Chapter 15: Chapter 14: The Sage Empire

Elsewhere, in the United States, Dr. Jones Stone was preparing his notes for his presentation to the Special Committee formed to assess the toxic substance removed from the President by Princess BloodStar.

He shuffled through his papers one last time before entering the hallowed chambers within the Capital building. This was quite different than other Committees he had been to. The only members of the government present to greet him were President Monroe, Vice President Morrow, and Senator Hammond.

He took his place at the podium as the other members were awaiting his arrival as they sat on a panel above him.

The President began, “As you know Dr. Stone, the purpose of this committee is to determine what response to take with the information gathered regarding the toxic substance that was removed from my body. Please begin by telling us your scientific findings.”

Dr. Stone nodded and began, “As you all have suspected, the material in question is confirmed to be Carillium.”

President Monroe nodded and then replied, “Now there is no need to jump to conclusions. Yes, this material is nearly exclusively found in the mines from the Sage Empire; however, it is possible this particular Carillium was found on the black market. Is that a consideration Dr. Stone?”

Dr. Stone stumbled over himself to begin answering as he knew his answer would all but contradict the President, “Well… You see. The thing is… Mr. President.”

President Monroe became frustrated and barked, “If you have something important to say Dr. Stone, then tell us!”

Dr. Stone nodded, “The thing is, this Carillium is a very specific isotope known only to come from one very specific mine.”

Vice President Morrow impatiently said, “Yes, and tell us where that mine might be.”

Dr. Stone sheepishly answered, “This isotope has only ever been identified within the Sage Royal Mines within the Royal District.”

Senator Hammond grabbed a cigar and looked to the others and said, “Do you gentlemen mind?”

Both Monroe and Morrow waved their hands ‘no’, and Hammond cut and lit his cigar as he sat in thought. He did his best thinking with a cigar in hand. His thoughts were interrupted by Dr. Stone though.

Dr. Stone continued, “In fact, this isotope has a few known unique qualities owing to the Sage Family’s intense study on it. After being removed from its lattice structure within the ore, it has a very predictable decay pattern. I’m afraid to say that this example of Carillium that the Princess has extracted dates it at just over 6 months.”

Dr. Stone stopped after revealing this information. He had led the horses to the water, and he knew they would come to the same dire conclusions as he from here.

Hammond blew a smoke ring and thought to himself, “A rare material from the Sage Empire. An isotope specific to a royal mine. And a decay pattern suggesting it was mined freshly just over six months ago. God damnit.”

Monroe said to the group, “I think we all understand the severity of these findings. Dr. Stone, do you have anything else to add?”

Dr. Stone thought for a moment before saying, “I have nothing more to report.”

Monroe replied, “Thank you for your service to our country. That will be all for today.”

Dr. Stone turned and exited the chambers leaving the three men to themselves. Hammond turned to look at the others, “You know as well as I do that this doesn’t look good. The overwhelming degree of evidence points directly at an attempted assassination on the President by the Sage Empire.”

Vice President Morrow nodded, “I quite agree. While I would hate to jump to conclusions, the degree of certainty is very high that this Carillium came directly from the Sage Empire. Furthermore, straight from the royal mines which are heavily guarded at all times. No one could have mined that amount of Carillium without someone noticing.”

President Monroe agreed with the men, “Gentlemen, the overwhelming amount of evidence does point to the Sage Empire. But is there any other possibility? Any other possibilities at all?”

Hammond nodded, “Of course there are. But none of them good.”

Monroe said, “Well do tell us. What other possibility is there?”

Hammond shook his head, “I will sound crazy for even saying it out loud. That’s how foolish the other possibilities are.”

He sighed as the two men looked at him intently waiting for him to continue. He leaned forward with his cigar in hand and said, “Look. I’m not championing this theory. But. It could have been Princess BloodStar.”

Vice President Morrow leaned back and sighed, “Damnit Hammond. That’s a bold accusation. Why would she poison him just to save him? And she had never set foot in our country at the time of the poisoning.”

Monroe looked from Morrow to Hammond and said, “You’re right about one thing Hammond. That’s a crazy bullshit theory. One I wouldn’t say out loud again without supporting evidence. Princess BloodStar is our new ally. She saved my life. She donated over $100 million to charities around our nation. She even set up trust funds for the infant she healed at the hospital and a disabled kid at the airport. Those kids and their families now have everything they could ever dream of paid for, by her! Now I don’t want any conspiracy theories to begin here about an ally who has already saved our nation from Karasu’s incursion on our very own White House. It’s damn near blasphemy!”

President Monroe was completely worked up over the accusation towards Princess BloodStar, the young woman who had gone to great lengths to save his life. He didn’t want to hear another word even suggesting this possibility.

Hammond slouched back into his chair and said, “You’re right. Forgive me. It was only a farfetched theory.”

However, Hammond sat in silence thinking to himself, “Monroe is even infatuated with the Princess for having saved his life now. I’m not keen to rule out this possibility as quickly as my peers. She may be wily. But I too know the games of deceit and guile.”

Vice President Morrow said, “One thing is for certain. We need to open a dialogue directly with the head of the Sage Empire.”

President Monroe stood up and sternly said, “I want both of you in the Oval Office in thirty minutes. Get me a direct line to Master Sage today. She has some explaining to do, and I want to get to the bottom of this!”

_________________________________________________________________________________

A Sage Empire royal helicopter whirred through the air deep within the heart of the Saber Province. Aboard sat four elite ki soldiers escorting their master. The soldiers wore white and green colored uniforms unique to the Sage Empire.

Each of the soldiers was single handedly more powerful than Corvus who had attacked the White House, and their master was leagues beyond the likes of Corvus as well. Their master was a young woman of 30 years old who carried herself with grace in a stylish white and green geisha dress. This was none other than Master Erika Sage, the leader of the Sage Empire.

She held a satellite phone up to her ear as her conversation on the phone was coming to an end, “Thank you for bringing this to my attention. I assure you; the Sage Empire has no involvement in the assassination plot of the President, and we will begin our investigation into the royal mine at once with haste. You have my word when I say you will have a detailed report by the week’s end.”

She paused as she listened to the speaker on the other end of the phone and then closed by saying, “I bid you farewell, and I look forward to resolving this matter as well.”

She then calmly put the phone down and sat in thought to herself, “This is not good. Not good at all. If the Americans pin this attempted assassination on the Sage Empire, then we will have a serious problem. Normally, this would be of no consequence; however, their proud new ally in the BloodStar Empire I am sure would love to dig her teeth into me personally.”

She then spoke into the headset in her helmet, “Captain. Please send a priority message to the head of security back home. Tell him I want the entirety of the royal mine security footage reviewed during the window spanning 5-7 months ago. I want a preliminary report upon my return of any suspicious activity at all.”

The captain nodded and answered her, “I will send the message at once, Master Sage.”

The helicopter neared its destination as it flew over the royal fortress of the Saber Province. Erika was a bit surprised to find that only 10 soldiers were present to greet her, and she didn’t see Jacek or Vega among them.

She stepped out from the helicopter and asked, “Where is the Lord of this province? Why is he not present to greet me? Is it not protocol to meet foreign Masters upon their arrival?”

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The soldier bowed his head, “Forgive our insolence Master Sage. Lord Heraklinos has requested I lead you to the festivities he is partaking in tonight.”

She then lost her temper for a moment, “Nonsense! I will take myself there! Where is he?”

The soldier kept his head down and addressed her, “He should be in the main courtyard near the entrance to the Royal Command Center.”

Without answering, she whisked by him. Her soldiers began to follow, and she called back to them, “Do not follow me. I have a distinct feeling we will not be here for as long as we thought we would be.”

Both the Sage Empire and Heraklinos Empire soldiers could feel the tension in the air as Master Sage marched off without them.

After a short walk owing to her determination and speed in her step, she came upon a drunken party of soldiers with an endless amount of beer and whiskey. Soldiers sang, stumbled, and sipped as they cheered merrily.

She grabbed one of them by the shirt and asked, “Where is Lord Heraklinos?”

The soldier drunkenly pointed in the direction of his Lord and said, “I’ll follow him to the end of the Earth! He’s our hero!”

Another nearby drunken soldier yelled, “Amen to that! He is our hero!” Soldiers all around sloshed their drinks and began to chug their beers as Master Sage made way to Lord Heraklinos.

She found him and Vega twenty beer mugs deep telling stories around a fire with other soldiers. As she approached she heard him, “…And there I was. No radio, no weapons, no shirt. Just me against 100 rebels. And I just started blasting. I blasted my way out. Escaped certain capture. Then I returned with you all! My men! To take their fortress!”

A collective “Hoorah!” rang through the air as the men cheered the ridiculous story. Master Sage shouted at the top of her lungs, “Lord Heraklinos!”

The men turned to see who had called to their lord with such indignity; however, once seeing who those words belonged to, they all bowed their heads to her. Even in their drunken stupors, they knew better than to not honor a foreign Master.

Lord Heraklinos stumbled his way over to her and said, “Erika! You made it!”

She grabbed his hand and said, “Might I have a private word with you?”

She pulled him aside, and said, “What the hell is this? You are supposed to be on duty protecting the frontier of your lands in the infamous Saber Province. And yet here you are, a drunken fool! A man of your strength should never find himself drunk! Your power is to be controlled at all times.”

Jacek lightly said, “Babe, come on. Have a drink with us. There’s nothing to be upset about. I thought you were visiting for leisure?” He reached out to hold her face and kiss her; however, she slapped his hand away.

She made a frustrated cry and said, “I have received an ill-fated message from the Americans on my journey over to you, and I was hoping I could discuss a serious matter of national security with you. However, you are in no shape to have such a discussion.”

Jacek’s eyes lit up, “The Americans! I am pleased to say that I may be able to help with that problem. One of their newest allies is coming to visit just this next week!”

Erika frowned and said, “You really are drunk. I can’t even have a cogent conversation with you.”

Erika thought to herself silently weighing her options, “This is ridiculous. I can wait it out until the morning to try and have a coherent conversation with him, or I can leave. But one thing is for sure. I cannot share any of the information I learned while on the way over here. He is liable to tell everyone under his command if I do.”

Vega then rounded the corner and said, “Hey you two! Come back to the party!”

Erika snapped at him, “You fools! You are both immature. This is not becoming of future leaders!”

Vega put his hands up and said, “Hey, we’re just trying to have some fun. It’s hard out here on the frontier.”

Erika shook her head, “I suppose that is true. With hardship comes the need for comradery.”

Vega then said, “Yea, and speaking of young leaders, we invited someone to come spar with us!”

Erika frowned in confusion and said, “What? Who?”

Jacek finished a sip of his drink and said, “I already told you. Princess Xenia BloodStar!”

Jacek and Vega performed a cheers smashing their drink mugs together as the beer sloshed out of their cups leaving Erika to dodge the spilled beer in her stylish dress.

She grabbed Jacek’s shoulder and said, “Xenia BloodStar? You invited Xenia BloodStar to the Saber Province?!”

Vega said, “Calm down Erika. It’s just to spar.”

Jacek nodded saying, “Yea, she said she was maybe stronger than me in her press conference, so we are going to find out. It’s just a friendly international meeting. You are always telling me to learn from the mistakes of our families in the past. One of their mistakes was not being friendly.”

Erika stood speechless until she finally said, “Unbelievable! You invited a sworn enemy to your lands… to spar!”

She turned around and yelled, “Jacek, I can’t do this! Our relationship… I need a break. Don’t talk to me, we are officially on a break.”

Jacek tried to chase after her saying, “Erika! Come on! I have no interest in her, it’s a genuine invitation to foster peace and battle with someone strong.”

Erika lost her temper once more, “That’s all you care about! How strong you are! If you cared about me then you would’ve asked me first! You know what her family did to mine!”

She stormed off as Jacek chased after her, “You know as well as I do, it was Empress Victoria who did those things. Where is your since of justice to an individual? When did you start judging your peers based on their family’s history and not their own?”

She threw her hands up and said, “I can’t! Don’t call me! I will reach out to you when I am ready.”

Jacek motioned to run after her, but Vega grabbed his shoulder, “Don’t do it. Just let her go man. It’s not worth it bro. Girls require space during times like these.”

Jacek stopped resisting and turned towards Vega, “You’re right. She will come back around.”

Vega slapped his back and yelled towards the party, “Hey soldiers! Jacek says he needs a shot before he can tell the next story!”

A collective “Hoorah!” was heard from the crowd that put a smile on Jacek’s face. He marched back over to the party with his head high and yelled, “Have I told you the story of the Frozen Ghost!?”

The party raged on as if Erika was never there. She looked back towards the party from the helicopter pad overhead as she entered the helicopter. A tear fell down her face as her heart sank. She felt betrayed and alone. However, she also knew Jacek had no way of knowing he had just invited her potential aggressor in the months and years to come if she couldn’t solve the mystery of the Carillium found within the President’s body.

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