Author's warning: New readers, you really, really should read Across the Sea, Part I before launching your voyage here. Don't worry, this will still be around when you catch up.

The King of Man sat in his wheeled chair, a blanket over his failing legs despite the summer heat. Katastanîôs felt a corner of his mouth twitch upwards with that notion. King of Man. Little more than a titular title, a rusted relic, an aged article; all for an elderly Emperor.

The Emperor of Ar-Athazîon, they called him, the Lord and Master and Defender of Sarathûl, Protector of the Faith. Those weren't even real titles, not really. As his condition worsened, the pain worsened, the funnier the little things like that were. He'd even been forced to retire from his most recent campaign against the dangerously malcontent Duke of Echarîon because of this malady.

Behind him, the door creaked open. He didn't need to turn his head to see that whomever entered was on both their knees before him, bowing so deeply his head was touching the floor.

“Who is it?” The Emperor asked.

“Your humble Financier, your majesty.” said Kairôs Gadis. And it had to be Kairôs, there was no other Financier in the city.

“I sent you to Equestria. This was a quick return.” Katastanîôs was glad for it, truthfully. Any longer and it would have delayed the inevitable. “Have you gotten Princess Celestia to see reason?”

“Your majesty, it is with great... trepidation, that I inform you of my failure in this regard.” The Financier sounded nervous. “She is young, younger than your nephew Îrilôs in mind and soul. A child whose mother and father were taken from her before their time; she is convinced it is our doing. No word of ours could douse those fires, your majesty.” Katastanîôs exhaled, clenching his fist and immediately regretting it.

“So it is war, then.” declared the Emperor.

“Not necessarily, your majesty.” Kairôs spoke. “We can let the Athairîm fight Celestia on their own-”

“No, no.” He shook his head. “They are loyal to us here in the capital. And I owe it to the memory of King Zhevakôs to help defend his realm, he was a good friend. We will stand with them. Call the banners of all lords who would answer their master's summons. Our battle will be held in the light of Heaven.”

“As your command, your majesty.” obeyed Kairôs. “But I have heard troubling news from Athair...”

“Yes, a usurper has dealt a blow to our plans.” Katastanîôs grumbled. “Îrilôs said he is returning soon. He'll deal with this problem, not me.”

“Then is it true, your majesty? What they've said?” asked the Financier meekly.

“I fully intend to be dead in a very short period of time, Lord of Coins.” The Emperor affirmed. “And I look forward to it; lingering on in sickness was never something meant for my line.”

“Of course, your majesty.” said Kairôs. “I regret that I only have bad news to bear-” He stopped talking suddenly. That was enough to get Katastanîôs to turn around. Kairôs was no longer bowing, though he was still on his knees. “Your majesty, I actually do not have entirely bad news to bring!”

“Oh?” The Financier pulled a letter out of his robes, and offered it up to his Lord and Master. It was sealed with white wax, with the emblem of a rose.

“Word from Lord Aegis Vigil, granduncle of the Princesses.” said Kairôs excitedly. “I don't know what's in here, but you ought to read this, your majesty. And perhaps Îrilôs too.”

“Perhaps.” The Emperor neither agreed nor disagreed as he took the letter.

“Is Îrilôs not your heir?”

“It is unclear. My daughter is the closest relative of mine, Financier Kairôs. But Asûhna is...” Katastanîôs grimaced. “I know not what is wrong with her, in her mind. I am not oblivious to her illness. Îrilôs would be a wise choice, but a betrayal of the blood, and I cannot do that. I will name no heir, the strongest will inherit. I am weary of these worldly troubles.”

“As you say, your majesty.”

“You may leave, Lord of Coins. I desire peace and quiet. Put the letter on the mail shelf, if you would.” Kairôs obeyed and left, and only the Emperor remained in his solar. Every door of the balcony was open, looking over the great city of Ar-Athazîon. Great was a redundant descriptor, actually; the Ar- prefix already meant that. Even grammar is deserting me in my decline, grimly thought the so-called King of Man.

They said this city boasted a million people within and without its walls. From the citadel of Athazîon, here on its rocky hill by the sea, he could see all of it. There was the Cathedral of Saint Aikâlon, a great octagonal hall with eight wings running out of it. It was the tallest building in all the world, peaking at four hundred and fifty-eight feet at its central dome. Nearby was the University, a sprawling complex where the finest scholars gathered for debate, and scientists worked their wonders. And of course, there were the banks; almost fortresses themselves. Katastanîôs worried that they'd take over the world if his successors did not do so first. If there was one piece of evidence that it was his race destined to dominate this Earth, as the Equestrians called it, it was the existence of this city. After all, they had all the might of Heaven behind them. What power could hope to stand against that?

Unfortunately, Katastanîôs did not have God backing him specifically. The Lord of Heaven saw fit to let him fall to whatever consuming disease he had. Not even the doctors of the Alaiîn Order had been able to figure out what it was. The Emperor was sure that it was multiple pestilences at once. But, there was no point in fighting inevitable much longer... Not much longer, in any case. As he watched the sun set over his city, sleep took him, and he passed out of the physical realm.

In his dreams, Katastanîôs could walk again, and his body was not wracked by aches and pains and decay. The dreamworld had fascinating him, in his youth, he had learned how to control and manipulate it. To an extent, at least. A dream was a slippery thing, he had learned many times. Perhaps they would call him Katastanîôs the Dreamer, when he passed? Just as Îrilôs the third had become Îrilôs the Fiery, for his popularizing of black powder. The Emperor's fascination with dreams and the mind was well-known to the city. As far as Imperial interests went, it was one of the more mundane ones. Fâôs the Spider-sick had taken care of that for centuries to come.

“I wonder what his wife thought of that...” mused the Emperor aloud. The legends said he tried to turn her into a spider. “Absurd!”

Katastanîôs left the citadel, and travelled down to the palace grounds. It was something he enjoyed in life, walking through these gardens. His council had urged him to move into the citadel when his health began to fail, though. It was safer, they said. Katastanîôs regretted ever listening to them, he would never walk these gardens again now. The sun had set in the dreamworld, something he didn't intend to happen, and the moon took its place.

“Strange, I didn't do that.” he noted to himself.

“I did.” said another voice. Katastanîôs turned around, wondering what he had summoned up this time. Before him stood what looked like a midnight blue zôsha, just with one hoof on each leg instead of three. Her mane was a lighter shade of blue, she had a horn and wings. He didn't know how he knew she was a she, but it seemed right.

“Who are you?” asked the King of Man.

“I am Luna, Princess of the Night!” she replied, a bit too excitedly.

“So you're one of the alicorns.” Katastanîôs said. “The younger one, yes?”

“I am.” affirmed Luna the alicorn. “Forgive me if I am informal, but I've never been inside the dreams of someone who isn't a pony...” She looked positively giddy at the moment. “I believe you are the Emperor of Sarathûl?”

“None other. What brings you to the dreams of an old man in his twilight hours?” wondered the Emperor. He wasn't sure if she was real or not, but the least he could do was see where this went. They said the Prince of the Night had been able to walk in the dreams of his subjects, but could his youngest daughter?

“I have come hoping to make peace between our nations. No doubt you have heard Celestia's response to your envoy by now.” said Luna as her expression sobered.

“Just this afternoon.”

“Not all of us want war, Emperor. Least of all my granduncle and I, who constitute two thirds of the high alicorn blood remaining.” continued the Princess, raising a hoof in what was surely pride. “I hoped a face-to-face meeting could resolve things that envoys could not.”

“I admire your boldness, Princess Luna. I really do.” sighed Katastanîôs. “But the decision is out of my hands now. I've already sent the summons to battle, and soon, I won't be around to recall them.”

“What?” asked the alicorn. Ah, they're not familiar with our ways, are they?

“I'll be dead soon.” simply stated the Emperor. “The news is spreading and it is not in my abilities to stop it. Sarathûl will be ready and willing to battle your sister, or some of it, at least. I'm not really sure how many will answer my call, you see.”

“Well...” Luna frowned, her earlier demeanor of jubilance completely gone. “I suppose that does complicate affairs... Could you direct me to your heir?”

“I don't know who is my heir.” Katastanîôs said.

“You don't know who will obey you, and you don't know who will succeed you. What manner of Emperor are you?” The Princess asked in an indignant tone.

“A tired one.” He thought up a chair and sat down in it, leaning back to look at the sky. “A tired, sick, and old one.”

“So I guess this has been a waste of time, then.” remarked Luna, sighing. “There is no chance to negotiate even a truce?”

“I'm afraid not.” Katastanîôs admitted. “Check back in a few weeks, someone will be in charge here then. But I doubt they'll be willing to listen like I am.” His only successors were either too estranged from him, like his daughter Asûhna, or too ambitious, like his nephew Îrilôs. He didn't know what either would do in this case. “I spent my youth fighting on the Middle Karthâ; the river of blood they came to call it. So much death for just two banks of land and the water between. Asûhna and Îrilôs, neither of them have fought in the chaos of battle, or killed with their bare hands, nor seen what horrors an unpaid army can wreak upon the innocent. No, I wouldn't trust them to strive for peace, or use strength of arms to merely maintain peace.”

“I see...” Luna replied, looking disgruntled. “To be honest, Emperor, I do not like my sister's odds in this coming conflict.”

“I don't either.” agreed Katastanîôs, putting a finger to his chin. Something occurred to him. “My Lord of Coins said Celestia was a young girl who had her parents stolen from her, and would not rest until those who took them were punished. If I was as young as she in spirit, I would do the same. But not you, little Luna. You do not seek justice as she does.”

“I don't think it was your intention to spread that plague to our shores. Just smugglers in the wrong place at the wrong time... It spread from there.” spoke the alicorn, with a grim voice. “I'm not angry, I don't hate anyone. It was an accident.” Her ears twitched, and angled ever-so-slightly back. “Right?”

“I didn't even know the Grey Shadow was still active.” Katastanîôs looked off into the distance, his thoughts going back over all the history he had ever learned, both the commonly known and the secret. “After thirteen hundred years with no alicorns to spread it to, I thought that plague had died.”

“That's a reasonable conclusion.” Luna looked at the sky and the moon she had raised. “I wonder what they would have thought, that all this foolishness would come of their deaths.”

“If the Lord of Heaven is merciful, they won't know.”

“Is ignorance mercy, Emperor?” questioned the Princess.

“Sometimes it is.” That secret history came to mind. Some things were better left untold... “I can only hope that there is mercy for us as well, here in creation.” Katastanîôs turned to Luna. “When I leave, I'll speak for your sister up there. If something can lift the veil from her vision before its too late...”

“Thank you..?” said Luna. Obviously, she wasn't entirely sure what Katastanîôs was referencing. It would make sense that the Equestrians knew nothing of his people's faith. “I suppose if there's nothing I can do to work towards peace, I should get going...” Luna straightened her stance, but quickly deflated again, a hopeful smile upon her face. “But I do have one other question. Mostly unrelated to any current events.”

“Alright, ask away.”

“When Financier Kairôs came to Lithton to negotiate with us, he mentioned something. He said...” The alicorn's face contorted in recollection, as she tried to drag out memories that didn't seem to be cooperating. “I think he said that your kind was hunted for centuries, by a great enemy, who you eventually cast into Hell, that was the term he used. Aegis couldn't answer this, but what exactly was he talking about?”

“Ah...” Katastanîôs folded his hands, and leaned forward now. How am I going to give a quick answer? he wondered. There were so many details he’d have to leave out... “The Great Enemy. It's bad luck to say his name, but that name would be... Vahâdrîn.” whispered the Emperor, giving a sly look around. Nothing bad happened, so he continued. “They say he was a man who turned to darkness; consumed the souls of demons! When he came out of Hell-” Luna gave him a questioning look. “When he came out of the underworld, he went after us. King Aikâlon led us to the Far North. There was a terrible battle and he was cast back into Hell; all thanks to a certain Zefîr, I might add.”

“Very interesting... Goldleaf would love to hear about this.” commented the Princess. “So I guess Kairôs was boasting that if you could defeat someone who ate demon souls, then we would be nothing?”

“More or less.” agreed Katastanîôs. “Does that answer your question?”

“Yes, it does. Thank you, Emperor Katastanîôs.” Luna nodded respectfully. “My time here has not been a complete loss, then.” She offered a slight smile.

“No, it hasn't. I sincerely hope you have better luck with my successor. Fate was not with you today, Princess. You were given a dying man to deal with.” The Emperor chuckled. “Had your sister waited two or three weeks to send her letter, or sent it two or three weeks earlier, things would be entirely different!”

“They would be.” Now Luna frowned. “I'm not really sure what to say to someone who's about to die. I hope that's not too blunt to say, but you just seem so casual about it-”

“Fear not. Death is coming to all of us mortals, I've known that for a long time. I'm not afraid of it. The Promised Realm awaits me, it's just a matter of getting there now.”

“Good luck on that journey, then.” said the Princess of the Night.

“And good luck on making peace to you.” Katastanîôs too nodded, one sovereign to another. Luna departed from his dream as suddenly as she had come. Fate might not have been with her, but it is with me. I meet an alicorn princess on the last night of my life. What are the odds?

The next morning, Katastanîôs was back to being decrepit in his wheeled chair, under assault from a vicious host of maladies. He held a black wooden box in his hands; in it was a vial of clear liquid. “You're supposed to do this with a priest...” he said to himself, looking around the empty room, filled with books and letters and records. It was still cool out, the heat of the day had not set in, and a pleasant breeze smelling of the sea came through the open balcony doors. “But I was never a people person. Well, Katastanîôs, this is it. God be with me!” He raised the vial.

Within a few hours, the city of Ar-Athazîon knew his long, prosperous, and sometimes intense reign of forty-four years had come to an end. Bells rang, black banners and silver stars were hung. So passed Katastanîôs Taizâres, the ninth of his name, in the city he was born in, and in the land of his fathers.

Author's Notes:

So it begins! If you haven't read Across the Sea, Part I, you really shouldn't be here. As for the rest of you, let's rock.

Also, next chapter begins literally seconds after Part I's last Tempest chapter ends, so you may want to review that if you're cloudy on the details.