Revelation

Somewhere in a room only found in the dark alleys of Stormfall, a small group huddled together in a small table.

*tok* *tok* *tok*

A creaky door was opened, and right at the front stood a beautiful lady, black hair flowing down her shoulders.

"Welcome, Rhael Stedore. You're late." The man at the center of the group greeted her.

Another man amongst the group butted in,

"…and I see you're missing a man. You know, I can fill that up for you."

*Slap!*

"We'll be hearing no more from that disgusted mouth, unless you want it to be erased completely.", the woman next to him fumed immediately.

"Argh. Damnit, woman. I told you not to embarrass me—

"Enough!", the man at the center boomed.

"This is not the time for petty squabbles. Why have you called us here, Rhael?"

Rhael took as seat at the small table.

"Yes, let us get on with this meeting. This place disgusts me to the bone. Anyway, I gathered us all here to discuss a change of plans."

"Change of plans… again. How charming." Those gathered around the table snickered.

"You won't be laughing when you hear what I'm about to say next. Remember the orphanage that should have gone down in flames, no evidence whatsoever? I just saw one of the nuns from that orphanage going to the Arc Tower. Still think it's funny?" Rhael sneered at the group.

"What?", the man who was slapped earlier groaned.

"You see. This is what happens when you let amateurs to do the work. I mean, I'm here you know. My work could've been foolproof."

"Get on to the point, Rhael.", the man at the center was getting impatient.

"I'm assuming you didn't come all the way here to make cheap banters with us."

"Of course.", Rhael responded.

"What I'm saying here is that we need to accelerate our plans. First, we had that envoy attacking our house. Now, we have the orphanage bitch telling off to the Arcane Watch. They're on to us. We can't afford them discovering us before we have even started."

"No. That would be very much unpleaseant." The people around the table nodded in agreement.

"Therefore, I have a proposal to make." Rhael grabbed the attention of those in the table. She grinned, and continued,

"Think about it. The Lord Magistrate himself has given us a good window of opportunity. In two days, the whole Magistrate Sanctum will be gathered in one place. What better time to execute our plan right on that very day."

"You're right. There you have it. The mind of the Stedores are really one thing to behold.", agreed the slapped man once again still trying to hit on Rhael.

"Give it a rest, Alakdan.", the man on the center berated. He then stood up and addressed the whole group,

"It is settled then. Inform all our brothers and sisters; in two days, history will be written by our own hands."

As the huddled people cheered, Rhael stood up and went for the door, ready to leave.

The man on the center stood up and called,

"Magus Stedore, leaving so soon? I haven't had the chance to thank you yet."

"Ohh, Duke. I have no need for your premature commendations. You can thank me later, after our inevitable success.", Rhael Stedore smiled as she closed the door behind her.

-----------------------

Lord Magistrate quickly walked along the halls of the Arc Tower. He was doing paperworks in his chamber when he had a strange call from the guards posted at the gates. He thought back to his own words,

"Let her in. I'll meet her at the Eternal Chamber."

'They guards are probably so confused right now', he chuckled.

The Eternal Chamber was only reserved for use by the Conclave and a handful of important people. For the Lord Magistrate to allow a stranger to enter it would only mean one thing: that person is very valuable.

The guards near the Eternal Chamber were quick to recognize the approaching Lord Magistrate and opened the doors.

"She's waiting for you inside, Lord Magistrate."

"Thank you.", Juron acknowledged.

"You may take your leave for the day."

The guards only looked at each other, surprised at this command. But it was the words of the Lord Magistrate, so they did as he bid.

----------------

The Eternal Chamber was a spherical room with a very high ceiling. It was only lit by the skylight above, creating an almost magical luminous glow within the room. At the center, five seats were arranged in a circular manner around a round table.

Leia Althemor paced around the Chamber, waiting for someone. The place was emanating a strong, almost intimidating aura, but Leia was no stranger to it. She was born to a rich and powerful family, and after the occurrence of the Arcane Surge, her family had grown a lot stronger. She never wanted to be part of it, however, and she carved out her own path. Instead of being a magician like her father wanted her to be; she ran away from home and became a nun at an orphanage. She had found a new family there- the family she always wanted.

"Leia." A familiar voice pulled her back to reality. A voice she had almost forgotten to the past. She looked up to see a man walking towards her. She stood there, not knowing how to respond. She thought this through a lot, but now that she's in the situation, she can't even move a muscle. He was close to her now, and she half expected him to start lecturing.

Instead, Juron Althemor, father of Leia Althemor, embraced his long lost daughter. Tears trickled down the old man's face, and in just a few moments, Leia also felt her eyes tearing up as well. No words were needed to be exchanged between the two. They let the moment linger a little bit longer.

Juron broke away from the embrace and wiped his tears, and Leia did the same.

"Well, you're a sight for sore eyes." Juron was back to his jolly mood, and they both chuckled.

"It's nice seeing you again, father." Leia responded.

"Forgive me for this sudden appearance, but I have something important to tell you."

The atmosphere quickly became serious. Leia brought out a small device from her pocket and placed it on the round table. She activated it and a recording of news some time ago played, "…orphanage once stood is now a large crater. Some close residents claim that magic had something to do with it, but an Arcane Watch investigator said otherwise. In his report, he said that it was caused by an unstable fissure near the structure…" the device gave out a small beep indicating the end of the recording.

"It wasn't a fissure.", Leia began.

"As I suspected.", Juron thought out loud, although we was still a bit surprised. What Leia was saying that either the investigator was not thorough with his work, or he was lying. He sincerely hoped it was not the latter.

"Father, when I ran away from home long ago, that orphanage was where I ran to.", Leia revealed. "I've grown to care for some of the people there, and they have become like family. That night the orphanage was destroyed, it wasn't caused by some natural occurrence. Someone attacked us that night, and it was no ordinary magician. He was powerful and clearly had a love for playing with fire."

By now, Juron's face was already grim. He knew a lot of magicians within the Sanctum who specialize in fire magic. Things were already not looking good due to the disappearance of the first envoy and the anomalies, but now there's this. They could very well have a disaster waiting to explode.

"Leia.", Juron looked at his daughter intently. "I want you to tell me everything."