The Restored: Chapter Forty-Six

Telling my story didn’t take me nearly as long as I had expected. Though the fight had been long, tough, and brutal, it had been fairly short. All said and done, the invasion had lasted less than an hour, despite feeling like it had lasted for days. 

“Interesting. So you were finally able to make full advantage of your biological modifications,” Jessica said, tapping her chin. “I did always wonder why yours were so… passive… compared to mine. But you’re a combat mage – arch-stars do a lot more for you than they do for a witch like me.” 

“The Arenamaster prizing stability over power also makes more sense now, since they were already going to be supercharged with demonic magic,” Rhys said. “That had been bothering me. But if you’d had power based ones, your body would have probably ripped itself apart under the pressure.” 

“Well that’s a lovely thought,” I said with a shudder, before returning to my story. As I wound down, a minor detail that I’d mostly ignored during the battle popped back into my mind, and I turned to look at Hadiya’s hunched over figure.

“Ah, one odd thing – whenever the Arenamaster’s orbs struck and ripped out chunks of my aura and soulstuff, my aura regeneration would spike for a moment,” I said, pausing for a moment before I shrugged. “Not sure what that was about, but considering that you’re interested in that sort of research, Hadiya, I figured I’d bring it up.” 

The dark skinned woman paused from where she was scribbling in the dirt and looked up at me, blinking her surprise. She seemed to need a moment to process what I’d said before she nodded rapidly and going back to work.

“I’ll take a look at the Arenamaster’s chair. I’m not sure it will do anything.” 

Rhys looked up at me and let out a whistle. 

“Congratulations, Acting Consulate Archmage.” 

I froze at his statement, turning to face Rhys. 

“What?” I asked lamely.

“In the event that the Consulate Archmage is killed in battle, the mantle may be temporarily assumed by the nearest senior Elderglass archmage, assuming that said Archmage did not kill the previous Consulate Archmage and isn’t currently under investigation, parole, or probation for a felony offense,” Rhys rattled off, his voice slightly distant in the way that indicated he was speaking from rote memory. “You didn’t kill Archmage Davalier, and were the closest to her when she died. You could argue that Concrete Crown’s seniority outranks you, but they’re under investigation for multiple felonies related to smuggling, money laundering, and bribery. So unless there’s another Elderglass archmage who was nearby and has more seniority than you do… You’re the Acting Consulate Archmage.” 

I stared at him, unsure of what I was even supposed to say to that. There was… I was… What? I had never held a single government position in life, and 

Rhys started talking nervously, trying to explain.

“Normally, this is just a stopgap measure for military conflict, in order to keep the chain of mage command. It’s not forever – there’s a reason that I said you were ‘Acting’ Consulate Archmage, not just Consulate Archmage. You’re required to hold an election as soon as can be reasonably managed. But… Right now, half the city is destroyed. I don’t think there’s any way to reasonably manage an election right now. Also, since you’re Acting Consulate Archmage, and everyone in Nexus is dead, you’ve been granted full emergency powers.” 

There was a clattering as Devi tried to bolt to her feet, but her hand was still laced in with Jin’s, and she fell over, headfirst into the dirt. Hadiya hissed like a cat and blocked the spell she was drawing from being thrown off. 

“You’re a dictator now!” Devi said, staring at me. “I… Fallen Void.” 

“I don’t especially want to have complete power over the nation,” I said with a sigh. “Plus, if I were to try and crown myself king or anything like that, I’m pretty sure I’d be shot within half a second.” 

Kelly started laughing, drawing everyone’s eye, except for Hadiya, who was still working on her spell. 

“Well, Devi, you got what you wanted. Not sure this is how you wanted it, but by stopping Nexus, you’ve managed to crown a single ultimate authority with someone who hasn’t even written a legal contract from scratch. You just became the most lucky damn woman on the planet that the authority fell to someone who actually plans to distribute it.” 

“Shut up, Kelly,” Devi snapped. 

“Can you imagine if the Concrete Crown had gotten it?” Kelly asked. “They’re a mob boss, and they’re a better player in the underground, but I’m sure that giving them infinite power would have gone great. Perfectly fine!” 

“Shut up!” 

“Kelly, that’s enough, you’ve made your point,” I scolded. “But… Yes, Devi, I can’t say that I approve of what you did.” 

I felt the weight of responsibility settle onto me in that instant. I wasn’t acting like an adopted father or an older brother. I was speaking with the authority of Elderglass. Authority that I hadn’t earned, nor did I want. Whatever I chose to do here, it would have ripple effects that reached out through history and law. 

If I chose to bury and sweep aside whatever crimes had been committed today, then I could. It would mean that whatever we built after would have been built on a foundation of crime and lies, on assassinations and stolen power. The act of a small group of rogue agents, changing the power balance of the city, and never facing accountability for it. 

But if I acted as a judge, then I’d be sentencing Devi to years in prison, or maybe even to execution. She’d taken advantage 

Was it better to act as a father, a brother, a friend? Or was it better to act as a fair judge? To hold the responsibilities of state, or the responsibilities of personal connections?

Before I decided, Hadiya stood up and jabbed at two spots in the dirt where she’d drawn her ritual. 

“Alright, everyone shut up. Kelly, I need you to empower this ritual with your mind magic, and Axel, I need you to do this one.” 

“What is it?” I asked, taking a closer look at it for the first time, and letting out a breath of relief that I could put off making my choice for at least a short while longer. 

The spell seemed to heavily incorporate metal magic, which would be the only reason I could cast it, but it was using principles that were completely opaque to me. I thought there were elements of light, air, sound, and crystal magic, but I wasn’t entirely sure. 

“It’s hijacking the radio network,” Hadiya said casually, as if that weren’t both a massive crime, and incredibly complicated. “You’re not a light or sound mage, so I had to get creative and resonate the metal components within them. It will project your voice through every single non-destroyed radio, and probably several dozen semi-destroyed ones.” 

“And you just have technology like this?” I asked, even as I knelt and placed my hand on the dirt, flowing my aura through it. Kelly took his cue from me, and began to do the same to the ritual that he’d been given. 

“No,” Hadiya said, shaking her head. “If I had to design a city-wide communications network, even if I only needed to transmit a single message, I don’t know if I could. Definitely not just by drawing in dirt over the course of half an hour, even with sorcerers to support the ritual. This is just a bit of hacking of existing infrastructure.”

“I… see,” I said, shaking my head and stepping into the circle as I channeled power in, and drew more magic in through my contact with metal With the ambient aura of the city no longer drained to the point of the minimum possible extant aura level, the rush of power felt like I’d become the conduit for a lightning bolt, and I nearly fell over. Was this what other countries' ambient aura felt like all the time? 

With the sheer complexity of the spell, the complete lack of components, and the fact that I was only barely able to cast it with metal magic, even powering it on what felt like a river of aura still took the better of four minutes, and poor Kelly’s fingers were sore and red from snapping by the time that portion of the spells was ready. 

As it finished, Hadiya nodded to the circle I was standing in. 

“Only your voice will be transmitted. Best of luck.” 

On that ominous note, she handed me a scrap of metal that I assumed was being used as a sympathetic component to link to the ritual. I lifted it to my mouth and began to speak into it, as if I were speaking into a microphone. 

“People of Elderglass,” I said, my heart hammering in my chest loud enough that I was certain that it would be heard across the city through the radios. “You likely have not heard my voice before. I am Axel Font, Airship Engineer, Ex-Member of  EC-Six, and Archmage.” 

I swallowed thickly, as I was forced to make a choice. I chose selfishly. Archangels above and Thrones below, I couldn’t force myself to throw my sister and Devi under the bus. Even if they likely did deserve some punishment, or if the world were kinder, they deserved to be treated for their traumas.But I couldn’t be the one to carry out that sentence. 

“It is with a heavy heart that I tell you that Archmage Davalier is dead. She was killed by the claw attack of one of the Thrones in the ending minutes of the battle,” I continued. “She saved my life, and through her killing strike on Alyphize, likely saved the entire city. As the law states, I am assuming the mantle of Acting Consulate Archmage. I do not intend to hold this position for long. But until such a time as the city can be put back in order, and we can find whatever senators were not killed in the demonic attack on the Malapert, I will do my best to guide the city with grace and aplomb.” 

Rhys gave me a reassuring nod, reaching out and taking one of my hands in his larger one, squeezing gently as I continued to speak.

“Though I am not a politician, and I am certain that I will make countless errors in my short time as Acting Consulate Archmage, I ask only that the people of Elderglass will view them with some mercy. In that same way, I ask that we, people of this city, will extend a hand towards all of our fellows. Be they fallen from the Overcity, lying amidst the rubble of the Street city, or from the depths of the Undercity, I ask that everyone show the kindness and respect that they wish they would receive, were they in their position.”

I looked over the landscape: the collapsed buildings, the fires, and the people who were slowly approaching the center of the city. There weren’t many, but some were heading here for whatever reason. 

“The world is not kind, and this period will doubtless be looked on as an era of arrogance and foolishness, where even the best intentioned people of the era were unable to look past the end of their nose, and see the obvious truths in front of them. I ask only that, while we may all be fools living in an unkind world, that we strive to be kind. In this era of turbulence, I ask that you extend a hand to everyone, no matter what they have done in years past, so long as they too extend their hands to their neighbors, and work to building a new, better Elderglass.” 

This last part was hard for me to say. I’d seen firsthand how easily the constables could be puppeteered. A part of me wanted to disband them here and now, while I had the power to do whatever was needed. Maybe the world would be better if I had, and had put a new system into place. But for now, the people needed stability. So I’d extend my hand, and I could only hope that 

“To any and all remaining constables, senators, any volunteer engineers, healers, or enchanters please report to me outside of the Central Aura Depository. That is going to be where we establish a base camp and hospital, so we might work on building a brighter tomorrow.”