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Getting back to Sunspire was pretty straight forwards, they went back to the camp just within the borders of the infested forest and the Striders were there waiting for them by their tent. Without having to say much they were able to leave the forest. The whole way back, Micha'el wasn't quite sure how to feel. He was still angry, but he was also relieved. He was angry that Tsuna had used herself as a suicide bomb on not one but several occasions. He was also relieved however that Aurelius was destroyed, he didn't believe for one second even he would survive a fall like that after being crushed by debris. All the while however, he had been wondering what the twins were up to. They hadn't seen them since this morning, and they never turned up at the tower, nor did Landaras ever mention anything about that after his initial thoughts about the two. He had a feeling he'd be seeing them soon though. When they emerged from the forest and into the vale it was refreshing to feel the warm sun on their skin. It was still early afternoon too, it lit up the green grass beautifully and the scattered white-birch trees with golden leaves stood out like focuses pieces of an ornamental display. Even better was the feeling of returning to Sunspire, although the Elves seemed to not really react as if they've done much. They went about their lives, lounging, researching, reading, spell-casting, you name it. Their lavish lifestyle could not be stopped. They left their Striders near the front of the city and walked back towards the King's palace, where the gigantic bridge stretched over the bottomless crevasse.

"Welcome back, Team Sun." A voice called, and it was King Althaes Sol. He emerged from the towering archway at the other end of the bridge and came along the red carpet towards them. He face didn't greet them with happiness, he had the same expression that Landaras had, one that was worried, one that was almost shaken. Yet like a cat, like the many felines in this city, he was doing his best not to show it and instead looked indifferent and emotionless in his cover-up. "The deed is done? Aurelius is dead?" he asked. And Micha'el nodded, "he's gone, and the tower with him."
"Good. You have done this city a great deed"
"Why did we do it, if I may ask your grace?" Micha'el then said, stepping forwards and looking over the rim of his glasses. "Aren't your people strong enough? Or was this a test?" Althaes tilted his head, so slowly it was almost eerie as his long, bright orange hair fell over his shoulder. "A test?" he asked, and then let out a strong guffaw. "Of coarse it was a test. You Occulians came here to help and to learn, and when the Star Elves reached out to me to hand them a mission for you to take I did so to test the powers of Occulian Children. Not to extend my hand back to the Star Elves. Their chance for forgiveness was lost long ago. But you have proven to me that Occulas has come a long way since we left. Did that answer your question?"
"Yes. Thank you. But there's one more thing. When we were fighting Aurelius something happened." Micha'el swallowed, wondering what to say. But the King was already stepping closer, standing much taller than them as he approached. His eyes narrowed, his brow raising as he seemed to swoop down slowly to listen. Lottie realised how he made almost everything seem so majestic, but perhaps it was all the regal red and gold robes. "Landaras and his guards cast a light from the sky-"
"A solar beam - it blinds and stuns the most powerful of enemies, but it is difficult to cast."
"Yes..." Micha'el continued, "but just before it, something else made Aurelius pause long enough for the beam to hit. A voice. Did you hear it?" Althaes stood up straight again, putting his hands behind his back in thought. He then looked between each of them and said "there are a great many myths and legends in this world. You know that?"
"Well... yes."
"Like the Grim Reaper! The High Angels...." Lottie added, and even Aoi added "Injustira is real though! He made the Syndicate."
"Well some of them are real. There is one such legend here that bothers even evil magisters. There is one such legend that instills fear into the people of this land. He was once known as the Vardent King. Long ago, he was said to have ruled the Vardent in Magic Earth before they were eradicated. Centuries ago this legend drove an Orc to insanity and almost caused him to thrust the Vardent upon Otherearth, killing thousands of people, even elves. If anything did scare Aurelius, it was that legend."
"So you heard it?"
"No. I heard nothing.

As Tsuna quickly rebuked against King Sol, he shot her a glance in exchange. His fiery eyes glowed almost white-hot and his very long eyebrows narrowed down on her. "Tsuna!" Lottie yelped, just as Micha'el stared too, but his not one of disgust for once. Micha'el felt it inside him, King Sol was lying and he should have known Tsuna wasn't going to stand around and let him lie like that. King Sol grinned, "you've surprised me yet again, little Therian. You have seen through my lies. And what if I did hear the voice? What if I did hear the reverberations of a chilling spirit, an echo that turns bones brittle and pulls the breath from your lungs?" King Sol leaned down, as if swooping beside her like some kind of dragon he moved so elegantly. Upon passing her ear he breathed out, as if it pained him to speak his next words as he bared his teeth, "I'm to tell you there's nothing to fear?" King Sol then swooped backwards, moving behind them now with the Sun's Zenith floating far back behind him in the courtyard. "Come, team Sun. Let me introduce you to the Burning Sect."

"Hm" King Sol couldn't have wasted any more breath on the girl even if he tried. Instead he gestured for all of Team Sun to follow him so that he might finally show them what this entire test was for. Even now, Lottie and Aoi could sense something... wrong. Secrets, Micha'el thought, were never usually good. That's why they were kept a secret - heck, even the Injustira Syndicate, the guild of justice itself keeps secrets. He led them back towards the street it the city covered by the tallest towers and the large, ornate tapestries that stopped the beaming sun from ever hitting the stone. Dull sunstones floated above tall shrubs or as centre pieces to floating circular tables, usually adorned with books or a singular feline enjoying the cool air. But then King Sol took a different route, he led them into a tall and narrow archway covered by a thin purple material. Upon moving through the air was cool and clear, within there were long sofas with cushions, a large black floor and a circular decline in the floor where a large dull sunstone hovered. This one was perfectly spherical and was almost like a glass ball with white sunlight swiling within it. Next to it was a sun elf, this one was staring into it, almost as if in trance. From her eyes the white-light streamed into the giant sphere. And through the crystal, in the centre, the streams of light formed into what could be seen as a pair of magical white eyes staring back at her.

Micha'el felt like he was somewhere he shouldn't be, even more so than upstairs in the open city. Down here it was... heavy, darker... as if they were walking amongst the underbelly, walking amongst the secrets and darkness that the sun elves had spun. But he could tell, this was where the sun elves went to avoid the sun, even now he saw one of the elves, this one a made, laying down majestically on one of the padded sofas. His long black hair was in a loose ponytail over his shoulder, his knee pulled up and leaning against the side of the sofa whilst his face glanced at them, his eyes burning white. Micha'el then noticed his skin around his eyes, it was cracked and white-light, the colour of the sun, was bleeding through. Micha'el was not sure if the power that the elves here had was a blessing or a curse. It seemed the elves liked to think of it as a reason to be who they are. They cannot get rid of it, so instead they learn to live with it. But all he could gather was that they use their torturous life as a means to stand above the rest - believing themselves stronger because they can endure so much.

When his attention was brought back to King Sol, he noticed a guard was down here - strange. Here of all places. Wait - no. This was not one of the city guard that they had met before in the woods, or along the bridge to the main tower where King Sol resides. He looked closer at the guard and instead of being adorned by brighter colours alongside the golden armour, it was instead a darker tabard he wore, blending in with the room. This guard's red were also a lot darker, instead of the red being bright, as if ripe blood, it was dark, as if dry blood. "Answer me this, team sun. When you see the condition of my people, when you see the power the Vardent has given us once we have bent it to our will... do you not wonder what more can be done with their power? For centuries that has been my task... my dream. We fight one enemy in the open - the Vardent.... whilst a far greater enemy lurks in the back of our minds - a greater enemy than even your own self. Imagine... if there was someone that could do more than control your own voice, your own mind. Imagine if there was such a being that could make you believe in them so wholeheartedly that you voluntarily sacrifice yourself to them. That voice you're all so intrigued about, only two powers have come close to defeating it. The first was a Goddess, to put it in common tongue. Her name was Hera'endor... Lady Earth. The other was the Vardent. One is gone forever, I don't need to ask you which one still exists."

Micha'el knew the answer, it was rhetorical, he just didn't want to answer. The Vardent is as alive as ever. That was when King Sol looked over his shoulder and said "The other elves are scared fools. They do not see the potential of the Vardent's power if captured. That is my greatest vengeance on the Vardent, doing to it that it once did to my people. We will take the power of the Vardent, let it coarse through our veins and with it... stop the Lich."

Everything that King Sol was telling them was crazy. Tsuna was the first to notice it, the first one out of all of them to even voice her opinion. And for once Micha'el agreed with her. The elven guard moved in front of the king at lightning speed, his tall shield blocked her path but with one mighty swing of her great hammer he was thrown aside, spinning in the air until he hit the ground with a thud. Micha'el's eyes widened, he could not tell if the hammer hit hard or if... The Sun elf guard was already recuperating, he wasn't hit too hard at all! Aoi gasped and covered her mouth, what was she to do? Micha'el could see all the options running through the girl's mind, too many options, options that she shouldn't ever consider and yet only in this situation could she ever only think of doing such things. As the guard threw himself back up to his feet he raised a bright-glowing blade to tsuna's neck and shouted "ba'nor sol'alor diel!" whilst Tsuna at the same time held her transformed axe at King Sol's throat. "Nún'die" King Sol said, raising a hand to his guard whilst also returning a stern gaze to Tsuna. He took in a breath, one that unsettled Lottie as she stood with her fingers dancing over the hilt of her glaive. From the corner of her eye she could see the Sun Elf behind them still lying down on the sofa, sprawled out still but with his white-hot glowing eyes (still pouring with energy) staring directly at the commotion, eyebrows slightly inverted.

Tsuna gave her final statement, a statement that made the guard bite his lips and curse something in elvish, and Lottie noticed the elf behind them finally drag himself to his feet, now in a sitting position. Lottie then jumped, hearing the clang of her weapon hit the floor and rattle as she raised her hands... in surrender? Micha'el raised a brow, shocked. Aoi continued to remain silent and holding her mouth, unsure of what exactly they were going to do. That was when King Sol finally spoke. "Aurelius had a weak mind, body and spirit. His body could not contain the power he was promised, his spirit was not sheltered and his mind was easily corrupted. The difference between him and me is that I have the irrefutable trust of my people. The Burning Sect is the formed of the strongest paladins of the Light's Vengeance, unlike you, they would not disown their shining leader for attempting to save them all from something any outsider would not understand. The Vardent are nothing compared to what lies buried within the mountains-" King Sol stopped himself. He said too much. "Team Sun" he said, "you've become almost too brave for your own good in world that's so unfair. One glimpse should put your hearts at rest." And with that he flicked his hand over the cream stone wall behind him. Sparks of light, arcane magic charged by the power of the sun danced over the surface, hopping, sprinting, coming to life as they found the edges of an invisible archway. The wall spiralled into orange-light, vanishing into white-hot light before disappearing entirely, revealing a great, monolithic hall behind. For the briefest of moments Micha'el could peer within, great stone floor, tall stone wall leading to a curved and arched cieling, webbed with decoration of carved stone and touched by the tips of tall stained windows that stretched down to the ground. But what filled the hall was most macabre. There were sun elves just like this guard, wearing the same golden armour but with darker shades of red, a dark, dry blood red. There were a few Sunstones. At the very end of the church-like hall was a grand circular window, it was white-glass and through it they could see the undernearth of the Sun's Zenith, the great, gigantic Sunstone that floated in the middle of the courtyard outside the King's citadel. The circular whole beneath the Sun's Zenith was actually a cylindrical hole that lead passed this place so that it's light could shine down and deliver it's power to the dark acts going on. Moans of those in pain could be heard, the sound of weapons clashing, the sound of power thrumming through the veins of Burning Sect guards could be heard. There was one gigantic Vardent Crystal hovering, chained up in the centre. It's burned, steam came off of it as the Sun's Zenith shun down it's beams of light upon it. Around it, Vardent creatures and cultists could be seen, chained too. The elves were doing something to them, doing something to the Vardent Crystal, doing something to themselves too. And then the image collapsed and the wall re-appeared.

King Sol stepped in front of them, kicking up Tsuna's axe as he passed it slowly back to her as he said "but what is a peak worth? Nothing. It's but an image of your creation, your imagination running wild after all the atrocities you've seen in the forest and after all the energy you've exasperated helping my people defeat a tyrant. You've shown me hope, Team Sun, that in a world where the powers of the Magic Folk born of the Occulanium, of the Eternal beings, is running thin, that there are still some with the great power of the first born. Even if my people fail, there may still be hope. Not that I believe that very faithfully. You're time in Sunspire is over, your quest is complete. I bid you farewell, young Therian."

Micha'el could feel the floor beneath his feet moving, but as he looked down nothing was moving at all. In his head he was thinking through what King Sol had just said. The Eternal, the first born? He meant the first race ever born with magic powers from the Occulanium, the legend that humans once used to create Magic Earth. Back then most Magic Folk were very powerful, but after two millennia, Magic Folk aren't all born with the same amount of power, some only show basic signs of added strength, resistance and so on. Others, like himself and many others still can be trained to use their power to their full potential. And then there are the lucky few... those like Team Elixer, those like the leaders of each Guild that exhibit the power of the first born, powers so pure, so strong that they are almost as strong as the Eternal themselves. King Sol had faith... it almost sounded hopeful and friendly. But he knew at the same time King Sol only half meant that, he never believed that Magic Folk would be able to defeat whatever being it was the Elves are so afraid of. This... Lich. Micha'el then looked down again and he could see the beginnings of white-hot magic spiralling and etching runes in the ground beneath them. Portal Magic!

"Portia Evermoon" King Sol finally said.