Meanwhile, far from either of the worlds that Sera called home, in the very centre of the Nine Heavens, a grand ceremony was underway to Crown Prince Rusefi of the Heavenly Phoenix Empire. At Twenty-One, he was an incredible talent who had reached a half-step into Tier Five, and with it had proven himself to be a worthy successor to his Emperor Father. The ceremony was larger than any individual from Sera’s world could even imagine. The grand palaces of gold and ruby surrounded a 20km² space and rose dominatingly towards the sky. A crowd of 500,000 was jammed into the space between the buildings, leaving only the red and gold carpet of the walkway free, but millions more waited outside, craning for a glimpse of the great prince who would one day lead them. His already numerous achievements were spoken of between groups. How he had slayed a ten-thousand-year-old Jade Python that threatened the west of the empire. Or how he had dominated the under 20s tournament of the Nine Heavens four years before. How he had won the heart of the ever reclusive and cold-hearted Princess of the Ice Heaven. He was a great hero, a worthy leader of one of the Heavenly Empires! Rusefi himself knelt upon the palanquin that carried him through the crowds towards the Staircase of Phoenixes. Only the truly privileged and powerful ever walked up those steps. His attire was the traditional red and gold of his Empire, the embroidered design of the great phoenix emboldened on his back with the long tail feathers trailing out behind him. He wore the gold circlet of a prince, but on this day he would receive a crown proper, not to mention the great Ank. Without a doubt one of the most powerful weapons in all the Nine Heavens. It could be argued by academics that every Heavenly Empire’s Imperial Bloodline had remained in power because of one of the Nine Heavenly Weapons. Sentient at their core, some believed that unlike Territory Pieces, it was the Nine Heavens that had gifted the Heavenly Weapons to the Empires upon their rise to their current status. Despite how they were called weapons though, these objects were sentient. They were not as simple as a spiritual weapon. In their own right, the Heavenly Weapons could have been gods themselves. Instead, they served the will of their wielders, and in turn the will of the Nine Heavens. Or so it was said. The Ank appeared as a luminescent stone, not dissimilar to one of the Enn stones that Sera had received, only it was rounder, and was currently embedded into a necklace worn around the neck of the Emperor of the Phoenix Empire. The Emperor had worn the Ank since he himself had been named crown prince nearly six hundred years before, but now he was more than proud to pass it over to his successor. He was especially excited because he had sensed the restlessness in the Ank. It was eager to meet its new master. He had not heard tales of it doing such a thing before, his father certainly hadn’t mentioned it doing such a thing upon his coronation, but it was surely a good sign. The sign of a Master who would achieve great things with its power. Rusefi’s Palaquin arrived at the base of the Phoenix Staircase, and he began to trek up to the top under the watchful eyes of his people, pride and responsibility flowing from his being. In one of the Palaces to his left, the Princess who would be his Empress, Fey, watched on with a proud and joyful gaze, her own father taking her hand and beaming with his own pride. Rusefi reached the top of the stairs, and approached the throne where his father sat, waiting for him. He knelt at the base of the throne and spoke the words he had been waiting to speak for all his life. “This Prince humbles himself before the great Phoenix Emperor, willing to take upon himself the responsibilities and dignities of Heavenly Phoenix Empire,” stated Rusefi. The Empreor gazed down at his son, his eyes proud but his expression and aura that of a true ruler, “A humbling position you propose of yourself. Do you so swear to treat the citizens of this Empire as your own children?” asked the Emperor. “I swear”. “Do you swear to protect the Empire and it’s interests for as long as you shall live?” asked the Emperor. “I swear”. “Do you swear to uphold the dignity and strength of your position, and represent the Empire and it’s core ideals?” asked the Emperor. “I swear so to do,” the Prince replied. The Emperor stood, his right hand and advisor stepping forward with the crown that had been prepared, “Then with your word, you have made this solemn vow eternal”. He picked up the crown, “With this crown, I bestow upon you the authority to match your dignity and strength”. The crown rested upon the Prince’s brow. The Emperor lifted his arms to take the great necklace containing the Ank from his own neck. When one would look back on this day, to this very moment, with the insight of the future, one could not deny that what occurred next was not of a coincidental nature. However, in the moment, even the Emperor of one of the Nine Heavenly Empires found it impossible to correlate what appeared as mere happenstance, to the divine and eternal will of the Nine Heavens. As the Necklace was lift from the Emperor’s neck, the pendant caught on one of the buttons of his imperial coat, and dislodged the resplendent stone from its gold casing. The entire ceremony stilled and eyes widened as the great Ank dropped to the ground between father and son, then rolled on back towards the staircase. One of the nearby guards was the first to act, seeing the great weapon of his empire rolling towards the staircase he launched forward in an attempt to stop it. Others reacted around him, and in the proceeding kerfuffle of reaching hands and limbs, the stone pitched up high into the air where a rare Ghostly Crow caught it in its claws. From the crow’s perspective, it was simply gathering something shiny for its nest. From the perspective of the Emperor, the Prince, and the hundreds of thousands of witnesses, the Ghostly Crow, the symbol of the Ghost Heaven, had stolen their greatest weapon. “After that Crow!” The Crow was quite overwhelmed at the sight of thousands of soldiers pursuing it, and using its natural abilities, promptly vanished from sight like a wisp of smoke. There was a stillness in the Heavenly Phoenix Empire for a long moment, as if no one would quite believe what had just occurred, then the wrath of the Emperor’s Tier 5 power caused the sun to burn hotter and brighter, dying the Phoenix Heaven Red. The Ank, the true culprit of events, who had been waiting some time for the opportunity to pursue the new master it had sensed, rested comfortably in the claws of the Ghostly Crow until its intuition told it that it was time, and then shifted ever so slightly and slipped from the crow’s claws, plunging down towards a vast ocean, then into the belly of an impeccably large Olvelian Whale. Not it’s favourite part of the journey, but the migration of the Whale would take it where it needed to go. The whale, none the wiser to what it carried in its enormous bulk, swam on. Meanwhile, in the Imperial Palace of the Heavenly Ghost Empire, the Imperial Prince Niklaus stared out across the Heavenly Sea towards the Heavenly Phoenix Empire, a frown of annoyance upon his brow. The Imperial Prince Rusefi was older than him by a mere month, and thanks to that the two were constantly compared. They had been competitors since their birth, and more than once, Niklaus had found himself the victim of a fierce lecture about his potential. He was no lesser than Rusefi, yet his father had not made the same traditional decision to crown him properly. Instead, Niklaus was supposed to compete with his many half-brothers for the right that was his by birth. Flicking the coin in his hand up before catching it then flicking it up again, Niklaus thought deeply about his father’s expectations of him. “Prove yourself superior to that Red-Feathered Peacock, and I’ll crown you as my heir”. Niklaus frowned. It was easier said than done. He had his own pride as a prince. Official competitions were welcomed, but to issue a challenge to the crown prince of an opposing Heavenly Empire would be seen as an act of aggression that could very well lead to war. The Heavenly Ghost Empire, despite it’s history, was not actually seen as a warring Empire, and the emperors did not support such a move either. As such, Niklaus’s options to prove himself superior to Rusefi were few considering that in a mere 9 years they would no longer be considered ‘youths’ competitions would grow to be much rarer following this. Besides, Rusefi would now have control of the Ank of Fire. It would make him practically unbeatable among those of the same rank even if it did not fully acknowledge him. Niklaus caught the coin and his grip tightened on it before he felt it vibrate against his flesh. He reached out his mana energy, activating its hidden function. “Speak,” Niklaus stated in a cold tone. “My Prince, you’ll never believe what just happened at the coronation!” Niklaus frowned at his informant’s pause, “Well? Don’t keep me in suspense”. “When Rusefi was about to receive the Ank, the Stone was loosened from where it was inset on the necklace, rolled toward the alter stairs and bounced off before a ghostly Crow caught it and flew off with it. The Imperial Guards are in a flurry trying to hunt the creature down, but it’s disappeared!” Niklaus’ eyes widened in shock, “Are you positive?” “Absolutely, Highness!” If the Heavenly Empire didn’t recover the Ank soon, they would be challenged, and without their greatest weapon, they would quickly be overwhelmed by their enemies among the Nine Heavens. And without the Ank, Rusefi would be no different to before… “You said the Ank was taken by a Ghostly Crow?” asked Niklaus. “That’s correct, Highness”. It had to be a sign. One that Niklaus was not going to ignore, “Trace it as best you can, I’ll meet you as soon as I am able”. “Understood,” his informant replied before the connection cut off. Niklaus grinned, knowing exactly how he would prove his superiority. If he found the Ank first, before Rusefi, it’d be assured. After all, the Anks of the Heavenly Empires chose those most worthy of them, and that was not necessarily those of the same bloodline as their previous keepers. Niklaus set off to inform his father of this development, and quickly left the Imperial Capital under the pretence of personal training.