Chapter -2: The Day the Mask Weeped

Trust…is not something easily earned.

Yet for Borealis Aurora, he doled such a bond in spades towards his fellow Sages…Perhaps it was folly, a gesture now tied as a noose around his neck.

Such wayward generosity would have to be stowed. His eyes would no longer gaze at his brethren with the biases he had been raised on.

As a pious man he knew this decision to waver would see him scorned as his essence was distilled within the Aura…

But in his heart he knew he had to raise his head high and do what his heart was telling him was right, and silence what the past had taught him.

Clutching the memoir of his departed wife hung around his neck, he gathered his strength and left the comfort of his Atelier for the meeting that would decide it all.

Outside his door stood not his friend and guardian, but the saintly Lilith.

There was a time where she lashed out at him with hate, a conundrum he never could quite solve admittedly…

Now she wore her smile like a row of pearls, and greeted him with hands tucked in her sleeves and head bowed like a sinking feather.

"I am ready whenever you are…Lord Borealis." Her words strung together a feeling of hesitation inside of her. Perhaps she too, worried about the traitor among their ranks.

Borealis thanked her with a nod and nothing else, then the two made their way to the throne room near the head of the palace.

Of their ranks, only Torren, Carolina and his friend Stonestein were absent.

Glade's arm was notably limping, Vermilion's mood was impatient and ready to go off at any given moment.

Atrax remained a man who gave no clues regarding his thoughts, but his presence here felt…ethereal moreso now than ever.

It was with a heavy sigh that Borealis tucked his hands behind his back and addressed them all with the sorrow of his many years of trust being called into question, "My fellow Sages…I wish it didn't have to come to this."

"We've been together through the adversities this world of…humans…has offered us. As Sages, our duty has, and always shall be, to guide them."

"Yet…I feel as though there are those among us who have acted in their own interests…For the worst, and perpetuated the cycle of conflict outside our walls."

Adderbolt looked around and then raised his hand.

"Yes, young Adderbolt?" Borealis uttered with patience.

"Ummm…Shouldn't we wait for the others to show up?"

Borealis gave a short nod, "If they're guilty, then it will be revealed through this conversation regardless. But for what it's worth…There is utterly no chance that Stonestein has betrayed us."

Lilith chimed in with a slight bite in her voice, "Have you forgotten how he conversed with those savages, and worse, kept this from you for years on end?"

"I do not forget facts easily, Lilith," Borealis answered with a calm smile, which soon soothed into an unsettled frown, "But I find myself questioning what my eyes and ears have perceived…"

Lilith's brows slanted and she pulled a little ways back, muttering aloud, "Then I will let you proceed…Lord Borealis."

Borealis nodded, then held his head high and took a deep breath.

His presence was immediately intimidating, but much in the way a father shows disappointment in children.

"I do not wish to escalate this meeting into a string of aggressive accusations. I will allow anyone a chance to confess what they might be hiding."

Silence followed, and Borealis was left blind to the subtle smirk Lilith flashed.

Borealis hung and shook his head. With a deep sigh he looked upon his brethren, pointing his gaze straight at one in particular.

"Vermilion." Upon his utterance, her rebellious twitching came to a screeching halt, as she nervously bit her teeth down in a scowl.

"What…me?" She barked.

Borealis raised a brow, "Gabriel told me that you attempted to kill a child."

"That brat? Son of a bitch nearly killed me a while back!" The news delivered was shocking, but not as much as her inexcusable lack of attempts to deny her actions.

"You wanna talk traitors? That green nuisance defied a direct order not to intervene!"

Borealis had to speak up, his tone demanding he be heard, "Since when do Sages kill children?"

"Pah!" She spat up in defiance, "Why do you care? I thought 'savages' weren't allowed in Sancturia!"

Borealis was stunned, and yet, the very nature of her response immediately began to prove the suspicions planted inside of his heart.

For her to have this strength, this comfort, to go against and twist his wishes, meant she had someone who had the will to supplant his authority and offer her protection…

And that person HAD to be in this very room.

Glade followed up on her remark, "It's because that child is by all rights, his grandson. There is inherent bias poisoning his thought process."

Vermilion threw her hand up in a dismissive gesture, "Bah, that little shit's adopted, I say he's fair game."

Adderbolt spoke up, "W-Wait…You tried to kill Auris' kid? Little Zeno? Why?"

Vermilion planted her hand on her hip and tilted her head back, "Haven't you been paying attention?"

With his carefree attitude Nimus naturally slotted himself between the conversation to suggest, "Peeeerhaps, you'd be willing to enlighten us as to this sudden change of heart, Lord Borealis?"

Borealis did not expect to have his character questioned, but…they did have a point. As even he could not understand when or why this shift occurred.

He gazed towards the ground and felt a pendulum swing in his mind, "Regardless…of who he is related to, whether by blood or by love, that boy is still a child…With all the youth and innocence that it entails."

He held his head up higher and glared at Vermilion, "Are we not supposed to cherish that, instead of perverting it?"

Vermilion turned her trembling scowl aside and murmured, "That spoiled princess' doin' plenty of work on that brat herself."

Borealis slanted his brows and raised his voice, "Auris stood tall and proud to defend this city from Justek's attack. ALONE. Yet you judge her, while you chose to prioritize pedicide over your home?!"

"If that boy grows up to have even half her courage, then he's been raised right."

Vermilion lashed her arm down and shouted, "So now you choose to act like my father? What a joke! I ain't done nothing wrong, and you know it!"

It was pointless to prod her further. Whatever child was born to be raised to be a Sage of Fire had been twisted into an attack dog.

It left Borealis' heart feeling heavy, wondering how her father would cry to see her the way she is now.

But one among them held her leash, that much had yet to be determined.

Nimus leaned back and pushed his helmet down over his eyes so that only his smile showed, "Now hold on a tick…Lord Borealis."

Borealis' eyes slowly widened as he looked at that carefree man step up towards him.

Could it have been him? No…surely not. The two of them always had their distance between them, but deep down Borealis felt they were both aligned when it came to the safety of this world…

"Yeah, shortfuse here got a little ahead of herself. We shouldn't be killing kids, absolutely. Yet doesn't the law say we're supposed to keep 'savages' out of Sancturia?"

"You SURE do seem to make an exception when it comes to Sarajin though."

Borealis shuddered.

Nimus then wagged at Lilith and remarked, "What was it Lilith was saying? About Stonestein getting off scot-free for collaborating with outsiders?"

His eyes then narrowed, harboring focused intent, "You sure him AND you aren't trying to make scapegoats out of the rest of us to hide YOUR crimes?"

"...I see your point, my friend," Borealis vindicated his accusations partially, bringing his clouded heart to bear before them, "My…sudden change in behavior is illogical, even to myself. That I would question you all, friends…Nay, my family, after all these years. Perhaps I am no less of a traitor than those I sling accusations at now."

"Nevertheless…" He raised his head, "Everything I say now comes from a place of virtue."

Nimus lowered his head and scoffed. Then, he raised a smirk, "Heh…"

"Fine, be that way. Just thought I'd get that out there since you were being so…generous with the confession offer."

Borealis raised a small smile in these trying times, "I've never disparaged honesty, Nimus."

With a flick up of his brow Nimus smiled back, "Oh well in that case, did I ever tell you the tale about how Sarajin gave me a deep cut down my chest?"

Borealis flinched, and Nimus grabbed the middle of his jacket ready to pull it back, "It's a few years old by now but I could show you if you want."

"W-What are you saying? Why would he…"

Nimus rapid-fired his conversational points while gesturing over his shoulder, "But boy howdy, you should have seen the one Vermilion got after she fought Sarajin's kid."

Vermilion flinched upright with an angry scowl.

Borealis steadied himself and remarked, "...That's right. You mentioned a prior confrontation with the boy before."

Nimus shrugged and stepped aside while giving Vermilion a brief glare, "Well? You gonna explain yourself?"

Lilith's glare peeked through her closed eyes and sent a chill down his spine, which he rubbed down with a chuckle.

"Ghhh…" Vermilion growled as Borealis approached her with a question.

"I would have noticed a confrontation inside my city sooner than now. Which can only mean you fought him elsewhere…"

Vermilion tossed the hottest glare possible at Nimus, "You son of a BITCH…!"

Nimus shrugged her yelling off.

"On that note…" Borealis interrupted before facing Glade, "You are the only one who returned here with grave injuries."

Glade looked at him and gave a quick response, "I have nothing to hide. The abominations Justek sent after me managed to outmaneuver me."

Borealis graced his chin with a contemplative rub and a curious raise of his brow, "There's something else mixed inside of your wounds though…"

"Merely an ointment to help it heal." He replied.

"Hmmm…" Borealis settled his hand behind his back and remarked, "I…recall something I heard once. An accusation that you were poisoning the Tribes of Tanglefae and Aquamoria."

"There was an outbreak of poison in those parts. My only involvement was studying it for the sake of later weakening the Titan of Tanglefae."

Borealis' eyes narrowed, "Beg pardon?"

Glade made a notable pause before elaborating his point, "Has our goal not been to acquire the Wellsprings? The Titans are not capable of being approached like normal beasts. More lethal measures were required to subdue it."

"...I-I suppose I did say that," Uttered Borealis with a twinge of regret, "You can look me in the eyes and swear to me that no innocents were involved?"

Glade tucked his hands into his sleeves and bowed, "I can assure you there wasn't."

From his point of view, he was being honest, but by that very nature it led to Borealis doubting him even the slightest.

"It's disconcerting to hear these responses. How many graves have been filled without my knowing? …How much blood has been spilled in my name?"

"And whose pain…have I been ignorant to?"

Just a little while ago, Torren had entered the city desperate to hunt down Lilith.

The city had been abandoned in her eyes, with all the citizens locked into the chapels.

She bit her teeth and wondered if Lilith had finally acted on her own interests…

As she reached the pyramid though, she was caught by surprise when Lilith stood before it.

"My my, what have we here? A straggler?"

Her mere presence here was intimidating enough to make Torren yield. But when faced with the soul of her departed love, Torren still gestured her hand at the woman and shouted, "Lilith…!"

"Yes?" Lilith spoke in a careless fashion.

"You killed Brine, didn't you?!"

"Tsk, tsk, tsk…" Lilith clicked her tongue and then drew her sword, "Making baseless accusations towards your seniors…after failing to show up on time to Lord Borealis' meeting?"

Torren shivered but held her arm steady, "Y-You won't turn my heart against me again…! I know it was you!"

Lilith opened her glazed eyes and cooed, "Oh no no NO you foolish child. It was that ugly silver-haired girl who killed your savage beast."

"What is wrong with you?" Torren murmured.

"Me?" Lilith uttered a scowl, "There is NOTHING wrong with me. All you stray lambs keep bah'ing away, wanting to be blameless for your actions but you're ALL flawed…In need of my guidance."

"You should have been content with satisfying me after all the generosity I've given to you, but you crave and crave, a hunger without end. And now you-"

A sudden chill overwhelmed the air around Lilith, forcing her to retreat before she became imprisoned within a pillar of ice.

Lilith looked up to see Carolina floating down with a stoic expression, "More unruly children…"

Carolina slashed waves of ice at her, laced with bitter frost.

Lilith swiped her blade right through them at once and then pointed the blade at the fairy, "You don't have what it takes to kill me."

She then pointed her blade at Torren, "Both of you…NEED me to do anything."

"N-No…that's just…what you wanted us to believe!" Torren shouted in defiance.

Lilith opened her eyes with a certain smirk, "Ha ha ha! So you'll murder me in cold blood, is that it? I'll admit…perhaps I was looking at the wrong ugly girl to carry out my orders."

Torren bit her teeth in disgust of the rancid personality on display, "I'm not…like you! I'm doing this because it's right! For Brine, for my daughter…!"

She put herself in a graceful stance with a sash of water around her body, "I will drag you down into the abyss!"

Lilith trembled, "How dare you act this way in front of me…"

Her face twisted in a frenzy and she stiffened her sword in between these two women, "Fine…I have time. I'll coach you on the folly of betraying your superior!"

The emotions of this Lilith resonated in the one by Borealis side and made her shiver and smirk.

Borealis looked over his shoulder and wondered, "Is everything alright?"

Lilith grabbed her elbows and was a little forceful in her answer, "It's a little chilly in here all of a sudden."

The air did feel uncomfortable all around.

There was a severe lack of trust between everyone standing here, and so far Borealis could not peg who was behind it all…

Glade and Vermilion were the most suspicious, but both stuck out as followers more than leaders.

His eyes wandered towards Atrax, the silent.

"Atrax…" He addressed politely, "You have nothing to contribute to the proceedings?"

Atrax sighed and rubbed his chin, "I'm just waiting around for my time."

Adderbolt raised his hand, "Can I say something Lord Borealis?"

"Certainly." He answered with a nod.

"Sorry for leaving Sancturia. I guess I didn't feel comfortable being here after the last order you gave me. But it seems you're still the same jolly soul I remember!"

Borealis blinked twice and murmured, "Order? You'll have to refresh my memory."

"You told me to get the new armor from Pulsa Minoria to help capture their Titan?" Adderbolt said with a bit of playfulness in his voice.

Borealis rubbed his chin, "I suppose that…would be effective for getting the Wellspring, but I am remiss to say that I do not recall giving you this order."

"Huh?" Adderbolt turned and pointed to his right, "But Lilith said you did."

Lilith clenched her fists before her waist and twitched her eyes open briefly.

Borealis looked at her and she was quick to defend herself, "I acted only in accordance with your wishes, Lord Borealis."

"I do not mind your independence, Lilith. But please communicate with me first to avoid confusion."

"Of course."

Borealis then faced Adderbolt and asked, "Is there anything else?"

"Well…if we're worrying about miscommunication. Did you ever hear about the mur-"

Lilith quickly invaded the conversation, "I don't think you have anything else relevant to contribute to this, child."

Adderbolt was shaken as he replied, "But…we're trying to find out who betrayed us, shoooouldn't we give every fact we-"

"As. They're. Relevant." She punctuated, her serenity taking a notable decline.

"I think a murder in another Tribe is very relevant, given the pattern of accusations." Atrax spoke up, leaving Lilith speechless.

She grit her teeth and stared at him while mouthing silently, "W-What do you think you're doing?"

Atrax paused to look at her, then demonstrated astounding calmness by facing Borealis and remarking, "It was some time back, a murder was committed on a Pulsa Minoria scientist. It was an attempt to kill a couple of Sarajin's comrades."

"But with some careful deduction, only one young scientist died."

Lilith raised a brow and muttered, "And how is ANY of this relevant…brother?"

"More importantly," Glade remarked while turning to the lonesome spider, "How DO you know about that?"

Atrax laid a hand before his chest and addressed Borealis with humility, "I must confess…I've been allied with Sarajin's cause for a while now. As a humble messenger, nothing more."

Vermilion stamped her foot and shot fire out of her body, "So it was your dumbass that was leaking information to those cowards!"

Borealis showed patience as he uttered, "Explain yourself."

Atrax performed a simple bow, "I never did it out of a sense of betrayal to us Aurians. I just sought to save the world in my own way."

Borealis raised a brow and hummed to himself, before waving his hand in a gesture and saying, "Even so, you kept this information from us."

Atrax brushed his arms down by his sides and said with sincerity, "Nobody asked. My lips are rather loose."

He then raised a finger and remarked, "But back to the important matter at hand. Do you know what the murder weapon was?"

Lilith raised her voice with a hint of anger, "I'm telling you, this isn't relevant!"

"A knife…with a handle etched in gold." Atrax uttered.

From there came a chill in the air, with Borealis cocking his head back to look at Lilith with growing concern.

Lilith bit her lower lip sparsely and threw a glare at Borealis with a quick "What?"

"How did gold wind up in the hands of a killer? Your designated Tribe is the only one who has access to the material."

Lilith made haste to defend herself, "There's plenty of gold just out there waiting to be stolen. It's just ONE measly knife."

"You can't seriously be buying this baseless accusation…" She remarked, regaining a bit of herself in the process.

Borealis let out a deep sigh and then closed his eyes to think.

Given the facts presented to him so far…the only person in this room that wasn't guilty of something seemed to be Adderbolt.

Does that mean everyone was a traitor?

No, it was wrong to let paranoia cloud his judgment again.

"Hmmm?" He felt a disturbance in the aura of his surroundings.

He left the conversation on pause to take a couple steps forward, where the feeling was subtly growing stronger.

There was something being obscured outside of the palace…Three powers clashing with one another by the sounds of it.

His eyes burdened the weight of surprise, and then he slanted his brows and muttered to himself, "What is this…?"

Then, the forces crashed through a prism wall to come barreling into the palace, bringing down with it an entire obscured dimension of mirrors.

The one who broke through this puzzling illusion was…Lilith?

Borealis' heart shook with his gaze frozen upon this Lilith.

Torren and Carolina took up their arms against this Lilith, but stopped the moment they saw they were in the company of the other Sages.

Vermilion was the first to comment, "W-What the hell's going on here?!"

Torren thrust her gaze at Borealis and shouted, "Lord Borealis! Lilith is the-"

She saw the second Lilith and her pupils shrank, her heart jumping down into her gut, "T-Traitor…?"

Lilith bit her teeth into a scowl and muttered, "Honestly. First you barge into the meeting late and unannounced, and now you have the gall to accuse me of being a…traitor."

She gestured at the bewildered Borealis and said, "Ignore these children, Borealis."

Borealis widened his eyes and looked at her, "Why…are there two of you?"

"I have that ability as a Sage. It helps me keep guard over multiple locations at-"

"You liar!" Torren shouted, "You use that power to keep up your presence here, while the real you masquerades as the leader of Caimanabel after you killed their Titan, and stole their power!"

Borealis continued to turn further towards Lilith, his face growing ever more pale.

Yet for every unraveled lie, Lilith had another to dig herself deeper, "She doesn't know what she's talking about."

"Brine told me everything…!" Torren cried out, "Before you killed him…! And Carmine too!"

Lilith shook her head and opened her eyes with a cold glow in them, "Watch. Your. Tongue. Honestly, it's the only part of your appearance I despise more ugly than your slutty, unsavory body."

"Stop…!" Everyone's silence was forced, for Carolina spoke up in anger.

"STOP TRYING TO HURT MY FRIEND!" Carolina then threw herself across the room straight for Lilith.

In the blink of an eye Glade swung his hands out of his sleeves and used his sickle chains to tangle Carolina and drag her straight to the ground.

Borealis was left stunned, becoming a spectator to the chaos that was to follow.

"Carolina!" Torren shouted, sliding over to provide aid, only to be tackled to the ground by Vermilion, now whipped into a frenzy.

After pinning her, Vermilion drew her sword and opened the blades on both sides of Torren's neck, "To hell with this…! You die now you sniveling baby!"

Then Adderbolt jumped in and put both his hands on Vermilion's shoulders, threatening to charge them with electricity, "Let's all settle down now."

Steel cut through the air and applied a cold tip to the back of his neck, courtesy of Nimus' blades.

Nimus clicked his tongue a few times nervously and then gestured his other hand out from his hip to aim his other blades at Glade's face.

Glade narrowed his gaze and muttered, "Now you choose to pick the other side?"

Nimus pulled his head back and laughed, "Hey, you started it."

Borealis was horrified by what he saw. His fellow Sages, brothers in arms, now drawn in a stalemate against one another.

And in that moment, he found his own blade of cold steel being pressed near the side of his neck.

"Honestly…" Lilith uttered in a steadily unhinged tone, "Why can't this ever go according to plan?"

Borealis glanced over his shoulder and what he saw was the true Lilith in the flesh. A fake arm twisted with ivy and wood, an eye cut down and replaced with gold, the mark of greed, her grin wide and sinister.

"L-Lilith…?" He said with the hairs raised on the back of his neck.

"That's more like it…" She oozed with glee, "I no longer have to stare into your sickening, pitying eyes and pretend to be feeble…!"

"I wanted to wait until you lived to see every lie, every chain, everything our stupid ancestors built be brought to ruin but nooooo, you just suddenly had to get snoopy. But no matter…"

With a devilish sneer she turned the blade around to graze his flesh, "Killing you will be worth it no matter what the circumstances."

Borealis' mouth turned agape, a sense of legitimate betrayal making him feel encumbered and suffocating to say a word.

"At this moment, an army of my loyal followers are poised to surround this ugly, wasteful city and raze it to the ground. And then once you're gone, I will march upon every Tribe, kill every Titan that has dared to look down upon me, and with every Wellspring in my possession I will take my rightful place as the Goddess of Salvation!"

She narrowed her eyes and her knees were knocking together as she trembled, "I am sooooo curious though. For years…I have pondered what the most privileged man in the world would utter in his final moments."

"Validate me…Borealis Aurora…Make your last pleas for life the symphony that will echo in my soul for ages!"

Aghast, weary…Borealis faced her with tender eyes and a few puzzled gasps, crescendoing in a whisper of pure-hearted sincerity, "What had I done to hurt you so…Lilith?"

Lilith's confidence faltered briefly before her whole body trembled in his presence.

She then gripped her sword tighter and muttered, "You took everything I deserved…!"

She took all her strength and slashed through Borealis' neck.

…Or so she wanted.

Her steel met his neck and bounced off. The blade neither bent nor broken. It simply was incapable of enforcing her will upon the presence towering over her.

"Ghh…!" She tried again and again and again to zero effect.

Her frenzied efforts led to her screams filling the palace, until she cried out in brutal outrage, "I DID ALL THE WORK…ME! SO WHY…WHY ARE YOU STILL STANDING?!"

After all these fruitless efforts and her body twisted in an indescribable fashion, she lashed out to the silent crowd, "BROTHER!"

Atrax stood alone, seemingly inattentive to this scuffle.

Lilith lashed her sword out and demanded, "Break this stupid stalement, and we will kill this arrogant fool together!"

Atrax kept standing there, so she shouted at him again, "Are you listening to me, brother?!"

Atrax's gaze strayed around the room before centering back towards her, where he made a playful gesture at his chest and said, "Oh, you're talking to me?"

"This is no time for jokes! This is my moment of triumph!"

"Is it now?" Atrax said in a more dull, mocking tone, "If I could paint a picture of 'triumph' this…farcical display of incompetence would not be my first inspiration."

Borealis was the first and seemingly only person who began to notice a shift in the aura. A rather chilling one at that.

"Atrax…?" He muttered.

"Honestly…Look at all of you," He said with his hands gesturing out, "How…ridiculous you look. Do you feel no shame? None? None at all?"

He then put his hands by his side and looked utterly tired, "...The Ten Sages used to mean something. We were the bright, guiding hope for those who had yet to develop as a society. Guardians. Allies…friends, even…"

"And now you point your weapons at each other's throats like a gang of thugs. Bah…!"

However, he raised his hand towards Borealis in particular, "Except for you, Borealis Aurora…For a brief time, you restored my faith that we could go back to the way things were…But you hesitated too much, let grief destroy your capacity to see the truth."

Lilith lowered her sword and her eyes widened in a mix of frenzy and confusion, "B-Brother…what are you even-"

"Shut. UP. You miserable, conceited harpie," Spoke the spider, his voice unleashing unrestricted scorn, "You thought you were entitled to greatness just because it wasn't given to you from birth?"

"Great men are not born…They are raised by the circumstances that surround them, and the bonds they forge with their fellow man."

"But you clung to self-superiority and spat in the face of those who raised you higher and higher. All living things are deserving of being under your heel? YOU, you malcontent wretch, are the salvation of this world? No…You're the bug that gets squashed and forgotten, Lilith."

Lilith's head looked strained to the point tears were being forced out, "B-Brother…why do you keep saying these things…?"

Atrax laid down his arms and sighed, "Why do you keep calling out for someone who isn't here?"

He then chuckled at her face twisted in abject confusion and made a light gesture of his hands out beside his shoulders, "You know what? Pay me no heed. Continue your hedonistic crusade. Let the guilty be punished upon your blade."

"Ghh…!" Lilith trembled with a haunting chill down her back.

And as the rest of her body stiffened, she began to raise her sword…towards her own neck.

The Sages locked in a stalemate lost the will to hold it upon seeing this in action. Even the unshakeable Glade widened his eyes and shouted, "Lilith!"

The scourge of light pushed and shoved at the blade to force it away but all it did was make her arm rattle with minimal resistance.

She gasped and choked for a chance to say anything but nothing refused to come out.

Quickly, the sword was raised level with her neck, her face a mix of frenzy and tears.

Borealis reached out and tried to pull her arm away, all while turning his head back and shouting, "Atrax…! What have you done to her?!"

"Nothing," He uttered coldly, "She is merely following the Truth she believes."

Borealis hesitated, and after Lilith let out a blood-curdling scream the visceral sound of her flesh being rend cut the noise down to dead silence.

She fell to her knees and then flat on the ground, blood spilling down the steps of the throne from her neck.

All that could be heard was Atrax taking a deep breath through his nose, as he left a speechless audience in his wake.

"Finally…she shut up." He said with genuine relief, not at all reliant on hatred, for it was a feeling she wasn't deserving of post-mortem.

He then gestured his hand up to the other Sages and remarked, "Now then, if you'll excuse me, I've worn out this waiting period long enough. I have some important business to attend to."

Before his body could begin to turn, he found himself surrounded and clamped down from toe to neck in a shiny, silver armor.

"Khh…!" He grunted, feeling encumbered by weakness in a matter of moments.

Stonestein stood before him, a journal in one hand, and the last shards of silver material escaping the other one to attach to the armor.

"You are not going anywhere." He uttered.

Atrax looked at the armor and noted, "What is the meaning behind this-"

"Archeon." Upon Stonestein's utterance, Atrax went dead silent.

After a short pause, Stonestein raised the journal with the mural part opened, the text now translated.

Stonestein pointed at him with a firm glare and said, "Atrax…you are the phantom."

Borealis' eyes widened, "W-What?"

Nimus remarked, "Ph-Phantom? Hold up…I think I missed something here…"

Stonestein closed the journal, staring at the spider as he hung his head and muttered aloud, "I thought I burned all traces of that…lie! No…no…There's no possible way that journal can be real."

He began releasing a series of angered clicks and garbled gurgling noises.

Stonestein ignored his minor breakdown and addressed the confusion of his peers, "Atrax has lived through many generations."

"How, I do not know, but…"

He pushed his glare upon the spider and remarked, "HE is responsible for the Rot Hori-"

"I AM NOT GUILTY...OF YOUR LIES!" Atrax screamed in feverish outrage, "Why…why why…must this still haunt me?!"

"Has my name…not been dragged through the dirt enough…?!"

He raised his head towards the ceiling and began to weep through his mask, "Oooh…How long…must this sorrow plague us…Vyrmina?"

"Atrax?"

I was a tired man who found myself constantly dozing off in my room, surrounded by drafts of dreams to bring to reality.

Yet whenever I woke up…I saw her.

Slender, green-skinned, with a small but elegant thorax. Her pupils peered kindness through a membrane thin lens, and the little notches on her tibia played with my hairs.

She was the daughter of our Lord, the first leader of the Ten Sages.

"Today's the big day." I recall her saying, the delicate clicks echoing in her thorax bringing to mind the chirping melody of birds in morning's rise.

I became scatterbrained whenever she attended to my flaws. What we had was…special, and tempting.

I could have thrown away every dream I ever had…would it have allowed me one more moment…just to tell her how I felt.

My Drive was braced to my wrist, the calculations were run through my head.

Together, the two of us walked out into the center of the palace to join our other Sages, and the representatives of the Titans sent from the nine other Tribes.

Before us stood the path to abundant generosity, manifesting as a compressing orb of many colors.

Pulling myself together with a deep breath, "Master Ficklewick, guide me true…"

I then extended my many hands towards the masterpiece we had all come together to craft and declared…

"To a universe…everlasting!"

Year 0: The Day of Calamity

Next Time: The Truth