The Cat is out of the Bag

"You aren't a simple General as you always said you are. You were the freaking Emperor," says Miranda as Vincent looked away from her and the others that were looking at him.

"Well, I used to be an Emperor but I used to be an adventurer and King before all that, and even before that I was a simple Dragoon," says Vincent as he was quite surprised by the painting but now thinking back he should have seen it coming since the guards stiffened up when they entered the building.

"Did you know that?" asks Miranda out of Titania who looked in another direction before Miranda turned towards Garrus who did the same.

"They did since we traveled together before," says Vincent as he walked towards the painting and looks at it before saying, "I was stockier back then."

"Were you?" asks Titania looking at it as Vincent's frame does seem bigger on the portray than right now.

"That portray of me was made two years after I became Emperor but I lost a lot of my body mass when I went into exile after killing one of our Gods," says Vincent as Miranda and the others looked at him shocked.

"You killed a God," says Zaeed shocked.

He wasn't a religious man but hearing that Vincent killed a God did give him some chills as well as the group as they imagine Vincent fighting a God of their religion.

"It wasn't easy but I did what I thought needed to be done back then," says Vincent not blaming himself that much for what he did since he atoned for killing Lorkhan.

"Also, I am a walking cheat if we use the language of the teens since I am immortal," says Vincent as they reached the main hall finding Wrex sitting on his seat while Krogans were talking about what they can do to improve their situation which reminded some people of their first encounter with the Elder Council and Naomasa.

"Is it normal that a province has a council?" asks Titania as Vincent nods.

"Yes, mostly they are smaller than the Elder Council but it is common since a province is made out of many smaller holds that are led by other people like Jarls in Skyrim for example," says Vincent as he sits down since they needed to wait until this session is over.

"So how was it to rule?" asks Miranda after surpassing her shock and now being curious about it.

"Exhausting, I was never made to rule even if many believe it. I was forced by one of my fathers to become Emperor. And this is proof that I am the rightful Emperor," says Vincent showing the Amulet of Kings since he didn't need to hide it any longer.

"Does that mean that the person in possession of that Amulet is the rightful ruler of the Empire?" asks Zaeed as Vincent smiles at him.

"The person that carries this Amulet around his neck is the rightful ruler of the Empire and all its subjects," says Vincent as he touches the Amulet of Kings before removing it from his neck.

"You want to see why I am not worried that somebody takes this amulet," says Vincent holding it towards the group.

"Take it and put it around your neck and you will see why," says Vincent as Miranda took it and placed it around her neck only to find it fall from her neck before returning around Vincent's neck.

"How?" asks Miranda as she was sure she put it on the rightful way.

"It is a magical artifact that can only be carried by me and no one else until my death or ascendance to godhood," says Vincent as he looked at the Amulet hanging over his armor before putting it under it again.

"Wait a minute, ascending to godhood is that even possible?" asks Miranda as Vincent nods seriously.

"The Divine or God called Talos ascended to Godhood after his death as Tiber Septim the Founder of the Septim Dynasty," says Vincent as he takes a Septim out of his bag and throws it at Miranda.

"We still honor his mortal form by using Septims as our currency but the coin you are holding is really special. I got it as a gift from a friend. He called it 'The Old Man's Lucky Coin' he obtained it from another Hero named the Nerevarine who obtained it from Talos himself," says Vincent as Miranda dropped the coin for a moment.

She was stunned that Vincent had an item that could be compared to something like the Holy Grail in their religion. She picked up the coin rapidly and Mordin who was listening to the conversation looked at the coin.

"Ordinary coin in my eyes," says Mordin as Vincent smiled.

"It is an ordinary coin which grants the one who possesses it 'The Luck of the Emperor' it makes you quite lucky so much that I left it in my bag so nobody could abuse its blessing," says Vincent as he asked of Miranda to hand it back to him.

"There are many more artifacts which I possess or I have sealed away for the safety of my people since they are too dangerous," says Vincent as Miranda handed the coin over and Vincent put it away.

"So did you eliminate the Septim Dynasty by claiming the throne?" asks Mordin curious since he doesn't know much of the Empire's history as Vincent smiles since one of them was quite attentive to everything.

"No, I didn't destroy the Septim Dynasty and plunge the Empire into chaos but it was my brother-in-law while he was fighting the last Septim who borrowed my father's strength to send him back to Oblivion," says Vincent as he looked at the council.

"To put it simply, Vincent is the son of the God named Akatosh and he is married to another God named Azura. Then there are good and bad Gods in their religion as Akatosh is the Head of the Good Gods while Azura belongs to the Bad Ones.

It is quite complicated if you ask me but if you ignore everything around Vincent and concentrate just on what you are seeing right now everything complicated about him turns simple as I said before," says Titania as she looked at her crewmates.

"She is right, right now I am only Vincent Highwind a simple mercenary, and not Vincent Highwind the First Emperor. If I were the latter you all would feel nervous around me because I radiate an aura from myself that makes everyone show respect to me which I don't when I am the former," says Vincent as he told them not to see him as who he was but who he is at the moment.

"So no royal treatment. I can work with that," says Zaeed while the others were a bit skeptical about that.

"Good, but we should talk to Wrex now that the Krogans seem to have finished this session of talking," says Vincent standing up as the group walked forward towards Wrex.

Wrex was exhausted from all the listening and talking when he saw familiar faces in front of him which put a smile on his face.

"It is nice to see familiar faces," says Wrex as he stood up from his throne and walked towards Titania and Garrus.

"I heard you died two years ago," says Wrex to Titania as he places his hand on her shoulder.

"I would call it a long slumber," says Titania joking about her death.

"In my eyes, you were quite dead when I fished you out with your brother and lover boy," says Vincent as Wrex looker at Vincent.

"Your majesty," says Wrex as Vincent sighs.

"Your Majesty is my grandson. Right now I am a mercenary," says Vincent informing Wrex who begins to laugh.

"I heard a rumor that the Ambassador of the Empire sold his father out of spite of being forced to become an Ambassador. It is nice to see that even you don't get touched with sensitive gloves because of being who you are," says Wrex as Fenris barks at the Krogan.

"We have a feisty one here," says Wrex at the Mabari before petting it.

"So what brings you to Tuchanka?" asks Wrex as they wouldn't just come to visit an old friend.

"I am looking for a Salarian Researcher who is experimenting on Krogans to find a cure against the Genophage. And Vincent needs to solve our youngest crewmate's trouble," says Titania as Wrex flinched for a moment.

"A Salarian that uses Krogans to solve a problem that has been solved already," says Wrex as he began to think who his sponsor could be when only one Clan came to his mind.

"It must be Clan Weyrloc. They have been quite jealous since the Empire chose the Urdnot Clan first to cure the Genophage. They must be looking for a cure themselves against the Empire's will. What would be the punishment for betraying the Empire?" says Wrex before turning to Vincent at the last sentence.

"It depends on how Naomasa decides but if you were to ask me as the First Emperor I would say," says Vincent when the aura around him changed completely and everyone became tense as he says coldly, "Death to every single one."

"You heard the man. You are allowed to do what is needed to get to your Salarian," says Wrex as Vincent's aura disappears and the tension in the room disappears.

"Now who is your crewmate with the trouble?" asks Wrex as Titania pointed at Grunt when Wrex walks towards the young Krogan.

"Which Clan do you belong to boy?" asks Wrex as Grunt told him that he didn't belong to any Clan which made it quite difficult for Wrex.

"He is a Tank Baby. He was made by Warlord Okeer to be the perfect Krogan," says Titania as Wrex flinched again.

"Okeer isn't a well-received name around here," says Wrex showing his displeasure.

"We never judge the children because of their father's actions," says Vincent as Wrex looked at Vincent knowing that the Empire had rules like that.

"Fine, he hasn't gone through the Rite of Passage that is most likely what his problem is. All Krogans go through it once they are adults. If he passes the Rite of Passage he will become an Urdnot," says Wrex as he looked at Vincent before laughing and saying, "Which most likely will happen since Vincent is by his side."

"Rite of Passage?" asks Titania as Wrex nods.

"It is a test to see if a Krogan can survive with his Krantts and become an adult, not all Krogans survive it, and those that do become warriors which never feel that aggressiveness again," says Wrex explaining it to Titania before bragging, "In my Rite of Passage I killed a Thresher Maw. Let's see how well your Tank Baby will do."

He calls two Krogans to guide one group towards a shaman to prepare the Rite of Passage while the other should take the other towards where they needed to go to get their Salarian.