Meanwhile, as the trio set out in search of the elusive dragon another force moved in the world. Rather, in a world as her movements took place in the divine city.

Daedra slowly slipped her tongue along the curvature of her ice cream cone. A frosty treat to prepare her for the hot event about to come. At her side there stood four goddesses in overly erotic seeming battle armor, complete with winged helmets. Each of them looked almost to be a clone of the other, though that was mostly the fact that their hair and eyes were the same color. Blond haired, blue eyed, all approximately the same height. Their uniformity of appearance was a matter of pride for the Valkyrie Corps. Special units might have different coloration, but the general valkyrie populace adhered to that standard.

“Ladies,” said Daedra after she swallowed a bit of her ice cream. “You have already been briefed on our mission today, so I will… be briefer in this brief.”

She congratulated herself a little for realizing that she had rightly processed the moment and expressed it in words. Quietly, to herself, she said, “Yes. That is what is happening. Good job, me.”

Daedra took a breath then paused for effect. “We will soon serve a warrant to the house of Origin. We must bring in the sole male offspring of their empire, Silence, for questioning in regard to a judicial matter.”

She looked each of the blond goddess one after then other then began to pace back and forth in front of them. “I do not expect any trouble, as this is merely a warrant seeking a consultation and not an arrest warrant. We are involved solely due to the fact that he must be made to come to the Hall of Justice immediately.”

“Understood?” asked Daedra.

“Yes, big sister!” exclaimed the four goddesses simultaneously.

“Good! Now, move out!” exclaimed Daedra. Feathery wings materialized from her back and she flapped those dove white appendages experimentally. A sign of authority from long before her birth, those wings and the golden glow that they radiated meant business. Though, their significance was lost to the void of history their significance in divine culture remained. Any god or goddess might have angel wings in a mortal world, but only certain members of the government and high-level private imperials could have wings of this type and grandeur when in the divine city. In some ways, it could be considered to be a type of uniform.

The Valkyries took off into the sky and flew like golden shooting stars that parted the heavens. While any god or goddess could fly, most did not in the divine city unless they used a vehicle. They generally tried to live in a manner similar to a modern-earth human style.

Their arrival at the entrance to the Origin Empire’s family business fortress did not cause much fanfare, or level a great deal of interest despite the rarity of such an event. The Valkyries timed their arrival to coincide with the heaviest avatar usage period of the day. Those interested in roaming around in a game world, or even a normal mortal realm, would often be busy doing such at the moment.

Daedra boldly strolled up to the entrance of the skyscraper that served as the Ardent Family’s business fortress. This was the super massive complex where the Origin empire developed its game worlds, ran their business, and acted as a home for the family itself.

She walked up to the front door and then pressed the buzzer next to it. A message screen appeared next to the door, though it was recessed into the wall as though it were a television monitor. The face of a security guard appeared on it, one that held a certain smug and self-important air. “Welcome to the Tower of Ardent, home of the Origin Empire. What is it that you seek here, travelers?”

“We have come to bring Silence Ardent to the Hall of Justice,” said Daedra.

“No one gets in to see the Silence! Not nobody. Not no how,” replied the security officer. He retained his smug expression, but anyone who bothered to pay attention to his face would note that he seemed to be struggling not to laugh.

“Nice… Wizard of OZ reference. However, I must insist. We have a warrant,” said Daedra. She held up a physical copy of the warrant before the side monitor.

“Well that’s a horse of a different color, isn’t it?” asked the officer blithely. A loud buzzing noise echoed from the intercom, and the doors were unlocked. “Welcome to the Tower of Ardent. Please don’t steal our furniture or office plants. Please follow the yellow lined floor. It will lead you to where you need to go.”

The quintet marched into the building then located a glowing yellow section of floor. Once Daedra stepped on the square of light, a new floor section lit up. Following this precedent, they walked boldly through the heart of one of the best defended towers in the city. Their warrant was easily as good as a pair of ruby slippers in this strange and magical land of commerce and occasional dwarf tossing. The former was understood implicitly by reputation, but the latter was only revealed when they passed a testing area and saw various divinities tossing dwarves to test a world physics engine.

“He flew a bit far! Increase the gravity three percent!” called out one of the testers. The dwarf rose shakily to his feet then harrumphed and marched back to the starting point.

“Are you sure? The bridging protocol is already stressed. The virtual souls could end up being damaged,” said another researcher.

“Has to be risked. Besides, that just means they would need to rest. It’s not like they won’t just respawn,” remarked the first tester.

The fake dwarves, as virtual souls were legitimately nothing more than the spiritual equivalent of an advanced artificial intelligence program, grumbled a little but it wouldn’t be the first time they had been stressed to breaking. In fact, it was a point of pride that their suffering made life better for others. Also, it was the only way to guarantee that they could slowly evolve into fae souls since true mortal souls were outside of their development range. Once that happened, they could enter the cycle of reincarnation as a nature spirit. It wasn’t the same as being something like a human, but it was better than nothing.

Virtual soul creation was a difficult process, and few families could manage to craft even one. The fact that there were dozens of them for this test alone bespoke the wealth and power of the Ardent family.

The Valkyries did not dawdle long, but they did take note of the testing. There was nothing illegal about it, but it did act as a reminder that they were treading on the holy ground of a powerful and highly influential family.

They followed the light to an elevator then entered. They rose well over a hundred floors then got off and followed the yellow lit road to a door quite some distance away.

Daedra knocked on the door, and as an answer it slowly opened. On the other side they were greeted to an intensely ordinary sight. Silence Ardent, in all his splendor, sat in an office chair while apparently pouring over reports. He looked up at them then nodded his head. “Ladies. I hear that you have some sort of warrant for me?”

“Yes. You are ordered to appear at the Hall of Justice. You will need to—” began Daedra. However, she was cut off by a wave of Silence’s hand. “I’m busy. What is this about?”

“This is an official summons by an arbiter!” snapped Daedra.

“I’m aware of that,” said Silence. “I’m also aware that those sorts of warrants are meant to be delivered and acted upon as was convenient for the summoned.”

“Do you intend to refuse the summons?” asked Daedra, her eyes narrowing.

“No. I intend to reach a reasonable stopping place in my work. Save said work, and then have lunch before I comply,” said Silence. “Unless, that is, you intend to tell me why it is that I am being summoned?”

“The warrant is in regard to a recent event that has occurred. You are implicated in the severe injury of another deity,” said Daedra.

“Am I?” asked Silence. He waved his hand again and several papers on his desk disappeared. They were soon replaced by a new stack of them. “Who might that be?”

“Harei,” said Daedra.

“Who?” asked Silence. He did not bother to look at her while he continued to process his paperwork. Internally, he tried to figure out who the mentioned deity might be. Certainly, he was not aware of the name.

“A comatose youth who was part of the same community project you joined. He was attacked in such a way that implicates you,” said Daedra.

“I’ve never heard of him,” said Silence truthfully.

“Very well. It is your right to appear at your own convenience,” said Daedra. “However, you must realize this will be viewed poorly by the arbiter who signed this warrant.”

“What ties me to these events?” asked Silence.

Daedra paused briefly. Her signatory agreements as a valkyrie prevented her from breaking the law. She had intended to tell him in detail what the reason for the warrant was, but her vocal cords had begun to restrict. She was over-stepping her authority. As things stood, she had already disseminated all the information that she was allowed to speak when it came to specifics of the case. She could, however, speak in vague terms. “The victim was a former member of the guild ‘Corpse Rat’.”

Silence’s hand stopped mid-wave. He stood up without a moment’s hesitation then looked toward Daedra. “Lead the way.”

“You are ready to be escorted to the Hall of Justice?” asked Daedra.

“I’ve been ready for that, for quite some time,” replied Silence.

“I see,” she said with a nod of her head. “Very well. Let us be on our way.”

Silence and his valkyrie escort left the building and headed off to the Hall of Justice. There was much to discuss.