The Genev concordat

As Rufus walked through the capital's streets, he felt at ease. It had been so long since he had walked among the people, the same type of people he had grown up with. No one recognized him, so he could freely walk through the streets.

His stroll stopped when he heard yelling. "Yeah, yeah. I get you. You want this much, but how about I pay this much and give me two of them?" It was Suomi, haggling in the market. She was trying to buy some herbs and cheap stones, believed to have some medical applications. The prices were meager, as few people were fully healed using them. The shop clerk looked impoverished and had the smallest stall in the entire market.

Rufus felt uncomfortable and hated that she was haggling for a product already at a low price. The price difference didn't mean much to her but meant a lot to the shop clerk. Most likely, he could feed his entire family with that one sale.

"Here you go. Keep the difference," Rufus said and paid for the two rings. He dragged Suomi away as he hated her haggling.

"Why did you haggle? You have gold to travel between worlds, and you decide to haggle for two small rings, practically worth nothing," Rufus scolded her.

"Well, after the great king didn't pay my master anything for our service and using a lot of gold coming here, you shouldn't question why I'm haggling," Suomi explained.

Rufus was a bit embarrassed and changed the subject. "So, where are you from? Are humans really that common in the universe?"

"Decently common. Hundreds of intelligent beings inhabit the universe, and it would be impossible to know them all. Some even might be excessively numerous but decide to hide from us all.

I come from the moon world near Asgard, called Kalevala. A world where the snow falls nonstop and the ground is covered with beautiful powdered snow almost year long. Both I and Väinämöinen are from there," she explained.

"Sounds like a tough place to grow up there?"

"People think it's a tough place, but no, it's not. Our world gives us all that we need and ask. It is a land of uncorrupted beauty, with its people helping each other without expecting anything in return. BUT DAMN, WAS IT BORING!" Suomi yelled.

Rufus was taken aback by the sudden change of tone of voice.

"I want to see the universe. Learn new things and become a great sorcerer like my master. I want to meet new and interesting people and will not discriminate against them, whatever anyone says to me. Life is too short for something as stupid as that," Suomi said and walked away.

Väinämöinen walked to Rufus as Suomi went away to explore more of the city.

"She is something alright," Rufus said.

"She is. She uniquely sees the world, even for a sorcerer. Many of our kind sees the universe as their own. They believe they can exploit anything to satisfy their curiosity and gain more understanding. Suomi wishes to see the universe as it is, not wishing to alter it, but to observe its already great beauty," Väinämöinen explained.

"Sorcerers are mortal, aren't they? You have a limited time to study things and learn?" Rufus asked.

"We are, but just like you will live longer, so can we with the right potions to keep us alive and the correct spell to keep us youthful. Eventually, we will die before a strong divine being who can live up to a thousand years. Let alone a god who time can not kill," the old sorcerer explained.

"Where would you plan on heading out first, your majesty?"

"It doesn't matter. None of us have much experience, and it will be like trying to find a needle in a haystack."

"May I recommend the Sassan heaven," the old sorcerer said. "It is not far, and I am sure it would be a good start. The Sassans are hospitable people, and the mighty djinns live there as well. Their knowledge is valuable, and their ruler Al-Ahmar the red, rules over the city of secrets. It might be a city worth going to in the world of Isra."

"Isra, huh? Is it also the homeworld of the Sassans?"

"No, it is only the homeworld of the djinns, and the Sassans are from another world. But Isra is a place of great importance to them, and it's a great place to start our journey," Väinämöinen explained.

~~

As the gravity ship designed by Yosef was about to be finished, Rufus, Doreen, and Pema traveled to the Republic of Genev in the lands of Etna. The tribal leaders and noble lords of the Fairfax kingdom accompanied them as they also needed to be present.

In the city of Genev, they met with the co-emperor Aoricus and emperor Wulftrude of the Heian empire. Wulftrude, now older with gray hair and wrinkles, still held a powerful divine aura but not as strong as Rufus's.

"It is good to see you again, Pema the grey skin," Wulftrude said. Pema kept silent but smiled, as he hadn't seen Wulftrude either. They had fought against each other on opposing sides, but both had respect for one another.

Wulftrude gazed at the king, Rufus Fairfax. "We have never met before," Emperor Wulftrude said, reaching out to shake his hand. Rufus grabbed his hand. Many looked at the scene as the emperor would be the superior, but they all felt the strength difference between them. Rufus' divine aura was overpowering, and all knew who was in charge during the council.

Others who were present were the kings from the Cassian and Elvan kingdoms. There also was King Ritter of the Aurelian kingdom, who was now an old man, barely alive anymore, and didn't remember Rufus anymore. Dementia had broken his memory and mind. He was being escorted by the new leader of the greyhound knights, who pushed him into a wheelchair.

"King Ritter..." Rufus said as he got closer to the once-wise king. Ritter just looked confused and asked his knight, "Who is this young man?" "How long has he been like that?" Rufus asked the greyhound knight. "He has been like that for many years. After you went reclusive, he worked tirelessly for the entire Aesis world, giving intel and backing to your friends as they tried their best to end the years of evil. Unfortunately, the workload and time eventually caught up to him, as he is a common mortal with no divine power," the knight said.

Rufus lowered himself to the same eye level as the king of the Aurelian kingdom, "For anyone in the Aesis world, he was in no way common. He was one of the heroes who protected us against the emperor."

After the initial greetings were done, the actual ceremony began. A large piece of stone was brought, and the scene looked divine in more ways than one. On the stone, the king of the Fairfax kingdom and the emperor and co-emperor of the Heian empire signed the Genev treaty. The other kings were there as high-level witnesses as this treaty was to change the entire Aesis world. The treaty written on stone was placed in Genev's house of lords, as the republic was a neutral ground for the empire and the kingdom.

In the future, this event will be celebrated throughout the Aesis world and other places. Not as a state holiday but as a religious one. Painting and murals would be done of the moment, depicting the divine moment as something that forever altered the course of history. The Genev concordat would be known by all who worshipped Rufus as a god. But it also created divisions that would never be fully fixed.