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The choice between the ultimate power accompanied by lonely peace, and a chaotic mediocrity surrounded by friends and lovers. Which would you choose?

—“Punish them for their foolishness! These punitive creatures are playing with fire and deserve to face the righteous fire of The Seven!” Yulia the Chaotic. Her eyes show signs of neither compassion nor hate, perhaps this is the perfect depiction of the confusion that comes with chaos.

“You say we punish them, but have you considered that maybe they have committed no crime? We must be careful to not let our vanity drive us into lawlessness.” Akamu the Silent. How I admire his calm wisdom and counsel.

Yulia stood and slammed her fists on the Round Table causing a small tremor throughout Asgard. “Has your old age gotten the best of you Akamu?! Can you not see that the mortals’ attempts to perfect Blood Bonding will only lead them further down a path of destruction?! You speak of our vanity as a hinderance, but it is what gives us the drive to lead this continent into prosperity. Without vanity, mortals know not their worth or limitations. Their lust for an unattainable power will consume them, and their hopeless ambition will lead Hendrexa to extinction be it by their own hands or ours. It starts with the Zealots and the Arcanians, but eventually the Yggdra will become infected with this preposterous quest for power and before we know it the entire continent will think it needs to wage war against Asgard. Then what will we have to say for ourselves before His Excellence? We should initiate The Divide and reduce their foolish egos back to a reasonable level.”

“I agree with Yulia, my brothers. How can we sit back and allow the mortals to dive headfirst into a bottomless sea of destruction? They have already become divided because of this idea of pushing themselves beyond their limits. We should have them atone for their sins of disrupting the peace of Hendrexa and The Divide will serve as their retribution.”

Valkyn the Fool. Your hasty rationale will lead you yourself into a sea of destruction.

“This is nonsense! How can you think that initiating The Divide and activating the Lazarus Core is a plausible solution to a problem we can only speculate? Gaia, Nova, surely you two agree that The Divide will only cause strife and chaos for mortals and celestials alike?” Odin the Sinner. I pity you and your eternal struggle to do what is right.

The Twins exchanged a glance before answering.

“I have no interest in whether mortals overtake us or not, but I am interested in further research of the Lazarus Core. Akamu and Yulia are the only two who have been around long enough to see them in action and I envy that. Though I am curious Yulia, have you considered that activating the Core will make us more like them than any one of us would be comfortable with? I have no problem with the idea of a mortal being capable of reaching a level of power comparable to mine, but your argument seems a bit…contradictory.” Gaia the Hopeless. I find his solemn yet content demeanor most perplexing.

“You’re not entirely wrong, Gaia. But you have failed to consider my goal in its entirety. It is indeed true that activating the Core will even the plane of mana distribution, but consider the fact that The Seven are revered as gods among mortals. Not one of them will have the audacity to try standing against us. Where is your pride? Have you forgotten that we were chosen by RAPHAEL himself to lead this continent? A decrease in power no matter how large will not affect our ability to do so.” I am astounded by Yulia’s ability to go from an insatiable rage to a gentle calm in a matter of minutes.

“I don’t particularly agree with Yulia’s prediction that an entire continent will be eradicated based on the presumption that mortals are just as power hungry as we are. So I can’t help but agree with Gaia that the Lazarus Core, interesting as they may be, could cause more trouble than we can handle. ” He laughed. “Then again, I’m all for whichever option yields the most entertainment.” Nova the Dead. How deep into insanity will your pursuit of excitement drive you?

“Well there you have it Akamu, all of us, with the exception of Odin, agree that something should be done about the impending doom Hendrexa faces. The twins and Valkyn agree that the Lazarus Core are the best option for settling this matter so why won’t you grant my request?”

The meeting went on for another 4 hours with debate about what should be done. Upon further investigation, there was no clear sign of lust for power driving the mortals to their discoveries. Odin believed it was simply their curiosity that led them to further development, but all others voted in favor of Yulia’s plight to initiate The Divide.

~~

I have observed the Seraphim for—oh! It seems it’s been so long that I’ve forgotten..my apologies..

This is the first of my many memoirs to come. My job as Observer is to keep a record of meetings like this for future generations to refer to in times of conflict. We hope that our descendants will learn from our successes and mistakes and maintain the peace The Six have worked so hard to establish.

The Six Seraphim, sometimes called “The Six” or “Children of Lucifer:” Akamu the Silent, Yulia the Chaotic, Odin the Sinner, Gaia the Hopeless, Nova the Dead, and Valkyn the Fool are the governors of the continent of Hendrexa. They disagree on principles and morals, but their bond is stronger than that of brothers born of the same womb. Meetings like the one I recorded above are held at the Round Table in Asgard anytime their is an issue with the mortal world.

RAPHAEL, our leader, receives reports of our endeavors from Akamu and sends direct orders from time to time when things get too messy.

None, but Akamu have ever seen RAPHAEL before, and some of us doubt his existence. Regardless, we recognize that our power didn’t come by chance and we have accepted our roles as servants of the land. Our job is to maintain order and peace to the best of our ability, but the mortals have recently started developing technology that could enhance their power to a level far beyond ours. I fail to see how this is a bad thing. For centuries the Seraphim have existed on a plane higher than mortals and are treated as gods among men. Perhaps it would be pleasant to coexist with them rather than ruling over them with an iron fist. Maybe this is what Yulia secretly hopes to accomplish?

The mortals call their invention Haidra, and they use the same methods of Blood Bonding to them that we developed. Forming a Blood Bond is a dangerous technique that takes aeons for a Celestial to master and finally qualify for ascending to the status of a Seraphim; I applaud the mortals for coming so close to accomplishing this feat in a matter of centuries. I agree with Gaia that their capabilities are astounding, but I fear that The Divide will do just as its name suggests and create a bigger divide between us all.

The Divide was developed by RAPHAEL, Akamu, and Yulia as a means of widening the power gap between Seraphim and mortals. The process starts with the activation of the Lazarus Core, the seven enormous mana crystals lying dormant beneath the earth.

Once activated, the Core will absorb and redistribute Hendrexa’s mana among seven separate countries causing mortals to readjust their way of life. Mana currently flows freely throughout Hendrexa and is available in surplus amounts to all beings living and not. The Divide will not necessarily diminish the amount of mana we have at our disposal, but it will be released at a minimal level for survival and only Celestials and Seraphim will be capable of drawing out more power directly from the Core.

After the Core regulate the mana flow, Asgard will descend to Hendrexa as its own country under the reign of Yulia, and the rest of The Six will be given his own country to govern. This process is meant to send the mortals into a state of panic and allow us to intervene as leaders who will bring peace and order back to the newly developed land. Having been bonded to the Core, each Seraph will be able to control and regulate mana distribution as well as monitor how mortals use their mana supply. This has never been done before, and we have only speculated how the mortals will react. Our hope is that they will overcome their state of panic and learn to coexist with us as their supreme leaders.

I know not whether The Divide is the best option for this circumstance, but I can only trust that whatever Yulia is planning behind the scenes is not driven by her vanity.

This concludes my log for today.

Chapter 1: Perspective

To trust the motives of others is to walk through a heated battleground blindfolded and naked. A bad idea.

*knock knock*

“Mah-lady, pardon mah intrusion! A note from His Mahjesty tha King just arrived fer ya!” 

*sigh* You say “pardon”, but that doesn’t make your intrusion any less bothersome. 

“Bring it here Jones.” He placed the questionably damp letter in my outstretched hand and stepped away. “The trade alliance with Arcania should be going smoothly after our last meeting with the Emperor. I can’t see any reason His Neediness would request my presence at a time like this…” 

“Lady Vahn Luna,

I hope this letter finds you well—”

I felt an unsettling sensation of being watched and took a glance behind me only to find Jones waiting like a mutt deserving of a treat.

“Is there something else you have for me?” I asked, turning my chair toward him and raising an eyebrow.

“N—no mah-lady! That’ll be all!” He saluted, bowed, and backed his way out the door to my office. I swear, his only redeeming quality is his silence when shutting doors. 

Now back to the letter…

“Lady Vahn Luna, 

I hope this letter finds you well I cordially invite you to attend The Paradigm on the first of September at sunset. Your attendance will also serve as your official inauguration as the Sage of the Wind.”

May the will of Yulia prosper,

High King Hayden Vahn Alucard Adelbrand

“JONES!!!!” 

“Y-ye—yes mah-lady!” His cheeks were bright red from running so frantically to get back to my office. Second redeeming quality is his dedication to perfection.

“Take this letter down to the old bakery and burn it with the rest.”

“Y-yes ma’am!” He hesitantly took the letter and left as swiftly and quietly as he came.

As he left, Lieutenant General Brunhild, my right hand, walked in shaking his head.

“You really love giving that boy a run fer ‘is money now don’tcha ‘mah-lady’?”

I chuckled as I leaned forward resting my head on my hands. “You know good and well how much the old milkmaids love the scent of lavender that drenches His Neediness’ letters. They appreciate the free aroma therapy I send them. Now I know you didn’t come all the way here just to reprimand me for ‘harassing the youth’…what’dya want?”

“I read each one o’ those lavender drenched letters His Majesty sends ya know.” Straight to the point. I appreciate that in a man.

“So you’ve been invading my privacy, and you felt so remorseful that you had to turn yourself in? That’ll be 50 lashes.”

“If it weren’t for your crude sarcasm…” he sighed before continuing. “No. What I mean is that I’m concerned ya won’t accept His Majesty’s offer again. You already play the part of Sage of the Wind, migh’ as well take it to the next level and become an official dog of the King.” 

“I see. You’ve come to give me maternal advice ey? Every year for the last four years His Neediness has invited me to The Paradigm with the expectation that I’ll become the Sage of the Wind, but I have little to no interest in being ‘second in command of an entire country right now. I’d much rather spend my time watching over Riviera while searching for the remaining pages of this memoir that washed up on the shore of Elcastia two months ago.” I carefully waved the torn pages in the air as Brunhild walked toward the door.

“And that’s where yer logic is flawed, Vahn Luna. Accepting the role of Sage gives you access to ancient libraries and laboratories that aren’t readily available to ya as of now. I think it’s time you lay down at least a pinch of your pride and accept the help of an old friend.”

As much as I hate to admit it, Brunhild’s words weren’t wrong. Hayden’s kind heart will be the death of him one day, but I appreciate his inadvertent way of giving me what I want. I guess the least I could do is accept his offer and let my service be the payment for the favor he’s done of letting me keep this memoir a secret from the Round Table of Sages.

*sigh* I stood up and met him at the door “Tell the rest of the garrison to make preparations for the journey to Alexandria immediately. We have no time to waste.” I placed a hand on his shoulder and smiled before leaving, “Ah right, and if you call me by that name again your burning flesh will be the next scent to fill the old bakery.”

“Hmph, my apologies Lady Yuri. For future reference, we could take our time getting ready if you’d let us bring you His Majesty’s telegrams when they arrive as opposed to a week later…”