"Look who's finally come back to us," Serion said with feigned surprise as Solar walked back into the room where they had all gathered.
Surprisingly, the girl didn't say a word, just sat down in a chair and looked around with a huge grin on her face while keeping her eyes on Daron.
Daron had never seen a more terrifying smile in his life. On that day, three people had tried to kill him, not counting Quilen's men, and those three, they were all here now, surrounding him. This was all becoming too much for him. Yet, in this moment, he found Solar to be the worst of all, as she continued to watch him with that unrelenting smile. He kept his distance from her. It's not that he found her particularly scary, but the way she had lunged at him earlier had convinced him that he needed to be careful around her. The worst part was, he had no idea why Solar hated him so much.
Serion took it upon himself to speak first. "So now that everyone's had a chance to calm down, let's finally decide what to do. I assume we need to disappear as soon as possible now that we've found the admiral. Besides, what is this thing that everyone wanted to find so badly? Do you know?"
Sephra nodded. "Maybe. It's just a presumption..."
"Spill it!" Solar interjected in a chatty tone, but she never took her eyes off Daron.
Sephra took the green shard once again and held it up towards one of the lamps, illuminating her face.
"There's a legend. Everyone knows that the Galaxy has split into two by now, but back in the day, there was only the Empire. The Emperor had a close friend and confidant, named Hyraus. Hyraus served the Emperor faithfully for over thirty years, as the Royal Advisor. Due to the continuous civil wars which were taking a significant toll on some planets, more and more people attempted to assassinate the Emperor. He couldn't bear what was happening around him; he became paranoid and believed that everyone was out to get him. Hyraus believed that he was acting irrationally and needed to be stopped, so he betrayed him. He had two sons: the elder was called Alsen, and the younger, Quilen. Yes, don't look at me like that, Daron! Quilen is the son of this Hyraus. Hyraus thought he would not live to see the death of the Emperor and wanted one of his two heirs to become the next leader of the Empire. He raised them with this in mind. However, Hyraus believed that only one of them could become the Emperor, so he decided to pit them against each other. According to the legend, he had two swords forged for them, using the two rarest materials in the Galaxy, each imbued with a unique power, but how he did it was known only to him. He forced his sons into a life-or-death duel. He always wanted Alsen to be the new Emperor, but Quilen won and refused to kill his brother, no matter what his father told him. In his anger, Hyraus banished Alsen, and he also attempted to destroy the sword, but to no avail. Meanwhile, the Emperor discovered his plan and sought to have all three of them killed. After that, Quilen fled and established the first true base of the rebels but refused to stand by his father's side ever again. Hyraus was left alone with the remaining shards of the sword and decided to hide them across different points in the Galaxy, to ensure they could never be forged back together. He then hid from the Emperor's wrath until his death."
At this point, Sephra paused and waited for everyone to digest the information.
"What happened to the older son?" Angron inquired.
"He died. He managed to escape in a small spaceship, but they found him years ago and executed him. Supposedly, even the Emperor attended the funeral with a sense of triumph," Sephra explained.
Solar redirected her gaze away from Daron. "And what happened with the old Emperor?"
"He disappeared. Maybe he's dead. No one knows for sure, but it's certain that someone else now sits on the throne in his place."
"So, do you think that this is..."
"One of the shards of Alsen's sword," Sephra interrupted. "It appears that Quilen has recently shown a lot of interest in it and wants to find it."
"Why?" Daron asked. "He already has his own sword, and he controls a vast territory. Half the Galaxy belongs to him. What does he need the other sword for?"
"Perhaps this one has different abilities than his own. Maybe the two combined are more powerful. Perhaps he wants it as a memento of his brother," Sephra suggested.
"What does he want to do with it? What are they for?" Daron pressed for answers.
"I don't know. You know, there have been so many rumors about this story that nobody really knows what's true anymore. Some said that if someone had both swords, they could unite the entire Galaxy. Maybe that's what he wants. Others said that their powers only work in the Hyraus bloodline, and for others, they're just regular swords, like the ones the military hands out," Sephra explained.
Serion then looked at the woman. "You've known what this is all along?"
"I suspected," Sephra replied. "When I found out that Quilen had taken an interest in it, I wanted to get ahead of him. I could have sent out others, I know, but it's... It's something I wanted to do myself. I wanted to keep it a secret. When he captured me, he thought I already had the shard. Both of us realized that the first one was hidden on Darella. That's why I stayed near there for so long."
Solar hesitated, then spoke. "Even though I have little to do with either side, maybe we should consider warning the current ruler of the Empire about Quilen's actions. He's clearly up to something."
Angron said. "It's not as simple as that. No one knows who the new Emperor is. He's never appeared publicly."
Sephra added. "Or she. We usually refer to the new ruler as a man, but might as well be a woman. For all we know, it could be an Empress too."
Angron nodded. "True. Nobody knows. Anyway, planets are still united, and we receive commands from someone. The Supreme Council is still in control, and we follow orders. As long as there's no trouble, I don't mind not knowing who's above me. It might be wise that he stays hidden. It's strange, but many would want him dead if they knew who he was. I think it's a good thing he doesn't show himself."
"We can still notify someone," Solar suggested.
"What would we say?" Angron questioned. "We know there's been relative peace for a while. But now we think that Quilen is starting a dangerous private operation that could lead to another war, even though we don't have any real evidence for it?"
"I was planning to go find the whole thing myself," Sephra interjected. "I know it sounds crazy, but if I can prevent the rebels, maybe... who knows. With so many of us now, it might even be easier. It might be in vain, but on the other hand, if it's truly important, we might all receive rewards for what we accomplish. Money, status, anything. The Emperor would be capable of granting anything we desire. Anything! Doesn't that appeal to any of you?"
She noticed that Daron stopped shaking his head and started listening.
Solar rubbed her chin. "Well, for what it's worth... money wouldn't hurt."
Sephra acknowledged her agreement. "I'll take that as a yes. So, as the senior officer, I order all of you to come with me to continue the search. This primarily applies to you," she gestured toward Angron and Serion, then turned to Daron. "You're coming with us anyway because if you don't, I'll kill you. Solar is coming along because she's following you, and I can see how her eyes light up when I mention the word 'money.' Everyone has their reasons, alright. The team is complete."
Angron nodded. Neither he nor Serion questioned the admiral's command.
"Alright, but where do we start the search? We have no leads," the pilot asked.
At this point, Solar stood up, transformed Hira back into a robot with a press of a button, and placed it next to the central panel in the room.
"We want to see what you downloaded on the ship," Solar said.
Hira beeped, then connected to the central computer. It switched off the lights, plunging the room into complete darkness. For a moment, nothing happened, but suddenly, a massive three-dimensional image appeared hovering above their heads.
Each of them got up in awe and approached the display for closer examination.
The brilliant display filled the entire room. It was a beautifully detailed, glowing blue map depicting the entire Galaxy, complete with every discovered celestial body. It rotated slowly to allow a close look at all its details. The points that stood out, shining brighter than the rest, couldn't be missed.
Serion pointed to a dot that passed by.
"Look! I think this is Darella!" he said.
Sephra nodded. "Yes, it appears to be. Does anyone recognize the others?"
Everyone paced back and forth, closely studying the bright points and trying to gauge their locations, attempting to determine what each might represent.
Then, Solar excitedly yelled and pointed at something.
"This is Rangza! This is my home planet! It means I can finally go home!"
Serion squinted at a point that was at the edge of the map.
"This is Xanaria. My home planet. What was Hyraus doing so far out here?"
At that moment, Daron had a strange feeling, and he walked straight to where his home planet was positioned.
"This is Gadzen. I come from here... Isn't it odd that this map shows the planets each of us is from? There's something about this that really doesn't sit well with me."
"It seems fate really wanted us to go after these things," Solar remarked. "Though, I have to agree with you. It's quite a coincidence. What's this?"
Sephra examined the planet as it floated in front of her.
"I think this is Lanurza."
"Wait, are you from there?" Serion asked, voicing what was on everyone's mind.
"No. This, I think, is..."
Sephra fell silent, staring silently at the last small bright point. Her companions took a step back, understanding what had triggered the tense silence.
Four heads turned simultaneously towards Angron, who had backed up against the wall and was staring at the last planet with a deathly pale expression.
His voice was no more than a soft moan. "Shouta. That's Shouta."
Comments (0)
See all