TBATE: A Hero's Return

The New Leader of Alacrya

In case you are curious, Cyrene is a nod to the home of Basilisks detailed in Pliny's Naturalis Historia, the oldest known piece of literature that references the mythical creatures.

The next couple of weeks had been a flurry of activity for the Leywin household. Virion was immediately receptive to the idea of Ellie being the ambassador. He had seen firsthand how much she had grown over the years, trying her best to fill the large shoes left by Arthur during his absence in Dicathen. He thought it would be a nice change of pace for the young mage to finally step out of her brother's shadow.

Alice insisted on going with Ellie. After Reynold's death and Arthur's disappearance, she became extremely overprotective of her daughter and couldn't stand to be an entire continent away from her. While Arthur was sad that he couldn't join them due to his duties as a lance of Elenoir, he was nonetheless glad to know that they would have each other to keep company.

After they packed everything needed, they got ready to pass through the portal to enter Alacrya. Typically, special permission and bureaucracy would be required for a military presence of one continent to pass into the other according to the peace treaty Virion and Seris had drafted together. Arthur, the strongest lance, would typically qualify as a "Dicathen military presence."

Luckily, he was given special permission by Alacrya to enter whenever he wished to do so. His status as a war hero that helped the citizens of Alacrya during the war, alongside the new position his sister held, led both sides to agree that he would be considered an exception.

Ellie was brimming with excitement at stepping foot on another continent. She had heard much of it from the various Alacryans she had met during the early stages of peace talks and only grew more excited to see it after Arthur regaled her with stories of his time there.

She immediately realized its grandeur was highly downplayed when she crossed the threshold.

Central Dominion was a wondrous place, even within the advanced continent of Alacrya it was a part of. Its towering buildings were imbued with an aura of enchantment as if they were alive with mystical energy. The intricate carvings that adorned the facades of the buildings seemed to shift and move, like living creatures, and the rows of gleaming windows cast a magical light onto the cobblestone streets below.

Due to the time difference between Alacrya and Dicathen, what had been an early day in Dicathen was sunset in Alacrya.

As the day gave way to night, the city was bathed in a warm, ethereal glow. The lighting artifacts that lined the streets flickered with an otherworldly light, and the crowds of people that filled the city were a diverse mix of humans of every size and shape. The citizens of Central Dominion were dressed in the finest attire, each outfit a unique expression of the wearer's individuality and if they were a mage, magical power.

They continued to wander around the area. Alice and Ellie gasped as they took in their novel surroundings, while Arthur silently guided them to their destination. He smiled to himself seeing their reverie.

They soon reached Cyrene Park, the grand public park at the heart of the dominion. It was a place of truly awe-inspiring beauty. The gates around the park were composed of towering columns and ornate architecture that cast a spell of wonder over all who laid eyes upon it. Within its gates were wide rolling plains of freshly manicured grass for the people in the area to picnic in and have family gatherings. There were ponds and fountains across the expanse, with a well-paved tortuous walkway allowing people to walk and converse or run and exercise while enjoying the various sights on display.

By the time they had left the park, the day turned into night. It was in the night that the land truly came to life.

Theaters, opera houses, and ballrooms filled with music, dance, and entertainment, each performance infused with sound magic that brought the crowd to its feet. In the streets, mana beast-drawn carriages filled with enchanted passengers clattered past, their mana beasts' hooves ringing out in the night.