The Storm King

“I’m sure you two have much to discuss,” the tau said as he sat between Leon and the Keeper of the Sentinels.

The three were alone, Leon’s family, the Director, and Penelope having given the room upon the tau’s request for privacy. Leon wasn’t yet sure if he was happy for the privacy or not—regardless, he was extremely wary of having a tenth-tier mage on Silver Spear who had tried to kill him before.

“Let’s start with how you two got onto my ark?” Leon said through nearly clenched teeth. “Had you let me know beforehand, I could’ve arranged better accommodations.”

‘And less vital, should violence break out,’ he bitterly thought.

“It’s easy enough to ask someone if they prove amenable enough,” the tau replied, Keeper seemingly content with letting the bird-in-human-form speak for the time being. “We come under the banner of peace, Leon, I assure you. I will not allow violence of any sort to break out between us. No matter who starts it, I will take Keeper here away from your ark.”

“I have half a mind to toss a couple sparks,” Leon muttered. With a grin, he added, “That wouldn’t be so productive, though. So let’s get down to business. You said you’re having us meet for the purpose of peace?”

“Yes,” the tau confirmed. “I want to end the violence between your two peoples.”

Leon fixed his golden gaze on Keeper, who sat in his shapeless brown robes with his eyes closed, yet still clearly tracking Leon’s movements with his eyes—among other senses.

“Is that what you want?” Leon asked him. “Or are you being forced into something that you don’t agree with?”

Now directly addressed, Keeper finally spoke. “I value peace greatly,” he rumbled. “That is why I have ever opposed the Sky Devils that you have taken as your own. Your Clan and all those that followed you have been a destabilizing influence on Aeterna ever since you first arrived, never once ceasing.”

“And you have always violently resisted them?” Leon asked a tad mockingly.

“I have only ever used violence when necessary,” Keeper responded. “Your new subjects have always made it necessary.”

“Was it ‘necessary’ to attack my home and nearly kill my family before I’d ever done anything to you?” Leon growled, killing intent starting to leak from his body. “What crime was I guilty of then, other than the crime of my birth?”

Keeper’s pupilless eyes cracked open and killing intent began to emanate from him to match Leon’s.

“It is unfortunate that peace and stability can only be maintained with the deaths of certain people who may have never committed crimes themselves, but through their very existence, perpetuate death and suffering.”

Leon glared at Keeper, barely resisting the urge to perpetuate some death and suffering onto him, until the tau stepped in front of them, keeping them from directly staring at each other.

“Now, now,” the tau said in a grandfatherly tone, “that kind of talk will get us nowhere. Surely you both must realize that this conflict must end, no? It cannot be continued forever. Indeed, what we have here is a historic moment: the first moment when a King of the ‘Sky Devils’ made alliances with two of the great Empires of Aeterna, and made peace with a third. Let us not be mired in threatening exchanges and establish a baseline: what is best for all the people of Aeterna, no matter how you quantify that, is peace.”

Leon smirked mockingly as he leaned back in his chair just enough to let one eye see past the tau. “If I didn’t already believe that, I wouldn’t have made peace with the Sunlit Empire; I would’ve destroyed it completely.”

“And that is immensely promising!” the tau exclaimed. “Don’t you agree, Keeper?”

Keeper sat in his seat for a long moment, looking at Leon like he was only just this side of sulking. “Peace,” he finally said, “ought to be celebrated wherever it breaks out.”

“And you’re having trouble accepting that it was me who established this peace, aren’t you?” Leon jeered. “You speak of peace, yet you sit there barely able to contain your pouting that you aren’t being allowed to try and turn Kataigida into the plane’s largest graveyard. It’s all right to admit, you know—that you want to murder my entire Kingdom because you don’t like us. I won’t judge you; if anything, I’d respect you more for being truer to yourself.”

Leon paused as a sly look crept across his face.

“But if you were to act on that dislike… then we’d have a problem.”

“I do not wish for the deaths of anyone,” Keeper declared.

“That would be a neat trick,” Leon smirkingly replied. “I plan on achieving Apotheosis and taking all of my people away; you’d have to follow if you wanted to make good on that threat.”

Keeper blinked in apparent surprise.

“Right,” Leon said. “Did I forget to mention that? No matter what, my Kingdom and I are only a temporary problem. We’re going to leave this plane just as soon as we’re capable. You can have the whole thing back, as far as we’re concerned.”

“That… that’s impossible,” Keeper declared with a scowl.

“We have our ways,” Leon responded. “Don’t forget who you’re talking to; my Clan came here from a different plane in the first place, and we’re getting ready to regain that capability. Just as soon as we have it, we’re gone. We’re out. We’re leaving.”

Keeper sighed, and then his stony face relaxed ever so slightly. “Fine. Fine. I will return to the east and you can show me your sincerity. If you pull out of Argos and leave none of your people behind, I will consider us to be at peace. Never return, and that opinion won’t change.”

“Heh. I’ll have to come back at some point. Business in Occulara, Ilion, Evergold. Probably parties in all three places.” Leon’s eyes narrowed. “If we manage to secure peace for long enough, I might even ask you for permission to visit my Clan’s old palaces in your territory.”

“Never,” Keeper stated.

Leon clenched his teeth. “So be it. I’ll just steer clear of your lands entirely. Probably for the best.”

Silence fell for a moment before Keeper quietly asked, “What would you seek access to those ruins? Nothing has stirred within them in thousands of years.”

Leon clicked his tongue and answered, “Call me sentimental; I just want to see them. I mean, there is the remote possibility that some tools I’d like to get are there too, but really I just want to see the place. To stand in the ruins of history and wonder at the past. To connect with my lineage and try to correct their mistakes. I don’t want to get too sappy, so I’ll leave it there.”

Keeper regarded him coldly for several long seconds. “That… can be discussed later,” he said. “Until then, show me your sincerity in desiring peace. I will not demand you personally refrain from coming to Aeterna—not that my word means much in other Empires… But I will demand that your armies remain behind. I will object to any arks other than this one that you may use as transport. An escorting party of no larger than two hundred and fifty.”

Leon envisioned slapping Keeper in the face, the sound of his palm meeting the man’s cheek echoing throughout the entire ark. It was a satisfying indulgence in the face of the man’s borderline outrageous demands, but one that remained, to his dejection, mere fantasy.

“It’s not like I was going to bring much more than that anyway,” he said, though he was already making plans to bring an escort of two hundred and sixty the next time he found himself visiting an Aeternan city. He’d abide by the spiritual terms of their peace agreement, though he’d push against the letter of the agreement if only to show the Keeper that he couldn’t just dictate such terms to him.

“Then it sounds like we have an agreement,” the tau exclaimed. “Brilliant! Wonderful! I didn’t even have to resort to using magic! I love it when everyone gets on the same page and agrees not to kill each other! It doesn’t happen nearly as often as anyone would hope it does!”

“As much as the tau are venerated,” Keeper said, “I will reserve my judgment on this decision for later.” He rose from his seat and bowed to the tau. “Thank you for bringing me here. And… giving me… perspective. But I will now return to my Sentinels and inform them of my decision. We will ready ourselves to deploy… just in case.” He punctuated his statement with a glance at Leon, who smilingly met it as he leisurely rose from his own seat.

“I’ll be keeping an eye on you just as much,” Leon said. He then held out his hand in a less domineering and far more cooperative manner than he had with Arcaion not long ago. “Until next time, Keeper.”

Keeper stared at Leon’s hand for a few seconds before reaching out and clasping Leon’s wrist. Each of them kept a tight grip, though neither made a competition out of it. After a moment, they mutually loosened their grip, and Leon watched Keeper leave the room.

“I must go with him,” the tau said apologetically. “I will escort him back to the Sentinels. When I’m finished, I will return, and we can speak at length.” He smiled broadly and unabashedly. “This has been such a productive day! I’m honestly thrilled at how little I had to do!”

“Mm. Great. We’re all thrilled at how little you had to do,” Leon said sarcastically. His expression then turned serious, and he added, “But really, thanks for bringing him here and speaking when you did. This probably wouldn’t have been possible without the efforts you made to make this happen. Thank you.”

The tau bowed. “I will see you soon, King Leon.”

“And I will see you soon, too. Maybe then you can tell me your actual name—or at least, give me one to use.”

“Maybe I will…” the tau said noncommittally as he made to follow Keeper. At the door, he paused just long enough to bow slightly before taking his leave.

And once he left and Leon was left alone, he collapsed into his chair, utterly exhausted, yet strangely invigorated. A smile broke out across his face as he contemplated what had happened in the past few days. His Kingdom was now officially at peace with the Sunlit Empire and had something that looked a lot like peace with the Sentinels.

He felt great and couldn’t wait to get back to Stormhollow.

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