99 Shadow of Despair (1/2)
Out of the blue — during the middle of the day — without warning. It'd happened so suddenly that Velvund almost couldn't believe him.
For a couple of seconds, he'd even doubted his own eyes but quickly came to terms with it. They'd shown him enough more than proof to convince him, needless to say.
The dubiousness of their tale had concerned him in the beginning, but now… he knew that they'd spoken the truth. This was a time of crisis and if they did not act, the consequences would be catastrophic.
After much deliberation, Reed had come to the conclusion that he and Lu'um could no longer handle the situation on their own. Had it just been dealing with the Holy Church and the Dragoncrest and Ashborn families, he wouldn't have even considered getting help at all.
But now, things were different. The situation had escalated way beyond his expectations. There was no time, and he would need all the help he could get if he was to stop the growing threat before it was too late…
As much as it pained him, he put his pride and shame for the sake of the continent. He wouldn't let his feelings put even more lives in danger. Every second was now a precious commodity.
So, he had made his decision.
He had to go home.
When Reed and Lu'um tore themselves out of the Void into the Shining Nexus, it caused instantaneously caused a commotion amongst every contender and conqueror in the capital city. Anima surged and flared like a raging maelstrom across the city with their arrival in a way that had left them all stunned.
The Prince had returned. He was alive and… different now.
Immediately, the royal guard moved into action and warped themselves over to Reed and Lu'um in a circular formation and created a perimeter around them.
The captain of the royal squad said, ”Greetings, Your Highness! I, Kellin, and the royal guard are honored to welcome you back home, Prince! Please, Your Highness, let us make way to the—”
Reed grabbed Kellin and said, ”Where's my grandfather?! I need to speak to him, NOW! Get word to him that I have returned and have an urgent matter that requires immediate attention!”
He pushed the captain aside and said, ”Send word to all able-bodied conquerors and contenders in this city to assemble at the royal spire, as soon as possible.”
”B-But my prince, you don't have the authority to ord—”
Reed released a portion of the Anima he'd stored inside himself, frightening everyone in the process. It was as if they'd instantly been struck by a crushing tsunami of highly condensed Anima.
He turned around and said, ”Do. It. Now.”
It felt as if he'd locked eyes with the Grim Reaper itself. He'd never seen Anima react in such a hostile way before in all his time as a contender. It was almost as if it'd become a living extension of the prince, in a terrifying way.
”Y-Yes, Prince! As you command!”
Reed reigned in his Anima and said, ”Good. If anyone tries to reject the summons, tell them that I'll find them myself and drag them over to my grandfather so that they can explain themselves to him why they've disobeyed a royal order.”
”Tell my grandfather I'll be waiting in my quarters for him,” said Reed and then suddenly vanished along with Lu'um. They'd left.
It wasn't very long — a matter of minutes — before Velvund burst into Reed's room out of the void with a concerned expression on his face.
The moment he caught sight of Reed, a wave of relief washed over him and he said, ”You had this old man up all night worrying, you know. Thank heaven the both of you are alive! Where have you two bee—”
”I'm glad to see you as well, Gramps, but unfortunately we don't have time for pleasantries. There is much I have to tell you and we do not have much time left, so listen very carefully…” said Reed and he immediately proceeded to explain everything that he knew.
At first, Velvund had thought that Reed had done something. Perhaps he had offended the Holy Church, or possibly have gotten himself involved with the incident in Fourth Heaven. That, he could handle...
But what Reed had told him eclipsed anything he could have ever thought up — never in his life would he have ever imagined such a disaster.
In fact, he didn't want to believe Reed's words as much as he trusted the boy.