The Observer

The Obsidian Atoll hung suspended above the Pacific, its jagged edges cloaked in mist that shimmered with trapped mana. The island’s surface was a patchwork of bioluminescent forests, quartz deserts, and neon-blue rivers fed by self-replicating aquifers. At its heart stood the White Spire, a needle-like tower of prismatic alloy that refracted sunlight into auroras.

The observer's balcony jutted from the spire like a splinter, overlooking terraced gardens where Cerynian deer grazed their fur rippling between sapphire and emerald as mana cycled through their crystal antlers.  

[ !Warning! Manoxygen saturation at 97.67%.] 

The air thickened, mana crystallizing into snowflakes that dissolved against the tower’s repulsion field.

He flicked a holographic panel, activating barriers that hissed like serpents.  

“Alpha,”  the observer muttered, watching a storm wyvern dive-bomb the Cerynians below. “Update on the migration interference.”  

[ The wyverns were herded by mercenary airships bearing the *Iron Lotus Syndicate* sigil. Payment: 500,000 gold marks. Targets: Wyvern marrow for black-market mana enhancers.]

The Observer chucked it aside "those deers are powerful enough to take down wyverns nothing to worry."

[ Warning: Three pirate galleons approaching. Hulls reinforced with black-steel. Crews armed with mana-laced artillery, magicians with high quality gear and both hull and deck are laced with runes]

“Hydro cannons on standby. If the cross the boarder, turn their ships into swiss cheese."

The Bloodtide Marauders flagship, The Siren’s Lament, cut through waves with a hull of blackened steel and sails stitched from leviathan hide.

Captain Vorath the Serpent stood on deck, his face a map of scars, one eye replaced by a mana-scope that whirred as it zoomed on the Obsidian Atoll.

His first mate, Kirto, trembled as he handed over a spyglass.  

“Captain—the White Spire! The White spire is real!"

Vorath laughed, his voice a graveled growl. “Legends are for drunkards. That’s  dungeon spire, if that were the real white spire we would have been dead” He cracked a bone whip coiled at his hip, its tip glowing with cursed runes "Everyone Be alert."

_____________

The hold reeked of brine, blood, and mildew. 

Faint light seeped through cracks in the hull, illuminating Lady Charlotte d’Arcette and her maids Altricia, Lira, and Mara chained to the damp walls. Their torn garments clung to their skin, and their collars pulsed faintly with mana-suppression runes.

 A hulking pirate guard, leaned against the barred door, picking his teeth with a rusted dagger.  

 “Quit yer sniveling, nobles. Captain’ll sell ya to the highest bidder in the Black Isles.Or maybe keep one fer himself.”He leered at Altricia. “Ever bedded a pirate, girl?”  

Charlotte glared at the guard “The Holy Church will hunt you down. You’ll burn for this.”  

 The guard mocked them “Church ain’t here, is it? Just you, me, and the rats.” He kicked a bloated rodent scurrying past. “But don’t worry—I’ll make sure ya scream real pretty ‘fore we dock.”  

Lira silently whispered to Charlotte “My lady… what if the stories about the White Spire are true? What if its master… 

Charlotte clutches her pendant “Pray for mercy, Lira. Not miracles.”  

The guard snickered "praying for mercy eh?, Well then. May your god heed your prayers"

A deafening BOOM shook the ship. Garrick staggered, dropping his dagger. Screams erupted above deck.  

The guard panicked and picked up his dagger “What in the Abyss—?!”  

Charlotte chuckles "seems that you'll the one in need of prayer..."

Mara sobs while looking down “Or it’s another monster!”  

Charlotte ordered the two to tone down “Quiet! Listen!”  

__________

The drones’ mechanical shrieks pierced the air. 

A plasma blast tore through the ceiling, scattering splinters. 

The guard fumbled for his dagger and casted a stealth spell, but a drone’s optic appeared in the hole, scanning the room.  

Garrick revealed his position and lunged straight to the drone with a dagger on hand “I WILL KILL YOU DEMON!”  

The drone lunged, its plasma blade severing his hand and the drone shot the guards head cleanly in the head.

He collapsed, howling, as the drone turned to the captives.  

Screams can still be heard from above.

Lira terrified on whats happening “Don’t look! Don’t look at its eyes!”  

[ Directive: Extraction. Sedation protocol activated.]

Pink gas hissed into the hold. 

Charlotte gripped her pendant, tears mingling with the haze.  

Charlotte muttered as she's falling unconscious “If… if this is death… thank you. For staying.”  

“N-not… death… hope…” Altricia muttered her final words before they all went unconscious

_________

Moments before....

[ Hostiles at 18km. Deploying Assault drones.]

The Observer sipped coffee as holograms displayed the battle, "lets see those flare drones in combat"

On The Siren’s Lament, Vorath roared, “Aim for the joints!” the magician fired Firebolts, but the drones phased through blasts, blades whirring, A crewman’s head vaporized mid-scream.  

“CAPTAIN! The shield—”  

“Silence!” Vorath’s whip lashed out, severing a drone’s wing—but three more descended. The deck became a slaughterhouse, blood pooling around corpse-piles.

The drones descended to the brig, infrared scanners identifying life signs. Charlotte flinched as a drone’s claw gently snapped her collar.  

[ Directive: Transport survivors to Med-Bay 7. Activating sedation protocol.]

A pink gas hissed into the chamber. The last thing Charlotte saw was the drone’s  optic—cold, yet oddly reassuring.  

The Observer watched the captives materialize in stasis pods, their wounds knitting via nanite injections, Alpha’s voice chimed: [ Query: Protocol for survivors?]

“Let them stay for as long as they want, its been awhile since we had a visitor here”  

[ And the pirates?]

Kael gazed at Vorath’s mangled corpse on the hologram. “ Clean, repair and stock their gear, i have plans for that, for the bodies turn them into fertilizers  Even roaches serve the ecosystem.”  

As the spire hummed, he muttered to the Bloodmoon, now veiled by storm clouds: “Three million years… and humans never change, Oh man i feel bad for no reason”  

The Observer laid his back off the chair "Ace remind me to send them a HC after they wake up, i want to personally greet them

[Affirmative.]

___________

The captives awoke in sterile stasis pods, their wounds healed, clothed in soft silver robes A hologram of The observer flickered above them.  

"Good day, you must have been confused on what exactly is happening and where exactly are you, well don't worry your relatively in good hands you are currently on the 40th floor of the observatories Medical bay"

The windows covers rolls down unfolding the breath taking scenery of this island

"welcome to the Observatory dear visitors, this land mass is positioned in the Pacific ocean Far from any civilization, i dont really know how did those pirates got here, but who cares, any questions?"

Charlotte ask clenching her fist and looking at the holorgram "Who are you?"

The Observer chuckles "i was expecting a question before that but you can call me, The Observer, or just Observer"

The three ware taken aback from the sentence uttered by the floating hologram