Interstellar Age

Erich did not wait a single moment to explain things to Tia. Instead, she was forced to reconnect to his NeuroLink and spy upon his memories herself. She was shocked at what she found, and remained completely and utterly silent. Her plan was to allow Erich to deal with these matters himself. After all, she had far more important things to focus on herself.

As for Erich himself, he immediately took the first ship he could find to the world of Svartalfheim. It was a world that Erich had never actually step foot on before. In fact, his only experience within Svartalfheim Territory within both of his attempts at life, was when he was held as a prisoner within an asteroid prison colony.

Well, that and his invasion of the Confederation of Human Worlds, which was no longer a part of Svartalfheim Territory. The world of Svartalfheim was in direct contrast to that of Alfheim. While Alfheim was in a vibrant world, full of sunlight, excessive plant growth, and majestic fauna, as far as the eye could see.

The home world of the Dark Elves was one of complete and utter darkness. Nothing grew on its desolate and rocky surface. In fact, all of their agriculture was either done in orbit, or beneath the surface of the world itself. It was so dark, and full of a black mist, that Erich immediately had flashbacks to the Maw.

He was beginning to think that perhaps the creation of the Dark Elves wasn't the only thing that had ties to the so called Maw which disappeared from the galaxy several hundred thousand years ago.

When Erich's luxury yacht landed within the Royal Spaceport, one which housed the personal vessels of Daelia. He was surprised to see the woman was waiting below the ramp of his ship, waiting for him.

At first Erich had a hard time recognizing the greeting party, which consisted of Daelia, Sinaria, and the Svartalfheim Royal Guard. All of which appeared different from how they otherwise normally would.

Under normal circumstances, a Dark Elf would have a dark brown, chocolate like skin tone. They would also have blonde hair and a shade of eyes that varied from blue to green to grey and even amber.

But currently the Dark Elves that appeared before Erich were like those he had seen in the Maw. Something that made Erich incredibly wary towards them. Even Daelia suspected the man's caution as was quick to dismiss it entirely with a gentle tone in her voice.

"Relax Erich.... You are safe here... What you are seeing is how my people appear in their natural environment. Yes... You are correct, there are traces of the Maw's energy here on Svartalfheim. It is indeed the reason that we Dark Elves are so different from our cousins.

However, once we are no longer within the surface of our home world, our features change to what you normally recognize. We have a lot to talk about, so how about you stop being so fidgety and get down here already!"

Erich hesitated at first, but he eventually steeled his resolve and stepped out of his ship's interior. Once he stepped foot on the world of Svartalfheim, he did not feel the same level of suffocation that he did while he was in the maw. And before Erich knew it, his lips were assaulted by Daelia, who whispered something in his ears that chilled him to the bone.

"You naughty boy! You have been spying on the past, haven't you? If my sister knew that you learned the truth about her, you may not survive the next night you spend with her..."

After saying this, Daelia broke away from Erich and looked him straight in the eyes, where she then smiled and welcomed him to her home.

"Where are my manners? Welcome to my people's home world, Great Emperor of the Human Race. Come, we have much to discuss. And little time to do it in. Sinaria, you make sure that nobody disrupts Erich and I, okay?"

Sinaria sighed heavily, but ultimately obeyed her mother. She did not think Erich was actually here for important matters, and had instead stopped by for a booty call. Making her deeply envious of her mother, even if she might not say it aloud.

Erich followed Daelia into the palace, which, like all buildings, appeared to be made out of a marble like substance. Except the stone was not white and was instead black, like most other things in this dark world.

Although things were not as Erich was accustomed to, he didn't really mind the perpetual darkness of Svar Alfheim. If anything, he found it easy on the eyes. But what did surprise him was then when he finally sat down and got to talking with Daelia. It was in her personal quarters, and on her bed, no less.

The Shadow Queen of the Dark Elves poured Erich a glass of wine, and one for herself, while lying on the bed in a particularly seductive manner. Where she then gave voice to her personal thoughts regarding Erich's limited understanding of ancient history.

"So, you have come all this way to see little ol' me in an attempt to understand what really happened all those years ago. And why us two sisters fought a galactic war that nearly destroyed everything, and left ourselves in a state of destruction that we still have not fully recovered from, is that correct?"

Erich nodded his head in confirmation. This was more or less true. After all, the Maw was a confusing concept to him, as it appeared to no longer exist in the galaxy. Well, that wasn't entirely true. There definitely appeared to be some trace of it here in the world of Svartalfheim, and because of this he was quick to ask more about this.

"Yeah, I have seen the war itself, what the galaxy calls the Great Schism, and I have seen what state the galaxy was left in afterwards. I mean, the two of you destroyed everything you ancestors worked so hard to build. Hell, you destroyed countless worlds, civilizations, and intelligent species in your war.

I mean, some of them didn't even make it to the industrial era, and yet they suffered in the wake of your wrath. In the end, the Elven Empire split into two rump states, neither of which were ever able to recover 1/10th of the power that their predecessor once held. And for what? What could possibly justify such devastation, and the rewriting of history that the two of you made at the end of it all?"

Daelia did not seem the least pleased with the way Erich was speaking to her, and in doing so forced herself to drink the entirety of her wine glass's contents. She then placed it on the table and jumped on top of Erich. Pinning him beneath her weight as she scolded him, almost as if she were his mother.

"You have some nerve speaking to your savior that way? Do you have any idea why, despite the complete and total devastation that was caused in the Great Schism, that the Earth was spared, and along with it those early ancestors of your species?

That was all my doing! I sacrificed more than you can possibly imagine, making sure that one day in the distant future, you would come to find me. So how about you speak to me with some proper respect? If you do that, we can continue this conversation of ours!"

Erich had not known any of this. He had really just seen the Great Schism at an intense speed, almost as if he was fast forwarding through it all. But Daelia wasn't lying to him, he could tell, and thus he sighed heavily and apologized.

"I'm sorry, I didn't know. If what you say is true, not only do I personally owe you a great deal of gratitude, but so do all of my people, so please continue…"

Daelia naturally accepted Erich's apologies, and then proceeded to lay her head on his chest, where she would then ask the question that would kick-start their entire conversation.

"Did you ever get far enough to understand why I was ever trapped in the Maw in the first place?"