Many months after the beginning of the Antarctic evacuation campaign…
"MOVE IN AN ORDERLY LINE!
FAMILIES STAY CLOSE!
THERE WILL BE A SORTING STATION AS YOU EXIT!"
A monotone voice blared across a series of microphones all across Falcon Scott.The message repeated endlessly from morning to night. Hundreds of white gateways fashioned into the shape of doors were positioned strategically all over the city that had over twenty million citizens and refugees currently from all over central Antarctica. With a near cumulative total of three hundred million that have evacuated through these gates.
With Aldric and Amon, the first and second evacuation armies could actually split their resources and numbers across central and eastern Antarctica. With a Saint in place to combat released gateway guardians, the plan had been working.
But most importantly, it was Amon that did the most work. With the combination of [Realm of White], which created a pseudo realm that only Amon could allow access to, and [Fractal Fission], which allowed him to shatter himself into as many pieces as he wanted.
With gateways that connected Antarctica across the entire world, citizens were allowed to evacuate and bypass the extremely resource-intensive and long process of being ferried navally. But even Amon had limits. He could not be in every city, so Falcon Scott was chosen to be the hub for central Antarctica while the east was left to the rest of the government and the House of Night. He was already pushing it by having multiple gateways opened for hours at a time, but also with these gateways leading to multiple places. The drain on Amon was immense; however, it was doable. With hours of rest, soul essence cores being fed to him to recover, and finally him being a Terror, Amon could manage.
It was not just that Amon saved a titanic amount of resources by transporting millions across the world without the need of ships and the House of Night, the government could allocate refugees to different siege capitals across the world. Easing the burden and stopping a complete collapse of each quadrant.
But that was not to say that it was easy going. The chain of nightmares was still a real threat that grew in intensity each day. Falcon Scott had been under a constant siege of nightmare gate outbreaks. It was as though the nightmare creatures from all around central Antarctica were drawn to the hub.
It was there that Aldric fought and fought. Classified as a Siege Marshall, the hub that contained the largest population in Central Antarctica was under his command.
Truly, a lot has happened over these past few months. From his inauguration into the Song clan to being responsible for the lives of millions. The shadow war between the two clans had begun in true fashion, but that was a conversation for another day.
And it was not just him; Nephis had returned from her second nightmare. Choosing to return to the one that she had found at the mouth of the Underworld, she had returned as an ascended.
Standing within a tower overlooking the evacuation efforts, Aldric spoke.
"What happened to you, Sunny? Did you really change that much?"
On a night five months ago
Sunny POV
Sat on his bed in the middle of the night, Sunny's mind was everything but relaxed. The past few weeks, the past few months, his mind had not felt straight at all. And it all started on that day.
Coming to the Ivory Tower to see what had Cassie so excited yet hesitant to tell him. Seeing her, seeing Nephis for the first time in months, was unexpected. But there was something so destabilising about seeing a Nephis that was weaker than him. A Nephi that, no matter which techniques or experience she utilised, could not come close to him in strength. A range of complex emotions weaved in and out of his system like the colours of a kaleidoscope. The euphoria of finally being above her, the guilt and anger regarding the story of what brought her here and, lastly, the confusion of what this meant for their relationship.
He had not said a word to her. And neither did she to him. Through their eyes meeting, everything was laid bare. The elation that she returned, her realisation of the gap in their strength. It was all too much for their tumultuous bond.
And in the days and weeks after, they planned for a hidden return to the waking world, to challenge the second nightmare and more. Along with the hot water that he and Cassie were in due to Mordret, there was never a moment to truly sit down and talk.
It was too much that someone this much weaker than him could control his actions and will. It was too much.
And now Nephis was not even here, having challenged the second nightmare in secret alone. He could not imagine trying to do that death trap alone. While bringing in fire keepers or even members from Event Horizon was an idea, it was scrapped due to the lack of complete trust she had in them. In her time gone, who was to say that even one had not been compromised?
A quiet sigh left his mouth.
"She is the bane of my life right now. All this thinking isn't good for me, is it, Gloomy?"
Sunny spoke, looking at the shadow trailing at his feet. A look of resignation on his face.
The training in the Ivory Tower had led to Sunny seeing just how wide the gap was between them. Even after anchoring herself to the tower since becoming an awakened, the gap between her and an ascended was still too much. It was humbling for her and a change for him that he had yet to process.
It was too much that someone this much weaker than him could control his actions and will.
But unknown to Sunny, that gap in strength between them had taught her a lesson that he never would have thought possible. A lesson of humility and equality. And whether Sunny acknowledged it or not, the fact that he was stronger than Nephis gave him the hope that things could be different. That it would change something.
Finding out the synergistic powers of [Shadow Bond] made it feel even more real. It made them closer than ever before, allowing them to recognise just how intimate this bond truly was.
And so these past few months had been a blur of teaching at the academy, spending time around Nephis, and late nights just like this.
And it was on a night like this that Sunny came to a decision that would change the world. Sat with a decision to leave or stay, for the first time in his life, he would choose to stay.
—
Unknown to Aldric, during a certain Valour ballroom event, a certain conversation did not happen. For these were a different Sunny and Nephis. A Nephis that learned humility earlier and a Sunny that chose not to run.
'The consequences of my actions... I really thought that his fated attribute would have found a different way to bring him here.'
Aldric thought as thousands of people traversed through the white gate each minute.
Shaking his head, he knew that this was never the plan. With his knowledge, the plan was never to rely on Sunny to hold the burden of saving millions in Antarctica.
Even as Sunny tried his best, millions had died. Erebus, Field, Falcon Scott, and plenty of others. So he will do better this time.
As selfish and greedy as it was, Aldric wanted to change it all. In a mixture of extreme ego and pride but pure accountability, he had to do it. He had to save as many lives as he could. To truly leave his mark on humanity, not as a survivor of the Forgotten Shore but much more.
The responsibility of having such powers was starting to kick in as he moved from being a survivor to growing into himself.
Through his knowledge of what occurred, Aldric had advised the government in a way that optimised their resources. While he didn't know everything, it was enough.
From sending Jet and Bael to the Erebus Field to sending out the rest of Event Horizon to East Antarctica, where it would be safer.
In the months of this campaign, Aldric had suppressed over forty-five gateway outbreaks. With Iris supporting logistics, Marilyn on healing, and Kura protecting his back. Aldric's growth exploded in all terms. This campaign acted as the first crucible to truly allow him to grow. Unlike his inexperience in the Forgotten Shore or his well-masked fear after returning, this was a pure challenge that stress-tested his character and desires.
Sleepless nights watching over Falcon Scott, venturing miles out of the city to suppress any outbreaks. Being called to neighboring cities to support evacuation measures. A level of fatigue that Aldric had never experienced met him. He was so tired, but he did not care.
But the world knew.
"Antarctica's Saviour"
"The one who remained"
"Hero"
Titles that left the mouths of the citizens as they safely evacuated to a quadrant. While the true details of his exploits were not exposed, enough had spread throughout all the quadrants. Wherever the media attempted to downplay the true horror of the chain of nightmares, it was the very people that he saved which spoke his name.
And it was not just the lives that he had saved. As the intensity of the nightmare gates increased and the call of the nightmare grew, the final purple soul core had its ability revealed. Through a strengthened aspect of his true darkness that could influence tethers to and from the dream realm, Aldric could suppress the strength of the nightmare's call. Not completely at all; however, with the categories being mostly two's and a few three's, Aldric could contain them.
Through using Amon as a conduit of his ability, the gateway area and its surroundings acted as both a cleanser and a safe zone against the call. After all, there was no way he could contain the call for hundreds of millions, but he could in groups as they evacuated. So this meant that the mortality rate dropped significantly. Both young and old were saved from challenging the first nightmare and possibly failing and killing their loved ones.
This was something that he had told absolutely no one and left as a mystery to be solved, but there were many citizens who had chalked it up to their saviour.
Millions that would have been left in ice coffins. Burned, eaten, cut and maimed, Aldric's choices had saved them from that fate. It was his choices and his actions that led to this change. A change that would ripple across fate itself. Families that would survive, an entire pool of human potential that would have otherwise been snuffed out. Awakened, Masters and even Saints could be born from that group of survivors who experienced the true horrors of the gateway outbreaks.
The diverging change that this would create was not only felt deeply within fate itself but also by Aldric.
But the campaign was not close to being over. After all, for every nightmare outbreak that was dealt with, five were strategically ignored. And it was only a matter of time until those nightmare creatures converged at Falcon Scott. And fate had a strange way of recalibrating after change.
Aldric felt a pulse on the communication memory on his ear. With the communication grid down because of the Winter Beast, a Corrupted Titan that left blizzards and death with every step it took, the government and clans had to rely on memories to communicate. For longer-distance communication, runners were sent to the dream realm to send a message.
Recognising the signal, Aldric left for the central government unit and entered the command room. With Iris beside him, he walked into the strategic meeting. Taking a seat, he faced the group.
Saint Tyris of the White Feather clan, Valor's emissary. The Saint who had been locked in battle with the Winter Beast for nearly two months now. On and off skirmishes to gain any semblance of an advantage.
Bloodwave from House of Night. The representative of the naval command.
Arrowfall of the government. A recent transcendant that was under the government's employ. The only survivor of her third nightmare that claimed the lives of five masters. Her presence was a surprise but much needed.
A selection of Masters and Awakened littered the room also. It was not that Aldric was their leader; however, since he was in control of Falcon Scott as its Siege Marshal, they were waiting for him.
With her armour in shambles but still flawless, Saint Tyris began.
"It's gaining ground."
She spoke bluntly. Her tone was riddled with exhaustion.
"How long until it reaches Falcon Scott?"
Bloodwave asked. His role currently, after bringing the evacuation army to Antarctica, is to support key areas as a Saint. He could not support Saint Tyris against the Winter Beast because of his incompatibility with both foe and ally.
"It is…"
—
The meeting concluded, and as he left his station room, Aldric felt a pulse from Bael. A pulse that signified both danger and a call for support.
He wanted to ignore it and rest for a moment, but he knew who Bael was with. It was Jet and a large contingent of Masters and Awakened. With the redistribution of resources, the government could afford to put more personnel into critical missions like saving Professor Obel and much of what Sunny was tasked with. But it was clear that they ran into a problem that could not be solved with might.
Giving Iris a heads up, a pool of darkness formed at his feet. Drawing on his connection with Bael, he dropped down and vanished.
***
Thanks for reading.
Thank you all for your patience . Writing a dissertation and having exams really makes writing hard to do. But with that done, I'm aiming for one chapter a week. I really want to put more time into this story.
Till the next one.