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  Present time

  —---------------

  Cerys took her seat with grace and poise befitting a noble of the Eternal Service Empire. She seemed to be working through the best way to tell me without me losing myself to my rage.

  Sweat appeared on her forehead and her pupils dilated as she worked through her internal dialogue.

  “The truth, nothing but it, Lady Cerys.” I paused. The servants' corridor door opened with no operator as I retrieved another thermos of stimulants. “Judging by your answer, the worst I will do is never trust you again, the best, trust you completely.” My hand arrived at my heart, a gesture of good faith and a promise to be kept.

  She relaxed noticeably, her magical signature losing a good portion of the fearful and doubtful maelstrom of fluctuations. “Then, my soon to be husband, we would have to go back in time, to before the launch of the mercantile expedition launched by twenty noble houses of this great empire.” She folded her hands at her lap, straightened her posture further and stared into my eyes. “More than nine years ago, at both your and my eleventh year, many noble houses were in a deadlock.” Her voice seemed parched and I could tell she was at least hungry.

  A bell rang in the servants corridor. Ten seconds later, a maid in a formal uniform showed up from the corridor. “Get Her Ladyship a meal from the kitchen.” I commanded the maid. “Make sure to bring a pitcher of water.” The maid bowed gracefully and with purpose, she then closed the door quietly as she went to do her duty. Not before an ordinary metallic cup of cold spring water made its way past the closing door.

  The cup of water floated in the air beside Cerys, which she then took and started taking controlled sips from. “My family was one of the noble houses that were for the expedition to the easternmost continent that has yet to be conquered by our Imperial Majesty: the one cog.”

  I stayed silent but focused on her emerald eyes, searching for any deceit. I could find none. “The Other thirty nine noble houses, not including your own, were against a more gentle approach.” I nodded, the history factual. “My former family was meant to mediate said debate, in a bid to eliminate the possibility of civil war.”

  Her perfect right, ruby red eyebrow twitched, likely noticing her mistake. “Correct, Sir Erec.” She took another sip of the ice cold water. “In that debate, the mercantile faction was losing, even in their impressive wealth.” In that moment, like remembering a bad dream, she shuddered. “No one knew why, but Her Imperial Majesty arrived at the scene in Her Wrath, the empire class mobile cog.” She looked down at her perfect hands, clenching them a tad. “She granted them amnesty to do what they will on the furthest east continent.”

  I nodded, knowing the story.

  “In my seventeenth year, she showed up in the same manner at the house Welles castle, just floating there.” She shivered, remembering what happened next.

  “She proclaimed that house Welles was no more, found guilty of high treason.” Tears crept into her eyes. “Everything ended around me, no one was spared but me.” She couldn't control her shivering sob as she broke down.

  “She appeared before me, called me ‘the focus’ and took me to her mobile cog, still floating there in the sky” Just then, the main door to my room slammed open. Every metal item in that room turned into spears that charged with glowing, crackling electricity. Even the aforementioned doors. Save for the chair Lady Cerys was still sitting in. There she controlled her sobs, but still had tears streaming down her beautiful face.

  Standing there, was him, the agent-instructor-caretaker in his black cloak and hood, face still covered, holding the meal and pitcher in each hand with perfect form.

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  This time, he wasn't unmarked. The red hourglass was on his chest.

  I couldn't even sense his magical signature as he stood there, staring faceless through his netted mask. “Focus, that is quite enough.” He commanded with a gravelly, sinister undertone.

  “You will eat on the way, focus.” He then looked me in the eyes. “You will stand down this instant and follow me to the tarmac, weapon.” His voice, though old and weathered, never failed once.

  “Or face the consequences, we can resuscitate you, we can annihilate your former family.” He threatened with an even, but dark tone, never moving once.

  I then retracted my electromagnetic energy from the spears. Which all returned to their places and forms with metal crinkles and scraping being the only sounds they made as though protesting not being flung at this tyrants’ head.

  “Lead the way, good sir, what do I call you now?” I asked with a faked mirthful tone.

  “Agent Seer.” he stated. “Pleased to make your acquaintance, young Lord Erec Dohiedron.” His tone was formal, but held no reverence.

  White hot anger flashed through my gut up to my throat and eyes. I spread my magical will throughout the room and past the open window that I had opened as I had manipulated my spears earlier, feeling multiple dead spots all over the air space and ground.

  I was surrounded, cornered. There was no winning this, not even if I was prepared to die.

  He turned on his heel, stalking off without a noise.

  I fetched a handkerchief in the Steelblood colors from my locker with a small piece of the locker. It floated over to Cerys, stopping just in her line of sight. She put the cup onto the ground, which I manipulated to the servant's wing in the dish rack.

  I then cleaned it with other metal pieces of the sink, holding the cloth, turning the water on and so on as I completely cleaned it, leaving it there. All that as I stated with a gentle but unwavering tone. “Come, we must follow, the future awaits.” The handkerchief started to clean her tears on its own as I held out a hand, beckoning her to take it.

  She took it, her usually comfortably warm and strong hands were cold, shaky and clammy. I then helped her up and outstretched my left arm for her to loop into with her right. “Will you, my fiancee, accompany me to the tarmac?”

  “I would be honored” she acquiesced. She then stepped around to my left and took my arm with her right. “Lead the way, my love.”

  As we exited the room, the many dead spaces in my magical will moved away with the quickness of wraiths.

  —----------

  ~ An hour later

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  As we came into view of the tarmac, the already past midday sun was reflecting off of an empire class mobile cog floating above the open space.

  Agent Seer was ten paces in front of Cerys and I.

  I gazed up to the cog crowned, ornamented great helm, it then changed position and gazed back into my eyes a deep resonant energy of a multitude of colors stared back.

  I saw the Hekali and Dohiedron colors on its vast, supple, shiny chest. The red hourglass and the multi color lightning strike with four arrows pointing outward in all directions.

  “You are now in the presence of Her Imperial Majesty, act accordingly.” The gravelly voice of Agent Seer commanded. Never pausing his silent strides once.

  The empire class mobile cog, Her Wrath was a true sight to behold.

  In the form of a giant, armored, cog-winged woman, it was breathtaking.

  The armor, a make only available to be acquired by the most powerful ruling class, was at a grander scale than it had any right to be.

  Taller and larger than the Steelblood castle, it was a marvel of mobile cog engineering, armor smithing and architectural design.

  Not a single part of the carapace wasn't armor plated, shining and artistically designed to have some kind of hourglass, cloud, lightning symbol or cog. All in the mythical platinum. Platinum being revered by everyone who knew of it. Being an extremely rare, expensive and powerful metal. Anyone who was of past the twentieth cog would most likely attempt to acquire enough platinum cogs to outfit an entire suit of a mobile cog kit. To have an entire suit of armor not only covered in platinum. But most likely operating it on the inside would be so immensely expensive and powerful that it could take an entire economy years upon years to procure enough of it.

  Who ever or whomever made such a suit would have been so coveted, so skilled that they would simply be whisked away by the most powerful entity. Either to be used or to be slaughtered if not usable. Maybe even slaughtered after the fact if there was even a small chance in rust that they could be used by an opposing or even allied power.

  The scepter Her Wrath held in her right hand was no less impressive. Most likely crafted by the same mystery cog blessed craftsperson. It was that of a balanced, multi story scepter one would expect a clergy to have in a king or queen crowning ceremony. This one made for war and death. On the top, instead of the customary golden, bejeweled cog, a coil covered cog sat.

  If mother wanted something dead, save an elder dragon or worse, it would die.

  In the left hand held an aegis like kite shield, it also had coils, most likely used for melee attacks and defense.

  This weapon, a calamity made silent by the will of its pilot.

  The cog wings, an incredible sight to behold. A full palate of colors shined through the coils in arcing, jumping electricity. The armor framed arms, also artistically pasted with platinum shapes, held the wings, they were thick as an elder basilisk.

  “We mustn't keep Her Imperial Majesty waiting,” said Agent Seer.

  He then had a cog appear on his back, out of nowhere. “Follow” he commanded.

  I took my arm out of the loop we had ours in, took Cerys in a princess style arm carry and made my hourglass behind me shape itself into a chair.

  I sat down into it, looked into Cerys' eyes, and smirked.

  She blushed and fell more into my arms so that there would be no room for error.

  We floated up with haste, following the ever mysterious man towards my future.