[One day later...]
[The Training Hall, Tower of Nexus]
"Urgh!" Rupert yelped as he fell on his back. Although it was not his first time crashing down to the solid wooden floor, it still hurt nonetheless. Moreover, he could still the numbness in his feet thanks to the injury he sustained back in the Desert of Ashes. As he slowly sat himself up, he saw his sister walking up to him with a waster sword in her hands.
"Still feeling a bit doozy, are we?” said Lucy as she helped her brother get to his feet. “Didn’t I tell you to take today off? Your legs need more time to recover.”
"If I take the day off, my skills will go rusty,” Rupert replied.
Lucy could only roll her eyes after hearing her brother’s defiant answer. After everything that happened to him – the battle against Elisabeth, and the near-death experience with the Antlion – Lucy assumed he would have learned to control his reckless behavior. She was so, so wrong.
“Tell me something, Rupe,” Lucy asked, causing her brother to turn his attention to her. “Why do you like to risk your life every time we are out on the field.”
Rupert lowered his head as he quietly pondered on the question. “Because it’s fun? Is that a good enough reason?”
“Fun?”
“Yeah. I mean, the thrill of being close to death – it’s a pretty good feeling, you know? It makes me feel…alive.”
Lucy clenched both of her fists as she sensed an urge inside of her, goading her into giving her brother a punch in the guts. However, before she could do that, she heard footsteps coming from behind her, followed by the sound of someone clearing his throat.
“Am I intruding on something?” said Sam.
Both of the siblings turned to face him with Lucy replying, “No. You’re not. I’m just giving my brother a little pep talk.”
“Pep talk? I never would have thought Rupert would need a pep talk,” Sam further remarked; his eyes darted toward Lucy’s knuckles. “Anyways, you’ve been at it for two hours straight. How about taking a little break to clear your mind?”
“Finally!” Rupert exclaimed – much to his sister’s dismay.
“Fine,” Lucy grunted. “30 minutes. That is all you get.”
“Fine by me!” the elder Nightingale gleefully responded before heading toward the corner of the room to take a light nap.
“You looked awful,” Sam commented as soon as Rupert was out of the picture. He glanced at Lucy, and almost immediately he could see the exhaustion all over her face – but it was not from the sparring.
“Why shouldn’t I – after everything that happened?” Lucy exhaled.
“True. How about we change the subject then?”
“To what?”
“Your mother’s report.”
Lucy’s heart skipped a beat as she recalled the folder given by Markus a few days ago – a folder containing her mother’s account of the talking crystal. “So, did you find anything?”
Sam shook his head in disappointment. He desperately wished he could share some good news with her – perhaps shed some light on the mysterious talking Crystal of Birth. Unfortunately, he found none of those things. “Nothing significant, I’m afraid. Although I must say, the report was written in great detail.”
“Oh yeah? That surely sounds like her,” Lucy chuckled as she felt a fuzzy feeling in her chest. “What was she doing?”
“Well, she was tasked to destroy the Distorted’s nest somewhere in the western continent. She found it, of course – everything after that occurred quite similar to what we experienced – minus the Mangler.”
“Hm,” Lucy grumbled in return. Why she was not aware of this story? She remembered her mother often telling tales of her adventure before bedtime – about how she was recruited by the Order – about how she and Erica the Purifier saved the Tree Dancers from annihilation – about when she met her future husband.
Sam noticed the troubled expression worn by the female Nightingale. Considering how much she revered her mother as one of the Order’s greatest warriors, it came as no surprise to him when she was oblivious to the event mentioned in the report. “There’s more,” said Sam, darting his head left and right to make sure no one was listening in to their conversation. “Ever since I began my reading, I can’t shake this feeling that it was…incomplete – as if some sentences were omitted.”
“You think someone modified it? Who could have…?” Lucy paused, just as a thought crossed her mind. No, it can’t be, she mouthed. It was difficult to believe, but she could not dismiss the probability that someone in the Order could have altered the report.
“Lucy?” Sam inquired. “What’s the matter?”
“If what you said was true, the only one who could change it was a Faceless – possibly those in the Council of Eight.” Lucy proceeded to let out a heavy sigh as she uttered a name: “Markus. Do you think he knows?”
Placing his right hand below his chin, Sam began to reflect on the prospect that his former mentor might be cognizant of the original version of Sarah Gladia’s report. “No, I don’t think so,” he answered confidently. “And I don’t think the current Council is aware of it either.”
“Wait, are you saying…?”
“Thomas. He is the only surviving member of the previous Council. I can’t think of anyone else who might know about the rewriting other than him.”
“Well, that’s…that’s gonna be a tad difficult,” Lucy smacked her lips together. “Even if we had the chance to confront him, all we have is an assumption, and I don’t think he will be too pleased if we accused him of tampering with an official report.”
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“That is true,” Sam nodded his head in agreement.
“Ah!” Lucy grouched as she scratched her head with both hands. “The Council and their tendency to complicate things for everyone!”
“Yo, I can hear you moaning from across the room,” said Rupert, as he suddenly appeared behind his sister.
“Holy-! I told you not to sneak up on me like that!” scolded Lucy before fixing her messy hair.
“And missed the look on your face?” Rupert snorted. “Anyways, isn’t it about time we head to the Forge? You know? To get our brand-new Core Blade?”
“Oh, right. It’s today, isn’t it?” Sam responded. But then, the images of his old sword flashed in front of his eyes. The blade which had been with him for nearly a decade, only to see it reduced to pieces in less than 24 hours – he still blamed himself over what happened, despite Lucy telling him it wasn’t his fault.
“Hold on,” Lucy interjected. “I went to the Forge this morning, but it was empty. Even the furnace was off.”
“That’s because Tim was at the Mining Isle for the past couple of days. He’ll be back soon, or so I was told.”
“And, who was it that told you?”
“Marie did. She said there was a shortage of the Spider Core metals in the Tower, so Tim had to resupply,” Rupert explained before a mischievous grin appeared across his face. “Wait, are you telling me you had no idea about Tim’s whereabouts? Wow, so this is how it feels, huh? Not gonna lie, it’s kinda satisfying.”
“Hey, focus!” said Lucy, snapping her fingers to regain her brother’s attention. “How soon until Tim returns to the Tower?”
“Well, um,” Rupert’s voice trailed off as he started scratching the back of his neck. “He should be here at any moment now.”
GRRRR!
Their conversation was cut short as the entire Tower quaked, followed by the foreboding sounds of rumbling thunders over their heads.
“What the…? What just happened?” said the elder Nightingale as he stared at the ceiling in bewilderment.
Lucy, on the other hand, could only think of one possible reason for the sudden tremor. She turned to Sam, and simply muttered, “Hey, are you thinking what I’m thinking?”
“Marie. Something must have terribly upset her that it shook the whole Phantasmal Realm,” Sam countered, grimacing at the possible cause of the woman’s perturbation. “We need to find her. Now.”
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||| THE PATH OF ADAMANCE: ELISABETH |||
[Meanwhile…]
[In The Infirmary]
Elisabeth paced back and forth inside the clinic, anticipating the result of her blood test. Ever since she returned to the Tower, she had this lingering dread that she would lose control of herself again. Furthermore, the mere thought of having the shards of the Crystal of Birth floating in her bloodstream displeased her greatly. A few seconds later, the blue door which led into the laboratory swung open, followed by Michael walking out of it holding a thin stack of papers.
Unable to contain her anxiousness, Elisabeth immediately asked the doctor, "How was it?"
"It is just as you said. There's a trace amount of Crystal of Birth in your blood. The good news is they are removable. The procedure will take a day, and the remaining three to recuperate."
"Recuperate?"
"As you may already realize, the blood is a vital component of our body. The process of cleaning them out will significantly affect your cells and organs. In simpler terms, you will feel as if you've been hit by a boulder. So, you must abstain from physically exerting yourself after the procedure." Michael paused his explanation after noticing the gloomy look on Elisabeth's face. He already knew what the woman was thinking without even asking her.
"I’m not going to mince words, Miss Rosier. Even with the technology we have, I am not certain that you will completely lose your power after the operation. However, letting the shards swim around inside your bloodstream is also undeniably dangerous. The choice is yours, of course, and if you would like to take some time to decide, then-."
"There's no need," Elisabeth swiftly replied with a determined scowl. "So, when can we begin?"
||| THE END OF THE PATH OF ADAMANCE |||
**ɹɹ******************************************
[In the meantime…]
As soon as the trio reached the seventh floor, they saw Markus standing in front of the Council of Eight chambers. For a fleeting moment, they could see the worried look on the man's face before it changed into a smile. "I'm guessing you three felt it then?" said Markus while glancing at his former apprentices.
"We did. So, what's going on? It's been a while since the entire Tower quivered like earlier," Sam promptly asked.
“Well, uh…,” Markus struggled to find suitable words to describe the situation. “I was informed that there was some sort of a commotion occurring within the Opal Sun Kingdom and as you can already guess, Miss Strelitzia was not happy about it.”
“Oh no. Is it about the Helians? Did something happen to them? Please tell me they are still alive?” Lucy bombarded her former mentor with questions.
“Settle down, Miss Nightingale,” Markus calmly returned. “That is why I’m here – to find out what’s really going on. Sadly, Thomas is unavailable at the moment.”
“Unavailable, huh?” Rupert huffed. “I bet the old man is still preoccupied with Cindar’s disappearance.”
"Please mind your manners, Mr. Nightingale. Despite his... unsavory disposition, Thomas is still the Faceless Lord. Loathe him as much as you want, but at least show a little bit of respect to the title," Markus reprimanded Rupert with a hint of anger in the former's voice. "Anyhow, I'm under the impression that you are diligently developing your Doomsday-level technique?"
"We are," said Lucy, bobbing her head. "It's just...a bit more difficult than we first thought - particularly in balancing our stamina part."
"That is quite understandable. It can be quite stressful to our mind and body, especially for novices like yourselves – but it is not impossible. Remember, if you three need any help, just let me know, alright? Oh, before I forgot," Markus pulled out three golden pentagonal badges from his coat's pocket.
"Wait, are those...?" Sam gasped. It was unmistakably the proof of membership to the Faceless Order though they were usually handed during the Induction Ceremony. "You're just going to give them to us like this?"
"Yes, Mr. Edelweiss,” Markus nodded his head with a smile across his kind face. “It is a bit unorthodox, but technically, all of you have already finished your apprenticeship. That should be enough reason to grant you a place in the Order.”
The trio's eyes narrowed suspiciously at their former supervisor, as they knew there must be an underlying reason for the man's unusual action. "Markus, you're not hiding something from us, are you?" Sam inquired.
"No, I just have this…this funny feeling that there is a great misfortune heading our way, and the three of you will be in the midst of it. So, I think it’s better to give you these badges now than later,” Markus casually replied. “Now, there are other matters I would like to discuss with you but, unfortunately, I need to check on something else first. If you'll excuse me."
After Markus went to take his leave from the trio, Rupert nudged his sister on the shoulder and said, "Hey, Luce. What does he mean by a great misfortune? Are we going to be in trouble?""
Lucy shrugged her shoulders. “I don’t know. Though, it’s not the first time Markus has given us a vague premonition,” the younger Nightingale then exchanged a look with Sam who seems to share her notion. “And I’m pretty sure it won’t be the last.”