x
Raina looked at them with conviction, feeling an underlying judgment from their stares.
"I am the Ryfi Theos. If you were in my position, wouldn't you, too, be afraid of the possibilities of a rival species outnumbering your own?" Raina asked him, pointedly. "I've admitted my concerns—the Klevonian Army proved a formidable enemy during the First Great War—but I'm still trying to act in a manner that benefits both parties."
"I don't get it, why didn't pneumarians just mate with klevonians who were already part of their Crests?" Za'Fia asked her. "Then, both parents could just bring in their child without taking from the Klevonian Army, right?"
"Pneumarians procreating with klevonians isn't something condoned, unfortunately," Raina replied as she sifted through papers that were on her desk. "Do you know why klevonians evolve into pneumarians? It's because we existed first. We pneumarians are the true cindarian image. That's what many believe anyway. Klevonians came into existence 310 million of our years after pneumarians as a mishap during fusion. You see, a natural-born cindarian can only procreate after a unification ritual that links us with our partner forever—our eternal half."
"That sounds like marriage," Michael said.
It is much stronger than what humans referred to, but yes, in a sense, that is correct, Viraa stated.
"Back then, pneumarians chose to procreate during a process where we fuse our energies and pass our genes into a new being, our offspring. Eventually, a mutation began to manifest occasionally during the process, which would cause the offspring to be born with reddish-brown material bodies instead of bodies of energy. These offspring proved similar yet inferior to pneumarians in many aspects, thus, klevonians came to be. Eventually, they began to procreate on their own, duplicating their numbers over time. Pneumarians continued to do the same, but it became more frequent that a klevonian could be born during the fusion instead of another pneumarian. It's to the point now that this is the current cindarian birthrates between our species," Raina said, writing it down for them to see.
The paper read:
Pneumarian + Pneumarian: pneumarian offspring (70%), klevonian offspring (30%)
Klevonian + Klevonian: pneumarian offspring (2%), klevonian offspring (98%)
Pneumarian + Klevonian: pneumarian offspring (39%), klevonian offspring (60%), Zasshu (1%)
"A large percentage of the adult pneumarian population has already had their one offspring with another," Raina explained as the others looked over the paper. "Seeing as there are more klevonians than pneumarians, many pneumarians would have to unify with a klevonian these days. For a long time we haven't for one dangerous reason, but even if that weren't the case, during the treaty we couldn't because should the child emerge a klevonian then, technically, it'd fall under the treaty's confinements and would warrant attention from those who'd disapprove of them being 'branded' as they'd put it."
"And if it emerged a zasshu?" I asked, pointing at the 1%.
"Then the child would pose an even greater concern, potentially one that could reach global proportions. That 1% is the biggest reason we don't: it's why it's outlawed," Raina said with a serious tone, thinking about the current zasshu that resided on Cindar.
Our Law of Preservation, Viraa input before listing it as:
By decree of the bansedai,
To preserve pneumarian life, pneumarians are forbidden to produce offspring with species outside of their own. Those who break this commandment will be subjected to exile of Cindar, imprisonment, expungement, or life removal.
"The law was created due to the threat the second Ryfa Pakt posed to the pneumarians eons ago, the birth of our Celestial, as well as the increasing birthrate of klevonians, but Viraa later changed it to not being able to produce offspring with species recognized as potential threats—vakumites, sonans, starlings, fotians, planetoids, and klevonians. You all shouldn't have to worry though. 99% of klevonians can only procreate with other cindarians; I suppose humans are an extension of that now. Very few still have the ability to do so with outside species. Oh, and don't worry, you'll become familiar with Cindar's political connections soon enough," Raina waved off their confusion as she looked at Alissia specifically. "Anyhow, despite this, most pneumarians still choose to refrain from mixed breeding from fear of one day being overrun. Those few who didn't chose to move off-world long ago."
"So pneumarians are finding it less and less likely to unify with another pneumarian due to many already having a family, pneumarian/klevonian crossbreeding is outlawed, and klevonian numbers are rising. Now pneumarians have to rely mostly on klevonians receiving ascension marks and evolving to increase their numbers, " Za'Fia summed up.
"But the treaty prevents that," Tymon input.
"Yet Viraa proposed it, knowing it had to be ratified to cease the violence between the nations," Michael commented.
"Yes, and the Ryfa Pakt I tried to come to an arrangement with knew the corner this would eventually put my nation in, and said I was naïve to think every pneumarian would abide by my fantasy, so he rejected my proposal," Raina picked up from where she'd left off, remembering the aggravating Ryfa Pakt and his insults. "This left me with two options: continue abiding by the treaty that would no doubt lead to Pneuma City's ruin once the Klevonian Army felt their numbers were enough to invade...Or I break the treaty and slow that inevitability dramatically. Unlike Viraa, I can't see the future, so I chose the latter, knowing that most of the Crest Heads would ensure peace continued throughout their districts, and hoping once the Klevonian Army saw the peaceful, fulfilling lives a klevonian can have here, they'd come to reason."
"With the amount of death and terror I sensed in certain parts of the nation on the way here, I'd say things aren't as peaceful here as you thought it'd be," Tymon remarked.
"Yes, I hear the rumors, but the Crest Heads can be crafty. Every time I try to find reason to judge those said to be cruel, no evidence can be found, and no victims come forward. Likely from fear, being Ordered, or manipulated, depending on the victim. Still, the good outweighs the bad. I allow klevonians who wish to receive a mark to receive it willingly, and I don't force children to receive marks if their parents don't want them to. Typically, in Pneuma City, the klevonian child's parents are already part of a Crest, so the parent chooses the same for their child."
Otherwise, it'd have to leave the nation, Viraa made clear. Because only klevonians who are part of a Crest can live here.
Raina didn't deny this. There was a twinge of guilt, but she knew that if she allowed unmarked klevonians to stay, it'd become difficult to catch klevonians who sneak in.
"For a long time, none of the Ryfa Pakt had allowed themselves to see the vision, yet their population and hatred for us continue to grow," she spoke. "The current Ryfa Pakt is the first to understand, but some of her officers rightfully view me breaching the treaty long ago as a sign that I'm untrustworthy and that it's an act of war that's yet to be rectified. Now, it feels like anything could set my Spiritans and the Generals of the Klevonian Army off. If things don't de-escalate, the next Great War could start at any moment."
A Spiritan is the title given to a leader within the Pneumarian Forces. Their full title is Spiritan Commander. There are six of them in total, Viraa explained to us. Now you are aware of the sensitive state Cindar is currently in.
Alissia slumped back in her seat and sighed heavily.
"I wonder if my parents dealt with this kind of bureaucracy," Alissia said, causing the others to chuckle a little. "If so, I take back all my complaints about them just barking orders."
"There's only one matter left for us to attend to before we depart," Raina said lightly with a smile.
"Before we do that, earlier your expression changed when you mentioned a zasshu," Tymon stated, watching her intently." There's even a law of preservation set around preventing one from being created again. What exactly is a zasshu, and why is everyone afraid of one?"
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Fun fact: Ferritic Pull - A temp cintracy that gives the user the ability to generate their own magnetic field so they can manipulate metal. At a mastered level, the user can also control the iron within others' blood.
Wonder what Damien's group is up too...
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