Locus Minoris Resistentiae

If one thought back, the first sign of oddity was the letter.

Sia remembered it with crystal clarity.

It had been two weeks since Death Consul Azik Eggers had returned. There had been rumours of 'His' appearance in the high seas a few months before that, alongside a crazy adventurer, and it was followed by events like the calming of the Berserk Sea and the breakdown of the Artificial Death project—good riddance—but nothing had come of it.

Then one day, the Consul had returned to the Southern Continent.

Even if 'He' was a Sequence 2, making 'Him' technically on the same level as Sia, 'He' was the direct descendant of Death. 'He' was the figure around whom the remains of the Balam Empire would rally without question.

Sia didn't even need to think about giving up 'Her' position as the head of the royal family faction. As a mark of 'Her' devotion, 'She' had even—if somewhat reluctantly, no one else needed to know—handed over the Grade 1 Sealed Artifact in 'Her' possession. The Sequence 1 Beyonder characteristic it held would no doubt serve better in the hands of the Consul.

'His' first course of action was to call for a meeting with the other descendants of their family, to discuss what 'He' had missed in 'His' millenia away.

They were halfway through their reports when there was a change in the air. Being members of the Death pathway, they had a spiritual intuition even before a fountain of bones sprung from the ground next to the Consul and arranged itself into the form of a four-metre tall skeleton.

It respectfully knelt and handed over a folded piece of paper.

The Consul took it and, without giving a look to the rest of them, 'He' started reading it.

Sia couldn't see the contents nor would 'She' dare to peek, but 'She' could clearly see the Consul's face. The cold emotionless stare flickered with a change that was too subtle to be grasped.

Then 'He' took a fountain pen and spare paper, penned down a short note of 'His' own—pausing after a few lines with that same flicker of expression again—and handed it over to the messenger who promptly vanished.

None of them asked any questions. The Consul gave no answers.

.

While that may have been the first sign, the next was undoubtedly the most notable.

Sia knocked on the office door, having a report to make on the handful of rogue factions that still refused to yield to them.

There was a silence that stretched for a dozen seconds before the Consul's clear voice rang, "Enter".

'She' stepped in.

The first thing 'She' noticed was that the spacious room was dark. One would imagine that to be the aesthetic of an inverted mausoleum, but they actually had gas lamps in almost all the rooms, and the Consul's office was no exception. In fact, it probably had a few more than the rest.

The second thing was probably what 'She' should have noticed first, but one could forgive 'Her' for completely skipping it, because there was no way 'She' was actually seeing someone curled up on the black couch, right?

'She' opened 'Her' mouth on instinct, then forced it shut, instead shifting 'Her' gaze to the Consul in wariness of causing offense. 'He' had already caught what 'She' was looking at—it was impossible not to.

Before 'He' could say anything though, the person on the couch sat up and asked with the barest traces of sleepiness, "Mr. Azik?"

Sia startled. Mr. Azik? Who did he think he was talking to, his friend? Did he want to be turned into a corpse? 'She' awaited how the Consul would deal with such insolence.