Chief of the Sky Adhira Arya appeared in a flash of purple light in a dark room. She coldly examined the room around her in the afterglow of her curse. She didn''t come here often, nor did any of the Three Chiefs, but even so, she knew the room far too well.


    Click.


    Two lights clicked on, illuminating the room in a wan light and revealing the black metal door in front of her. It came together on two jagged points in a circular shape, and as she approached, it slid open, allowing her through and into the rest of the Citadel.


    Hiss.


    The hallways were largely empty, and that was by design. The masters she went to meet did not need servants or guards. They were the pinnacle of power on Erth—the Scions.


    Tap. Tap.


    Only the echo of her boots on the metal floor sounded through the cylindrical hallway as she followed the floodlights to the next set of doors. There were three doors in total before she would reach the meeting room, and Arya wanted to walk as slowly as possible.


    Hiss.


    She faced a problem unprecedented in the history of Erth. In one move, across the entirety of the Twelve Kingdoms and the Fringes, Roald had destroyed centuries of peace and prosperity. Even now, wannabe outlaws and warlords were rising against the rulers of the islands, making their move to take control and stretching the resources of the Military Police thinner and thinner.


    They already lacked the strength to defend, protect, and operate the Twelve Kingdoms, which was why the Fringes existed. Roald''s message was another weight on an already stressed system, pushing it to the breaking point.


    Hiss.


    She stepped through the third door.


    Three spotlights illuminated the dark room. On the right was a dark giant of a man who towered at least double Arya''s height and was wide enough to match. He wore no shirt and only had dark red and black pants as his uniform. He only glanced at Arya as she entered, pointing his two wide bull horns that stuck out of his head at her before cracking his knuckles with his hands and returning to attention.


    He was Sarruma, Chief of the Ground.


    To her left was a smaller man in comparison. He stood with his hands in his pockets, his long black and red jacket hanging open. He had also turned to Aryia, his smile barely showing through his short, pointed grey beard. He waved one pale hand as she stepped into her spotlight, returning his hands to his pockets as she faced forward.


    He was Caspian, Chief of the Sea.


    "You''re late," Caspian said, giving a soft laugh that didn''t escape the light around them.


    "I had to redeploy my soldiers," Arya said, blowing a lock of her long black hair up and crossing her arms. "There''s trouble brewing across all of the Fringes now. There are too many hotspots for us to handle alone."


    "So long as the Core remains pure, there will be no trouble," Sarruma huffed. "My soldiers keep the Core safe. There will be no rebellions, no outlaws, and only order."


    "This entire mess makes me glad I''m operating out in the Meridian." Caspain laughed. "Sure, it''s dangerous, but it beats trying to keep people in line."


    "That may change today, depending on their decision." Arya looked up into the dark room above.


    Her heart quivered as the room''s silence tried to bear down upon her. They were waiting for the Scions to show up. A meeting of the Scions was rare enough, but a meeting that required all three chiefs to be there was even stranger.


    In the thousand years of the Scions'' rule, not once had the secret of the Dark Meridian or the New World slipped out. Humanity had stayed in its gilded cage, ready to squash the lives of others to see their own lives improve. Arya bit her lip. Was that all about to change, or would the Scions crush humanity to keep them caged?


    Click.


    Twelve lights illuminated the room at once around them as screens came on. Immediately, Arya''s heart thumped harder in her chest as the Scions forced their presence upon her and the other two chiefs. She knew she was in the presence of higher beings and what her place was.


    Even with all her power as the Chief of the Sky, she was insignificant in the presence of such creatures.


    "The time has come," a figure said, and the screen immediately lit up in front of the chiefs.


    It leaned forward, revealing a white helm molded like a lion''s head. No face was visible, but Arya could see the yellow eyes that glared from the holes in the armor''s helm. That Scion was the King, the ruler of the twelve.


    "We should squash this insurrection before it has time to fester." A second Scion leaned forward, revealing his helm to be that of a ram.


    That was the Judge. Arya had summoned him to erase Cragg Hollow due to its infestation. Any Scion could be summoned to perform a Divine Judgement Protocol when needed, but he answered the call the most from what she knew.


    "How many souls will you send as a sacrifice," a woman hissed from behind the chiefs.


    Arya knew that one was the Queen, and her white helm was shaped like a snake''s head.


    Bam.


    "Enough!" The King slammed his gauntlet down on the table, and even through the screen, Arya felt reverberations of his power. "We are here to decide what to do, not squabble over what has already been done. Chief Arya and Chief Sarruma report on the current situation."


    "The Core is quiet, my lords." Sarruma bowed his head slightly but was otherwise unmoving as a rock. "If there are any plans of rebellion or movement toward Magnus Hortus, it is being kept quiet. This shows that our plan to drive out those not compatible with life in the Core has been successful. All that is left are those who will accept the benefits of living under our protection."


    The King''s helm turned to Arya, and she felt her stomach drop through her feet. She was lightning incarnate, and her curse allowed her the destructive power that entailed, yet she was nothing but an ant under that gaze. Arya bowed deeply, closing her eyes.


    "The Fringes is in chaos," she said. "Several groups who have been waiting for any sign of weakness have risen and are making their moves. We''ve lost two outposts to outlaw attacks, and there''s more fighting across all four quadrants than we have the manpower to handle."


    "Mismanagement," Sarruma grunted, and Arya glared at him before resuming her bow.


    "The Dark Meridian is the same as always, chaotic and untamed." Capsian cut in, holding his hands wide. I don''t think the message reached across to us. I didn''t even know about it until I read the first reports."


    "All the more reason to squash it now," the Judge said, ignoring the infighting among the chiefs. "We''ve wanted to assimilate the Fringes for decades now. We should take each island one by one and incorporate them into the Twelve Kingdoms. Not only will we have more of humanity under our protection then, but we will also end the threat of rebellion."


    "That ignores the constant birth of new islands," one of the Scions said, but the figure didn''t lean into the light. "Every month, more and more islands are taken into the Erth from the Dark Meridian. The Academy has found that the rate is accelerating. We could not take in islands fast enough and maintain order."


    Silence permeated the room. The Scions assigned themselves the purpose of taking islands into the Twelve Kingdoms for their protection. Their goal was to bring order to the chaos of the frontier so that humanity could be protected. Because that protection came at the barrel of a gun, stepping out of line meant death.


    "Think of the opportunity."


    Hmm.


    A flash of multicolored light sparkled in front of the chiefs. Lines that stretched the entire spectrum of light flashed as a white-robed figure appeared. He floated in the air, his feet refusing to touch the ground as he raised both hands high. His long sleeves fell to reveal bone-thin hands.


    "Speak, Seer," the King said. "Tell us what you see."


    The Seer turned in a circle, taking in all the room with a wave of his arms and revealing his garnet mask hidden in his long, pointed cowl. The Seer was one of the few Scions who wore no armor to hide his form, but he still had the mask to hide his face.


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    "A simple point we are forgetting has occurred to us," the Seer said. "The plan has always been to protect humanity long enough for it to grow strong. The plan has always been to strive into the Dark Meridian and take the world that we have been denied. This event presents us with an opportunity. It presents us with a chance to test and see if we can send people out into the New World and succeed!"


    The arguments started immediately from all sides.


    "We have failed to consolidate our power."


    "We do not have enough forces, either in the Military Police or in the Academy. There will not be enough forces to take even a portion of the Dark Meridian."


    "I can vouch for that," Caspian whispered, winking at Arya with a quick smile. "My boys can barely keep one Constellation''s route safe to keep supplies coming back here."


    Arya rolled her eyes but quickly turned her attention back to the bickering Scions. It was in these moments that she realized how fragmented they were. When they argued amongst themselves, they looked less like unimpeachable divine beings and more like squabbling humans.


    The only difference was that an argument between Scions could destroy half of the Core.


    "Enough!"


    Boom.


    The King''s voice bellowed across the screens and through the room, shaking through Arya''s bones and sending her to the ground on one knee. The other chiefs did the same next to her. Even Sarruma could not stand up to the King''s single command.


    "Finish your point, Seer," the King spoke, his voice echoing in the silence. "I wish to hear your idea."


    The Seer bowed at his waist, still floating in the air. When he rose, he held up one bony hand, raising a single finger.


    "Our first point is this," the Seer said. "We can no longer stop the flow of this information to the Erth. The message was sent, but we did not have the means to stop it. That is a new fact of our world unless we wish to tear humanity down and spend another century rebuilding it from the ashes."


    Arya didn''t like the latter idea. The scale of the genocide to reduce humanity''s numbers and then rebuild it was too much.


    "Our second point." The Seer raised a second finger. "Is this a chance to eliminate those who do not like our rule. To push them away from even the Fringes and let them dash themselves upon the trials of the Dark Meridian. We all know the dangers of that land. The few that survive will be easier to deal with due to their small numbers."


    That rubbed Arya the wrong way. He was talking about letting people who had bounties go. Those people were trouble, and most were beyond the reach of the Military Police due to the small numbers of soldiers she had available, but to just let them leave would spit on the graves of the victims.


    "Our third point." The Seer raised a final finger. "These unwanted outlaws will provide us a chance to test the Dark Meridian. We will be able to see the weaknesses in the defenses of the Constellations. We will know how to invade when the time comes to take this new land. We are taking our problem and making it theirs."


    "But will we just let them go?" the Judge asked, tapping one finger on the metal desk before him. "That hardly seems just."


    "We can set up the Twelve Kingdoms to thin out the herd if you wish," the Seer said. "Only let the strongest through to truly wreak havoc on the Dark Meridian. We can create the test that grants those who want freedom the chance to taste it."


    "And send the ones who fail to die or to the Clink," the Judge said, leaning back in his seat.


    "Many kingdoms will fall," the King said. "We may even lose another island like we lost August."


    "An island can be rebuilt in time," the Seer said. "And if they are weak enough to fall to outlaws, that is a lesson we should learn now, not when we enter the Dark Meridian. This is a chance to thin out our own herd and cull our own weak for the battle to come."


    Arya shuddered at the implication. How many children would die in this coming purge? It might not be at the hands of her own people, but the cost would be immeasurable. She gulped down her thoughts and focused on staring at the ground.


    It was all beyond her control.


    She was but a human. She may have a curse that gave her the powers of lighting itself, but she was still just a human. If her superiors told her that she must kill a thousand babies to save the Empyrean, what authority did she have to argue?


    It pitted her soul, but that was the reality of the world.


    "We will try this plan," the King said. "Allow those who would try for the Core. Only intervene to stop important islands from falling. I trust that you chiefs can decide where to concentrate the defenses."


    Thump.


    "We can," Sarruma said, slamming his fist into his chest as he rose from his knees.


    "Then this meeting is adjourned." The screens flickered off, and the Scions departed, except for the Seer, who still floated in front of the chiefs.


    "An odd turn of events for all of us." The Seer turned on them, his red mask tilting to the side. "We trust that you will keep us abreast of developments in this operation. We are very interested in seeing who makes it to the Dark Meridian."


    "Yes, sir." The three chiefs saluted as one.


    <hr>


    Alex sighed, walking down the hallway of the Nighthawk as he held a tablet in his hand. He had spent the last few hours reading through the schematics for the ship and a sort of user manual, and the entire thing reminded him of studying for exams right before they happened. There was no way he would remember everything.


    He made his way toward the center of the ship, his stomach rumbling for the first time in a very long time. His body made it so he didn''t need to eat often, but after the events of Diamond Peak, he was more than just hungry. He was starving.


    "Anything?" he asked as he stepped through the open circular door and into the wide kitchen area.


    "There are no food stores in any of the cupboards or pantries," Sayed said, smiling wide like he was delivering good news. "We have nothing to eat unless we wish to start consuming each other."


    "What about you, Erin?" Alex asked. "Can you just grow something from your curse?"


    "They''d taste terrible and make you sick," Erin sighed, her stomach rumbling. "When you force them to grow quickly from just my body, they just become fiber, and most of my plants are made for combat. I would need a proper garden or at least a few pots with seeds to make something edible."


    "I''ll put that on hold," Alex said, looking over the rest of his makeshift crew.


    Erin, Li Wen, and Jean all sat around one of the four short tables in the mess hall, leaning back on cushioned chairs as they reviewed the provided tablets. Like him, they had spent the last few hours reviewing information on the ship controls in a sort of crash course session.


    Click.


    Kali stepped into the room after taking a photo of it, the reporter''s eyes searching every nook and cranny of the ship for information. Alex filed her away as another problem that would need to be dealt with before they decided what they were doing.


    "Mari?" Alex looked up to the ceiling.


    "Yes," Mari''s voice piped in over the speakers.


    "Can the ship keep going without you in it?"


    "No," Mari said. "I am part of the navigation system and function as the autopilot when no one is in control. I must remain in the control room if you wish the ship to keep moving."


    "Alright." Alex sighed, setting his tablet on the table. "Then at least listen in; you''re part of this. We need to have a meeting."


    Everyone looked up from their work and set down their tablets. Sayed stepped away from the kitchen, and Kali even lowered her camera and sat down near Li Wen at a table. Alex leaned onto the table, spreading his arms wide as he gave them each a solid look.


    "We''ve got to talk about plans, people," Alex said. "Right now, we have a ship, but we''ve never formalized who we are or what we''re doing. We''ve just kind of bumbled through everything, doing the best we can. If we''re going to move forward, we need to change that."


    "We need a leader," Sayed said, sitting near Jean and Erin. "Every unit needs someone to make decisions for the group''s best interests."


    "The real question before that is, why are we all here? What do we all want?" Jean raised one finger. "If we are in this together, we need to know what we are journeying together for."


    Alex nodded.


    "I''m here because I want to find a way home," Alex said. "I''ve spent the last few years looking for island cores because the information inside seemed like my best bet. If what Roald said in his message is right, his path might be a better way forward. I want to see if the New World has any secrets that will let me go back to Earth."


    He paused before nodding to Sayed.


    "I am intrigued by this talk of powerful opponents in this Dark Meridian and in the New World. While finding my way back to Hajh would be good, there is no point if I have not forged a story worth telling. I want to go to the New World to find and defeat these enemies and create my grand story. Whether I ever return to Hajh is secondary. We all face the Crimson Fields regardless of the path we use to get there."


    Sayed turned to Erin.


    "I''m here for the mission." Erin shrugged but bit her lip. "Though, I''d be lying if I said I wasn''t interested in the New World. I picked up two of Roald''s books, which show plants I''ve never seen before. I''m not against adding more variety to my garden."


    Erin eyed Jean.


    "Mine is simple." Jean chuckled. "Fate has brought us together, and we have already done so much. I fought a man who controls pasta today. You people have all brought us these experiences, and it is a joy for us to journey with you. I have no doubt that we will find even more to enjoy together."


    Alex looked over to Li Wen.


    "I''ve never been like you," she said. "Once I left Earth, I gave up on it. However, I''ve always wanted to know more about this world. I want to know why it is so odd. Why does the nightsea exist? What are curses? What are the Scions really? If that message is true, then going to the New World is my only choice."


    "That doesn''t explain why you shot Foley," Alex said.


    "I shot him because I saw you there." Li Wen shrugged, looking at Kali. "When Bibi shot the captain and threatened the rest of us, I promised myself I would get her out of the situation no matter what. If I have to become an outlaw to get her out, that''s what I will do."


    That left Kali.


    "I''m not part of this," Kali said, raising both her hands. "You all seem like very nice people, but I''ll be hopping off at the first safe place we stop."


    "What about Bibi''s threat?" Li Wen asked.


    "I''ll take that as it comes." Kali sighed. "I''ve got a cat at home to feed, and I''m not abandoning her to go on an adventure."


    "I can give you a few contacts," Erin said. "The People''s Revolution always needs more, and if you''re run out of your home, they''ll make sure you have something to do."


    "Thank you." Kali nodded to Erin. "I''ll take all the help I can get."


    "What about you, Mari." Alex looked back up to the ceiling.


    "I go where the ship goes," Mari''s voice chirped back, giving a short pause before continuing. "But, I do like you all. You have made the trip together fun so far."


    "Alright," Alex said. "With that said, who do you all want to lead us."


    "I think that''s obvious." Jean stood up, slapping Alex on the shoulder as he headed down the hall.


    "You will do great." Sayed stepped from his chair in one long stride and returned to the kitchen. "Just as I will once I find something to cook for all of us!"


    "He''s always been the planner." Erin glanced at Li Wen. "We might as well let him keep doing it."


    "You''ve all been here longer than I." Li Wen nodded. "I will trust your judgment until he disappoints us."


    "Really?" Alex sighed. "Do you all just not want to do the work?"


    "You''ll do great," Mari said.


    Alex sighed, stretching to his full, short height and looking over the mess hall. "Then I guess I need to solve the first problem. Where do we go first?"


    "I have a suggestion for that." Li Wen stood up. "Let''s go to the map, and I''ll show it to you. There''s an island in the first quadrant that''s known for being neutral toward everyone. It''ll be the perfect place to check over the ship and get supplies."


    "What''s it called?"


    "Dry Turtle."