Ch 57: Returning from Axendre

The first oracle of Axendre moaned in pleasure as her consort released his Viruis essence into her. She combined it with her Minais essence that she had been releasing to finish the set up of Sariel's Sonata.

Once she began to hear the voices of the oracles that would come after her, part of her trepidation went away. Their faction's plan had already failed a number of times, losing worlds connected to their city.

Not that it mattered too much since they were in the process of losing the entire City.

Using her centuries of will power she sorted the different voices into different potential timelines. Every oracle could affect the flow of time but it was the first one that set the primary course.

As she searched the different temporal rivers, she could feel the wrong ones corrupting her spell. If she didn't find a finished timeline soon the entire spell would collapse and everything would be lost once again.

Then she felt it. Viruis and Minais essence at the end of a chorus of voices. The first oracle followed those voices, bringing that timeline and it branches closer to reality.

Once she connected to the end of the spell she felt the Minais still contained the power of her blood. And to her joy the Viruis contained traces of all seven sources.

"I'm guessing that it worked." Her consort said from on top of her.

He had been chosen for his strong angelic bloodline along with being in the ninth choir of Divinus. Even then she was very fond of him and would have been heartbroken to lose him to a failed spell.

"It did. Our blood still flows thousands of years later. Even better, the City has not been lost and one of mine walks its streets." The first oracle replied.

He gave her a joyous smile that melted her heart. Even though he wasn't of the builders blood, he still believed in their original goal that was now being threatened.

"We have to inform the others and I need to recharge my Divinus energy before we finalize the timeline. Once we discuss with the others what our next course of action is, I'll send our message to him." She said.

The two dressed before leaving the underground chamber heading to the newly constructed cathedral that contained the Gate to the Great City Beyond.

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After giving a kiss goodbye to Mirta, Baldeur moved up the stairs before dropping down to take a quick moment to think about what he had just experienced.

He had a bit of guilt about how they ended up together since he knew that if either of them chose not to engage, an entire timeline would have collapsed and Axendre would have been cut off from the City of Gates.

Thankfully she seemed to genuinely be interested in him and the guilt was more towards them being forced into a decision they might have made on their own.

Of course he was thinking about the situation he was put in mostly to avoid thinking about the words he heard from the first oracle. But they kept pressing at the forefront of his thoughts.

"It is joyous to see that one of our kind yet lives within the city. I hope that you can reclaim our purpose and glory. Those of us that came before you have left aids that will help you gain control of our legacy that is rightfully yours.

"Journey into the mist to find a nursery. They will eventually be your allies and a contingency if you fail.

"After that, explore the worlds in this sector to find what you need. A Focal Pillar is not far from here. Once it is revealed you must take control or the interlopers will become too entrenched and taking back our city will become even more difficult."

Over his many mediocre lives he had lost the hope that he'd be the hero of legend and became content with just enjoying his lives. When he was born in the City of Gates, his original dream of having a great destiny lived through an adventurous life came back to him.

Even as he grew into his current powers and life he found he had a minor hope that he'd just be a powerful being without any responsibility. Now he learned that he had a destiny or at least a path that others had set up for him.

Baldeur knew that from now on things would get more complicated. He took this moment to mourn the simpler life he could have had before standing and heading up the stairs.

Sure a life without destiny was easier but it wasn't necessarily better. He had lived a number of lives where others controlled how he lived and eventually how he died.

If those in the distant past decided to provide him a way to become strong enough to fully control his life, he wasn't going to pass up this opportunity. So as he climbed up the stairs he gave up on a simple life of just being strong and decided to pursue the life where he would control his own destiny and protect those around him.

Once the oracle's attendant led him back to the castle's grand hall Baldeur rejoined his group. His companions didn't ask any questions but the nobles around them kept trying to slyly find out what the oracle had to talk to him about for over an hour.

Of course he wasn't one to kiss and tell, so he avoided the questions. Aisling kept giving him a side eye every time he gave a slight smirk when he diverted the conversation away from his actions.

Thankfully the celebration was coming to a close shortly after he returned so he didn't have to endure it for long.

The next day the group was given priority in returning to the City of Gates. Nilo had decided to stay behind for a while as he worked to help Fiam and Kyriake immigrate to the city.

Mathys used his connections to quickly bypass the inspection back in the city. Baldeur noticed how he purposely avoided looking at both him and Aisling.

Their own inspection didn't take that long and soon they were headed toward the trading company headquarters. Haydn took Derbail to a high ranked healer their company employed while the rest went to give their reports.

After they met with master Volundr al'Ramara they were free for the foreseeable future. The special operations department didn't have specific duties when they weren't on important missions. Their type of work gave them more free time but was often more dangerous.

"Now that we have some time, we could get something to eat." Baldeur asked Aisling as they left the meeting room.

"I… I think I have some things to get to." She didn't give him a chance to reply as she hurried down the hall.

"Tough break man." Sigurd wrapped his arm around his shoulder.

"Just give it time. Even a blind man can see she's into you." Piaras said.

"If she's not interested, I can join you." Arisha said from next to them.

Even Piaras did a double take as he didn't notice her approach.

"Um... I actually need to head home to let my family know I'm okay." Baldeur said.

"Okay, just remember that you promised me a walk in the park." She called after him as he made his escape.

He had planned to hit up Renie if Aisling turned him down but with his childhood… friend right there, he thought it best to cut his losses and see how his family is doing.

Piaras smiled watching the young man escape and it only deepened as Sigurd began to talk with Arishas about how they both knew Baldeur. The man proceeded to give her tips on how to approach her crush.

Once he was alone in the hall he stepped back into the meeting room where Volundr was looking over their reports.

"So how was our young prodigy?" Volundr asked.

"He was exactly like you described him. Capable and full of hidden secrets." Piaras replied.

"Tell me what you found out."