[h1][center]Plot Point[/center][/h1] [h2]Meanwhile...[/h2] [hr] Nation of Sight City of Irissia The Crowned King of the Nation of Sight, Y’lleant, stood proudly, hands clasped behind his back, as he stared out the large window of his private chambers. A single candle flickered in the room. The remainder of the room was in shadow. During the day, the view looked breathtaking. At this very moment, though, it looked peaceful. Calming. The moon hung low in the sky, wealth of stars twinkled distantly, and beneath all that, the City of Irissia. The orange flickering of candles could be seen scattered through the various buildings within the city. The buildings themselves were coated by the nightly luminescent glow coming off the Crystal Jade Palace. In the streets, a few constables roamed the streets, their presence made known by the lanterns they held. And at the palace’s perimeter, Y’lleant could make out his palace guards doing their nightly patrols. The view looked as if it were taken straight from a painting. Y’lleant took it all in bit by bit. This was what he was fighting for. His people. His country. His home. And... and... King Y’lleant frowned. There was something else, wasn’t there? Something else he was fighting for, right? After a moment or two, his eyes went wide with realization. His family! Of course, his family. How could he have ever forgotten about that? An itch crawled up the back of Y'lleant's neck. Y’lleant’s frown deepened at the feel of the itch. He quickly covered the spot with his right hand. Those irritating itches were becoming more common lately. Where was Vetius when he needed him? Y’lleant closed his eyes in the darkness and concentrated. The insight felt so close, as if it were beginning to entwine itself around his soul. It felt almost as if he could reach out and touch it. Just a little bit clos- A glimpse of a vision flashed through his mind and then vanished. Y’lleant gasped. His eyes shot opened. That had never happened before without Vetius’s help. Perhaps he could… Y’lleant again closed his eyes in deep concentration. After a few seconds, the vision slowly reappeared. Y’lleant saw his daughter, El’lysael, draped in a dark cloak taking off in a boat. She took one last look behind her. Her home growing smaller in the distance. Heading south. From her cloak, she removed something… The vision faded white. Must have been a light source. Y’lleant had begun to notice the visions tended to do that when a light source appeared. He couldn’t make out light for some reason. The itch on his neck faded somewhat. That was the recent past. His daughter had run away. Why? Y’lleant explained to her why they needed the cult’s help. He thought she finally understood. He was hoping she could help soothe her mother’s contempt over Y’lleant’s decision. Y’lleant concentrated harder. His head starting to throb… It was some time in the near future. His daughter was with a group of people, talking. Talking about- Y’lleant gasped, collapsing against the window. His head pounding. The itch had faded. Breathing heavily, a smile crept onto his face. Perhaps, Y’lleant wouldn’t be needing the Cult’s help much longer. He could now see the Insight without their help. With a little more practice, he could master it. Maybe even wield it against them! This Insight was quickly becoming a convenient solution to many of the problems his country was facing. After that first batch a few weeks back, King Y'lleant quickly realized that these visions were the key to winning this war. He had convinced most of his consul and generals of it too. That day Vetius graciously shared with them his insight. Together they were able to concoct a plan to win this war. Already they had won a battle using it, for a fishing town, south of Shimmer town. It wasn’t a great victory, the ground the Nation of Touch had taken, made it difficult to defend the area, but it allowed for supplies to be sent to the north without using a boat. It was also a morale booster and had prevented the Nation of Touch from using the town’s boats to perform raids by sea. Additionally the wealth of wood in the area could have been used to make boats. If they had left the town alone, it would have given the Nation of Touch a chance to build warships. That was the last thing Y’lleant needed. An attack by sea. For Now, Y’lleant’s generals had positioned a fleet of ships around the area and was beginning to secure a perimeter on the ground. A knock. Came at the door followed by Vetius’s dry voice. “Your majesty. I have news about your daughter.” “Come in.” Y’lleant said as he quickly composed himself. Vetius stepped inside and closed the door behind him. “What news do you have of my eldest child?” “We believe she left by boat, but where she went, we do not know. No matter how much we dig into the Insight, there is shroud of white surrounding her. The enemy must have gotten to her and turned her against you. That would explian the Insight being so lacking. Decoy ships were sent out as well, whether it was her decision or someone else’s, I do not know.” “The enemy?” Y’lleant asked questioningly. Vetius merely smiled, yet said nothing for a moment. "Your daughter had been rallying up the citizens and speaking out against our sermons to the people. She was never a fan of the Clan." “No she wasn't.” Y'lleant said grimacing. “She was starting riots in the streets. It was why I had confined her to the palace. Perhaps that was not the best idea..." "Your wife helped her escape." Vetius said. Y’lleant shook his head. His family was turning against him. His wife, his daughter… “Speaking of which, there are other pressing matters I wish to discuss with you, your majesty.” Vetius said. “Matters in regards to your wife.” King Y'lleant frowned. "My wife?" He asked questioningly. Vetius merely smiled. "What's wrong?" There was a moment of silence before Vetius replied. "Let me show you." [center]*****[/center] The Nation of Sight's Crowned Queen, Tyssella, stood alone quietly in the Regal chambers as she read and memorized the contents on the message she held in her hands. She had been in contact with her brother, the Emperor of Touch, hoping to nogiatate a way to settle things peacefully. She hated the man for the things he did to her. She still had nightmeres about it all and about him taking her again. One day, she would pay him back for the things he did with the man's own life. In order for that day to come, however, she needed to make sure her brother didn't wipe her new home off the map. Burning the message with a nearby candle Tyssella gave a sigh of relief. Her brother had agreed to meet with her. Progress. Finally. Tyssella tossed the burning message into the fireplace. She could not let her husband know about this. He had been acting different lately. Not listening to reason. As if on queue, she heard the door to the Regal Chambers open behind her. "You helped El'lyseal run away? Why?" Her husband asked behind her. "Why?" Tyssella asked turning "Because you were treating her as a prisoner, of course. Stripping away her freedoms one by one. Your own daughter, Y'lleant!" "I see..." Y'lleant said pausing. "The thing is, she isn't really my daughter is she, Tyssella?" Tyssella froze. How long had he known? How did he find out? "I don't know what your talking about, Y'lleant. Of course she is yours! Who else would be her father?" Y'lleant stode over to the fireplace, grabbing a nearby fire poker stick. He examined it for a time before poking at the crumbling bit of burning paper Tyssella had tossed into the fire. The remains of the paper crumbled into ash. "If I didn't know any better, I would say... your brother. The Emporer of Touch. " Y'lleant made a disgusted look. A pain of hurt and anger welled up in Tyssella. How dare he?! How dare he act like that! He knew what her brother did to her! How he treated her not as one should treat a sister. He knew that was a sensitive topic for her. Plus none of this was anything new! How dare he give her that look? "How long have you been in contact with him?" Y'lleant asked. "When were you going to tell me about the meeting you secrectly scheduled with him?" Tyssella's heart stopped. She had been caught twofold. She was well aware of how he lately had been handling those he deemed traitorous. Not her though. He wouldn't dare harm her, though. Carefully, she gathered her wits. She wanted to slap him for the way he had just acted about her past. She didn't though. Perhaps later. Definitely later. For now she needed to handle this carefully. "I was merely working from an angle of deplomacy." She said trying the anger out of her voice the best she could. "I'm his sister. He may listen to me. He loves me in his own sick way." "Loves you indeed." Y'lleant said, putting away the fire poker. "Perhaps you love him as well. Is that why you gave birth to his child and passed it off as mine?" This time Tyssella did slap Y'lleant. Everything she had went into the slap. It knocked him back against the wall. "HOW DARE YOU!" She yelled at him, unable to keep the tears from her eyes. "How dare you!" She said again, taking a few steps back and taking a seat on the bed. "He raped me, Y'lleant. My own brother! Do you know what that's like?" A flash of guilt flashed across Y'lleant's face for a second. His expression still remain cold however. He composed himself, but said nothing. Tyssella continued. "No, of course you don't. How could a man whose had everything handed to him in life understand? For years, I blamed myself, I blamed myself for his shameful acts! I wanted to kill myself, Y'lleant. Every night I relived it. Do you know what that's like?" The was a moment of silence. The only sound being Tyssella's sobs. "He did it the day before I left to become your bride. Said he wanted to give me a goodbye gift." Tyssella made a disgusted face at the thought. "Yes, Y'lleant. El'lysael is not your daughter. Yes, I passed her off as your own. So what? Does that make the love you had for her any less real? Does that make her any less your daughter? You rasied her, Y'lleant. You and I raised her. Together." For a while Y'lleant said nothing. He simply stared out the window. Finally, he said, "What of our son?" Tyssella's sobs had begun to subside. "He's ours." Their son was a blind sight adept. She had never known such a thing was possible until she gave birth to him. Again a silence. "I'm sorry, my love..." Y'lleant said. Tyssella breathed a sigh of relief. Perhaps the man she had grown to love was still in there. The cult hadn't taken him from her yet. She still could stop this change in character they had started. "I'm sorry, my love." He said again. "I love you. I really do. However... you must die. It's the only way." "What?" She said, barely above a whisper. "Vetius, can you-" Y'lleant began not even looking at her. "It would be my pleasure, your Majesty." Replied a dry voice behind Tyssella. Tyssella felt a sharp pain from her chest. Looking down, she saw a human hand, with black tree like bark for skin, sticking out of a hole in her chest. Her blood begin to pour from the wound. Feeling the life drain from her, she collapsed onto the bed. Vetius was several feet behind her. HIs arm elongated, begining to retract in on itself. 'Why' she wanted to say, but she no longer had the strength. It came out as a gasp instead. Her mind was getting foggy. It was hard to think. "I'm sorry." She vaguely heard Y'lleant say. His hand against the window. A tear falling down his check. "I'm sorry." His voice sounded distant. "It's the only way. i'm sorry" The world faded black. [center]*****[/center] Y'lleant stood quietly, staring out the window. His dead wife's body had been removed from the chambers. He had declared her a traitor and would prepare a royal statement tomorrow. Was he still fighting for family? Y'lleant was no longer sure if that was the case. One by one they betrayed him. All he had left now was his son. He would need to be imprisoned though. The news of his mother's death would not be taken well. Y'lleant had ordered his wife's head cut off and put into a bag. A messager was instructed to deliver it directly to the Emperor of Touch where he had planned to meet with Tyssella. This would send him into a mad frenzy, allowing Y'lleant the chance to spring his trap. The giant metal fireworks, Kannuns as the engineers were calling them, were coming along nicely. He would win this war. "I'm sorry, your Majesty." Vetius's dry voice said behind him. "I know that was hard." "It is what it is." Y'lleant said trying to keep the emotion from his voice. He turned away from the window and stared Vetius in the face. "Tell me again about the Root of Insight you spoke of." "Our lord?" Vetius said with a cock of the head. A smile crept on his face. "I can't tell you, but... I can show you." Y'lleant simply nodded. "Show me." He said. [hr]