Manifest War: The Weapons Within

After a few moments went by, the two separated and Azhane brushed her makeup off of his black uniform. She curiously took a little bit longer than the task required, admiring his firm muscles with each touch of her hand.

Graymoor cleared his throat and Azhane quickly removed her hand from his chest, awkwardly smiling as though she got caught doing something she wasn’t supposed to.

“Ahem, well, let’s get this mess cleaned up.” Graymoor said, hoping to break the tension in the air. He crouched down and began picking up the multitude of papers strewn across the floor, making sure to not miss a single one.

“You don’t have to do that, Graymoor. I can call for the maids.” Azhane stated, not wanting him to waste his time with such a matter.

“It’s fine, Your Majesty. Besides, I don’t think you would want to explain to them why the room is in such a sorry state.” Azhane glanced over to her desk and embarrassingly chuckled, noticing the massive dents imprinted into it and the blood stains from her hand. She turned her attention back to the floor and got down on her knees, helping Graymoor pick up the papers.

“Your Majesty! Please, you don’t need to dirty yourself with such a task!” Graymoor loudly said with a concerned expression, not wanting to see his Queen do such labor.

“Ohhh hush, it’s fine. I made the mess, so it’s only right that I help clean it up.” She lightly chuckled and grabbed some papers, stacking them up neatly beside her. Graymoor sighed as he continued to assist, trying to finish this up as swiftly as possible. While they cleaned, Azhane softly laughed again suddenly, as though she had just remembered something funny.

“This reminds me of that time when I was looking for the hair brush my mother borrowed. I snuck into their room and accidentally knocked over her accessory shelf when I wasn’t paying attention. There was stuff everywhere and even though we were forbidden to be in there, you still came and helped me clean it up before they got home from an event that night.” She chuckled at the memory and Graymoor chimed in with a recollection of his own.

“Yeah, I remember you rushing over to me saying that there was a massive, life-threatening problem. I’m thinking that I need to get ready to fight and instead, you pull me into the King and Queen’s room with accessories strewn about the floor, pleading for my help to clean it up. Even though it clearly was not my problem, as your assigned knight, I couldn’t refuse your request.” Graymoor playfully quipped, uncharacteristically letting down his guard.

"I swear, seventeen year old me was such a drama queen. It’s so embarrassing to think about now. Thankfully I grew out of that phase.” They continued to talk about their past and the room felt significantly more pleasant. Azhane’s once sour mood had completely shifted by this distraction and she was fully back to her usual self. Graymoor picked up the last piece of paper and carefully set it down onto her desk.

He turned around and saw Azhane getting up from the floor, grimacing as she put pressure on her right hand. He briskly approached and helped her stand, taking hold of her injured hand.

“I’ll just have the doctor look it over. It’s no big deal.” She quickly said, not wanting him to see how bad it actually was. To her surprise, he suddenly brought her hand to his lips before gently kissing it, trying to make it feel better. Azhane was shocked by Graymoor’s forwardness and didn’t know how to respond.

“Promise me you won’t do something like that again. I don’t take kindly to seeing Your Majesty in pain, especially under my watch.” He lowered her hand and they stared each other deep in the eyes, causing the Queen to blush, something she never did. Before he fully let go, she gripped back and began to speak.

“Thank you for today... Things could’ve gotten pretty bad had you not been here. I can’t promise that moments like this won’t happen again and you of all people know that. You know how I can get sometimes... But... I'll try my best.” She showed him the brightest smile he had ever seen, showcasing her beauty even further.

Graymoor marveled at her before smiling back and with a bow of the head, he dismissed himself out of the room. As the door closed, Azhane looked down at her injured hand before averting her gaze towards the large window behind her desk.

“That could’ve been bad… This stress is really starting to get to me. To think I wanted to kill the Council members, like.. What is wrong with me? I’ve got to keep things under control.” She sighed heavily as she tried to gather her thoughts together, hoping something like this wouldn’t happen again.

Back inside the upper chambers of the Boundless Palace, Carmen stretched from a short afternoon nap. She looked around her room and sighed, still feeling slightly bored from being in this one location all the time.

It had now been two full weeks since the group was captured and even though she was still a prisoner, The Boundless had treated her quite well, all things considered. Carmen had a maid that tended to any request she made, the food she was offered sometimes rivaled the meals at Castle de Belouis, and everyday she got to spend hours with Homura who had been nothing but kind to her. The two would talk about any and everything under the sun, learning all kinds of things about each other.

In a terrifyingly short amount of time, Carmen went from absolutely loathing her situation to enjoying the time spent with her new friend. Homura had masterfully weaseled her way into Carmen’s day to day routine and now it felt as though they had known each other for years.

Just as she swung her body over and out of the bed, Carmen heard someone at the door. The lock clicked and the handle turned just before the door slowly creeped open. Homura stepped inside while giving Carmen a warm smile.

“Sorry, did I wake you?” She asked with a soft voice, brushing her red hair away from her face.

“Ah, no! Not at all. I got up from a nap a few minutes ago.” Carmen quickly replied.

“Good, good. Well, care to join me for some lunch once you get dressed, my dear?” Carmen was surprised to hear this question and after a brief thought, she nodded her head yes. Carmen stood from the bed and quickly rushed to the washroom to put on the red dress that Homura gave her earlier that week. Moments later, she emerged and did a little twirl as the dress adorably swayed side to side.

“You look great!” Homura said, admiring how pretty Carmen looked in her new attire.

“Now, come on, let’s go! I’m starving.” Homura got behind Carmen and playfully pushed her along towards the door, softly laughing along the way.

They exited the room and Carmen felt the cool air outside of her lavish prison cell. As they strolled the halls, Carmen took note of how large and decadent everything was. Even though she had been out in the city, she didn’t really get a chance to explore the Boundless palace.

From the decorated walls, vaulted ceilings, tiled floors, massive detailed statues, and the light fixtures, this palace was nothing short of beautiful. Certainly didn’t seem like the home of an evil king hell bent on conquest and destruction.

“How long did this place take to build?” Carmen asked Homura as she marveled at everything around her.

“Hmm, I believe Lord Briddle crafted it in a few seconds. Can’t imagine it would’ve taken him long.” She replied in a fairly nonchalant manner.

“What? How?” Homura chuckled at Carmen’s reaction, finding her behavior to be quite amusing.

“If there is any material thing that Briddle wants or needs, he can craft it. If there is anything in his way, he can tear it down. His power knows no limits in this world.” Homura responded, showing great admiration towards her ruler and lover.

“Oh wow, that’s pretty amazing.” Carmen was impressed by that response and began to wonder just what kind of strength he had to make such an extravagant building in mere seconds.

“Amazing indeed! Lord Briddle is such an incredible ruler and I love him with every fiber of my being!” Homura squealed while she blushed and fangirled about the Boundless King. Carmen awkwardly laughed at her statement as they continued to walk to their destination.

The duo arrived at a room and inside was Karris, standing there with his usual black robes and hood. He bowed to Homura before posing a question to her.

“Lady Homura, how may I be of service to you today?” He asked through the darkness of his hood.

“Prepare a portal to the Core Depths.” She heartily replied with an authority filled voice.

“As you wish.” Karris turned around and chanted some strange words while holding up his hands.

“Wait, did you say the Core Depths? Why are we going there?” Carmen asked with a slight sense of panic, not prepared at all to visit such a place.

“To eat lunch of course. Come on, the others are waiting for us.” In that same moment, a large golden portal appeared before them and Karris stepped aside so they could pass through. Homura grabbed Carmen’s hand and she pulled her along, stepping into the bright swirling portal.

A few seconds passed and they came through to the other side. Carmen opened her eyes and what she saw nearly took her breath away. The area was an expansive, lush, and green landscape overflowing with vegetation and wildlife as far as the eye could see. The sky was a warm, golden yellow and large floating islands decorated multiple sections of it, surrounded by thick fluffy clouds.

In the distance, waterfalls of various sizes dumped into glassy lakes, so incredibly clear and pure. There were a multitude of birds and animals that had runic markings on them, similar to those you find on Manifests. Even though the wildlife looked familiar, they clearly weren’t of the same species on the surface.

Everything about this place was beyond fantastical in both its layout and ecosystem. However, the most extravagant thing about it was just to the right of Carmen’s vision. She turned her attention over and saw a massive, light orange and opaque crystal off in the distance.

The width and height of this shard had to have been at least a few miles tall and wide. It stretched past the clouds and the base was surrounded by overgrown vegetation and large mountains. Carmen had never seen anything so massive in her life. The staggering size of this crystal sent shivers down her spine as she felt the energy permeating from it.

“That right there is the Core of Alaira. Incredible isn’t it?” Homura chimed in as she admired the sight as well. Carmen was speechless and the only response she could give was a stupefied nod. Homura took hold of Carmen’s hand again and guided her along a simple cobblestone pathway.

“I know this place can be pretty hard to process when you first visit, there’s so much to it. But, you better get used to the Core Depths since this is where we’ll be living in a few days.” Homura said with a smile.

“Ah, right. I remember you mentioning that you all were moving here soon.” Carmen replied, recalling a past conversation they had.

“Yes, once we hit our revival quota, we’ll migrate and start anew down here. Once that happens, no one from the surface world can mettle in our affairs or threaten us here. We can rule over Alaira with little to no resistance at all, it’ll be wonderful.” Carmen was a little curious once she heard this statement.

“What do you mean? Can’t Humans and Siestians enter the Core Depths too? I heard that they come here to do research and stuff pretty often.” Carmen questioned.

“That may be so, but you see, Humans and Siestians cannot sustain their existence down here with the methods they use to enter. Time moves differently in the Core Depths. Each day passed here is only an hour on the surface. Their methods to enter only allow them to spend up to four days down here or four hours of Alaira time. After that, the Core Depths will close down their points of entry for months at a time.” She said with an informing tone.

“For us however, that doesn’t apply. The Boundless can enter and exit the Core Depths as much as we please, as this was our original home. We were created to live amongst the Core of Alaira and tend to the lands below.” Homura continued, revealing an important note of information to Carmen.

“Ahh, I see. I had no idea there were such limitations to enter this place. There’s still so much I don’t know about Alaira.” Carmen responded, soaking in as much new information as she could. They finished walking down the path and arrived at a medium sized table with various foods laid out across it. Sitting around it were three other Boundless females talking amongst themselves. Once Homura made herself known, the three women stood and bowed their heads to her. Homura smiled as she turned her attention to Carmen.