An unexpected ping rang out in the workshop.
Jonah looked up from the table where he and Vanessa were studying energy schematics. The sound came from a small device on a side table. it was a military-grade communicator General Ironwood had given them for emergencies.
Vanessa looked over, her face showing a small frown. "That's a direct, encrypted channel. Who would be contacting you?"
Jonah walked over and tapped the screen. The message was short, with no sender ID. But the symbol next to it was clear: the silver phoenix nation.
His eyes opened wide as he read the message.
"What is it?" Vanessa asked, standing up and walking over to him.
Jonah turned the screen so she could see. "I know what you are fighting. You are not alone. Let us meet."
Vanessa gasped. "Ariana."
"It has to be," Jonah said, his mind racing. How did she get this frequency? How did she know what they were fighting? This was bigger than a simple rivalry now.
He knew immediately that this wasn't something he could decide on his own. "I have to show this to Seraph."
__________________________________________________________________________________________
Half an hour later, they were in a secure briefing room deep below the Academy. General Ironwood stood like still on one side of the table, his arms crossed over his chest. The Headmaster sat at the head of the table, his fingers pressed together in front of him, his look impossible to read.
Seraph presented the communicator. "The message came in twenty minutes ago, sirs. It's an untraceable signal, but the encryption has markers from the Silver Phoenix Empire."
General Ironwood made a low, doubtful sound. "A secret message from a foreign princess, sent to a boy she barely knows. It smells like a trap."
"Does it?" the Headmaster asked calmly. "Or does it smell like an opportunity?" The source of thɪs content is n͟o͟v͟e͟l͟f͟i͟r͟e͟.net
"It's a security risk," Ironwood shot back. "We know almost nothing about them. They show up out of nowhere after a century of silence, and their first move is to secretly contact our most valuable strategic asset? This is an intelligence operation, and Jonah is the target."
The Headmaster nodded slowly. "You are not wrong to be cautious, General. It is most certainly an intelligence operation. But the question is, what is its purpose?" He turned his calm look to Jonah. "Jonah. What do you think?"
Jonah was surprised they asked him, but he answered right away. "I think she's telling the truth. When we talked at the tournament, she knew something was wrong with our nation's power. She called it a shortcut. She understands the difference between earned power and... manufactured power. If anyone could recognize what Thorne is doing, it would be her."
"So you want to walk into this meeting? Blind?" Ironwood challenged.
"Not blind," the Headmaster quickly said in a calm way. He moved closer. "We will set the terms. We will choose the location. We will secure it. If the Silver Phoenix princess wants to talk, she will talk on our ground, under our protection." He looked at Ironwood. "You see a trap. I see a potential ally who may have information we desperately need. Thorne is moving fast. We cannot afford to ignore any advantage."
The General stared at the Headmaster for a long, tense moment. Finally, Ironwood gave a clear nod. "Fine. But my people will handle security. If I even sense that this is going wrong, I'm pulling him out."
The Headmaster smiled a little. "I would expect nothing less."
_____________________________________________________________________________________________
The meeting happened in a place that wasn't really known to exist. It was a round room also deep under the Academy, sealed with runic symbols that that blocked all forms of spying.
Jonah stood alone in the center of the room. He felt how important the moment was.
A section of the far wall glowed, and a hidden door opened smoothly.
Ariana stepped through. She was dressed in a simple, white tunic, and she was alone. She looked just as he remembered: proud, confident, and with a cleverness in her eyes that was very clear.
"Thank you for coming," she said, her voice clear and calm. "I was not sure you would trust the message."
"My superiors had their doubts," Jonah admitted. "They think this is a trap."
"And you?" she asked, taking a few steps closer.
"I think you know more than you're letting on," Jonah replied honestly. "I think you're just as worried as I am."
A sad smile touched appeared on her face. "I am. My nation has watched yours for a long time. We saw the instability of your Divine Serum. We saw it as a... sickness. A corruption of true power. But what your Dr. Thorne is doing is something far worse."
She paused, her look intense. "My nation's archives contain stories, old stories, from before the Great Collapse. They speak of the Artificers."
Jonah's heart jumped. The Artificer. The creator he had met in the Sunken City.
"Our histories say the original Artificers were destroyed," Ariana continued. "They were wiped out in a civil war, a battle between two different beliefs."
This was it. The real reason she had come.
"One side," she said, "believed in what they called symbiotic creation. They believed in working with nature, in guiding life, in creating a true bond. They saw creation as a partnership."
She took another step, her voice filled with a new, important meaning. "The other side saw nature as flawed. They believed in forced synthesis. They wanted to control life, to cut it up and stitch it back together to make it stronger, more efficient. They saw living things as nothing more than parts for a machine."
"Thorne is not a new threat, Jonah," Ariana said, her voice serious. "He is the heir to that ancient, destructive belief. The one that destroyed the Artificers from within."
So this war wasn't new.
"How do you know all this?" Jonah asked.
"Because my people chose a side," she said simply. "And now, it seems, you have, too." She held out a small data crystal. "I cannot offer you soldiers. But I can offer you this. A critical piece of intelligence."
Jonah took the crystal.
"Our long-range magical sensors have been watching a dead zone between our two nations for years. It's a monster-infested wasteland known as the Shattered Peaks," she explained. "Recently, we detected something new. A huge facility has been built there, hidden from all normal sight. It is drawing an immense amount of power. It is the only logical place for Thorne to build his main laboratory."
Jonah looked from the crystal in his hand to Ariana's serious face. This was it. The next step.
"Why?" Jonah asked. "Why help me?"
"Because Thorne's philosophy cannot be allowed to win," she said. "A world full of his creations, of soulless weapons born from pain, is a world I refuse to live in. This is not about our nations anymore. It is about the future."