AN: *smashes head against keyboard* I want these headaches to leave me alone ;^; A rather short chapter this week. It's more of an info dump but I hope you enjoy anyway. It has Ramus in it so that alone should be enough to warrant a read, right?

Chapter 13:

The quickest and easiest way to travel to the Council Hall was by hitching a ride on a carriage. Thankfully they pass by the Crescentia frequently, so it wasn't hard for them to hail one.

Sitting in the back of a carriage, however, gave Drayce time to think and ponder. And the main theme of his thoughts was of course this Radiant Moon. He was more than certain that he had heard it somewhere before. There was a story about it. He just couldn't remember the exact story, the exact words.

The word compassion was extremely important to the tale as well.

Only those with compassion in their hearts will see the light of the Radiant Moon…

That was all he could remember. What that meant, he didn't know. He didn't even know if it was connected. He felt in his gut it was significant, though. He just knew that it was important.

It wasn't until the carriage came to a halt did Drayce realise they had reached their destination. He had been in his head the entire ride, not paying attention to anything else.

"Get your head in the game," Blayke said to him as he nudged him to the exit the carriage with his foot. "What's got you so preoccupied? I mean besides the obvious."

Drayce hopped out of the carriage and ran a hand through his hair. "That…thing," he said, unwilling to utter the real words aloud. "I've heard it somewhere before. I know I have. And it's driving me crazy!"

Blayke didn't look surprised but he nodded his head idly anyway. "Well, you will have to return to your thoughts later," he recommended. "Don't start muttering under your breath incoherently in front of Ramus, ok?"

Drayce gave him a purely indignant look and planted his hands on his hips. "I don't talk under my breath."

Giving his usual response of rolling his eye in a way that was damn near contempt, Blayke ignored Drayce's pouting as he turned his attention to the carriage driver. As he spoke with the man, offering a few coins for the lift, Drayce found himself drifting to his thoughts once more. More specifically trying to find the right words to tell Ramus what had recently happened.

Everything he knew, at least. He didn't have all the information yet, but felt it would be best to at least give Ramus a head's up to what he's been up to.

"Let's go," Blayke said, pulling Drayce from his thoughts once again. "The sooner we talk to Ramus about this, the better."

"Right," Drayce said as they turned to the stairs and headed inside.

Once more Ramus stood atop of a flight of stairs, dutifully speaking with explorers and locals alike. Thankfully the line to reach the prince wasn't as long as it usually was. After only a few minutes, it was Drayce and Blayke's turn to approach the prince. And Ramus smiled politely at them at first, but that smile turned genuine when he recognised them.

"Oh, hello again," Ramus greeted. "Have you come in regards to the mission?"

Drayce scratched the back of his neck as he gave him a lopsided grin. "Ah, about that. We've hit a little snag, so to speak. Could we talk somewhere private?"

Ramus appeared momentarily startled before he once again smiled royally politely. "Yes, of course," he said as he motioned in the direction of his office with his hand. "Let's return to my office."

Drayce offered him a grateful smile and with Blayke by his side, they followed the prince as he led them through the halls of the council hall once more. Ramus' office hadn't changed since they had last visited, though there did appear to be more paperwork on his desk. No doubt registry forms for guilds seeking to enter the labyrinth.

With a courteous motion of his hand, Ramus beckoned for Drayce and Blayke to sit themselves at the chairs before his desk. And he stayed standing until they did just that before he turned to sit down himself.

"Is the first mission giving you difficulties?" Ramus inquired as he folded his hands elegantly on his desk in front of him.

"It's not the mission, it's something else," Drayce said. "Let me start from the beginning."

He then launched into an explanation of what had been occurring, about how his first jaunt into the labyrinth resulted in an impromptu rescue operation. And about how the one he rescued had a spell forced upon them, literally carrying it on their back.

Throughout the entire explanation, Ramus sat silently, listening intently. But when Drayce explained about the possibility of explorer kidnapping bandits, his brow furrowed in obvious concern.

After Drayce was done explaining how he was now focusing on attempting to remove the spell from Caelem, Ramus blinked at them, his mouth dropping open ever so slightly as he appeared bewildered.

"And this occurred from your first time stepping into the labyrinth?" he asked with a subtle sense of awe.

Again Drayce offered him a half smile that held a hint of sheepishness as he rubbed the back of his neck. "Well, yeah. Heh, I guess I'm just destined to launch right into this treasure hunting thing, huh?"

"It certainly appears so. So you believe this spell will eventually lead to a treasure of some kind?" Ramus asked with genuine curiosity in his voice.

"I believe it leads to something," Drayce answered as he dropped his hand from his neck. "Something called a Radiant Moon."

Unexpectedly, Ramus' brow furrowed. "Radiant Moon? That's…somehow familiar to me."

It was Drayce's turn to be insatiably curious. "Oh?"

"Yes, there's…" Ramus began, his eyes downward in thought. An expression of realisation soon appeared on his face and he stood up from his chair, the legs scrapping loudly against the floor from the sudden movement. "Please, wait just a moment."

As Ramus turned toward an overly filled bookcase, Drayce shared a curious look with Blayke, the fencer simply shrugging in reply. They continued to sit in silence as they both turned to watch Ramus run a fingertip along the spines of the books, looking for a particular one.

"I don't know if this is connected, but there was once a gift, a peace offering given to my ancestors," Ramus said as he continued to search. "It's not connected to the Lost Treasures, but… "

Drayce found himself sitting straighter in his seat. Those words caused a thrill of recognition to briefly prickle the back of his neck. Gift and peace offering. He remembered those words, too.

"Ah," Ramus finally uttered in triumphant. "Here it is. It's written from the point of view of a scholar, one whom had the habit of logging every piece of information he came across."

A little bit nosy, but handy nonetheless. Of course Drayce was in no position to say anything about being nosy!

"I'm all ears," Drayce said as he leaned forward in his seat, his elbows on his knees, clearly very eager to learn anything new, about any kind of treasure. But he was especially eager to learn any information at all on this Radiant Moon.

Ramus quickly returned to his seat and took a moment to flip through the pages. He made another soft noise of satisfaction when he settled on a page. With his attention focused on the book and his fingertip trailing over the words, he began to read aloud.

"The Radiant Moon of Compassion was a gift given to the Earthlain royal family in the years after the Legendary War," he read. "It was a gift of compassion, thus the name. During the years of rebuilding much doubt and wariness was still directed toward the Earthlains for they were unfortunately associated with the Despot. A Celestian known as the Moon Mage had presented the gift to the royal family as a symbol of understanding and solidarity. He knew that the Despot stood alone, and that the vast majority of the royal family, who of which were participating fully in the rebuilding process, had also tried in vain to stop him.

However, while the gift was given to all of the royal family, it was the male heir who had received it, unwittingly becoming the symbol of hope between the two races. His younger sister, who was schooled since birth to be the true symbol of hope and peace, was angered that her brother had 'betrayed' her and stolen her birthright. On the surface the family held a united front, but fights between brother and sister broke out often. Every night and day, according to palace rumours.

It is believed, but that is no physical evidence, that in a fit of jealousy she had stolen the Radiant Moon in hopes of tarnishing her brother's reputation, and where she would take her rightful place as beloved peace-keeper. Fortunately the male heir had form close bonds with the Celestians and in spite of the missing gift, was able to maintain that bond. What happened to the Radiant Moon, no one knows. And the sister? There's been no record on her either since that time, not even the scholar responsible for this documentation knew any more of her."

Drayce sat dumbly in his seat. That…sounded so much like that story he remembered from childhood! In fact he was sure it was the same!

"My apologises," Ramus suddenly uttered as a slight frown spread across his lips. "But I do not have any information on the Radiant Moon itself."

"I think I do," Drayce said with a smile. "My knowledge is on the treasures themselves, not necessarily the stories behind them. But I do know that each treasure has a story and all stories have a grain of truth. From what I remember is a tale about how a gift given in friendship was stolen in spite. The Radiant Moon had hidden itself from spiteful eyes. But that spite lingers, the words Radiant Moon forcefully carried by others so that one of spite could reclaim their destiny. That's the tale I remember from childhood at least."

A flicker of realisation appeared in Ramus and he nodded his head. "That tale is similar."

Blayke suddenly nudged Drayce with his foot. "Seems like you finally remembered it."

Drayce sent him a wide grin, relieved himself. "Hah, yeah. Actually it was because of the information Ramus just gave us," he said as he turned his attention back to the prince and gave him a grateful smile. "So it's thanks to you."

Unexpectedly, a light dusting of red appeared on Ramus's cheeks as he absentmindedly trailed his fingers over the pages of the book in front of him again. "Ah, well…" he uttered before he straightened in his seat. "Do you have any information on the Radiant Moon itself?"

"From what I can recall, it's a ceremonious sceptre," Drayce replied. "Not made for combat at all."

Ever the cautious one, Blayke added his own thoughts. "Doesn't have to be, I suppose. Bandits can get money out of it from greedy collectors, right?"

"Right," Drayce said with a slight frown on his lips. "Holding it for ransom is also a possibility."

Ramus nodded his head in agreement, his expression also grim. "The Arcanian Council would indeed offer a lot of money for the sceptre's safe return. Even if it is not the legendary Radiant Moon of Compassion, the mere belief that it is will be enough."

That was a reason why Drayce didn't like bandits; they were opportunistic and money-hungry. They didn't care for the treasures at all, what they could mean to others. They just want money.

"We need to find it before those bandits do," Drayce said with a sense of determination. "And return it to its rightful place."

Blayke turned to look at Drayce with a curious look. "Do you think the bandits know what they are actually looking for?"

Drayce pinched his lips together in thought. "They must know something," he finally offered. "They targeted Caelem after all."

Blayke nodded his head, seemingly absentmindedly. "They could have just sensed mana from him," he added with a protective scowl. "And decided there was no harm in seeing what they can get out of him."

That was worse than purposely targeting him. If that was the truth, then those bandits were ruthless and unpredictable. And were likely to target anyone that they believed could lead them to something of monetarily gain.

"In that case they have a Celestian working with them," Drayce said. "Let's prepare ourselves for the worst case scenario anyway."

Once more, Blayke nodded his head, having already reached that conclusion himself. He looked grim, too, no doubt already anticipating trouble. And, honestly, after what had already happened, that worry and wariness was understandable.

"What is it that you're going to do now?" Ramus asked, causing Drayce and Blayke to turn their attention back to him.

"My first priority is keeping Caelem safe and finding the treasure before those bandits do," Drayce answered without hesitation. "I know that I'm required to complete the first mission, holding it above all else, and I will complete it, I just need to focus on this first."

Ramus, however, held up a hand and shook his head. "No, that is completely understandable," he said with a small smile on his lips. "And what you've done so far goes above and beyond what is expected of you."

While Drayce was glad that Ramus was understanding, he still felt a prang of guilt for not being able to finish the mission completely. He had promised he would, after all.

Ramus abruptly closed the book in front of him and pushed away from the desk. "Though it goes against protocol," he began as he stood up from his chair. "I want to give you something. Rather, allow you access to something."

Drayce tilted his head to the side in curiosity. "Hm?"

"Do you know of a merchant by the name of Syrik?" Ramus inquired as he opened a drawer in a cabinet and pulled out a sheet of paper. When Drayce uttered an affirmative, he walked back to his desk and quickly sat back down. As he did so, he picked up a writing utensil and seemed to scribble something upon the paper.

"Give him this note and he will exchange it for something known as an Ariadne Thread," Ramus said as he folded the note in half and handed it to Drayce. "It should be invaluable to your quest."

"Thank you," Drayce said as he retrieved the note and gave him a grateful grin. "We appreciate it."

Ramus gave him a small smile back but a look of genuine concern soon replaced it. "Be careful," he said. "Though the Radiant Moon would indeed be a prize worth finding in the eyes of the council, it is not at the cost of your lives."

It was humbling how worried he appeared to be.

"Don't worry," Blayke was the one to reply as he stood up from his chair. "I'll make sure this idiot doesn't do anything reckless." The corner of his mouth twitched ever so slightly. "I've been doing it for years."

Drayce noticed that Ramus gave Blayke a soft smile in appreciation. He also seemed to have a light dusting of red on his cheeks. He chose not to point it out and instead he pushed himself to his feet, too, and sent Blayke a playfully disgruntled and insulted look. "Hey, rude."

This time Blayke did smirk at him. "The truth hurts," he said simply.

Drayce sent him a quick grin before he turned back to Ramus. "Don't you worry about us," he said in reassurance. "We'll be back soon."

With that, both Drayce and Blayke turned and hurried from the office. The information that Ramus just shared with them needed to be shared with the others. Shashi might be able to find more information on this Radiant Moon of Compassion. So their first stop was back to the Crescentia. After that, the market place.

And then back into the labyrinth to speak with Virgil and gather mining samples to ready themselves for the removal of Caelem's curse.

What would happen after that, he wasn't sure.

He would just have to wait and see.