The Heavens Shall Fall

Siu still had both palms pressed against Titus’s chest, the last vibration of his strike dying away as Elder Thane's voice canceled it out. He wanted to pull back his hands, and his mind gave the order, but his body lagged behind so much he just stayed there, touching the metal torso.

"Master, if that thing were female..."

"..." Hearing Arya's comment, he finally managed to lower his hands, his head staying looking upward, ignoring her jabs.

On the other end, Titus did not move either. The construct’s red eyes still flickered in and out, before finally, after continuously blinking four times, it stabilized. Only after that did he look up, tilting its somewhat dented head, which was still wearing Seloryn's flute's outline. Naturally, everyone else was doing the same, looking up, frozen in the moment.

“The silent treatment, huh?” Elder Thane said, seeing that no one was answering him, and the way his voice sounded did not help at all. “Evacuate the civilians,” He continued, turning towards the guards present. “Secure the road and count the injured. Record the damage caused by this fight, and let the city officials present it to me in the evening. The Hollow Song will take care of the repairs.”

Grael’s jaw moved just then, probably wanting to say something, but then not only he, but Siu too felt Thane's aura sweep over them, ceasing any idea to speak now, after they decided to remain silent until now.

“Not yet.” They heard Thane's voice echo in their ears, "If you decided to shut your mouths, then go through with it. Anyone making a peep gets their mouths sewn shut."

Grael’s eyes darkened, but just then, Titus’s voice crackled out, still distorted. Apparently Seloryn's flute damaged something inside.

“Statement required for—”

The construct stopped, and there was an audible creak and cracking. The next moment, whatever it was that had enabled him to speak was damaged so much that he could no longer speak, and only his red eyes kept blinking.

"Shut up, you overgrown artifact." Thane sneered into their ears, "Or I will crush you like the useless can you are." Then, as they watched, he descended from the sky, not even moving, his feet noiselessly stepping onto the cracked road. “Everyone involved will come with me. Anyone who tries to leave will learn whether I am faster or their last thoughts are.” He added, directly looking at Grael and Vael.

"Great," Ruben lowered his umbrella, throwing a tired look at Siu. “There goes my Paragon title.”

"..." Thane looked at him without saying anything, making his fake smile look actually sad and depressed.

"My apologies," Ruben coughed, looking away, “Silence. Understood, Elder.”

“Then start practicing it, boy.”

Following Thane silently, nobody tried to stop them. To Siu's surprise, they didn't go that far, because only ten minutes later, they stood inside a private residence. A noble residence, by the look of it; however, from the outside it just looked like any other building in the district. After they all entered what looked like a study, Siu felt a formation come online beneath the floor, sealing them away from the outside world.

“Sit,” Thane said, pointing to two long couches as the group automatically separated and sat down opposite each other, including Vael, who found a seat right next to Siu.

“You.” Thane continued, before Arya or Marly could whisper anything, his gaze landing on Seloryn.

"Yes," She straightened, speaking without questions being thrown at her. “We entered Mirebell on official Companions business, Elder. The mission cargo is currently being prepared by House Vardek. During entry into the city, Siu and his beasts detected an unknown cultivator observing us." She explained, throwing a look at Vael, "We later identified him as the same likely lightning presence from the battle site near Feldren that we discovered. We trapped him for questioning, when... the hunters showed up.”

"Mhm." Thane’s gaze shifted to Siu as he nodded, signaling to take over the explanation.

“I detected him first, Elder,” he said, retelling everything, finishing with the part where Vael asked for asylum and that he felt like they should honor it and get to the bottom of everything before handing someone over to be executed.

“Name,” Thane asked, even if knowing it after the explanation, gazing directly at Vael. Everyone knew he simply wanted to hear it from his mouth to determine whether he was lying or not.

“Vael Renwick.”

“Rank?”

“Former Head Disciple of Stormglass Pavilion.”

“Charges?”

"A lot." Vael’s mouth twisted in a defeated smile. “Treason, theft of restricted materials, flight from lawful punishment, and lastly the murder of Elder Corvin Hale. I also know now that they threw in a 'suspected transmission of guarded techniques to outside parties' claim on top of it all too.”

“Which are true?”

“I fled, and I killed Corvin. I also carry restricted knowledge in my head. But I did not transmit guarded techniques to outsiders!”

"You left out the thieving part," Thane said, and his eyes hardened as he kept gazing at Vael. "I can sense all the fluctuations in you, and you know that. You can't deceive me."

“I took my master’s private notes,” Vael exhaled in the end, not hiding it. “And a storage token that was entrusted to me before his death.”

“Name your master.”

“Elder Logan Whalfur.”

"Cause of death?" Thane asked, continuing his personal investigation.

"I can't be sure." Vael’s expression sharpened. “Officially, cultivation deviation during closed-door practice... But he was murdered. I just don't know how.”

"So you have no proof."

"..." Vael’s fingers dug into his knees. “No... I don't...”

“I see,” Thane muttered, crossing his arms, and so far he hadn't blinked, not even once, turning his gaze towards Grael. "Your turn to speak."

"..." Grael pulled in a very deep breath through his nose, regulating his temper, “The name is Grael. I am a licensed headhunter under the Wolfsong Guild, as was told to your disciples, too. My partner, Titus, and I are operating under a legal guild charter, and we are, per every sense, a subordinate faction to the Hollow Song. We accepted a recovery contract issued by Stormglass Pavilion, who are also your subordinates. I have the license and contract. And we told them!”

“Show me,” Thane said without displaying any clues as to what he was really thinking of, ignoring the man's tone.

Without hesitation, Grael took the items out, putting them onto the table between the two couches. They only rattled in their place once, as Thane reached out without physically doing so, scanning them from where he stood.

“Everything is in order,” He said at last, finally blinking his eyes, and Grael’s shoulders lowered slightly, relaxing for the first time in hours. “However, there are some issues here." He continued, making Grael tense up again, "All you did is legal, including the fight inside the city; I will accept it as an unavoidable possibility when pursuing such a fugitive. HOWEVER!" He raised his voice before Grael could speak, "You continued pursuit after Hollow Song disciples accepted his asylum request. That is a... problem.”

"My apologies," Grael’s teeth clenched as he spoke, "But that is not exactly true!"

“Oh?" Thane scoffed, "Then where are your robes and sash, disciple Grael? Please, do tell me how my sect works if you know it so well."

"..."

"Thought so." He snorted, throwing a warning look at Siu and the rest, to not even dare to start smirking, "Under Hollow Song custom, asking is enough to halt any attempts. Even if it's a disciple who accepts the request. He can and will bring the people in question to an Elder. Then, and just then, it gets reviewed and decided on how to go forth from there.”

“That’s convenient...” Grael grunted, without thinking about the consequences of such actions.

“Yes.” Thane's answer was so flat that even Ruben’s eyes twitched. “Convenient customs are often written by people strong enough to make them inconvenient for others... so be very careful with how you express yourself from now on... boy. Don't take my civility for granted. I am not a diplomat but a warrior, and this is as much as you will get from me. Cherish it...”

No one argued after that, and they just sat there, trying not to look at Thane.

“However,” The elder said, breaking the silence, looking at Vael, “asylum is not absolution. You are now under Hollow Song authority as our prisoner. You are not a free man, because your crimes, be it real or not, are too serious to grant you any kind of freedom.”

"Y-yes..." Vael swallowed. “I understand.”

"We will take you back to the sect, where you will wait until we look into this ourselves and come to a decision. As for what that will be," He looked at Grael and Titus, "That is up to us. Now... Siu.”

“Yes, Elder.” He looked up, pulling himself straight, looking into his eyes without hesitation.

“You interfered with one of our subordinate factions, even if you did so after an asylum request was made. I don't care who started the fight; you did so in the middle of Mirebell, injuring mortals and key infrastructure in the process.”

"I..." Siu lowered his head just a fraction, but didn't break eye contact. “Yes, Elder.”

“Stupid.”

"..." Siu did not answer, only let out a soft sigh, slowly nodding his head.

"Here." Thane lowered a hand, suddenly looking away from him, and threw four green crystals onto the table, locking his eyes onto Grael. "This is your compensation for the troubles caused by our disciples."

Grael gulped when hearing that, knowing that if he didn't accept the four Verdant Crystals, he wouldn't get anything out of the situation. He threw one look at Tituts, knowing his repairs would at least cost two of the four... then replace the one in his chest. Which would leave him with one remaining... Ugh. All things considered, he was at best, at net zero, which was better than being at a loss. In the end, he scooped them up, and the moment he did so, Elder Thane just nodded.

“Out,” he said, looking at everyone, "Grael and Titus can leave; the rest of you, separate rooms. Yes,” he looked at Arya and Marly, "You can stay with the idiot. The rest, find a room on the second floor. No talking, and I can sense if you use voice transmission."

After everyone left, Thane stood before the window, looking out, his hands clasped behind his head, letting out a tired sigh.

“This is going to be annoying.”

“You handled it well.” A female voice spoke up just then, making Thane shrug, shaking his head before turning, glancing at Kyrae. “Thank you for coming.”

"I should be thanking you for calling me over to handle the situation." Thane lowered his hands, talking to Kyrae as his equal.

“You were the logical choice over anyone else, and if I popped up, Siu would have been suspicious of what my intentions were. However... Your presence may be more than required if the situation with the Stormglass Pavilion is real.”

“Yes...” He nodded, his face darkening, "You should make a report to your Master about this."

"I will." Kyrae moved closer to the window, looking just as serious. “The timing is poor, but, as my Master told me, destiny likes to play its cards unexpectedly. Maybe it is our luck that Siu had revealed this information before it could become... dangerous.”

“A disturbance inside Stormglass Pavilion would be troubling in normal years,” Thane agreed. “Right now, it is worse, with how many times we are getting poked just in this decade alone.”

“Outside interference?” Kyrae asked, looking at him, "I have only dealt with issues that my First Circle cultivation can handle."

“It is very much possible.” Thane explained, knowing that whatever he could reveal to Kyrae, her Master surely already knows about, "My last trip away from the sect took me to a region that had a rebellion brewing. It took me a year to scour the land for the dissidents and exterminate them to the last. And I'm not the only one. We have about a hundred of our elders out, looking for similar incidents all over the place. But it's like fighting a hydra; there is always a head popping up somewhere. All of these point towards the fact that we are being infiltrated and interfered with. My personal conclusion is that one of our rivals is creating turmoil to pave the way for a later invasion. They are just playing the long game..."

“Mhm... Interesting.” Kyrae hummed, tapping her lips. "Can you take this Vael guy back to the Sect? Go straight to my Master with this and tell her the same you just told me. I will keep trailing Siu and the rest; make sure they don't run into any more trouble."

"Will do," He nodded, finally smiling, "This should be enough of a scare for the kids. No need to punish them any further!" With a soft laugh, he began stretching, "Everyone was young once, after all."

"And he did better than I expected." Kyrae giggled, too, "That construct could easily rank on the Paragon list thanks to its body alone. Elder, you taught him well!"

"Please, are you trying to embarrass me?" He asked, rolling his eyes, turning a bit red in the face.

"Not at all!" Kyrae grinned, winking at him, "It's the truth, and my Master also agrees with it. Maybe you should finish his martial training, hm?"

"Maybe." He mused, smacking his lip, "Maybe I should."