Chapter 103 - Between Saints - Imperial Festival

On the same day that Athena rose from the darkness after taking Faena's powers and unsealing her, a large crack appeared in the mana crystal that held Ytria.

"I need to start acting." Gion told Neu and Eun. "We have to leave."

"Yes, Master." The girls responded in one voice.

Followed by the girls who wore equally lacy dresses, decorated with various ruffles, but in different colors, Gion, who wore a blue tunic with floral details in green, left his castle. His destination was the forest of the elves.

In the mist elves' forest, after the tower of darkness had risen to the sky and spread to all parts of the world, Nimo was preparing to go to the place where Faena had been sealed, until a servant entered her room.

"Lady Nimo, three people have arrived and wish to see you."

"Three people? Haven't identified themselves?"

"It's a man accompanied by two girls. He said his name was Gion."

"Tsk!" Nimo frowned as soon as she heard the name. "Say him that I'll be there soon." The servant bowed and left, leaving the elf alone with a bitter expression on her face. "What does that psychopath want with me?"

In an elegant room inside the palace of the elders in the great tree located in the center of the mist elf village, Gion sat on a long wood couch with dark red pillows while Neu and Eun stood behind him.

Nimo looked at the three people and twisted her lips as if she were chewing something bitter. This was anger, disgust and disaffection, all mixed up in a feeling of revulsion the woman felt for Gion.

Since long before all misfortune befell their group, Nimo detested the druid. That's because Gion was obsessive and had an almost possessive behavior towards Ytria, and the elf didn't like that.

Nimo often warned Ytria about Gion, but the girl always laughed and joked with her concern, causing Nimo to spend much longer time with the girl than necessary, as she feared that Gion would one day do something.

"You're still cold to me, even after more than four thousand years..." Gion said as he rose from the couch to greet his old friend.

"If you didn't give me a reason to…" Nimo looked at the homunculi bowing to her. "I hope you didn't do anything to them just because they look like her."

"You belittle my decency."

"Said the man who keeps the body of a woman who didn't even love him in his basement." Nimo scoffed as she sat down, and upon hearing this, Gion's smile trembled, but it didn't fade. "Let's cut to the chase, Gion. I have things to do and I believe you do too."

"Do these things have to do with the darkness that spread across the world moments ago?" Gion asked with a cynical smile on his face, the smile Nimo hated the most. "I think it's too late, Faena is already free."

"How do you know that?" Nimo asked impatiently.

Gion was silent briefly as he sipped the freshly brewed blue bitter cherries tea. "If I said them was a good friend of ours who broke the seal, would you know who them is?"

"??"

"Why, Nimo, the saint of magic who has the blessing of wisdom can't guess even with so much information?"

"Gion, stop playing games!"

"Athena..."

"Huh?!"

"A while ago, she was injured in a fight and I, while healing her, put a spy spell on her." Gion said without showing any remorse while Nimo had her disgust for Gion even more evident on her face. "That was for her own good, she was about to become another Tormentor and I had to keep an eye on her. Stop looking at me like that..."

Nimo turned her face away, trying to fix her expression and sighed, tired of being in Gion's presence. "How did she did it? How did she manage to undo our seal? It should be impossible for an ordinary person."

"And what is common in that woman?"

For the first time, Nimo smiled in Gion's presence without Ytria or Lanar present. She placed her right hand on her pelvic region, hugged her torso in a way that accentuated her large breasts and blushed "You're right... Nothing about her is common."

Gion coughed into his clenched hand, disguising his discomfort, and returned to the subject. "Nimo, Ytria's seal cracked even before Athena interfered, she's coming back."

Nimo's expression quickly changed, her face paled and her eyes darkened. "What have you do?"

"I didn't do anything..." Gion's gaze cooled, making Nimo shiver. "Yet."

"..."

"I'll bring her back."

"You wouldn't dare! Not after all we've had to do. Not after all we've suffered!"

"All we have suffered?" Gion set his cup down on the saucer on the coffee table between them. "Only I have suffered, Nimo! Only me! You came to play house with your people, Lanar created a kingdom and then died like an idiot to some cheap usurper sent from Elsna and I was the one who watched over her body! I was the guardian of her grave! Do you know how I felt?" Gion, without realizing it, cried out his remorse. "The pain, the emptiness, the loneliness I felt as I spent millennia looking at that face frozen in that damn crystal day after day!?"

"I won't let you bring her back! She wouldn't want it! She was the one who suffered the most from all that!" Nimo also yelled. "You don't even know if she's normal again! No, actually, if she's alive, she sure as hell won't be normal. All of that will happen again, I won't allow it!"

Nimo's hands filled with a condensation of mana and Gion plucked his staff from his subspace and thus began the first battle between the two. Which was what Gion wanted, as he knew Nimo would never agree to break Lhia's seal, which only the elf could undo.

Gion intended to tire Nimo and bewitch her, controlling her to unseal and then release her again.

The means for this did not matter, let alone what it would cost.

***

On the thirteenth day after her return, Athena declared a national holiday and a festival took place on that day, the festival of founding the Basilican Empire.

All cities, towns and villages were in celebration and with them, the merchants were more than happy. That's because Athena had exempted them from sales and purchase taxes on the day of foundation, and the merchants' purses grew by the minute.

In Basilian, people danced, sang, ate, drank, and laughed as if there were no more worries. And inside the palace, Athena watched Mifa and Anemus get dressed and make up, with a lustful look, she bit her lips wanting to rip them from their clothes and devour them.

Anemus had cut her hair to her waist and had it loose like an amber-green veil, she wore a blue and white strapless dress that had thin silver chains dangling at the waist and long white silk gloves.

Around her neck was a necklace of emeralds and platinum, and in her ears, emerald earrings dangled with every movement.

"You are wonderful!" Athena said when Anemus finished her mild makeup.

"You think?" Anemus blushed.

"Absolutely beautiful and if we weren't going to go public, I'd rip you out of that dress right now." Athena said as she hugged her lovely fairy from behind.

"Keep those hands off me, you pervert." Anemus said, kissed Athena's lips quickly and fled out of the room.

"She's happy, but I don't understand why..." Mifa said as she approached Athena with her dress open at the back. "Do you close these locks for me?"

Athena smiled when she saw Mifa's bare coppery back and with each lock she closed, she kissed her beloved's skin, causing slight shivers that raised the strands of hair on Mifa's nape.

"She likes to party, but she always tries to act composed to look mature."

"Hm... Can you- Ha! Will you stop it? Hrm... It's making me feel like doing it."

"Really? So..." Athena slid her hand down Mifa's back until she reached an opening on the dress at the base of her spine, where her tail began, and stroked her, making Mifa arch her back. "Why don't we take off our clothes and-"

"Not!" Mifa jumped away. "It was like a hell to put on this thing and have my face painted to get it all screwed up in a few minutes."

Athena looked at Mifa's dress. It was a relatively simple white dress, but still quite elegant, long with a big cut that showed her right thigh halfway and something corset-like in the abdomen.

Her makeup was almost nonexistent, just a mild shadow almost unremarkable in her eyelids, and on her lips a soft red paint.

Her long hair was tied back at the end with a silver barrette decorated with a fire opal and yellow sapphires.

Mifa didn't like necklaces or earrings, but on her ears there was a thin golden chain that joined behind her head with a small diamond hanging in the middle.

To Athena, her women were like works of art that should be admired for being so beautiful and to others, they were objects of overwhelming desire like a hypnotic flower on the wall of an abyss.

In the palace, the party would be in the ballroom, where the nobles who did not oppose Athena gathered with smiling faces.

The hall glowed with golden light from the crystal chandeliers, bouquets of red and black roses decorated the bases of the windows that had their thick red curtains open, and at the top of a stairs that led to the interior of the palace, five thrones were lined up.

Four of the thrones were silver and among them, a golden throne, bigger than the others, showed to everyone that Athena had returned.

The nobles who were there wondered why of five thrones, if there were only three people in the entire nation that it had real political power.

Their answer came as the heavy tall doors to the hall opened with the announcement of the royal herald.

Wearing a long white dress with gold threads that formed stars on the skirt of the dress, Athena entered with a black robe over her shoulders and a crown that had two lions facing a sword and across the crown, small red sapphire stones studded the crown.

The colors highlighted the cold green of her eyes and her blood red lips. But no one there could look at her for long at her entrance. For as soon as Athena entered the place, all the women bowed as the men dropped to their left knee, with the right fist clenched on chest.

Seeing this scene, Athena smiled with satisfaction and continued her way to the omnipotent thrones at the top of the stairs covered by a long red carpet, and Serien, Mifa, Anemus and Fotiá followed close behind.

Serien wore a scarlet dress with black ruffles and a diadem with a white topaz gem in the center.

Fotiá dressed more comfortably, a short white dress with a black ribbon tied around her waist, forming a bow on her back, her hair was braided here and there, and she was barefoot with black and white stripes on her ankles.

"Thanks for coming." Athena said. She was standing alone at the top of the stairs, allowing the guests to rise from their bows. "Today is a day to celebrate. Two years ago we conquered the empire and assimilated most of its territory. This was a great achievement and I thank you for gathering the soldiers then." It wasn't as if any of them had any choice but to obey, but Athena wanted to show gratitude anyway. "With Serien's administration, Basilica is no longer a small kingdom, but an empire and today we begin a new era of prosperity for Basilica."

Athena lifted a goblet filled with liqueur and everyone followed her with their glasses raised, followed by a chorus.

"Prosperity for Basilica!"

Athena smiled captivating men and women and then waved to the minstrels in the corner of the room. "Enjoy the party!"

During the party, Mifa took Fotiá to dance and Athena took Anemus, as if she encouraged the other couples to do the same.

After days of being coached by Lunnia and talking to the woman, Hercules, who now had his mind full of hope after Athena told him everything she knew about this world, had begun to develop feelings for his new friend and teacher, and was easily encouraged by Athena's act.

"Do you grant me the honor of this dance?" Hercules asked as he bowed with one hand on his chest and the other extended to Lunnia. His face was red, as were the tips of his ears.

Lunnia laughed and placed her right hand over the left of the young man who smiled.

Lunnia was exuberantly beautiful. Her fire-kissed hair, half braided and half loose, fell over her shoulders and her makeup accentuated the blue of her eyes, she was wearing a long night-blue dress and long night-blue gloves.

Hercules wore a military uniform which the Knights of Basilica wore in ceremonies and feasts.

The uniform consisted of a grayish blue tailcoat, white pants, black boots, and white gloves.

His hair which was no longer long, giving a fresher, cleaner look to the young man's appearance and took away the air of young ladies present in the hall.

"Did you notice there are a lot of girls looking at you?"

"Just as you've acquired quite a few admirers..."

The couple laughed and continued dancing, leaving Athena surprised that Lunnia knew how to dance. But Lunnia didn't know, she simply followed the rhythm of the music and allowed herself to be guided by Hercules in the waltz that was played by the musicians.

"Those two are falling in love." Anemus commented quietly to Athena.

"This is good and bad at the same time..."

"Yes, I know that." Anemus gave a sad smile. "I hope they don't get hurt."

"I hope he doesn't hurt her."

With the sounds of laughter, cups ringing and music, the party in the palace proceeded as calmly as a party could be and when the bells of the old Cathedral of the extinct Temple of Light, sounded, signaling 10 at night, everyone followed Athena to the garden bathed in light of the three moons.

Athena was standing near the fountain shaped in a sentinel gargoyle with two waning waterfalls sapling from it's eyes.

In front of the empress, Serien, Anemus, Mifa and Fotiá knelt on a red carpet with octahedron patterns in gold.

The women had their heads bowed before the empress and the people finally understood why the two extra thrones. They could finally accept that the Aust Basilica royal family was no longer the sovereign of their nation.

After a brief speech, Athena placed crowns with star crystals of different colors on each one's head and consecrated them with titles.

Serien was no longer Princess Regent, but Queen Regent. She would keep ruling the empire in Athena's absence. The queen swore loyalty to the Empire and vowed that her descendants would too.

Hearing the Serien's vows to be faithful to the Empire and not the Empress, Athena smiled as some of those present there found it an affront.

Serien's platinum crown had an azure star crystal amidst two roses and this would be the new Serien family crest which would no longer bear Veron's family name, but "Laedadel" which meant "Loyal to Duty".

Mifa was no longer the princess consort, but the Guardian Queen and had as much power as Serien. Her platinum crown had a red crystal in the middle of two wolves and Athena gave Mifa a name that was part of her.

"Kardiá? What does "Kardiá" mean?" Mifa asked.

Athena bent down and whispered. "Heart, I'm giving part of it to you." Making the young queen blush slightly.

Anemus didn't want to be queen or have any responsibility other than Athena.

Thus, Athena consecrated Anemus a princess and her crown had a crystal also red, but inside a pentagram.

Like Mifa, Anemus received the name Kardiá, but she only came to know the meaning hours later.

And finally it was Fotiá's turn, who seemed anxious and restless.

Her crown was different from all others. It was like Athena's, it had two lions and between them, in place of a sword, there was a star crystal.

The crystal in Fotiá's crown was also the only one to glow strangely, flickering an orange color as if it had a flame trapped inside the crystal.

Fotiá was named after her mother, with the "De'l Inna" last name, which meant "Light of the Nation" and felt weird. Well, not even Athena had gotten used to the name she had been given, but she didn't reject it. Fotiá was crowned imperial successor princess.

When the coronation ceremony ended after Mifa and Anemus' vows to Athena and a few more words from the empress, everyone in the garden was kneeling before the new imperial royalty.

A/N: I don't remember what the royal reference to empire would be. In fact, I don't even know if there's anything like that, so I put in "imperial royalty". If there have a word for it, let me know and I'll change it later.

***

"I am exhausted!" Athena said as she threw herself onto her back on the bed.

"Me too..." Mifa agreed as she crawled onto the bed after taking off her heels that were already hurting her feet. "I never dance again."

"Have you stepped on Athena's feet a lot?" Anemus asked teasingly as she took off her makeup and clothes. "I liked the party."

"I'd rather fight for days than participate in another grueling party like this…" Athena said and a quick knock on the door resounded in the room.

Athena waited for Anemus to cover herself and opened the door.

In front of the opened door of Athena's room, a light brown haired knight was standing there and on his face, a hard expression showed his concern.

"Forgive my-"

"Cut to the chase."

"Yes, forgive me, but there is a group of about twenty young high elves wanting to speak to your excellency."