Dimensional Descent

When Leonel’s vision cleared, he was greeted by grand golden gates. Unlike the day when the envoys of the Void Palace arrived, they were firmly shut this time around.

Familiar motes of light still hung about the skies, illuminating even the day with both a delicate light and a refreshing fragrance. Standing here made even mundane air taste better that usual, the intoxicating feeling filling your lungs to the brink.

Leonel’s hands slipped into his pockets, his expression hard to read. It was already normally difficult to tell what was going through his head, but at the moment it seemed to be even more so than usual.

The three Feather Sword warriors stood at the helm waiting beneath the tall gates. The guards on either side of the it stood at attention, their faces obscured by their golden armor and their bodies as rigid as statues.

Leonel found this situation to be a bit odd. Since the Luxnix should have known they were coming why was it that the gates were closed?

Leonel swept another glance over the surroundings, leisurely taking it all in before his gaze once more landed on the Feather Sword warriors. They still stood beneath the gates without movement but they seemed to be silently communicating with one another. It didn’t take a genius to guess that they were ‘confused’ about what was going on as well.

“This policy seemed to have changed.” The male Feather Sword warrior spoke. “Ever since that attack security has been a bit tighter.”

“You know that it’s not that simple. It was Lady Fluttering Star Order who commanded us to do this.”

The three fell into silence after they heard these words.

Fluttering Star Order was part of the Wisdom Arm of the main family, but her identity was a bit more sensitive than this. She had also been experiencing the suppression of her other family members for a long while now and it only seemed to have increased after the envoys of the Void Palace returned.

The three Feather Sword warriors had expected to face some resistance, but they weren’t in position to ignore the orders of a Star Order Elder, especially since they were only Zero Point Feather Sword warriors, they didn’t have as much leeway as their Four, Eight and Twelve Point superiors. To many, they were only considered to be trainees.

Knowing the sensitivity of the issue, though they could do so, the three Feather Star warriors didn’t dare to command the guards to open the gates.

Though their status was low, that was only relative to the true big shots. Anyone who could become a Feather Star warrior was an elite among the main family’s geniuses. Mere Gate Guards couldn’t ignore their orders at all.

However, whether one could do versus whether one should do something were two completely different matters entirely. To reach their position, these three didn’t only have to have combat talent, but they were also very intelligent. They knew how to toe the political line.

Fluttering Star Order had informed them to bring the Branch family members to the estate, and they had done so. They had even gone out of their way to speak flowery words and made these kids feel like they truly had a chance to snatch greatness. They had done enough.

If the gates were shut here, Fluttering Star Order couldn’t blame them.

Leonel continued to silently observe this awkward atmosphere as the minutes began to tick by. However, on the inside, his displeasure was already growing.

He could make a guess at what was going on. Clearly not everyone in the Luxnix family were willing to welcome them with open arms and these Feather Sword warriors were caught in the middle of this strife. However, this didn’t stop Leonel from disliking the situation in the slightest.

“Yip!”

Little Blackstar, who had found his way back to Leonel’s head, patted his forehead with a small paw. At least the little guy had a conscience, Leonel had almost assumed that he would choose letting those girls play with him over following him.

The little mink actually seemed to be warning Leonel about his temper, something that made Leonel himself chuckle lightly. Which of them was the older one now? You would think that Little Blackstar would have come back more bestial after absorbing all that Void Beast blood, but he was actually like this now.

‘Alright, alright, I know. They’re a big Sixth Dimensional family, I won’t cause trouble.’

Little Blackstar’s paw patting Leonel’s forehead again, but the look in the little guy’s eye made it obvious that he didn’t believe Leonel’s words even for one moment.

Leonel smiled and shook his head. ‘Maybe I should just leave. How long do they expect to have me wait at this gate?’

Leonel hadn’t come for the Luxnix to begin with. He had only come here because his grandfather had told him his mother was waiting for him, it was only after coming to this place that he learned about all of this Void Palace nonsense and realized that this situation might be more complex than he thought.

Unfortunately, his mother was nowhere to be seen and he had no idea how to find her. In fact, it even seemed from those gifts that she didn’t want to be found for whatever reason.

In that case, why was he wasting his time here, then?

Having lost his patience, Leonel looked over to Noah. He planned on explaining his thoughts and then Noah could decide for himself whether to stay or not. However, just when he was going to do so, something caught his attention.

On the road on the opposite side of the closed golden gates, a white robed old woman was walking her way forward. Though her gait seemed slow, her every step took her tens of meters. In just a few blinks, she had made it to the gate with a light smile on her face.

“Open the gates.” She spoke lightly, her tone leaving no room for negotiation.

“Yes!”

The Gate Guards didn’t dare to hesitate. This was a Star Order Elder before them, the now infamous Fluttering Star Order!

[More coming 🙂 08/04/22]