Lord of Azure Flame Chapter 24x: Fires of Liberation

[-Cynthia-]

"You may want to remain in Ivanko's company for a little while longer, if you do not wish to see him and his remaining companions dead," Flemeth said to Ixion after the business with the trinket had been dealt with. "The battle for Kalten may be over, but the real battle is about to begin. Denisov was a fool, all the walls in the world would not have been able to weather the storm that is to come," Flemeth said, her voice growing significantly deeper and louder than Morgan's normal tone.

[Inactive Account]

"If you've got something important to tell us, skip the signs and portents and do so," Borodin told Flemeth. "We haven't got time for any dramatic prophesying, or other interference." She had little patience for such things even when not in the midst of pulling the palace together after a battle.

[-Cynthia-]

"Do you truly require all the answers to be given to you?" Flemeth asked of Borodin. "'Tis not my responsibility to ensure your continued survival, merely a friendly warning I have decided to give you all. You may ignore it or heed it as you see fit. Besides, it's not very exciting if I give eveything away before it happens. Would ruin the surprise you know," she said, laughing again.

[Phoenix]

That Cold Old Horse

Once Raechel was aboard the second rider's wyvern, the two took off. It wasn't long with her directions before they reached the camp. Both wyverns landed and the riders hopped off.

Mercenary2: You brought the rope, right? We don't want to take any chances at these heights.

Mercenary: Of course, what do you take me for?

Testing Testing

Ixion: I doubt things will have completely reached a normal state again until after the demon crisis is past. The entire point of this fortress hold up and the abandonment of the country was to protect the resources and noblemen from the demons until the threat had passed. Our faction ... doesn't agree with that method, and so here we are. They couldn't stand up to us so they obviously couldn't survive a full blown demonic assault regardless, but we won this battle, so we have only left to finish what we started, and in doing so, prove that our method was the correct one.

Ivanko: I need some volunteers for this. Want to make sure it's actually working right. Seriously now, Iso, Irina, Lev, get over here. I don't have any kids so no red light, but I can at least see if the other colors work and check again ... later on.

The three came to their feet and began walking over. Lev gave an unusually weakened glance at Flemeth as they came over. The thoughts of him taking over Morgan's body were fresh in his mind, and now he had a type of foreshadowing of that standing right in the room. It was more than a little discouraging. He wanted to bring up the issue to the sorceress but feared that the attempt to talk her out of it might very well backfire. After all, Morgan had been left to her own devices for awhile now it seemed. What if him bringing it up intrigued her enough to reconsider all of that? He shook the thought off aggressively and Irina noticed.

Irina: What's wrong?

Lev: Nothing. Don't worry about it.

Irina: ... just remember, the real Morgan's fine ... probably just off scolding someone.

Lev: Please don't bring that up right now ...

They arrived in front of Ivanko and he took one last look at the device before starting with Levski. Holding it right up to the man's chestplate, he waited for a moment. The white light didn't change.

Ivanko: Welp, sorry, Lev but you're no relative of mine.

Lev: ... oh noooo, I'm not sure if I can go on

Next he held it up to Irina's chest, and the white light steadily changed from white to yellow.

Ivanko: ... okay so it does work at least.

Irina smiled.

Irina: Yep.

Then Ivanko moved it from her to Iso. The light changed from yellow to red, and quickly.

Ivanko: ... huh?

Iso: What?

Ivanko: ... oh. Ahem ... well that's interesting.

Ixion: What is it?

Ivanko: Ixion, you don't want to know.

Ixion: What?

Iso: What?!

Ixion marched over with his nearly being left behind in the draft and came up next to Ivanko. Looking at the red light, a look of dread crossed his face.

Ixion: N-no ...

Iso: Can someone please tell me what's going on here?

[Inactive Account]

"You just claimed to have information relevant to our continued survival, and yet you withhold it. I do not think it unreasonable to demand that information," Borodin told Flemeth, but other goings-on demanded her attention.

"Is there any other awkward family history that's going to show up and throw your already precarious line of succession even further out of order?" she asked Ivanko. Illegitimate children barely registered on the scale of scandals she'd seen in the palace, even illegitimate children previously assumed to be the progeny of one's relatives, but in this case, it made a mess of an already unclear line of succession. The remaining upper nobility would have a field day if nothing was done to mitigate this new development.

[Phoenix]

Red Lights Going Off

Ixion: I would ... truly prefer it if the device weren't working properly.

Ivanko: No, I seriously doubt anything else could possibly come up, Borodin. Not after this. Aleks and I had been wondering but ... eventually it was just easier to assume Iso was his.

Lev: You mean ... you and Natasha ...?

Ivanko: What we had didn't matter in the end. Aleks won her over when I made Zaftra my top priority.

Lev sighed and put his palm over his face. That was something he didn't want to think about. Natasha was popular, but this was just too much for him to deal with just then.

Lev: Oiii.

Ivanko: She's gone, Lev. Focus on Morgan or something ... the real one ....

Lev: Please don't bring that up right now ... ugh.

Iso: Okay so ... let me try and get this straight ... Aleksandr ... wasn't my father?

Ixion: No, he wasn't. If that device is functioning properly, then ... you're Ivanko's son, not Aleksandr's.

Iso: ... aaaRE YOU FUCKING KIDDING MEEEE?!!! I don't want anything to do with him, and now some piece of junk is telling me he's my real father?! No way in hell is that true! You're just looking for a quick way to solve your heir crisis and I'm not going to be a part of it.

Ixion: If we wanted to use one of you, it would be better to use Irina, not you, moron.

Iso: Who made that thing, anyway?!

Ixion: It doesn't matter at this point who made it. It's been in use for centuries. Despite how much I hate to admit this, there's no real reason for it to start malfunctioning now. Like it or not, you're Ivanko's son. Best to just deal with it and quiet down. You aren't the first person to dislike his own father after all, and you certainly aren't the only one who finds this all a little unpleasant.

Irina: W-wait a minute ... what about me? It was yellow for me, wasn't it? Aren't we siblings?

Irina had a terrible look on her face, but Ixion was more concerned with clearing that up than actually cheering her up.

Ixion: It was yellow for you. You're Ivanko's niece. Both you and Iso were born from Natasha however, so you are siblings, but only through her. Half siblings is another way to put it, I suppose.

Irina: Just ... just half?

Iso: Grrrrrr, damn you. Ivanko, why did you do this?!

Ivanko: You're welcome. What? You think you'd exist in some other form if it hadn't happened? You want to be Aleks' son after all? Is that it? I don't recall you being a fan of his either.

Iso: He wasn't an ideal father, and yes, I was no fan of his because of that, but you're far worse than he ever was. To him I was a disappointment, for my interest in magic and not wyvern riding. Maybe it even had something to do with this little secret you've been keeping too. Despite how impatient and uncaring he was, he never put my sister through the crap you have.

Ivanko: You don't put toddlers through military grade training, you wait til they're older ... like I did. You don't know your 'uncle' as well as you think, do you?

Iso gritted his teeth and Ivanko shrugged. It was so long in the past he couldn't bring himself to care anymore. Half the involved parties were already dead anyway.

[Mercakete]

Well, this was dramatic. (So... Isotov is only Irina's half-brother?) Isotov was obviously infuriated, Ivanko was passive, Ixion was in a state of harsh regret, Lev was in a form of pity and Irina was seemingly quite distrought. Tas knew that this was a family issue. Ivanko and Isotov had things to work out, certainly, but maybe the latter needed time to cool off first. His focus kept shifting back to Irina. She was obviously quite upset. ("Actually I'd love to, but aside from the job I have here, I'm also looking after my brother, Iso. I was separated from him for ten years until recently. I won't be able to make up that kind of lost time so we decided to stick together from now on." No wonder it's upsetting her so much. Isotov is very important to her. They were apart for such a long time and now she leards that they're not even full siblings? It doesn't look like it's hit Isotov yet, at least not so specifically. He's still just angry at Ivanko.) It was all he could do to walk over and stand by his friends. He didn't want to embarrass them so this was as much support as he could provide for now.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Raechel hopped off the wyvern and hurried over to her camp where her horse was standing, quite nervous at what he thought his rider might put him through this time. He still followed as she led him, though. "Alright, I'll get back on when you've got him secure. Though, I do have a request," she told the mercenaries before asking enthusiastically, "Could I be riding my horse while you guys fly us up?"

[-Cynthia-]

The military woman's 'demands' were beginning to becomme more irritating than amusing, but this was interrupted by the revelation that Isotov was actually just Ivanko's son. The reactions of those involved caused Flemeth to burst out laughing.

"Men certainly do have the habit of putting their loins where they don't belong. Though to have such a revelation right after the coup- one couldn't ask for better timing!" she managed in between fits of laughter.

[Phoenix]

Mercenary Sidequests

Mercenary: Can't guarantee my wyvern can carry that much. Why would you want to do that, anyway?

Mercenary2: Who cares, let's just get this over with. Actually, come to think of it, that might make this easier for us. We'll still have the same weight to carry, but with you on that horse and it tied to both our wyverns, we'll divide it all up evenly. We'll be able to get back up to the palace faster that way, I bet.

Mercenary: In theory I guess ... but do we have enough rope?

Mercenary2: We'll soon find out.

After some measuring and putting rope up to various parts of Raechel's horse, the mercenaries decided they had enough to pull off the lift. Without waiting around in the cold, they began tying the wyverns together and then making a makeshift harness out of what was left of the rope in the center.

Mercenary: Okay get the horse to stand right here.

He pointed to each place he would need the horse's feet for the lift to work.

Throne Room

Ivanko gave Flemeth an annoyed glance when she started laughing.

Ivanko: I don't talk with the girl much, but seeing her laugh like that is disturbing as all hell, different voice or not.

Lev: You have no idea, Ivanko ...

Ivanko: Anyway, this father son business can wait for the moment. There's still a lot to do today.

Irina: Well ... what about us?

Ivanko: Hm?

Irina: When this was over, Iso and I were supposed to go back to the group.

Ivanko: Clever wording, Irina. I had almost forgotten about that. You were only going to go back if you proved yourself on the battlefield, and Iso was going back regardless since he's got a job to do after all.

Iso: I'm not leaving without my sister.

Ivanko: Neither of you should be leaving at all yet. You fought with us, so help get things organized again, at least for tonight.

Iso: Urgh! What do you want us to do, anyway?!

Ivanko: Well I doubt you have the stomach for moving bodies so help the healers tend to the wounded or help fill in the civilians and nobles below. Do anything but stand there complaining. It's entertaining at times, but now I'd really like to get on with this.

[Inactive Account]

"You're going to need to meet with what remains of the nobility in short order," Borodin put in. "I can arrange that. I can also arrange guards from my own troops for you, your... relatives, and your officers-- you may not need the protection, but military support may make things easier when dealing with cleaning up your palace. Sir," she added pointedly.

[-Cynthia-]

"Is it really my fault that Morgan is so....humorless? Well I suppose it is, I did raise her after all," Flemeth said, shrugging. "Though I at least told her that she did not spring from my womb...it may be more difficult for men I suppose if they spread their seed as men are wont to do. A word of advice, new Emperor, you may want to keep that trinket handy. Depending upon how many ladies have tamed your wyvern over the years, you may have more heirs than you originally planned," she said, giving Ivanko a sly smile.

[Phoenix]

Throne Room

Ivanko: Alright, then, you take care of that for me while I ...

He paused to look at the state of his armor. Everything but his chest plate and shoulder guards were there. It looked a little awkward. He sighed while shaking his head at the almost humorous look.

Ivanko: ... while I take care of this. Won't be long ...

When Flemeth's comment about more unforeseen heirs came up, Ivanko actually smiled back for once. Fortunately for the current regime, he had only been 'tamed' by two women. In fact, he almost wanted to ask if Iso had gotten any closer with anyone in the crimson brigade. Finding out he was tied with Iso would have been funny, but he didn't have time to upset the fire sage anymore for the day, he had work to do.

Irina: Hey, wait! What about-

Ivanko: We'll talk about that later, Irina.

Meanwhile, Levski stood near the half siblings with his arms crossed and his gaze on Flemeth. He was still struggling with his thoughts on what to do.

[Mercakete]

Raechel happily moved her horse into the designated position before climbing onto his back, excitedly anticiapating the sensation of flying on the back of her own horse (even though her horse wouldn't be the cause of flight.) "This is it! Oooh I'm so excited!" Her horse knew that tone. He was doomed. Utterly doomed.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"So..." Tas tenitively spoke up, "Are we going to help the wounded or go to tell the people who don't know that we-- you won? Or we could divide the work... Or, if you need some time to think about all that just happened or something, I could just do it for you." He wasn't sure if he should include himself. He hadn't done much and he didn't even know about all this till just before they warped to Zaftra. Though his concern was for the emotional wellbeing of his friends more than anything else at the moment.

[Phoenix]

Heavy Lifting

Mercenary: Alright, now don't go falling off or anything ...

The two wyvern riders got their mounts in the air, and Raechel and her horse soon lifted up as well. Once they were much higher up, they began flying off toward the palace.

Throne Room

Irina: It's probably already gotten around by now, but I guess helping the wounded for now is fine.

Irina's voice was full of gloom still.

[Mercakete]

The excitement was almost overwhelming for the valkyrie as she and her horse were air-lifted higher and higher. Her horse was less enthralled and could only stare at the ground, wishing to be lowered back down soon. Then, they flew forward. As they glided, Raechel felt her stomach lurch and tense with the motion and she giggled and cheered, freely expressing her joy at the ride. Her horse whinnied and tried to back up, but due to his hooves being in the air, there wasn't the best traction for that.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Irina's downtrodden reply garnered even more sympathy from the courier. He couldn't let his friend remain so miserable when there was something he might be able to do about it. "... I'm sorry about the news. I can tell it's really bothering you. But being half-siblings isn't so bad, is it? It's not like it changes either one of you. You're the same people you've always been, right? All it changes is who you know your fathers are. That's still a lot to take in but it's not like your relationship has to change, right?" he gave a little, encouraging smile, "So...we'll be taking wounded to healers, I think. They've already been helping the wounded at the entrence, so will we be concentrating on the ones inside the palace?"

[Phoenix]

Arrival

Eventually, though it took awhile, they made it back to the palace roof and carefully touched down. Once the wyverns had landed, the riders quickly hopped off and started untying them.

Mercenary2: We'd like to thank you for choosing Zaftran Air, number one flight service in Zaftra.

Mercenary: Oh not that crap again.

Mercenary2: Hey, sooner or later someone's going to be making a killing ferrying people over these mountains. I'm just calling it now.

Throne Room

Irina: Yeah, it's not so bad when I look at it that way ... it's just ... our family is so messed up ....

Stephanie: I'll be helping out the wounded as well, so I'll come with you two, but could you wait for me for just one moment?

She quickly ran over to Ivanko, who was taking off what was left of his armor. The cape had hit the floor before she even made her decision to check him for wounds.

Stephanie: Are you hurting anywhere? Any open wounds or things like that?

Ivanko: I'm fine.

Stephanie: You're completely fine after that deathmatch and hours of fighting?

Ivanko: I didn't lose my armor until the last couple of minutes. Don't worry so much.

He reassured her with a slight grin.

[Mercakete]

"Again!" Raechel childishly and eagerly called out, both fists in the air. Her horse wasn't too keen on that, though. He just wanted a nice, warm stable and some food and fesh water... So, he looked up at his rider pittifully. "Oh, alright. The only way down is by air, though, so when we go back, we'll have to fly again," she informed the horse before asking the wyvern riders, "When it's time for me to leave, could you ferry us down again please? And for now, could you show me where the stables are?"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Yeah, I guess things did just get more complicated... I guess this would make Isotov your half-brother and your cousin. At least Ivanko is still your uncle. That stayed the same. And you both still have the same mother. Well, I guess nothing really changed; just what you know about it. So you've always been half-siblings, you just never knew it. It's better to know the truth, I think. Don't you think so?" Tas asked Irina, genuinely trying to help while they waited for Stephanie since she's be going with them.

[Inactive Account]

Borodin went through the options for assigning guards. It would be best to assign higher officers for the sake of appearances, but at the same time, she needed them to help her out, too.

She could take over Kouriatov's command, she decided. Once Kouriatov had his instructions, he fell in beside Ivanko and Ixion, quietly and deliberately. Ivanko's second-in-command was given a guard from Borodin's unit, rather than one of her commanders: Glinka and Ilyushin were needed where they were, clearing the roof and halls respectively.

Ivanko's family would need a guard too. They were less likely to be targeted, and given their lack of suitability for succession, not as important to protect anyway. Still, they would need someone competent and obvious to identify them to others. Iris had recently returned from her previous task, so Borodin sent her over to them. She trusted Frederikov to keep them out of trouble.

"I'm going to put together an audience with your higher nobility," Borodin told Ivanko. "You'll want their allegiance sooner rather than later. I'll contact you through Kouriatov when I've got a time and location. Your heirs won't be needed-- validating them, or not, is an issue for another time. They just need to stay out of trouble.

"In addition to the military medics already on duty, I've mobilized civilian healers. I've had a cleanup effort going since the battle ended, so that's already in progress, and the military shouldn't give you any trouble. I'll be in contact shortly." Backed by most of her personal unit, she saluted, and headed out into the halls to survey the damage, find a place to meet with the nobles, and personally convince each of them to show up.

Edit: SCORRI I CAN PUNCTUATION SHUT UP

Edited September 9, 2011 by Kiryn

[Phoenix]

Mercenaries

Mercenary: If we're available at the time, I guess we could manage it. If not, just mention that you're one of the healers and I'm sure that'll net you some willing riders. Nothing more appreciated on the battlefield than healers and reinforcements, heheh.

Mercenary2: Uhuh.

Throne Room

Once Borodin outlined her plans, she set to it immediately. Ivanko nodded and let her go about her business while he finished checking his clothes for rips and tears. Ixion kept a close eye on the woman as she left, and then glanced at their appointed guard, Kouriatov. He crossed his arms and faced the man head on.

Ixion: Do you mind telling me more about the officer you serve under?

---

Stephanie: Ivanko, are you sure you're alright. You've been fighting all day.

Ivanko: I don't mean to sound arrogant, but I have been through worse in a single day. At least as far as combat goes. The only injury I've really got right now is the loss of my sword. I planned to put it on display after this battle ... "the sword Ivanko weld right up until the liberation of Zaftra" or something along those lines.

He sighed.

Ivanko: I guess I had to lose something in all of this. Denisov's will be a decent enough replacement until I get something I like forged. Tempest Blades aren't my thing.

---

Irina: Yeah, I guess I'd rather know than not know ... it's just been a lousy day, and this pretty much came right out of no where to make it even worse. I'll feel better once we're out of here and back with the others.

She sighed deeply, but mostly to push as much gloom out of her as she could in that exhalation and then faced Tas again.

Irina: Thanks, Tas. Oh right ... See, I'm glad you're here. No one else would have bothered to cheer me up right now. Iso's so furious he needs cheering up of his own. Even Lev's ... distracted. Ugh, I wish she would disguise herself as someone else. Having a maniacal Morgan look alike around is just weird. I'm never going to be able to look at the real one quite the same way again after all of that ...

---

Lev: ... ... ... fuck it.

Lev finally finished weighing the odds, and made his decision. He shut out everything else going on in his head and walked right up to Flemeth.

Lev: ... I ... need to ask you some things ...

[-Cynthia-]

The mercenaries seemed more interested in helping out the wounded and starting the new regime at the moment. Flemeth yawned loudly. Perhaps her time here in Zaftra was at an end, oh wait one of them was talking to her.

"Hmm, questions? I more than likely know the answer- though I reserve the right to let you find out for yourself. Ask away child," she said to Lev, fixing her gaze on him.

Edited September 9, 2011 by -Cynthia-

[Phoenix]

Questions

Lev: Yeah, I bet ... alright then. No point in stalling ... It's about the woman you're dressing up as, Morgan. You said you raised her. I don't need an answer for that, I already know why, well ... what the end result would be at least. What I'm curious about is what you're doing now. W-why you haven't ...

He paused for a split second knowing that this was the part he was worried about. The answer she gave if there was one might be something he really didn't want to hear.

Lev: ... you gone after her? Do you ever plan to?

Iso: I sure hope so ...

Iso spoke quietly while listening in to some of the conversation from afar. He had no idea what Lev meant by 'gone after'.

[-Cynthia-]

Flemeth raised an eyebrow at Lev and smiled. "Oh you know the 'end result' do you? How did you come upon this nugget of knowledge I wonder? Morgan told you something I suspect, the girl always did have a tendency to blab. But how does Morgan claim to know what she knows? 'Tis a curious thing, does one truly know something- or is what they know merely an illusion?" she asked Lev, giving him a wink.

[Phoenix]

desufnoC sI Iksvel

Lev: What? An illusion?

Lev shook his head a few times. He still couldn't manage to get the pleading look off his face so avoided eye contact. Annoyingly this had his eyes in all the wrong places, but the disguise itself kept fresh in his mind why he was doing this. The last thing he wanted was to face the real Morgan one of these days and find himself talking with Flemeth again ...

Lev: Please, just give me a straight answer ...

[Mercakete]

"Thank you very much!" heartily thanked Raechel, "Now, could you please direct me to the stables?"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Irina's praise caught Tas a little off-guard, triggering bashfulness as his face reddened a little and he averted his eyes. "W-well, you're my friend, so of course I'd want to cheer you up. I'm glad you're feeling better. I knew this would be hard on you but I didn't know that would happened and I glad I could help, even a little. That's why I came with you, after all and...I'm rambling, sorry. I um... Yeah, when we get back or you or um I'm bad at talking right now apparently..." Quickly regaining his composure, Tas looked back over to his friend and the next words out of his moth surprised even him, "Thank you for worrying about me durring the battle." Realizing what he said, he clumsily tried to explain, "Not that I want you to worry! I just-- You know, thinking about someone so far away could be a distraction and that would be bad since that could result in your getting hurt and I don't want that but you're good at fighting so you were probably able to focus anyway, so... It was nice to know you cared about how I was doing, even though you had to focus on what you were doing." It finally came out right.

Able to smile a little helplessly at his own fumbles, he added, "And yeah, it is a bit weird to see someone who isn't Morgan looking like Morgan but not acting like her. I didn't get to know her as well as you or the others, though, so it must be stranger for you. There sure will be interesting stories to tell when we meet up with the others again. On the way back, could we go through Halton? I still need to find my father and he said he'd be somewhere in Halton. Depending on what happens, I'll have to look for him and meet up with you and the others again later, if I can. He won't believe my stories." A light, sheepish laugh accompanied his last sentence.

Edit: fixed 1 typo because the rest were hilarious so I kept them there.

Edited September 9, 2011 by Mercakete

[-Cynthia-]

"Oh no, 'tis far more fun for you to figure it out yourself," Flemeth said, giggling a bit. "Let us start with what Morgan probably told you. She found a tome of mine, correct? Detailing how I have lived all these years, possessing my apprentices, and thus making the Witch of the Wilds essentially immortal?" She paused and began strolling around Lev, circling him.

"This seems a rather curious thing, does it not? That a powerful druidess would leave her most closely guarded secret out for her apprentice to find, after so many years of hiding it? My my, that would make me so very careless. Clumsy old Flemeth, leaving her secret to immortality just laying around," she said, following this statement with a harsh laugh.