The Saga of Eden

Chapter 2, part 7

There are four skyscraping towers in the fours corners of the Royal Palace. Of which, the tower to its Northwest is the permanent residence of the Court Wizard, the Talented Level 100 wizard, Yaklu. As usual, today he’s reading yet another book. However, recently he has been reading much fewer books of the arcane, and instead focusing on historical books and bestiaries. The sudden destruction of Daran Kingdom, along with a small part of Narn Empire as collateral, and the rise of the Monster Emperor Apocalypse is definitely not a coincidence. The important question is: Who is he, and how did he attain such power that perhaps only God can achieve?

After that tragedy, the Monster Empire has mostly curled itself up inside its own territory like a slumbering tiger, their expansion outward has been a slow process. Even against such a small country, Narn Empire still has a hard time destroying this hellhole, and that’s the least of their problems. Once the other neighboring kingdoms of the former Daran have finished their preparations, Narn Empire can cooperate with them and destroy this small Empire. 

What Yaklu concerns is when, when will Apocalypse strike back? If he strikes back with the same power he did to Daran Kingdom, their only choice would then be to pray to God for salvation. 

Hence, Yaklu is researching day and night to find where this Monster came from, what does it look like, how did it achieve this power. He’s currently hitting a dead end, descriptions of Apocalypse have been incoherent: that he’s a human, that he’s an orc, that he’s a demon. Yaklu cannot make any final conclusions yet. The powers and Level of Apocalypse are also unknown, but he’s certainly a Legendary, and he has 5 other Legendary monsters serving under him as monster generals. Lord Shar is one among them. That fact alone is enough to make Monster Empire a superpower that needs to be destroyed quickly.

While Yaklu is deep in his thoughts, suddenly there is a knock on his door. It is only until the second knock that the old wizard notices he has a guest. He quickly gets out of his chair and moves to the door, though it still takes him some time due to old age. To his surprise, the one behind the door is none other than the Empress herself, in her usual noble outfit. She’s holding a bottle of wine on one hand, and two wine glasses on the other, deftly kept in balance using only her index and middle fingers.

“Will you have a drink with me, ‘sir’?” Nakano asks with a weak smile across her face.

“Your Majesty!” Yaklu quickly bows, his back aches a bit but he doesn’t show it. “Please, I told you many times to just call me by my name now.”

“Well I’m the Empress, I can call you whatever I want, right~?” She quips. “And are you going to let me in or what?”

Yaklu quickly moves aside and invites her in like a doorman, inferior to his master. Nakano has always hated that part about him ever since her coronation; she misses the time when he was simply her guardian and mentor. Whatever is the case, Nakano quickly helps the wizard move the books on his table to one side and puts down the wine and glasses on the empty side. Then, they sit down across from one another. As a precaution, Yaklu also casts a simple spell to prevent anyone outside from hearing them.

“Your Majesty, over the past few days I’ve read ‘Lesser-known creatures of Roelf’ and reread ‘Holy Texts: The Thirteenth Savior’, they suggest a similar race with a high chance of...” Yaklu tries to start his conversation with his progress so far about Apocalypse, but Nakano motions him to stop. 

“We can always talk about this another day.” She explains while pouring the wine into his cup and hers with perfect execution. From the label, the bottle seems to be a rare import from Red Apples. “Today, I just want us to talk like in the old days, no formalities. That’s an order, okay?” She asks playfully.

“Very well, if you insist.” The wizard sighs and gratefully takes his glass.

The war against the Monster Empire has taken a great toll on their physical and mental health. Nakano has gotten used to coping with stress over the years, while her closest advisor still hasn’t learned to not overwork. Nakano knows this occasional break is what Yaklu needs, for both of their sake, no matter what he says. 

Yaklu takes a sip and his eyes light up. “I haven’t tasted wine like this for decades now. Where did you get this?” 

“It’s a rare import, pretty expensive but it’s worth it for times like this.” The Empress smiles, happy to see the excitement on his face. 

They take another sip in silence, and Yaklu begins to talk.

“I’m sorry, your Maj-Nakano, I’ve been paying too much attention to the Empire’s affairs that now, when I try to come up with something else to say, I can’t think up anything.”

“Don’t worry, sir. Lately preparing for the war was all I did as well. Maybe let’s talk about the past?” 

“Nakano, please don’t call me that...” He protests but shows an amused look on his face.

“I said we talk like it’s the old days, so I’m going to call you sir, haha.”. 

“I really want you to stop though.” He chuckles, making her laugh as well.

“Tell you what, let me have this, then I’ll finally forgive you for the {Raging Heart} incident.” 

Yaklu suddenly turns serious. “Really? After all these years?” He asks weakly. After that incident, Nakano pretends it never happened, and Yaklu accepts her decision, but he knows deep in her heart, she holds a grudge against him for keeping those secrets from her. Now, the Empress just smiles at him and nods. “I was never mad at you for that, I just want to keep it a secret to use it as a weapon for today~.” Oh, the irony.

Yaklu starts to shed a tear, but he quickly wipes it off and smiles at her as best as he can. “Of course, Nakano, please call me whatever you like!”

“That’s more like it!” She cheers. “I guess the Crisis War forced me to become more mature, so I understood why you had to do that. I actually was madder at you for much more petty things, like that time when...”

The two of them continue talking about various things about their past, most of them personal or trivial stuff. After what seems to be hours, there’s a knock on the door by one of the guards, signaling them that there’s important news. Then, the guard slips a letter from under the door and walks away, leaving them be. Yaklu is about to stand up to get the letter but Nakano motions him to stop and goes to the letter herself. She quickly opens the parchment and skims it. Then, she closes it and goes back to the table, her face unchanged.

“What was it?” The old wizard asks.

“Pretty significant news actually, but it doesn’t concern us, sir. Juknak Kingdom has excavated the 21st Artifact, Turning Tides. It is now in King Basta’s possession.” She shrugs.

Right, the Twenty Artifacts, the chosen weapons prophesied by God that The Great Twenty wielded to defeat the False Gods, you get the gist. Artifacts are extremely powerful, but they’re all very, very difficult to use. According to the Holy Book, God had to give the Great Twenty instructions of how to use them, and it took them years to master their respective Artifacts. A few of these instructions were lost through time, so sadly, about six or more of the sixteen remaining Artifacts are now uselessly sitting in some royal treasuries. I never knew there was more though, interesting.  

“Oh, I think I’ve read about it very recently during my research. The Lost Artifact, never been found, never needed. A sword, right?” 

“According to the letter, yes.” Nakano nods. “It’s supposed to be a secret, but our spies managed to gather this info. They think it’s real as well, many Talented Wizards have examined it and confirmed. But it's a sword, so it’s not important. God probably made it as an extra precaution, but the war was over centuries ago anyway.”

“I guess Turning Tides will make a fine profit for King Basta if he finds the right broker, or perhaps a devoted benefactor of the Church. Though I doubt with his peanut brain, he’ll be able to find one.” Both of them chuckle at that last part, then return to their conversation. 

They continue to talk about unimportant memories of the past for another hour. Suddenly, a half-drunk Nakano looks at Yaklu in all seriousness and says. 

“Sir, I’ve always felt like God put a part of my father’s soul into you, so that’s why I always think of you as my father.”

“Haha, Nakano, I think it’s time for you to go back to your chamber.” The wizard laughs.

“No, no, I’m serious. I am!” She declares. Seeing her sincerity, Yaklu stops laughing and looks at her with affection.

“I lost both of my sons during the Crisis War. Irlene, God be with her, and I used to think of you as our third child. But after the Emperor’s adoption, it no longer became appropriate.” 

“...You said I can call you whatever you like, right?” Nakano hesitantly says. “Just for today, c-can I call you Father? Please?” 

Yaklu’s eyes are wide in surprise. For a while, he just freezes, not knowing how to respond. Finally, he slowly nods. [She’s drunk, she’ll never remember this moment tomorrow anyway.] He thinks. Suddenly, without warning, Nakano bursts into tears. She walks over to him and out of instinct, he opens his arms and she falls into his embrace.

“Father, I’m scared… scared about the future... I shouldn’t be the Empress in the first place… I’m weak.”

“Hush, child.” Yaklu tries to calm her down like how he did the same thing to her many times when she was young. “Remember what I told you? You’re going to be strong, and now you are. You’re the most powerful person across Narn Empire, and that’s not even close.”

“And not just that.” He continues after her sobbing has slowed down a bit. “Liam and I have taught you, true strength doesn’t just lie in Level alone. You truly are what we expect of a strong person: you’re compassionate, your care towards the people is what drives you to be like today. You’re strong because of your desire to protect them. If that’s not strength, I don’t know what is!”

“T-thank you, father.” His words have calmed her down a bit, she’s slowly recovering. “And do you think I, no, we would be strong enough to win this war?”

Her question hits his nerve, but Yaklu isn’t sure now is a good time to sugarcoat it. “...No, at this rate, we will be destroyed. The real question is only when. Our only hope now is some miracle. In the worst case, this is the beginning of another Age of monsters, with Apocalypse being akin to another False God.” He hesitantly replies. “Maybe you can be our miracle.”

“I see… I guess I have no choice but to be one then!” She jokes, then turns silent for a few seconds and finally says. “Can you hold me for a bit longer?”

“Of course, anything for you…” Yaklu says, tears start to fall from his eyes when he thinks of their dark future, but he makes sure not to let Nakano see them.