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Here's a link!\nhttps://docs.google.com/document/d/1k0PobVi3hgyzg8zrro6rnqLLpm_cybJd-3LP-kvp1KI/edit?usp=sharing\n\nFeel like giving me a little financial assistance? I’ve set up a SubscribeStar account! I'm extremely thankful for everyone who donates anything they can, be it a subscription or one-off donation.\nhttps://subscribestar.adult/kiroberos-entertainment", "description_bbcode_parsed": "Curious about my custom species? Here's a link!
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https://subscribestar.adult/kiroberos-entertainment", "writing": "Gently, I let the wind blow over me, eyes looking up at the moon once again. The light blazed over me, eyes taking it in and just accepting all of it. Pale, frozen light, oozing through the shattered fragments of the hole in the sky, splashing over the landscape like ichor from a weeping orifice. I wasn't looking at the moon. I'd thought it was the Watcher, our largest. It was an easy mistake I suppose, as the Guardian, our smallest, still rotated around it, and the Wanderer drifted off to the right in the sky.\n\nIt was a hole through the skin of the world. And it was [i]bleeding[/i] pale light past its fragmented, broken edges. The Guardian looked almost black against it, with strands of color oozing around its edges, while the Wanderer was alien and fragmented. Odd geometry that folded in upon itself. It was... an easy mistake to make. But I saw it now.\n\nMy eyes ached, and I wiped under them, metallic and twisted paw coming back stained with radiant blue glow. This was... I closed my eyes, ears raising again as the wind danced over me. Through me, giving soft whistles along my metal bones. Her song danced along with it, followed by a chorus of shrill, pained screams and groans. It was... in my head now. The song was in my mind.\n\nMy paws clenched down on the railing of bone I leaned against, and I exhaled, looking downwards once more at the field of Inaga corpses amidst the frozen waste below me. I saw [i]it[/i] now too. Stirring, it cracked and shifted out of the frozen ice, a pale and hollow shell of its former self as it lifted towards me. It transcended normal space, shifting through layers and forward and backwards, in the rawest sense, even as five mouths opened up to wail silently at me. But I heard it all the same, thanks to her song.\n\nMonster? Its bulbous form shunted up, stopping just centimeters from my muzzle, with one of its mouths growling quietly at point blank range. I just stared at it, unmoved by the display. It was calling [i]me[/i] the monster? It, who had eaten hundreds if not thousands of Inaga and cast them aside when done, like so much refuse?\n\nMy eyes narrowed, fierce blue glow within casting a harsh light over its form. It strained against frosted over chains, but couldn't get any closer to me. Instead, I moved my paw forward, grabbing onto it right above the mouth before simply shoving backwards. The chains around it jerked, constricting and yanking it down and back again, strangling its form as its mouths fell truly silent.\n\nIt was pulled back and locked into the frozen ground once more as I watched, the pale light from the moon-hole blindingly radiant now. It didn't know what a [i]monster[/i] really was. A slight smirk played at the corner of my muzzle, and I closed my eyes and turned away...\n\n[center]~ ~ ~ ~ ~[/center]\n\nI jerked awake to darkness. Not the friendly darkness of a cozy room, but the sudden realization that I couldn't open my eyes. They felt sticky; covered in something that sealed them tight, and wrapped with a bandage around my entire head. For a second, I panicked, gasping and trying to lift my paws up to grab at the bandage.\n\nBut there was a paw holding my left one, and my jerking caused a light snort, then gasp somewhere to my left. ``Bro! You're awake!'' I froze at that, even as paws grabbed my own and pulled them back downwards again. Exia...? Had she been... asleep?\n\n``E-Exia? I can't... I can't see anything. My eyes are stuck!'' I couldn't see her in the dark, and I suddenly felt... nervous. Vulnerable. I didn't know where I was or what time it was or what had happened or anything really!\n\nThere was a shift, and I gave a little jump before a familiar weight settled against my chest, and her scents drifted into my nose. ``Shhh. It's okay, Exes. They put some sort of gel or something in your eyes to help heal you. The guards brought you to the palace medical ward. That's where you are right now...''\n\nThe memories came rushing back to me. The research in the suitcase in the library... The music box, and the device I put together to listen to it... I shivered, paws sliding around her back and feeling the cloth of her tunic. ``I... I remember now. Is it... bad?''\n\nThere were pawsteps, however, and I felt Exia shift on top of me, just slightly. I frowned, ears lifting, but there was a pause. A moment later, Calien's voice drifted to me instead. ``Ah, I thought I'd heard voices. You gave us quite the scare, Exes. I'll send for the nurses and medical mage again...''\n\nI frowned at that, looking in the general direction I heard her in, only to hear rustling of fabric instead, a little further to the left. ``Before they get here though... what happened? Your injuries were caused by True Alchemy, weren't they? And you were in the suitcase, so... was it the book?''\n\nI paused before sighing. ``No, not the book. I was researching the book and discovered something else. That... led me to doing a different experiment on the True Alchemy goggles. It uh, didn't go so good though.''\n\nAnother pause. Hesitation, maybe. ``What did you find? Did it involve... sound? The medical mage said it was like you were suddenly caught up in an extremely loud but somehow targeted noise or vibration. It ruptured your ear drums, and a plethora of blood vessels in your nose and eyes...'' That... explained a lot, yeah.\n\nI nodded again. ``I discovered a sound. Music, actually. It's what caused the goggles to function... but I made the mistake of trying to listen to the actual music myself. I was... careless.''\n\nShe sighed. ``I see... You [i]need[/i] to be more careful, Exes. This is what I was worried about with the book... Thankfully your injuries aren't bad, but... The medical mage can probably explain more. Everything's probably regenerated by now, but you gave us a scare.''\n\nSo, I had regenerative gel coating my eyes. It would have to be washed with a solvent to clean out. I really hoped that was the full extent of what I'd just done to myself, anyway. I gave a little sigh. Well, I'd at least gotten [i]some[/i] information anyway. ``I did at least get more information on the book...'' There was a pause after that, and I felt Exia shift on top of me before her head rested against my chest. Mmm.\n\n``Oh? I was wondering how it led to the goggles. I knew they had something to do with True Alchemy but I never knew what.'' I was surprised she wasn't more informed there.\n\n``They let you read Demonic. But... Their diagram was in the book. It's not just an instruction manual on the Keyhole. I think it's something... bigger. It's got some serious enchantments on it. The pages shift and change, and it seems to read my intent on what to find in it.''\n\nExia lifted her head at that again. ``Your intent? Like, it reads your mind?''\n\nI nodded to her. ``Yeah. When I turn a page, what I want to find seems to be on the next page. There doesn't... seem to be an end to the pages, but I don't know how extensive it is. Kinda screwed up before I could test it further...''\n\nCalien made a humming noise. ``While the dangers are definitely there, I... can't honestly say we should stop the research of it. We've always had very little information on anything to do with True Alchemy.'' Slowly, I nodded, but she kept going of course. ``But from now on, do experiments like that outside of the suitcase, and with people on standby. You and your health are far more important, Exes.'' She... actually did sound like she was personally worried for [i]me[/i], which only made her scolding sting all the more as I lowered my ears again and nodded.\n\nI felt Exia nuzzle my cheek. ``Yeah, I don't want anything bad to happen to you, bro.'' I tried to nuzzle back, but frustratingly got air, until she used her paws to turn my head. I felt her lips against mine after and pressed into the kiss, paws gently sliding over her back as she gave a shiver.\n\nBut there was more pawsteps after that. We split apart as I felt her look to the left again, but the voice sounded out first. ``Ah, you're awake then, Grandmaster. I'm the medical mage that was working on you.'' It was a male's voice, but other than that, I didn't recognize it or the scents from him at all.\n\n``You did quite a number on yourself. A lot of ruptured blood vessels for the most part, as well as some intercranial swelling we used medicine to lower. Otherwise, I was only able to apply the topical regeneration and a broad-spectrum blood restoration tincture.''\n\nCalien spoke up after. ``Is this going to interfere with the coronation tomorrow?'' Oh, right. I'd... forgotten about that bit.\n\n``No, if his eyes look good, he should be fine. That's the only thing we're waiting on at this point.'' Exia leaned back a little, and I felt paws slide to the back of my head, undoing the bandage around them with that.\n\nI just held still and let him get the bandages off me. ``I think the gel's going to need dissolution.''\n\n``Yeah, I figured it would. I brought some along just in case... ah, yup. It's crusted under your eyelashes.'' I shivered a little as I felt his paws touching under my eyes, but forced myself to stay still.\n\nIt was a pretty simple process. He gently sprayed the warm alchemical solution bit by bit against my eyes while slowly opening the lids, washing away the gel underneath. It was an odd sensation but not unpleasant anyway, minus the instinctive urge to blink and get the fluid out of my eyes. As he lifted them, I started to see light, then color, albeit distorted. The more the gel was washed away, the clearer it got, thankfully. Ah, he was an Inaga!\n\nHe frowned about halfway through washing the gel on my left eye, though. ``Oh, you don't have to channel mana or anything for this...'' Huh?\n\n``What do you mean...?'' I checked myself after and indeed, I wasn't channeling it currently. That caused him to freeze for a moment, then lean in closer to the eye that was mostly washed. That's when I... noticed some things. My ears perked up, that eye widening a little. ``Uh... Medical Mage Yinkar?'' He had... a name floating over his head.\n\nHe gave a start at that, eyes widening. ``Uh... yes? Wait, you know me?'' Uh oh. I looked him over, realizing I could see a lot more than that. Everywhere I focused gave me new information. His age, his coloration, the exact alchemical formula needed to get his eye color, respiration status and timing for his breathing, how far away he was from me... I shuddered. It was dizzying if I paid too much attention to it! What [i]was[/i] all this?!\n\n``Um, n-no, I don't. Or didn't... I think I may have goofed up more than I realized...'' Sis frowned to the right, and Calien stood again, looking now as well.\n\nYinkar nodded slowly to me, looking my eye over again. ``It's glowing with your mana color. Further there's... a ring of something around your pupil that's shifting about.'' Crap.\n\nCalien gave me a solid stare at that. ``True Alchemy stuff, Exes?'' I nodded to her, and she sighed.\n\nThe mage's muzzle scrunched, and he nodded. ``I uh, won't ask then. That'll have to be up to you to figure out. I take it you're not actually channeling?'' I shook my head, at least. Well, this was... a new development.\n\nWhile he cleaned out the rest of the gunk, I became very distracted looking Exia over instead. Her name was over her head too, as well as a word under it that was long and clearly in Demonic. Extremely long. I didn't know what that bit was for. But wherever I looked, it would give me... information on what I was looking at, based on what I was thinking about. What had caused this? The goggles didn't do this!\n\nMy other eye was exactly the same, only now offering information in three dimensions instead of two. He got me a mirror after he was done getting the gel out, and I looked my eyes over with interest. Both were now radiant blue in color instead of just normal blue. Circular lines were around both pupils, and shifting runes filling the band that formed. It was... both distracting and extremely visible, which unnerved me.\n\nI wasn't channeling though, or pushing mana into my eyes. They were just... [i]doing this[/i]! The Inaga mage backed up a bit and nodded as he gave me one more look-over, his own eyes glowing, though with obvious magic. My eyes even labeled the spell he was using as a scanner. Wait... this was like the advanced True Alchemy detection enchantment! But instead of hooking it up to an illusion, it was feeding it right into my [i]eyes[/i]! And... giving me a bit more information than even it did.\n\n``Well, other than the glowing rune thing going on with his eyes, he's fully healed. Any spots or distortions or blurring?''\n\nI shook my head to that. Nope. Just eldritch writing giving me information about everything I looked at. I don't think he had medicine for that though. ``No, my... vision is fine.''\n\nHe smiled, then gave a little bow. ``Well, happy to be of service. I'm going back to my room now if you need me. Don't want to accidentally hear anything outside my pay grade.'' Heh. With that, he padded off and out of the room we were in again. Which was definitely the medical ward of the palace. It was small but obviously just a stopgap measure for the hospital if that much was needed.\n\nCalien waited for him to leave before dropping a silence ward over the room. I saw what she was casting before she fully cast it, too. ``So, I take it, it's more than visual?''\n\nI nodded to her. ``I'm not channeling. I can't... turn off the effect, I don't think. It's like... my vision is constantly being affected by the True Alchemy scan effect. I can see information floating around and over things... Like his name floating over his head...'' She frowned at that, even as I formed magic in my right paw, weaving together a scanner again. The first one went on the side of my chest, just to the right of my Keyhole. The second I wove after, then used the mirror I still held to place directly onto my right eye. The medical mage should have done this before leaving...\n\nThere wasn't even a nudge happening to my vita levels, that much I could be certain. The chest scan started feeding information back that showed everything was happy and healthy inside of me. Hmm. It was a little annoying that my eyes gave me information about the illusion screen I'd made, though. The eye scan, disturbingly enough, also came back completely negative though. There was nothing physically altered with the eye at all, except for evidence of it recovering from some damage.\n\n``There's nothing physically altered with the eye, and this isn't draining my vita. I'm going to leave the chest scan up for now just in case, but if nothing's changed with my eye...''\n\nSlowly, Calien nodded at that, frowning deeper. ``If it's not your eye, it's either your mind or your soul. Both are... concerning. Music did this when you listened to it?''\n\nI gave a low whistle. ``It felt like it did a lot more. I really started seeing things for a bit, before my ward kicked in and pulled me out of the effect. Then my pain nerves caught up with the rest of me...''\n\nExia winced on top of me, then nodded. ``A ward? It's good you were protecting yourself anyway. Who knows what would have happened if you'd gotten stuck listening to it!'' Yeah... Yeah. That could have been bad if I'd been listening to it until the music box ran out of power.\n\nI canceled the eye scan and sighed, looking at my own eyes again in the mirror. While getting visual information about the mirror. Damn it. Why did True Alchemy have to work so literally, yet so vaguely at the same time?! ``Yeah, at least until the music box ran out. I'd probably have been in a lot worse of shape at the very least...''\n\nCalien nodded slowly. ``Protections saved you there, so you were definitely right to use them. We moved your suitcase back to your room, by the way. You should probably try to get some rest though. It's two in the morning.'' Oh, that's probably why the mage wanted to leave so quickly. I'd probably woken him up...\n\nI returned her nod, even as Exia hopped off me, then helped me get up and out of the hospital bed. ``I... yeah. If we're going to do the coronation tomorrow morning, I'd better get some rest then...'' Exia perked and grinned, and I huffed, giving her a pointed stare. ``Rest! We can have fun after the coronation!'' And muzzle scrunch with pout.\n\nThe queen snickered as she watched us, but nodded. ``Indeed. Let him rest tonight. He needs to heal fully and be energized for tomorrow. Mmm, though you two kind of make me wish I had a mate myself!''\n\nExia perked her ears curiously at that, dawning realization on her expression. ``Oh! That's right... There's no king or anything... Or kings?''\n\nThe queen snickered at that, then shook her head. ``Prince consorts. I'd still be ruling even if I had male mates. At least in our current government. We're going to have to make significant changes in the future to accommodate our new instincts, I suspect.'' I nodded to that. There was really no avoiding that much.\n\nBut Exia's curiosity was almost as immense as my own, sometimes. Unfortunate, really, when we were together. Her head tilted. ``But... Nara...? She looks [i]a lot[/i] like you! I don't think she could be adopted, could she?'' Uh... My muzzle scrunched at that too, and I shot Exia a chiding look.\n\n``Uh, that's a bit personal, Exia...'' She pouted, but surprisingly, Calien checked the silence ward first before slowly nodding.\n\n``Who Nara's father is, isn't public knowledge. But she [i]is[/i] my daughter. I'll simply state that... well... Chronak and I have had a very hot and cold relationship in the past.'' And my tongue got all wound up in my muzzle again, almost to the point of gagging.\n\nBoth our eyes widened to her at that, and she gave a little chuckle, then seemingly decided to explain further. ``Chronak was actually seeing me, romantically, before he was the Grandmaster. Our... first heated breaking off was [i]because[/i] he chose to become the Grandmaster, at his master's request. I... felt betrayed. I'd known what it did to his lifespan and... well, I was just a little kit then.'' My ears lowered a bit at that.\n\n``I'm sorry, Calien. I didn't realize...'' She shook her head, however.\n\n``No, it was a long time ago, Exes. After that, he left Larid over differences of ideals when I came into power. I wanted to slow down the shifting of our people into their original state, to make it seem natural and stop the unstable political environment we're currently going through. He didn't trust me to follow through on it after he repaired the patches though. Well, he didn't trust me at all anymore, after I broke if off with him. We were both young and let feelings get in the way.'' That was... That made a lot more things make sense, now.\n\nShe shrugged after. ``I... had tried to patch things up with Chronak several times afterwards. A few times I think I almost succeeded. We were able to focus on happier things anyway, and better memories. One of the times, thirteen years ago now, I ended up with Nara. I've not exactly had many sexual partners, but he's definitely her father, and knew as much. Nara doesn't, though. Please... don't tell her. Not yet...''\n\nWe both nodded. Getting told who her dad was, having known him all along, and then having him be already dead was going to suck already. She relaxed and smiled to us, but I gave her a low head dip. ``We won't tell anyone, Calien. Don't worry. That... makes a lot more things make sense though...''\n\nShe relaxed, smiling fully at that before nodding. ``Thank you. I'm... still a person, even if I'm the queen. Chronak passing was... difficult, but my feelings had long since tempered, for him. I'd like to think we were at least... somewhat vitriolic friends at the end. Maybe we can be more again in the next life, wherever that is. But we'll see...'' Definitely not mentioning the dark, frozen place, and its field of corpses. Nope.\n\nExia grinned and nodded rapidly. ``Yeah! I mean, I'm sure you'll eventually be able to patch things up, when you don't have to worry about having time limits. Not that I'm going to let it stop Exes and I!'' My right ear perked towards her at that, and I turned just in time for her to snuggle up against my right side, giving my cheek a nuzzle. Calien gave another snicker, but Exia shot me a wink afterwards, which caused me to tilt my head.\n\n``Of course, my... instincts are telling me that one-off times are also totally fine for my alpha...'' Hmm?\n\nI lifted an eyebrow to her at that. ``One-off times? What do you mean?'' Her grin widened and I instantly regretted asking.\n\n``You know, bringing other females home for you to play with for a night with us! You should totally offer! I bet it's been a [i]really[/i] long time since Calien's gotten to just relax...'' Uh! My eyes widened at that, as did Calien's, who suddenly got a little pink flush to her cheeks.\n\nShe coughed, then averted her gaze sharply away from us. ``That's not... I mean, it may have but that's... Hum. I wouldn't impose upon Exes like that anyway. But you two should really go to bed!'' Admittedly, I'd never seen her flustered quite like that, especially with her hasty topic shift.\n\nExia grinned, but I rolled my eyes and pulled her to the side, causing her to give a startled chitter. ``Come on, Exia. There's no way Calien's going to be interested in [i]that[/i] with me. You're just making her feel awkward.'' She pouted again as I pulled her to the door instead.\n\nCalien paused, opening her muzzle as she looked towards us, with a paw slightly raised. But nothing came out and she lowered the paw again, frowning for a split second before relaxing once more. ``Mmm, right. Sleep well, you two! Remember, sleeping!''\n\n``I knooooow!'' Exia gave a low whine as I pulled her towards the exit of the medical ward instead.\n\n[center]~ ~ ~ ~ ~[/center]\n\nEveryone had already passed out when we got back to the room, so Exia and I quietly put ourselves to bed. Of course, I checked my scanner before we did, and my biometrics were all solidly green. My vita wasn't lowering at all, which either meant my eyes were using so little energy that my natural regeneration was keeping up with it, or they weren't using energy at all... which didn't make any sense. I thought I'd at least be able to detect a definite drain, or activation of the Keyhole, but no.\n\nBreakfast was a hearty affair, and Mom had invited us down to the cafeteria to eat as a whole family, which was nice. I was also afforded enough time before the coronation ceremony to peek into Chronak's journal again. I thought I'd seen something in the notes about defenses and security, and I'd been correct. He had another word in there for me to learn. Seal.\n\nI'd passed over it before. It had quite a lot of security uses, but I wasn't focusing on security yet until I'd gotten the basics of protections down. Now though... There was a use specifically when I applied it to myself. Or more importantly, to the Keyhole on my chest. \n\nI looked myself over in the full-length mirror at the temple changing room. No Key was visible on my chest, and my eyes looked entirely normal. Not even a glow. Of course, by sealing the Key, which also shifted my eyes back, I lost the ability to use the upgraded information vision. But it barely cost any vita to do the seals, and it cost even less to undo the seal afterwards, and it was a way to hide the effects. I'd found I was... self-conscious of how weird my eyes looked this morning, and determined to find a way to at least suppress the effects.\n\nOf course, the second I used True Alchemy, all the seals would be undone anyway. It wasn't possible to outright seal the Keyhole. Chronak's notes had sounded a bit disappointed in that it didn't stop the vita decay, and was largely just for visually suppressing the appearance. I'd taken a shot in the dark on if it would affect my eyes too, and was pleasantly surprised to see that it had. So, my eye changes were linked to the Keyhole. It honestly didn't surprise me.\n\nThe door cracked open, and Melanue peeked in, smiling to me. ``We're almost set for the ceremony, Exes. How goes dressing?'' She was the priestess before, and the newly instated head priestess of the Earth Mother. Age seventeen. Had an actual link with her patron deity within her, which was [i]very[/i] interesting to visually see using my eyes when I'd arrived earlier. But priestess. All priests and priestesses had a link to one of the four Gods in the Great Beyond, in order to facilitate communion with them using magic.\n\n``Procrastinating putting on the hot stuff as long as possible...'' I was standing there in just the shorts, with the robe still resting on the stand.\n\nShe grinned, eyes roaming me up and down rather blatantly before winking. ``Not that I mind, but you really should get dressed. Plus, they put thermal enchantments on the robe, so you should be better off today.'' Tch, fine. The flirty I contributed to her profession, however. Earth Mother priestesses were indeed big on the breeding and sex bits.\n\nThen there was her [i]other[/i] profession apparently. I was surprised to note I had her contact information in the Realmsguard listing. She was the fourth and final member in Laridia at the moment. The only member if Lilita, Annah, and Kyry weren't here too for now. I'd asked her about it in the changing room after throwing up a silence ward, and she explained she was a diviner for the order. While Morrigan herself had a link to the Queen of Magic, she was their link to the Earth Mother. She was also a divining specialist in general, and quite good at magical augury of all types.\n\nThe robes indeed felt cooler after I put them on, stole included. I looked myself over in the mirror from all sides, then exhaled. This made me look oddly like a priest myself. Certainly not the scientist I more considered the Grandmaster Alchemist position to be. But ceremonies were just that. A lot of grandstanding that I was doing for other people, to give the illusion that everything was going according to plan and tradition.\n\nMelanue perked, then smiled my way as I exited the dressing area into the preparation room again. It was located behind the altar, and giant room filled with benches. I could hear the talking even from here, of everyone gathered on the other side of the wall for the ceremony. I was admittedly... more than a little nervous, but thankfully I didn't have any speaking parts. I'd just be expected to get lots of mana images taken afterwards.\n\nAfter she was done straightening out my clothes, Melanue gave me a nod, then turned and headed out the door and into the main chamber. Well, this was it then. Everyone else was already in position and out there. My ears flicked, and I steeled my nerves before slowly following after her myself. Exir and Exia were to either side of the door when I stepped out, and they shifted to following after me seamlessly as I moved. Follow Melanue as she approached the lectern, until I was three meters away, then turn right...\n\nI slid to a stop and rotated, facing the audience now who were rapidly quieting in order to watch. The room sat five hundred, and every position was full, as well as extra chairs along the sidelines and back. Mom grinned from the front row, sitting next to Calien, Nara, and Feeari on one side, and Niva, Yimir, and Kada on the other. They all watched eagerly, though Mom looked outright proud now. It was nice to see.\n\nSpeeches were always painful to listen to, and even more agonizing to stand through. Melanue's was directly from the ceremony book in front of her, and well-paced, but still overly long. Once I got adjusted to just standing there, I quickly started to grow bored instead, while trying to keep my mind off how my knees and thighs were starting to ache. My leg wasn't built for this, despite the brace making it easier. Still, it would probably set a poor precedent if I pulled a book out and started reading while waiting.\n\nI [i]almost[/i] missed my verbal cue. I'd been zoning out pretty hard by the time she got to the `carrying the light of enlightenment into the future' bit. One-eighty turn, walk towards the back wall, level out with the altar and turn ninety to the right... Walk to the front of the alter and turn ninety to the left, facing it... Then take the giant and overly smelly brazier off the altar. The oils in it almost immediately made me lightheaded, but I managed to turn around properly and face the audience again.\n\n``And thus, I introduce Grandmaster Exes, as he officially takes his place as Aion's Grandmaster Alchemist!'' Melanue smiled as she said it, and I walked forward with that, smiling myself as I set the brazier down, right front and center, in the indentation on the stage. Clapping and cheers broke out, then exploded as I touched my paws together, releasing the seal on my Keyhole. The tingle came to my eyes, and blue glow into my paws as I stayed kneeled there in front of the brazier.\n\nMelanue grinned and gave me a nod, and I returned it before lowering my paws down towards the edges of the brazier. Then I stopped, mind halfway through forming the inner words to activate the ignite True Alchemy. I just stared into the brown liquid, flickering words dancing in my vision. ...enhanced alchemical combustion fuel...? This wasn't alchemical lamp oil.\n\nThe applause slowed, then died down entirely as Melanue frowned to my right. ``Grandmaster...? You're supposed to...'' She trailed off, looking surprised instead as I stood, then took a few steps back and away from the brazier. Combustion fuel was for our train system, as a hyper-condensed fuel source that could be burned for a long time. If the brazier was [i]filled[/i] with [i]that[/i]... Exir and Exia frowned towards me as well when I moved right in line with them instead.\n\n``Burn, Jungle freak!'' It was suddenly screamed out from the isle right in front of us. My eyes widened, snapping up to see a single Inaga having stepped out into the isle, leveling a light crossbow aimed right for the brazier! She fired a second later, the bolt igniting as it launched. Exir had already dove forward, shield snapping into position and flaring with green light.\n\nThe barrier pulsed over the three of us, even as I lifted up both my paws, Speed activating in layers in my mind. Everything slowed to a crawl as there was a blinding flash of light in front of us, and more words screamed into my head. Meta Area Explosion, Stasis! The shockwave shattered around us on the stage, conforming to the edge of Exir's shield, even as Melanue screamed in slow motion, being lifted sideways away from the lectern, flames dancing off her robes and fur. Then, everything froze. I shuddered, feeling the hit immediately to my vita, as blue energy danced out from my outstretched paws, weaving around the explosion and locking everything in place in that instant.\n\nExia was gone in a golden flicker a moment later, clearly snapping out of it as she moved in, neatly picking Melanue right out of the air where she was frozen, and vanishing back behind the barrier with her an instant afterwards. Slowly, Exir looked back to me, nodding as I focused, then pushed my paws together.\n\nIt wasn't caused by True Alchemy, so I couldn't rewind it. But I [i]could[/i] stop it from hurting anyone. Meta Area Prior, Slow Focused, Condense. Another drain, and I shuddered, momentarily staggering for a second until Exia grabbed my arm to steady me. At my focus, I pushed inwards, paws forming dancing runes in the air around them as I pushed them together, using the visual aid to condense the shockwave from the explosion in reverse, collapsing it back in upon itself.\n\nBits of the stage that were blown free slowed in midair, then pulled backwards a little as the shockwave went over them a second time, but in reverse. People were starting to scream in the audience, with several scrambling and beginning to run, even as I touched my paws together, and the explosion pulled inwards, collapsing into an orb of white-hot heat over the warped remains of the stage and melted brazier.\n\nI released Speed finally, exhaling and breathing hard now as I let my left arm lower. Just my right stayed focused on the orb of heat, palm-first. Guards were already absolutely flooding the church, with waves of green vita extending and stopping people from rushing, locking them down as guards directed them to lower to the floor instead. The Inaga with the crossbow was already been dropped, with Mom holding her unconscious form to the floor.\n\nPulling my paw back, I did about the only thing I could think of. I aimed to the right instead, and released my mental command with my paw aimed right for the open vent window near the ceiling. The white-hot orb of flames cleared over a hundred meters from the church, heading for open sky, before it wavered and exploded again. By then, it sounded like an overly loud firework going off, giving the windows a bit of a shake, but otherwise [i]not[/i] exploding right against the front row of the audience. Fuck!\n\nI collapsed onto my knees, panting behind Exir as he turned and covered us more directly with his barrier, holding me with the other arm. Exia slid the wincing and shivering Melanue in with us, frowning as she looked over the injured priestess. What the fuck?! How'd they even sneak that [i]in[/i] here?! My attention turned to Melanue, however, instead. I was still breathing hard, but I managed to conjure regular mana up again fairly easily, and put several scanners down on her, one at a time.\n\nShe winced, eyes opening slowly again, then focusing on me as I knelt over her. The shockwave itself had hit her hard and disoriented her, and I saw some light blistering from the heat, focused around her ears and nose, but otherwise she was perfectly fine. By stasising her in midair like that, it looks like I'd prevented most of the effects of getting caught in that...\n\nMom joined the guards on stage, locking things down hard in multiple layers of vita and magic. The entire first row of the audience had been `special guests', including the queen, so they were pulled into the defenses too, before we were motioned to instead evacuate through the back, side door. Well, this had gotten fucked, fast...\n\n[center]~ ~ ~ ~ ~[/center]\n\nThe female was a city marksman trainer, working for the guard. Several members of the guard were in on it, as well as an alchemist, who'd made the fuel for them to use. They were all radical members of the Male Traditionalist movement, who'd heard about me being an `abnormal' male and feared my political power. It had been an attempt to kill me, and hopefully wipe out the `traitor' Queen Calien at the same time, for being sympathetic to the abnormal males.\n\nThe Male Traditionalists denied any involvement, and [i]immediately[/i] publicly condemned the actions taken at the coronation. No real surprise there. We were all moved to the hospital for some extremely high security medical examinations before being released back to the palace instead. I was... None of what had happened was really fully registering, I don't think. It felt the same as after we'd fled the tribe. I saw and knew what happened but it just... It didn't feel real.\n\nSomehow, nobody died. There were light injuries for some of the first row, from a bit of wood shrapnel that I hadn't caught in my condensing effect. Nothing more major than some bruising and scratches there, though. Melanue had gotten treated for her burns almost immediately. Calien suffered a scratch on the cheek and had a new earring piercing, if she wanted to make use of it... Mercifully, Yimir and Kada were perfectly fine. Kada had absolutely lightning reaction time, undoubtedly honed from years and years of playing on the PEC, and had actually tackled Yimir sideways, managing to avoid the spray of wood for both of them. Nara got a light nick to her forehead.\n\nAll six members of the attempted assassination were now arrested, and a full investigation was ongoing. I just listened quietly as Calien explained everything and caught us up on what was happening, with all of us flopped in various locations of the lounge now. Yimir, Kada, and Exia were keeping extremely close to me, with Exia snuggled right into my front this time as we both lay sideways on one of the couches.\n\n``On top of the investigation, I'll also be running a full sweep of security. Again. The three guards involved were regular, town guards, but still... Clearly someone dropped the ball somewhere.'' Calien sighed, sagging back into her armchair as she tossed the stack of papers onto the tea table, then winced and rubbed at her bandaged ear.\n\nExir sighed, then shook his head where he was resting on the other sofa with Niva. ``I'd like to know how they swapped that shit out. They made it almost perfect, changing the color and smell to smell like lamp oil. The priestess didn't even notice when she poured it...''\n\nThere was so much blind luck involved in everyone still being alive today that it was kind of scary. Now, I was extremely thankful for my newly upgraded eyesight... I wished I'd reacted faster and warned Melanue away from the brazier, but other than that, it... That was the only reason I didn't just ignite the fuel myself!\n\nNiva shivered, then slowly shook her head, snuggling into Exir's arms a bit more. ``It's going to be a serious media shitshow. I mean... we can [i]probably[/i] spin what Exes did as magic but... it was still an [i]assassination attempt[/i].''\n\nCalien nodded at that. ``Nobody died, and that's the important bit. Intentionally focusing on that part of Exes' actions should... blunt people asking questions anyway. It's not the first time a Grandmaster has had to publicly use True Alchemy before. Still...'' She paused at that, then smiled a little to herself before looking up at me instead. ``I... thank you, Exes. It hasn't really been said yet but you saved everyone from the explosion. Everyone in the front row, and Priestess Melanue, would probably be dead if you hadn't done that. You saved our lives.'' Nara nodded rapidly where she sat on the floor in front of Calien's chair, and Feeari eyed me rather intensely, looking a bit shaken herself.\n\nI flushed a little but still felt... tired really. Both from the exertion and the shock of it all. I managed a slow nod, anyway. ``It... was probably the most I've done with True Alchemy yet. Sorry if I'm a little out of it, but it kind of took it out of me...''\n\nYimir leaned down and nuzzled my cheek, and I felt Kada snuggle a bit more into my back. This was... nice though. Exir grinned to us, then nodded too. ``Damn straight. I'm nowhere near trained enough to where I can stop something like that with a vita technique, like the twins probably could have... You saved everyone, and totally deserve some rest now!'' Could they really have stopped that...?\n\n``Yes, you do.'' Calien gave a nod to that, then looked to her right, towards a maid near the door. ``Actually, I should order us all some lunch. I think that would help us calm down and get Exes some energy back. Oh, and get out of those robes. They can't be comfortable...''\n\nRobes? I blinked once, then looked down at the ceremonial garb I was still wearing. Oh, right. I'd completely forgot I never took them off or changed. ...fuck it. I burrowed into the robes instead, tucking inside them before simply worming my way out the underside, leaving myself in just my shorts while Kada balled up the robes and tossed them under the tea table. Then resumed snuggling me with everyone else. Mom snickered as she watched, then moved over to join us, resting against Exia and I while we waited for food...\n\n", "writing_bbcode_parsed": "Gently, I let the wind blow over me, eyes looking up at the moon once again.  The light blazed over me, eyes taking it in and just accepting all of it.  Pale, frozen light, oozing through the shattered fragments of the hole in the sky, splashing over the landscape like ichor from a weeping orifice.  I wasn't looking at the moon.  I'd thought it was the Watcher, our largest.  It was an easy mistake I suppose, as the Guardian, our smallest, still rotated around it, and the Wanderer drifted off to the right in the sky.

It was a hole through the skin of the world.  And it was bleeding pale light past its fragmented, broken edges.  The Guardian looked almost black against it, with strands of color oozing around its edges, while the Wanderer was alien and fragmented.  Odd geometry that folded in upon itself.  It was... an easy mistake to make.  But I saw it now.

My eyes ached, and I wiped under them, metallic and twisted paw coming back stained with radiant blue glow.  This was...  I closed my eyes, ears raising again as the wind danced over me.  Through me, giving soft whistles along my metal bones.  Her song danced along with it, followed by a chorus of shrill, pained screams and groans.  It was... in my head now.  The song was in my mind.

My paws clenched down on the railing of bone I leaned against, and I exhaled, looking downwards once more at the field of Inaga corpses amidst the frozen waste below me.  I saw it now too.  Stirring, it cracked and shifted out of the frozen ice, a pale and hollow shell of its former self as it lifted towards me.  It transcended normal space, shifting through layers and forward and backwards, in the rawest sense, even as five mouths opened up to wail silently at me.  But I heard it all the same, thanks to her song.

Monster?  Its bulbous form shunted up, stopping just centimeters from my muzzle, with one of its mouths growling quietly at point blank range.  I just stared at it, unmoved by the display.  It was calling me the monster?  It, who had eaten hundreds if not thousands of Inaga and cast them aside when done, like so much refuse?

My eyes narrowed, fierce blue glow within casting a harsh light over its form.  It strained against frosted over chains, but couldn't get any closer to me.  Instead, I moved my paw forward, grabbing onto it right above the mouth before simply shoving backwards.  The chains around it jerked, constricting and yanking it down and back again, strangling its form as its mouths fell truly silent.

It was pulled back and locked into the frozen ground once more as I watched, the pale light from the moon-hole blindingly radiant now.  It didn't know what a monster really was.  A slight smirk played at the corner of my muzzle, and I closed my eyes and turned away...

~ ~ ~ ~ ~


I jerked awake to darkness.  Not the friendly darkness of a cozy room, but the sudden realization that I couldn't open my eyes.  They felt sticky; covered in something that sealed them tight, and wrapped with a bandage around my entire head.  For a second, I panicked, gasping and trying to lift my paws up to grab at the bandage.

But there was a paw holding my left one, and my jerking caused a light snort, then gasp somewhere to my left.  ``Bro!  You're awake!''  I froze at that, even as paws grabbed my own and pulled them back downwards again.  Exia...?  Had she been... asleep?

``E-Exia?  I can't...  I can't see anything.  My eyes are stuck!''  I couldn't see her in the dark, and I suddenly felt... nervous.  Vulnerable.  I didn't know where I was or what time it was or what had happened or anything really!

There was a shift, and I gave a little jump before a familiar weight settled against my chest, and her scents drifted into my nose.  ``Shhh.  It's okay, Exes.  They put some sort of gel or something in your eyes to help heal you.  The guards brought you to the palace medical ward.  That's where you are right now...''

The memories came rushing back to me.  The research in the suitcase in the library...  The music box, and the device I put together to listen to it...  I shivered, paws sliding around her back and feeling the cloth of her tunic.  ``I...  I remember now.  Is it... bad?''

There were pawsteps, however, and I felt Exia shift on top of me, just slightly.  I frowned, ears lifting, but there was a pause.  A moment later, Calien's voice drifted to me instead.  ``Ah, I thought I'd heard voices.  You gave us quite the scare, Exes.  I'll send for the nurses and medical mage again...''

I frowned at that, looking in the general direction I heard her in, only to hear rustling of fabric instead, a little further to the left.  ``Before they get here though... what happened?  Your injuries were caused by True Alchemy, weren't they?  And you were in the suitcase, so... was it the book?''

I paused before sighing.  ``No, not the book.  I was researching the book and discovered something else.  That... led me to doing a different experiment on the True Alchemy goggles.  It uh, didn't go so good though.''

Another pause.  Hesitation, maybe.  ``What did you find?  Did it involve... sound?  The medical mage said it was like you were suddenly caught up in an extremely loud but somehow targeted noise or vibration.  It ruptured your ear drums, and a plethora of blood vessels in your nose and eyes...''  That... explained a lot, yeah.

I nodded again.  ``I discovered a sound.  Music, actually.  It's what caused the goggles to function... but I made the mistake of trying to listen to the actual music myself.  I was... careless.''

She sighed.  ``I see...  You need to be more careful, Exes.  This is what I was worried about with the book...  Thankfully your injuries aren't bad, but...  The medical mage can probably explain more.  Everything's probably regenerated by now, but you gave us a scare.''

So, I had regenerative gel coating my eyes.  It would have to be washed with a solvent to clean out.  I really hoped that was the full extent of what I'd just done to myself, anyway.  I gave a little sigh.  Well, I'd at least gotten some information anyway.  ``I did at least get more information on the book...''  There was a pause after that, and I felt Exia shift on top of me before her head rested against my chest.  Mmm.

``Oh?  I was wondering how it led to the goggles.  I knew they had something to do with True Alchemy but I never knew what.''  I was surprised she wasn't more informed there.

``They let you read Demonic.  But...  Their diagram was in the book.  It's not just an instruction manual on the Keyhole.  I think it's something... bigger.  It's got some serious enchantments on it.  The pages shift and change, and it seems to read my intent on what to find in it.''

Exia lifted her head at that again.  ``Your intent?  Like, it reads your mind?''

I nodded to her.  ``Yeah.  When I turn a page, what I want to find seems to be on the next page.  There doesn't... seem to be an end to the pages, but I don't know how extensive it is.  Kinda screwed up before I could test it further...''

Calien made a humming noise.  ``While the dangers are definitely there, I... can't honestly say we should stop the research of it.  We've always had very little information on anything to do with True Alchemy.''  Slowly, I nodded, but she kept going of course.  ``But from now on, do experiments like that outside of the suitcase, and with people on standby.  You and your health are far more important, Exes.''  She... actually did sound like she was personally worried for me, which only made her scolding sting all the more as I lowered my ears again and nodded.

I felt Exia nuzzle my cheek.  ``Yeah, I don't want anything bad to happen to you, bro.''  I tried to nuzzle back, but frustratingly got air, until she used her paws to turn my head.  I felt her lips against mine after and pressed into the kiss, paws gently sliding over her back as she gave a shiver.

But there was more pawsteps after that.  We split apart as I felt her look to the left again, but the voice sounded out first.  ``Ah, you're awake then, Grandmaster.  I'm the medical mage that was working on you.''  It was a male's voice, but other than that, I didn't recognize it or the scents from him at all.

``You did quite a number on yourself.  A lot of ruptured blood vessels for the most part, as well as some intercranial swelling we used medicine to lower.  Otherwise, I was only able to apply the topical regeneration and a broad-spectrum blood restoration tincture.''

Calien spoke up after.  ``Is this going to interfere with the coronation tomorrow?''  Oh, right.  I'd... forgotten about that bit.

``No, if his eyes look good, he should be fine.  That's the only thing we're waiting on at this point.''  Exia leaned back a little, and I felt paws slide to the back of my head, undoing the bandage around them with that.

I just held still and let him get the bandages off me.  ``I think the gel's going to need dissolution.''

``Yeah, I figured it would.  I brought some along just in case... ah, yup.  It's crusted under your eyelashes.''  I shivered a little as I felt his paws touching under my eyes, but forced myself to stay still.

It was a pretty simple process.  He gently sprayed the warm alchemical solution bit by bit against my eyes while slowly opening the lids, washing away the gel underneath.  It was an odd sensation but not unpleasant anyway, minus the instinctive urge to blink and get the fluid out of my eyes.  As he lifted them, I started to see light, then color, albeit distorted.  The more the gel was washed away, the clearer it got, thankfully.  Ah, he was an Inaga!

He frowned about halfway through washing the gel on my left eye, though.  ``Oh, you don't have to channel mana or anything for this...''  Huh?

``What do you mean...?''  I checked myself after and indeed, I wasn't channeling it currently.  That caused him to freeze for a moment, then lean in closer to the eye that was mostly washed.  That's when I... noticed some things.  My ears perked up, that eye widening a little.  ``Uh... Medical Mage Yinkar?''  He had... a name floating over his head.

He gave a start at that, eyes widening.  ``Uh... yes?  Wait, you know me?''  Uh oh.  I looked him over, realizing I could see a lot more than that.  Everywhere I focused gave me new information.  His age, his coloration, the exact alchemical formula needed to get his eye color, respiration status and timing for his breathing, how far away he was from me...  I shuddered.  It was dizzying if I paid too much attention to it!  What was all this?!

``Um, n-no, I don't.  Or didn't...  I think I may have goofed up more than I realized...''  Sis frowned to the right, and Calien stood again, looking now as well.

Yinkar nodded slowly to me, looking my eye over again.  ``It's glowing with your mana color.  Further there's... a ring of something around your pupil that's shifting about.''  Crap.

Calien gave me a solid stare at that.  ``True Alchemy stuff, Exes?''  I nodded to her, and she sighed.

The mage's muzzle scrunched, and he nodded.  ``I uh, won't ask then.  That'll have to be up to you to figure out.  I take it you're not actually channeling?''  I shook my head, at least.  Well, this was... a new development.

While he cleaned out the rest of the gunk, I became very distracted looking Exia over instead.  Her name was over her head too, as well as a word under it that was long and clearly in Demonic.  Extremely long.  I didn't know what that bit was for.  But wherever I looked, it would give me... information on what I was looking at, based on what I was thinking about.  What had caused this?  The goggles didn't do this!

My other eye was exactly the same, only now offering information in three dimensions instead of two.  He got me a mirror after he was done getting the gel out, and I looked my eyes over with interest.  Both were now radiant blue in color instead of just normal blue.  Circular lines were around both pupils, and shifting runes filling the band that formed.  It was... both distracting and extremely visible, which unnerved me.

I wasn't channeling though, or pushing mana into my eyes.  They were just... doing this!  The Inaga mage backed up a bit and nodded as he gave me one more look-over, his own eyes glowing, though with obvious magic.  My eyes even labeled the spell he was using as a scanner.  Wait... this was like the advanced True Alchemy detection enchantment!  But instead of hooking it up to an illusion, it was feeding it right into my eyes!  And... giving me a bit more information than even it did.

``Well, other than the glowing rune thing going on with his eyes, he's fully healed.  Any spots or distortions or blurring?''

I shook my head to that.  Nope.  Just eldritch writing giving me information about everything I looked at.  I don't think he had medicine for that though.  ``No, my... vision is fine.''

He smiled, then gave a little bow.  ``Well, happy to be of service.  I'm going back to my room now if you need me.  Don't want to accidentally hear anything outside my pay grade.''  Heh.  With that, he padded off and out of the room we were in again.  Which was definitely the medical ward of the palace.  It was small but obviously just a stopgap measure for the hospital if that much was needed.

Calien waited for him to leave before dropping a silence ward over the room.  I saw what she was casting before she fully cast it, too.  ``So, I take it, it's more than visual?''

I nodded to her.  ``I'm not channeling.  I can't... turn off the effect, I don't think.  It's like... my vision is constantly being affected by the True Alchemy scan effect.  I can see information floating around and over things...  Like his name floating over his head...''  She frowned at that, even as I formed magic in my right paw, weaving together a scanner again.  The first one went on the side of my chest, just to the right of my Keyhole.  The second I wove after, then used the mirror I still held to place directly onto my right eye.  The medical mage should have done this before leaving...

There wasn't even a nudge happening to my vita levels, that much I could be certain.  The chest scan started feeding information back that showed everything was happy and healthy inside of me.  Hmm.  It was a little annoying that my eyes gave me information about the illusion screen I'd made, though.  The eye scan, disturbingly enough, also came back completely negative though.  There was nothing physically altered with the eye at all, except for evidence of it recovering from some damage.

``There's nothing physically altered with the eye, and this isn't draining my vita.  I'm going to leave the chest scan up for now just in case, but if nothing's changed with my eye...''

Slowly, Calien nodded at that, frowning deeper.  ``If it's not your eye, it's either your mind or your soul.  Both are... concerning.  Music did this when you listened to it?''

I gave a low whistle.  ``It felt like it did a lot more.  I really started seeing things for a bit, before my ward kicked in and pulled me out of the effect.  Then my pain nerves caught up with the rest of me...''

Exia winced on top of me, then nodded.  ``A ward?  It's good you were protecting yourself anyway.  Who knows what would have happened if you'd gotten stuck listening to it!''  Yeah...  Yeah.  That could have been bad if I'd been listening to it until the music box ran out of power.

I canceled the eye scan and sighed, looking at my own eyes again in the mirror.  While getting visual information about the mirror.  Damn it.  Why did True Alchemy have to work so literally, yet so vaguely at the same time?!  ``Yeah, at least until the music box ran out.  I'd probably have been in a lot worse of shape at the very least...''

Calien nodded slowly.  ``Protections saved you there, so you were definitely right to use them.  We moved your suitcase back to your room, by the way.  You should probably try to get some rest though.  It's two in the morning.''  Oh, that's probably why the mage wanted to leave so quickly.  I'd probably woken him up...

I returned her nod, even as Exia hopped off me, then helped me get up and out of the hospital bed.  ``I... yeah.  If we're going to do the coronation tomorrow morning, I'd better get some rest then...''  Exia perked and grinned, and I huffed, giving her a pointed stare.  ``Rest!  We can have fun after the coronation!''  And muzzle scrunch with pout.

The queen snickered as she watched us, but nodded.  ``Indeed.  Let him rest tonight.  He needs to heal fully and be energized for tomorrow.  Mmm, though you two kind of make me wish I had a mate myself!''

Exia perked her ears curiously at that, dawning realization on her expression.  ``Oh!  That's right...  There's no king or anything...  Or kings?''

The queen snickered at that, then shook her head.  ``Prince consorts.  I'd still be ruling even if I had male mates.  At least in our current government.  We're going to have to make significant changes in the future to accommodate our new instincts, I suspect.''  I nodded to that.  There was really no avoiding that much.

But Exia's curiosity was almost as immense as my own, sometimes.  Unfortunate, really, when we were together.  Her head tilted.  ``But... Nara...?  She looks a lot like you!  I don't think she could be adopted, could she?''  Uh...  My muzzle scrunched at that too, and I shot Exia a chiding look.

``Uh, that's a bit personal, Exia...''  She pouted, but surprisingly, Calien checked the silence ward first before slowly nodding.

``Who Nara's father is, isn't public knowledge.  But she is my daughter.  I'll simply state that... well...  Chronak and I have had a very hot and cold relationship in the past.''  And my tongue got all wound up in my muzzle again, almost to the point of gagging.

Both our eyes widened to her at that, and she gave a little chuckle, then seemingly decided to explain further.  ``Chronak was actually seeing me, romantically, before he was the Grandmaster.  Our... first heated breaking off was because he chose to become the Grandmaster, at his master's request.  I... felt betrayed.  I'd known what it did to his lifespan and... well, I was just a little kit then.''  My ears lowered a bit at that.

``I'm sorry, Calien.  I didn't realize...''  She shook her head, however.

``No, it was a long time ago, Exes.  After that, he left Larid over differences of ideals when I came into power.  I wanted to slow down the shifting of our people into their original state, to make it seem natural and stop the unstable political environment we're currently going through.  He didn't trust me to follow through on it after he repaired the patches though.  Well, he didn't trust me at all anymore, after I broke if off with him.  We were both young and let feelings get in the way.''  That was...  That made a lot more things make sense, now.

She shrugged after.  ``I... had tried to patch things up with Chronak several times afterwards.  A few times I think I almost succeeded.  We were able to focus on happier things anyway, and better memories.  One of the times, thirteen years ago now, I ended up with Nara.  I've not exactly had many sexual partners, but he's definitely her father, and knew as much.  Nara doesn't, though.  Please... don't tell her.  Not yet...''

We both nodded.  Getting told who her dad was, having known him all along, and then having him be already dead was going to suck already.  She relaxed and smiled to us, but I gave her a low head dip.  ``We won't tell anyone, Calien.  Don't worry.  That... makes a lot more things make sense though...''

She relaxed, smiling fully at that before nodding.  ``Thank you.  I'm... still a person, even if I'm the queen.  Chronak passing was... difficult, but my feelings had long since tempered, for him.  I'd like to think we were at least... somewhat vitriolic friends at the end.  Maybe we can be more again in the next life, wherever that is.  But we'll see...''  Definitely not mentioning the dark, frozen place, and its field of corpses.  Nope.

Exia grinned and nodded rapidly.  ``Yeah!  I mean, I'm sure you'll eventually be able to patch things up, when you don't have to worry about having time limits.  Not that I'm going to let it stop Exes and I!''  My right ear perked towards her at that, and I turned just in time for her to snuggle up against my right side, giving my cheek a nuzzle.  Calien gave another snicker, but Exia shot me a wink afterwards, which caused me to tilt my head.

``Of course, my... instincts are telling me that one-off times are also totally fine for my alpha...''  Hmm?

I lifted an eyebrow to her at that.  ``One-off times?  What do you mean?''  Her grin widened and I instantly regretted asking.

``You know, bringing other females home for you to play with for a night with us!  You should totally offer!  I bet it's been a really long time since Calien's gotten to just relax...''  Uh!  My eyes widened at that, as did Calien's, who suddenly got a little pink flush to her cheeks.

She coughed, then averted her gaze sharply away from us.  ``That's not...  I mean, it may have but that's...  Hum.  I wouldn't impose upon Exes like that anyway.  But you two should really go to bed!''  Admittedly, I'd never seen her flustered quite like that, especially with her hasty topic shift.

Exia grinned, but I rolled my eyes and pulled her to the side, causing her to give a startled chitter.  ``Come on, Exia.  There's no way Calien's going to be interested in that with me.  You're just making her feel awkward.''  She pouted again as I pulled her to the door instead.

Calien paused, opening her muzzle as she looked towards us, with a paw slightly raised.  But nothing came out and she lowered the paw again, frowning for a split second before relaxing once more.  ``Mmm, right.  Sleep well, you two!  Remember, sleeping!''

``I knooooow!''  Exia gave a low whine as I pulled her towards the exit of the medical ward instead.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~


Everyone had already passed out when we got back to the room, so Exia and I quietly put ourselves to bed.  Of course, I checked my scanner before we did, and my biometrics were all solidly green.  My vita wasn't lowering at all, which either meant my eyes were using so little energy that my natural regeneration was keeping up with it, or they weren't using energy at all... which didn't make any sense.  I thought I'd at least be able to detect a definite drain, or activation of the Keyhole, but no.

Breakfast was a hearty affair, and Mom had invited us down to the cafeteria to eat as a whole family, which was nice.  I was also afforded enough time before the coronation ceremony to peek into Chronak's journal again.  I thought I'd seen something in the notes about defenses and security, and I'd been correct.  He had another word in there for me to learn.  Seal.

I'd passed over it before.  It had quite a lot of security uses, but I wasn't focusing on security yet until I'd gotten the basics of protections down.  Now though...  There was a use specifically when I applied it to myself.  Or more importantly, to the Keyhole on my chest.  

I looked myself over in the full-length mirror at the temple changing room.  No Key was visible on my chest, and my eyes looked entirely normal.  Not even a glow.  Of course, by sealing the Key, which also shifted my eyes back, I lost the ability to use the upgraded information vision.  But it barely cost any vita to do the seals, and it cost even less to undo the seal afterwards, and it was a way to hide the effects.  I'd found I was... self-conscious of how weird my eyes looked this morning, and determined to find a way to at least suppress the effects.

Of course, the second I used True Alchemy, all the seals would be undone anyway.  It wasn't possible to outright seal the Keyhole.  Chronak's notes had sounded a bit disappointed in that it didn't stop the vita decay, and was largely just for visually suppressing the appearance.  I'd taken a shot in the dark on if it would affect my eyes too, and was pleasantly surprised to see that it had.  So, my eye changes were linked to the Keyhole.  It honestly didn't surprise me.

The door cracked open, and Melanue peeked in, smiling to me.  ``We're almost set for the ceremony, Exes.  How goes dressing?''  She was the priestess before, and the newly instated head priestess of the Earth Mother.  Age seventeen.  Had an actual link with her patron deity within her, which was very interesting to visually see using my eyes when I'd arrived earlier.  But priestess.  All priests and priestesses had a link to one of the four Gods in the Great Beyond, in order to facilitate communion with them using magic.

``Procrastinating putting on the hot stuff as long as possible...''  I was standing there in just the shorts, with the robe still resting on the stand.

She grinned, eyes roaming me up and down rather blatantly before winking.  ``Not that I mind, but you really should get dressed.  Plus, they put thermal enchantments on the robe, so you should be better off today.''  Tch, fine.  The flirty I contributed to her profession, however.  Earth Mother priestesses were indeed big on the breeding and sex bits.

Then there was her other profession apparently.  I was surprised to note I had her contact information in the Realmsguard listing.  She was the fourth and final member in Laridia at the moment.  The only member if Lilita, Annah, and Kyry weren't here too for now.  I'd asked her about it in the changing room after throwing up a silence ward, and she explained she was a diviner for the order.  While Morrigan herself had a link to the Queen of Magic, she was their link to the Earth Mother.  She was also a divining specialist in general, and quite good at magical augury of all types.

The robes indeed felt cooler after I put them on, stole included.  I looked myself over in the mirror from all sides, then exhaled.  This made me look oddly like a priest myself.  Certainly not the scientist I more considered the Grandmaster Alchemist position to be.  But ceremonies were just that.  A lot of grandstanding that I was doing for other people, to give the illusion that everything was going according to plan and tradition.

Melanue perked, then smiled my way as I exited the dressing area into the preparation room again.  It was located behind the altar, and giant room filled with benches.  I could hear the talking even from here, of everyone gathered on the other side of the wall for the ceremony.  I was admittedly... more than a little nervous, but thankfully I didn't have any speaking parts.  I'd just be expected to get lots of mana images taken afterwards.

After she was done straightening out my clothes, Melanue gave me a nod, then turned and headed out the door and into the main chamber.  Well, this was it then.  Everyone else was already in position and out there.  My ears flicked, and I steeled my nerves before slowly following after her myself.  Exir and Exia were to either side of the door when I stepped out, and they shifted to following after me seamlessly as I moved.  Follow Melanue as she approached the lectern, until I was three meters away, then turn right...

I slid to a stop and rotated, facing the audience now who were rapidly quieting in order to watch.  The room sat five hundred, and every position was full, as well as extra chairs along the sidelines and back.  Mom grinned from the front row, sitting next to Calien, Nara, and Feeari on one side, and Niva, Yimir, and Kada on the other.  They all watched eagerly, though Mom looked outright proud now.  It was nice to see.

Speeches were always painful to listen to, and even more agonizing to stand through.  Melanue's was directly from the ceremony book in front of her, and well-paced, but still overly long.  Once I got adjusted to just standing there, I quickly started to grow bored instead, while trying to keep my mind off how my knees and thighs were starting to ache.  My leg wasn't built for this, despite the brace making it easier.  Still, it would probably set a poor precedent if I pulled a book out and started reading while waiting.

I almost missed my verbal cue.  I'd been zoning out pretty hard by the time she got to the `carrying the light of enlightenment into the future' bit.  One-eighty turn, walk towards the back wall, level out with the altar and turn ninety to the right...  Walk to the front of the alter and turn ninety to the left, facing it...  Then take the giant and overly smelly brazier off the altar.  The oils in it almost immediately made me lightheaded, but I managed to turn around properly and face the audience again.

``And thus, I introduce Grandmaster Exes, as he officially takes his place as Aion's Grandmaster Alchemist!''  Melanue smiled as she said it, and I walked forward with that, smiling myself as I set the brazier down, right front and center, in the indentation on the stage.  Clapping and cheers broke out, then exploded as I touched my paws together, releasing the seal on my Keyhole.  The tingle came to my eyes, and blue glow into my paws as I stayed kneeled there in front of the brazier.

Melanue grinned and gave me a nod, and I returned it before lowering my paws down towards the edges of the brazier.  Then I stopped, mind halfway through forming the inner words to activate the ignite True Alchemy.  I just stared into the brown liquid, flickering words dancing in my vision.  ...enhanced alchemical combustion fuel...?  This wasn't alchemical lamp oil.

The applause slowed, then died down entirely as Melanue frowned to my right.  ``Grandmaster...?  You're supposed to...''  She trailed off, looking surprised instead as I stood, then took a few steps back and away from the brazier.  Combustion fuel was for our train system, as a hyper-condensed fuel source that could be burned for a long time.  If the brazier was filled with that...  Exir and Exia frowned towards me as well when I moved right in line with them instead.

``Burn, Jungle freak!''  It was suddenly screamed out from the isle right in front of us.  My eyes widened, snapping up to see a single Inaga having stepped out into the isle, leveling a light crossbow aimed right for the brazier!  She fired a second later, the bolt igniting as it launched.  Exir had already dove forward, shield snapping into position and flaring with green light.

The barrier pulsed over the three of us, even as I lifted up both my paws, Speed activating in layers in my mind.  Everything slowed to a crawl as there was a blinding flash of light in front of us, and more words screamed into my head.  Meta Area Explosion, Stasis!  The shockwave shattered around us on the stage, conforming to the edge of Exir's shield, even as Melanue screamed in slow motion, being lifted sideways away from the lectern, flames dancing off her robes and fur.  Then, everything froze.  I shuddered, feeling the hit immediately to my vita, as blue energy danced out from my outstretched paws, weaving around the explosion and locking everything in place in that instant.

Exia was gone in a golden flicker a moment later, clearly snapping out of it as she moved in, neatly picking Melanue right out of the air where she was frozen, and vanishing back behind the barrier with her an instant afterwards.  Slowly, Exir looked back to me, nodding as I focused, then pushed my paws together.

It wasn't caused by True Alchemy, so I couldn't rewind it.  But I could stop it from hurting anyone.  Meta Area Prior, Slow Focused, Condense.  Another drain, and I shuddered, momentarily staggering for a second until Exia grabbed my arm to steady me.  At my focus, I pushed inwards, paws forming dancing runes in the air around them as I pushed them together, using the visual aid to condense the shockwave from the explosion in reverse, collapsing it back in upon itself.

Bits of the stage that were blown free slowed in midair, then pulled backwards a little as the shockwave went over them a second time, but in reverse.  People were starting to scream in the audience, with several scrambling and beginning to run, even as I touched my paws together, and the explosion pulled inwards, collapsing into an orb of white-hot heat over the warped remains of the stage and melted brazier.

I released Speed finally, exhaling and breathing hard now as I let my left arm lower.  Just my right stayed focused on the orb of heat, palm-first.  Guards were already absolutely flooding the church, with waves of green vita extending and stopping people from rushing, locking them down as guards directed them to lower to the floor instead.  The Inaga with the crossbow was already been dropped, with Mom holding her unconscious form to the floor.

Pulling my paw back, I did about the only thing I could think of.  I aimed to the right instead, and released my mental command with my paw aimed right for the open vent window near the ceiling.  The white-hot orb of flames cleared over a hundred meters from the church, heading for open sky, before it wavered and exploded again.  By then, it sounded like an overly loud firework going off, giving the windows a bit of a shake, but otherwise not exploding right against the front row of the audience.  Fuck!

I collapsed onto my knees, panting behind Exir as he turned and covered us more directly with his barrier, holding me with the other arm.  Exia slid the wincing and shivering Melanue in with us, frowning as she looked over the injured priestess.  What the fuck?!  How'd they even sneak that in here?!  My attention turned to Melanue, however, instead.  I was still breathing hard, but I managed to conjure regular mana up again fairly easily, and put several scanners down on her, one at a time.

She winced, eyes opening slowly again, then focusing on me as I knelt over her.  The shockwave itself had hit her hard and disoriented her, and I saw some light blistering from the heat, focused around her ears and nose, but otherwise she was perfectly fine.  By stasising her in midair like that, it looks like I'd prevented most of the effects of getting caught in that...

Mom joined the guards on stage, locking things down hard in multiple layers of vita and magic.  The entire first row of the audience had been `special guests', including the queen, so they were pulled into the defenses too, before we were motioned to instead evacuate through the back, side door.  Well, this had gotten fucked, fast...

~ ~ ~ ~ ~


The female was a city marksman trainer, working for the guard.  Several members of the guard were in on it, as well as an alchemist, who'd made the fuel for them to use.  They were all radical members of the Male Traditionalist movement, who'd heard about me being an `abnormal' male and feared my political power.  It had been an attempt to kill me, and hopefully wipe out the `traitor' Queen Calien at the same time, for being sympathetic to the abnormal males.

The Male Traditionalists denied any involvement, and immediately publicly condemned the actions taken at the coronation.  No real surprise there.  We were all moved to the hospital for some extremely high security medical examinations before being released back to the palace instead.  I was...  None of what had happened was really fully registering, I don't think.  It felt the same as after we'd fled the tribe.  I saw and knew what happened but it just...  It didn't feel real.

Somehow, nobody died.  There were light injuries for some of the first row, from a bit of wood shrapnel that I hadn't caught in my condensing effect.  Nothing more major than some bruising and scratches there, though.  Melanue had gotten treated for her burns almost immediately.  Calien suffered a scratch on the cheek and had a new earring piercing, if she wanted to make use of it...  Mercifully, Yimir and Kada were perfectly fine.  Kada had absolutely lightning reaction time, undoubtedly honed from years and years of playing on the PEC, and had actually tackled Yimir sideways, managing to avoid the spray of wood for both of them.  Nara got a light nick to her forehead.

All six members of the attempted assassination were now arrested, and a full investigation was ongoing.  I just listened quietly as Calien explained everything and caught us up on what was happening, with all of us flopped in various locations of the lounge now.  Yimir, Kada, and Exia were keeping extremely close to me, with Exia snuggled right into my front this time as we both lay sideways on one of the couches.

``On top of the investigation, I'll also be running a full sweep of security.  Again.  The three guards involved were regular, town guards, but still...  Clearly someone dropped the ball somewhere.''  Calien sighed, sagging back into her armchair as she tossed the stack of papers onto the tea table, then winced and rubbed at her bandaged ear.

Exir sighed, then shook his head where he was resting on the other sofa with Niva.  ``I'd like to know how they swapped that shit out.  They made it almost perfect, changing the color and smell to smell like lamp oil.  The priestess didn't even notice when she poured it...''

There was so much blind luck involved in everyone still being alive today that it was kind of scary.  Now, I was extremely thankful for my newly upgraded eyesight...  I wished I'd reacted faster and warned Melanue away from the brazier, but other than that, it...  That was the only reason I didn't just ignite the fuel myself!

Niva shivered, then slowly shook her head, snuggling into Exir's arms a bit more.  ``It's going to be a serious media shitshow.  I mean... we can probably spin what Exes did as magic but... it was still an assassination attempt.''

Calien nodded at that.  ``Nobody died, and that's the important bit.  Intentionally focusing on that part of Exes' actions should... blunt people asking questions anyway.  It's not the first time a Grandmaster has had to publicly use True Alchemy before.  Still...''  She paused at that, then smiled a little to herself before looking up at me instead.  ``I... thank you, Exes.  It hasn't really been said yet but you saved everyone from the explosion.  Everyone in the front row, and Priestess Melanue, would probably be dead if you hadn't done that.  You saved our lives.''  Nara nodded rapidly where she sat on the floor in front of Calien's chair, and Feeari eyed me rather intensely, looking a bit shaken herself.

I flushed a little but still felt... tired really.  Both from the exertion and the shock of it all.  I managed a slow nod, anyway.  ``It... was probably the most I've done with True Alchemy yet.  Sorry if I'm a little out of it, but it kind of took it out of me...''

Yimir leaned down and nuzzled my cheek, and I felt Kada snuggle a bit more into my back.  This was... nice though.  Exir grinned to us, then nodded too.  ``Damn straight.  I'm nowhere near trained enough to where I can stop something like that with a vita technique, like the twins probably could have...  You saved everyone, and totally deserve some rest now!''  Could they really have stopped that...?

``Yes, you do.''  Calien gave a nod to that, then looked to her right, towards a maid near the door.  ``Actually, I should order us all some lunch.  I think that would help us calm down and get Exes some energy back.  Oh, and get out of those robes.  They can't be comfortable...''

Robes?  I blinked once, then looked down at the ceremonial garb I was still wearing.  Oh, right.  I'd completely forgot I never took them off or changed.  ...fuck it.  I burrowed into the robes instead, tucking inside them before simply worming my way out the underside, leaving myself in just my shorts while Kada balled up the robes and tossed them under the tea table.  Then resumed snuggling me with everyone else.  Mom snickered as she watched, then moved over to join us, resting against Exia and I while we waited for food...

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