Sparks and Sacrifice

By JamesK716

Prologue

The High Empyror paced back and forth within his imperial chambers. Finally fed up with walking, he sat upon the throne in the center of the room. The room itself was not overly fancy nor very regal. The Tuaparang were not a nation that showed power through material things. Rather they focused on combat and technology, and were quite successful for it. The only out of the ordinary thing about the room was the massive window that showcased Weyard behind the throne. Slowly, the High Empyror sank his forehead into his hands and exhaled slowly. Today was not being a good day.

First, his scouts had finally arrived back only to report that the Apollo Lens hadn't been fired at Mt. Aleph. Instead the ancient weapon had engulfed the Eclipse Tower and ended the Grave Eclipse. Second, it was reported that the first had happened solely because of the Children of Vale, descendants of the Warriors of Vale. Third, a pair of powerful Angaran Nations was no longer under the High Empyror's control, meaning that the Vanguard would be displeased. Fourth, it had appeared that Blados and Chalis may have in fact betrayed the Tuaparang.

Fifth and finally, Abaddon, Vanguard of the Master was late.

The Vanguard was supposed to be here by now, yet he wasn't. It was quite worrisome, mainly due to the fact that the Vanguard had never before been late. Something could have happened to him, though the Vanguard could most definitely take care of himself, so the High Empyror was not too worried yet. Still as a matter of principal, it had made the High Empyror uneasy. If the master was late, then that meant he would already be displeased. And that meant that the High Empyror would take punishment.

The High Empyror rubbed his eyes slowly, trying to clear his muddled up mind. Finally, he looked up to see a figure wearing a dark cloak. The cloak covered everything, so the High Empyror could only see the glowing red eyes of the Vanguard. Beyond that, there was only darkness.

In his mind, the High Empyror was thinking about time you show up. Instead he said "Abaddon, how good of you to come." It was still an insult, simply a veiled one, but it worked for the High Empyror.

The Vanguard grunted. "What news do you have for me?" Abaddon asked, his voice dark and gruff.

"Our plan revolving around the Grave Eclipse has failed. Two of our generals may have betrayed us, there are being brought here now for questioning. We have lost both Ayuthay and Morgal to the Warriors of Vale. The descendants of the Warriors have grown powerful in their own right. They defeated two of our Generals and a Chaos Chimera. I've even heard reports that they defeated Dullahan. Finally, Abaddon, The Apollo Lens was fired at Eclipse Tower instead of Mt. Aleph. Furthermore, because it was fired, it has lost its power, making it useless to us." The High Empyror reported.

"I see." The Vanguard replied. "We will have to amend our plans. Are the new Psynergy Vortex's in place?"

The High Empyror smiled, this would make the Vanguard happy.

Although some Psynergy Vortexes were natural, the Tuaparang had created the majority of them; including all three Mourning Moons. The Vortexes that were natural were made so that they would absorb the excess amounts of Alchemy available to Weyard, their by keeping balance. The Vortexes grew larger when they were around huge amounts of Psynergy and Alchemy. The plan for the Apollo Lens had been to fire it at Mt. Aleph. Mount Aleph already had a excess amount of Alchemy, because it was the birthplace of Alchemy. If the Apollo Lens had hit Mt. Aleph then it would have created a Mourning Moon stronger than every other Vortex ever made. It could have actually wiped Angara from existence completely.

"They shall soon be activated Vanguard. We have Airships correctly positioned. They are merely waiting for the command itself." The High Empyror replied.

Abaddon growled. "Call them off, we need to wait." He commanded.

The High Empyror sighed. That was the only thing that hadn't been completely screwed up. "But why? We have abundant resources, and we even have the manpower to overtake most of the cities." The High Empyror exclaimed, greatly confused by the Vanguard.

"You said that Morgal and Ayuthay are under leadership of the Children of Vale, correct?" The Vanguard asked.

The High Empyror nodded slowly.

"Well then it should be even easier. We can come up with a diplomatic reason to begin war with those countries. Kaocho will attack Ayuthay and Bilibin will attack Morgal. It's that easy." Abaddon said with a smile on his hooded face.

"But why don't we invade? We have the strength to stop them all!"

"Because the more deaths that happen, the stronger that our master grows."

The High Empyror was surprised. Abaddon rarely ever mentioned the Master. The High Empyror himself knew very little of the master he was serving. What Abaddon had revealed was that the Master was just as strong as the Golden Sun itself. The High Empyror didn't truly believe it though, the Golden Sun brought reckoning across all of Weyard; there was nothing that could equal it in the eyes of the High Empyror. The other small facts that the High Empyror knew were that the Master wasn't a person but rather an entity, which was something that the High Empyror thought was true. The Master had clashed with the Warriors of Vale before, and that was why he was very wary of them.

The High Empyror hadn't known where the Master's power came from. To hear that deaths increased his power was valuable knowledge.

"What would the Master require of us?" The High Empyror asked, hoping to continue discussing the Master.

Abaddon grunted. "He would require you to obey me."

The High Empyror growled. "What do you want me to do?"

"What I have already said. Retreat your forces and wait for me to tell you when to activate the Vortexes." Abaddon said.

The High Empyror sneered. "Very well Abaddon. Let us hope that you are successful in your endeavors."

Abaddon seemed to nod, then in a blast of darkness, was gone.

The High Empyror did not trust Abaddon, but he would play along, for now.

"Bring in the Generals!" The High Empyror shouted to his guards outside the door. The guards were extremely trustworthy, they were willing to give up everything for their Empyror, and were completely willing to die for him.

The High Empyror waited, and a minute later, four Generals walked inside accompanied by four Tuaparang soldiers. Two of the Generals were bound, two were unbound and angry.

The first of the two bound Generals was Blados. The warrior was a military prodigy. Born to an couple that were descendants of the Tuaparang, he was technically a Dark Adept. Though in reality, he was more aligned with Mercury. All of the Tuaparang Generals were technically Dark Adepts, as they were descendants of the Umbra Clan, and could bend darkness to their will, to an extent. Blados himself was also a Mercury Adept, meaning he had control over water and ice. He was an extremely skillful swordsman; able to fight and defeat almost all of the Tuaparang in one on one duels. He had actually trained half of the Tuaparang Guard in swordplay.

The other bound General was Chalis. She was extremely beautiful women who specialty was wordplay, which was why, the High Empyror planned on asking Blados the questions. In battle, Chalis utilized clawed gauntlets to scratch and slash her opponents. Chalis had horns that came out of her head that signified her as a descendant of the Umbra Clan, which made her a Dark Adept; though Chalis actual Psynergy abilities lay with Mars. However, among Mars Adepts, Chalis was unique. She was given the ability to manipulate emotions between her opponents, confusing them and perhaps even making them turn against each other.

The first of the unbound Generals was named Terra. She was quite attractive, and was a formidable warrior. Terra used two small short swords that she used during combat. She wore a dark brown shirt that was quite revealing. With that, she wore tan pants and brown combat boots. On her back were two sheaths that formed an X on her back. She had short dirty blond hair, and usually had some type of smirk on her face. Terra was fiercely loyal to the Tuaparang, and was willing to do anything that would benefit the Tuaparang. Like all Tuaparang Generals, Terra was a descendant of the Umbra Clan, which meant she was technically a Dark Adept, though only marginally so. However, unlike other Tuaparang Generals, Terra had been raised by the High Empyror himself. Terra used Venus Psynergy in combat, and could defeat almost everyone in the Tuaparang.

The final of the unbound Generals was Typhon. Typhon was a physically imposing man. He had blond hair down to his shoulders and had a full beard. Typhon had a jacket on that was blood red, though it remained unzipped. Typhon had bladed gauntlets over his jacket on his arms. The blades could easily cut a rock in half. Typhon wore black armored pants, with a brown belt that sagged. On his back was a large broadsword. Typhon was a descendant of the Umbra Clan, thereby technically making him a Dark Adept. Typhon utilized Jupiter Psynergy in combat, and was easily among the strongest warriors in all of Weyard.

Together, the four Generals were a near unstoppable team, though it was extremely rare that they actually worked together.

"Blados and Chalis, I expected you to be better than this." The High Empyror said as he crossed his arms.

"I am sorry my liege." Chalis began. "But we had no choice."

"Silence, Chalis!" The High Empyror commanded. "Allow Blados to speak for himself."

"My lord, we were acting for the benefit of the Tuaparang…"

"Benefit of the Tuaparang my #$." Terra said, mocking him.

"Terra let him speak." The High Empyror said, staring down Blados.

"If the Apollo Lens had been fired at Mt. Aleph then countless Tuaparang lives would have been ended. We couldn't allow that to happen." Blados said, desperation in his voice.

"Then why did Arcanus report that you tried to fire it at us?"

"Because my liege-" Chalis began

"SILENCE, CHALIS!" The High Empyror shouted. Instantly, Chalis shrank back, fearful of what he would do to her.

"Because we wanted power for ourselves."

"Blados, you weren't supposed to say that!" Chalis screeched at her partner.

The High Empyror chuckled. Blados was always honorable. Though he may not answer a question he most definitely wouldn't directly lie. Blados left that to Chalis.

"You are nothing if not honorable Blados. And for that, I respect you. Most would not have the courage to speak that truth to me." The High Empyror applauded. "Now I must decide what to do with you. Terra, Typhon, do either of you have any ideas?" The High Empyror asked.

"They have betrayed the Tuaparang, for that they should be executed, slowly." Terra said, sliding her finger across her neck for emphasis.

"I do not care what we do with them, though they certainly should not be trusted." Typhon said, crossing his arms over his chest.

The High Empyror thought for several minutes. Blados and Chalis should probably be executed for their treason. Yet, they could both still be useful. Blados was an extremely formidable warrior, and Chalis' silver tongue was surpassed by no one. The High Empyror leaned back in his chair. He was about to order their deaths, when brilliance struck him.

Smiling devilishly, the High Empyror spoke. "Blados, Chalis, because of your treason against the Tuaparang I strip you of your command. You are to be exiled from the Tuaparang. Typhon, Terra, leave us. I wish to converse with Blados and Chalis alone." Typhon left quickly, while Terra looked annoyed, but left. "Blados, Chalis, I have a proposition for you."

"And what might that be?" Chalis asked with a seductive smile on her face.

"Officially, you will be exiled from the Tuaparang. Unofficially, you will still take orders from me. You will be my ace in the hole, the enemy that no one will expect."

"With all due respect, High Empyror, why would you need us? You have hundreds fo thousands soldiers available to you." Blados said in slight disbelief.

"Because we are pulling our forces away. But I want unofficial Generals in Weyard instead of on this airship."

"Plus, if we are successful in your missions, then you get credit for it. If we are unsuccessful, then you can disown us further." Chalis explained to her partner.

"You always were a sharp one Chalis. Yes that's exactly right. Will you do it?" the High Empyror asked.

Chalis and Blados exchanged a look, then nodded together. "Yes my lord, we will leave immediately.

The High Empyror smiled as his exiled Generals left the throne room. This plan would work perfectly.

Author's Notes: This is technically a sequel fic, but I'm going to do my absolute best to make it so that anyone can read this story without reading my atrocious first story, complete with flashbacks if necessary. So if you get confused, please let me know so I can help you and fix the problem. This story is going to have the follow ships: Spirit-Shipping (Matt and Sveta, this will get featured more and more as the story progresses.). Spark-Shipping (Tyrell and Karis) with a conflict of Storm-Shipping (Karis and Amiti). Those are the major ones. Steam-shipping (Garet and Mia), which will be good.. I'll be honest, Sparkshipping is heavy in this. The follow will probably be in the story; they just won't have a major focus on them. Seven-Eye-Shipping (Himi and Rief, this will have several character moments, and be closer to primary.). Sailing-Shipping (Nowell and Piers, this has some good moments that I'm planning.). Vale-Shipping (Jenna and Isaac, this relationship is already defined, so it won't have any/many relationship focuses). Lighthouse-Shipping (Felix and Sheba). There will be some amount of OCs, mainly as villains, though, as you can tell from the prologue, Tuaparang are a main enemy force. Also, if you get confused on anything in this story please let me know and I will PM you an answer or answer it in the next chapter, unless it's something plot sensitive to this story. Thanks again!