ACT VI
THE AGE OF UNDEAD
“We can’t turn back time but we can always write a new end, my sister said that to me.” Hans stated, his calmness turning into controlled anger, “To write the new end, I need names, Commander Dijkstra.” His seriousness, almost chilling, gave ecstasy to the Sad Death. Continuing his grim tone, Hans confirmed, “You killed one, three still lives, right?”
“I dealt with the human,” Holding his excitement, Dijkstra began to talk and answered what Hans desired to know, “The first one is an Elf named Aelok Torceran a sixth circle mage who joined the fifth Node. His father is a scary man, even with my standards—"
"Anfaleen Torceran, you said." Hans interrupted.
"Yeah," Dijkstra nodded, there were only a handful people who could escape Xandor and even less who could put up a fight, Anfaleen fall into the later category. Dijkstra wanted to instil this fact into Hans so he doesn't do any stupid thing. So he warned, "Anafalen Torceran is a warlock and the Nodemaster, so don't run to your death little Sam."
"I may be reckless, but not stupid. I don't start a loosing fight. so his son is one of three. What about others." Hans asked.
"Second, is a bastard named Millard, a sixth circle mage in the Clandor mage tower and the last one is Kerym, a fifth circle mage from the Shadow family, and he is here at the moment." Dijkstra stressed the last part to see Hans's reaction.
“Here?” Hans's eyes perked up, not with curiosity but because the gears in his mind started spinning, creating many scenarios needed to exterminate this Kerym’s bug-like existence. “Shadow family?” His voice hinted at the question so Dijkstra answered, “The children born from Royals who couldn’t claim the throne. They protects the Queen's family from the shadows, hence the name. He came here in escort of king and queen.” Dijkstra paused, thinking that Hans wanted him to snatch this bastard.
Hans caught his hesitation, but before he could say something, Dijkstra added, “It's not like that I don’t want to kill that pointy ear, but if I make a move, even if that Elanor bastard couldn’t stop me he still would recognise me. And you know how it will go from there—”
“Don’t worry, I’m not asking for you to nab him. Just be my escort for two to three days.”
“Okay.” Dijkstra swiftly replied, prompting Hans to ask, “Don’t you have to ask PM Arat to protect—”
“This seems more fun and that geezer won’t die that easily.” Dijkstra said, asking, “But how are you planning to kill a fifth circle mage without my help—”
“Don’t worry,” Hans said with a wicked grin etched on his face, “I know a man who is more insane than you. He’ll do that.”
“That doesn’t make me feel good!” Dijkstra said, puzzled.
“Because it wasn’t the compliment.” Hans taunted, steering the conversation through his pace, “By the way, what was the name of the one you killed?”
“Jonik, a knight and a noble from Indu. But why ask the dead man’s name?” Dijkstra asked, confused. So, Hans answered, gulping down his soup in one go, “Because he is gonna resurrect soon”. Hans stood, ending their conversation and disappeared among the crowd.
Not knowing his chaotic plan, Dijkstra started shadowing him. As Hans moved, crossing various stalls and festivities, There were many things he wanted to do in the five-day festival after Glory Wars. Two days had already passed but right now, all he wanted was to find Vanessa. He wanted to say a lot of things to her, but when he found her. The only thing he could do was smile, a calm yet sad smile that she caught on.
“What happened, Dear brother?” She asked.
“Nothing sis, it's just… it's good to see you.” Hans said, covering his moistened eyes. Prompting her to ask, “You okay? brother—”
“You call me brother, right?” Hans said, “You know, I’m powerful, right sis? So you should tell me if someone bothers you, got it—”
“Oho! How reliable.” She cheerfully caressed his cheek, “Our Hans has grown up.”
“I’m not kidding.” Hans gently removed her hand, “you should tell me, even if someone stares at you. I’ll pluck his eyes out.”
“Yes, yes. So mind tagging along with me,” She offered her hand and Hans followed holding it. The night was young, and Hans did whatever she liked instead of doing things his way. If anyone saw them together, they might think they were just like real brothers and sisters.
After a long and happy time together, Hans bid good night to her and came to his room where someone else was waiting for him. “What took you so long,” Delimria asked, her annoyance apparent. She pulled something out, two stones, one glass pebble, the coordinate stone that Xandor had given him, while another looked like an expensive piece of jewellery. She added, “I hope, it is what you were looking for. People were eyeing me with weird eyes. Even I felt it was a waste to pick a jewellery out of Alliance treasury.”
“No, it's alright.” Hans checked, the coordinate stone was still pointing to the polished piece. “Don’t you wanna know, what it is?” He asked
“Nope, the lesser I know, the less guilty I feel when it comes to biting it in your ass. And I’m telling you, it eventually will.”
“I’m doing knowing that, Winters. Good night—”
“Not even a Thank you? Tsk tsk.”
“Do you want another hug, or something?”
“No,” she backed off a few steps so Hans shut his door in her face, murmuring, “Thanks a lot Deli.”
“What is it?” Dijkstra appeared, jolting behind Hans. Making him jump out in surprise.
“Hey! I told you to stop doing it.” Hans complained, but Dijkstra was staring at the polished gem, like he was mesmerised by it. So Hans answered, “I don’t know how, but in it, is the sword Rebellion. And I’m—”
“And you are going to hand it over to Xandor. I might not be the smartest here, but that girl is right. It will come biting your imperial ass sooner or later—”
“I'll deal with it when the time comes." Hans said glaring at the jewellery piece and confirmed once again. "You said Xandor or anyone, even me, can’t use the sword, right?" Dijkstra affirmed and Hans responded, "That’s good enough for me.”
“But—”
“No buts,” Hans gestured, “Xandor has the second book and he is not someone I could steal it from.”
“I’ll help, just tell me when and where. If I try my best—”
“No, I made a deal and I have to honour it.” Hans declared, “I don't do backstabs.”
“Well said,” a shadow emerged from the dark walls, “You might be not the real thing, but you sure inherited his values.”
At this moment, in Hans’s small room, there stood the commanders of Parv. The duo being in the same place was like placing oil by the fire. But there were no sparks yet. “Xandor, what do you want to do with the sword?” Dijkstra asked.
“I’m just retrieving what I hid, Dijkstra. Don’t get involved.”
“So you were the one who stole it when the king fell—”
“If I didn’t. It would have been destroyed by those Alliance bastards, whom you are chummy with nowadays. Don’t you have any shame, they were the same people who killed your king. So, shut the fuck up. You don’t have a say in it.” Turning to Hans, Xandor pulled a book, the very thing Hans wanted, “Give me the gem and I’ll happily give this book.”
“Haa…”Hans sighed, “There is a tiny problem in the transaction, sir.”
“Do you think,” Xandor paused, glancing at Dijkstra, “With his help you can do something—”
“No, No. Don't get me wrong” Hans gestured, “I’m true to my words as I’ve said previously. It's just conditions have changed a little. We will do the exchange tomorrow afternoon, near the meadows south of the capital. And you'll bring an elf named Kerym, additionally. He is a mage from the Shadow family of Clandor and is in the capital right now.”
“That would be difficult.”
“I’m in no hurry, Mr." Hans shrugged off his shoulders. "I was even ready to lose that book,” Hans stated, continuing as he glanced at Dijkstra. “He might not be able to steal from you, but he can very well prevent you from stealing from me.” As he finished and didn't hear anything from Xandor, he turned serious from laid-back. “I don’t care how you’d do it. I just need him in the meadows afternoon, or else you could find this sword from Norwin himself—”
“Wait,” Dijkstra objected instead of Xandor, “Not tomorrow.”
“Fine,” Xandor accepted, saying, “I’ll bring that elf day after tomorrow, afternoon, right?” And saying his piece, he disappeared.
“Why not tomorrow?” Asked Hans, prompting Dijkstra to answer, “You’ll see.” As the silence remained in the room, Dijkstra broke the awkwardness, “So the one more insane than me was him. Well, it is right, that bastard is insane.”
Dijkstra calling someone insane was one thing crossed from what Hans wanted to see in his life at least once, and it was a scene that left him baffled. The night was long, but the buzz of the festival still rang to their doors. Yet Hans slept like a baby without a care in the world. While Dijkstra, sobered, kept gazing at the young prince.
“Why in the world are you here, Dijkstra?”
“Oh!, Alastor,” Dijkstra turned and saw two people, one he liked and the other he did not, “I didn’t see you there Alastor, but what kind of deal Bernard offered for you to take his son as disciple? You must be a saint in the head—”
“No, I’m not.” Rudolf instantly denied, “I just owe him something.” Rudolf stated as he glanced at Hans’s doors. Dijkstra wasn’t content with the answer so he poked further, “So, if I go for the boy's head, would you fight me for real?”
“Certainly,” Rudolf answered, curt and clear.
“Hmm..”
“So will You go?” Rudolf confirmed.
“Naah. I’m doing something much more fun.” Dijkstra answered surprising Rudolf that this battle junky was denying the chance, even sparing Bernard’s son. Frankly, Rudolf had no confidence that he could stop Dijkstra if he really wanted to hurt Chris. So his response brought some peace in his mind, but the surprise remained, confusing him more by the minute.
ACT VI
THE AGE OF UNDEAD
“We can’t turn back time but we can always write a new end, my sister said that to me.” Hans stated, his calmness turning into controlled anger, “To write the new end, I need names, Commander Dijkstra.” His seriousness, almost chilling, gave ecstasy to the Sad Death. Continuing his grim tone, Hans confirmed, “You killed one, three still lives, right?”
“I dealt with the human,” Holding his excitement, Dijkstra began to talk and answered what Hans desired to know, “The first one is an Elf named Aelok Torceran a sixth circle mage who joined the fifth Node. His father is a scary man, even with my standards—"
"Anfaleen Torceran, you said." Hans interrupted.
"Yeah," Dijkstra nodded, there were only a handful people who could escape Xandor and even less who could put up a fight, Anfaleen fall into the later category. Dijkstra wanted to instil this fact into Hans so he doesn't do any stupid thing. So he warned, "Anafalen Torceran is a warlock and the Nodemaster, so don't run to your death little Sam."
"I may be reckless, but not stupid. I don't start a loosing fight. so his son is one of three. What about others." Hans asked.
"Second, is a bastard named Millard, a sixth circle mage in the Clandor mage tower and the last one is Kerym, a fifth circle mage from the Shadow family, and he is here at the moment." Dijkstra stressed the last part to see Hans's reaction.
“Here?” Hans's eyes perked up, not with curiosity but because the gears in his mind started spinning, creating many scenarios needed to exterminate this Kerym’s bug-like existence. “Shadow family?” His voice hinted at the question so Dijkstra answered, “The children born from Royals who couldn’t claim the throne. They protects the Queen's family from the shadows, hence the name. He came here in escort of king and queen.” Dijkstra paused, thinking that Hans wanted him to snatch this bastard.
Hans caught his hesitation, but before he could say something, Dijkstra added, “It's not like that I don’t want to kill that pointy ear, but if I make a move, even if that Elanor bastard couldn’t stop me he still would recognise me. And you know how it will go from there—”
“Don’t worry, I’m not asking for you to nab him. Just be my escort for two to three days.”
“Okay.” Dijkstra swiftly replied, prompting Hans to ask, “Don’t you have to ask PM Arat to protect—”
“This seems more fun and that geezer won’t die that easily.” Dijkstra said, asking, “But how are you planning to kill a fifth circle mage without my help—”
“Don’t worry,” Hans said with a wicked grin etched on his face, “I know a man who is more insane than you. He’ll do that.”
“That doesn’t make me feel good!” Dijkstra said, puzzled.
“Because it wasn’t the compliment.” Hans taunted, steering the conversation through his pace, “By the way, what was the name of the one you killed?”
“Jonik, a knight and a noble from Indu. But why ask the dead man’s name?” Dijkstra asked, confused. So, Hans answered, gulping down his soup in one go, “Because he is gonna resurrect soon”. Hans stood, ending their conversation and disappeared among the crowd.
Not knowing his chaotic plan, Dijkstra started shadowing him. As Hans moved, crossing various stalls and festivities, There were many things he wanted to do in the five-day festival after Glory Wars. Two days had already passed but right now, all he wanted was to find Vanessa. He wanted to say a lot of things to her, but when he found her. The only thing he could do was smile, a calm yet sad smile that she caught on.
“What happened, Dear brother?” She asked.
“Nothing sis, it's just… it's good to see you.” Hans said, covering his moistened eyes. Prompting her to ask, “You okay? brother—”
“You call me brother, right?” Hans said, “You know, I’m powerful, right sis? So you should tell me if someone bothers you, got it—”
“Oho! How reliable.” She cheerfully caressed his cheek, “Our Hans has grown up.”
“I’m not kidding.” Hans gently removed her hand, “you should tell me, even if someone stares at you. I’ll pluck his eyes out.”
“Yes, yes. So mind tagging along with me,” She offered her hand and Hans followed holding it. The night was young, and Hans did whatever she liked instead of doing things his way. If anyone saw them together, they might think they were just like real brothers and sisters.
After a long and happy time together, Hans bid good night to her and came to his room where someone else was waiting for him. “What took you so long,” Delimria asked, her annoyance apparent. She pulled something out, two stones, one glass pebble, the coordinate stone that Xandor had given him, while another looked like an expensive piece of jewellery. She added, “I hope, it is what you were looking for. People were eyeing me with weird eyes. Even I felt it was a waste to pick a jewellery out of Alliance treasury.”
“No, it's alright.” Hans checked, the coordinate stone was still pointing to the polished piece. “Don’t you wanna know, what it is?” He asked
“Nope, the lesser I know, the less guilty I feel when it comes to biting it in your ass. And I’m telling you, it eventually will.”
“I’m doing knowing that, Winters. Good night—”
“Not even a Thank you? Tsk tsk.”
“Do you want another hug, or something?”
“No,” she backed off a few steps so Hans shut his door in her face, murmuring, “Thanks a lot Deli.”
“What is it?” Dijkstra appeared, jolting behind Hans. Making him jump out in surprise.
“Hey! I told you to stop doing it.” Hans complained, but Dijkstra was staring at the polished gem, like he was mesmerised by it. So Hans answered, “I don’t know how, but in it, is the sword Rebellion. And I’m—”
“And you are going to hand it over to Xandor. I might not be the smartest here, but that girl is right. It will come biting your imperial ass sooner or later—”
“I'll deal with it when the time comes." Hans said glaring at the jewellery piece and confirmed once again. "You said Xandor or anyone, even me, can’t use the sword, right?" Dijkstra affirmed and Hans responded, "That’s good enough for me.”
“But—”
“No buts,” Hans gestured, “Xandor has the second book and he is not someone I could steal it from.”
“I’ll help, just tell me when and where. If I try my best—”
“No, I made a deal and I have to honour it.” Hans declared, “I don't do backstabs.”
“Well said,” a shadow emerged from the dark walls, “You might be not the real thing, but you sure inherited his values.”
At this moment, in Hans’s small room, there stood the commanders of Parv. The duo being in the same place was like placing oil by the fire. But there were no sparks yet. “Xandor, what do you want to do with the sword?” Dijkstra asked.
“I’m just retrieving what I hid, Dijkstra. Don’t get involved.”
“So you were the one who stole it when the king fell—”
“If I didn’t. It would have been destroyed by those Alliance bastards, whom you are chummy with nowadays. Don’t you have any shame, they were the same people who killed your king. So, shut the fuck up. You don’t have a say in it.” Turning to Hans, Xandor pulled a book, the very thing Hans wanted, “Give me the gem and I’ll happily give this book.”
“Haa…”Hans sighed, “There is a tiny problem in the transaction, sir.”
“Do you think,” Xandor paused, glancing at Dijkstra, “With his help you can do something—”
“No, No. Don't get me wrong” Hans gestured, “I’m true to my words as I’ve said previously. It's just conditions have changed a little. We will do the exchange tomorrow afternoon, near the meadows south of the capital. And you'll bring an elf named Kerym, additionally. He is a mage from the Shadow family of Clandor and is in the capital right now.”
“That would be difficult.”
“I’m in no hurry, Mr." Hans shrugged off his shoulders. "I was even ready to lose that book,” Hans stated, continuing as he glanced at Dijkstra. “He might not be able to steal from you, but he can very well prevent you from stealing from me.” As he finished and didn't hear anything from Xandor, he turned serious from laid-back. “I don’t care how you’d do it. I just need him in the meadows afternoon, or else you could find this sword from Norwin himself—”
“Wait,” Dijkstra objected instead of Xandor, “Not tomorrow.”
“Fine,” Xandor accepted, saying, “I’ll bring that elf day after tomorrow, afternoon, right?” And saying his piece, he disappeared.
“Why not tomorrow?” Asked Hans, prompting Dijkstra to answer, “You’ll see.” As the silence remained in the room, Dijkstra broke the awkwardness, “So the one more insane than me was him. Well, it is right, that bastard is insane.”
Dijkstra calling someone insane was one thing crossed from what Hans wanted to see in his life at least once, and it was a scene that left him baffled. The night was long, but the buzz of the festival still rang to their doors. Yet Hans slept like a baby without a care in the world. While Dijkstra, sobered, kept gazing at the young prince.
“Why in the world are you here, Dijkstra?”
“Oh!, Alastor,” Dijkstra turned and saw two people, one he liked and the other he did not, “I didn’t see you there Alastor, but what kind of deal Bernard offered for you to take his son as disciple? You must be a saint in the head—”
“No, I’m not.” Rudolf instantly denied, “I just owe him something.” Rudolf stated as he glanced at Hans’s doors. Dijkstra wasn’t content with the answer so he poked further, “So, if I go for the boy's head, would you fight me for real?”
“Certainly,” Rudolf answered, curt and clear.
“Hmm..”
“So will You go?” Rudolf confirmed.
“Naah. I’m doing something much more fun.” Dijkstra answered surprising Rudolf that this battle junky was denying the chance, even sparing Bernard’s son. Frankly, Rudolf had no confidence that he could stop Dijkstra if he really wanted to hurt Chris. So his response brought some peace in his mind, but the surprise remained, confusing him more by the minute.
