Redux: Lineage

An hour or so had passed after I'd informed Claurio of my need to contact my elder family members. She took me to a small chamber, decorated with many a mage's utensils and, most importantly, a large scrying mirror that she said would be able to directly contact Celestia herself.

"You have a personal method of contact with my Aunt?" I asked, looking over my shoulder as Claurio went to exit the room.

"All world leaders do," she nodded. "As far as I understand, it used to be that a king or queen would have a mirror to contact the Alicorn that watched over that part of the world. But since your kind are no longer so plentiful, that responsibility fell to Celestia and Luna."

I made no more than a grunt in response, turning back to the mirror and walking over to it. I heard the door close behind me, tapping a finger onto the cool surface of the polished glass, and closed my eyes, mentally reaching out towards Celestia as a method of location her. Thank the Goddesses that this mirror worked on its own magic, or I'd be needing someone to babysit me for the entire conversation.

"Claurio..." I heard Celestia grunt after a long moment of silence. "Now's really not the best of times to be..."

Celestiia trailed off after a moment, opening my eyes to see the woman in the large mirror, her hair tied back into a ponytail, her sleeves rolled up to her elbows, and dressed in barely more than hemp working rags, with dirt, mud, and all other forms of filth clinging to her.

"Richter?" Celestia asked in surprise, wiping a mud streak off her cheek. "What are you doing in Beaumont?"

"It's not a long story," I shrugged. "But it's an important one. Have you got time to hear it?"

"I've just made time to hear it," she said, crossing her arms over her chest and cocking an eyebrow.

So I set about explaining everything that had happened to us since the we'd arrived in the city such a short time ago. I wanted Celestia up to speed on the events that had already transpired, speaking off the attacks, the civil war, the deaths, and the political state between the House of Kaine's higher members. Her expression flowed from emotion to emotion like water through a mountain stream, moving from surprise, to anger, to sorrow in such a short time. Once she was here, I'd have Cassandra and Verella go over the proper details of their side of the whole story without needing to waste time catching the other Alicorn up.

Except... Celestia didn't seem to be coming. Neither did Luna.

"We can't lend assistance here," she said with a sigh.

"Pardon?" I asked in disbelief.

"We're dealing with bigger issues right now," she said.

"What's a bigger issue than possible enslavement at the hands of a Vampire God?" I asked in an annoyed tone.

"There's no need to snap," Celestia said in a stern manner of her own. "If you'd quiet down and listen for a moment, I'd explain what I'm going to do."

"Right... sorry," I nodded, lowering my gaze from hers.

"With this God being nothing more than a fairy tale at this point, it doesn't rank high enough on the scale to warrant us abandoning Winter's Maw in a time of desperate need, even if it is to stop a Vampire civil war. But, as you've said, this is a threat that needs to be dealt with. That's why I'm going to be delegating the responsibility of handling the Vampires to the Blades of Illuminia."

"Are... are you sure?" I asked, wondering about the size of the holy order versus the global population of Vampires.

"Positive," Celestia nodded. "You know yourself that they're infused with Holy magic, trained to be warriors from birth, and have an undying devotion to the Alicorn and the Goddesses."

"And now that I know more about the Goddesses, that faith seems infinitely less misplaced..." I said, scratching my head. "So, what am I going to do? Just ask dad to give them orders?"

"The command of the Blades falls to whichever Alicorn requests their assistance," Celestia shrugged. "You'll be their highest-ranking officer from the second you step into their fort."

"How are they going to know I'm really an Alicorn?" I asked, scratching the back of my head. "My face isn't as well-known as yours... do you need to write me a permission slip or something?"

"Have more faith in yourself, Richter," Celestia chuckled, shaking her head at my self-deprecation. "You may not be aware of it yourself, but you exude a holy aura that the Blades will be able to sense on you from hundreds of metres away. They may not recognise you by name or face, but your blood will sing to them and they will obey."

"Good to know... saves me the embarrassment of having to run to mommy for the three hundredth time," I said, sniggering slightly. "So, who am I looking for? I know the top two leaders are women, but I don't know their names."

"High Priestess Jenevive and Knight-Commander Cindria," Celestia answered. "You'll probably notice Jenvive very easily, but Cindria might be a bit harder to spot at first glance. She's about the same height as you, jet black hair, shaved on the sides and tied into a ponytail, tan skin, and a lot of tattoos. Probably going to have an axe or two on her belt somewhere and use the word 'bastard' a lot."

"Sounds like a fun woman," I nodded. "And Jenevive? Am I going to get a description of her?"

A small, sly grin spread onto Celestia's face as she remained deathly silent, merely turning a hand at me as she shrugged in a casual manner. I wasn't a fan of how she was avoiding the question and obviously so, but decided I wasn't going to waste the time begging at her feet for the answer, and would soon find out myself.

"So, where am I going to go to meet the Blades?" I asked. "My studies, what little there were, never mentioned an exact location."

"Their fortress is located in the valley of a mountain range in the Northern Plains," she said. "An extremely large compound that's self-sustaining thanks to skilled workers and magical assistance."

"Great... more fucking cold weather," I growled, sick and tired of the ice and snow after my adventure in Winter's Maw.

"Being a hero is never easy, Richter," Celestia commented, raising a finger as she spoke.

"All I ask is that it be warm," I sighed.

"Don't we all," she chuckled. "Back to the topic at hand: I want you to go the Blades' fortress, enlist their help, and bring this conflict to an end before it becomes problematic."

"The Kaine girls aren't going to be happy about you two not showing up," I added on.

"Richter, on the list of things that currently concern me enough to worry about them, that doesn't even make it into the top five hundred things," Celestia said, pinching her brow. "If they have a problem with the manner in which we're helping them, gracefully remove the offer and tell them to go it alone."

"That's a rather cold play," I said, not usually getting to see this side of Celestia.

"When you control all the pieces, you can make whatever plays you want and leave your followers with two options," Celestia said. "Fall in line, or fall to the side. Their choice."

"A respectable strategy," I nodded, looking down at the floor for a long moment before returning my gaze to Celestia. "How are we to get there? The Northern Plains is more than a few months' ride from here and I highly doubt the Vampires are willing to wait that long."

"I'll get in contact with Twilight and ask her to send you there," Celestia responded. "I'm sure she won't have her nose buried too far in some crazy experiment of hers."

"You don't believe that statement for even a second, do you?" I asked with a cocked eyebrow.

"I can try to," she sighed, shaking her head and looking back at me. "Is there anything else you need while you have me?"

"Nothing springs to mind immediately," I said, pursing my lips in thought.

"Then I shall bid you goodbye, my dear nephew," she said, bowing her head slightly before giving me a wide smile.

"You too, Aunt Celestia," I said, killing the connection between the two of us and heading towards the door.

A plan was formed and about to be set in motion. For some reason, I had a bad feeling this was going to take much, much longer.

Glad that wasn't the case.