Chapter 367

367 Counterpart

***WARNING: LANGUAGE AND DESCRIPTIVE SEXUAL CONTENT***

After Genie finished explaining the intricacies of each kingdom’s gain from the alliances, he looked squarely at Nicolas and Maevis with a distraught expression..

“You two were right, by the way..”

“What were they right about? They’re never right about anything good,” Shasta asked as she walked over to stand by Lawrence.

Nicolas chuckled; “I suppose you’re right about that, at least for the past year or so.”

Maevis and Genie exchanged a look, but Genie seemed unaffected by her glare. She wasn’t happy he had brought up what she had asked him to collaborate..

Zas, Shasta, and Lawrence all sat waiting for the two Pixies to spill it; staring at them. Nicolas sighed heavily and told Maevis just to tell everyone..

“Everyone gathered here is loyal to Skye and Tidas. You don’t need to worry about them telling anyone else..”

She glared at Nicolas; “Then you tell them! Why does it have to be me?!”

.....

Smiling broadly, Nic replied; “Because you’re much more eloquent than I am.”

Maevis scoffed at her best friend; “Says the windbag!”

“Enough you two, please,” Lawrence interrupted; “Just tell us what’s so important.”

Looking at the small group gathered, against her better judgment: Maevis told them about the Catalyst Legend. They knew that was what Skye was, but they didn’t understand how powerful she would eventually become.

When Maevis had gotten to the part about the Ethereal Spear and the Northern Star, Shasta interrupted; “Wait, I thought Skye was the Catalyst? So what does she need the spear and star thingy for?”

“They’re kind of like the keys to the full power of the Catalyst. Skye will gain every trait and some point. And when she unlocks the door to the Source, she’ll be able to affect the very fabric of space/time.”

“Why does she need to? Why is all of this happening?” Lawrence asked.

Nicolas walked over to the edge of the desk as he replied; “With every positive force, there is a negative that is equivalent. All of existence is a balance between the light and dark aspects of life. Somewhere out there is Skye’s opposite..”

“She wants to do everything she can to help and save people, but her counterpart wants nothing more to destroy and control. We think whomever it is, is the one pulling the strings behind the alliances and building tensions. Orchestrating all of this for for some reason..”

Zas took a step forward; “Do you have any ideas who it might be? Maybe we could monitor them.”

Maevis shook her head; “There’s still too many options right now to narrow it down yet, but the ones that the Empress believes to be the most probable are being monitored as we speak..”

“Can you at least give us your top three?” Shasta asked as she plopped down on Lawrence’s lap.

Maevis inwardly grinned at how happy the two looked before saying; “Our number one suspect right now is the Sync King. He has three traits, and one of them is an elemental. The next one is a man we can’t find anymore..”

“Not even my people have seen him, and I have people everywhere,” Genie commented.

Maevis huffed at him, then continued; “His name is Lucian Ahriman, and he’s the only Dark magic user alive, to our knowledge. He was second only to Genie in terms of ability, and disappeared around seven years ago from the Fire Nation. He hasn’t been seen by us in five.”

Shasta’s eyes went wide; “A Dark mage?! What the hell?!”

As Shasta sat in a daze, Lawrence’s grip on her tightened as he asked; “And who’s your third?”

Maevis looked Lawrence dead in the eyes and replied; “Your brother Marco. I don’t know why he’s lying about it, but he still has access to his Ether magic. If it weren’t for Ahriman’s bloodthirsty nature, he’d be the Empress’ second place candidate.”

A cold chill ran up Shasta’s back as she said; “I think it’s Marco..”

“Why does the Empress think it’s the Sync king the most?” Zas asked, ignoring Shasta’s boarderline-treasonous comment.

Nicolas sat down, and hung his feet off of the end of the desk before speaking; “For two main reasons. The first being his traits. The most a human can wield at once is usually two, and it’s limited by the amount of magic one is capable of..”

“He has two physical traits, which are Tank and Manic. He’s a Hybrid like Tidas, and his Manic ability is off the charts compared to any other I’ve ever heard of.”

“How many weapons can he control at once?” Lawrence asked, not liking the sinking feeling he was getting in his gut.

Maevis took on a dower expression as she replied; “He’s known for flyin’ his own flag ship, and in battle, he’s said to wield a thousand swords at once..”

“Dear gods, we’re screwed,” Shasta muttered under her breath.

Nicolas sighed heavily; “That’s not the worst part..”

“It gets worse?! How the hell could it possibly get worse?!” Shasta exclaimed as Lawrence tried to sooth her.

Maevis couldn’t meet anyone’s eyes as she stated; “The Sync King uses his Water trait continuously..”

“What do you mean? Like a barrier?” Zas asked as his tail frizzed forebodingly.

“Oh, how we wish it were something simple like that.. Everyone knows of the Sync kingdom’s food shortages, right? Well the reason that they have them is because the grounds are perpetually covered in water until shortly before you reach the boarder, and where their capital is..”

Shasta’s ears when flat as she said; “No.. He wouldn’t..”

Maevis nodded her head solemnly; “Aye.. He’s the one who keeps the lands flooded. He can sense everything and everyone that touches the water. It’s rumored that he can hear everything, too.”

Lawrence’s face grew stern; “So he’s continuously spying and killing his own people?! The fuck-why?! Why would he-”

Nicolas cleared his throat loudly to cut off Lawrence’s rant before it started; “To keep them from rebelling against him, of course. There were several attempts on his life over him killing his father for his crown, so he decided to flood the kingdom just enough to keep them in a constant state of poverty..”

“They can’t plant their own foods, or raise livestock, or build decent structures. They have to work to earn their rations, and can be denied for minor infractions. Their children are barely educated, and unless you live in the capital, will most likely not live past forty..”

“How could he have enough power to keep a kingdom the size of Sync flooded all year round?!” Lawrence asked , still half in disbelief.

Nicolas looked down with a pained expression, then looked back up at Lawrence; “That brings us to the second reason that Titania thinks the Sync King is the Skye’s Counterpart: He has the rest of the Northern Star..”

“What?! How?!” Shasta yelled as she jumped off of Lawrence’s lap.

Nic shook his head; “We don’t know. All we know is that he has it, and he’s gotten one hell of a power boost from it.”

Lawrence donned a contemplative expression; “That would explain how he could maintain his soggy kingdom.. but what did you mean by ‘rest of’?”

Maevis quirked a smile; “Skye has a piece of it..”

“How?” Lawrence and Shasta asked at the same time.

Maevis grinned cheekily; “Let’s just call it a family heirloom, and leave it at that, shall we?”

Shasta wanted to argue, but right as she went to speak, her stomach grumbled almost as loudly as a bear could roar. Lawrence stood up, and wrapped his arms around her with a soft smile on his face. Almost everything she did was adorable to him.

“I suppose we should collect the children for dinner,” Lawrence stated, then winked at Maevis.

She quickly winked back, then replied in a sad tone; “I can’t.. I have this leaning tower to deal with..”

Zas looked at Shasta with pity, then said; “I’ll do the paperwork, but you’re running the field training next month. Deal?”

Shasta beamed; “Deal! We’re outta here!”

As the went out the door, Lawrence yelled back; “I’ll send an invite for dinner tomorrow to your rooms! We’ll talk more!”

Before Zas could say another word, they were out the door. He folded his ears back as he cursed at Shasta under his breath; threatening to drown her in a cold bath. The two elders laughed at his insults, then asked; “If you didn’t want to do the paperwork, then why offer?”

Zas huffed as his ears shifted back to normal; “I’d rather do it all correctly the first time then have to fill it all out again later. And technically, I did promise Tidas to double-check her work. This just saves me hassle and paper.”

The two Fae chuckled before Maevis sighed and said; “I wonder how those two are doing...”

************

Skye stretched lazily in the bed as the gentle sound of water from the bathroom filled the room. Tidas wasn’t in bed with her, so she knew that he had to be in there. Their meeting with the Highland Council took much longer than they had expected, so they got back to the bunker late.

Getting out of bed, Skye walked in through the open door, relieved herself, then stripped and climbed into the shower with him. Tidas had instantly given her the water while he wrapped his arms around her from behind..

As soon as his hands started to attempt to wander, she smacked them away while saying; “We dinna have enough time fer that, husband..”

While trailing kisses across her wet shoulders, Tidas replied in a husky voice; “We can just say that we overslept, and blame it on Murdoc and Amara.”

Skye laughed loudly before saying; “We have too much to do today, husband. We leave for the Old Capital tomorrow mornin’..”

Skye’s speech trailed off as Tidas switched to rubbing on her back. She practically purred at him as he slowly moved his hands up, then around. As he cupped her breasts in his hands, he rubbed against her backside with his manhood as he whispered in her ear..

“And I intend to have you at least twice before we leave.. Might as well make this the first..”

Skye turned around in his arms, and locked her hands behind his neck as she replied; “I thought that ye didna like it in here? Too slippery, as ye put it.”

Tidas grinned mischievously as he kissed her passionately, then said; “Maybe we just haven’t found the right position yet..”

Skye laughed again as Tidas reached down, and started to play with her. He was pleasantly surprised to find her already as worked up as he was. As she squirmed against him, Tidas nibbled at her ear, then spoke in a lusty voice; “Feels like I’m not the only one who wants it..”

As Skye tilted her head back, she barely managed to quip; “I wasna when I got in here, but ye made quick work of me.”

With a devilish grin, Tidas scooped up her legs, then pinned her against the wall as he said; “Let’s see if I can set a new record..”