Endless Path : Infinite Cosmos

Chapter 1142 - Prophecy

As nobody wanted to be the person who predicted the end of the world, the impending threat of Angra Mainyu had not yet become public knowledge within the Magus Community. This changed rather quickly when Marisbury Animusphere, the current Head of the Animusphere family, one of the ten most powerful families associated with the Clock Tower came forward and published his findings. When he had contacted the Edelfelt family, they had surprisingly been the ones to mention going public with the information, catching Lord Animusphere somewhat off guard. Though he suspected that Rin and Lord El-Melloi II were aware of the coming danger, as it was the Sixth Holy Grail War that served as the catalyst for the current changes, he hadn't expected the Edelfelts to be forthright about the matter when he had met with Luviagelita to discuss their alliance.

Knowing that the world was at stake, Luvia wasn't as quick to push away potential allies as Rin was. She knew that, even if Vahn was able to overcome Angra Mainyu in ten year's time, that would only be one part of the drastic changes that were coming to the world. Since she knew Lord Animusphere had already predicted the coming disaster, she wasn't worried about him knowing that she was also aware of the truth. Though she did not outright shoulder the debts of the Animusphere family, she decided to act the role of their new creditor, financing them with total of three-hundred million pounds with little to no interest.

The only thing she asked in exchange was for Lord Animusphere to be the voice of reason that called for unity between the various factions of the Mage's Association. She harbored no hopes that they would see reason and try to work together, as this was a great opportunity for major shifts in power, but having a proxy to muddle the waters was beneficial for her own plans. Even if there were naysayers who tried to skew the facts to make Lord Animusphere out to be a pawn, the truth would eventually come forward as Magus families all over the world made predictions of their own. At that point, the Animusphere family could be credited with trying to circ.u.mvent the danger from the start, earning them a bit of prestige that their family could sorely benefit from.

As this was a better arrangement than he had hoped for, Lord Animusphere hadn't hesitated to announce his findings after publishing the data through the proper channels. Fortunately, as the Head of the Astronomy Department, he had the authority to publish his findings without needed to have them vetted by others. Since he had already 'verified' the same prophecy ten times, leaving only the information pertaining to the Animusphere family's fortune undoc.u.mented, there were few who had enough status to call his findings into question. As a result, there was a major wave within the Clock Tower as every Department, including those who were skeptical of the situation, moved to verify the information through their own means.

Before any attempt to censor his findings could be made, Lord Animusphere escalated matters even further by directly bringing it to the attention of the student body. He had scheduled an assembly of the Democratic faction, the largest collection of students within the entire Clock Tower, explaining they had just as much a right as the established Magus families to prepare for the coming threat. As he had always been a calm voice of reason, earning the respect of many students, his words had a devastating effect on the entire student body. Like an unstoppable wave, most students contacted their families while some, fearing what action the Clock Tower might take if the fate of the world was on the line, outright left the campus. Commoner students were already required to do things such as donate their blood periodically so, in order to prepare for the coming threat, there were no limits to what the higher ups in the Clock Tower might do to gain victory at the smallest cost to themselves...

In response to the actions taken by Lord Animusphere, the Aristocratic faction immediately moved to try and lock down the information. Bathomeloi Lorelei had recently left London to hunt down a Vampire that had appeared in eastern Germany so it fell upon Lord Sophia-Ri, a first-class instructor and one of the most prominent members of the Aristocratic faction that was active within the Clock Tower. He was a tall man with medium-length red hair, a high-minded gaze that looked down on all others, and refined features that made him the second most sought after Instructor in the annual popularity poll amongst female students. Not only was he Head of the Department of Evocation, but he was one of the most prodigious Lords in the present generation of Aristocratic Magus families. Though he was already engaged, begrugingly for the second time, there were many female students who wouldn't mind being the mistress of such a handsome man.

Though he did not outright deny Lord Animusphere's claims, Lord Sophia-Ri decried the methods he had used to disemminate the information. He did not try to argue that the students did not have the right to know the truth but, with the resultant chaos, it was clear for all to see that it could have been handled in a less direct manner. Unfortunately, his attempts to get the Enforcement Division to take action ended in failure and, as even the students of the Aristocratic faction had already started to contact their families, the best he could do was lambast Lord Animusphere while trying to bend the information to benefit his own faction until Bathomeloi Lorelei returned. This wasn't the kind of thing that could simply be swept under the rug as, with the massive divide that always existed within the Clock Tower, any major news like this could lead in an instantaneous rift that could take months just to get under control...

It was with this knowledge that Lord Animusphere had used such methods, even going so far as to set off magical explosion at several facilities belonging to his family to make it appear that the other families were trying to force him into silence. Most of these facilities were in desperate need of refurbishing so, with the Edelfelt's large contribution, he figured now was a good opportunity to do so. Money would lose its meaning if the world ended so, in preparation for what was to come, he had few qualms about using the family's finances to purchase new and updated equipment. Since these actions also made him into something of a 'Martyr' in the eyes of the student body, even though he wasn't even dead, it was an extremely advantageous position to be in, so long as none of the major families took drastic action...

To avoid having his family potentially wiped out, Lord Animusphere had arranged things with Luvia to allow his daughter to stay with her family for the time being. Since the latter believed she was the 'collateral' for the large loan that had been given her family, Olga willingly allowed herself to be set up within the Edelfelt mansion. Though the people assigned to her were 'literally' for her protection, she believed they had been there to make sure she didn't try to escape. As it was actually beneficial for her to have this misunderstanding, as it made her much easier to control during these chaotic times, Lord Animusphere had explained to Luvia how best to 'deal' with his daughter. Though the Edelfelt's were known to be a rather troublesome family, they had no track record of performing inhumane experiments and were known as a relatively righteous family. It was for this reason that Lord Animusphere could entrust his daughter, the literal future of his entire family, into the care of Luvia.

---

Having brought nothing but a large suitcase along with her, Olga was laying on the bed within her gaudily designed room with a bored expression on her face. Even the lamp at her bedside looked like it would be worth more than a hundred thousand pounds as it was made almost entirely of ivory, gold, and a few precious gemstones. Her bed was carved from a magically conducive wood that had various runes carved into the posts, making it possible to isolate the sounds within the confines of the bed while also regulating the temperature.

These were luxuries she could never experience back at her own Manor as, even though she had a relatively comfortable bed, there was no way she could spend millions of pounds on personal comfort. It was only as she lay in this lavish and comfortable bed that Olga realized the prestige of her family was incomparable to the Magus families that had branched out and consolidated their wealth, unlike her own which had squandered it on research that provided few monetary benefits.

A few hundred years ago, the heads of various families would rely on her family to predict their future. They would spend small fortunes to know what the future held, a sentiment that had faded with the passage of time due to the decreased Mystery contained within the stars. Now that powerful telescopes existed, to the point that even normal people could discover new planetary bodies with personally financed equipment, the way people viewed the night sky had fundamentally changed.

Though humans had always looked toward the night sky for answers, the very sentiment that gave the Thaumaturgical study of Astronomy meaning, that had faded significantly as Scient continued to 'reveal' the secrets of the Universe. Even if most of their theories were extremely foolish, often far removed from the truth of things, people were too easily deceived by those with authority in the Scientific community. Now, it only took some big named Physicist to say something completely groundless, sometimes even bordering on the metaphysical, for people to eat it up like freshly baked pastries. Then, a few months later, they would immediately latch on to some new idea randomly thrown out by some celebrity that was trending on Tweeter.

Thus, even though they actually had no idea what secrets the Universe actually held, there was an established 'common sense' amongst people who considered themselves informed. This had greatly weakened all Magecraft relating to Astronomy, the only exceptions being the techniques passed down through the main family line of various Magus families, her own included. Her family actually had the rare ability to see, not just the future, but into the past as well. Though this might seem pointless to most people, there were some truths that could only be ascertained by looking directly at events that had already transpired.

The founding members of the Animusphere family had made their name and fortune by using an advanced form of Psychometry, the ability to ascertain the past of objects through touch, to discover the location of several lost treasures. This ability had later been modified to allow for a projection of a locations past to be viewed in the present, a technique only she and her father were privy to. Unfortunately, performing it required an incredible amount of wealth and resources, two things her family lacked after the failures of her Grandfather...

While curling up atop the extremely comfortable bedding, Olga absentmindedly stared towards a crystal mirror in the corner of the room as she complained, "If my family had this kind of wealth, we would be able to become one of the Three Great Families during my generation..." Though this was a rather extreme exaggeration, as her family severely lacked military might, it wouldn't be impossible if they allied with the right families. In the past, they had more than ten branch families to act as their arms and legs and, though that number had now decreased to only three, it was possible for them to regain their former glory if they made the right promises to the right people. The problem was accomplishing this without getting assimilated by a larger family once it was noted they were on the rise once again...

With that thought in mind, Olga's mind wandered to the Trambelio family, the second strongest family beneath only the Bathomeloi's. Specifically, she pictured the image of Allard Trambelio, the second son of the former Head of the Trambelio family. He was a tall man, standing nearly 190cm tall, with a burly build and short hair that was combed over in a stylish manner. Unfortunately, his face was something of a tragedy as, when he was young, Allard had gotten into dozens of drunken fistfights and had fought more than a hundred duels against other Magi. Though he obviously put effort into his appearance, he did nothing to cover up his 'proof of honor', resulting in his face having several scars while his left ear even looked like a head of cauliflower.

Instead of trying to oppose his older brother's right to succession, Allard had supported him since they were both young boys. Now, though he was not the Head of the family, he had a lot of sway in their internal affairs and was considered the 'fixer' for his brother, Alexander Trambelio. In the past, Olga had met him at a dinner party and, even though she was only fifteen at the time, Allard had gone to her father to try and arrange their marriage, an affair that would have made her his third wife. Now, she was twenty-two years old while Allard had just celebrated his forty-seventh birthday two months prior. The moment the Bathomeloi family started putting pressure on her family, even before the Trial had come to an end, he had already contacted her to try and make arrangements, this time without going through her father directly...

Though the idea of marrying a man who was even older than her father left a bad taste in her mouth, the 'contract' Allard had given her meant she only needed to be married to him for ten years. As temporary marriages weren't all that rare between Magus families, generally as a means to secure an heir and establish familial ties between two families, Olga had seriously considered the idea as a means to uplift her family from the ashes. Ten years hadn't seemed like an unbearable period of time and, as Allard's genes would undoubtedly be very beneficial for their future descendants, there were numerous benefits she stood to gain. Though it would be almost impossible to escape the shadow of the Trambelio family from that point onwards, it was infinitely better than being brought to ruin and cannibalized by the other families within the Mage's Association when they were bankrupted.

Before she knew there was a ten-year deadline before the potential end of the world, Olga had been leaning more towards accepting Allard's proposal. Now, however, she was extremely grateful that her father had taken a step back and come to an accord with the Edelfelt family. In hindsight, Olga realized that her future sons or daughters would have suffered as a result of her decision to marry Allard, even temporarily. This would make the next Head of the family the direct descendant of the second son of the Trambelio family, meaning they would have grounds to potentially assimilate the entire Animusphere family if they ever truly began to rise again.

Instead of being able to hold their head up amongst their peers, they would have been forced to lower it to the younger members of the Trambelio family, potentially even becoming nothing more than lapdogs for the wastrels that often emerged in powerful Magus families. Her father had enough sense to understand this was the case and, as he would rather see their family ruined by his hands than allow his daughter to experience that kind of tragedy, he was now doing everything he could to gain as much leverage as possible without exposing her to danger.

With a lot of time on her hands to do little more than think, it was only now that Olga realized how immature and foolish she had been. Any man who would try to arrange a marriage with a fifteen-year-old when they were already forty years old obviously wasn't someone that could be trusted. He treated her as nothing more than a prize to be savored for a few years while his older brother, Alexander, had likely put him up to the task just to gain the assets of the Animusphere family before the other families could get their hands on them...

Realizing she had almost made a terrible mistake, Olga released a tired sigh as she rolled over to her back, staring up at the richly colored canopy above. If she were allowed to be honest, the thing she had the most in the world was politics, especially those between Magus families seeking to benefit from the suffering of others. She just wanted to do her best to push the idea of Astronomy to the extreme, reaching the Root and earning the recognition of the entire Magus community.

Throughout Olga's entire life, there had been so few instances of her being praised for her talents that she had even started to resent her father a bit. Though she was a prodigious Magus when it came to theoy and research, her talent in Magecraft was severely lacking since her family had never developed methods to groom their descendants. All she had done ever since she could remember was dedicate herself to study, doing everything she could to learn their family's techniques so she would not fail as the next Head of the family. In the past, she had respected her father greatly for his stoic and unfaltering disposition but, as she grew older, this sentiment had lost its flavor as she was required to interact with other members of high society. Not only did her father rarely praise her efforts, but she had received the scorn of her peers due to her form of Magecraft being on the decline, much like her family itself...

As she was lost in her thoughts, praying that her father's prediction proved true, Olga was startled by a knock at the door. It was a little strange how polite her 'guards' had been to her, even allowing her to walk around the premises with an escort when she had asked. Though this made it seem like they weren't even remotely worried about her escaping, Olga preferred this kind of treatment as it was far better than being locked away in some dark room or passed around by members of the Edelfelt's mercenary forces. There were few ways to discern the true face of a Magus family until you were already in their grasp so Olga hadn't known what to expect when her father informed her she would be staying here in the future. Now, seeing the wealth and courtesy displayed by the Edelfelts, it was clear that they treated their reputation as a 'righteous' Magus family very seriously, even though it earned them more than a few enemies amongst the other families...

After making her way over to the door, Olga partially opened it, finding herself face-to-face with none other than Luviagelita herself. This caused Olga to swallow nervously as she opened up the door and greeted, "Good afternoon, Madam Edelfelt..." Though Luviagelita was the current Head of the family, she had never assumed the title of Lord, an honor that still belonged to her Grandmother, the Matriarch of the Edelfelt family. She was a woman rumored to be more than ninety years old but, when she had last made a public appearance, it was the general consensus that she didn't even look older than forty.

As there was an incalculable number of methods to preserve one's youth, especially in a combat-oriented family like the Edelfelt's, this had come as a surprise to none of the established families. What shocked the entire Magus Community was the fact that Luviagelita's Grandmother had made an appearance in response to a marriage proposal from the Archibald family after it had just undergone its split due to the death of Kayneth El-Melloi Archibald. Luviva had only been seven years old at the time but, in order to try and secure the finances of the Edelfelt family for themselves, a few of the more high-nosed members of the family actually tried to put pressure on her father. He hadn't budged in the slightest, of course, but the matter had be laid to rest before open conflict could even begin when Luviagelita's Grandmother made a public appearance, using a simple Gandr spell to wipe out an entire annex of the Archibald family's estate as a warning...

Knowing the kind of support Luviagelita had at her back, though her own power was nothing to scoff at, Olga couldn't help feeling nervous in her presence. As for Luvia herself, she had her characteristic elegant smile as she answered, "Good afternoon, Olgamally. I trust my people have been treating you well?" Though there wasn't even a hint of a veiled threat in Luvia's words, Olga felt like she was being 'tested' so she gave an awkward smile as she replied, "They have treated me with every courtesy. Thank you for your hospitality..." In response to this, Luvia nodded her head with an 'as expected' look on her face before following it up by asking, "Will you join us for dinner this evening? There are some people I would like to introduce you to and I'm certain you have a number of questions you would like answered."

As it didn't really feel like she had any leeway to refuse, Olga nodded her head in affirmation before saying, "I will need to freshen up a bit...when is dinner scheduled to take place?" Any people that Luviagelita wanted to introduce her to could potentially have a large impact on her future situation within the Mansion. If nothing else, Olga wanted to avoid offending anyone by arriving with an unkempt appearance as, for the last few hours, she had just been lounging in her bed. Her clothes had a few wrinkles and, though it wasn't too messy, she needed to brush and rebraid her hair.

Seeing how formal Olgamally was being, Luvia felt a strong desire to tease her but ultimately kept it under control as she answered, "We have someone with an early bedtime so dinner will be at 5:30 PM and will conclude by 6:00 PM. After that, we will move the actual discussion to my personal study so please wear something you will be comfortable in a few hours from now. It isn't a formal dinner so try not to dress up too much..." Since she knew Olga believed herself to be a hostage, Luvia was wondering what kind of outfit she would ultimately wear to dinner. On her way out of the room, she made sure to tell the Maids and the guards who had been assigned to protect Olga not to let her out wearing something that would cause misunderstandings in polite society...

(A/N: Alternate Titles: 'THE END IS NEAR...!','Olga is rather naive...','Bookworms can be rather delusional at times xD...')

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