Odyssey of the Guardian Emperor

Alaric could feel hundreds of gazes on him, which was mortifying for someone who casually saw the world from various angles, spying through the vines that were already sprouting in the new Melbourne. All the merchants, smiths, slayers and citizens of Melbourne were scrambling to get a look at him.

'He's that Alistair kid that killed a whole pack of MudHounds.' 'The same Alistair that defeated a Three-Cut Bone Tiger.' 'Was it one Bone Tiger with three cuts, or three with one cut each?' 'I heard he carved up a whole pack of tigers with a bone sword, each with at least three cuts!' 'Then who's Alaric?' 'Alistair is Alaric. He hid his real self.'

Alaric could feel the blood rushing to his face, 'What is this? What are they talking about?'

It was clear by now that the matter of his Face Mask was no longer a secret, especially considering he'd been spotted channelling an ocean of aether into a halo above the city. But the rumours were spiralling out of control, each retelling more absurd than the last. His heart thundered in his chest, and time slowed.

[ You're hopeless without Alia. ] A chuckle filled Alaric's mind, breaking his train of thought. [ Stop listening to them and get up there. ] The voice was gentle, female, familiar, and while not the same as Alia's, it was comforting.

[ Sabre? ] He called.

[ I thought I'd help out. Alia is still brooding. ] The puma explained. Alaric wasn't sure what to make of this. He was thankful for the big cat's presence but also a bit disheartened that Alia wasn't talking to him yet.

The whole reason his nerves were through the roof was because she wasn't around. Usually, her constant presence was a reminder that he was never alone. Now, Sabre took on that mantle.

Alaric let out a deep breath and turned to his friends, "Wish me luck!"

"A little mishap wouldn't be bad either," Finn shrugged, "We'd have something to laugh about."

The green-eyed boy shook his head and walked off, too tongue-tied for a comeback. [ You'll be fine. No mishaps. ]

[ Want to switch places? ]

[ You're the one the people want to see. Not me. ] The guardian answered.

This was one of those days when he would have to do everything himself, so he strode forward, climbed the stairs and held out his hands to receive the ring the Matriarch held out. She placed it in his hands and closed his palm. It was cool to the touch, yet it tugged on the aether flowing through his system, hungry to have its enchantments activated.

"As a token of our gratitude," she said, her voice ringing clear.

Beside her, a man who'd been standing there, silently watching, cleared his throat. His blonde hair and lean build tugged at Alaric's heartstrings, drawing a short breath from him. The last time Alaric had seen him, he'd been in serious need of medical attention, from both a Healer and a Holy Mage.

"Be sure to use it well. We'd hate to see an item that powerful go to waste." He spoke roughly, yet the glistening of his eyes betrayed him.

Alaric received the ring with a slight bow, "You give me too much credit. Congratulations on establishing your domain, Matriarch." To the man, he added, "It's good to see you doing well, Byron."

"I'd offer you something for saving my life, but I don't have anything as valuable as that ring," Byron shrugged, "So, I'll offer you what you offered the Naiad of the Shimmering Creek. A favour. Ask anything of me anytime you wish, and I'll do everything in my power to grant your request."

The Matriarch smiled and stepped aside, Alaric to address the people, "Tonight is a night of celebration. Eat. Drink and rejoice. As for those willing to speak to our Guest of Honour, approach him with etiquette, and when he asks to be left alone, I expect compliance. That is all."

With that, the music continued to play, and the festival proceeded. The Matriarch turned to Alaric and held out her hand, "Ever danced before, Alaric?"

Alaric went pink in the face, "No, I don't think…"

"Oh, it's easy," the woman insisted, "Just follow my lead. You wouldn't deny the mother of Melbourne a dance, now would you?"

Alaric stared at her outstretched hand like it was a snake waiting to bite him. She'd said all the right words, and she knew he couldn't say no. Reluctantly, he took her hand and let the woman lead him down the stairs. Sensing the change, the musicians adjusted the music to be slower, yet purposeful.

Alaric felt his intestines twist and knot as they attracted more attention. What was going on right now? No amount of magic, titles, aether or power could save him from the embarrassment he could see himself experiencing in the following short moments.

What if he tripped and fell? What if he wasn't good at following the Matriarch's lead? What if he stepped on her dress, or worse, her toes? What if he sneezed because her perfume was too strong? Did he need Aether Manipulation to endure this sort of physical and mental strain?

[ Are you kidding me? ] A male voice interfered with Alaric's thought process. [ How's a master of the Dance of the Sword sweating because of a mere dance? ]

Alaric's clone stunned him out of his panic. Since the clone was made from his subconscious, his words held truths he could rarely deny. Then again, he didn't know everything his subconscious held, so the clone still managed to sound like someone else sometimes.

[ You have the Spatial awareness better than a Heaven-Crested Eagle and footwork that rivals your guardian, and you're worried about tripping in a casual dance? ] The clone continued.

A deep voice came afterwards, rumbling with pride, [ Any mistake made by His majesty is bound by law to be branded as a new dance move. ]

Alaric chuckled at WorldHammer's logic as he followed the woman down the steps. By the time she took both his hands to get ready for their dance, his demeanour had changed completely.

His green eyes were gentle and relaxed, staring into the beautiful woman's dark pools of blue with an intensity that made her cheeks flush a gentle shade of pink. 'How is he only fifteen?'

"After you," Alaric broke her out of her thoughts, trying to sound eager.

The Matriarch nodded, "Just pay attention to my movements, and do what comes naturally."

She took a step, gently tugging Alaric's hand in the direction she wanted him to go. The boy swayed and mirrored her movement with his adjacent foot, falling in sync with her without even meaning to. The movement felt right, and the smile on the Matriarch's face told him he was doing something right.

It was all instinctual and for the first second, he had no idea what to do next, but then something familiar happened. As her other foot moved back, he was hit by the deepest sense of nostalgia. Suddenly, he could subtly sense her next five moves like it was something he'd done countless times before.

'This feels so familiar,' his thoughts echoed. He wanted to remember why this felt so natural, but his mind gave him nothing, and he didn't care either. The people watching him faded away, and for the first time in the whole evening, he felt a weight lift off his shoulders.

Together, the pair danced to the music, oblivious to the eyes watching them.

The Matriarch's steps were deliberate and stiff at first, but not without purpose. He could feel the tension as she moved, and it didn't bother him. If anything, it was nice to know she was not without fear either. As they went on, she grew more relaxed. Alaric had grasped the rhythm of the dance, and rather than slow the Matriarch down, he complemented her.

This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

"You dance well," she told him, "Have you ever danced before?"

"Not that I can remember…" Alaric answered, "But it does feel familiar. Perhaps there is something I've been doing that's similar and I've just never noticed."

The Matriarch smirked, "And you're not afraid of messing up?"

Alaric smiled, holding the woman's hands as she spun on her heel. Their tunics flowed like undulating ocean waves as they kept dancing, following the music as they spoke. The rush of adrenaline filled him, purging any feelings of fear and replacing them with exhilaration. His surroundings faded into the background.

"I was scared at first, Matriarch."

The Matriarch came back to him in an elegant twirl and as they locked eyes again, Alaric realised that she was a bit shorter than him—perhaps by an inch.

A subtle look of agitation crossed her face, and she shook her head, "June. My name is June. You will never call me by my title. Understood?"

Alaric nodded stiffly, "June."

"Perfect! Thank you," she responded, "I know it wasn't my place to steal this dance, but I'm glad I did. It would be a mistake for me to squander the opportunity to dance with His Majesty at the Founding Festival of my city."

Alaric drew his lips into a thin line, "How about you call me 'Alaric' in exchange for calling you 'June'. I'm… not used to 'that' title."

"Understood… Alaric," The Matriarch nodded. She cleared her throat, blinked rapidly and changed the subject, "Melbourne wasn't always the booming city you see today, you know. That ring I gave you has the power to appraise the value of anything you see. I used it a lot during negotiations and Auctions. It helped me learn who was worth trusting, what was worth buying, as well as who was a good salesperson or a crooked one. It also has a cloaking enchantment that keeps anyone from sensing its activation. I hope it brings you the good fortune it brought me on my way to becoming the Matriarch."

"Why would you give me something so precious?" Alaric regarded the ring in a new light. He'd stored it in his Storage Bracelet, but now that he was aware of its value, he felt squeamish about receiving it for free.

"Because you deserve it… and I do not need it anymore. Hiring an Appraiser is expensive, but now that is something I can afford, and with how much I know now, I have little need for one. Use it well," the woman answered with a hint of sadness.

Alaric nodded reassuringly. They'd been dancing a while before he spoke again, "I promised Lucy that I would fix the bond between her and her guardian."

"She told me," the Matriarch answered, "But there was never a bond between them in the beginning, just a fake one. So perhaps you'll have more progress in creating a bond rather than restoring one."

Alaric hadn't thought about it this way. Considering the wraith in her shattered realm in the In-Between was not her original guardian, her case was complicated. Alaric reckoned creating an entirely new bond was a lot harder than fixing one. "How are they bonded now?"

"Dark Magic."

His blood went cold, and suddenly his heartbeat sounded louder than a drum, beating in his ears. The words had knocked his breath right out of his lungs. June looked away from him, blinking away tears that threatened to fall, "Don't look at me like that, Alaric. I did what I had to do at the time. I'm not proud of it."

"How was Dark Magic your solution?" he asked, still trying to sound neutral.

"Her guardian was gone," the Matriarch answered, "Probably dead. I needed a quick solution to repair her access to aether, and that's what was the next best option. It left a bad taste in my mouth, and as I raised her, I tore down all connections this city had to Dark Magic and child trafficking," she answered, "Unfortunately, once you open the doors to such darkness, they are not easily closed, and so Melbourne began its days of fighting to remain alive. We couldn't stay a Merchant City with the kind of rules I had started making."

In the silence that followed, Alaric's heart beat slowed, managing to relax in light of the Matriarch's dark past. "Do you resent me?" she asked.

"No," Alaric answered. There were many things he didn't understand, but he also knew the world was so many shades of grey, and not black and white. "I might resent the version of you that did those things, but you are not that person anymore."

The music slowed, and the two were brought to the calm ending of this arduous dance. The woman rolled her eyes at him, "You're annoyingly right. I am different from what I was back then. I was partly testing you to see what you would say."

The Matriarch took a deep breath, "You are a myth made flesh, and your future will be treacherous. If you're ever in need of assistance, you can turn to us. Melbourne will always be loyal to the Guardian Emperor. I forgot to rely on the people around me, and it almost cost me everything. Learn from my mistakes and rely on those closest to you. The power of many is greater than the power of one, especially when building an empire," the woman spoke.

Alaric nodded as they slowed to a stop.

"Might I cut in, mother?" a gentle voice interrupted the dancing pair.

Alaric's breath hitched when he heard it. It was a voice he hadn't heard in a long time and had been subconsciously looking for the whole day. They stopped dancing and turned to a girl dressed in a white dress. Contrasting beautifully with her silver hair, Lucy looked like an angel made flesh.

June looked between her and Alaric, then winked at the girl, "Don't let anyone else sweep him up, okay? Make me proud, honeybun."

Lucy went bright red as the Matriarch left with a chuckle. Alaric let out a soft laugh as he turned to face her. He held out his hands for her to take. "Shall we?"

Lucy, still red, took Alaric's hands, keeping her gaze to the side, "You learnt how to dance fast."

"Oh, don't be fooled. I'm just as surprised as you are. You should lead, just in case…"

"Uh-huh," the girl answered with a graceful step to the right, a slight alteration to what Alaric had gotten used to with the Matriarch.

Minuscule as the change was, Alaric soon came to learn how bold the Matriarch's style was as compared to Lucy's delicate one. Her dress did not sway as much, and while she was less energetic, she wasn't any less elegant.

She got in close, and Alaric's heart nearly stopped. 'She smells amazing!'

That had caught him off-guard, but more than that, she was a whole different person compared to the Matriarch and that realisation set off a whole different set of alarms in his head. It took everything he had just to hide this awkwardness.

While still feminine and delicate, the Matriarch's Temper Rank was too high for Alaric to even consider her that way. He was an inch taller than she was, but it felt like he was dancing with a titan. With Lucy, however, a sense of normalcy returned.

She was shorter than Alaric, but he didn't know her age. He was curious, but not enough to ask. Just enough to know that this dance shouldn't have been casual, 'Finn is never going to leave this down.'

To distract himself, he cleared his throat and sought conversation, "How are you doing?"

"I'm fine," Lucy responded, "She's changed, y'know. I don't know what you said to her, but she's… softer."

Alaric raised an eyebrow, "June?"

Lucy inched back to look at him, then looked away just as fast, "Sh-She let you call her that?"

"She insisted," Alaric corrected.

"Oh," the girl answered quietly, "She's never done that before."

The air about them was tense, far tenser than Alaric was used to. Lucy was a pretty girl, and considering Alaric had grown up around Darla and Sister Marla, that was saying something.

Something was off, though. She was making an effort to avoid eye contact, her face was flushed, and her fingers were sweaty.

[ His Majesty is desired by all. ] WorldHammer celebrated from the In-Between.

[ Pipe down, you musclehead. ] Alaric's clone chided, [ It's just getting interesting. ]

Alaric took a deep breath and focused on the dance. This one was even harder than his dance with the Matriarch, and not just because the collection of guardians in his realm of the In-Between were paying attention. Lucy made it hard for Alaric to multitask without even realising it. He found it hard to come up with conversation, which hadn't been the case with the Matriarch.

Before he could muster the courage to speak, she blurted out, "Can I still join you? The Matriarch apologised for everything and has been treating me well ever since, but she also told me I can still come with you if I'd like. I would… like to come with you. I would like to see more of the Valerian continent than everything inside a wooden fence. Don't get me wrong. It's a good fence. At least a dozen enchantments and…"

She stopped, glancing at him only briefly before looking away. Alaric held back his laughter, "We'd be happy to have you. Though if I'm being honest, the first part of our journey is going to be embarrassingly boring. Some long Tempering Ritual I have to go through in the Barren Mountains."

"That's fine. Perhaps I can also focus on my Body Tempering," Lucy paused for a bit, and added, "My guardian spoke to me. I didn't know he could speak."

"Ah, I spoke to him, too. Did he tell you what we spoke about?" Alaric answered.

Lucy breathed out in relief, "I thought… I thought you'd forgotten. C-can you really…" she stopped for a bit, her eyes going wide, "Oh, right! Of course, you can. I hadn't thought of it that way. The Matriarch told me what she used to finally manifest a domain. Your secret is safe with us."

"Secret?" Alaric furrowed his eyebrows, "You had me until the part about the domain."

"The secret to creating a domain is loyalty to the Guardian Emperor," the girl responded in a hushed whisper when she'd come close to him, "Mother has never cared for the Emperor, so whenever she was told of the myth, she rejected it. That was… until she met you."

Alaric nodded, "I'm glad I could be of help."

'Wait, what's happening? Why does anyone need the Guardian Emperor to create a domain?' Alaric panicked. His mind couldn't keep up. He understood he was part of the missing piece, but didn't actually know the details.

[ Ah, yes! ] His clone started, [ I was also startled when Alia told me this. ]

Meanwhile, Lucy continued on to something else, unaware of Alaric's confusion, "Most Merchant Cities don't make it beyond a decade. Becoming 'more' is never the plan, and because of that, their destruction is not just expected, but controlled."

"I don't understand," Alaric furrowed his eyebrows. It was an odd concept to hear of a city built for destruction.

"Merchant Cities work well because there are no domains to impose certain rules, allowing all sorts of activities to happen within them. It's because of that very nature that they get destroyed easily," she explained further.

Alaric understood this from his basic understanding of how vital domains were to the stability of a city, but he also realised from this revelation that the inception of Melbourne was a dark one. A past where child trafficking, dark magic and criminal activities were commonplace. 'When did it change?'

The boy furrowed his brows once again, "Then what changed?"

"The Matriarch changed."

"I don't… understand. What happened to the Matriarch that made her change?" Alaric asked yet again.

Lucy drew her lips into a thin line, then quietly answered, "…she met me."