Seeds of Discordia

Mercer and the others looked confused as they shifted their gazes at Liam. Liam remained calm as he stared back at Omira and asked, "So you're saying that this Children of Primal Nature is a Fae organization? I thought you said many races were a part of it?"

Omira nodded her head as she explained, "Just because a group has many different races in them it doesn't mean their origins didn't start in a certain area. When I say that The Children of Primal Nature is a Fae organization I mean it. Certain…Fae races started it and run it. While many races are recruited, none of them are a part of the leadership…"

"What is the goal of this Children of Primal Nature exactly?" Mercer questioned.

"Their goal? We aren't completely sure to be honest," Omira said as she looked to be thinking it over.

Liam and the others were confused at that. Roman, more vocal than the others, questioned, "What do you mean you aren't completely sure?"

"Well, in the past when they first formed they protested to every race about how they were destroying the environment with their constant building and tearing down the trees, bushes, and plants or how they filled the waters with litter, poisons, or some other thing," Omira started to explain.

Ah environmental activists. Nothing too bad… Liam started to think until Omira added, "Then one day, when each group went to seek an audience with the Primals claiming that what they were protesting about was for their sake, they suddenly went mad." Liam raised a brow as he waited for Omira to continue. "They went off saying that the Primal Beasts were phonies and anyone worshipping them were all being deceived by fakes. That's when they escalated their tactics. Protests turned into destroying towns and cities full of Fae or races who worship these so called fake Primals. It was worse for those who worship both a Deity and a Primal. They actively hunted those down, kidnap them, and Amphitrite knows what else they did to them since those who were captured were never seen again."

"Sounds like extremists to me," Blair commented as she scoffed.

"Do you know what they meant by fake Primals? Were there different Primals than the ones they had met that day they went crazy?" Mercer inquired.

"What are the Primals?" Ariyana asked.

Omira shrugged as she responded, "I don't think so. The history I know speaks of only the ones I know of, and they are extremely old." She then looked at Ariyana and said, "Primals are Elemental Beasts that represent elements that complement each other. Water and Ice, Fire and Lightning, Earth, and Plant, and lastly Air and Gravity." She then looked back at Mercer and said, "What I do know is that there can only be four Primals alive. There cannot be two that represent the same two elements."

Mercer wrote this down as he listened. After he finished he asked, "That's interesting. Do you think that maybe there was a time there were four other Primals that held one of the two elements before?"

Omira shook her head. "No. Horven, the Primal of Water and Ice, had explained that no matter what there can only be one Primal for each dual set of elements, if by chance there was more than one then a major battle would ensue for dominance and by dominance I mean they would fight to the death until one remains. She had also stated that when she became a Primal there was no battle for it. That she just became one, one day and doesn't know what happened."

"Horven huh?" Mercer muttered as he scribbled something down. He then asked, "If this Horven states that she never fought for her place as a Primal then who could these Children of Primal Nature be talking about?"

"I don't know. Some say they claimed what they were saying was utter nonsense and that these Primals never existed. There have been no history of them nor clues of that they ever existed. That was until…," Omira started to say, but stopped as she tried to think of her next words.

"The Spawns?" Liam ventured. He wasn't entirely sure if that was the case, but from how this conversation was going so far this was the only thing he could think of.

Omira nodded her head. "Yes. These Spawn creatures are the only clues we have to the rambles those who have given themselves to the nonsensical drabble of the Children of Primal Nature. The reason why we still aren't completely sure if these Primal Beasts were ever Primal Beasts to begin is because their spawns are so violent."

"What do you mean?" Ariyana asked with a worried look on her face.

"Well, we all know that Primals have spawns of their own. They mate with different species and their spawns roam the lands, airs, seas, and fiery landscapes making sure to their areas are safe, but they never attack anyone unless provoked or are corrupting the areas they are in," Omira explained. "However, the spawns, like the Lotan Spawns, lead Sea Parades and attack ships or even islands full of people without warning."

"That is concerning," Mercer commented as he looked up from his notebook and placed a hand on his chin.

"Hold on, while it's great to get a history lesson on this, you never really gave me a proper response earlier," Val suddenly interjected. "What do you mean you believe there is a chance they are still around? I would think that something like the Children of Primal Nature still being around would be public knowledge."

Omira once more looked uncomfortable as she shifted in her seat and looked to be thinking about what she could or would be able to say. After a while she finally said, "We aren't entirely sure if they are or are not. We only speculate because of what has been happening these past few years during the times we, the royal members of the Faeheart Kingdom, have experienced when having to perform the rituals we have been tasked with."

"What has been happening?" Gimmel asked, looking concerned and worried.

"Well, there have been plenty of assassination attempts on ours and the lives of those who are to take part in the ritual, broken or missing ritual equipment and materials, and even large quantity of Monster Parades appearing during the ritual," Omira responded.

"When I say this I am not taking what you are saying lightly, but…broken or missing ritual equipment and materials can be seen as poor management, large quantity of Monster Parades could be because there might be something in the materials or even the ritual itself is luring them, and as for the assassination attempts…didn't you say your siblings have been doing that already?"

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"While I don't have anything to argue your point on the materials or equipment, the whole thing with the Monster Parades could be summed up as you said, but the Primals, as well as the Deities involved, have claimed that such a thing could not be the case. They won't elaborate more on it, so I can't really say why. As for the assassination attempts…," Omira said before hesitating. "While my siblings are cruel I don't believe they are stupid. If one of us dies while trying to perform the ritual and no one can step up in their place then it could lead to catastrophe. I don't think they would do something even they themselves know could ruin many lives."

"But they would after you finish the ritual though?" Roman questioned. "Wouldn't that put this whole thing in a bind for the next time someone needed to do this ritual?" After a brief moment of silence he scoffed and remarked, "This whole thing is too complicated and too…what's the word…ah absurd. They won't try to assassinate during the ritual, but they would after its done only to cause more issues for the future."

"No one said there was a perfect family, but still…I have to actually agree with Roman on this," Artem chimed in. "I don't know if it's your siblings or this Children's group, but either way the evidence points to…"

Before Artem could finish his sentence, loud noises and shouts were heard above deck. Confusion grew on everyone's faces as they looked at each other. No one said anything and before Liam could ask the question they all wanted to ask, Eri sent a message.

[An interesting development is happening up above. – Eri.]

An interesting development? What's going on up there? Liam thought back to that mischievous goddess of his.

[You'll have to go and see for yourself. Although I do advise you to go armed and prepared to keep that Omira girl safe. I don't want any harm coming to her. Also you might want to prepare quickly. – Eri.]

Prepare quickly what do you me… Liam started to ask until his ears suddenly perked up. Blair's and Roman's did the same as Omira's and Ariyana's noses suddenly twitched. A loud menacing hiss echoed outside the room. From the sound of it, it wasn't on this floor but on the one above them.

"Everyone get ready. We've got company heading out way," Liam stated as he tried to think about what could be on the next floor up. Making a decision, Liam looked at the others who were still getting ready and trying to form some sort of plan and said, "I'm going to go and see what's out there."

Before the others could protest or fully register what he had just said, Liam used Veil of Shadows and disappeared from their sight right before looking through the key hole of the door and using Shadow Step to appear on the other side of the door. However right as he appeared on the other side he was met with some sort of scaley creature mere inches away from his face.

With a mixture of instincts and surprise, Liam gripped his Toxo Needle and jammed up through the snout like chin of the monster. His Needlework Precision automatically kicked in allowing the tool weapon to easily pierce through the bottom jaw and right up into the creature's skull. Liam wasn't sure if it had stabbed the brain, but the creature didn't attack back nor let out any shout of sorts as it slumped dead on the ground.

Liam's heart pounded as he felt the heavy weight of the creature dropped down on his hand and arm, forcing him to let go of his tool weapon and allowing the dead creature to fall hard on the ground. The sound the creature made as it dropped was loud causing the creatures on the floor above to call out in a serpentine-like hiss.

"What wassss that?" something questioned.

"I don't know. It ssssounded like it was down below," another said in quietly like hiss.

"Didn't Ssslav go down below?" a third inquired.

"Let'ssss go check. I don't hear or ssssee anyone up here," a fourth commented.

Liam started to panic as he looked around. He heard the others start to ask what happen as he looked around the room. He saw a patch of shadows in the closest corner of the room and quickly activated his Veil of Shadows as he whispered through the door, "Don't come out yet."

They asked what he meant by that, but didn't get the chance as he turned off one of the Yooperlite stones nearest him getting the area he was in darker and slowly made his way to the darkest part of the floor. He then watched as the creatures that were up above start to walk downstairs. Liam had to do a double take as he realized they weren't walking but rather slithering down the steps.

The creatures he was seeing come down had the lower body of a snake while they had a reptile like human top half with two arms and a face. They had greenish blue scales covering their bodies and some clothes. They had hood cloaks that covered their chest and heads, but their long snout like mouths stuck out like sore thumbs. Glowing light red eyes could be seen inside the hoods.

What the hell are they? Liam thought as he watched them pull their fallen comrade closer to them so they could inspect the body.

As they talked amongst themselves, a couple scanned the room to inspect for any signs of hidden traps or people. To Liam's luck, they didn't see him in the corner of the room closest to the door of the room the others were in. As he watched them he came to the conclusion that he needed to do something that could either help drop their numbers or deal enough damage to help the others finish them off easier.

As he thought about it he remembered there was something he had wanted to try for a while now. Hoping his Veil of Shadows wouldn't break as he prepared, he manipulated enough shadows to gather and form a giant shadow blob on his hand. He then started to put as many of his old daggers inside the blob.

He wasn't able to fill it completely as he noticed two of the snake humans looked at the area he was currently standing at. He didn't think they could see him since they didn't act hostile, but the cautious movements their heads and arms made told him that they believed something was there.

Liam cursed internally as he tried to think of a way out of this as the two slowly made their way towards where he was. He backed up until he was completely touching his back to the wall. He looked back at the wall and remembered something. His boots, the very same boots Lady Arachne had given him, had a special feature he could use. Not wanting to take any chances, Liam moved as fast as he could without deactivating his Veil of Shadows and put a foot on the wall. He kept his body as close as he could to it and slowly made his way to the ceiling. Thankfully, the ceiling of the corridor was high enough that when he went to move away from that area he wasn't bumping his head with theirs.

He was just in time too as the two snake-like human creatures stabbed the shadowy area. The only resistance their daggers felt was the wall. He let out a sigh of relief to only tense back up as he heard Roman ask behind the door, "What was that?"

Liam cursed Roman's name in his mind as he sent a message to Eri to inform them not to open the door. He didn't wait for a confirmation as he used his free hand to point at the group of creatures making their way to the door and started chanting as quietly as he could, "Moon, beautiful and radiant. Bless us with your power to lighten up the night. Expose those to your majestic light. Lunar exposure."

Liam had finished the chant just in time as the one leading the group of snake creatures went to reach for the door. However, they had stopped as a faint pale light started to glow behind them. All six turned right as a ball of pale light exploded right in front of their faces, blinding them all in one go.

As they spread out a bit, let out pained hisses, and started scratching at their faces, Liam used Shadow Step to appear right in the middle of the group, separated the shadow blob into two, and raised his hands around their head levels.

As their eyes readjusted to the dimmed area and lost the Blind Debuff, they all saw Liam standing there surrounded by them, palms raised at their head level with some sort of inky black substance on them, and heard as he said, "Mana Arts, Phantom Cat Improvision: Fifty-Two Card Pick Up." He then spun around as fast as he could, releasing a flood of daggers out from the two shadow blobs.