The scene opens up in a large, eerie, and dark castle. Situated in a place known as the Oth*******, Bleakmoon Castle stood valiantly amidst all the chaos around it. Bleakmoon’s steel doors sparked against the ground, making a screeching noise, as a man opened them and ran. He held a stack of papers and hurriedly fixed his glasses to prevent them from falling constantly. Sweat ran down his face and infested his hair as he sprinted up a spiral of stairs. The stairs were stone and grainy, with small rocks jumping when he stepped.

Pant! Pant!

At the top of the stairs, the man stopped in front of a tall red door; cold air gathered in front of it like a bad omen. He let the papers slide from his hand, leaning against the door to catch his breath. With his other hand, he wiped the sweat from his forehead, trying to steady himself after the climb. He readjusted his clothes and glasses and picked up the papers; his eyes filled with determination as he knocked on the door.

“Who art thou?”

The man gulped and shivered as he heard the voice respond. He shook his head and cleared his throat.

“H-Hust sir.”

“Goddamnit!” The man muttered and smacked his head at his response.

“Peace, Hust, thou mayst enter."

Screech!

The tall red door slowly opened, greeting Hust with a loud scraping noise. Thousands of tiny bugs squirmed and escaped the room, Hust’s eyes following them. He turned his gaze away and looked at a golden throne. Moonlight entered the room through three large windows behind the throne, shining parts of the room. He jogged toward the throne, his footsteps echoing in the seemingly empty room.

“L-Lord Alaric, the Juxtas are moving,” Hust said, handing the papers to Alaric.

Alaric scanned the papers and flipped through them before peering at Hust.

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“Thy occupation is not just to handeth me these writings. Enlighten me.”

“A-ah, yes milord,” Hust stammered as he trembled. He looked down and continued:

“Um, w-with the Juxtas moving, the president of Polis is demanding we stop them. He’s saying that if we don’t, he’ll send the Tri-”

“The president of Polis is saying yond? What a fool!” Alaric laughed profoundly, slapping his hand on the long desk before him. After a few seconds, he quieted down and flipped through the papers again.

“Enlighten me further.”

“O-of course, Lord Alaric. U-um, here's some pressing news: The Red Deads caught the last dragon, and the turmoil in Derin ended at last due to Prince Iris…ah, I think you’ll like this one, sire.”

Alaric turned his eyes.

Hust cleared his throat and said, “Suryu stopped the war in Fubra.”

Alaric chuckled and said, “That gent killed those folk all. That gent didn't cease nay conflict.”

“That is all he doth ever do.”

Alaric turned his attention to the papers and motioned Hust to begin again.

“Um, a wildfire burned down half of the Kolpines…ah! Here's something favorable! Water in the northern region of Munewale was restored by renowned priestess Zafra Coleen."

Alaric paid no mind to Hust, instead continuing to scan the papers. Hust awkwardly looked around before continuing.

"R-right, um. Bane the Jester was banned from performing…*gasp*, the ban on drinking did numbers to…”

Hust’s voice became distant as Alaric focused on reading. He flipped to the last page and glanced at the previous paragraph.

“Hust.”

Hust immediately stopped talking and flinched.

“Y-yes?”

“It says h're, one of the Gutters wast destroyed.” Alaric pointed at the paragraph.

Hust straightened up and said, “Oh, right. I did not think that was of importance to you milord. Do you want me to-”

“Yes. Which one?”

“Um, the one known as ‘Boon,’ milord. It is fairly unknown for its location, but it is pretty interesting. It’s stunning up there, the landscape is I mea-”

“I doth not need to knoweth about the scenery!” Alaric slammed his fist on the desk, the impact spreading across the room.

The walls began to tremble as bats pushed out from within and escaped into the room, responding to the impact. Hust kneeled and put his head down immediately.

“M-m-my apologi-”

“Peace, Hust. How didst this befall?”

Hust’s eyes desperately looked around as sweat fell down his nose. He gulped repeatedly before replying, “O-o-one of the ordinary people fell down the exit. N-nobody knows how."

Alaric's stare drove daggers deep into Hust's chest, nearly beginning to suffocate him. Alaric raised his head and said, "Very interesting."

Hust began to choke and fell onto the floor. Alaric furrowed his brows before realizing what he was doing.

"Apologies."

Hust regained his ability to breathe, hastily inhaling and exhaling. He cautiously raised himself, fixing himself up as he did.

"Hust. Investigateth this furth'r; this is important." Alaric paused and met his eyes.

"You may go."

"Y-yes Lord Alaric!"

Hust consistently slipped on the carpet beneath him as he sprinted to the tall red door. It opened up once more, the bats escaping with Hust.

Slam!

"Boon, huh? That town is most memorable. I must needs to know how it did fall." Alaric thought as he gazed down at the papers. He put them down and walked behind his throne, looking at the moon.

"I do wonder at their reaction to this." Alaric thought as he snickered.