[One day earlier...]

[The West Gate, The Opal Sun Kingdom]

With his chest plate shattered to pieces, Rudolph leaned against the wall clutching his bleeding stomach. The Edge - one of the settlements of the Opal Sun, was raided by the Distorted. But, what pained him the most was the instigators of the misfortune. 'What have you done, Your Radiance?" the old soldier murmured as he slumped to the ground. He glanced at the scattered bodies bathed under the evening sun - each was barely recognizable thanks to the bloodthirsty monsters.

Then, he felt a shiver running down his spine - as if someone was watching him from one of the disrepair houses. At first, Rudolph thought it was the Distorted, but as the man raised his chin, he noticed a pair of anxious golden eyes staring at him from a window.

"Io?" shortly after the name escaped the soldier's mouth, a small figure jumped out from the shadows and dashed to the injured man. Rudolph initially thought he was hallucinating, but his assumption was proven wrong when a young girl with short, disheveled black hair approached him.

"Rudy?" the girl spoke before pressing her hands against Rudolph's punctured belly, causing the old soldier to grunt. "We've got to move. I can't treat you here."

"No, it's...it's too late for me. I need you...to send a message to Daedalus."

"Don't be absurd! How about you go tell him yourself."

GRRRR!

Both of them shuddered as soon as they heard a beastly growl nearby. "There’s no time. Tell Daedalus...that he must lock down the citadel," said Rudolph as he painfully rose to his feet. "He must prevent Jason and the others from reaching the Royal Palace."

"What about you?" Io asked, even though she already knew the answer.

"Buying you some time. Now, go!"

As the girl reluctantly escaped the area, a Lacerator suddenly rushed out from one of the houses; its bloodshot eyes darted toward Rudolph who in turn, unsheathed his longsword.

"For the Most High,” the old guard paused to raise his blade. “...and for the Opal Sun."

ɹɹ********************************************

[The Present day]

[Tower of Nexus]

“What do you mean by ‘worse than you anticipated’?” said Marie, pursing her lips. In that instant, dozens of theories inevitably flooded her mind – none of them were, as she said, promising.

“Before we get to that part, the good news is the Empyreans are still alive,” Markus asserted. “The Froghoppers successfully found them a few minutes ago.”

“Now why do I feel there’s a ‘but’ coming soon? Let me guess, they’re in trouble,” Lucy swiftly jumped into the conversation.

Markus reluctantly nodded his head in return before replying, “That depends…on a matter of perspective.”

“A matter of…perspective?” Sam repeated, his left eyebrow arched upward. “That is a pretty vague statement you made there. Should we be worried?”

“Yes, you should,” a familiar voice shouted from outside the hall.

BANG!

The door swung open, and Thomas walked into the chamber with a grim expression. He was followed by a burly, brown-skinned man with a well-trimmed beard and a large vertical scar on the left side of his face. His wine-red blouson jacket was covered with soot and minor tears; the same could be said about his cargo trousers.

"Daniel Nastur,” Markus sighed at the mere sight of the man. “I was informed that you will be returning next week.”

"I was supposed to, but there has been a sudden change of plan. The Faceless Lord himself requested my immediate presence - so, it is natural for I, the Captain of the Hornet, to comply," the man named Daniel retorted with a fruity voice. “By the way, how have you been Markus? You looked…tired.”

“If I were you, Mr. Nastur, I’ll be careful with my next choices of words,” Markus growled, glaring furiously at the scarred man.

“Oof, so touchy,” Dan remarked sarcastically. “Congratulations, by the way. I heard about your former apprentices’ recent achievement in the Desert of Ashes – despite the damages they caused to the landscape.”

“If you read their report more thoroughly, then you’ll come to find out they are not liable for the damages,” Markus calmly replied with a hint of rage in his voice. “Furthermore, it will be unfair to give me all the credits. The only thing I’m responsible for was teaching them how to survive.”

“Obviously,” said Daniel before his graphite-colored eyes settled on Sam. “So, the famous Flame Accursed is still here, or should I say, infamous.”

Sam’s eyes instantly narrowed. Was he trying to taunt me? the vermillion-eyed man thought.

“After the commotion in the Wailing Forest, I was…genuinely concerned that you will end up killing Miss Rosier. I’m glad to see that’s not the case.”

“And why would I kill Miss Rosier?” Sam inquired, causing Daniel to grin balefully at him.

“Why asked a question you already know the answer to?”

“Right, the old prophecy of doom; the great fire that will devour everything at the end of time. Don’t you worry about that - If I’m planning to kill someone, or burn an entire forest down – I’ll make sure to let you know.”

Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

“Hah, I see you still have that sharp tongue of yours,” Daniel huffed. “It must have been difficult for you – to keep those siblings under leash.”

“I beg your pardon?” Lucy snarled as she gave Daniel an intense scowl. “Keep us under leash? What are we – some kind of wild animals?”

“No, Miss Nightingale. However, I must say, sometimes you and your brother acted like one.”

Lucy lunged toward the scarred man, but Marie quickly grabbed the rankled young Nightingale by the shoulder and muttered gently, “Now, now, little bird. Take a deep breath; there’s no need for violence. At least, for now.”

Amused by the two women's interaction, Daniel let out a hearty laughter. “How intriguing. An animal who was soothed by the words of a monster.”

“All the more reasons for you to be more cautious of your comments, Dan,” said Marie with a lopsided smile. “Because who knows, maybe one of these so-called animals will save your ass in the future.”

“That’s enough – both of you!” Thomas interrupted the exchange. “We have a more pressing matter at hand.”

“Pressing enough that you required the aid of the Captain of the Hornets?” Markus retorted. “I would assume this has anything to do with what has occurred in the Opal Sun Kingdom.”

Thomas clenched his jaw; his sullen eyes darted between his audiences. “I can assure all of you here that whatever transpired in the Opal Sun Kingdom is fully under control.”

“Hold on, Thomas,” Marie intervened, placing her right hand on her hips. “You haven’t told us exactly what happened there.”

“That is classified information, Miss Strelitzia.”

“Classified? So, something did happen to the Helians?” Rupert, who has been next to Sam, blurted out.

“As I said earlier, Mr. Nightingale – that is classified information.”

“They deserved to know, Tom. The Helians are their friends. Sure, they’re not close but nevertheless, they’re still their friends,” said Markus. “Besides, Mr. Helians and Mr. Strelitzia have been acquainted with each other since they were fledglings – so, it is fitting for her to know about the current turmoil in the Opal Sun Kingdom.”

“And what will that bring, Markus?” Thomas responded as he scowled at his second-in-command. “We do not need any more distractions, especially from someone who is well-acquainted with the prince.”

“Even if that someone is the Chief of the Chamber of Convergence?” Marie stated, and the room went dead silent. “You do realize, Thomas, that if I wanted to, I could squash this entire realm into a can of beans?”

The Faceless Lord squinted; he was unsure whether Marie was making an idle threat or otherwise. “Please tell me, Miss Strelitzia, that you did not just try to intimidate me?” Thomas uttered; his voice was gruffier than usual.

“No, of course not. Intimidation is not my style – it’s a bit primitive, for my taste,” Marie countered, smiling from ear to ear. “In case you haven’t noticed, each and every one of us here is capable of laying waste to this entire Phantasmal Realm. The only reason we didn’t do so is because we believe we are making a difference to the world – a belief the Royal Prince of the Opal Sun also shares. In simpler terms, we are brothers in arms – and if one of us is in a predicament, we should work together to help them, instead of withholding information from each other.”

Shortly after Marie finished her speech, Thomas smacked his lips together before turning his attention to Markus. “You taught her well, my friend. Perhaps too well,” said the Faceless Lord.

“I did my best.”

For a fleeting moment, Thomas noticed a smirk on Markus’s face – like a smile of a proud father to his children. “Very well, Miss Strelitzia. Do you want to know the truth? Well, the truth is less than 24 hours ago, Prince Jason, Princess Aria, and Mr. Stark abandoned their duties – by allowing the Distorted to raid the Edge.”

“They did what?” Sam spouted in disbelief.

“It's just as Thomas said, Edelweiss. Jason betrayed us; he betrayed our cause,” Daniel snickered. “The Froghoppers captured footage of the Empyreans cheering and celebrating the slaughter of their own people. They even dragged the civilians out of their home just so the Distorted could feed on them.”

“There must be some kind of a mistake,” Lucy interjected. “Jason wouldn’t…”

“There is NO mistake, Miss Nightingale. The footages were clear as a day. Isn’t that right, Markus?”

Lucy’s head darted toward his former mentor, but as soon as she saw the frown on Markus’s face, she finally realized the Captain of the Hornets was speaking the truth.

“Then, what do you suggest our next course of action is, Dan – if you don’t mind me asking?” Marie queried.

“What the Hornets do best, Miss Strelitzia – hunt and execute.”

“That,” Marie paused to take a quick breath, “is a stupid plan. Are you seriously telling me that you’re going to kill the heir to the Opal Throne? Does Daedalus even know about this…plan of yours?”

“We are working on it,” Thomas replied.

“Wait, hasn’t it crossed your mind what Jason did was a tad suspicious?” Sam expressed his thought. “Shouldn’t we investigate first before passing judgment on them?”

“Edelweiss is correct, Thomas,” Markus blatantly agreed to his former apprentice. “The Helians and Mr. Stark have been loyal to us and our cause since the beginning. It will be a great injustice if we simply ignore the Empyreans’ side of the story. Moreover, if we decide to execute them, the Inner Circle will see it as an act of war – and that will be the worst possible outcome.”

“So, you’re proposing to bring them back alive – to hear their side of the story?” Thomas grumbled. “Even if we did that, it still doesn’t change the fact that they let innocents die. For that grave offense, they will be punished accordingly – if not by us, then by the Inner Circle themselves.”

“Daedalus won’t allow them to be sentenced to death.”

“You are right, Markus – or should I say, half-right. You see, the Chief Consul swore an oath to King Cyrus to only protect two people – which means there will be one who will be held accountable for the crime; one who has to die in order to pacify the masses.”

“…kidding me,” Marie murmured, baring her teeth in anger. “Mr. Stark is one of us – not a piece of meat.”

“I understand your frustration, Miss Strelitzia – I really do,” said Thomas, bobbing his head weakly. “But the treaty the Faceless Order made with the first Opal Sun King clearly stated that we do not and will not interfere with their affairs in exchange for intelligence and refuge.” After ending his explanation, Thomas slowly approached Marie and placed his hand on the woman’s trembling shoulder. “I’m truly sorry, child. I truly wish things will turn out differently, but you must know that we can’t always get what we want.”

The Faceless Lord then took a few steps back before turning his head toward his second-in-command. “Meet me at the Chamber of the Eight. We will need to make some… arrangements.”

Arrangements, Markus grunted at the word for it was another term used to describe a funeral. “I’ll be there in five,” the Captain of the Deathstalker, prompting both Thomas and Daniel to dash out of the Training Hall.

Silence soon filled the chamber, so much so that the remaining five could hear the sound of their own heartbeats.

“What now?” Sam voiced his concern although he could already see the scowl on Markus’s face – a fervent expression the bearded man often wore when he was devising a plan of action. Sam wondered how his former mentor was going to prevent Theo from being executed considering the Empyreans got themselves into a rather dire situation.

“I’ve got an idea,” said Markus, his eyes burned with quiet determination. “However, we will be breaking dozens of rules – not to mention, putting ourselves in the crosshairs of two, or possibly three opposing parties.”

Sam looked over to Lucy and Rupert who in turn gave him a solid nod. Then, he cast his vermillion eyes over to Marie; the wavy-haired woman was beaming at Markus as if she had already expected the Captain of the Deathstalker to come up with a scheme. “Well, it’s not the first time we break dozens of rules.” Sam sighed heavily. “Let us hear this idea of yours.”