The Aurum ball slowly began to fade to an end as the late hours of the night slowly approached. The general public began to slowly file out of the ball room to be lead out to the chilly night air and head home. The rulers attending the party stayed behind, watching over them at the large double doors leading outside. Inside the twins had already run to their room, likely passed out in the warmth of their beds. Rin was the same way. After saying goodbye to her family she retreated to her room for the night. Ninel was one of the few people lingering in the grand hall. Dynamis and Clover were among the ones to leave, Clover following after Dynamis to his room to change his bandages and such before he went to bed. Athena left shorty after, bidding everyone goodbye as her horse drawn carriage disappeared into the night. Neptune was next to leave, boarding the ship that would said back to Asper over the next few days. Nori stood next to Zeus, waiting for her mages to finish preparing the transport spell.

"Nori, I must thank you for coming tonight." Zeus was the first to speak.

"It was a long time coming. It's been a very long time since a ruler of Caelum has visited Aurum or any of the other Kingdoms around here. Perhaps this may be the beginning of new relations between our Kingdoms."

"It's funny you bring such a topic up Nori. One of the reasons I invited you was to speak about-"

"The war you and Neptune are fighting with Hades." Nori finished with a sigh. "You want Caelum to back you up, is that it?"

"It's a lot to ask of you, I know. Especially since this is the first time our Kingdoms have been on good terms in a while."

"I'm sorry to disappoint you Zeus, but Caelum has no intention of joining your war." Nori looked with a stern glare in her eyes. "Not only would interfering in your lands issues cause trouble with my alliance with Ruina, but it would also rope my people into a fight that they are not meant to fight."

"I understand, but you must consider-"

"I've already taken your daughter in Zeus, what more do wish to ask of me? Helen is more trouble than she's worth and still I am generous to give her shelter and safety ask so so long ago begged me to. Have you forgotten? Dynamis had predicted her to be the reason that Aurum would fall years ago, but I have taken the precautions to prevent that, and you still ask more of me?"

"You don't understand Nori. I know that there is more to my daughters story that has yet to be revealed to us. When I found out there was possibility that she could turn out to be the next Aradia I knew that you were the only one that could help her.

"Do not speak of Aradia!" Nori gasped, "that woman's name is never to be spoken, especially since she is very well the reason we are all in the position with Nemesis that we are today!"

Zeus went one, ignoring Nori's scolding. "Nori, I am warning you now that Hades will go for Caelum, as well as all the others out there. I advise that you think of my request over the next few days."

Mariana looked down the the shine of the floor when she heard a voice call for her. She'd only been waiting for Johannes to return with the pair of mages they'd brought with them to assist. With everyone leaving the castle or retreating to their rooms for the night she hadn't expected anyone to come down the rather secluded hall she was in at the moment, but as fate would have it Ninel was indeed the one who'd called for her.

Earlier that night, after stepping outside for some air, Mariana hadn't even bothered to rejoin Ninel for the rest of the night. She hadn't felt well, and on top of that she had already been feeling nervous to the point of sickness. Ninel was nothing like she'd imagined her to be. She had expected the youngest Bychkov to be some kind of crooked daughter of a pair of politicians, like the ones she'd grown up around in Mortem. Of course, that was not the case. Ninel had been kind and friendly the whole time, and made her feel welcome in Aurum. And despite being here only to steal her necklace, well, Mariana was beginning to like the girl. In fact, in every other circumstance Mariana could see herself being rather good friends with Ninel. Her growing liking to Ninel was obviously a problem, especially with Johannes around, and this left Mariana with a rather hard decision to make.

With a small hum of response Mariana turned to Ninel. Again Ninel repeated her question. "What are you still doing here Miriam?" Though, the suspicions Ninel had had earlier that night caused her tone to turn rather unfriendly, and it would stay this way until she found out what was really going on.

She brushed down the skirt of her dress and walked towards Ninel, who had already been to her room to change into her normal attire, likely to get some late night training in before bed. "I was just waiting for Joseph. He's just speaking to a few men around the corner."

Ninel looked over Mariana. She was still dressed up from the ball, but now she had a different look in her eyes. She looked nervous, like she'd get sick right there at any moment. "Come here." Slowly Ninel watched as the other girl inched forward a bit more, head still lowered. As Mariana stepped just in front of her Ninel opened her mouth to begin to speak, but was cut off.

"I don't have much time to speak to you before he gets back, so I suppose I need to make this count." Mariana let out a long sigh, "my real name is Mariana. I'm from Mortem, not Asper, and me and that boy were supposed to come here to steal your family's necklace."

Ninel blinked. Yes, she had had her suspicions during the ball, but she would've never expected her to come out and admit it so forwardly. "You have no need to worry. I'm no mage, and I'm far from any kind of fighter. I'm just a stupid girl who was convinced to come here. I was only to befriend you and give the other opportunity to swoop in and get you." Mariana's voice had dropped lower, to almost a whisper. It was likely that she was afraid that at any moment Johannes could be listening, or could steep in and cause harm.

Ninel had already backed away from her to be cautious. "Why are you telling me this? Because you got caught and want to gain sympathy for coming clean?" Ninel spat, her eyes fixed on her with a glare.

"No. I don't want anything from you." Looking up Mariana felt her face grow warm and her eyes grow wet with tears. "After meeting and speaking with you and many others I realized that were a good person just trying to protect your family and those around to you. I can't blame you for that, I have to right to." Mariana sighed, "Prince Pluto said that I would be perfect for this. He said that since the first day he'd met me that he knew I'd fit perfectly into his plans. I never payed any mind to what he said, but now I know that perhaps is the only reason we're marrying. Yet I still find myself in love. Ninel, ever since arriving in Aurum I've come to realize a lot of things about this place, and I've had to fight myself every step of the way. I've always known right from wrong, and now I know that I need to do what's right. So, please take this warning and get away from here Ninel. I-"

Ninel, who had been listening intently looked over her shoulder when Mariana stopped speaking at the sound of someone clapping just behind her. She found Johannes standing there with two others. Johannes grinned, "What a story Mariana. It seems you've managed to keep miss Bychkov here busy long enough so that we may move in. Really, how clever of you." Ninel spun around back to Mariana, and was met with a shocked expression to match her own.

Dynamis heard the faint sound of the lock on his door click. He looked up from where he'd been standing before his desk, his azure eyes landing on Clover. "What are you doing?" He questioned, watching the girl lean against the door.

"So, you really don't have any idea."

"What are you talking about?"

"I guess I got lucky. I thought for sure that you'd discovered me for a minute there." Clovers hand dipped down into the bag hanging at her hip. She held up the familiar sight of a jar containing the fragment of Nemesis. "Don't say a word or I'll let this thing go free. I'm sure it'll be thrilled to get back to it original host."

"Who are you?" Dynamis questioned, his voice growing stronger. "You aren't a healer to the castle, are you?"

"Better yet, I'm not a healer at all." Clover pushed off from the door, stepping forward to Dynamis. "You never realized it, but I've never completed a single spell on you." Dynamis thought back quickly, she was right. "Mimicking the healers style was easy, making it seem like I was working with them was even easier. So long as I joined in with another one of the mages that would come to heal you I could act like I was doing as I was supposed to, and no one had a clue."

Dynamis watched her with caution. "You just revealed yourself to me, so I imagine that you'll be telling me who you really are and why you're here."

"My name is really is Clover, but as I said earlier I'm not a healer mage for the castle. I am a bandit from Mortem, and I will be getting paid a large amount of gold completed the mission I'm here on."

"Hades" Dynamis growled, "he paying you to do what?"

"Steal the Pendant and Diadem from the Aurum castle." She stated. "Steal those two items and bring them back to Mortem along with you."

"And you think that you will just walk out of here with me and the items?" Dynamis scoffed. "The moment the guards spot you with me they will take you to the dungeons."

Clover grinned, "don't you think I planned for that?" Digging into the bag at her hips she slipped out a jar. Holding it up he could see the fragment of Nemesis floating in it. "Dynamis I have no idea why Hades wants you as well, but I can guarantee that I will do whatever it takes to get paid. If that means releasing this fragment of Nemesis and allowing it to re enter your body that I guess that's what I have to do." Dynamis' eyes had widened at the sight of it, already the bad memories form just a few days ago flooding back to him. His hand clutched the chair beside him.

"You can't bypass the enchantment on it."

"Want to bet? I may not be a healer, but I know quite a bit about enchantments and I've studied this little jar for days now. I can and will break it." The kind facade that clover had been wearing for so long had been completely dropped. She stood with a mischievous flea in her eyes, and a grin stretching across her features. "I am the reason Hades has gotten all that information on Aurum's planning. I am the spy that you've all been looking for. It's funny how one can just put on an innocent act and sell it well enough to trick everyone around her. Even you didn't see this coming, did you?"

"You're not going to make it out of this castle, I can guarantee you that." Dynamis growled with a new tone of anger.

"Whatever you say. Now, Either follow me or I'm releasing this piece of Nemesis. I'm sure it would be glad to be in control once again."

As the ball had ended, so did the festivities in the streets. The Aurum people slowly returned to their homes. The taverns closed, the lights were out, and the streets became empty once more. The Aurum and Asper guards continued to patrol the streets and the snow falling from the night sky slowly came to and end. Inside the people slept peacefully without a worry on their minds. The world seemed to be at piece for a short amount of time. However the piece would be broken just minutes from now. The first group of Mortem soldiers would arrive any minute to get past the security around outer part of the city. The quiet of the night would be broken with the sound of soldiers marching through the streets. A new darkness with fall over the Kingdom as the shadow of Adra will soar over it, and those in bed will hear the roar of a dragon for the first time in likely ever. That would be followed with the other teams invading as well. Zeus and Nori's argument will stop as the sound of an explosion runs through the city, Ninels fight with Johannes will be put a stop, and Clover will push Dynamis along faster at that sound. And finally, Ryuga will come leading his own army of soldiers and fire mages. This next fight coming to Aurum could very well be the last peaceful night for the Aurum citizens.

Here you all are, the chapter that has just begun the next important battle for the story. Despite this one being shot, the next chapter is expected to pretty long depending on how I cut up the next few chapters. Anyways, there's a lot of stuff going on and I'm so excited to get to these next few chapters! Anyways, until the next update I hope you all enjoyed.