The Code had
eyes on
Agrippa, like it was ready to scold her for even
thinking about touching it, but it relaxed when she lowered her hand. “You were brought here because you had an appointment. Or, more likely, you have Cosmos’ blessing, judging by that little brooch you’ve all got. This chamber has her blessing. Your starseeds were probably crying out for help and you wound up here.”
For
Lourdes, it didn’t answer. Maybe, that was the kindest thing it could do for her while she was mourning for those they’d lost.
Asphodel earned something of approval, and the Code was keen to make sure that everyone knew, “You have nice manners. I like that.”
That put the Code in a better mood to answer
Palatine. “Velenia, yes. A long,
long time ago. They were a peaceful sort, they didn’t have any enemies. And they were constantly generating energy. It seemed like a good match. Deep culture, beautiful Wonders. The power wasn’t going to be abused. Or, well. It wasn’t
supposed to be. Didn’t account for the ferocity of their invaders. The Knights fought, I know that much. I felt them then, and again when the world fell. Parts of the Code were stolen, but once they were moved I became blind to them. Some may still remain, hidden and without a protector. But without a Senshi to awaken the world, they might as well be lost, too.”
Vígríðr was, then,
something else. “Wow.”
A few seconds of silence; its attention moved on to
Saqqara but it was like it couldn’t help itself and returned to the Page of Jupiter. “You know what, no. First of all, still great and mighty. Small reminder, you’ve got a long way to go before you earn a modicum of respect from me. The mutual benefit only works if I’m getting something out of it. Don’t need to remind you that you’ve been sleeping on the job for a few hundred years, I’m sure. Why don’t you restore your Wonder a bit and then we’ll talk about how much I ‘need’ you. Start small, or you’re going to get yourself killed. Trust me when I say I have absolute confidence in myself. You, not so much. Tone it down, you don’t get tips for a good performance. Don’t make me sound like a coward for being responsible about not letting my power fall into the wrong hands. You will be
lucky if the Code piece at your Wonder responds to you at all. If I were there, I’d ignore you until you went away.
If it speaks, and it will rarely--I didn’t leave so much power in any location guarded by a single Knight--it’ll only be after you’ve put some work into restoring your Wonder. If you
must speak to the Code--actually--just go to Olympus. It’ll be better for the both of us.”
Back to
Saqqara, “I don’t dress you, I just fix things when you break them. Why don't you try visiting your wonder sometime, see if you’ve got a coat hanging up in the closet there.”
But, she had good questions, so its mood seemed to mellow out again. “I simply ‘was’. An energy that built up over time, or maybe I was always there. I am not a ‘species’, there are not ‘more’ of me. I am myself, and every piece of the Code is connected. Could there be other pieces of the Code that have been corrupted? Absolutely. But that’s why I’ve been broken up. The damage is far less when it’s one piece. The smaller pieces guarded at Wonders usually can’t spread anything. Pieces like myself, well. You saw what happened when you forgot me in the Knight Academy and let the Negaverse claim me, but. No hard feelings.”
Probably hard feelings, though.
“I greatly suspect there are many worlds that still house pieces of the Code, whether placed there of my own accord or because they were stolen and stashed away. You
should try to gather missing pieces. That’s a very wise idea. Bring me somewhere safe before something else reaches me, first. I don’t know if you can reach them. But know, fortifying your Wonder and protecting the piece you’re supposed to is a greater duty than you know. Don’t hope to find other pieces to rescue when your first priority should be the one you’re bound to.”
“You requested an appointment,” the Console reminded
Scylla patiently. “Your appointment was confirmed. Do you want to cancel your appointment now?”
Castor’s words for the Console were processed, but its answer was relatively unhelpful. “Affliction unknown. Forwarding request to appropriate department. Please hold.”
The Console began to play the equivalent of whimsical elevator music when, suddenly, it stopped; the panel
Namielle was working on had popped off, leaving the dusty, damaged, and battered interior exposed. She wouldn’t have the opportunity to repair its weakened programming, but the Mauvains
did have a chance to improve the condition of the ancient computer.
It changed its tune only slightly and continued, “The Moon Kingdom cannot repair physical starseed damage. The Cauldron is advised. Please see Cosmos for guidance.”
The ceiling above them flickered, and it seemed as if there was a slow spread of illumination on the stars above them. It seemed like a wave of light was slowly spreading across the star map above them; there was nothing in the epicenter.
The Cauldron briefly dimmed, and then lit up again.
“Please see the kiosk in the library for a codex. We have a wide variety of languages available at your convenience,” it announced, like there was even
access to a library up here, much less a more-functioning kiosk.
Caedus visibly flinched when
Castor shouted; the noise probably would have been overwhelming if the message hadn’t been. He didn’t want to talk in private, and the concerns from the others only reinforced how reluctant he was to be left alone with him. Instinctively, he’d looked for any doors
out.
‘
Sailor Velenia’ seemed a more uncomfortable title than ‘
King’.
He did not seem comfortable with anyone
touching him, and yet he did not fight when hands were offered, or placed on him. He did not fight when
Scylla moved his hand. He did not try to
hide.
Castor said he owed everyone some answers, and it wasn’t untrue. He just didn’t know where to start.
He looked at
Basiluzzo and
Encke, who offered to be here for him, but--more importantly, the cadets. Not his, they were Lyndin’s. But they were important to Caedus and he wanted them taken care of. He looked at
Pendour almost helplessly, because if he didn’t have everyone offering to help--no. He didn’t have a place to rest. He had a patch of trees he liked to haunt, and he hadn’t really made that a secret to the Vanguard.
He doubted it was wise to return.
Numb, he nodded, grateful for their offers of assistance.
At some point in time, he might have registered that
Oberon was trying to help him disappear, but before he could even really process that the cape was offered,
Scylla had told him not to hide. He owed answers. He knew this. He didn’t think he could accept help if he couldn’t give them all of the answers they wanted.
“I am glad your brother healed,” he said to
Oberon. Maybe in better circumstances he might have seemed happier about it, now he just seemed drained and detached. Scylla had one hand; he moved his other from his chest to rub at his face briefly before returning it.
“I am not so optimistic for the one I carry.”
Again, “I am sorry,” to all of them, and
Scylla. “I did not want to upset you. It did not occur to me that there was a solution for any of this. I would be a very bad Senshi, I am not like you. I am very good at making bad decisions. I should not be trusted with any power. I just want to help Velencya. I want Velenia to be okay,” he insisted, like maybe they wouldn’t believe him just because he liked his starseed where it was.
“I thought this would work. I thought if the Chaos was gone here, you would be free to pursue greater things. I thought you--”
He fell quiet, because he thought a lot of things, and he already felt rather stupid because he’d thought
wrong and everyone here knew it.
He forced himself to fall quiet, which really wasn’t hard when he wanted to have as little presence as possible, but the obligation of answers persisted in his mind so he looked to the Velencians. When his eyes landed on
Lixian he said, “There are good people here. You will not be alone.”
They had promised to help the Cadets, they’d said so. Caedus trusted them, maybe too easily. Doubt crossed his expression because
Lyndin was just as good as them, and he trusted them, and--
He could only escape his thoughts by talking over them, so he turned his attention to
Valnyr, even if the topic was just as difficult. “I did not know he wanted me dead back then. We were on a diplomatic mission. We were meeting to discuss with Queen Beryl. Some of our technology would have helped attack the moon, but we did not want war. We did not want to share this with her. We wanted supplies, and we wanted to leave. I hold no love for the Moon. And they held none for us. Whatever war they would have was between them. Lyndin and I, and a few others went to speak with her at her request. Earth had welcomed us before, they traded with us. It was not something to be afraid of. She attacked, I thought--”
He deflated.
“I thought she betrayed us. I thought she was mad that we would not share our technology. I did not know it was planned. I was just so happy to see them all when I returned to Velencya, I--”
Caedus stumbled over the words for a second, like his mind just couldn’t wrap around the reality of it.
“I had no reason to suspect--I did not know there was a scheme.
He did not attack me. We were separated. I--we
have spoken of my starseed, and the Cauldron, but I--”
Another few seconds of struggling to focus himself.
“I thought we could find another way. I thought there
must be. My starseed is not
broken, it is--”
Silence, and then, “An abomination. I do not know that Cosmos would take it back. It was a failed experiment in an act of desperation. I was not strong enough. I could not be what they needed me to be then, and I cannot be that now.” He swallowed, and looked from the Cadets, and then the others gathered nearby. “I do not know how to make this up to you, but I will try. I did not mean for this to happen. I will make amends. I--no more plans. I will not lead anything. I will stay away from the Negaverse. I only bring you problems with them. Tell me what to do and I will do it.”
