In a way he had a script to follow. For now it went as follow :
[Current Role] : [The Awakened Transcendent] : You role is currently to play as a mysterious yet powerful transcendent. A being with a mysterious past, a being that must travel Zenthia, get familiar with this new world. Your main goal will be to bring back your people. And once done you must keep them hidden until the time is right.
[Rule] : For every being aware of the truth, you will lose one [Reward Rank]. For every Fate Chosen aware of your existence who becomes curious about your role, your [Reward Rank] will rise by one.
[Bonus] : For any mysterious hint left about his role’s true purpose, bringing back the Cygilites and their history, the [Reward Rank] may be increased depending on the quality of this hint. The quality will be judged based on their ability to create “theories” amongst players.
[Reward Rank] : [Uncommon]
Well, now he had a real role to play in exchange for great rewards. He obviously intended to max out that Reward Rank. It would take a lot of work but it fit his current goal. Go to Cygislas, help his people awaken, then take Sapphyra’s Saphyr and the bulbs to Ruby-Khion. He would have to travel and he could potentially find more Fate’s Chosen if he was lucky. And he knew a very very lucky person.
And that’s how he found himself at the top of the gnomish bridge that once towered above him, Sofya at his side. He gazed down at her.
“I have thought about your proposition. I do not mind you tagging along, but we must warn your mother about it.”
Akhenamen felt a tingle at the back of his mind, making him stretch his Sight stat as much as possible. His head silently turned toward a seemingly empty spot just a few hundred of feet above the bridge.
***
“He saw us? That’s impressive…”
“We should attack! He has my daughter!”
“Wait! He has spotted us so he’s at least a Throne. If he wanted your daughter dead he would have slain her hours ago. Don’t be rash.”
“It’s my DAU-”
Before Tifania could rush forward, ready to attack the Prothean Transcendent, the dean intervened, raising his hand in front of her, stopping her instantly.
He was a human man wearing a very humble robe, which made Akhenamen think of him as a priest. He however wore nothing else on him, just this humble brown robe.
“Enough Tifania. You’re not even a Transcendent yet. Greetings. I’m the Throne of the Constellation of the Fhoen Wind. Dean of The Academy. And the one next to me is Tifania Pippelette, Arch-Machinist, teacher at The Academy and the mother of the young girl next to you.”
The old dean suddenly appeared before the silvery Prothean. His mastery over the Divine Intent of the Star Wind gave him so much speed that apart from the gods and demi-gods, no being could touch him on Zenthia.
His body turned in a thin burning line which seemed to be guided by a gentle wind with glowing red dots drawing beautiful constellations in the wind. He couldn’t feel the power of law in that construct, not even an Intent.
The dean continued, his voice came out from everywhere and nowhere at the same time.
“I hope I do not offend you. I’m merely looking out for one of my students, so who are you?”
Tifania stared at the dean with wide eyes before looking back toward the silver construct with eyes perhaps ten times more worried than before. The construct's glowing green eyes seemed to flare brighter before a strange, almost filtered voice came from a small floating sphere close to him.
“We are The Unseen Truth. One of the Betrayed. We seek no harm to your progeny.”
Leeros stared back at the construct. Every ounce of his power is trying to find even the smallest trace of law within this being. But nothing. Yet this aura was unmistakable. He was sure of it, this expert had to be an Authority. Only they could hide their Law at such a level.
“Greetings, Unseen Truth. I’m glad to know you seek not harm this child. May we ask for her to be returned?”
A voice reached Tifania’s mind, his.
Leeros was just a Throne; fighting an Authority was impossible. Stalling it enough to earn a few precious seconds to save one of his staff members and students? He would gladly do so.
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Leeros seemed to be at one with the wind, fire, and stars contained within his Core.
His very being flows with all the power contained within his Divine Intent. His eyes showed beautiful constellations and starry skies swirling in harmony, but ready to unleash a power beyond anything a mortal could even imagine.
“If he refuses, rush to your daughter, use the talisman I gave you, and snap it. At the Academy, you will go to my office and use the purple feather to write in the journal on my desk. It will warn my teacher that I will be unable to come to our yearly tea party.”
His fingers squeezed inside so hard that his nails started to draw blood. It had been years since he last saw his blood, but he had to admit, a small part of him was almost excited to remind the world why he was nicknamed the W-
“We agree. She was never a prisoner. More like a surprising guest in our home. She is free to leave if she so wishes.”
Tifania swiftly went to her daughter’s side, checking every inch of her before hugging her tightly. Her eyes showed she was about to cry. Her arms shaking from the thought alone that her daughter could have died.
People might not understand this reaction, but Tifania was a survivor. She still remembered the Massacre of Cygislax.
“Mom, it’s okay, I’m fi-”
Smack
A slap. The kind of slap only a very worried mother could give to a very worried daughter.
“SOFYA PIPELETTE!! YOU’RE IN SO MUCH TROUBLES, YOUNG LADY!”
Leeros laughed softly as the two girls started to argue as they often did in the Academy. Tifania was a hot head, so was Sofya; it always ended in a shouting match. He approached the mysterious expert.
The Prothean’s eyes seemed… sad. He was watching the two girls' interaction with familiar fondness and sadness of a time long gone. Something Leeros could recognise. Before he became the joyous dean of The Academy… he had those same eyes too.
“Old memories?”
“Yes. From a time long gone.”
“No matter how much we believe we have healed, we cannot simply forget it.”
The construct stared back into his eyes. Leeros could now see that, unlike what he had first thought, his eyes weren’t pure green, but had a beautiful, soothing light blue glow in the middle. Perhaps even brighter than the green.
“You’re right. Yet we must still move forward. We cannot forget them, but we can make sure to be happy for them. So that when we see them again, we can see them smile and tell us a simple sentence.”
Leeros finished the construct’s sentence, knowing those words in advance.
“... We’re proud of you.”
Leeros turned to the construct fully, his face, which seemed in the prime of his 40's, staring at those strange eyes. Raising his arm and presenting his hand, the skin shrivelled, covered in brown and white spots. An old “souvenir” from his childhood.
“Let me present myself properly. I’m Leeros Weeks, Dean of The Academy. Glad to meet you.”
Akhenamen stared at Leeros hand for a few seconds before raising his eyes back to the dean’s face, lifting his own arm, his soft, silvery hand firmly shaking the dean’s.
“... We are Akhenamen. Herald of the Unseen Truth. Glad to meet you, too, Leeros.”
***
“Mom! Will you listen to me for once?! If you-”
“NO IF, NO BUT, No-”
“I know you’re worried about me! But I have to see the world!”
“Why would you HAVE to do that?! Do you even realise how worried I was? It was because of this DAMNED WORLD THAT I LOST YO..your…”
Unable to finish this sentence, Tyfania started to cry. Sofya knew why. She had never personally known him. He died when she was young. She had very fond memories of him, but she had managed to overcome her grief. But her mother had not.
“Mom…”
Sofya reached for her mother’s shoulder. For a teen, seeing her parent crying was shocking, almost like a hammer to the chest. Realising how much she had fucked up.
“I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have… It’s just..I..I wanna see it. This world he told me about. To see the night sky of the Great Desert of Olleron. The Coral Kingdom of the Mermaids. The Grand Sunken Capital. The Tears of Ruby-Khion… Those places he has seen. I wish to see them too.”
“But…”
“Not in ten years… but now. Now. Now, while I’m just a brat who hasn’t seen anything past the Gnomish cities and the Academy! To see what he has seen. To understand why he loved Zenthia so much.”
Tyfania’s eyes were full of tears as she stared into Sofya’s. Her hands gently held her daughter's cheeks and kissed her forehead. Staying silent for three seconds.
“You got my eyes… but you have his damned heart.”
“I..is that a…?”
“Yes.”
“THANKS SO M-”
“BUT! There are rules!”
“First, I will ask the Academy to grant us a special Long Distance Journal, and I will expect a resume of your day every night for the first month, then…”
***
Akhenamen and Leeros stared at the young Sofya and her mother. Sofya seemed to restrain herself from exploding from the excitement she felt. Listening carefully to her mother’s conditions and rules for this trip.
“Is she..”
“Always like that? Yes… Miss Pipelette is a well-known mother hen. Most of our students are already accomplishing their Grand Tour by the end of this year. Tyfania had always refused until now.”
Leeros’s hand glowed a soft red as two red leather journals appeared in his hand, handing them to Akhenamen.
“In preparation, here’s the journal for Sofya.”
“What about the second?”
“That’s for us.”
“Us?”
“I believe we could be good friends. My nose is tingling. And he never lies. Oh, here they come.”
Sofya and Tyfania approached the two transcendent beings, Tyfania coughing in her hand and slightly bowing her head toward Akhenamen. As she raised her head, this allowed Akhenamen to take a good look at her.
Tyfania really did look a lot like Sofya. Just far more mature looking and bringing her daughter’s teenage pretty-ness into a truly beautiful gnomish woman. Her hair was held in a tight and professional bun on top of her head. Sharp black rimmed glasses on her face.
“Thanks a lot for rescuing my stupid daughter, Lord Transcendent. My daughter seems to trust you. However, I do not. Yet against my better judgment, she has successfully convinced me to allow her to accompany you on your travels. Please watch over her. And just to be clear…. “
Tyfania’s hand reached forward and grasped his cloak, and she suddenly tried to pull his face down, only for her far weaker body to instead lift itself to his face, a sight that made Leeros immediately turn around while pushing a hand to his mouth. His lips were trembling as he struggled to contain the thundering laugh that wished to come out.
Even Sofya seemed about to explode laughing.
“If you hurt my daughter or allow anything to harm her…I will hunt you down and kill you myself.”
Akhenamen recognised those eyes as the same he or his wife or he would have whenever a guy came to pick up their daughter. He simply let out a soft laugh, gently holding Tyfania’s hand and helping her down. Tyfania stayed perfectly straight.
“We swear nothing shall harm your daughter, and we shall watch over her, Miss Pipelette.”
As a father, he understood Tyfania's worries. In fact, he was very shocked that she even allowed him to bring Sofya so swiftly. Unknown to him, it was the dean’s seemingly casual handshake that made Tyfania trust him.
The dean was known for being an amazing judge of character, someone who had given her, a non-Transcendent being, to go teach at The Academy and granted her access to many resources. He had believed in her, and today she would believe in him. He would never agree to allow one of his students to leave with someone untrustworthy.
“However, I must ask… that you bring her back to Tron in six months. So that she can tell me of your adventures.”
“Very well, I swear on those that I hold dearest that I shall protect Sofya to the greatest of my ability and bring her back to you in six months…”
“So are you ready, Sofya?”
“YES! Let’s go!”