Aetherian(Part 1): A War Begins

Belle

 When she reached the balcony of the Ivory Tower, Belle could sense a feeling of rage from Trevor, though he was only sitting on a bench near the edge of the platform. Whatever her father told him must have set off something in him, and Illyria found herself worried. She wasn't the only one, though. Standing beside the door to the balcony was a slightly taller girl with long, blonde hair and silver eyes, and Belle could feel worry from her, too.

"Wait, I know you," Belle said.

"You do?" the Epsilon girl asked.

"Of course," said Belle. "You're the one who led Trevor and his friends to Princess Andrella. It's Illyria, isn't it?"

"Yes, it is, my lady," said Illyria.

"I'm Belle Vestarr," Belle greeted. "It's a pleasure. Are you a friend of Trevor?"

"Yes. You?"

"He's like a brother to me," answered Belle. "I've known him all my life. I don't know what's wrong with him, though."

"You can feel his thoughts?" asked Illyria.

"My father is Aetherian's Guardian Commander," said Belle. "In fact, he's about the closest thing Trevor has to a father."

"Should we go and talk to him?" Illyria suggested.

"I don't know, I've never felt this from him before," said Belle. "He tends to lash out when he's angry."

"Well, if he does..." assured Illyria, slightly drawing a silver sword from her curved sheath. They both went out onto the platform and sat on either side of Trevor, who had his eyes closed as the light from the setting sun touched his face. Belle gripped Trevor's armor-plated hand, and his anger seemed to die down.

"Trevor?" said Illyria, and Trevor opened his eyes. He rubbed his eyes as if he was waking up from sleep.

"Tired?" asked Belle.

"You know, I thought you two would be the as far away from each other as possible," said Trevor.

"Why would we be?" asked Belle.

"Uh, no reason," answered Illyria, then she turned to Trevor and asked, "What's wrong?" They could feel even more anger from him, now, and saw tears in his eyes.

"Belle, do you know what your father did?" Trevor asked.

"No.," said Belle.

"This entire time, I've had another sister," Trevor snapped. Belle and Illyria widened their eyes.

"But I thought..." Belle started, but Trevor interrupted her.

"My entire life, I thought Mercy was the only family I had, and when she was butchered, I thought I had no one left," said Trevor, as more tears fell from his eyes. "I have an older sister, named Valeria. She's twenty years old today, and I just now learned about her. Commander Vestarr just know told me about her."

"Why?" asked Illyria.

"For my own safety, apparently," answered Trevor. "Whatever that means."

"But Mercy..."

"She died thinking that I was all she had, but I wasn't!" Trevor shouted.

"Who was she?" Illyria asked, trying to calm him down.

"Mercy?" said Trevor. "She was my sister. After our father was killed, we were both taken as wards of Snowfall, to the north. That's where we met the Vestarrs. They cared for us like we were their own children, but we knew we weren't. A year ago, there was a war in the Sandlands. After the last battle, my squad and I learned she had been captured by the Redwalds. We went east to save her, and my friends were all killed, except for one. Still, I went into that tower and found Mercy. She was..." Illyria quickly put a hand on his shoulder when he couldn't say what he saw. Belle knew, though. Mercy was butchered in that tower in the south, like a pig. She remembered saying that her chest was cut open and her insides were spilled onto the floor, along with all of her fingernails pulled out. It was horrible.

"My friends died trying to save my sister, but we were still too late," Trevor finished, wiping tears from his face. "The only thing that's not keeping me from jumping on the next ship to Alessia is whatever's under this city."

"Alessia?" said Belle.

"That's where Valeria is," Trevor answered. "Of course, I can't go there, since Alessia isn't in my jurisdiction."

"At least you had a sister," said Illyria.

"I thought you said you had one," Trevor reminded.

"Okay, what I meant was 'at least you loved your sister'," Illyria corrected. "The next time I see my sister, I'm going to take her head off." Belle and Trevor gave each other looks of concern. If Illyria was as old as she said she was, and she had another one who had loved and looked after her all that time, then why would she want to kill her?

"What was her name?" asked Belle.

"Tessa," Illyria answered.

"What did she do?" said Trevor. Belle suddenly sensed a feeling of absolute rage from Illyria. Whatever her sister did, just thinking about it made her angry to the point where her face turned red.

"Another story for another time?" Trevor suggested.

"Oh, yeah," Illyria snapped. Suddenly, she looked over the bench and drew her long, curved blade.

"What?" said Trevor, then he looked in the same direction, and ignited his blue lightsword. "Belle, stay down." Belle ducked her head below the back of the bench so whoever they were facing couldn't see her, and as Trevor and Illyria went to the center of the platform, she could hear them talking to someone.

"How did you find me again?" Trevor demanded.

"How could we not find you?" a deep, male voice answered.

"Who's that?" Belle whispered.

"You've been with this traitor ever since we met," said the deep voice.

"You call me a traitor?" asked Illyria. "I'm surprised that's not what you're calling my sister."

"Do you remember what happened last time, Rivenar?" said Trevor. "It was me against five, and I still won."

"It will be different this time," Rivenar corrected. Suddenly, Belle heard the sounds of Trevor's lightsword clashing on metal. There must have been a dozen clashes before a loud scream was heard. Belle feared the worst. It could have been Illyria who was killed. Suddenly, the fighting stopped after the sounds of rapid gunshots, and she recognized Illyria's voice.

"You almost shot us," she scolded.

"You're welcome," said another voice. It was Prince Roderick's. Belle came from behind the bench and found Trevor, Illyria, Melody, Roderick, and Arry Lysander standing above a dozen bodies, all scattered across the platform.

"Trevor, who was that?" asked Arry.

"His name is Rivenar Jarolan," answered Trevor. "And he wants me dead."

"Yes, but who is he," said Roderick.

"He's the leader of this group of Epsilon assassins," Illyria answered. "They declared war with House Karvine two thousand years after the Dragon War."

"So, they want to kill you because of your last name?" asked Melody.

"Pretty much," answered Trevor.

"Belle!" Melody screamed, and she threw her arms around her sister. She was wearing a suit of strange leather armor and carried a lightsword of her own.

"Sister, what are you wearing?" said Belle. When Melody began to tell her, she couldn't listen. Her heart raced when Roderick turned towards her, then quickly turned away.

"I should go and tell my father about this," he said, then left.