***
Valeron Palace, Throne Room on the upper floors, at the same time.
After Marth led Lith and his family to the Royals, the Magus was surprised to hear the King speak of the destruction of the lost city of Thaymos in the same terms as Solus.
“I know that it’s not by your hand that the Eternal Fortress met its hand. At least not directly.
“Yet if not for your presence, Lady Tyris wouldn’t have intervened and the expedition would have failed. With one monster tide and one lost city less to deal with, we’ll be able to gather resources faster than we planned.
“Soon we’ll have the means to spread the Tablets to the whole Kingdom and build the first non-military Trains. For this, you have our gratitude and we would like to reward you as you deserve.”
“Thank you, your Majesty.” Lith gave the Royals a bow. “There’s nothing I need at the moment, but if something comes to mind, I’ll let you know.”
“Take your time. There is no rush.” The Queen smiled to him.
She had received reports about the performance of the Wayfinder and the weaponized DoLoreans. Thanks to them, the military power of the Kingdom would finally surpass that of the Empire and the Desert, making their borders safe for the first time in centuries.
“Before sending you back to your family, I have a simple task that I want to entrust you.” At a snap of the Queen’s fingers, a parchment appeared in her hands and she passed it to Lith.
“The Crown would like to start building civilian cars. The first batch would be just an experiment to see how people deal with the change. Mass production would come later, if at all.”
Lith unrolled the parchment, discovering that it contained a series of drawings about possible alternative designs for the DoLorean and their suggested specs. The Royals wanted him to limit the altitude a civilian car could reach to a few meters tops.
This way, a driver could still dodge obstacles both vertically and horizontally but they couldn’t pass above the city walls and avoid checks nor escape detection while crossing the borders with other countries.
The Royals also wanted him to limit the max speed of a DoLorean to the third notch of the lever. Much to Lith’s surprise, the list of changes didn’t include the removal of any of the safety measures except for the Home Stone synchronization.
Regular people couldn’t afford such precious artifacts anyway and there was no point in giving access to the rich and powerful to a way to escape from the scene of an accident.
There were also two designs that caught Lith’s attention. One was for nobles, giving the DoLorean the slender form of a muscle car, and another for merchants that looked like a truck with lots of space to carry merch.
Both models would have the same specs, it was just a matter of appearance and, of course, price.
‘For a moment I was afraid they were going to give me blueprints for the new DoLorean. After all, they had all the time to study the ones I provided them and the schematics of the Train.’ Lith thought.
‘I guess that having no Light Masters is a big deal since without one, they can’t understand what the power core does and how the different enchantments combine together to make the DoLorean move.’
“It will be my pleasure.” Lith nodded.
“Thank you, Magus Verhen.” The King said. “This concludes our meeting. You must all be very tired and we kept you here long enough. Unless you have something to request from the Crown you are free to go home and rest.
“We’ll keep you updated about the progress of the colonization.”
The group gave the Royals a bow before turning around and being accompanied by the Royal Guards to the Warp Gate in the waiting room. Normally the guests would be followed closely by the Guards to keep them from wandering the castle and ensuring the safety of the Crown.
In Lith’s case, they left him plenty of space, acting like a real honor guard instead of wardens pretending to be one. Lith looked out a window, noticing that it was night in the Kingdom.
‘Damn time zones! The sun was up in Jiera but is down in the Kingdom. What time is it in the Desert?’
‘A few hours before sunset.’ Solus replied after checking her watch and doing the math. ‘Why?’
‘I wanted to know if our family was still awake. I didn’t want to wake them up just to greet us. We can all use some rest, especially Tista and Bodya.’ Lith replied while looking at the couple.
The Nidhogg looked more relaxed now that he had put thousands of kilometers between him and his family, but the burden on his shoulder had only gotten heavier after the destruction of the Eternal Fortress.
He still had to give Tista his answer and without a deadly threat over their heads, he had no excuse to drag it out for much longer.
As for Tista, the trip to Jiera had shown her many things and she still had to process most of them. It wasn’t just about her relationship, but also about how cruel the Awakened society was and the danger that the lost cities posed.
‘I thought that the Golden Griffon was an exception. After all, it would have never gotten free without Thrud’s help nor would have it gotten so powerful without her modifications.’ Tista thought.
‘Yet it was no exception, it was the norm. The Kingdom is filled with monstrosities like that and it takes just one slip-up to free them and turn Garlen into Jiera. Living in the Desert doesn’t sound so bad anymore.’
During her past battles, Tista had blamed her struggles to her mana core and the fact that she was just a hybrid. Yet even after achieving the violet and becoming a Divine Beast, the feeling of helplessness hadn’t changed.
Facing the monster tide had humbled her while fighting Thaymos had made her feel as small as when she was still a human.
Truth be told, everyone was still shaken from the battle against the Eternal Fortress. For the first time in Solus’ life, the tower hadn’t been enough to secure the victory and that had shaken her confidence as well.
Kamila still had nightmares where she saw Lith’s broken body tumbling through the camp over and over. The sound of her own screams and the cries of the children kept echoing in her ears for hours after she woke up from such dreams.
Only Elysia and Valeron the Second seemed to have gotten over it as soon as the fight was over. They had stopped crying the moment they had been strapped to Lith’s chest and heard the sound of his heartbeat.
‘Damn, I don’t want to think about what would have happened if I hadn’t changed my mind about this little fellow.’ Lith wiggled his finger in front of Valeron who grabbed it and brought it to his mouth.
This provoked Elysia’s ire who threw a tantrum until she was given one as well.
