Heart of the Ocean | Pirate!ATEEZ x reader

5: The Calm Before The Storm

Some say that the white walls of the Citadel were forged by the heavens themselves. Remnants of long-forgotten magic, odes to the long war that once bestowed Deltora Empire.

The times of before were brief, but never had Deltora Empire seen anything like that ever to return. The people, ever so joyous, basked in its regal purity. Though different in culture and divided, the people of Deltora Empire pledged an agreement to never harm others out of one's strive for dominance. Those times were known to be the Golden Ages of the Empire. But as time went on, and sons and daughters stepped into the footsteps of their forebearers, the pact that held the lands together gradually lost its significance and fell to the cruel nature of time.

Only a few could remember the words of old that idly whispered through stone and grass, and those who had forgotten the sounds of its promises opted for a way that led to destruction.

The thousand-year War of the Arcane was a time that only remembered the bloodbath and suffering of the people. It was a time known wherein people chased the ancient runes of magic for their own benefit, their powers able to burn entire cities to the ground at a whim. People turned against each other and no one was safe from the cruelty of war. No deity was deemed powerful enough to diminish the fears in the hearts of those who still longed for peace. Leaders perished, civilians were massacred, and kingdoms fell.

It was at the hands of the War of the Arcane that the Northern Rim came to be like it appeared in the current time. Barren and filled with dark magic, the once thriving isles of the North were left behind as lands poisoned with arcane powers horrifying even to the most-learned scholars. The demise of the Northern Rim served as a testament that the study of magic was not to be learned, but to be feared.

For the times that came after the War of the Arcane, the learning of magic became prohibited all throughout Deltora Empire. No leader dared to risk the chance of ending up as the Northern Rim, and if one were to practise magic, they'd ultimately face penalties up to death. The time of magic thus passed, and in its shadows appeared a new era; the era of technology.

Deltora Empire entered a time where the people, ever so divided, tolerated each other, seeking after new knowledge and progression of the world. The uprising of steam-powered machinery and technicalities as well as its sister branch, the Aether technology, allowed the Empire to almost fully regain its former glory. Though never living up to the qualities of the arcane, the newfound technology proved its worth, and as time went by, more cities adapted to the new standards of living. Some remained to their old ways, though most flourished in the perks that came with the new mechanics and quirks. The remembrance of magic was now only a trace of the past, and until the fields of technology, which only seemed to be developing more and more each day, would come to a halt, it would remain like that for the centuries to come.

Thus, the Arcane gradually faded into the backdrop of a world dominated by heavy machinery and the skill of the brain, with the city of Qadena officially being named the city of knowledge. Many people found professions in all the sectors that Deltora Empire offered, and those who had the privilege of studying at the Academy of Knowledge were praised. Those who were born with the gifts of power were made to hide, for anyone who was suspected of being a mage would face dire consequences. The magic-borns could hide among the people, but never would they experience a life wherein their kind would be welcomed.

It was for that reason that you always found the myths surrounding the Citadel odd. Some sisters told stories of the walls being able to hold magic deep within, while others remarked about its apparent ability to withstand magic. Either way, they were said to be magical, though none of it made sense. The Faith of Amphitrite was among the beliefs in Deltora Empire one of the youngest. It had not seen the wrath of the War of the Arcane before the Citadel stood its ground. Whether they were made of some form of magic, you did not know, but they stood as a reminder of the rebirth of Deltora Empire, its white look reminiscent of the purity and the hope that once ruled the Empire. War could never penetrate the walls, the Elders would say. No man-made weapon or ancient rune of magic could lay waste to the structure. But what about the artefacts of deities?