Sanctuary

Betrayed.

Again.

Treleva had awakened on the shore of the Western Continent, with a knife in his chest. He no longer felt the presence of those who called themselves, the Senior Partners. He should have known that they too would turn their back on him too.

The only one who Treleva could ever trust was himself. No higher powers, or gods. Even Keegan left him to rot inside that nightmare that Bartram had placed him in. How was it that he now awake, and free? Surely, Araneia would have taken him into custody?

Treleva shook his head and stood up, emptying the sand from his seawater drenched boots. His clothes felt crisp from the apparent journey across the ocean. He stood up an inspected his surroundings. A giant steppe laid before him, he was close to the town of Tarth, which was an old port town, close to Raryst.

Over the next week he journeyed to the city of New Raryst, with the intent of stealing an airship. He found himself a place to stay in the town, an old manor that stood looking over the new city below. It had once belonged to the Fyre Family.

As he spent time investigating the house, he came across a small curiosity, a hidden elevator. Instead of trying to get it to move, he destroyed the elevator and made his way down to a hidden laboratory there.

This would become his new home for the next few weeks, as he poured through all the files on the computers. Eventually he discovered a hidden file, titled 'Blackmail', interested by the name, he opened the file and found a video.

The video seemed to be a hidden camera in the lab of Rychard and Skylar Pyre back in the days before the fall of Pyre Academy.

"Once Project: Fallen Angel is complete, we should have no problem manipulating events to make us the most powerful nation on Crystalla" Skylar explained. Rychard sighed deeply as he paced back and forth.

"I don't know, Mother, is this really the right thing to do?" Rychard asked. Skylar appeared frustrated as she threw a vial onto the floor.

"Look, Rychard, you are my son and I love you, but stop with this Good Doctor/Bad Doctor bullshit. If you want to have conscience, that is fine, but you have to make up your mind! You turned down my idea all those years ago, to use this project on the child you gave to the Empire. Hell, you didn't speak to me for decades because of it. But it was fine, I understood" Skylar yelled.

"But, then you called me out to Terrana, to see the immense destruction caused, and told me that we will be going ahead with Project: Fallen Angel. That was fine too, I expected you to come to your senses. Since then, though, all you have done is cry about 'is this the right thing to do?'" She continued. Rychard's face turned from one of sadness to pure anger, as he slapped his mother and threw everything from his desk.

"You really know how to make me angry, mother" He grunted, as Skylar backed away. "Do you want to know the real reason why I revived this project?" He asked.

"Yes..." Skylar nodded, fearfully.

"This world is sick, the governments are corrupt, the Academies throw our children into battle, the Crystalliam Knights sit in their bunkers, never being used. The Empire expands and murders. I tried to improve this world through technology, but mankind just uses each new invention as a new prod to poke their neighbours with" Rychard stated as he looked out of the window.

"I'm not proud of my actions mother, I may question them, but I stick to them" Rychard continued.

"What's the endgame, Rychie?" Skylar asked.

"The endgame is the same thing it has always been. We will ascend, and become as gods! There will be no need for any Harbingers in my new world, no otherwordly beings. Just me." Rychard grinned.

"And what about me?" Skylar asked, with a worried look on her face. Rychard didn't reply, but just chuckled as the tape ended.

"What's this? A kindred spirit?" Treleva grinned from ear to ear in delight.