DIVINE CHAMPIONS 6: A FINAL CONFLICT

MAGIC: BETWEEN THE STAFFS

The champions were led to the throne room, which was very beautifully crafted. The stones were cut perfectly, wonderfully leveled, and painted white. Rick was proud of his grandfather's guidance that made his men succeed. The areas of attachment between the stones had been painted crimson. The designs were made, perhaps, by local workers, who had painted an idol of who Kira told to be Viracocha, engraved in gold over red, right above the throne. The only seat in the room was the throne. The only touch of modernization was the electricity that lit up the room of ancient looks. The throne was stone made too, a little higher than where everyone stood. Three stairs led to the crimson painted throne, which was bordered by golden lines. Not painted, but actual gold was engraved. The throne had two arm rests, on which, in white, painted were figures, perhaps of Inca gods and heroes.

Opposite the throne, there was the entrance, the main entrance of the palace, that they had entered through. It was trapezium shaped, with two doors sliding in opposite directions. On top of the entrance, the wall was covered by the golden painting of who Kira called Inti, son of Viracocha, and Vespasa's patron. It was so exciting how these paganist cities still worked. There were a very few of them remaining, given the centuries of colonization, but Rick considered them treasures of knowledge that needed to be protected at all costs. The painting of Inti had an interesting thing. Given the throne room was the first room from the main entrance, the mouth of the Inca god was left open, with a nice little hole that would let the Sun rays from outside. Ishaan had asked Kira about it, who had said, "See carefully. Viracocha's position is a little below the level of Inti's position. Viracocha is the creator of everything. He is the world's god for us. So, during the daytime, Inti's rays come inside through him, fall on Viracocha and lighten him up. And bathed in Inti's rays, Viracocha and his creation shines up." Rick was in awe of the idea. He missed Rishi more than ever. He would have been intrigued by this idea. He would have loved Vespasa. Mikael had his mouth opened, as if his jaws had dropped. Then, he muttered, "Helige Tyr." (Holy Tyr)

At that moment, Anaya, who had excused herself for a while, entered. She had changed her vest and pants, and put on a tunic, something an Inca Queen would wear. She still wore her diamond bracelet. She sat on the throne, as a man of about her age followed him in a similar attire, and stood by her side. He had very less hair on his head, almost nil. He had deep blue eyes, was nearly as tall as Rick was, and a bite mark on his cheek said that the man could fight his battles efficiently. He eyed Rick, Ishaan and Mikael very closely. He had a hardened expression, and a usual cheerfulness that someone has at his age was missing. Anaya eyed Rick too, and said, "I'm sorry that I didn't notice it earlier. But you seem highly familiar."

And suddenly, Rick realized that he had seen Anaya before. As he was thinking of the possible places where he could have seen the Vespasian Queen, Mikael asked, "Have you ever been to Helheim?"

"Address her as Your Highness." The man beside her said with stiffness.

"Quiet, Marc." Anaya said, "There is no need. I hate being called Highness."

"But it is necessary."

"She said," Kira interrupted, "She doesn't like it." Marc didn't seem to like being told, at least not by anyone younger than him. But he was level-headed enough to not argue with the Queen's sister.

"Could you continue, Mr. Sarkar?" Anaya said.

"Yes." Rick told her everything, from Rishi's cleansing Pankhpur to his trip to Helheim, from saving Idunn and Heimdall to retrieving the Norns' prophecy. At last, he added on whatever updates he had of the current situation. Anaya's expression hardened, as she muttered, "If Asgard has been attacked..."

"It is a diversion." Ishaan said, "It allows Berg to collect all the Crystals with all the help he was getting without the gods meddling in his way. Which is why, we need to secure one Crystal here in Vespasa."