"Thanks, Cinder. I've got it from here," Fulvia said, dismissing her four-armed friend.
Cinder grunted but left through the door quietly.
"So, you came from Pneuma City, right? I take it you've been told about us klevonians coming into existence 3.9 billion years ago, 'staining the planet' as some pneumarians would put it," Fulvia said, relaxing in her seat as Tymon continued to stand on guard.
This guy really doesn't trust people, does he? Maybe we should've given a blood oath, too, Fulvia thought.
"Yeah, Rabae and Raina informed us," he replied. "Between the two of them, we learned about the mutation during the fusion process that resulted in klevonians coming into existence. Eventually, klevonians wanted their own representation, so they established the Ryfa Pakt position while the pneumarians did the same, making Apollos the first Ryfi Theos. Revelations about ascension marks surfaced, and Apollos killed the second Ryfa Pakt. There's been mistrust and hatred between the two races ever since, but Viraa pushed for a treaty that lasted for a while until Raina broke it."
"Hm, I'm surprised they told you so much," Fulvia responded. "Seems they left out the part about Rabae being our first Ryfa Pakt, though."
Fulvia saw Tymon's eyebrows twitch slightly.
"Seems so," he said, but she knew he was mentally trying to connect dots.
"In case you have your doubts," Fulvia stood, walked to a shelf full of loggings, pulled out the digital log of all of the previous Ryfa Pakt, and handed it to him.
Sure enough, Rabae was listed as the very first, though he looked nothing like he did then. When he scrolled down, Tymon saw the second Ryfa Pakt, Savita.
"Beautiful, isn't she?" Fulvia said as he looked. "The only klevonian-vakumite zasshu to ever exist."
"There goes that race again...," she heard Tymon mutter. "I don't know what a vakumite is, but according to cindarian history, it made her very powerful."
"That's an understatement," Fulvia remarked lightly as she leaned over to see him scroll through more of them. "There have been thousands of Ryfa Pakt, but she's the most renowned."
Fulvia straightened herself and went back to her desk.
"Anyhow. The treaty," Fulvia refocused, sighing. "As they told you already, the Pneumarian Forces broke it. Since then, we've been on the verge of war. I've barely been able to keep what little restraint remains of my army, and now I hear the pneumarians are in an uproar about something. Looks like this is going to be needed after all..." Fulvia rubbed her shoulder.
Tymon watched her rub her shoulders, and Fulvia could see that he instantly put two and two together.
"You have an ascension mark?" He looked at her with dark eyes that seemed interested only in gathering information. To Fulvia's astonishment, there wasn't a hint of judgment in them.
"Not an ascension mark," Fulvia corrected, making sure not to speak too loudly. "A zenith mark. I received it from Aeric. The treaty had long since been broken before I ever became Ryfa Pakt, but despite Fulvia and mine's efforts, tensions between our nations continued to rise. We had a brief parlay once. She explained to me why she'd done it. I'm against it, but I understood. I'm not as rigid as other klevonians here, so I tried to maintain the peace, but there's only so much that even the Ryfa Pakt's voice can do when it comes to people's feelings about the matter...So, I accepted this mark. Figured I could use it to protect my people if need be. I'm hoping Aeric will help prevent a war like history says the Celestial once did."
"Aeric, the zasshu? He's able to give marks, too...? Zenith marks, how are they different?"
"From my understanding, they're similar to ascension marks in the sense that they offer klevonians a transformation that'll boost our power tenfold, double our strength, and increase our speed, but that's as far as the similarities go," Fulvia shared, recalling what Aeric had told her when he offered her the mark and what she'd learned on her own. "Zenith marks not only offer a transformation that boosts our power, but they also boost our natural abilities to their limits, making us stronger, faster, and more powerful before the transformation, too."
Fulvia clenched her fist before her as multicolored energy emitted from it. She remembered how, before receiving the mark, she'd been less powerful than her generals. She was still Ryfa Pakt due to her spirit arm and cintracies, but now...if they knew she had a mark...
"They also can't be removed," she added, moving on. "A pneumarian can remove a mark they've given, but zenith marks are permanent unless the zasshu who gave it dies. They also can't be altered much, like ascension marks, so they don't protect the zasshu from being attacked by those they bestow these to."
"So Aeric gives out power that can be used against him?" Tymon questioned.
"I questioned it too when he offered me the mark," Fulvia said, thinking back. "But I don't think he's going around giving out zenith marks. In fact, I've never met or heard of anyone having one besides me. Part of the reason why I agreed was because he'd have no control over me afterward, and the simple fact that zenith marks prevent klevonians from ever evolving into a pneumarian despite the power we obtain from them. Instead, our lifespans are drastically extended."
"You said you never heard of anyone receiving a zenith mark, yet you just believed what was told to you?" Tymon looked at her intently. He was studying her. Fulvia could feel his focus zeroed in on her, a feeling she wasn't used to. Most avoided her due to her position, or was one of her generals who spoke as familiars. This guy was learning every detail he could about her and placing every word and characteristic she uttered or showed into a profile.
Fulvia paused and thought about his question. Why had she believed what she was told?
"I mean yeah...," she said as she tried to figure out why. "He didn't give me a reason to doubt him. Somehow, I knew what he told me was true... There's also limited details about them in the libraries..."
"But there's no info about anyone ever having one," Tymon pointed out.
"No...," Fulvia suddenly realized.
"If I had to guess, zenith marks played a part in why creating zasshu was made forbidden, too," Tymon concluded. "There were plenty of weak zasshu roaming around at one point. They were discriminated against by pneumarians but not killed. If zenith marks were part of the equation back then, they'd have been slaughtered. Maybe only the exceptionally powerful zasshu with sufficiently strong pneumarian genes can achieve zenith marks. Somehow, whether through experimentation, someone viewing into the future, or maybe a powerful zasshu discovered it on their own in the past, this information reached the older generations. Pneumarians would fear the implications of this, and the klevonians' pride wouldn't want yet another species out there they would be forced to rely on."
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