Amidst the chaos of the sudden explosion, Raine and Nikolay ran through the hallways. Their new shoes — woefully unprepared for such rough treatment — slammed against the carpet as they dodged rubble and the aftershock of weakened structures collapsing.

While they tore through the surrounding area, their heads swivelled left and right in search of Irideis. Quickly, it became clear that this place was no simple maze. They passed an abandoned kitchen with the unplated food still steaming, a staff room littered with belongings left behind… all completely devoid of human life. Everybody must’ve already evacuated by the time Nikolay and Raine reached the site of the explosion.

With the regular partygoers gone, the slippery fox they sought had, undoubtedly, already long disappeared into the night.

When they finally reached the main entrance, it signalled for them to stop in their fruitless pursuit. Groups of people gathered in front of the large archways, some heavily injured while others merely caked in dust. Paramedics and nurses stood out amongst the crowd of elaborate masquerade costumes, surrounding those who were screaming in pain — or worse, completely silent.

“There’s no way that Irideis did this… right?” Raine frowned. “But at the same time, there’s no way they’d invite us to this ball without some ulterior motive.”

Nikolay looked out at the sight before them with a grim expression. “It’d be one sick joke if they caused multiple deaths on a whim.”

“Still… I have a hard time believing that they didn’t know this was going to happen.”

Their conversation paused when they noticed one of the masquerade attendees approach them. The stranger wore a regular half-face mask around their eyes, with butterfly wings extending from the sides.

They waved cheerfully. “Hey, didn’t expect to see you two here in Marque again! How have things been?”

Raine and Nikolay blinked cluelessly at each other. They’d met a decent number of people on their journey, and it was even harder to tell when a mask was in the way.

The person paused and then sheepishly took off their mask. “Oh, right. I forgot I was still wearing this.”

Underneath, a red-haired teen grinned at them. She gave them a thumbs up when they seemed to recognise her.

“Lysandra… was it? We saw you at the Order of Truth headquarters and the hotel around here,” Raine slowly said.

“Bingo! Nice memory, Raine. I thought you would’ve forgotten me, seeing how you went through a country-wide trip since we last saw each other.”

Nikolay raised an eyebrow. “How do you know that’s Raine? We were still stuck in the single vessel when you met us.”

“Woah, woah, I’m not here to harm you, promise,” Lysandra held up her hands in surrender. “After I ran into you two while I was clearing out the Order of Truth headquarters, I did a little digging. Ended up running into a real gem of an informant, who told me all about you guys. Prophecy and everything.”

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“An informant, huh?” Nikolay deadpanned. “Do they have white hair? A tendency to be as infuriating as they are helpful? Disappears whenever it’s convenient for them?”

“Uh, who exactly are you talking about?” Lysandra awkwardly scratched her head.

Ah, so maybe the plague of Irideis’ far-reaching intel network hadn’t spread this far yet.

“Nevermind. Forget I said anything.”

“Sure… anyway, I think this informant will be pretty helpful to you guys. He might know a thing or two about the prophecy. Unless you’ve already figured it out already,” she said.

Raine scoffed lightly. “Hah, you overestimate us. We’re stuck between a rock and a hard place right now. Our next — and final — stop is Serpent Isle, but the problem is, the Marque docks are closed. We can’t sail all the way to the island without a boat.”

“Ohhh, that’s right,” Lysandra nodded to herself. “I can’t really blame the authorities for closing the docks, though. It can’t have been an easy task to convince all the shipowners and dockhands to suddenly stop their work.”

“Wait- do you know anything about why the docks are closed? Nikolay and I have been trying to get info, but nobody’s giving us a straight answer.”

Lysandra sucks in air through her teeth. “Yeah, I’m not too surprised. Nobody wants to talk about it with their friends, let alone foreigners. Well, you’ve already witnessed part of the reason today, so I can’t be blamed for having a loose tongue. There’s been a few incidents similar to the explosion an hour ago. Usually, they pick congregations of large crowds, which makes sense for this party. What I don’t get is that this is a political ball full of corrupt higher officials and aristocrats. Surely attempting murder on these people isn’t a good idea?”

That demographic really didn’t seem like a great source of information if they were to just simply ask them about the incidents. Perhaps when Irideis referred to this masquerade ball as being a ‘chance at progressing their investigation’, they actually meant the giant target mark on the event. Still, it wouldn’t hurt for them to be a little more straightforward with their help, even though it did finally give them a foothold about what was going on.

“Wait, so why are you here, then? Are you secretly a noble or something?” Raine asked. “How’d you get an invite?”

“I should be asking you two the same thing,” Lysandra huffed. “But I actually stole somebody else’s paper slip. They were making a loud ruckus in my motel about needing to go to this ball, so I decided to take it for his sake. You could consider it repayment for disturbing my sleep.”

“And you knew it would be worth going because another attack might happen?”

“Yep. I didn’t actually expect something to happen, actually. But again, my informant told me it was a good idea to use the invite.”

“This informant of yours, is there a chance that they know anything more about the targeted attacks?” Nikolay pressed. “We want to clear up the situation so that the docks can reopen.”

“It’ll be a little difficult if you were to try and find him yourselves… He’s pretty secretive and can be downright impossible to find if he doesn’t want to meet you. Tell you what, why don’t you meet me at the motel tomorrow night? I can take you guys to see him. With me there, maybe he’ll be more willing to talk to you.”

“Sounds like a plan,” Raine replied with a grateful smile. “Thanks for helping out.”

Nikolay stepped in. “Sorry to ruin the mood, but why exactly are you helping us? There doesn’t seem to be any benefit for you.”

“Well, I knew something was strange about you two. Strange in a good way, for the record. Foreigners don’t come here often, and they’re usually people who can change the fate of Kosira. Whether it be a professor with a break-through discovery, or… you know, prophecy-induced heroes. I’d rather be on the right side of history.”

Right side of history, huh? That only applied if they achieved with whatever the prophecy was planning for them.

It felt as though the more people they helped, the bigger the weight on their shoulders to succeed.