The Heavens Shall Fall

Only a day had passed since the three simultaneous exchanges on the Paragon List, spreading the Wardens' name around and through all of the Inner Disciples. At a place whose name Siu would recognize, people looked extra busy for some reason since it happened. It was the headquarters of the Fire Ring, built into a mountainside and home to nearly two hundred Inner Disciples, making it one of the largest groups by sheer numbers. Even during calmer days, people usually came and went, always making some noise as their members completed their personal and association missions.

It grew to its size because it was an old group, one that already celebrated its 400th birthday, and the one that owned the Ember Circle amongst the outers. Siu would even know its leader if they met face-to-face, as it was Kal Val, and they had met once. Back in Cal'Fia's cafe, talking to him, Siu just didn't know who he really was back then... A Paragon with the rank of Sixty-Nine.

Since the day the Wardens' name began spreading, Val couldn't help but laugh every time he thought about it, shaking his head, and finally calling an emergency meeting. It was why now three other people sat around a circular table. With them in one room, it was one of the rare moments when the entire Fire Ring's leadership was present, all at once. Which was rare because all of them were Paragons.

“So.” Val looked at the others, hiding his smile, "You all believe me now when I told you about the Spirit Wardens and their future potential?”

"We have to, don't we?" One of the other Paragons answered, rubbing his face. "This is no longer an outer 'issue,' is it?"

“Also... You know their leader.” Another added, "Anything to share? Because most of the brokers I visited were in the dark. Just uttering their name made them flinch and curse!"

“His name is Siu.” Val began, but was interrupted by the only female in the group.

“Just Siu?”

"..." Val's lips slowly curled upon hearing that. "Don't call him that face-to-face, though. Anyway! The boy has a good back and attitude; my cousin rated him high, and I trust her assessment. She managed to work with him easily, and even has a friendly rivalry with the Wardens down in the outers' section. I knew the guy got promoted; I just didn't expect to hear from him this quickly. I was going to wait a year or so before making contact, so as not to make it seem like I'm there to recruit him... And... Well... That backfired."

"Which means..." Everyone looked a little confused. "You wanted to recruit him?"

"Yeah!" Val snorted, shaking his head again. "He has a good head on his shoulders, and through him we could have absorbed another source for future disciples! I didn't push it on him when we first met, reading his attitude towards things so... Oh well, Plan B it is."

“And Plan B means what?" The woman asked, raising her brows suspiciously, "Val, he collected three Paragons... Besides us, very few groups have this many. I can count them on one hand! We won't be able to absorb them.”

“I am not trying to fight or subdue them; relax. I may scold him because he never even sent me a hello, though...”

“You sound like an abandoned lover.” She laughed, making Val point at her with a finger, twitching an eye.

“Don't make this strange.”

“You made it strange. You are complaining that a younger man didn't send you a greeting after moving closer to you.”

“Haaah... drop it!" Val shrugged, raising his hands in defeat. "I will have to go and visit him myself."

"Now, now..." Another member of their leadership spoke up just then. "People will talk if you go and visit them personally. Let one of us go."

"Just no? None of you know him. And if they talk, so what?" Val shrugged, shaking his head. "That's one more reason to do it. Better to act first, before we miss another chance. I have already delayed long enough to fail to recruit him, so allying with him will not be postponed. I just have to get to their headquarters."

“That's not going to be easy...” They answered, making Val raise a brow. "We have been trying to locate them, but no luck. Nobody knows where they are housed."

“How can that be true? None of the big, high-and-mighty investigators could locate them? Hah! Finally, some setback for those smug fucks!”

“We still need to know where they are...” The others chuckled too, despite their own setback because of it. “There are routes where they think it should be, but every time you try to follow them, you somehow end up elsewhere and never at the same place. So, some kind of sophisticated formation is at play here, that is everyone's best bet.”

“How strong?” Val asked, growing serious, especially when nobody could give him an answer.

“So what are we going to do to get in contact?” asked the youngest Paragon in the group.

"I think I know who can get us in." Val looked toward him, rubbing his chin. "Cal'Fia mentioned a guy named Toban before, and I know he had contact with Siu. He was part of something called the Golden Scroll, and I believe I've heard the same name come up lately. Go, find him, and tell him what we want; see if he can get us in."

There was not much any of the others could offer... so they got to work, and within a day they indeed found Toban, who was ready to send a message... For a price.

...

....

......

Waking up after a long day, somewhere around noon, Siu was struggling to keep his eyes open, feeling like he was six again. It had been more than a decade since he felt himself wanting to be this lazy, and it took a good amount of effort to push it down and start forcing Arya off his face.

"Nyuuuu..." She moaned, still drooling, barely clothed.

"Sleep if you want; it's fine, but I need to go and see Quillian before he gets annoyed..." He whispered, watching her remain in bed while he dressed up and left his room, only to find a note attached to his bedroom door when he closed it. "What... the...?"

As he pulled the folded paper free, he already had a guess who had left it. Naturally, after opening it, it became confirmed at once.

[Siu,

Golden Scroll received a request this morning. Kal Val, the leader of Fire Ring, Paragon Rank 69, would like an invitation to visit us. He claims you know him, and he also specifically requested that I inform you he is deeply wounded that you never even sent him a hello. If you allow him to visit, I think you can send him the invite through the association's tablet.

Toban.]

“Kal Val.” He muttered to himself, thinking about the name, just for a moment before remembering the figure he had met in Cal'Fia's home. "Shit... he was that high on the list?"

He didn't even think about him being on the list, but it wasn't that weird either. Back when he was an Outer Disciple, an Inner Disciple had already seemed far enough above him to even give it a second thought, and there was so much going on that he had already forgotten about the meeting.

“Let's invite him, then.” He mumbled, heading off, rereading the letter, pulling his memories to the surface, trying to decide what he might want.

Still lost in thought, Siu headed downstairs to their founding tablet, which was placed in the main hall, right above the entrance. By now, they realized that they didn't even need to touch it; a bit of essence release was enough to activate it. Focusing on Val's name, he willed him an invite, and after the tablet flashed, it only took a few seconds for a response to ring out in his mind.

"That was quick..." He muttered, and just a few hours later, Val had arrived, apparently postponing everything he was doing.

Siu was warned of his arrival by his own sash, as the entrance formations sent a subtle response, informing him that a guest had reached the boundary and was crossing the bridge. He barely had time to call out to the others while he headed outside with Arya and Marly. Across the spatial formation, they could see Val's distorted silhouette, apparently examining the road and the river below him, interested in the strange experience, before finally stepping through and arriving at the Wardens' headquarters.

“Senior Val,” Siu said, cupping his hands.

"Huh." Val turned, looking around and behind him, before smiling at him, returning the gesture. “Well, look who finally remembered I exist. Anyway, call me Val; drop the honorifics."

"If you say so." Siu nodded, curiously looking over him just as Val was gazing at him, then at Arya and Marly. "Huh. Cute."

"Eh?" Arya flinched because she was about to say something, but then she was called cute... and the way Val was still looking at her.... In just a moment, her tail suddenly doubled in thickness, quickly hiding behind Siu.

"Master... His eyes are dangerous! He wants to rub his sticky fingers all over me!"

"No, he doesn't," Siu answered at once, while Val just shrugged, seeing Arya hide behind Siu.

"I love fluffy things... I'm kinda jealous of you already!"

"..." Siu immediately stepped away, shielding Arya, not knowing what to say, because evidently, Arya was right this time around. "Um... I think we should head in; it is better to talk at a table than to stand outside all day."

"True, but..." Val nodded but then looked back toward the first gateway, pointing at it over his shoulder. "You know what this thing does?"

“Blocks people from entering without an invite.” Siu nodded, but then Val just chortled, shaking his head.

“That's probably a last-line-of-defense-type thing. Did you know your headquarters actually doesn't exist?”

"Um... What do you mean?" Siu blinked his eyes, feeling a bit taken aback. "We are here, aren't we?"

“You didn't know?!" Val laughed, slapping his thigh. "Hah! That is hilarious! Ahhh... if the others would realize this, ahahahaha! Don't worry, I'll keep my mouth shut... This is way too funny to ruin it! But to make things short,” he added, laughing as they began walking, “All the information brokers are in an existential crisis because they can't locate you, not even in the archives. They have been pouring over them, and even tried to follow some of you, but they get lost in the routes while you all disappear. And it is not the simple masking formation that is present in most places, where you can't see the entrance without permission. You actually can't plot the land and the location of your entrance at all! If I were to come up this road without your invitation, I would probably end up somewhere else... Heh. Apparently the only one who can get in touch with you here is Toban, so... Golden Scroll is getting a bit of a boost in fame, yet I think I'm the first to actually get in.”

"We... didn't know that," Siu muttered, finding himself lost a little. Orzimar hadn't told them anything about that part. Plus, they could come and go without issues, so it never even occurred to him that the place would be protected like this. Not that he would change it; it felt perfect as it was.

"Well, now you do." Val slapped his back, laughing again. "This alone will give me a bit of newfound fame, so... all is well!"

"Aren't you famous enough?" Siu asked jokingly, making him shrug.

"That all depends. I am not famous enough to have a place like this, for example..."

As he said it, he slowly looked through the massive land, properly taking in what waited on the other side. The vast internal landscape alone made his heart ache, because the space here was mouth-watering. His own people could easily fit inside and still have room. He had to take a few breaths to push down his sudden jealousy, throwing it away by the time they reached the main building, where everyone else was waiting and looking on curiously.

“You've been an Inner Disciple for how long?” Val suddenly asked, making Siu answer without thinking.

“A year? A bit less.”

“I hate you.”

“Um..." Siu flinched, looking at him, trying to see if he was here to issue a challenge or what.

“No, seriously,” Val repeated as he pointed at the massive, empty landscape. “My Fire Ring has almost two hundred members, with four Paragons, and we could NEVER dream about a place like this. Who did you bribe? Where is your Golden Sash, huh? Didn't you know it is against the rules to masquerade as an Inner Disciple if you have an Elder as a Master?" He asked, squinting at him. "If you are going to tell me there is not an Elder backing you with this, I'm going to eat dirt for the rest of my life."

“It was in an Elder's possession, that's true," Siu answered carefully, not wanting to seem like he was hiding a big secret. It was best to let something spread, to satisfy the masses and prevent future incidents. People could get dangerous ideas into their heads, just to discover some big secret, and he didn't want to deal with that. "We found it by accident, and, after a series of quests by said Elder... We got ownership over it."

"Who was it?" Val asked, amazed by the tale more than Siu could realize. The things he was saying implied more than Val ever expected...

"Can't say. We promised not to." He lied, and Val didn't even question it, nodding heavily. “Come on.” Siu continued, gesturing toward the headquarters. “You wanted a visit; let us give you a tour.”

After that, Val stopped asking questions and spent most of the first half-hour looking around, visiting every nook and cranny he was allowed to, spending some time in the Warden Archives, where Quillian kept a close eye on him all the time. In the end, they settled into the conference room, using it for its intended purpose. This time around, everyone was present except Toban, with Vael serving up tea for everyone without a word.

“So...” Val began, taking a sip and smiling, “You really took my advice.”

"..." Siu didn't say much, almost making him look offended, reiterating their first meeting.

“When you were an outer," Val said with a shrug, "I told you independence is useful until it becomes isolation. Look at you now... You are a quick learner, huh? You come up here and immediately do this? Cheeky.”

“Immediately?” Siu asked, feeling a bit conscious about it now

“From my perspective.” Val added, waving a hand, glancing around the table, taking in everyone else, "Congratulations to all of you. That was an explosive introduction that will be talked about for a long time. Also!" He continued before anyone could interrupt, "Don't worry. I didn't come here to interrogate you about what your future plans are or things like that.”

“Then why did you come?” Seloryn asked, steepling her fingers, resting her chin atop them.

“Several reasons.” He said in a serious tone, lifting one finger. “First, because I meant what I told Siu back then. I like making friends.” Then, another finger went up, "Second, my cousin likes you, and they are working with the Wardens down at the outers, so I want to continue that tradition.”

"Are you offering... an alliance?" Ruben asked, feeling surprised.

“I do." Val nodded with a smile. "We take in a lot of the 'graduates' from Ember Circle, and I guess you will do the same with yours. Which means some of our future members will arrive already knowing your people. It is inevitable.”

Ruben's expression immediately became interested while hearing him, throwing a glance at Siu, signaling that this was a superb offer, because Fire Ring was already big and had four Paragons. If they joined hands, that would pretty much mean there is an alliance of seven Paragons, which happened... well... He didn't have any examples, so it must have been a rare occasion even in the past.

"That's a serious offer," Seloryn spoke up before the others could, "Future troubles would also come to both of us if we go forward with it."

"Are you afraid of challenges?" Val asked, not backing down, smiling confidently, "Don't worry, we don't have any enemies right now; albeit, true, I can't say it will stay like that. The future is unpredictable, after all."

"You misunderstood me," Seloryn said, shaking her head. "I meant your group... Without our actions, I can already guess that there will be some issues, especially if we start recruiting and some people leave their current groups to join ours."

"We aren't afraid of challenges," Val answered simply, without hesitation, repeating his own words. "I became the head of Fire Ring and promised to elevate our group to the highest moment in its history. I will hold to that promise. So..." He looked around again, his gaze settling on Siu, his red eyes flashing once. "I offer an honest alliance, the same that exists between Ember Circle and the Spirit Wardens down below. I believe, just by their example, that if we join hands, we can write an entire chapter in the Sect's history book. What do you say...?"

Before answering, Siu just looked over the others, scanning their eyes, before making a decision. He himself liked the idea and had positive feelings about Val, but of course, there had to be rules set down to formalize it. But for now? His answer was simple.

"You know," Siu smiled at him, "I also like making friends. It indeed makes things easier."