PHANTASIA (19 page)

“It’s rare to find him awake, don’t get your hopes up,” Magnus replied. They had been afloat for nearly three days now, flying above cities, oceans, canyons, and mountains that mystified Red’s imagination and expanded his take on how vast the world was. There were ships that could take them to Areopa faster, in a matter of hours even, but both Red and S had insisted that they take a slower route — neither having seen much of Avalonia. Red felt particularly adamant about it, feeling that he had an obligation to see as much of his home planet as possible.
 

“Arghhh,” Red groaned. “Wish we could do something to wake it.”
 

“Titanamedusae is not something you want to
wake,
at least not while you’re near it,” Magnus replied. “Anyways, relax, we’ve already seen a ton of amazing things. So what if we miss out on one or two of Avalonia’s wonders?” Red gave him a look of shock and disgust, as if suggesting they miss out on anything were a heinous crime.

“Look, it says here that many sects of tree elves devote their entire lives to studying and worshipping Titanamedusae,” S said, as she read off of a panel on the side of the ship. “Its elvish name roughly translates to
Guardian of Avalonia
. Roughly because the elves have 6 different words for ‘guardian,’ each one denoting an entirely different meaning in their language. Isn’t that amazing? It really shows how much deeper they relate to the concept.”

“Blah blah blah…I just wanna see this thing in action. Tearing apart a city or something. I think Red is right, somebody should find a way to wake it. Maybe let it loose in Echidna and record the whole thing,” Butz muttered with a hungry gleam in his eyes. “Can you imagine how popular that hologram would be? A trillion views in a matter of minutes I bet.”
 

“Well… I don’t know about letting it lose in Echidna…” Red began, unsure if Butz was being sarcastic or not. “But I
was
really looking forward to seeing it.”
 

S rolled her eyes at them as she continued to read from the panel. “Titanamedusae is infamous for starting tsunamis whenever it takes flight; its wingspan is so enormous that the tree elves have their own word for eclipses caused by the creature’s presence in the sky. It has not been seen flying, or outside of Nagya, for more than a hundred years. Its last known departure from its natural habitat occurred in 243527 A.G, when it flew to Indapia in a seemingly random episode of aggression and leveled the city with a windstorm. The tree elves insist that something must have been happening in Indapia that was threatening the well being of Avalonia, although no such hypothesis has ever been confirmed.”
 

There was a sudden stir in the crowd as Red saw everyone rush to the other side of the viewing deck. “What’s going on —” he mumbled, imagining that what he was hoping for was too good to be true.
 

“No way…” Magnus whispered right next to him.
 

“Is that it?” S asked.

Far and away from the top of the viewing deck, in line with the horizon, Red could see seven long heads stretching out from the ocean next to Nagya and disappearing into the clouds. Each head was so long, they could individually classify as the largest creature Red had ever seen. Despite their impassable lengths, they were broad in diameter as well, replacing the usual fragileness apparent in serpentine shapes with a bulky and colossal semblance. The size of the creature, without seeing its submerged body, was so godly and imposing in naked view that Red could no longer feel his own energy level in its presence.
 

“Can you feel it?” He asked, turning to Magnus.
 

“I feel like I’m sensing the power of a mountain or an ocean, it’s impossible to make sense of. And we’re still so far. I can’t feel anyone in the viewing deck anymore, it’s like we’ve all just become specks of light next to a star. Titanamedusae, The Lizard King Hydra, Guardian of Avalonia. The most powerful creature discovered on our planet…”
 

Red paused for a moment, admiring the creature in a dazed wonder before replying. “Isn’t it strange that we struggle all of our lives to break our limits, to realize higher and higher ranks of power — when there’s this creature here that sleeps all day and idly grazes the forests of Nagya that’s capable of things we could never dream of? That wields a power that can terrorize planets, and will forever only treat us like insects — little annoyances that need to be exterminated here and there to keep its own habitat in check? If I lived my life out in Nagya, I
would
think that this was a diety. Who could imagine that there was anything more powerful than this…being? Just
look
at it. Imagine seeing it from close up.”
 

“But there
are
,” Raven broke in as she walked up next to them. “There are things that would make even Titanamedusae tremble in insignificance. Maybe we’ll get to see one of them, if we ever go to Eaut.”
 

“
The Leviathan
…” Magnus whispered, saying the word as if it were forbidden to do so. The thought made Red’s head spin; the mere shadow of such creatures crowned his race with an epithet of insignificance. They were tyrants of creation, forces of entity and matter that could bury entire worlds in deluges of destruction. He had heard that when The Leviathan takes breath, the whole of Eaut gasps from the sudden shortage in air. That when one even
attempts
to sense the creature’s power, they are instantly driven mad by its touch. That it may sleep for decades at a time, waking only to gorge in feasts that translate into cycles of mass extinction. That the mind of the creature retains an intelligence so frightening, it would make humans question themselves as thinking creatures, a hunger so vast, it could be compared to those irrevocable blackbodies that consume space-time beyond their horizons of gravity, and a life so ancient, the stars could not remember seeing it as a child.

After a short announcement by the wyvern’s AI on Titanamedusae’s sudden visibility through the ship’s eastern viewing deck, they began steering upwards, covering the dialite windows of the ship in a stratus of clouds. The drum of the wind against the glass compound was so loud, Red was amazed it didn’t shatter, although he knew better than imagining that it would. Dialite, like bio-iron, was a durable compound made out of bacteria capable of regrowing itself to fix cracks and fissures. The screen of their microAIs were made out of the same material.
 

“Oh, we’re almost there,” Magnus remarked.
 

“What? Areopa is this close to Nagya?” Red squirmed, unable to hide his discomfort. The change in movement as the ship steered upwards was so fast, his stomach tumbled into itself in a wave of nausea.
 
The absence of his hand made it harder for him to balance his body, an effect of having a slightly heavier left side. He had been noticing more and more of these nuances since adjusting to life after his injury, although he knew he wouldn’t have to go through it for much longer. He had planned on getting a syntechdage installed during their first week in Areopa to give himself enough time to become comfortable with it before their qualifiers. S had suggested that he get it installed back at Echidna, but he had been too impatient about getting to Areopa.
About finding the truth sayer.
 

“Areopa is
on top
of Nagya, just really, really high up,” Magnus replied.
 

Red went back to staring out of the viewing deck, hoping to get a clear glance at the heads of Titanamedusae somewhere through the clouds, but the density of the overcast only intensified as they went higher. Most of the passengers were now shuffling aboard the main deck — gathering their belongings or readying themselves to land.
 
As the ship continued to rise higher and higher, Red noticed that the clouds had become so thick that it looked as though they could be grabbed and twisted into different shapes.
 

“Is Areopa naturally made, or is it an artificial city?” He asked Magnus.
 

“What do you mean? Cities aren’t natural.”
 

“No, I know. I mean, the clouds and the terrain. Is that part natural, or was it created by one of the races in Areopa? Someone had to have imbued the clouds with a cast or something to turn them into solid structures.”
 

“I don’t know actually. Could be the liric or the elves who created it. I guess it could be natural too. Good question, I’ll check in Areopa.”
 

“Alright, so I need to fill you guys in on a couple of things before we land, and S wanted to hear a bit about my family history & Areopa in general,” Magnus continued, now turning to everyone and waving his hands as though he were beginning an important presentation. S silently clapped along with eager eyes as Magnus opened up a hologram of a bulleted list on his microAI.
 

“So, first, a bit about Areopa’ governing system. There are five ruling families in Areopa. The two human cities are ruled by my family, the Basil’s, but under two different lines. My grandfather is the current king of Nimbus. My own line, or my mother specifically, is the queen of Alto, the other human city.”
 

“What about your father, isn’t he the king of Alto?” S interrupted.
 

“No. Under Areopa’ customs, only someone directly related to the royal family can rule. You can’t marry into it. Your offspring are of royal birthright, but your own status doesn’t change. People married to someone in the royal family are referred to as sky consorts. Same idea with last names in the royal family. If you have a royal last name, its an eternal bond. My mother takes my grandfather’s name, and I take my mother’s name.”
 

“Interesting…” S mumbled, her eyes dazzling as if she were imagining what it would be like to be a princess of eminence. She was from a wealthy family in Karth, but Red could understand her veneration for true royalty. The perishability of plain material wealth always seemed to highlight itself in the presence of power leavened with a divine quality.
 

“The palace at Alto is currently being rebuilt so we’re staying at The Empyrean Alcazar in Nimbus. All you need to know is that it’s much, much bigger than it looks — so try and not get lost; and that we’re going to be staying with a lot of guests. The place is big enough that you probably won’t run into many of them. Right now there are going to be people from MegaCORP, a group called The Priori of Light, and several other royal families and guests who have come to see the qualifiers.”

 
“I didn’t know the qualifiers were that big,” Red confessed. “What’s The Priori of Light?”
 

“The qualifiers are huge. Each inner planet has its own yearly qualifiers, but the one for Avalonia is especially large, and one of the most entertaining. The Priori of Light… not really sure how to explain everything that they do. Somewhat of a mysterious group. All I know is that they’re here to present something about the Xenosite, and that the order is dedicated to fighting “darkness,” a rather vague goal if you ask me. My uncle tells me that their real goal is to gain influence over Areopa, and that he’s skeptical about their true objectives and their overly zealous beliefs. The priori itself is very old, no one knows how long they’ve been around for, and I’ve heard that they exist even beyond our star system. They’re very secretive about their goals and customs.”
 

“Do you know what they’re going to be presenting? If it’s about the Xenosite, is it something we can come watch too?” Red asked.
 

“Ofcourse, I was going to drag you guys there anyways. The presentation will be at an ociramma; it’s a social event of sorts that’s long been a custom of Nimbus. They’re always boring from what I can remember from when I was younger. There will be a lot of guests in attending though, and you’ll get to meet people from MegaCORP and other places of interest,” Magnus replied. “Now, second, while the Empyrean Alcazar has thousands of rooms, ours ended up being right next to my uncle’s, or the heir to the throne of Areopa. Can’t be a coincidence, I have a feeling he did it on purpose. He probably wants to try and convince me to take his place again.”
 

“To take his place? As King of Nimbus?!” S laughed.
 

“Yup, my uncle hates the idea of ruling, always hated it. He’s always tried to convince
me
specifically to take his spot, not even any of my older brothers,” Magnus replied proudly. “Not sure why, but probably because I’ve always been his favorite relative. We share many of the same interests. Since we’re right next to him, we’ll be running into him fairly often while we stay there. Be warned… my uncle is a… peculiar figure. He’s young, and rather eccentric.”
 

“In what way?” S asked worriedly.

“Probably in the regular way. Just not too many years old,” Butz replied, in the most sincere tone he could manage.
 

“No…not in what way is he young,
genius
. I mean in what way is he eccentric?”
 

“Oh, no no, he’s not going to trouble us or anything. At least I’m pretty sure he won’t,” Magnus laughed. “He’s just very… odd. You have to see for yourself. My family has always said that it was a result of his mind, he has an extremely over active brain, and is rather brilliant in many ways. An expert on many random subjects, although ignorant of the more popular ones. He’s also very young, only about a decade older than us I think.”

“What does he do?” Raven asked suspiciously.
 

“He has many of his own projects which, to be honest, I’ve never asked him about. Many of them are in science I think. He does write though, he’s written books on topics ranging from combat to the anatomy of different critters. You guys may even find some of them interesting, especially the ones about combat. They’ll be at the Alcazar, I’m sure. Now, third, a quick timeline of our schedule. The ociramma is tomorrow, so the Alcazar will be bustling with activity until then. After that, we have a good enough amount of time to look around Areopa and train. We can go anywhere, except for the bloodelf city. Humans are…not too welcome there.”