The Empress stood up from her throne and walked towards Thurin with her arms somewhat stretched open. The sound of her heels would've echoed in the large hall if not for the soft red carpet that was rolled out between the thrones and the door.
Waiting for any kind of hug, the Empress stayed still until her heart started to ache. "Please, my son.", the Empress looked a bit sad to see Thurin shy away from her. Eventually Thurin stepped closer to hug her, even if the reason was only because it was too awkward to do nothing. Enveloped in a perfume made of jasmine, with her beauty and magnificent dress, anyone would want to hug her, yet Thurin was a bit held back.
After a close hug, the Empress let him go to focus on his companions. It was clear that Thurin didn't feel as comfortable as she had hoped. "I see your teacher has done a terrific job in protecting you all the way back to the capital. And there's someone I haven't seen?"
The Empress looked at Lucas with clear eyes, she didn't hold any negative emotions in her heart as she took a step towards Lucas. "A Starborn in the flesh, it's been quite some time since our last gift from the Stars. It's an honor to be in your presence.", the Empress made a small bow out of respect for his position.
Lucas on the other hand felt a bit embarrassed. While he did have some conflicting feelings about his strength and position in the world, to see the current highest title bowing to him felt wrong.
"You don't have to bow to me, your majesty. I merely survived due to Thurin's help, I've been blessed with good company when I awoke here.", Lucas tried to twist the truths a bit to make his appearance make more sense according to the legends.
"To know my son is friends with a Starborn fills my heart with joy.", the Empress walked back to her throne and grabbed a scroll that was lying on her armrest. "Now, my son, would you mind sending your friends away for a moment, I'm afraid I have some terrible news to share."
Thurin looked upon his kind looking mother before speaking back to her. If he had tried to do so before meeting Lucas and finishing his training, he probably wouldn't have the heart.
"Mother, I.. would like to have my friends with me. What message you have for me, can also be given to them.", his voice stumbled a tiny bit, and it was clear that he was nervous saying that. Yet the Empress gave a soft smile.
"Of course, I shouldn't have asked you to send them away. In fact, this may be better for you.", her smile sadly turned upside down to reveal her true emotions, she looked at the ground before Thurin. "A few days ago, Aurelian passed away. We still haven't figured out the cause. I brought all the wisest scholars together, yet none knew why. His heart simply stopped beating."
Nobody said a word, Carian wanted to, but didn't think he had the authority to do so, Lucas just had no idea what to say in the first place. Thurin was lost in his own world, he knew that the Emperor cared for him in his own, but he was also the cause of his parents deaths. His hands clenched unconsciously beside him.
"It's the greatest loss this Empire has ever suffered.", despite the horrendous news, she managed to slip a smile through, "Haha, if Aurelian was here, he would be annoyed that we're focussing so much on his passing and not on the rebuilding of the Empire. He never cared enough for himself...", she added at the end, her words contained a lot of emotion, even if it was suppressed, everyone could tell she felt his loss the most.
There were a lot of rumors that the relationship between the Emperor and his partner wasn't good since the man never showed a hint of emotion in public. Yet the scene in front of them smashed those rumors apart.
"In his passing, he left this behind.", picking up the scroll she unrolled it before summarizing. "In his will, it states that Thurin is declared as his own son of flesh and blood and all his possessions and power gets transferred to Thurin, only giving me some of his money to live independently." the Empress pointed to the throne next to hers. "This means, Thurin, you can sit next to me."
Sitting there meant that every living body would follow whatever his decisions may be. A power many desired and some feared to lose control over. It was handed over to him, Thurin already knew that this might happen, but to hear it from the Empress herself really made reality force itself on him.
"From this point in time, you're the heir of this Empire. I can still serve you by your side if that is your wish, but I would rather abdicate my throne, you should find yourself a proper Empress instead of me.", the Empress smiled softly. It was clear that she just wanted to be done with the responsibilities that came with being the Emperor's partner.
With all the rumors that went around, she never felt that she was free to express herself, now she was given a choice to hand the power to the next generation.
"I know this is a lot, but all I need from you right now, my son, is a yes or no. Do you agree with your father's will or do you reject his final words?", it was a strange thing to ask, yet she had to according to procedure. Thurin has to decide whether or not he becomes the Emperor or not, nobody else can.
Looking at the situation realistically, Thurin had absolutely no right to sit on that throne. He may be blessed by his father, and still. He had no knowledge about the political landscape or the contacts. His lessons with Carian gave him some theoretical information. Sadly, those didn't provide him any practical experience or the charisma needed to rule.
He was still a child, an immature one in many people's eyes. Yet now, he would become their lord, Thurin felt a hint of excitement at the prospects, but what overpowered his emotions right now was fear.
A fear not of the power, but the responsibilities that came with it. If something went wrong, he would be held responsible, he would have to listen to so many people and figure out what the best decision was.
All the anger of the population would land on his back, looking for support. Besides keeping the country running, there was also the threat of the barbarians down south. They were holding the lines right now, but who knows what would happen next. How would he figure out what the best way forward would be?
All the logistical support needed to keep a war going, food, water, shelter, and while handling the barbarians he would also have to deal with all the nobles in his own country that wanted independence and the slums that have been erected in multiple places.
Just thinking about the pile of work left behind by his late father, he started to have second thoughts. Was he really worthy of the throne? Weren't there people who would be a lot more experienced and suited for such a position?
"Please think carefully about what you will do next, Thurin. Whatever it is, know that I will support you.", Carian spoke up with a smile on his face, he held great confidence in Thurin.
"You can choose between running away from the responsibilities. Or stand up and take matters into your own hands. Nobody expects you to solve everything by day 1.", Lucas added, making sure to steer him in a certain direction.
Giving the boy some space, he eventually took a deep breath and answered his mother. "I, Thurin, will inherit not just his will, but also his name. From this day forwards, I shall be known as Thurin Aurelian. And I will become the Emperor."
His words, spoken clearly without any doubt, as if he had practiced them in front of a mirror hundreds of times before. The Empress gave a light smile. Big things were in store for him now, a ton of work lied ahead, and all responsibility would lie on his shoulders.
"Mother.", his heart ached, but he couldn't show any weakness now. Thurin realized the responsibilities and closed off his heart for now in order to be efficient. The only Emperor he knew was a stone-cold monster, yet he was amazingly proficient at running the Empire. If that was the case, then he would follow in his footsteps, even just for a little bit.
"I'm still inexperienced about a lot of things, is there a way for me to get my friends as my advisors?"
The now former Empress looked at her son and laughed a little bit, her silky voice bouncing around the hall. "Oh, my so-, no, your Majesty, your word is law, if you declare your friends to be your personal advisors, they will be. Only for big changes will you at least need to discuss it with the people involved. Otherwise, the world is in your hands."
Hearing those words gave Thurin a lot more excitement than he anticipated, even trying to close off his heart, he felt his hands tremble. The Empress somewhat expected that Thurin would accept the will, in her mind, not many would decline.
She brought over a small cushion with a single ring on it. It was a thick golden ring with an emblem on it. The figure of a lion with his claws out was neatly engraved on the ring. It was a hefty ring, made entirely out of gold.
Putting it on his ring finger would solidify his position. The Empress softly reached for his right hand as she put the ring on his finger. The weight on his right hand increased, and would never decrease again. He would wear this ring for the remainder of his life.
Standing there in silence, the Empress retreated back to her throne before stopping in front of it. This seat wasn't meant for her any longer. Taking off her tiara, she placed it on the seat cushion before walking out of the hall. Her black hair was now without any accessory. She still lived in the castle, but would not perform any more tasks.
Carian walked next to him and showed him a scroll. "All you need to do is write our name and sign it. You can use your ring for a wax seal later.", everything was happening a bit too fast for Thurin, but he didn't give himself the time to think.
Not bothering to read the paper, he grabbed the writing feather from Carian and wrote down the names of his advisors before signing it. Handing it back to Carian, he was beaming.
"Now, my dear Emperor, both Lucas the Starborn and myself, Carian Anatolia, are from this point on your official advisors. Every demand you have we will try to fulfill, every order is our goal. It's an honor to stand beside you no longer as a teacher, but as an advisor."
"Then my first command is to not call me Emperor or majesty, Thurin's good enough.", he let out a tiny laugh and clamped up right after. He was determined to follow in his father's footsteps, which meant that he needed to remove his emotions.
"I wouldn't have wanted it any other way.", Lucas chimed in with a smile, being a Royal Advisor gave him a lot more authority, especially since he could just say that the Emperor gave him the power to do anything he wanted. As long as Thurin was a friend, he would be golden.
But before enjoying his power, Lucas wanted to create a stable foundation. There was no point to being an advisor for an Empire that was about to shatter. "Carian, could you lead me to the Scholars? I think it's about high time I introduce myself."
Carian brought in a guard who could show Lucas the way. He would've loved to come with him, but he needed to help Thurin out right now. Just because he became an Emperor didn't mean anything when it came down to his personality.
He might be putting up a strong front, but Carian knew the boy in and out, realizing he felt stressed, he just shut everyone out and brought Thurin to the Emperor's office. Putting Thurin on the main seat Carian laid out a plan he had been brooding for quite some time.
"Now that you're the Emperor, I can't order you around like I used to. So before I give you my requests and suggestions, how are you feeling?"
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Entering the Underground or the Underworld wasn't easy or really desirable. First, you needed to find an entrance that was stable enough to go through, which was already quite an undertaking since the amount of recorded entrances that are still available were down to around 3.
In theory, a high ranking mage had the capabilities to create more entrances, yet none did so for a simple reason. There was nothing of note in the Underworld, no extremely powerful monsters or herbs that lived for thousands of years that could provide beneficial effects. A simple scan with willpower showed nothing of the sort, only a group of defect mages and the unsettling aberrations of nature that survived.
There was plenty of treasure already available in the world above, so why waste the time creating entrances? Besides that, even if an entrance was created, you still needed to pass the barrier, which was so strong only the highest ranking mages could circumvent it. And why would they bother?
The barrier only let people of a certain bloodline enter. And even that was contested, during a test, a daughter of a poor family was able to enter. The strange thing was that the parents or siblings couldn't, which threw the bloodline theory out the window. Others suggested that it was still a bloodline trick and that it only awakened in some people.
And while those theories and experiments went pretty far, at the end of the road, nobody was that interested in really pursuing it further. There were plenty of unexplainable things in the world above that were waiting to be studied.
This caused quite a headache for the Bailey family, luckily their connections to the Demonic Cult helped them out surprisingly well. In return for quite the support they only had to bring back the head of a certain person.
Sadly, not even the Demonic Cult had the resources for many trained people with the bloodline, they would be sent into the Underworld without any backup. Selicia was chosen to perform her duties. As a Rank 2 mage, she was confident in her skills, even if she always seemed to be afraid of something.
Going through the barrier felt strange, she had to drop down a massive tunnel that seemed to stretch on forever only to slow down in the end. There was a unique magic circle at the bottom, which would intrigue almost any mage.
In that small group of people who would just walk past it would be people like Grok, who couldn't think to save his live and Selicia, the ones so focussed on their mission that everything else needs to make way.
The young girl with long brown hair, unassuming at best, walked through a dark corridor only to finally lay eyes on The Underworld. She looked toward the sky, only to see the beautiful sea of stars. She was in awe of its magnificence.
"So, what do we do now?", Grok said in a bored tone. Their goal was to kill Conrad, only having a well done drawing of the man to go off on. "We..we need to find him.", she said in a hushed tone.
"Whatever, I'll go look around.", Grok wasn't in the best mood, being placed under someone younger than him and also a timid girl really pulled on his reigns. Not that he could do anything about it, they were servants of the Demonic Cult, orders went above anything else.
And while Grok wasn't a typical man who was known for being tolerant, he did follow the Cult for a reason. If he worked his absolute best, he would receive what he wanted, a simple transaction, or it should've been.
For now, he just had to obey his superior, even if he thought her inferior to himself. Seeing Grok leaving her side, Selicia looked at his back with a strange look in her eyes.
'How did I end up here?!'
Screaming inside, she panicked, she never wanted this! All she ever worked for was a peaceful life in a small village, living in peace. Yet now, here she was, a trained assassin working for the Demonic Cult, obeying orders like the loyal dog she tried to portray.
Falling into such a rabbit hole almost made her depressed, the only thing keeping her alive was her survival spirit. At first, she was captive in a training camp, after completing the training she had to pay off her education by following orders and completing missions.
By the time she paid off her education debt, she was already knee-deep in the Demonic Cult, leaving now would only make the Church hunt her down. The only safe place was the Cult itself, and staying there also required a fee.
'Dammit! Now I need to do another one of these, and I even have that dumb guy with me!'
Being scared of a direct confrontation, she always managed to kill the target in indirect ways. This only increased her reputation as an excellent assassin. Her shy demeanor always thought of as a mere trick to get people to let their guards down.
Now, stuck in this dump of a place, having such a big brute like Grok follow her orders with the annoyance clearly portrayed on his face made her feel terrible.
'Urgh, I hate this! Whatever, first things first, contact with the people here, we need intel.'
While she hated the missions, she was still a professional. Her reputation wouldn't be so great if she wasn't good at her job. Putting her locks of brown hair behind her ears, she started to follow Grok.