SSS Talent: From Trash to Tyrant

With Maris gone, Darian waited until the door had fully closed before settling back into his chair.

”Now that my sister is out of the room, we can talk about the other matter.” His tone changed slightly. ”The investigations, the Void Creatures, everything connected to that. I don’t share those details with her, so I can tell you what I’ve found without worrying about it spreading any farther.”

Trafalgar nodded. ”That’s fine. I can start. I’ve made quite a bit of progress since the last time we talked about this.”

Darian’s attention sharpened immediately.

”You remember the evidence you gave me back then. I kept following it, and eventually it led me to that event with the alchemists, chemists, engineers, and everyone else involved in that kind of research.”

Trafalgar paused there for a moment.

He still wasn’t sure how much he wanted to tell Darian. There were details involving another Great Family that he had no intention of putting on the table yet, especially when even Trafalgar himself still lacked enough proof to know exactly how deep their involvement went.

But he could give Darian enough.

”We found the man responsible for part of what happened here in Thal’zar territory.”

Darian went completely still.

”The one from the documents?”

”The same one.”

Darian leaned forward. ”Where is he now? What happened to him?”

There was anger behind the question, and Trafalgar couldn’t exactly blame him. Darian had watched his territory become a testing ground for things that should never have been there in the first place.

Trafalgar raised one hand slightly. ”Relax. You don’t need to worry about him anymore. Let’s just say what happened to him was probably worse than dying quickly, and he wasn’t exactly someone worth feeling sorry for.”

Darian’s jaw remained tight. ”That doesn’t answer much.”

”It answers the important part.”

Trafalgar shifted back against the sofa.

”You probably heard about the attack on the train heading toward the event.”

Darian nodded. ”Of course. It was treated as a terrorist attack. Your name came up constantly afterward because you were one of the main people involved in dealing with it.”

”That’s the one.”

Cynthia remained quiet beside Trafalgar, already familiar with enough of the story that there was little reason for her to interrupt. Rhosyn listened from her own chair, her expression giving away almost nothing.

”Several things happened after that,” Trafalgar continued. ”You don’t need every detail, but the man we found was directly involved in researching the intelligent Void Creature alongside Icarus.”

That made Darian’s expression change again.

”Alongside Icarus?”

”Yes.”

Darian sat back slowly, absorbing that.

”Then what I gave you really did lead somewhere.”

”It did. We got lucky in places, but without what you found originally, it would’ve taken me much longer to connect everything.”

Darian was quiet for a few seconds before nodding.

”Then I suppose it’s my turn.”

Trafalgar gestured for him to continue.

”What I’ve found is also sensitive. Almost nobody in Thal’zar territory knows the full picture. Varek does, along with a few people I trust enough to keep close, but even most of my family doesn’t know.”

He glanced briefly toward the door Maris had used.

”You’ve already seen why. If someone inside the family decides to speak with the wrong person, I don’t want information like this becoming part of whatever bargain they’re trying to make.”

”Reasonable.”

Darian continued. ”There has been more movement from Void Creatures over the last few years. The incidents near Vaelion territory were large enough that most of the Eight Great Families heard about them, along with several powerful families outside the Eight.”

Trafalgar nodded slowly. That part wasn’t new.

”But it isn’t only Vaelion,” Darian added. ”There have been smaller incidents elsewhere too. More rifts, more creatures getting through, and enough of them that the pattern is starting to bother me.”

”Here as well?”

”A few times.”

Darian’s striped tail shifted behind his chair.

”We had several rifts open inside Thal’zar territory. Fortunately, none were near major cities or towns. Most appeared in forests or more isolated areas, so we were able to contain them before things became serious.”

”Casualties?”

”Very few. A few travellers and people who happened to be in the wrong place before our forces arrived. Once the rifts were found, we closed them quickly.”

Trafalgar stayed quiet for a moment.

”And about the intelligent one, any news?”

Darian shook his head.

”Nothing.”

That answer was disappointing, though expected.

”No sightings that match it. No behaviour strange enough to make me think it was involved either. I’ve kept people looking, but if that thing is still alive, it hasn’t shown itself anywhere we can trace.”

Trafalgar rubbed his thumb against his fingers as he thought.

The increased number of rifts was the more important part.

He already knew the situation surrounding the Void was getting worse, but hearing Darian describe similar incidents across Thal’zar territory only added another piece to something Trafalgar didn’t particularly like looking at.

Darian watched him for a moment.

”You already knew there were more attacks.”

”I knew about several. I didn’t know how frequent they’d become here.”

”And that worries you?”

Trafalgar looked back at him.

”A bit.”

Darian waited, clearly expecting more.

Trafalgar gave him nothing.

There were things Darian still didn’t need to know.

The weakening barrier was one of them.

For now.

Darian seemed to understand that Trafalgar wasn’t going to continue and didn’t push immediately.

”Then I’ll keep doing what I’ve been doing. Any unusual rift, any creature behaving differently, anything connected to the intelligent one, I’ll make sure it reaches you.”

”Good.”

Trafalgar’s answer came easily.

”I’m glad you told me this. Keep the information inside that small circle you’ve built. The fewer people who know what you’re watching for, the better.”

Darian nodded.

”I was planning to.”

Trafalgar studied him for another moment.

Darian had grown considerably since their first meetings. His territory had recovered, his military was stronger, and he had enough control over his own family to run investigations without half the people around him knowing what he was doing.

That made him useful.

More importantly, it made him reliable.

Darian noticed the way Trafalgar was looking at him.

”You think something worse is coming, don’t you?”

Trafalgar remained quiet for a second before answering.

”I do.”

Darian’s expression tightened.

”What?”

Trafalgar shook his head.

”Nothing you need to worry about yet.”

That clearly wasn’t the answer Darian wanted.

Trafalgar continued before he could press him.

”For now, keep doing what you’ve been doing. Build your territory, keep your people ready, and send me anything strange involving the Void.”

He leaned back again.

”You’re doing well, Darian.”

For a moment, the tiger Beastkin seemed genuinely surprised by the praise. ”I’ll take that seriously coming from you.”