Dust: An Elysian Tail

Before The Storm

Written by WildSnivy

Chapter 9

Unraveling

"How do you feel?"

"Tired. Just tired," I reply with a heavy exhale. I'm not exaggerating when I say that. Everything about me is tired at the moment. My body's exhausted from my time with Nikolai working on my fighting, and right now my mind's fried and still fretting about how in the world I'm going to handle my appointment with Cassius.

My sister shuttles two mugs of cocoa into the living room, where I've fallen down onto the sofa. "Nik didn't push you too hard, did he?" she sweetly asks.

"Nah, he didn't do anything," I grunt as I sit myself up and accept the mug Ginger hands over to me. I immediately take a moderately long drink from it as Ginger takes the seat next to me on the couch.

"Then what's been going on, Jin?" she continues. She's been asking questions ever since I came in from the street. I guess she's just worried about me. Frankly, I can't blame her. Even I have to admit I look and feel drained at the moment. And there is exactly one reason why.

For a second I forget to swallow my drink before it scorches the inside of my mouth, and promptly take care of that before I say anything back. Some part of me wants to keep my meeting with Cassius a secret. I feel all but certain that Ginger is going to protest this in some way, that I might be overstepping myself. In honesty, I can't blame her. Even in my book this feels a little ambitious, like I'm taking a gamble of some sort.

You're not gambling anything. You asked a question, you got an answer, and now you're going to act on it. What's the problem here?

Does that question even need an answer? I'm walking into the lion's den. Cassius is waiting for me, along with the entire division of soldiers that followed him up here. And what does Cassius even know about the village? About what we've been doing? About what I've been doing? There are only so many times I can dance around the town's secret with him, and I have to be coming very close to that limit right now.

Speaking of which, even if it's just been a day, I have no idea what Fuse's camp is going through right now. If they've been made, if someone's seen them, if the Royal Army caught someone running down there. No idea at all.

Focus, Jin! That's not important! You asked about your parents, and that's what you're going to get. Cassius can wait for later.

I peer down at the mug, at the warm chocolate and slowly liquefying marshmallows resting on the surface. I hate it when my mind takes thoughts and runs with them like that.

Ginger needs to know what's going on first. "I bumped into Cassius again," I inform after another sip of cocoa.

She sighs and rolls her eyes a bit. "What's he up to this time?"

"Got chewed out by Dewitt next door," I answer with a slight grin.

"And you didn't tell me either. You horrible, horrible brother, you," she snickers as she takes a quick drink.

I lean forward towards the table and set the mug down. "I...asked him about the parents, too," I quietly add, maybe hoping I could slip it past Ginger without her noticing.

Yeah, not going to happen. She turns her head curiously to me. "What about them?"

"Nikolai mentioned that a Royal scouting party found the caravan and ransacked it that day, right? Maybe Cassius knows something about that."

She leers at me. "You're going to spy on him?"

"Does it count as spying if he invites me to his camp and lets me look through his files anyways?"

She puts a hand on her forehead. "I swear, we talked about this earlier this morning," she mutters.

"Ginger, it's fine," I'm quick to respond. "He's just going to look over some papers with me. Heck, for all we know, maybe Nikolai was wrong and..."

She sets her mug down as well, and clatter of the ceramic on wood cuts me off for the moment. "You don't need to justify that, Jin. Because this is the right thing to do."

I'm honestly a little surprised by that reaction. I seriously thought she'd have a few more objections to me entering a military camp to look at what are essentially classified documents. Especially considering we're at odds with them, and especially considering my escort is their leader, who arguably knows more than he's willing to show us.

She leans back onto the back of the sofa. "I still don't like that you're going to be at that camp, though."

"I'm not going to be long at all, Ginger. Cassius is just going to show me his report, I'll take a look around, and that'll be it. But we have a right to know what happened that day."

"What if Nikolai was right? The military did kill them?"

Cassius does not deserve benefit of the doubt in any way at all, but I have to give it to him this time. "Maybe this is like when he first came to talk to us. He wants to keep this private because it only involves us."

"And he'd be willing to just turn that over to you?" Ginger asks dubiously. "He works for Gaius. He hates everything Moonblood related. If he knows what we've been doing, then why would he help us out like this?"

I can only give a reluctant grin back. "Ginger, I don't like Cassius either. I don't think anyone here does. But I don't think he's cruel enough to deny me information like how my own parents died, even if it was at the army's hands."

She shakes her head slowly. "I still don't like this, Jin."

I inch myself closer to her and put an arm over her shoulder. "I promise I'll come right back, alright? Cassius isn't going to hurt me over something like this."

"You don't know that."

"I'll have my blade with me if things go sour, okay? But I'm going to come right back home once I'm done there."

She looks over at me again. I've seen those deep, mystifying blue eyes gaze into me before, but never quite like this. They feel pristine, pure, like a perfectly clear lake on a cloudless day. Out of all the times she's overtaken me with those wonderful eyes of hers, this is the most intense I've ever seen them.

"Just be safe, Jin," she quietly demands. "You know I worry about you when you're out doing things like this."

Without hesitation, I nod and grin slightly. "I think I can do that," I tell her. She rolls onto me and starts squeezing my body near the bottom of the ribcage. She's not concerned this time, or at least I don't think she is. She's just hugging onto me, with a comfortable, secure smile on her face.

I put my second arm around her, and she rests her head on the side of my shoulder.

"I'll always be with you," I remind her as she pulls me slightly closer to her.

Dinner tonight is shrimp noodles and a virulently spicy salad Ginger may have overdone on the dressing front. Still though, I won't fault my sister's cooking; she does a far better job than I probably ever would. At least I can help her clear the table once dinner's over, and she tells me she's headed upstairs for the night once cleanup is done.

"This early?" I ask skeptically as I wash out one of the pots in the sink. "It's only, what, six-fifteen?"

"I don't know," she responds with a shrug. "I just feel a little...out of it this evening."

"Just to be clear, this doesn't have anything to do with..."

She smiles faintly and shakes her head no. "I'm done stressing over that. You're right, you'll be fine."

"Then why don't you let me finish cleaning up here and you can go get some rest, alright?" I offer up, motioning to the rest of the dishes. "I can handle the rest of this."

"You're sure? This is usually..."

"If you're tired, go do something about it," I insist as I grab the dishtowel off to my right and dry off the pot. "I think it's about time I did something to help you out around here anyways."

I get a small laugh out of her as I say that. Victory is mine. "Just don't forget about Cassius, okay? He doesn't look like the guy who likes waiting."

"Trust me, I haven't," I moan as she hugs me from behind. "Good night, Ginger."

"Night, Jin," she replies, and after another small second she releases me and scampers away out the kitchen door and upstairs to her room.

There's not much to do once I have all the dishes cleaned off and drying, so I spend an hour or so whacking away at imaginary dummies with my sword, coaching myself as I practice each technique. I try to keep my mind as clear as I can manage. What is Cassius going to do? What sort of things will he be willing to show me? What is he going to hide? Should I even try being intrusive?

I block out every one of those questions as I continue dancing with my sword in the living room. Each swing, each riposte comes to me fluidly, like a professional fighter warming up for his big match. I may have only one good training session with Nikolai, far from ample experience, but the confidence is with me, like I've been doing this for much longer than I really have. Maybe this was what Nikolai was talking about earlier. It feels...exhilarating.

My combo is cut off as the clock in the kitchen chimes quarter to eight, and I peer outside the window. Not much is left of the sun; it has long since ducked behind the horizon and the very few stray beams are the only things keeping the night sky from completely blacking out the town. No stars out tonight; they're likely hidden by the storm clouds above, waiting for the inevitable midnight monsoon to pass before they peek out.

I stand alone in the living room for a few more minutes, then sigh and look down at the blade in my hands. I almost ask myself if it's a good idea to bring it with me, until I realize what a silly question that is and immediately slide it into its sheath on my side. Cassius is only helping me this once, and even then I feel like he's not really going to do that much. In fact, I'm certainly going to be the only villager in the camp anyways. I'll be in a prime position to get ambushed.

Stop worrying about what can go wrong, smart one. Focus on the job.

Right, the job. My parents. If what Nikolai said that day was right, then it'd have to be written down somewhere. Royal Army loves their lists. Not to mention Cassius said he had new motivation to look into this. He'd assuredly find something noteworthy either while I'm over there or even before I arrive.

You know, Jin. You might have been a little hard on Cassius. I mean, he's still out to get the town and everything, but at least he's willing to help you find out who killed...

I then have an almost pulse-stopping thought. What if Cassius was involved? What if he was coordinating the scouting party that day? Worse still, what if he was actually leading the party?

What if he is the reason my parents are gone?

Stop that! I yell at myself. Stop that right now! You don't know any more about Cassius than he does about you!

My stomach feels sick. I don't want to think about possibly collaborating with my parents' murderer. It would have to be a trap then, wouldn't it? Is that why he was so calm when he offered to help me?

That would mean I'm next on the list, aren't I?

Jin!

The blank silence of the still night outside coupled with the noiselessness of the living room is all I can hear. It's all I want to hear right now. I just stand in the middle of the room, the clock on the wall quietly ticking away, counting down the seconds until I need to leave.

I slowly look down at the blade on my belt. I yank my coat over it and turn to go upstairs. I hope Ginger's still awake. She needs to know what's on my mind. She must have thought the same things I just did at some point. It isn't like Cassius is completely free from the suspicion. She probably thought he knows more about our parents than he told us that day. They might be traitors according to him, but we both know who the real one is.

I finish climbing the stairs and turn to the door on the left side of the hallway. It's closed, but not completely shut. Ginger likes to keep the door cracked like this every once in a while. I knock softly on it a couple times and then gently push it open. The iron hinges squeak quietly as they open up the room, and reveal Ginger sleeping on her bed, back to me, wearing comfortable pants and a sleeveless shirt. On her bedside, a single candlestick, providing just enough light in the room to see the surroundings without becoming a nuisance.

She must have been resting long before I got up here, probably since I dismissed her from the kitchen come to think of it. I'm not going to bother her, not right now, and I turn back to the hallway, pulling the doorknob behind me...

I pause, and think about the parents again. Slowly, I turn back to her room and silently reenter it.

I quietly walk up to her bed. For a minute, I just watch her sleep. Peacefully. Serenely.

I put my first two fingers and my thumb to my tongue and pinch the wick on the candle. "Good night, Ginger," I quietly whisper as the light vanishes and her room goes perfectly dark.

"I will make things right."

"Hold...how many more times are we going to see you, boy?" one of the two camp guards asks as I draw closer to the torch-riddled entrance to the camp. His face is shrouded by night, the brazier out front doing a less than proficient job at illuminating his visage. But he does sound a lot like the guard from yesterday, and given his initial demeanor towards me, it wouldn't be that surprising.

"I'm actually here by invitation of Commander Cassius. Is he available?" I explain myself.

"He's in his tent right now, actually," the guard's partner explains off to my right. "What's the occasion?"

I'm about to elaborate a little bit, but a chilling, neutral voice from behind the guards answers for me instead. "Nothing you need to concern yourself with, Corporal," Cassius cuts in from the shadows. I try to avoid looking too skeptically at him; even in the dead of night he's still wearing that hat, even though there's no sun to protect his eyes from.

He turns his head to me slightly. "Jin," he identifies me.

"Commander," I reply back.

He extends his back arm to invite me inside. "Do come in," he orders. The guard on my right immediately backpedals away from the entrance to the camp, as does the left a second or two later, and I reluctantly follow Cassius as he navigates the camp. It's structured eerily similar to Fuse's camp further down the mountain; there's a whole network of alleyways bordered on all sides by tents and living quarters, and the main path Cassius and I are on leads directly to a large, open courtyard with a general supplier's tent off to the right. It's a little frightening to be honest. I feel like Fuse could come up here, hijack a military uniform for everyone in his clan, and I wouldn't be able to tell the difference between his camp and Cassius'.

I continue to proceed down the path, past a few small groups of soldiers. A few of them seem to stare at me as I walk past them, like they know who I am. I defiantly stare back at them, unwilling to let myself get any more intimidated tonight.

"You'll forgive a few of the recruits," the commander talks over his shoulder. "They can be very untrusting at times."

"I think their doubts are warranted this time around," I reply. "Am I the first one to visit your camp like this, sir?"

"Not at all," Cassius returns as he takes a left turn down a side path. "You're just the first to be escorted by me."

I almost forget to turn down the same path as him for a second, and pick up my pace a bit to close the distance. "If I could ask, sir, what sort of information do you have?" I ask before I immediately start to regret saying that.

Cassius turns over his shoulder, leering at me from under his hat. "Pertaining to what?" he coldly demands.

Too aggressive a question, Jin. Back it off. "I-I meant in regards to the town. If there's anything relating my parents to what you have, maybe," I clumsily justify.

I can hear Cassius heavily exhale through his nose. "Be careful asking things like that aloud," he sharply warns. "You don't have the best of reputations here in the first place."

"S-sorry," I stammer. You're forgetting something. "Sir," I hastily add on.

He turns back and continues forward, his ornate tent resting just ahead. "To address that question, however, I did receive a few documents containing basic information about your town. Geography, demographics, history, it's comprehensive by my standards."

He reaches an arm out to the front flaps of the tent, pulls one to the side and invites me in. "But if there is anything to find regarding your parents' fate, then I can assist you in finding it."

I duck under the flap and enter the tent. I suspected it'd be large just considering how massive it appeared from outside, but for some reason it feels larger once I actually step inside. Everything about the tent oozes Royal Army: the highly decorative desk directly across from me towards the back, the multiple wood and iron chests placed against the interior walls. In fact, the only thing that doesn't look like it was ripped straight out of the palace itself would be Cassius' sleeping area, consisting of a standard issue cot and yet another trunk underneath, presumably for clothes and toiletries.

The commander brushes past me and heads straight for his desk, pausing only for a small second to remove his hat and toss it on top of his cot. "So, let's get this over with, shall we?" he blankly asks as he unlocks a trunk and starts rifling about in it.

"Uh, yes sir," I reply, and I start looking around for a spot to sit. I end up just leaning on the desk after failing to find one.

Cassius stands back up after a moment and closes the trunk with his foot, his arms full with multiple papers salvaged from his dig. "That's...what you have on the town?" I inquire as he walks around to the other side of his desk.

"Every last note and scrap of it," Cassius sighs as he drops the documents onto his bureau, letting them impact with a weighty thud. "His Majesty and General Gaius spared no expense in finding me what I needed."

"So I see," I lightheartedly return as I peel off the first three documents or so from the stack. "So where do you think we should start?"

Cassius hums a bit then pushes off the top third or so of the paper pile. "If your parents are susceptible to be Moonblood sympathizers, then perhaps some recent merchant records would..."

He doesn't get any farther than that, because another cloth rustle of the tent flaps gets his attention. He leans to his right to look around me, and I turn towards the front of the tent as well.

The soldier standing there waits for a second before speaking up. "Is this a bad time, sir?"

"Amazingly, Corporal," the commander hisses. "What is it?"

"Your informant's returned, sir. They want to talk to you."

Cassius raises an eyebrow. "And their business?"

"Wouldn't say. They just came in and made their demands."

"Not leaving, I presume?"

"Staunchly refusing, I think would be more accurate, sir."

I swear I hear Cassius growl contemptuously as he stomps past me and towards the soldier. "Jin, I shall leave you here for now," he informs me. "You've my implicit trust for the moment; you'd do well not to squander it in my absence."

"Yes, sir," I rigidly answer.

"I doubt this will take long," he adds as he marches past the corporal and the tent flaps fall closed again.

Silence for a few seconds, then arguably the heaviest sigh I've ever thrown flies out of my mouth. How in the world I managed to keep my composure during that is a mystery I'll probably never be able to solve. Since when did Cassius have an informant? And who would it be? Someone from the village? No, couldn't be. Everyone there is anti-Gaius in the most radical way there is. Then someone from outside? Maybe near the capital?

Actually, what does that matter at the moment? That disruption might be inopportune for Cassius, but it leaves me here alone. With information.

A lot of information. Not limited to the stuff plopped on his desk.

I feel hungry. But I'm not in the mood for food. I have no idea where this rush came from or why I'm so eager to start snooping around Cassius' tent, but something keeps pushing me to find something useful to me. The thrill of the hunt? A chance to get my hands on something incriminating? There are both many and no explanations for it. All I know is that I can't let this chance go to waste.

I survey the room a little bit more closely. The trunks against the walls are locked up, much like the one Cassius just dug all of those papers out of. They probably hold only military relevant information, if I have to guess.

The desk, then? I vault over it to the other side, indirectly scattering a few papers to the ground in the meantime, and start yanking open every drawer I can find. The two on the left are first. Writing utensils, paper, requisition slips.

Worthless.

The top one on the right. Whetstone, handkerchief, sharpsword oil that I can tell straight away is inferior quality to Sereth's.

Not interesting.

The one on the bottom. Light reading material, backup uniform for some reason...

There's an envelope near the back of the drawer. The mailing address is face up as I peruse the drawer's contents, and Gaius' name is on it. Cassius' superior. This has to be the marching orders. I quickly snatch it up and slam the drawer shut, then, taking care not to harm the letter, I unfold the envelope and remove the parchment inside.

Gaius,

This will be my final correspondence with you or any of your men, as I am about to reveal what will be the extent of my intelligence regarding your goals. I will assume that my standard fee will be adequate compensation, as per usual. I would like it received before you act on anything that follows.

One of the final Moonblood infested towns lies to the north, in the Blackmoor Mountains. Closer to the peak, you will find the village of Zeplich, a cesspool of countless traitors and sympathizers, so loyal to our enemy that I can't put the right words onto this paper in honesty. I've covertly visited this town about a month ago, and discovered that regular supply caravans, as well as travelling merchants and traders, visit the nearby Moonblood encampment on a very frequent basis.

I'm certain you will take the proper steps necessary to resolve this issue and see that justice is done. I look forward to hearing how this goes.

Happy hunting,

Kane

I shudder. My breathing goes shallow and rapid.

The town's doomed. And Cassius knew it all along. He's just messing with us. And he has to be winding up for the knockout punch any moment now.

Then why would he be investigating us? I ask myself. This is second, no, thirdhand information. For all you know, he's still as clueless as you think he is.

Right. If he knew that we were traitors all along then he would have done something by this point. He needs evidence, something that directly links us to Fuse's clan. And everyone in the town has been playing their cards right, he shouldn't have any.

With care, I tuck the letter back into the envelope. But it's not fitting in. I remove it and jam it back in, with a bit more force. Still nothing. It's getting caught on something inside.

I flip the envelope upside down and push on the edges. The letter slides out and glides onto the desk and the hodgepodge of papers Cassius left. A smaller, square-folded piece of parchment tumbles out as well.

There's the culprit, I tell myself as I pick up the paper. The color is a moderately deep brown, strikingly similar to the color of paper Sereth likes to use for receipts. The corners of the paper are bent and worn down on the folds as well, especially the inside one. The thickness looks a little thin as well, like it's been compressed, like it's been in someone's pocket...

I just stare at the paper square for a minute. A very long, terrified minute. Then I immediately start unfolding it.

There's no way, I keep telling myself, refusing to believe what I'm seeing. This can't be it.

Except it is.

It's the receipt from this morning. The note from Sereth. The one saying that he received the foodstuffs from The Eagle & Avee last night.

How is this possible? This got burnt!

"Jin..." a wavering voice quietly speaks from in front of me.

Slowly, with a painful mixture of rage, shock and helplessness, I peer up. Marcia is standing in front of the desk, her hands tied behind her back, Cassius standing off to her side, his long, slender blade ramming up against her neck.

"I...I'm so sorry..." she whimpers, a tear rolling out of her right eye and onto the sword.