B9 - Chapter 24: The Colossus Stirs I

Viola hesitated for only a moment.

No matter how she felt, no matter what she thought, moping around in bed would not achieve anything. And so, before her grandfather had even reached the end of the corridor, Viola had already draped an outer robe over her silken pajamas and glided out of the room after him.

The door to the mansion opened, and Victor stepped outside, with Viola only a beat behind him.

The moment she exited, a strong gust whipped her hair back. Almost on instinct, she opened her arms as if to embrace it and took a deep, almost intoxicated breath.

Utter bliss...

She remained like that for a moment, simply swaying back and forth in the breeze, lost in ecstasy.

Years spent trapped underground, followed by months soaring through ashen skies filled with the constant smoke and soot of the burning land below. But now she had returned to the skies, to the world above the clouds. There could be no better feeling.

Simply being here seemed to invigorate her Core. The rut she had been stuck in for the past few months seemed to dissipate on its own, washed away by the wind.

That single breath had done more for her than days of brooding in the depths of the tunnel system ever could.

Viola remained trapped in the afterglow for a good few moments before she finally opened her eyes again. The first thing she saw was her grandfather looking back at her.

Victor waited off to the side, a small, knowing smile tugging at the corners of his lips.

"Did you really have to send me underground?" she asked seriously. "Do you even know how much I suffered?"

Victor's smile remained in place. "Aren't you able to appreciate this feeling because of it?" he asked. "I remember you being quite dismissive of this place when you were young."

Viola fell quiet.

It was true that she had never been able to fully appreciate the uniqueness of this city before today. Having grown up here, it had simply been an ordinary place to her. But the reason she had been so eager to leave had never had anything to do with the city itself.

"Where are you taking me, Grandpa?" she asked instead.

"To the capital," Victor replied. "There is going to be an announcement we can't afford to miss..."

"...Regarding the loss in Rukia?" Viola asked, a pang of guilt creeping into her voice.

No matter how she felt about the Empire as a whole, she certainly hadn't contributed as much as she could have. The very idea of fighting Zeke had not even occurred to her until the end, not until he had attacked her first.

And even then, her heart had not been in it.

But contrary to what she expected, her grandfather gave her a look she couldn't quite place. It certainly wasn't the anger, sadness, or even blame she had expected.

Instead, it seemed closer to confusion.

"What are you talking about? What loss?"

Viola looked back at him, just as confused. "Didn't we lose? Against Zeke?"

Her grandfather stared at her for a while in stunned silence. ℯℯ𝑙.

Then, he began to chuckle.

"What is even going on in that little head of yours? Since when have we been at war with that kid?"

Viola frowned.

"If not that, then what is the announcement going to be about?"

Victor smiled. "What else could it be? Our victory, of course."

"We... won...?" Viola repeated in disbelief. "What did we win, exactly?"

Victor shook his head. "You'll hear it all during the announcement. For now, we need to prepare for our departure..."

Saying that much, he continued walking.

Viola quickly followed and looked down at herself, finding her clothing in no state to attend any kind of ceremony. But it hardly mattered. She could change once they arrived in the capital. Using the Gate, they could be at their mansion in under an hour.

"Don't worry, I'll change when we get there."

"I'm not talking about your attire."

Viola glanced at him. "...What else needs to be prepared?"

Victor's gaze turned serious.

"It won't just be you and me going..."

Viola's eyes narrowed. There was something in the way her grandfather had phrased it that made her think this was no simple affair.

"Who, exactly, is going?"

Victor smirked.

"Everyone."

The moment he said the word, Victor came to a halt at the railing.

Viola stepped up beside him and cast her gaze downward, toward the rest of the floating city.

Her breath caught at the sight.

It wasn't the floating islands that made up the city, nor the massive chains connecting them to one another and to the peaks of the mountain range below. It was a mesmerizing sight, but one she had long since grown used to.

No.

What stole her breath was the armada of airships floating between those islands.

This book's true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience.

Hundreds of ships, varying in size from destroyer-class vessels to cruisers. Most importantly, though, Viola had never seen any of these ships before.

Not a single design was familiar to her.

They were sleeker, more uniform, and clearly far more advanced than any fleet she had ever been a part of.

For a moment, Viola could only stare.

She felt as though she hadn't merely been gone for a few years, but for several decades.

"...What is this?"

"Our fleet," Victor announced proudly, giving her a sideways glance. "You can thank that boy for it. Those new models he produced really woke up our craftsmen. They had been complacent for far too long..."

Viola looked at the massive fleet and instantly recalled the small ship she had seen in her dream, as well as the enormous fortress she had witnessed during the war.

So, these were the waves stirred up by that tiny, incredibly convenient airship.

Even her own family had been forced to adapt, to overhaul their entire fleet. And these were merely the craftsmen following in Zeke's footsteps.

What heights had he reached by now?

The question made something twist inside her.

She had spent months trapped inside his memories, watching him change day by day. She had seen his triumphs, his failures, his rage, his grief. By the end, she had almost begun to believe that she understood the man he had become.

Yet she had been awake for less than a day, and already that image felt outdated.

Her gaze shifted to her grandfather.

She finally felt able to ask the question she could never have posed to her mother.

"What happened during the final battle? How did Zeke manage to survive?"

Victor glanced at her out of the corner of his eye, remaining silent for a while.

In the end, however, just as she knew he would, he still answered.

"One of his Slaves evolved..."

Viola's eyes widened, and her jaw nearly dropped.

"Then... he..."

Victor nodded.

"He now has a subordinate with Quasi-Exarch strength. A Progenitor Beast. Our forces were no match, and even during the retreat, he inflicted heavy casualties."

Viola remained stunned for a moment, trying to think through the implications. A Progenitor Beast. Her lips parted slightly.

That alone placed him beyond almost every force on the continent. Below the royal families, perhaps, but above virtually everyone else.

And he wasn't even an Archmage yet.

"Where is he now?" Viola asked.

Her grandfather immediately gave her a warning look.

"Do not concern yourself with that boy anymore. Even a fleeting association with him could land you in trouble that even I cannot protect you from..."

Viola pressed her lips shut. This was a promise she could not give. Not even to her grandfather.

Victor studied her expression before letting out a weary sigh.

"...Your mother was right about one thing. It was good that you fought him, even if he ended up defeating you. Otherwise, you likely wouldn't have a place in this family anymore..."

Viola's eyes narrowed slightly.

Wasn't her grandfather being a bit too dramatic?

"It can't be that bad..." she muttered.

Victor's expression didn't relax. If anything, Viola felt like it grew even harder.

"Did you not wonder why I am here, child?" he asked. "Why I am not at the Elementium?"

Viola had indeed wondered that, but it wasn't as if her grandfather never traveled. She had thought it a coincidence.

But his gaze said otherwise.

"I have been relieved of my position as headmaster," Victor said before she could ask. "Old man Steiner has taken over my role. They said it was better if somebody more... stable... took over."

For several heartbeats, Viola could only stare at him.

Her grandfather had been the headmaster of the Elementium since its founding. It could be said that the school had been created by his own hands. The very idea that somebody else could be in charge of it seemed inconceivable.

Only now, looking at him properly, did she notice something she had missed before.

He looked older.

Not physically, perhaps. A man of his strength did not age so easily.

But there was a tiredness in his eyes that she did not remember.

Victor turned his gaze toward the distant airships.

"To this day, the echoes of that day haunt me..."

Viola didn't have to ask.

She naturally knew which day her grandfather was talking about.

His decision to let Ezekiel leave the Empire.

He must have thought it a small mercy, a final favor to an old friend, but the consequences had turned out to be far more than he had bargained for. If not for his standing as one of the Prime Elders, he likely wouldn't have escaped prosecution either.

Viola said nothing. She couldn't. Her earlier question must have felt like a slap to the face, reminding him of all he had lost that day.

Victor's eyes shifted toward her. "I do not regret it."

There was no hesitation whatsoever.

"I regret what came of it. I regret that things reached that point. And I regret many of the choices that brought us there."

His expression hardened.

"But no. I do not regret letting him go."

Viola felt something inside her loosen. Just slightly.

Then Victor sighed. "Though I am beginning to regret answering your questions."

Viola blinked.

"You have been awake for less than a day," he continued, "and every third word from your mouth has been that boy's name."

Viola looked away. There wasn't much she could say to that.

"What exactly happened when you met during the war?" Victor asked.

Her lips tightened. That was a question she wasn't ready to answer. The conversation they had shared, the dreams that followed. Zeke's strangely cruel yet caring actions.

Victor watched her for a few moments before shaking his head. "Whatever it is, forget him, Viola. I mean it."

"I just..." She searched for the words. "There are things I need to understand."

"You do not need to understand Ezekiel von Hohenheim."

"...That's not for you to decide," Viola replied quietly.

For the first time, Victor's expression turned genuinely displeased.

Viola quickly raised both hands. "Fine. Fine. I will only ask once, and only you," she promised. "Please tell me where he is, and I won't bring him up again."

Victor continued staring at her.

Viola didn't relent.

Several moments passed in silence.

Eventually, her grandfather sighed.

"Nobody knows."

Viola frowned.

"Grandpa..."

"I am being serious," Victor replied. "In the aftermath of the war, he managed to carve a chunk out of Rukia. A sizeable chunk. But nobody has heard anything from him since. Our spies couldn't confirm his return to Tradespire, and we haven't been able to insert anyone into the upper ranks of his new holdings so far."

Viola tilted her head.

"If not him, then who reigns over that territory?"

Victor shook his head, his expression unreadable. "You won't believe it. But it's another acquaintance of yours..."

Viola racked her brain, but even so, she couldn't figure out who it could be. She didn't even have a guess.

"Who?"

"Leo von Hohenheim..."

"Leo..."

Viola vaguely remembered him.

A total freak.

He had entered the tournament without any real backer and still fought his way all the way to the final through sheer talent alone. Both the Steiner and Feuerkranz families had wanted him before Maximilian eventually snatched him away.

She had almost forgotten about him.

And now he ruled Zeke's territory.

Despite everything, an embarrassingly familiar thought immediately surfaced.

How strong had he become?

Viola almost smiled.

If at all possible, she would have liked to spar with him.

Just once.

To see how the years had changed them both. Her in the army, and him under Zeke and whatever mysterious methods he had devised.

But the expression on her grandfather's face already made it clear that something like that could never happen.

If she were to face Leo now, it would most likely be in a life-or-death fight on the battlefield, not as friends.

The thought quickly killed whatever excitement had begun to rise in her chest.

Victor turned away from the railing.

"Enough questions."

But Viola remained where she was. She was far from satisfied.

"That's it...?" she prompted. "All that fuss for a simple 'I don't know'?"

Victor stopped.

Slowly, he turned back toward her.

His expression settled into a frown.

"There is a rumor," he said eventually.

Viola immediately straightened.

"About Zeke?"

Victor gave her a long look. "See? Every third word."

"Grandpa."

He sighed.

"A lot of people seem to believe that he has locked himself away somewhere, researching Concepts related to his three affinities."

Viola's eyes widened.

"They say he plans to seclude himself until he has found a way to break through to Archmage..."

There was obvious doubt in his voice.

Viola didn't share it.

She had spent months watching Zeke accomplish things that should have been impossible. She had watched him lose everything and continue forward. Watched him build something new from the ashes. Watched him turn desperation into hatred and hatred into purpose. And every time the world placed another wall in front of him, he had somehow found a way through.

The terrifying part wasn't that Viola believed the rumor.

It was that, after everything she had seen, she couldn't imagine him failing.