||| THE PATH OF THE NEXUS: MARIE |||
[Tower of Nexus]
"For the umpteenth time, Anna, Jack Cindar never set foot in the Chamber of Convergence," Marie complained with an annoyed expression, "Besides, I'll be the first to know if someone activated the Rift Gates - especially without the Council's permission."
“How can you be so sure?” Rowanna sternly inquired.
“…’Cause I’m the one who builds and maintains them?”
Rowanna started to pace back and forth in front of Marie while grumbling to herself—until the front door swung open.
Thomas, who had a solemn look on his face, stormed into the room, followed closely by Markus.
“Lord Thomas,” said Rowanna as she bowed her head down to the Faceless Lord.
"At ease, Miss Zinnia," the Faceless Lord began, "Do we have any lead on the whereabouts of Jack Cindar?”
"No, sir," Rowanna gave a quick response while glancing at Marie with her amethyst eyes. “According to Miss Strelitzia, Jack Cindar has not passed through the Chamber of Convergence – let alone, using one of the Rift Gates.”
“It’s true, Thomas,” Markus interjected, “I’ve confirmed it with Fritz. Cindar never left the dungeon corridor.”
“Then, what about the surveillance footage inside the jail cell?” the Faceless Lord inquired though his question was quickly met with Markus’s shaking his head in disappointment.
“I’m afraid to say that footage has been severely corrupted. It could probably take weeks or even months to recover the entire recording.”
“So, in other words, we got nothing,” Thomas exhaled.
“Not necessarily,” Marie suddenly commented, prompting her three visitors to look at her in total confusion. “There are only two ways Cindar could escape the Tower. Either he knew someone with an ability similar to mine or procured a device that could tap into the Interdimensional Network. I’ve heard some stories floating around – one of them was about a Reprieved who managed to create such a device, but in case I’m not mistaken, the guy was found dead in his home not too long ago.”
“Where did you hear this story, and why hasn’t the Council been notified about this?” Rowanna muttered.
“That is why you need to mingle with the civvies more often, darling,” Marie chuckled, which caused her auburn-haired colleague to roll her eyes. “Besides, it is just a rumor - so, I don’t bother to check whether it is true or not.”
Thomas proceeded to shake his head, "I'm not currently invested in how he managed to slip away from our watch. Our main objective now is to find where he went and bring him back here - alive."
"Well, no offense Thomas," Marie casually jumped in, "Your plan on catching Jack Cindar is easier said than done. You’ve taught him everything about the art of infiltration – how to slip past detection, how to blend into the crowd, and also how to escape incarceration. What’s worst is he somehow found a way to tap into the Interdimensional Network without my knowledge.”
"Then what do you propose, Miss Strelitzia?" asked the old man, scowling at the woman that in turn, smirked mischievously at him.
"If that man is as smart as you claimed him to be, he'll avoid stirring up some troubles - for the time being, of course. So, rather than wasting our resources trying to find someone who doesn't want to be found, we'll just have to wait for him to make his move," Marie finished her explanation, eagerly waiting for her listeners' reply.
However, the silence was soon broken by Rowanna’s loud sigh followed by her saying, “Shit. I hate to say it, but Strelitzia is right. This rumor about the Reprieved, where did you hear it?”
“The Sapphire Star Village. The locals have been talking about it for a few weeks now. Hm, if I remember correctly, the Captain of the Ghost Mantis is currently on an errand there.”
“Then, I’ll get hold of him right now,” Rowanna turned around and stormed out of the Chamber of Convergence.
“A hard worker, that one – and quick on her feet too,” Marie smirked with her hands over her hips.
“You look troubled, Strelitzia. Is there something else you wish to tell us?” said Markus as he gazed into the woman’s emerald green eyes.
“As a matter of fact, there is one other rumor that piqued my interest. Have you two gentlemen heard about a group called the Harbinger?”
“The Harbinger?” Markus dropped his head, pondering to himself. “Can’t say I have. Thomas?”
The Faceless Lord had a serious expression across his face; his lips quivered as if he was struggling to answer Markus’s question. “The Harbinger…is a myth. An old bedtime story to scare disobedient children. If I were you, Miss Strelitzia, I won’t pay much attention to such frivolity.”
Marie crossed her arms together, her right brow raised. "The people of the Sapphire Star believe otherwise. I’ve seen the looks on their faces – children and adults alike – they were genuine fear. If the Harbinger was simply a bedtime story, then there is no reason for them to be so terrified at the mere mention of the name. Shouldn’t we look into this – just to be on the safe side?”
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However, despite the sound advice, Thomas strictly told her, "There is no such thing as the Harbinger!" His sudden outburst surprised every single person in the room. By the time he realized what he did, Thomas quickly cleared his throat and apologized to the woman. "Forgive me. Perhaps the recent events affected me more than I anticipated. It’s like I said, the Harbinger is nothing more than a myth. Our main priority as of now is to find Cindar, but I won’t stand around idly while he’s out there enjoying his freedom.”
"Sure. I understand," Marie calmly answered, bobbing her head.
Thomas then turned his attention to his deputy, "Markus, inform the Overseers about Cindar's disappearance and tell them to keep their eyes out for that man. Also, notify the Captain of the Hornets - tell him to prepare his team for extraction."
"Extraction?" Markus grimaced, "Isn't that a bit excessive? I admit, Jack Cindar is a dangerous man, but the Hornets will - without a shadow of a doubt - kill him."
"Have you forgotten, Markus, that I am the one who trained and supervised his apprenticeship?" Thomas retorted. "Of all the people in the Order, I'm the only one who truly knows what he is capable of. Remember, just as your former apprentices, Cindar was not the same person as he was three years ago.”
After finishing his sentence, Thomas marched out of the chamber, leaving Markus and Marie behind to stare at each other in confusion.
“Now, THAT was intriguing,” said Marie. “It’s not every day I could see the Faceless Lord look so aggravated.”
“It has been…a tough day for the man,” Markus retorted while scratching the back of his head.
“Tough? Oh, there’s no need to be polite. It’s been one hell of a day, and you know I’m not exaggerating.”
“No, you’re not,” the Captain of the Deathstalker let out a short burst of laughter.
||| THE END OF THE PATH OF THE NEXUS |||
ɹɹ********************************************
[Meanwhile…]
[Somewhere in the Desert of Ashes]
Sam let out a sigh of relief when he saw two familiar figures rushing toward him. The first thing he heard was Rupert's loud voice, expressing his astonishment at the Sandcreeper's corpse, "I can't believe you single-handedly defeated that thing."
"Would you just shut up about the monster?” Lucy scolded her brother before shifting her attention to Sam, “Is it true what you said. Keith's really...he’s really gone?"
"Yeah," Sam exhaled, "What about the other guy? I assumed he was buried properly."
"He was. Um, do you still need a moment? My brother and I could go on ahead-."
"No, I'm fine. Let's just go," replied Sam exasperatingly, with his back facing the siblings. Then suddenly, Lucy grabbed his wrist, lifting it high enough for her to see the lacerations on his hand more clearly.
"We should probably tend to this first," Lucy suggested before pulling out a roll of white cloth from inside her jacket. The man reluctantly watched as the younger Nightingale firmly worked on his hand until she fastened the entire bandage with a small metal pin. "There you go. It might be a bit uncomfortable at first, but you’ll get used to it."
Sam clenched his fist repeatedly - already feeling the lint restricting the movement of his hand, albeit a little. "Thanks," he softly commented.
“Hey,” said Lucy as she rested her hand on Sam’s right shoulder. “Remember what Markus used to tell us? That the power we possessed is not our greatest curse?”
“Yeah,” Sam replied, dropping his gaze to the ground. “It is the undeniable fact that we couldn’t save everyone despite having the capability to do so.”
“Then, you should know there’s nothing you could have done. It’s just…it’s just how it is for us – always has been.”
"Hey, guys! You better take a look at this!" exclaimed Rupert, standing near the giant lizard's remains.
Sam and Lucy swiftly made their way to the elder Nightingale, with the latter painstakingly ripping through the brittle flesh. A few seconds later, the man wrenched out a steel rod lodged in the creature's arm and tossed it to the ground. "Holy schnitzel! That was freaking heavy," Rupert remarked as he patted his dusty palms together.
"Really? No heads up or anything?" Lucy grunted. Nevertheless, she dropped to her knees to examine the peculiar metallic object.
"It's got the Disciples written all over it, don't you think?" Rupert stated, "So, any ideas what it is?"
"Can't say for sure. Probably some kind of an implant," Lucy then placed her hands on the cold surface, and much to her surprise, the object suddenly let out a hissing sound. A holographic display then appeared in mid-air, startling the trio. "God damn it, don't they have some kind of startup sequence or something?!" said Lucy, her eyes stung from the sudden illumination.
"Sheesh, I thought that thing was going to self-destruct," the elder Nightingale chuckled, causing his sister and Sam to grunt at him. "Oookay, that was a bad joke. Got it."
Lucy's attention returned to the projection, which showed various figures and diagrams - all in red. "Vital signs, hormonal secretions, brain activities...this thing seems to be a monitoring device. But, why would the Disciples want to monitor a Sandcreeper?"
Shortly after hearing the question, Sam pulled out the vial of strange-colored liquid and started to piece together the information. "It wasn't the monster," he blurted out, prompting the Nightingales to turn their heads toward him.
"Is there something on your mind?" asked Lucy, with a hint of curiosity in her voice.
"It's just a hunch, but I think the Disciples are testing the effectiveness of this drug - a field experiment to find out if the imbiber can defeat the Sandcreepers."
"Hold up," Rupert interrupted, "Are you trying to say that Keith dude and his friend were participants of this 'field experiment'? How come he didn't tell us about it?"
"Maybe because he wasn't aware of his participation," Sam replied, "He said every recruit was tagged – to make sure they didn't get lost in the desert. What if it wasn’t just a tracking device? What if a smaller version of the monitoring device was implanted into their body as well? One that monitors their vitals as soon as they consume this liquid?"
Lucy immediately rose to her feet after feeling a shiver down her spine. "Are you implying that the Disciples are one of their own as test subjects? That is unheard of – not to mention it will be going against their code."
“I don’t think we are dealing with the same Disciples from ten years ago,” Sam jumped in, "Whoever is in charge right now has no qualms about sacrificing one of their own. Just imagine the kind of atrocities for a group of such individuals can do, especially toward civilians."
"Um, guys?" said Rupert, with his right hand raised. I know it's not my place to say this, but all this talk - as intriguing as it sounds - still doesn't bring us closer to Lizzy's whereabouts."
Lucy sighed, knowing that her brother had brought up a good point. "As much as I hate to admit it, he's right. Besides, the commotion earlier might have attracted the attention of other Sandcreepers, and the last thing I need is one of those dreadful sandstorms," the young Nightingale complained while scratching her itchy back.