“The weak, lowly Republic.

  That is what they call us.

  Ladies and Gentlemen. Emperor Gelmidas Atheneum has made a mockery of us all. For years, we insulted and belittled him. For years, we beat back his unorganized armies and naively assumed that victory was assured. How ignorant we were. How terribly, terribly ignorant. It has been one month since the Rusting was unleashed. One month, Ladies and Gentlemen. One month! And billions have died because of how unprepared and ignorant we were to the Emperor’s true pn. Doom awaits us all, and my opponent now wants to enter peace talks? He seeks to reason with this madman? This arcane scientist who-”

  “Ms. Soryu. Your time is up.”

  Vanessa smmed her palms on the podium. The wood shook under her rage.

  “Who wants nothing but doom for our entire government! We should not stand idly at our own-”

  “I said your time is up.” The Mediator holds out a stern hand as President Limberg ughs. “Vanessa Soryu, everyone! The Fearmonger! Of course, a greedy woman of common birth wants you to buy into whatever she’s selling to hold back the horrors that she demands you to imagine.”

  The council chamber’s audience joined together in a hearty, dignified chuckle befitting of their shared social status.

  Vanessa pounded her podium once more, surrendering the floor to the then-president.

  He cleared his throat and adjusted his red tie before speaking, “But in all seriousness. I’ve met Emperor Atheneum. He is a fine man. A family man. I personally apologized to him for my spies who exposed the existence of his son when he had every right to keep the boy out of the public eye, away from all this meddlesome triviality that we political leaders find ourselves embroiled in.”

  The audience ughed once more.

  President Limberg smiled at their praise, pressing a hand to his chest as he continued.

  “Yes. I know. It is all meaningless triviality, isn’t it? Well, Ladies and Gentlemen, I’ll have you know that I do not stand for triviality. I don’t want to simply sit back and get fat while I approve whatever bill floats onto my desk, and I certainly don’t want to go to war again. No, you see, Ladies and Gentlemen, I stand for something greater, I want something greater, I want peace. That is what I stand for, and as for Vanessa Soryu, well, I think we can all agree that she only stands for herself.”

  The chamber erupted with appuse. Not even the Mediator could hide the fact that President Limberg had won the debate.

  Vanessa grinded her teeth and buried her nails into her podium as she gred at President Limberg. Everyone in that room got everything wrong about her.

  Even now, all these years ter, no one believes in the Republic more than her.

  No one.

  Vanessa would still go on to win the election, sure, but to this day, she still keeps the promise that she made right then and there.

  “I will never lose to anyone, ever again.”

  Vanessa Soryu walks into the Division Pza, alone.

  She steps past the iron spikes in the lobby, alone.

  She opens the door to the holding cells, alone.

  She enters the damp hallway, alone.

  She strides through it, alone.

  She finds Nadeden’s cell, unlocks it, and then she isn’t alone anymore.

  “What do you want?” Nadeden gres at her.

  “I just want to talk.” Vanessa shuts the cell door. Locking both of them inside.

  Nadeden grips a fist as she carefully watches Vanessa unbutton her uniform and pull out a long strip of wood.

  It is only when Nadeden sees the fletchings that she realizes Vanessa is holding the arrow she fired at Gelmidas.

  Vanessa sits down beside Nadeden. Her cape falls into the puddle of unknown origin, but she doesn’t seem to mind. Nadeden finds Vanessa’s ck of disgust odd, but most of all unsettling.

  Vanessa stares at Nadeden in silence for a long while.

  The group of protestors crowded outside is the only noise either of them can hear until Vanessa coughs into her hand.

  “Would you like to hear a story?”

  The Sympathy plea will work. I’m sure of it.

  She repeated the phrase in her head several times, looking into the crowd to see her husband seated up in the banisters. Cassandra was still absent. Vanessa hid her disappointment, moving on to the task at hand.

  She cleared her throat before speaking, “The Republic welcomes Emperor Gelmidas Atheneum today to represent his political party, the Division of Humanity, for our twelfth annual peace talk marking the ceasefire caused by the spread of the Rusting. Does the representative have any opening remarks before we move on to the discussion topics?”

  Gelmidas was silent for a moment before leaning forward in his chair, csping his hands. “Are you familiar with the pnet of Terra-gilma?”

  “Yes.” Vannesa said, “It’s a former marine pnet which was mutated by the nuclear bombardments of the first gactic war over a thousand years ago. During the war between our governments, we exiled our war criminals there.” They’ll find my knowledge impressive, Vannesa thought, but how is Terra-gilma relevant to this meeting?

  “A member of my former Warbound, the renowned General Orson, was sent there to overthrow the head of an organized crime faction that has been threatening me. The thing is, this was a full week ago, and Orson still hasn’t returned, and that man I spoke of is dead as well. I recently received information which confirms that Orson and his crew were killed,” He briefly paused before he announced that they were “Killed by the Scorched Archer, who escaped the pnet.”

  Vanessa’s blood ran cold.

  Her jaw dropped as the crowd roared with surprise.

  Up until now, Vanessa’s pn had been a simple one.

  She suspected that Gelmidas was going to try something. A period of unstable peace for a full twelve years would make anyone eager, after all.

  Vanessa had hoped to buy herself time by having her family present to garner sympathy from the Emperor, and perhaps stall the tides of war.

  But with the mention of Nadeden, everything suddenly changed.

  “I thought that,” She began, only for Gelmidas to cut her off, “I believed her dead as well.” She somehow knew he was lying through his teeth, as he uncsped his hands to sit back in his chair.

  Vannesa noted the subtlety. Gelmidas’s body nguage was betraying him; he wasn’t just worried, he was anxious? No, that wasn’t the right word for this. He was sentimental, saddened. He regretted something. But what?

  The first seeds of suspicion pnted themselves in Vanessa’s mind. She had to ask, for confirmation, “And you’re certain she’s alive?”

  Gelmidas sighed, looking past Vanessa to gaze upon his son. Vanessa kept her eye on him. The crowd was carefully watching both of them.

  If the Scorched Archer really was alive, then Gelmidas certainly did have some sort of connection to her; the question was simply what type of connection.

  Gelmidas turned back to her, stating, “She’s the most dangerous human alive; only the Elf of Death rivals her in infamy. She no doubt seeks to kill us both. She won’t rest until she accomplishes her mission, and she’ll tear through the whole universe to accomplish it. Madam President,” He leaned forward again, this time fully engaged and focused on Vanessa as he made his proposal.

  The proposal that would change everything.

  “I can’t believe that you agreed to that!” Cassandra screamed at her the instant the council was adjourned.

  “Don’t raise your voice, Cassandra.” Tendo sighed, pressing on his temples.

  Vanessa kept her arms folded as she sat at her desk in the Oval Office. “I didn’t want to agree to it…”

  Cassandra scowled at her as she muttered the words. “Then why did you agree to it? What about our agreement? You promised not to marry me off.”

  “That’s true.” Tendo pointed at his daughter.

  Vanessa nodded. “Like I said, I didn’t want to, but the simple truth is that Gelmidas is our greatest threat. Yet if he trusts us enough to agree to something like this…” Tendo was the first to catch on. “You think you can get close to him?”

  “Even better.” She grinned. “I think we can all get close to him.”

  She stood, leaving her desk behind. “One thing is troubling me, though, the Scorched Archer. Gelmidas took a big risk today, and it’s no doubt because of her. Cassandra, dear, I know you worship that woman. Is there any reason why Gelmidas would fear her so much?”

  Cassandra was visibly upset with Vanessa, but still leaped at the opportunity to speak about Nadeden. “The only proven link the two have is that they were in the same Warbound.”

  That was news to Vanessa. Quite interesting news. “Cassandra, I know how you feel about me, but if it isn’t too much of a hassle, I would like you to do as much research as you can on Gelmidas and find any other links he and the Scorched Archer may have possibly had. Tell me everything you find, collect it all if possible.”

  Cassandra was both dumbfounded by the request and frightened by it. “Yes, I’ll uh… be sure to look into it.”

  “Very good.” Vanessa smiled.

  The next day, before Gelmidas disembarked, she was sure to speak with him.

  “I would like to visit your pnet before the wedding.” She said with all the enthusiasm she could muster.

  Adamus spoke for his Father. “That’s a great idea, you could watch one of my gdiator matches! I’d also get the chance to meet your daughter. I would have spoken with her here, but, well, let’s just say my eyes wandered elsewhere.”

  He smirked and waved at a young woman at the edge of the hangar who had traveled to watch the peace talk.

  Vanessa gnced at the girl before tracing her eyes back to Gelmidas. He wiped his gsses and pced them back on before answering, “Sounds good to me.”

  The pair studied each other, searching for the ulterior motives that they knew were there.

  But for the moment being, both would choose to let the game py out.

  Little did Gelmidas know that he would soon reveal his greatest weakness without even knowing it.

  “That thing’s your son?” Tendo shouted at what he was witnessing.

  In all regards, Vanessa wanted to shout as well.

  The sight of Adamus’s skeleton cwing its way out of his skin and transforming into that terrifying creature to attack the gdiators was horrific.

  Yet that didn’t keep Vanessa from wanting to rip her husband's head off for being so reckless with his behavior, but much to her surprise, Gelmidas simply ughed. “He, uh, takes after his Mother.”

  Tendo joined in the ughter, probably without paying much attention to the joke. However, Vanessa caught it and held onto it.

  Gelmidas hadn’t mentioned Adamus’s Mother before. Vanessa quite honestly believed that Gelmidas was in a retionship with the Messenger of the Division, that Davon fellow, and that Adamus was some child he had bought off of some cheap whore who wanted to be rid of the boy.

  However, as she watched Adamus’s bestial form strike down the gdiators, she deduced with very little effort that the boy’s origins were clearly unnatural and that he could be used.

  No.

  No one could possibly tame a beast like that.

  But Adamus was indeed something special; that much was obvious.

  It was only when the boy sulked away into the shadow of the exit that she recalled what Gelmidas had said before that thing took a hold of Adamus, “They said I was mad for what I did to him, but they said the same about the Rusting, didn't they?”

  After Gelmida left to meet with his son, Vanessa pulled Cassandra aside.

  “You’re going to meet with him, see if you can get him on our side, or even yours. Tell him about your research. Show it to him if you have to.”

  Cassandra went white.

  Vanessa shrugged. “I know you’re plotting against me, dear. You always are. There’s no need to hide it, just talk to the boy, alright?”

  Cassandra tried to speak, but could only dully nod as she left for the Pza. Loeb escorted her, and Vanessa stayed behind.

  She hardly even had to wait for Gelmidas to return to speak with her and Tendo.

  She began asking questions the moment she saw him, although she was sure to pass off her curiosity as something else.

  “What was that, Gelmidas!” She shouted at the top of her lungs. “How long has your boy been able to do that?”

  Gelmidas shuddered as he took a seat and did his best to reassure her. “Rex. That was natural. There was an incident when Adamus was younger. It gave him that… ability.”

  Vanessa folded her arms.

  Gelmidas was clearly shaken. He must have thought the dispy offended her. That made him ripe for interrogation.

  “When did the incident happen?”

  “Shortly after the Rusting.”

  Vanessa found that response Interesting.

  Gelmidas created the Rusting. Was it possible that whatever arcane science he had used to craft such a weapon was cut from the same cloth he used to give Adamus his abilities?

  She couldn’t rule out the possibility, and she couldn’t let up on her questions either. She had to appear to be upset.

  “So what? You create the Rusting and let your son run wild with these powers! What’s to stop him from killing anyone he pleases! How do I know I’m safe, Gelmidas! How do I know that my daughter is safe!”

  Gelmidas quickly answered, rushing to defend his son. “Adamus isn’t like that! He’s a good person! He wears a pair of wrist bracers to keep the creature at bay!”

  Vanessa kept at it, raising her voice to py up her feigned emotions. “Wrist bracers! Well, I suppose that’s just fine then! Our entire safety hinges on the security of leather straps!”

  Gelmidas once again rushed to correct her. Exactly as expected. “No! He can somewhat control it. As long as he keeps it…”

  Vanessa watched him search his mind. Her heart nearly dropped as she wondered why he was hesitating.

  Thankfully, he didn’t hide the facts from her; he was simply embarrassed by the truth. “He has to keep it pleased. It needs to be let out every now and then.”

  It was a crucial piece of information. It alone told her that Adamus and the beast were indeed separate entities.

  Next, Tendo asked an interesting question. One that sparked Vanessa’s curiosity. “Has he ever lost control of it, or has it ever taken control of him?”

  Gelmidas lowered his head, mumbling out a soft, unsteady “Yes.”

  Vanessa could hardly believe it.

  Gelmidas had quite possibly made his son the deadliest creature in the universe and couldn’t even contain all that power.

  Even he couldn’t tame the beast.

  No one could.

  Gelmidas then let slip all the information she needed. “It’s happened a few times. If Adamus holds the creature in for too long, it will emerge all on its own, and often in a violent way. He also can’t let the creature out for too long, or else it will take control of him and be difficult to contain.”

  “So how did you contain it?” Tendo asked before Vanessa could.

  She was grateful that he did. It made the conversation appear all the more natural.

  Gelmidas removed his gsses, letting out a heavy sigh. “We…” His hesitation was palpable.

  Vanessa wanted to grasp Gelmidas and shake the answer out of him, but that would have removed the sheer weight of what he said next.

  “We killed him, and then he came back.”

  “Came back?” Vanessa unfolded her arms and nearly leapt out of her skin.

  “That… thing crawled back inside of him,” Gelmidas slid his gsses back on as he huffed, “It crawled back inside his skin and pulled him back together.”

  Vanessa was shaking when she boarded her ship.

  She was trembling with anticipation at Cassandra’s return.

  She had to know if Adamus was corruptible or not. But she knew that it didn’t matter.

  Even if the boy didn’t join her, she could still manufacture a scenario where the beast would take control of him. Her mind was racing with ideas. Chasing and cwing at them like a child running after a rubber ball.

  Cassandra stepped into the ship as the hangar closed. She simply looked to Vanessa and shook her head.

  “Are you sure?” She asked Cassandra just to be absolutely certain of what route to take.

  “He’s loyal to his Father.” Cassandra scoffed. “He’s also an ass.” She sat down in a passenger seat and opened a book, thinking nothing of Vanessa’s malicious smile.

  So be it. Vanessa thought.

  I’ll have to burn Rome from the outside then.