The journey from the main administrative center of Sol to Marcos's mansion was not a long one and the quickest way there was either a carriage or a horse ride. Juniper, being one of the few people in Sol with a carriage, opted to take it to the home of the young hero.
The older magician had begun his journey to Marcos's mansion a few minutes after Miguel did. Miguel had opted to walk there to enjoy the early morning sun and the gentle weather of Sol this time of year. When Juniper reached Miguel, a mere minute after setting out, the man had his carriage stopped and asked the soldier if he wanted to get on.
Miguel considered the offer for a moment before accepting it with a smile. He got into the carriage and finished the two-minute journey to the hero's mansion with the somewhat older magician. When they reached the mansion Juniper dismissed his carriage and thanked the driver for his work as the man began to prepare to return to the magician's home.
The second the two glanced at the mansion up close for the first time they felt a strange sense of unease. For a moment both of them were sure that the mansion had somehow gotten bigger. Neither of them voiced their thoughts though, as they were sure if they had they would be mocked. It was surely impossible for the mansion to have grown in size overnight, wasn't it?
The two shook such thoughts out of their head and knocked on the gate leading to the manor's front yard. A second later a guard appeared from inside of the house and walked to the gate. He had a smile on his face and greeted the two warmly while opening the gate. They returned the greeting and stepped past the gate and towards the manor. As they did they both silently noticed that the manor really did seem bigger.
They were lead inside the mansion by the guard and were brought to the same room Juniper had sat with Marcos in. Marcos himself was seated in the room looking over the tests and greeted the pair with a quiet look and a warm smile.
It was only when they were able to see Marcos himself that they both noticed something both impossible and undeniable. Unsurprisingly the first one to say something was Juniper.
"Master Marcos... You've grown quite a bit since yesterday!" The man exclaimed, causing the manor's owner to glance at him and begin to audibly laugh. There was a warmth in his voice that hadn't been there the night before, which became more apparent when Marcos actually spoke.
"Why yes, yes I have. I went on... an adventure last night. The two of you are going to want to sit down before I get into it." Marcos told the two, smiling as he glanced up at the pair.
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I watched as Miguel and Juniper sat down on the other side of the table. When they did they waited for me to explain what had happened last night. I paused for a moment and allowed myself to think about how best to proceed from here. A second later I began to speak.
"So last night I discovered that I could fly. It happened shortly after I had dinner. I was on my rooftop and I began to soar. So I went on an adventure, combining my... super-speed and my flight. I went out to a distant village of natives and found out a few key things." I began, while linking my mind and the minds of both of my companions.
"I discovered that there are two distinct groups of natives in this area. Our enemies are only one group of natives, the Toreans. The Toreans also oppress another native group, the Almindi." I explained, now looking up from the papers I was grading. I had learned the name of the Almindi people from Nadri who I had spoken with, mentally, a few times since we left each other's company last night.
"The Toreans are a serious problem, but I dealt them a significant blow last night. They had kidnapped the daughter of an Almindi shaman and were going to sacrifice her to a powerful creature, an adult dragon." I continued before Juniper gasped. The word that provoked that reaction from the man was "dragon", which was unsurprising. I smiled, faintly at the man.
Before I continued my explanation I pulled out the bag Juana had brought with her. During the downtime between her arrival and the arrival of the rest of the nobles I had taken the bag, which she freely gave me as a gift, and made use of it. I opened it and pulled out the head of the dragon, which I then gently set on the table. It was an impressive display of my own super strength. The dragon's head, severed from its body, was an intimidating reminder of my own power.
"I decided to make some new friends. I journeyed from the Almindi village to the lair where the Toreans were keeping the dragon. It was in a large mountain many, many kilometers from here. I confronted the Toreans and their dragon while making Almindi friends along the way." I revealed, smiling as I thought back on the adventure I had had.
"I defeated the dragon and hundreds of Toreans, while freeing Nadri and gaining the admiration of many of the Almindi locals." I stated, summarizing the last part of the adventure. That said, I wasn't quite done speaking.
"I also discovered that I grow in power as more people come to know and admire me, and that I can grow taller based on the number of followers I have. Oh and I can do this." I revealed, before stopping speaking and readying myself to speak into the minds of my friends.
"I can speak into minds, and I can speak any human language. So yes, last night was a big night for me." I remarked, without audible words but with thoughts. My companions froze when they heard my words in their minds.
"I also remembered something about my past life. Something that even our records don't reflect; I'm a sun spirit." I stated, with audible words, before raising my hand and manipulating the light above it to form an illusion of a miniature sun. The two men slouched back in their seats as they reacted to the revelations I was dropping left and right on them.
"Master Marcos... What a series of truths you've revealed to us this morning." He remarked, as he paled while considering what I had just informed him of. I chuckled gently and then began to speak again.
"The daughters of all of the local nobles came today. They'll almost certainly be coming back later today. They were all told to pursue the same thing... Marriage to me." I said, gently revealing yet another event that had just transpired. This made Miguel laugh audibly.
"Of course they were. So... Are you gonna marry any of them?" The soldier asked, looking at me curiously. I smiled and considered his question for a moment.
"No. Not immediately anyway. But Juana de Salsedo and Adora Trujillo are both very intriguing." I remarked, and immediately heard something intriguing from the mind of Juniper. Something about being someone being a polygamist. I turned to the magician and spoke.
"Pablo is a polygamist? Really?" I asked him, not bothering to hide that I could read minds. The magician's face further blanched at my words.
"Master Marcos... You can read minds? What a truly frightening number of abilities you possess..." He replied, looking at me in a mixture of awe and fear as his heart quickened. He shook his head a second later and regained his composure.
"But yes, General de Salsedo is a polygamist. Polygamy is legal in the empire, but the number of people who practice it openly and are public officials like General de Salsedo is incredibly small." The man remarked.
I took this news stoically. It was certainly interesting news, especially since Juana's mind never revealed that to me, nor did anyone else's. I quietly raised my overall impression of Juana, since she never thought about that and thus managed to hide it from me. I wondered if I could find a way to make use of that single-mindedness for myself in the future. The next person to speak was Miguel.
"General de Salsedo practices a somewhat looked down upon style of polygamy. He was an aggressive general who put down rebellions and expanded the empire before we entered the current era of... relative peace. When he defeated an enemy civilization or rebellion he always took a bride as part of the terms of surrender." Miguel explained.
"That style of polygamy is legal, but it's considered somewhat barbaric. There are rumors he came to Sol so that he could escape the public eye and live with his strange and blended family in peace. Juana is his daughter with his first wife, his 'true-born' daughter." Miguel continued, looking me in the face as he spoke. Juniper waited for Miguel to be done before speaking up and changing the subject, slightly.
"And Adora is also from an unusual family. The Trujillos are prodigiously powerful magic-users, and Adora is rumored to be a genius even by their standards. She's also hardly ever let out of their estate." Juniper revealing, which was intriguing to me. He paused as he contemplated something, before his eyes opened widely in shock.
"Master Marcos did you reveal your status as a sun spirit to the women who came here?!" He asked, his voice raised in concern. For a split second, due to the intensity of his question, I hesitated to answer but I did manage a nod. Juniper's eyes widened when I revealed that I had, and for a moment I wondered if I'd inadvertently cause the man to have a heart attack if I wasn't careful. I was evidently very unpredictable to him.
"Oh Marcos... I know your memories from the past are not fully recovered. That is to be expected. But something you should know is that the Verdad Empire does not have a solar deity, nor some sort of powerful sun spirit, in our pantheon." Juniper revealed, alerting me to something I hadn't known as it hadn't been covered by the materials I had researched until now.
"We worship the sun as a sort of impersonal life-giving force. If you are a solar spirit... The fact that no other solar entity has been able to rise to prominence in our pantheon makes sense. The things that the builders, our official title for you and the others like you, ruled over have largely remained the domains of the builders. For instance, we don't have a war deity, a life deity, or a death deity. Because of... you." Juniper revealed.
"I can see this question coming, Marcos, so before you ask we tend to worship gods of nature. And of things like specific sorts of knowledge. For more general, civilized things we've largely worshiped the builders. The second the emperor learns of your return it will become enormous news." Miguel stated, taking the initiative to reveal a significant truth. Juniper chuckled and readied himself to reveal a more immediately important truth.
"Both of you should know that some of the families who came to Sol did so out of religious fervor. 'Sol' is an ancient word from the age of the builders that means 'Sun'. This was thought of, somewhat jokingly, as the 'Land of the sun'. No less than three noble families here came here to practice sun worship specifically, not including Adora's who are... true sun zealots." Juniper revealed. He then turned to me and spoke more directly.
"I suspect that the daughters of those families have not yet been seeped in the solar mysticism and esoteric traditions their parents have practiced, but make no mistake when their parents learn that a founder is the... 'Sun's son', you will gain fervent devotees." Juniper revealed, as he vividly recalled moments where he heard that tile from sun and fire worshipers in the mainland of the Verdad Empire.
"They hadn't. Their minds would have reacted to my revelation differently than they had if that was the case. They all thought it was incredible, but something like this... no, they didn't know. And actually... They still don't." I remarked, while closing my eyes and checking in on the assorted nobles with my mental connection power.
The daughters were just beginning to converse with their families. That said, I was ambitious and so I decided to experiment with one family in particular. Even as Juniper smiled at me, relaxing slightly, I began to make my move.