She revealed herself halfway down the stairs. "That sound appears to have originated from you. So I take it you've finally become a Weaver?"

"Empress!" Aleister briefly bowed. "I didn't expect the second person to find out would have been you, but yes. It happened a few days ago."

"Then allow me to wish you congratulations. And please, you don't need to call me Empress. Aunt is fine."

"Thank you, but if I may ask—what brings you down here? I hope it wasn't the sound of thunder?"

"I planned on coming down here much later, but the sound grabbed my attention and force me down here much earlier than expected. However, now that I have learned that you are a Weaver, a new opportunity has presented itself."

Aleister gave her a puzzled look as she continued her walk to the bottom.

"Nana told me all about how some criminal gang is holding her boyfriend's father captive. Now, this is unacceptable for a multitude of reasons. The action is a clear disrespect of Osetia's laws and the Crystal family's name. I've already talked to Mudan but the situation below our city has grown to a disastrous complexity once more."

"Is this related to the event that destroyed the entire underground many years back?"

"How do you know of it?" The Empress asked with a raised eyebrow.

"I only know that something like that happened. Here in Crystal Lake in fact, but I wouldn't even have the slightest clues into its details."

"It is an artifact belonging to my Crystal Royal Family. Specifically—The Crystal Heart."

"That sounds important and powerful."

"Important, yes, powerful. I would guess, but wouldn't know. Part of the reason is that no one knows how to activate the artifact. My father told me that when his father handed him the Crystal Heart to never lose it."

From the way the Empress talked and reminisced about the subject, he realized what happened.

"I know what you're thinking, but he didn't lose it. Instead, it was stolen from him by my mother."

Aleister let out a frigid breath.

"The battle that occurred here happened between my father, Master Laag, the leader of Ashes, and my mother. At the time, Gilmore and I weren't strong enough and dealt with the weaker members of Ashes. While Lavinia wasn't even in the Empire."

The Empress went silent as a forlorn smile grew along the sides of her face. She straightened her posture and crossed her arms.

"Do I even bother asking her what happened?"

"No, just wait."

Several moments passed by, but the Empress continued to stay silent. Aleister opened his mouth, but didn't get the chance to say anything.

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"I don't wish to dwell on the past too much longer, so long story short, the leader of the Ashes killed Master Laag and barely escaped with the Crystal Heart. This left father mortally injured and my mother dead. He didn't even wait to fully recover before wiping out the remanents of the group and leaving the Throne in Gilmore's hands."

"I can understand his sentiments."

The Empress nodded. "It only grows more complicated, because father said someone mind controlled mother. So much so, that she killed herself to not cause any more harm to him."

Aleister shuffled in place and said nothing.

"Gilmore always opposed becoming the Emperor. Saying there were too many responsibilities attached to the lifestyle, quite similar to mother in that regard. I guess that's also another place where Kyoko got her attitude from. So he and Ryellia left Osetia and travelled to the Shattered Steppes, where Lavinia was at the time to inform her of the situation, and to explore the world some more. Leaving me to take control of the Empire." The Empress sighed. "Apologies for getting all sentimental when I just wanted to talk to you about the situation taking place under the city."

"No worries." Aleister nervously chuckled. "It's partially my fault for bringing up the incident up in the first place. And apologies, I don't want to pry too much, but who exactly was the leader of the Ashes? And I'm assuming that's the name of the organization?"

"Yes. Ashes is what we've called them. It's short for ashes to ashes, dust to dust—their official signifier. And their organization expands far past just Osetia. In fact, we've learned that they have roots in several major and minor cities across the entire continent in every territory except for the Shattered Steppes. When I referred to the leader of the Ashes previously, it was only to the leader of the groups within my empire. Each territory has their own leader. Whether they have a principal person in charge, or if they all convenience together, we don't know. I unfortunately also wouldn't know any of their names. Just finding out of their existence caused the death of my master and mother."

"The civil war happening in Vallonia—could Ashes be behind that?"

"The thought has crossed my mind, but I wouldn't have any way of confirming if this were true or not. After all, the civil unrest between the noble clans and general populace had long since reached a boiling point. However, it would not surprise me if members of Ashes played a hand in it. Perhaps I'll be able to find more in the coming months. After weeks of communication, we have scheduled a meeting between us. Us being the leaders of each territory."

"This has to do with the upcoming trial, no doubt?"

"Of course. All of us set personal differences aside for matters of gods."

"Then, I'm a bit confused about what exactly you wanted from me?"

"Ah, yes. The whole point of bringing up the Ashes, is that while my father destroyed their existence in Osetia, he did not know their reach. Thus, after much time, they have once again regained control of the underground. I had Nana sneak around the sewer system to confirm our suspicions."

"So it is most likely some members of Ashes who kidnapped Elemmir's father."

"No. Mudan believes it is not members of Ashes who did so. A kidnapping is too brazen and would bring too much attention to them. Instead, Mudan suggested the kidnappers were a pair of criminals with bounties that originate from New Caerphy."

"Oh? How did he figure that out?"

"He's not just the Commander of the Osetia City Watch, he's also in charge of every city watch. With that knowledge, he put together some previous crimes, where the kidnapping most likely occurred, the information Nana provided, and profiled our suspects. Since they're nothing more than some common thugs, I had Nana give the gold to the boy to give to his sister. Several hundred gold is nothing to us. Of course, they won't go unpunished, so I'm having Nana go with him and bring them in for further questioning."

"Glad to here that the situation was put into such expert hands. But, where do I come in?"

"Mudan also put together some reports from various guilds about missing persons in Osetia, and figured that those two likely belong to some larger group that has ties within Osetia. So I was originally going to send Kyoko to follow up on this lead, but since you're also now a Weaver, you can go with her. She's still in the castle somewhere, so you can go talk to her when two want to go solve the conflict. Preferably sooner rather than later."

"I understand. Guess, I'll go talk with her right now. Thanks for all the information Aunt Emi."

"Take care now."