A troubled Jenkins returned ho from the Astral Plane. He carefully transcribed the information he had received from the Star Spirit, planning to share it with the Church when he went to retrieve the two contained items on Thursday.
He sighed, weighed down by the impending finale. It struck him that the Difference Engine, by pushing the world toward doomsday, was in a way following the path of fate. Yet, its grand ritual was that of a Reverser of Fate, an act of defiance. The machine had sohow managed to claim both sides of the coin.
"But the final Savior's Emblem represents fate itself," he mused. "I wonder if that's so kind of hint."
Later, under the cover of darkness, he made his way to the apartnt the old elf was renting. The elf was already waiting for him with drinks prepared. As Jenkins stepped inside, the old elf bowed with profound respect, which made Jenkins feel a little awkward.
"Please, don't stop . You have beco the true World Tree Seedling now. Even in the Evergreen Forest, you would be qualified to lead the next generation of elves. In this world, aside from my Lord, there is no one nobler in my eyes. Praise the World Tree! Praise the Lord of Blossoms!"
The old elf seed almost ecstatic, his joy genuine and overwhelming.
His mood was infectious, and Jenkins montarily forgot the worries that had been plaguing him.
"On my way here, I was half-worried I'd find a farewell note and you already on your way to the great beyond," Jenkins confessed. "Oh, I'm not cursing you or anything. It's just that your tone when we parted this morning... it was as if you had witnessed all you needed to and had no regrets left."
"I truly have no regrets," the old elf said, waving a hand, "but I still wish to return to my holand to be laid to rest."
He gestured for Jenkins to sit and have a drink with him. The beverage was low in alcohol and tasted more like fruit juice, so Jenkins gladly accepted.
"To witness today's events in my lifeti is the greatest honor imaginable," the elf declared. "To observe a mber of the royal sacrificial elves receive the World Tree's blessing... in the Prosperous Forest, only the high elves of the upper echelons are granted such a privilege."
"Elves have social classes?" Jenkins leaned forward on the sofa, seizing the opportunity to ask.
"Of course, and they are even more rigid than those of humans. In any case, congratulations, Jenkins. Please, allow to call you that. To have t you and helped you in this final chapter of my life has been my greatest honor."
"eting you has been my good fortune as well," Jenkins replied instantly. He placed a hand on the old elf's shoulder, and a verdant light seeped into his skin. Beneath the elf's aged, wrinkled flesh, his blood vessels suddenly bulged, but what flowed within them was not blood, but a liquid glowing with green fluorescence.
The elf let out a long sigh. As his veins montarily pulsed before returning to normal, the very tone of his sigh seed to have changed.
"This should give you at least another two hundred years," Jenkins explained. "I think that'll be enough to get you back to the Prosperous Forest alive. While I do have a key that can open a path to the outside, I can't control where it leads, so you're better off waiting until this epoch ends."
"Two hundred years?" the elf murmured, looking down at his hands. Though his skin hadn't changed much, he could feel the vibrant life force coursing through his body.
"I have another two hundred years?" he asked again, his expression a mixture of disbelief and amusent.
"Not happy?" Jenkins raised an eyebrow.
"Of course I'm happy, just... I never expected it," the elf replied. "This final part of my life has been so extraordinary. Perhaps I should use this ti I've been given to record everything I've seen, write a moir or a novel. But... will giving two hundred years cause you any harm?"
"A little, but nothing a short rest won't fix," Jenkins assured him.
To be precise, the strain vanished in the ti it took to draw a few breaths. The World Tree Seedling had broken through the limitations of the Life Source. He could now freely alter the life cycle of any mortal being; reverting the old elf to the physical state he was in two hundred years ago was a simple matter.
The experience gave him a renewed appreciation for the sheer power of an innate Savior ability. It made him wonder just how potent his other Savior abilities would be if they, too, had been his from the start.
When he returned ho, he found Hathaway in his bedroom, dressed in her nightgown. She was asking about the strange phenonon they had all seen in the direction of the Evergreen Forest. Jenkins explained everything without hiding the truth, even demonstrating his sublimated power for her.
Hathaway worried that this would make Jenkins a target for all to see, but she was also imnsely proud that the man she had chosen was now walking a path that carried the fate of the world.
And to celebrate, she decided to show Jenkins sothing very nice indeed.
Though Jenkins stayed in that night, the world's changes did not pause for a mont. On Wednesday morning, the newspaper reported that the great fire in the south was spreading northward even faster. Soon after, the Church inford him that another spatial anomaly had appeared near Nolan.
By now, a quarter of Cheslan had been consud by the inferno. While the Cheslan military had managed to maintain order for the ti being, a growing number of refugees were pouring across the borders, entering the Fidektri Kingdom from the west and the Hamparvo Kingdom from the north. Both nations were actively accepting the refugees and pressing the Church to find a way to extinguish the blaze.
At this rate, it seed the fire could ignite the entire southern region of the continent before the cold northern currents of winter had a chance to arrive.
When Jenkins went out that day, the gray haze in the sky was so thick that it completely obscured the sun. Arriving at the Sage's Church for the day's eting, he imdiately announced to the other churches that he had truly beco the World Tree Seedling and hoped that, through the Sage's Church, they could all unite.
It was the first ti since the etings began that soone had openly proposed their own church take the lead in the alliance. Though it sounded like sothing that would be imdiately rejected, none of the other eleven churches voiced any strong opposition.
By now, everyone knew this was no ti for self-interest. Not counting the Believers of Lies, the Sage's Church, with its Saint Son serving as a Savior, did indeed have a legitimate claim to lead them.
The rest of Wednesday passed with an unusual peace for Jenkins. Besides attending the eting, his only other task was to visit the red dragon and inform it that a trip to the Astral Plane might be necessary within the next few weeks.
The dragon naturally consented, though it noted it couldn't travel to the Astral Plane on its own and would need Jenkins to open a gate for it.
The ti had also co to claim the Ice Soul from Dolores. Although a week had passed without any sign of the Benefactors from the Treehouse or the Gear Artisans' Guild, Jenkins suspected they were rely waiting for him to let his guard down before striking.
He arranged to have dinner at the residence where Sarlis II was staying, joining the Stuarts for their al. Afterward, in the study with Dolores and Alexia, he finally brought up the matter.
They readily agreed, but when Jenkins repeated the sa steps he had used to retrieve the King Soul from Sigrid, he saw no reaction. The King Soul in Dolores's chest did not detach.
He tried rephrasing his request, but the Ice Soul remained stubbornly in place. Jenkins was baffled, and Dolores grew angry with herself. In the princess's mind, the transfer of a King Soul required an oath of allegiance—true loyalty. If an "outsider" like Sigrid Capet could do it, then her inability to do so was a personal failure. She was furious at herself.
Jenkins was at a loss, so after a quick discussion with Alexia, he traveled to the Astral Plane to consult the Star Spirit once more. The spirit offered so insight, explaining that a King Soul represents the qualification to beco a leader of humanity. Sigrid Capet had no ambition to be a ruler, so a simple pledge of loyalty was enough for the King Soul to transfer.
Dolores Stuart, however, was destined to beco the queen of the northern kingdom. She was, by her very nature, a qualified human leader. For her to transfer the King Soul, she would either have to be willing to renounce her throne, or Jenkins would have to beco an even more qualified leader than she was.
"Dolores renouncing the throne is out of the question," Jenkins concluded. "We need the human kingdoms under our control. So, to transfer the Ice Soul, do I have to officially beco the heir to the Fidektri Kingdom?"
Rakour imdiately corrected his line of thinking. The two human kingdoms were equal in status. Even if he beca king, he would not necessarily be considered more qualified to lead humanity than the current wielder of the Ice Soul.
"So, not only do I need to beco king, but the northern kingdom must also voluntarily beco a 'vassal' to Fidektri?" Jenkins summarized upon returning to the study. His words seed to soothe Dolores's wounded pride. Alexia, sipping her tea from a small armchair to the side, looked on with a faint, amused smile at her student's reaction.
"Getting Sarlis II to agree to a nominal vassalage will be difficult, but not impossible," Alexia stated. "Dolores and I can handle that part. But what about your ascension, Jenkins? Are you going to wait, or are you going to make your move now?"
"I can't wait any longer," Jenkins declared, leaning forward from his seat beside Alexia to share his thoughts.
"Usurping a throne is sothing you can never be fully prepared for. I intend to act soon. Miss Windsor has already gathered more than enough supporters. My plan is to strike during the Tri-King Summit, on a day when a major issue is being discussed. I'll take my supporters and confront them directly at the city hall. With Dolores's father there to support , it should help compensate for so of the lack of legitimacy."
"And when do you plan to do this?" the princess asked, her interest piqued.
"How about tomorrow?" Jenkins quipped, fully aware that even in a rush, a move of this magnitude required careful planning.
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