Chapter Text
On his good days, Victor was proud to be the one rebuilding the Empire; he was proud to be able to correct some wrong doings, proud about the Holy Order still being loyal to him, and he was dedicated in making Celestria a safe haven again; but more importantly he was proud about the people’s resilience and patience.
At first, he had feared that the now liberated people would stand up against everything the Empire represented, good and bad alike, but as it turned out, all they truly wanted was to be freed from HighCastle, and now that he was no more, there was uncertainty about the future. If anything, the Voidrax attack had convinced most of them that a leader was needed. Selene made an official statement that GLIMMER would support Victor as long as he would ensure that the Slums would be fully integrated to the city and equally benefit from imperial funds to be rebuilt; the newly appointed Emperor had agreed to GLIMMER’s terms, and even made Selene an advisor and local representative of the Slums in return.
On his good days, Victor was proud about what he had achieved in a month’s time.
But on his bad days, he felt overwhelmed. There was so much to be done still, so many demands, requests, concerning reports about nations plotting to regain their independence and cut ties with the Empire... The creation of a High Council meant to help him deal with matters regarding all aspects of the new direction the Empire was taking only offered a brief respite; soon the endless meetings and the constant bickering of the ministers added to his daily concern that maybe, just maybe, he wasn’t up to the task, and that someone else should become Emperor.
“Nonsense,” Selene said, offering him a huge smile as he confided in her.
Victor had found out that his regular meetings with GLIMMER’s leader to discuss the Slums’ situation had turned into a welcome distraction. Kaser would join them from time to time and the two men would indulge into a sparring exercise, just for fun. It was Victor’s way of blowing off some steam, and sometimes he would go as far as admitting to Kaser that he envied his lifestyle.
Kaser was still actively working for GLIMMER, acting as security officer on numerous shipments of goods and building materials. He was away most of the time, much to his sister’s dismay. It had been Louisa’s dream that after the Emperor’s fall, her brother would take a vacation, spend time with her, and finally enjoy life, but it was only a couple of days after Arena left that Kaser decided he couldn’t stay idle while there was so much to be done. Louisa ended up helping as well, sorting and cataloguing food and supplies to be distributed to those who had lost the most during the Voidrax attack. Whenever she heard that Victor and Selene would meet, she sneaked inside GLIMMER’s headquarters, hoping to get a glimpse of the new Emperor, or watch as he and her brother challenged themselves with a fight. Despite Kaser’s reluctance to say the word, she knew that he considered Victor a friend, just like she considered Liana one as well. Selene had taken Liana in, and the two girls had grown close to each other. Liana was still working on her novel, although she was considering relabeling it into a diary.
That day, when Victor confided in Selene that he wished someone else would be Emperor and she laughed it off, Kaser left on a mission to retrieve food supplies. Louisa and Liana saw him off and wished him good luck, begging him to bring them some gifts. They remained standing there, gazing at the boat until it disappeared into the horizon, and they were about to resume their chores when an unknown aircraft cruised over the harbour, its gigantic shadow darkening the area temporarily. It could have been easily mistaken for an imperial ship at first, but Louisa noticed the markings on the hull, and when she didn’t recognise them, she broke into a run and rushed to GLIMMER’s headquarters, bursting inside unannounced:
“There’s a ship coming here!”
Both Victor and Selene exchanged a surprised glance.
“You’ll have to be more specific than that, Louisa,” Selene said smiling, before silently apologising to Victor for the intrusion.
The young girl took a deep breath as she collected her thoughts and she rephrased her initial sentence, her voice somehow trembling with emotion:
“There’s a foreign ship out there, flying towards the Imperial Capital. It’s not one of the Empire’s, its design is different and I’ve never seen its emblem before...” She stopped abruptly, refraining from sharing her concern out loud. What is the Voidrax had found a way to return?
“I should get going,” Victor said quietly, “thank you for this information, Louisa. Please do not concern yourself with this, it’s most probably nothing. Have a good day, both of you.”
While the Emperor had spoken with confidence, Selene had noticed the slight change in his behaviour, and she made a mental note to investigate on that ship, starting by collecting eye witness reports.