walked away, he heard a whisper.
“Exactly.”
Silas let out a sigh as he settled back down in his chair. With Eckhart’s involvement, things had gotten a lot more … complicated. He looked across the table and locked eyes with Ren, who managed to spare him a slight smile, before going back to talking with Issald.
It was only a few minutes before the rest would start to trickle in – Analise and the rest first, and then the Instructors, followed by the Resistance and finally young master Evan.
They all settled down, and Silas could feel the anger going towards Ren from the Adventurers side. He watched the man flinch slightly, and glance away at the Empress. In all honesty, he felt bad that the blond haired man was subject to it, but … well, who could deem judgement. After all, he had left his family.
Perhaps it was unforgivable, but Silas was a pretty forgiving guy. And either way, Ren was only doing it to protect his brothers. He understood the feeling – it wasn’t a stranger to him. They were both elder brothers; they would sacrifice the world for their siblings.
They all settled down, and Silas spared a short glance to Kain, next to him, before letting his eyes roam. There were several Night Walkers hidden in the trees – his years as a thief did not spare them from his critical gaze. However, they were rather well hidden, and he even saw his own brother covered by the leaves.
He looked at the people sitting across from him. Dragon Master Evan, looking remarkably uncomfortable like he always did at these meetings, the Resistance with Claudine sitting next to Evan, Brighton next to her, Xiphen and Albireo standing behind them. There was an empty chair – most likely for Checky or Belle, before Lady Syl and Ryden were sitting in their seats.
The Empress stood, and he noted that her outfit was different than it usually was. Much more ornate than usual, and it was probably a sign of her status above them.
She began to speak. “Hello, everyone. Thank you for coming to our emergency meeting.” Her voice was strong – well, as strong as a young girl’s voice can be – and everyone turned their eyes to look at her. He fondly remembered when she was barely confident enough to talk to anyone aside from Neinhart. What a long way she had come.
“As you’ve likely heard, there have been some … whispers of the Black Mage returning. We’ve gathered to discuss this topic.” With that, she sat back down, and Mikhail stepped up to speak.
The blond man cleared his throat, standing tall and proud. “As our Empress has said, the Black Mage is allegedly returning. From our sources, we have learned that this is due to a group called the Black Wings.” Silas gave a glance to Claudine. “We are aware that their base of operations is in Edelstein, but the Black Mage is sealed within the Temple of Time. As of right now, the seal is holding, but reports have told us that it will not hold, and we must prepare for war.”
Whispers broke out in the conference room, but the Adventurers seemed oddly silent … Mikhail cleared his throat again.
“There must be some sort of organized plan to protect our people,” he explained. “I understand that we must protect our respective homes, but the world is at stake.”
Kain frowned, opening his mouth to something, but a sharp voice cuts in.
“There’s no way we can realistically fight to protect the world and our people at the same time,” Claudine spoke. “Some of us just don’t have those kinds of numbers!” There was a look on her face, mostly hidden by the mask, but Silas sighed.
He was in a room surrounded by stubborn, never-bowing people. This would last far too long.
“I wonder why,” Syl said callously, her eyes staring straight at the Dark Lord. “It’s not like you’ve lost any people to different classes.”
Silas awkwardly coughed, glancing at Eckhart from the corner of his eye. If the black haired man was bothered, he showed no emotion of it. The orange haired man rested his head against his knuckles, waiting for the time bomb that was the Dual Blade – Thief explosion to happen.
“At least we aren’t deserters,” Kain hissed, and Silas refrained from smacking his cousin. He did, however, shoot a warning glare at the young man, kicking Kain’s leg under the table.
Kain was brutally honest – so not what they needed right now. And Silas could tell exactly who he was pointing fingers at.
Renvinoir coughed, glancing away from the Adventurers. Syl didn’t seem bothered by it, but her violet eyes cut through Silas knowingly. She gave him a smile, but it was far from kind – it was vicious, and threatening, and Silas knew exactly why she had sent it at him.
Or, rather, to the Night Lord standing behind him, Eunjin.
Eunjin’s aura was furious, it was easy to tell, but he had no place in Alliance affairs. Skylar may have invited him, but the only four allowed to speak in any of the world’s matters were the four seated – Skylar, Silas, Kain and Analise. They represented the bulk of the adventurers, and while they had offered Riven a seat initially, the man humbly refused it, saying he had no particular words to add to such a conversation.
Riven’s peace would have been appreciated right now, and Silas could tell that the Corsair was shifting nervously because of it.
“Deserters to whom? Last I remember, the Dual Blades were a separate organization,” Syl spoke calmly, although there was a hint of amusement in her posture. It was always hard to tell just how Syl was feeling, especially because she was a thief, and they hid their emotions better than anyone else. “Last I checked, the only allegiance we have is with the Alliance, and as you can see, we’re here.” She gestured to the four of them with her hand, the smile remaining on her face.
Kain seethed, and he wanted to say something in retort, but Silas flicked his arm, and he stopped himself from lashing out. His cousin gave him a warning look, cyan eyes hard for once, before Silas began to speak.
“I apologize for Kain’s words, Lady Syl,” he began diplomatically. “He spoke upon his emotions, which were not needed. I believe Analise has an idea.” He could feel himself grimace at the overly formal tone, but it was only a fragile alliance that kept the Dual Blades from attacking. Lady Syl held back a laugh at the orange haired thief’s words, but she was placated by them anyway.
Analise stood, adjusting the coat of her robes. “Ah, yes, as Silas said.” She straightened her back, clearing her throat slightly. Analise always had the best presence, he mused. Probably because of her age and experience, but also her intelligence. In the eyes of many, she was perfect. “It is common knowledge that many of us cannot defend our own, nevermind others.” There was a quiet silence as people tried not to look at the Resistance. “However, I feel that if we spread our forces too thin, then we may not even be able to defend ourselves. I understand that there have been troubles between the Resistance and the people of Victoria Island, but I feel that there is no way to handle this other than to invite the Resistance to stay in Victoria Island.”
Analise sat down after her words, awaiting a reply. There was a dark pause, and Silas could feel the tension rising. He hoped to whatever god or goddess or deity was up there that Claudine would just agree, that they would get everything over with, and Silas could go and have dinner with Prin and Aischeron…
“I refuse to work with the Adventurers,” Claudine spoke roughly, a frown on her face.
Of course not. Silas held in a groan. When would anyone ever agree to something smart here?
Analise blinked at the statement, but she thankfully wasn’t deterred. “I honestly do think that it would be the smartest choice …”
Lady Syl cut in this time, a less than pleased look in her eyes. “We barely have enough room for the people that are supposed to be here. If we add in all the people we’ll be calling back, that’s way too many.” She huffed.
Athena nodded minutely. “I agree. With the amount of Adventurers we’ll have to call back, it may not be wise to have such a population on one island. The Black Mage will easily destroy us.”
Silas sighed, shaking his head slightly. He tried to remain attentive, but with the increasing voices, he found it harder to really care. Honestly, as long as the council ended with an intelligent decision, he’d be happy with anything. As long as it didn’t involve lockdowns. He hated those.
He wasn’t sure how long it had been since he stopped paying attention, but he was alarmed at a scraping of a chair on the ground. He turned his head to see Kain leaving the conference room, his scarf fluttering behind him. He frowned, sharing a quick and worried glance to Analise.
She excused herself and quickly followed after Kain. Silas sighed, sharing a glance with Skylar, before rturning back to the conversation at hand. He tried to pay attention now that both Analise and Kain were out of the room. Without Analise to take notes, he pulled her papers and pen towards him and started jotting down things in his somewhat messy scrawl.
“Kain!” Analise called, following after the young man. She found him near a tree, the anger and tension evident in his shoulders. “Kain, what is the matter with you? You aren’t like this normally.” Her voice had a worried tone, and sometimes he forgot that she was like a sister to everyone.
“It’s nothing,” he replied stiffly, adjusting his glasses. He ran his gloved hand through his hair, messing it up a bit, but he’d be damned to care. “I just, I can’t believe this. It’s almost war-time, and we’re sitting here arguing and conversing with people who have no matter in our affairs!”
Analise gave a quick glance back to the conference, but she sighed and shook her head. “Kain, we can’t just beat the Black Mage by ourselves. We need a sort of plan if we want to last against his onslaught.” There was a ping from her pocket, and she frowned. “Stay out here if you’d like, okay? Silas needs me back inside.” She patted his shoulder gently, and started walking away.
Kain frowned and huffed, sitting down against the tree. He didn’t have a problem with the Cygnus Knights, but the Resistance and the Dual Blades were an entirely different story. It was a personal problem, one that he shouldn’t let get to him so much, but he couldn’t help it, and unfortunately, it’s how it worked out.
“Kain?” came a light voice over the rustle of tree leaves. A person dropped next to him, and a quick glance confirmed it to be Aischeron. His gray eyes were concerned, and there was still a little bit of darkness clinging to him as he peered at the archer. “You okay?”
He found it exceptionally hard to be mean or rude to Aischeron, especially when the man was usually so nice. So as he looked at the Night Walker, he could feel his anger fizzle out. He sighed.
“How could they even think of allying with the Dual Blades! After what they did to Eunjin and Virtuiti, after what he did to them!” Kain spoke angrily, trying to keep his voice muted as to not disturb the conference. He graped at the grass underneath him so tightly that his knuckles turned white under the strain.
Aischeron sighed. So it was this again. “Listen, you have to remember that we don’t know the entire story. Silas told us that relations between the Dual Blades and the Thieves were strained, alright?” He rested his back on the tree, sitting to Kain’s right. “We don’t know what happened between them. You didn’t even know Eun or Vir at that point. We don’t know why he did what he did.” The black haired Night Walker gazed at the sky. “We were barely people back then, much less Adventurers.”
Internally, Aischeron sighed. It had been twelve years since Eunjin’s and Virtuiti’s abandonment, and ten since Kain had met them. They had moved to Henesys earlier in the year, and it had been a chance occurrence that he and Eun had even met – mostly, it was Aischeron’s fault, because he was older, but … He understood the emotional pain that Eun was in – it wasn’t hard to imagine, but Kain’s anger was … unreasonable, almost.
“You know thieves,” Aischeron spoke again. “We’re hard to understand, hard to read … Not everyone wears their heart on their sleeve. Ren’s only one guy.” Don’t get caught up over him.
Kain seemed to think about this, and Aischeron nudged him, before standing up. “The council’s done. Let’s find Silas.” The archer sighed and stood up, nodding at his friend in gratitude. They stood under the tree, waiting for bright orange hair to appear, and Aischeron tugged his friend towards his brother.
“Ey, kiddo,” Silas greeted, “You chill down?” He ruffled Aischeron’s hair, smiling at his brother. “Analise went ahead, probably to talk to some of her magic-y friends. Sky’s talkin’ to Mikhail about something.” Silas looked around quickly for a head of black hair and shining armor. He beamed when he saw him, pulling at Aischeron and running.
“We’re meeting back at the docks in an hour! Don’t get caught up!!” Silas shouted back, pulling his younger brother towards their youngest.
Kain blinked, pushing his glasses up and sighing. Silas was too eccentric for his own good, and he watched the trio laugh and be happy, before turning around. He didn’t have anyone he particularly wanted to talk to, but he sighed and glanced around anyway.
Shouting brought his attention somewhere else. Or rather – one man shouting.
He fixed his glasses and peered at the two – a tall man with bright, dyed blond hair and a shorter man with black hair and furious gray eyes. He instantly registered it as Eunjin and Renvinoir, and he rushed towards them.
Eunjin was too caught up in his anger to respond to Kain’s presence, but Renvinoir glanced towards Kain. The blond man wanted to let out a sigh, but he took a step back when he realized that Kain still hated him – and that he would take Eun’s side.
Not good.
“- dare you leave us behind?!” Eunjin shouted, gray eyes darkened by anger. “How could you?! We were children, and you left us in Henesys to try and figure things out for ourselves! Did you think of what would happen to us? Virtuiti idolized you, he loved you!”
Ren bit the inside of his cheek – he knew all too well how much Vir loved him, how much his younger brothers had idolized him as children. How Renvinoir was perfect in their eyes, how he was an exemplary student, how he was received as perfect and amazing and that there would be no other like him.
Bullshit, he called, because he was pretty sure – no, believed that Virtuiti would grow up to be much stronger than he could ever be.
“You wouldn’t understand,” Ren breathed out, “But you can believe whatever you want.”
Eunjin’s fists shook in rage, and he had a look of indignation on his face. “Twelve years later, and that’s all you have to say?!” He shouted furiously. “We waited for you to come back – you promised us you’d come back!” His voice cracked on the word ‘promise’ and it seemed as if he were about to start crying.
It sent a shot of guilt through Ren’s heart, but he knew – he knew why he had left them, and why he couldn’t come back. He could never tell Eunjin or Virtuiti, because they’d be in danger, and he could not let them get hurt. He loved them too much to think of losing them for good.
“I’m done talking about this,” Ren spoke, glancing away nonchalantly. Over the years, he had increased his acting greatly, trying to conceal his concerns from the Dual Blades. It was easy to lie, but it still broke his heart to have to.
Eunjin took a deep breath. He slammed his fist into the side of Ren’s face, the one without the eyepatch, and stormed off. Eunjin brushed past Kain in his anger, and the black haired archer turned to follow after him.
Ren frowned, fidgeting with the eyepatch on his face. Suddenly, it felt like itching, and he knew why. Whenever he had a confrontation with Eunjin, something went bad or he misunderstood something, and Ren’s eye would start to itch. He wasn’t sure if Eun knew why he had to wear an eyepatch, but he hoped he never had to.
It would probably tear the thief apart. He was the kind of person to be easily guilted and if he learned the reason why his brother had avoided them for years … Ren didn’t want to deal with that outbreak just yet. He himself wasn’t emotionally prepared.
There was a rustle of footsteps, and he didn’t have to turn around to know who it was.
“Riven,” Ren spoke quietly, greeting the shorter man, eyes turned towards the direction where Eunjin had walked off.
The corsair paused next to Renvinoir, thinking over his words carefully. “You have to tell them,” he spoke softly, blue eyes looking at the blond man. “You’re tearing yourself apart. I can see it.” Riven raised a hand to brush hair out of Ren’s eyes, fixing his hair from when it got messed up by Eunjin’s punch.
Ren had a forlorn look in his eyes, and he let out a grave sigh. “It’s not time, Riv,” he spoke plainly. “Neither he nor Vir are emotionally prepared. Eun may like to think he’s matured, but he’s still a sensitive kid.” The blond thief turned, facing the port of Ereve. “He’s doing okay, right? Him and Vir?”
Riven sighed, running a hand through his thin ponytail. He brushed black bangs from out of his face. “He’s doing just fine, Ren. They both are. Virtuiti’s more determined than ever … But are you sure you want to wait that long? Vir already hates you.” He turned concerned eyes at the man again.
Ren nodded mutely, gripping at his wrists from behind his back. “It’s better that he does,” he let out breathlessly. “Better that he doesn’t wait for me.”
Riven opened his mouth to say something, but a sharp call from an owl alarmed him. The corsair looked around with wide eyes, but Ren looked up calmly. He patted the smaller man lightly to comfort him, before letting out a sigh.
“That’s Lady Syl. I need to be going now.” Ren shook his head out, letting the blond hair fall naturally over the eyepatch. “I’ll see you later, Riv.”
Riven watched the man walk away with a frown on his face. Somewhere in his mind, he wished that Ren had become a thief instead, that he didn’t have to deal with this, and that he could be happy with his family. But fate had a way of making things cruel.
He turned to look at the ship that they would be boarding back, and decided he’d better be on his way. Not feeling up to rushing over there, he quietly walked through Erev, taking his time and letting himself think. He had a lot of opinions on his friend, especially on Ren and Eralis, but he never expressed them. For some reason, he was the only one that didn’t have troubles with his family.
Kain greeted him when he entered the dock. “Silas is off making a call and saying goodbye to Ai. He’ll be back soon.” Riven nodded mutely, and Kain didn’t think much of it. After all, the corsair was in his guild and he never talked much to begin with.
It was a few minutes before Analise and Skylar came, another ten until Eunjin and Prin came, but they looked around and waited for Silas.
It wasn’t too long of a time, but the orange haired thief rushed up to them flustered and panicked. He brought bad news.
“Kerning’s been attacked!!”
land of angst 