Audience with the Queen

The ride was short, and Rowan passed the time by admiring the high-tech city. Em would love to come here, this city was what her current dreams were made from and Rowan had no doubt that she would be able to take the things here and improve on them enough to be even greater than this and they were already spectacular. Rowan had spent most of the time doing double takes at the different things that he saw. Right before they reached their destination he asked Empry the question that had been bothering him.

"Empry, I thought that Gods weren't allowed to reside on the second layer?" [That is rather….Wait that young women are able to pick up on our communication. It's best that you shelve these questions for now. If you still have them after the meeting with the Queen, I will answer you.] The woman, on the other hand, had not stopped staring at Rowan since the moment he went to communicate with the system. "I was born with the ability to sense brain waves. It's why I am assistant to the Queen. I can use the brainwaves of a person to verify information among other things. Now imagine my surprise when I felt your mind moving towards that bracelet on your wrist. Rowan Raid, you may be more interesting than you look."

Rowan looked back at her no differently than he had looked at the passing technology, as he asked the only thing on his mind. "Who even are you?" She only shook her head at the question. "Just a simple assistant to a forgotten Queen. I was given no name and only had the one the Queen gave me. Luna." Rowan smiled and slowly extended his hand right as they stopped and the doors opened. "Nice to meet you Luna. Maybe next time ask before looking into someone's brain, though." She held back a laugh. "Now if I did that, what would be the point of my abilities being a secret.I only told you because the system that you managed to put into your bracelet noticed my abilities somehow. Now come, the queen does not like to be waiting."

Rowan followed Luna as they disembarked from the hover car and Rowan was standing before a massive castle. It was old and medieval style on the outside but the inside looked renovated and up to date, but what Rowan noticed mainly were the runes that coated the castle. He didn't have enough knowledge to fully work out what they did, but he was certain of a single thing, which was that the castle was the core of some type of runic circle that surrounded the entire castle. Rowan followed her and walked right down the main hallway. There were guards lined up all the way down the hallway, blocking the view to side rooms and other hallways, allowing Rowan to simply follow Luna. They walked into the throne room moments later, where Rowan saw the queen for the first time.

The first thing that Rowan noticed was how beautiful she was. She had blue hair that looked like you were staring into the ocean. It rippled like waves at all times and gave Rowan the feeling that the waves were crashing towards him. Her skin was perfectly tan, and she was shaped like an hourglass. She was wearing jeans and a sweater that stopped right before her wrist with a fur lined leather jacket over it that ran to the same point. She turned around to look at Rowan and the first thing he noticed was a scar that ran from under her eye to her chin. It was thin and really no more than a white mark, but on such a picturesque face, it was easily noticeable. Her cheek bones were sharp and her chin came down to a point while her eyes stood out because they were purple and mesmerizing. They seemed to be spinning, which made it hard for Rowan to look away.

"Now this is certainly a surprise. I don't really know why, but for some reason, I expected you to be more fearsome, less obedient, more like your master. When he was your age, he would have killed Luna for invading his mind, but he was a rather distrustful youth." Rowan had no clue really what to say to that. He bowed the upper half of his body towards the Queen before standing back up straight, earning him a snort from one of the guards nearby. "Well look at that, I think your master would turn in his grave before he so much as feigned to bow." Rowan responded on reflex before he could think of his answer. "Well, of course, who is there for him to bow to any longer?" To his surprise, the Queen nodded her head. "Well said, for a moment I was thinking you would stay silent the entire time. Now, to the matter at hand, typically the lone wolf badge does not entitle someone to a meeting with me, but your case is special, so I have decided to be your advisor and shadow during your time here. In return, you will keep me company and have conversations with me."

Rowan was confused at the different treatment, though. "Why, what can you get from a conversation with me?" She stood up and walked closer to Rowan until she was right in front of him. "I have been the warden for your master's prison for more than 300 years. Do you know what I have not been able to do at that time? See my grandchildren when I want, or my great grandchildren or my daughter. I am stuck here only to see them when one of them comes down to see me. Valentine being the person who visits most, but I presume if you were taken as his disciple you have updates on how all of them are doing." Rowan scratched his head, understanding that his trip here just got more complicated, which made him recall the question he had asked Empry. "Okay, I'm fine with that, but I also have a question. How are you able to stay here as a god on the second layer should you not be on the first layer?"

She raised a single sharp eyebrow as she looked at Rowan. "Interesting question. The answer is because of where we are. The trial world, as the academy calls it, is just a cover. This is your master's most secure prison and the entrance to the third layer. The third layer is the actual jail that your master devised and me and my people are its workers and guards. Many years ago I tried my best to kill your master because of the bodies he would leave in his wake while at the same time allying him with his enemies, the beings of chaos, oh how little we all knew at the time. My punishment and the punishment of my people still holds a sentencing of 700 more years." She now was so close to Rowan as she got her face especially close to his. "That is who your master truly is. He punished an entire group of people because of my transgressions. Transgressions that don't even matter after he unified our worlds. I failed and in turn, your master did exactly that. He sacrificed billions of lives to create this ship, and my visions came to pass. Regius Lowe stood upon a mountain of bodies and crowned himself King."

Rowan could only shake his head at this point, but before he could speak the queen followed up. "His hallowed, holy ground. The first layer was supposed to be peaceful but instead he allows cultivators to battle freely for status in his kingdom while he wages wars across the Myriad Realms. Now as to your question, really, your master allows it because only a god could be the warden of his prison. He has locked beings in it that are nearly immortal throughout his battles in the myriad realms. All of them are comparable to gods. Now of course there are weaker beings as well, anyone who commits heinous enough crime can also be placed in here and over 300 years the Ark has had a fair share of criminals." Rowan could only shake his head as the queen finally gave him the space to answer.

"I can tell your stories of your grandchildren and your daughter for that matter, but on the topic of my Master I can only say this. Despite your past with him, he's older now, more wise, more time to mellow. So I can only ask you, have you ever apologized for trying to kill him? Have you thought about your people while you've let your pride stand in the way of seeing your family for the past three hundred years? I won't make excuses about my master's actions. I have my own issues to work out with him, but you need to take credit for your part in all this. You are as much to blame as my master for being stuck here." Rowan's eyes had never left the queen's face the entire time he spoke, and when he finished, her mana boomed through the room and threatened to crush him where he stood. The guards also visibly shook at the same time as they all lowered their spears and aimed them at Rowan until the Queen raised her hand and they put them back. "Well spoken Rowan Raid, I think I'm going to look forward to your time here. I have notified the guards that your companion is to be brought here as well. While I have set up a room for you to rest in for the night while he arrives, tomorrow I will explain to you more about the opportunities that can be found here." Rowan nodded and walked out as a guard led him out.

Luna, on the other hand, stood next to the Queen as Rowan departed. "He was not lying. He truly does have a problem with his master's path, but there is something else. He has somehow removed the system from his soul and placed it in a bracelet. Something that even you claimed you could not do he has done." The queen nodded her head. "Yes, Rowan Raid is just as special as his master was. You need to go back to training, though. You noticed that he was lying but not that my pressure did not scare him. Even when the Royal guards lowered their weapons, part of him was confident that he would make it out of here." Luna nodded her head as she remembered something important. "Wait, your highness, did you receive another vision? Like you did from his master.

She nodded her head and looked solemn. "In one of the futures he will give back to the people of this ark on a level comparable to his master, and in another, the trail of bodies that trail behind him will rival even his masters in due time. While in another, he never lives long enough to see either path come to fruition. Needless to say, I am faced with the same options once more."