Polymath Redux

Chapter 57: Secret War (8): Determined Declaration

"Your organization of the Third Eye, what are they like? What is the extent of their powers? Their reach, their structure, their wealth?"

Tau asked as he stared, gleaming with determination towards the First Prince.

"They are..."

The prince was unsure whether it was a good idea to reveal too much information about his organization so readily, even if it was towards Tau who he wanted to join. Third Eye wasn't particularly the most honorable of organizations; they would stoop to some low levels if it was in the best interests of the future of Aria. Thus knowing that Prince Leo was torn on whether he should reveal the entire truth. He wanted Tau to only see the good parts of the organization because that was the kind of character he believed Tau to be.

"Please your highness. My mother, all I remember of her is that she loved me, but I want to know more than simply that. I wish to know what kind of person she was, to know what kind of life she led and how she saw this world. But most of all, I want to know who her enemies were."

Prince Leo gave out a defeated sigh and answered with a bitter smile.

"I suppose you have more right than anyone else to know about the kind of person she was. Very well I'll divulge more information about the circumstances relating to your mother's death and the extent of our organization's power."

"Your highness that's a bit-"

Petra tried to raise an objection but the first prince gesture her to stop. As they were back at the capital Petra had returned to being the prince's bodyguard and had temporarily relinquished her position as 'Hero'.

"Please."

Tau answered with a firm nod.

"Then to first understand the circumstances around your mother's death we must first talk about the extent of a soothsayer's power and the nature of Third Eye's enemies."

The First Prince rose from his seat and wandered towards the windows, checking to see if there were any eavesdroppers. Though if there really were any it would've taken more than simple visual reconnaissance thus the prince's actions were meaningless and simply a force of habit. Petra had already checked the area around the First Prince's villa and she had not found anything of note.

The prince peered out the window; perhaps his true intentions were simply to delay the inevitability of talking about his mentor's death.

"The circumstances surrounding my mother's death?"

The First Prince nodded at Tau's question.

"From what I understand to the soothsayers the past, present and future are all linked in a continuous line; to them gazing into the future is like remembering the past. That is not to say that their powers are omnipotent, an average soothsayer can only see a few seconds into the future. However there are exceptions; certain points in time that are references for a great shift in history, called 'indexes', they exude a brighter power, making it easier to see. Even then it takes an entire council of elder soothsayers to see them, and what they see are often times cryptic at best."

"So you're saying that it was impossible to determine my mother's fate until it was too late?"

Tau asked.

"Determining a person's death is difficult but not impossible, there were other factors that contributed to her death. That is the nature of the enemies we face."

"The 'Corrupted', you said?"

"Third Eye deems all entities that threaten the future of Aria as enemies, however out of all the enemies we've faced so far the Demon Lord and his 'Corrupted' are the most insidious and dangerous. For now the Demon Lord is practically untouchable and we're constantly working in order to oppose him but that is a conversation for far into the future. At the current time his 'Corrupted' pose a much greater threat to the stability of life outside of the 'Great Void'."