Around noon

  In the city of Selim

  At the top floor of the tower of Reverend Michael Lucius

  Reverend Lucius' study was a large, hexagonal room encompassing the entire top floor of the tower. At its heart stood a large, heavy oak desk, its surface worn by years of use. In front of it, several chairs and a Dragon-sized sitting cushion were neatly positioned. Bookshelves and cupboards lined most of the walls, symmetrically arranged to frame four of the six large windows. The fifth window sat above where the stairwell emerged from the floor, while the sixth overlooked the open space on the far side of the room, behind the desk.

  Two things stood out in that space: One was a smaller table with two chairs next to it. Atop that table sat an expensive-looking marble Ecchnasi board with hand-carved game pieces. A popular and timeless game of strategy played across most of Ceal, the animals used as pieces typically varied by region. Traditionally, the pieces were modeled after two species of local fauna, though some boards also featured more exotic or even purely fantastical creatures.

  Reverend Lucius' game was of the traditional variety: the white pieces were carved into the shape of Thylas, while the black ones resembled Miacis. Both were long-tailed, small-to-medium-sized Fatikelij - the uncivilized animals, as opposed to us Cemarelij - but they differed in both behavior and appearance. Thylas were highly social marsupials with slender, stiff tails, preferring to hunt on the ground, and using pack tactics to bring down larger prey. In contrast, Miacis were arboreal opportunistic scavengers and predators with swishy, slightly bushy tails that usually formed monogamous pairs or small family groups. Notably, Miacis were also among the few Fatikelij species that could instinctively wield a basic degree of Iserialogy.

  The game itself revolved around strategically moving the pieces around into advantageous positions in an attempt to break through the opponent's lines. The ultimate goal was to occupy a space in the opponent's home row and have it remain there for one turn without getting captured. For that purpose, the placement of your own pieces was as important as keeping a close watch on the moves of your opponent. With a good formation you could send one of your pieces right to the far side of the board, capturing multiple enemy pieces in the process. However, your opponent could also bait one of your pieces to capture one of his, thus breaking your formation and potentially leaving you in a bad situation. During my time here in Selim, I had played many a game against the old Seraph, and yet my winning record remained frustratingly low.

  The second notable feature was a luxurious bird cage connecting to the wall to the left of the large window. Inside, four Zodian Finches - one red, one yellow, one black and one grey - excitedly twittered at our arrival. These cheerful little birds originally stemmed from the distant Zodiac Isles located deep within the Yaeresic Ocean. Their amicable nature and cheerful songs made them popular pets all over the land, and the quartet of birds clearly held a very special place in the heart of the old Seraph. Between our games of Ecchnasi and me querying the old man's extensive knowledge about one thing or another, I had occasionally walked in on him gently speaking to his little birds.

  Today, however, he spared no thought for his pets. Instead, he walked directly over to a bookshelf on the right wall with a speed that was quite impressive for his age. Granted, Seraph have longer lifespans than Celinne and Nefilim - though us Dragons still easily live twice as long - but at his proud age of 138 years, he was well past his prime.

  He gestured for us to sit down as he went about browsing through the books on the shelf. My companions each picked a chair to sit in - Jioan naturally choosing one of the tail-accommodating variants, its backrest featuring a gap wide enough for his bushy tail. Meanwhile, I sat down on the floor cushion that was made specifically for Lyerelij such as myself. It did not escape my notice that none of the books in this room had fallen off their shelves. As Reverend Lucius found the tome he was looking for, I realized why: with a small motion of his hand, the old Seraph cast a minor Iserialogy of Reyra - the element of order. The spell briefly caused an Iserial barrier to become visible and open up, allowing him to access the books within.

  Reverend Lucius removed the bulky tome from the shelf with both hands, carried it over to his desk and placed it there with a loud thud. He then returned to the bookshelf, effortlessly replacing the Iserial barrier. Much like Jioan's traps, Claudia's enchantments, and Marius' imbuements, the ability to create Iserial barriers beyond the instinctive Iserial Field was a talent unique to a select few. The ease with which Reverend Lucius placed the barrier on the bookshelf spoke of the decades of experience the elderly Seraph clearly had in this field.

  Walking back over to his desk, he sat down in his big chair on the other side of the desk, which was specifically made for Seraph, featuring a narrow backrest that left plenty of room for wings. He opened what looked like a very old tome, starting around the middle and then flipping through the thick, leathery pages one at a time with a stern expression on his face. My friends and I exchanged worried glances. Normally, Reverend Lucius was quite talkative, happy for every ounce of knowledge he could impart upon anyone within earshot, but ever since ushering us out of the library he had scarcely said a word.

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  "Ah, here we have it!" he finally exclaimed, turning the tome around to give us a better look. "These creatures you mentioned, did they by chance look anything like this?"

  Pictures of various twisted abominations covered much of the two open pages. Though none of them looked exactly like any of the three we had encountered, the general appearance was unmistakably the same. With bodies covered in horns, spines, claws, and fangs, the creatures depicted appeared to be the very manifestations of pain. A Kanta's worth of the creatures were shown on the open pages, some walking upright on two legs, others down on all fours, and still others on six legs. Some sported wings, some had four arms in addition to two legs, while others had four legs and two arms. What they all had in common was a hideousness beyond description, coupled with an aggressive, bloodthirsty snarl on their faces.

  "Demons," he said in a grave voice, taking the expressions of recognition on our faces as confirmation. "Twisted beings summoned from another world during the great war by the wicked Wel. The Goddess Nova used her power to seal them away near the end of the war a thousand years ago. However, the prophesized return of our Goddess is by now several years overdue, and it would seem that the seal is finally breaking. Reports of similar events have lately been coming in from all over the kingdom."

  "What'cha sayin'?" Marius asked. "That there's these Demon thingies poppin' up all o'er tha world?"

  "It is not always Demons," the old Seraph replied. "In fact, yours is the first I have heard about Demons in a while. Other reports speak of berserk spirits, beasts, elementals, even plants... But back to the matter at hand. In the past, Demons have occasionally shown up here and there, but when they did, they were usually alone. And you said you encountered three of them just this morning?"

  Jioan nodded. "We did, and we could have probably found more if we had stayed out and investigated. From what I've heard on our way here the city guard has probably engaged some of these Demons, or whatever they're called, but they're giving our soldiers a run for their money."

  "So, what does all this amount to?" I inquired. "You just said that this many Demons appearing is not natural, and you also mentioned Nova sealing them behind a seal that seems to be weakening. And now there's these earthquakes that started around the same time the reports began coming in. Please tell me the conclusion my mind is leading me to is wrong."

  Reverend Lucius was about to reply, when another earthquake struck, stronger yet again than those before. It felt like a herd of Epiphras was stampeding past the tower, with one of them violently bumping into the structure every now and then. The tower shook quite violently. The old Seraph, securely seated in his heavy chair, still gripped the table in front of him tightly, his eyes wildly darting around the room. The barriers on all the bookshelves were holding, and he had clearly secured his cupboards as well. The four Zodian finches were panicking inside their cage, flitting around and chirping anxiously. Marius was thrown off his own chair and landed on the floor with a swear, while Jioan and Claudia struggled to avoid the same fate. As for me, I was glad to be sitting on the floor in the first place.

  Not only was it noticeably stronger than the last quake, but it also lasted much longer. Eventually, it came to an end. However, as the noise of the tremor subsided, I became aware of panicked voices outside. With the others still unsteady on their two feet after this experience, I rushed over to the nearest window on all fours to assess the situation outside. What I saw made me gasp in shock: Not just one, but several nearby buildings had been damaged by this latest quake. Since Selim was not in an area prone to earthquakes, the people here had never had to account for the earth itself shaking. Thus, most buildings had not been constructed to withstand this kind of natural disaster, and the consequences of that were now becoming painfully apparent:

  A wall had torn away from one of the buildings and crashed into a market stall on the road below. Another house had begun leaning into its neighbor, as if exhausted from standing upright. Half a storefront had simply collapsed, and shingles from this and many other buildings littered every road. The vast majority of windows had shattered, and from the looks of it, a poorly secured black iron cauldron had crashed through an upstairs wall, leaving a notable dent in the flagstone pavement below.

  And in the midst of this devastation were the people caught up in it, many screaming or moaning. Most were thankfully unharmed, their Iserial Fields having protected them from the odd falling shingle, but others had not been so lucky. A Nefilim lay motionless on the ground near some fallen debris, bleeding heavily from the head, while a Gryph desperately tried to pull herself free from the wall that had collapsed on top of her. And those were only the victims I could see through the throng of scared and confused people - some admirably rushing to help the injured, while others stood frozen in shock or scrambled in search of safety.

  "The earthquake caused considerable damage," I reported briefly, describing what I saw. Then, looking back over my shoulder I added: "We should get out there and help."

  "Agreed!" Claudia replied, her voice still a bit shaky in the aftermath of the quake, but firm with determination. "But more importantly, if all this means what I think it means, we have to let Commander Colran know. Idra, you fly over to the garrison and tell him. We'll handle the situation outside."

  I nodded my consent, and Claudia, Marius and Jioan hurried down the stairs and out of the study in short order. Meanwhile, I turned back to face Reverend Lucius.

  "Well then, if I'm to report this in, I'd better not rely on my assumptions. So please tell me, what is the worst-case scenario that we can expect?"

  And tell me he did, my spirits sinking with every word.

  "Oh, this is bad," I fretted once he had finished. "This is very bad indeed. Even if they mobilize right now it might already be too late."

  I loped back toward the rear window. "Reverend Lucius, do you mind if I...?"

  "It is as you say, Idra. Every moment counts! Fly swift, and may the Goddess watch over you!"

  I needed no further permission. Using my Iserialogy, I unlatched the window and flung it open. It was easily wide enough for me to leap through. Once in the air, I spread my wings and sped toward the garrison as fast as they would carry me.

  

  
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    Initial: Jade Cocoon 2: 16 - Travler
  
    


  
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    Earthquake: Valkyrie Profile: 112 - Emotion Upset
  
    


  
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    Earthquake aftermath: Star Ocean ~ Till the End of Time: 05 - Imbalance