~ Chapter 7 ~
Luminescent Secrets
Morgan watched intently as the Solcryst's light began to wane, gradually receding until it only barely stretched beyond Sol Hearth's walls. She continued staring for a few minutes longer, silently counting the seconds that passed, then looked instead at the mossy stone road that wrapped around the base of Sol Sanctus.
Right on cue, one of the Sun Guard came marching past – an armored man with a portly, kindly face and a glaive held loosely in his right hand. Morgan quickly retreated further into her hiding spot behind a decoratively trimmed hedge. "Perfect," she whispered.
Sitting beside the young tactician, Severa blew out an impatient sigh. "Remind me, Morgan. Why are we doing this again?" she complained, though she was sensible enough kept her voice down.
"Do you not hear the allure of forbidden knowledge beckoning to you?" Owain – who was crouched by Severa's other side – asked.
"No, I don't," Severa said flatly. "Weren't you listening to Helios? This tower is basically empty. We can see the Solcryst fine from here, so why bother trying to get inside?"
Morgan hesitated, trying to decide how best to explain her doubts. "Sis, Hel's story doesn't really add up," she finally said.
"Huh? You mean you think he was lying to us?" Severa frowned. "About what? And why?"
"I didn't say that," Morgan hastily interrupted, before her sister could get carried away. "Honestly, I don't think he's even realized it himself. Do you remember him warning us that magic was outlawed here in Monolith?"
"Sure… but what does that have to do with anything?" Severa asked, puzzled.
"What else could the Solcryst be but some sort of magic?" Morgan pointed out.
"The Solcryst is critical to their livelihoods. It is only natural that they would make an exception for it," Owain reasoned.
"Sure. That's fair," Morgan agreed readily. "But that's exactly my point. Between the Solcryst, the Sun Spires, and the Sun Guard's enchanted weaponry, Monolith's people depend heavily on their magic to keep themselves alive. They must have realized by now how important magic is. They should be trying to study magic – searching for another way to replicate the Solcryst, perhaps, or to make the Sun Spires more powerful. Instead, they've outlawed magic altogether, leaving very little hope of things ever getting better. Why?"
"The tale of Icarus begets fear," Owain said sagely. "This world's inhabitants would sooner protect what they cherish rather than gamble it on a brighter future."
"Possibly," Morgan admitted. "But still, something about it just doesn't seem… right."
"It sounds like the people of Monolith have already accepted their fate," Severa observed. "Do you really think something isn't right about that? Or are just hoping that they're wrong?"
"A bit of both, I think," Morgan readily conceded. "Come on, Sis. You saw what happened back in that other city. This world's a mess, and most of its people are left with very little hope at all. They live in constant danger, watching the people they care for suffer and die, all for what? To hope against all odds that they can move here to Sol Hearth and feel just a little bit safer?"
"It is pretty terrible," Severa agreed. "And maybe they were wrong to give up on searching for a better way. Maybe there is a perfect answer out there somewhere… but maybe there isn't. You don't even really know what we're searching for, do you?"
"No, I don't," Morgan said.
"So there's a very good chance we won't find anything useful at all," Severa concluded. "We could be putting ourselves into danger just to be let down again."
"I know, but we have to try anyways," Morgan said determinedly. "And it won't be that dangerous. We have warp powder, remember? Even if we do get caught, we can always warp back to our room at the inn, and head back to Water's Edge from there."
As she spoke, Morgan began reaching for her pouch of warp powder. She stopped halfway, another thought occurring to her. "You two don't need to come with me," she offered. "Why don't you wait for me in Water's Edge instead?"
"No way. We're coming," Severa insisted.
"For better or for worse, we stand united," Owain agreed.
Morgan shrugged, deciding it best not to argue. "Here, then," she said, doling out two portions of warp powder into smaller bags and handing one to each Severa and Owain. She then reached into her traveling bag, extracting a plain leather case. She unlatched the case and flipped it open, revealing several strange metal implements.
"What are these?" Severa asked, eyeing the case's contents curiously.
"This is a housebreaker's kit," Morgan explained, extracting a small crossbow, a grappling hook tied to a long rope, and an oddly shaped dagger. "It's a set of tools designed for quietly breaking into places you aren't supposed to be."
"And why would you have such a kit?" Severa demanded accusingly.
Morgan loaded the grappling hook into the crossbow and wound it up until it produced an audible click. She grinned. "To break into places I'm not supposed to be, of course. Weren't you listening?" She turned and peeked through the hedge to ensure that her timing was accurate. Sure enough, one of the guards had just passed them by. "Follow me," she muttered.
The young tactician emerged from her hiding spot and quietly stepped across the stone walkway and the grassy fields surrounding it. Once at the wall, she aimed her crossbow up towards the tower's third story window and fired, grappling a wide groove she had taken note of earlier. She jerked the rope sharply downward, securing the grapple in place, and began climbing.
Once at the window, Morgan began fumbling with her dagger.
"Now what?" Severa hissed nervously as she dangled from the rope just below her sister, without a clear view of what was happening above.
"The guards approach!" Owain warned, looking down and about in search of any more guards.
"We have at least a minute before the next guard comes by," Morgan said soothingly. Locating the window's latch, she began scraping her dagger against the glass. "Wealthy Valmese nobles often decorate their homes with glass windows. This knife is for cutting through without breaking them or making too much noise," she explained offhandedly. "Since this window opens from the inside, all I have to do is… there. Hold on tight."
Morgan dexterously reached through the hole and undid the latch. She then slipped a few inches down her rope so that she could safely swing the window open.
"We're in," Morgan announced, sounding very pleased with herself as she pulled herself back up to the window and into the tower. At the same time, Ellie extracted herself from Morgan's hood and began darting back and forth excitedly.
Once inside, Morgan turned and offered a hand to her sister, and then Owain, before finally pulling up the grapple. After a quick glance to ensure they were alone, she began putting her tools away, somehow resisting the urge to gawk at Sol Sanctus's beautiful interior.
Severa, on the other hand, began surveying the hallway immediately. "Nice décor," she remarked. The tower's outer walls had been built from ordinary bricks, but on the inside, the walls were comprised of smaller, finer bricks, laid so carefully that the seams were nearly invisible. Ribbons of silky, golden cloth had been draped along the top of each wall.
"A fitting shrine for the heart of the world," Owain agreed, reaching down to press his palm into the luxurious carpet stretched along the center of the hallway.
Morgan glanced only briefly at the carpet and the walls before her attention was drawn to Sol Sanctus's lights. Simple, yet elegant sculptures of curved golden rods were spaced evenly across either wall, adorned with small crystals of light similar to the gemstones upon Morgan's lantern rings. "Look. Quite a bit of magic went into building Sol Sanctus, too," Morgan declared, wearing a smug and satisfied expression. She glanced back at the silver butterfly hovering just over her right shoulder. "Come on, Ellie. Let's see what sort of secrets the light has been hiding," she whispered eagerly.
Their first hour wandering through Sol Sanctus proved fairly disappointing. The seemingly endless hallways and staircases were every bit as empty as Helios he claimed. Once in a while, the hallways were punctuated by a large chamber, richly adorned with tapestries, murals, and statues of a handsome, nondescript winged man. Morgan, Severa, Owain, and even Ellie paused to inspect the various decorations the first time, but there was little sense to be made of the generic artworks.
Every now and then, a Sun Guard patrol could be heart clomping down the hallways, their heavy metal boots clanking loudly even against the plush golden carpeting. Thankfully, Morgan kept an eye out for good hiding places as they went, and had little trouble steering her companions clear of the wandering guards. One such turn brought them a large room with an open entryway wide enough for five broad-shouldered men to stand side by side. It was the first room they had discovered that seemed to serve a specific purpose: long wooden tables stretched across the room, laden with cloth garments, armor, and weapons, all sharing the white and gold color scheme of the Sun Guard.
"An armory?" Morgan wondered aloud, her gaze slowly sweeping across the room.
"It sure looks like one," Severa said. She wrinkled her nose as she leaned in to inspect a heavy breastplate lying on a nearby table. "It's kind of a mess, though, don't you think?"
Meanwhile, Owain had gravitated towards a curved sword identical to Helios's. "I dub thee… Talon of the… no, too mundane… Shimmering Carver? Hmm… no, that's not right either," he mumbled to himself.
"Uh… Owain? Are you okay?" Morgan asked nervously.
"He's fine," Severa sighed. "He just likes naming weapons. Or armor. Or anything, really. You should have seen him when Ophelia was born."
"Oh," Morgan said. She watched in growing amusement as Owain continued to spout out different names, each more grandiose than the last. Then, after several more minutes had passed, Morgan's attention returned to the task at hand. "Do you think they inventory their equipment?" she asked.
"Probably," Severa guessed. "Why?"
Morgan lightly tapped a set of robes, an inquisitive look upon her face. "I think these robes are enchanted. These patterns aren't just decorative; they look like glyphs of some sort. I think it's warded to protect its wearer from magic."
"Really?" Severa asked, eyeing the robes thoughtfully. "How would they know how to shield their soldiers from magic if magic is outlawed? And why would they even bother?"
"They might still be holding onto magical research left behind from before the sun went out," Morgan reasoned. She looked at the robes wistfully. "Think they'll notice if I steal a set to study later?" she asked hopefully.
"Probably. Does it really matter, though? They'll know someone broke in once they find that hole you cut in their window," Severa pointed out.
"Enemies approach!" Owain suddenly warned, spotting an approaching shadow in the hallway.
Though Morgan could not hear or see any approaching guards, she did not hesitate. "Under here," she ordered, sliding beneath the table. Severa and Owain followed suit, and they held their breaths as half a dozen robed guards stepped past the room's entrance.
As soon as the guards were out of sight, Morgan crawled out from underneath the table and back onto her feet. "Nice catch, Owain," she said with a relieved sigh.
"No bumbling fools such as they will catch us by surprise," Owain promised.
"Not so bumbling, sadly," Morgan said disappointedly. "I guess it was too much to hope that we would hear every one of their patrols from a mile away. Want to take the sword, Owain?"
Owain glanced over at the weapon and teetered indecisively for a few moments before finally shaking his head. "The curvature of the blade is too exotic to feel comfortable," he decided.
"Since when has exotic ever stopped you?" Severa teased, though she didn't argue any further, nor did she make any move to take any of the equipment for herself.
"Okay. Just give a minute and we can get going," Morgan said. She collected the set of robes she had been inspecting earlier, stuffing them unceremoniously into her pouch. Then, as she took one last look at the goods lying about them, she spotted a large parchment scroll.
"What is that?" Severa asked curiously, when she noticed her sister studying the parchment.
"A map of Monolith, I think," Morgan said. With a shrug, she rolled up the scroll and stashed it away as well. "Come on. Let's go and see what else they're keeping here."
After ascending two more flights of stairs, Morgan spotted a large golden placard embedded into the wall beside an entryway leading into a small room. "Checkmate," she whispered, smiling gleefully as the approached the room. Like the armory, the room had no doors. The doorway was far smaller – only about four feet across – and had been roped off neatly by a thick, golden cord. The room appeared mostly clear. A single, large wooden desk rested at the center of the room, and the walls were lined with shelves laden with tightly bound parchment scrolls.
"Sun Guard Records Hall. First Class Access only," Severa read aloud. She heaved an exasperated sigh. "I suppose we've already smashed all of their rules into thousands of pieces simply by being here. We may as well stick our noses everywhere they're explicitly unwelcome, too, right?" she asked sarcastically.
"Exactly," Morgan replied, nodding enthusiastically. However, she reached out to stop Owain before he could climb over the meager barrier. "Hold on, Owain."
Owain looked at her questioningly, but Morgan went silent, stooping low to examine the floor just past the doorway. After what felt like a full minute, she reached down to her sash, extracting a small cloth sack filled with white powder. She took a large pinch of the floury substance and spread it across the ground, drawing a rough square.
The young tactician then looked up to Ellie and nodded. The small silver butterfly darted into the room ahead of them and began skimming the ground, pausing abruptly about five feet in.
"Don't step on the chalk," Morgan warned, carefully stepping over the marked square herself.
"Why?" Severa asked, sounding rather annoyed at being kept in the dark. Still, she obeyed her sister's warning, agilely stepping over the mark and helping Owain safely over as well.
"Pressure plate. It probably just sets off an alarm, but I might be wrong. It could be something much nastier," Morgan explained.
"Nastier how?" Owain asked nervously.
"Oh, you know, poisoned darts, floors collapsing, ceilings collapsing, stuff like that," Morgan said casually. "There's more of these traps, too, so stay close behind me," she instructed. She stepped lightly over to Ellie, then bent down to inspect the floor there. Ellie promptly soared off, and by the time Morgan had finished marking the second trap, the little silver butterfly had already discovered a third.
"What sort of records are more important than their weapons and armor?" Severa wondered, staring at the shelves.
In answer, Morgan stepped up to the nearest shelf, plucking a scroll from it, which she tossed to Severa. "Why don't we find out?" she suggested, before attending to yet another pressure plate.
Severa curiously unfurled the parchment, moving to stand beside Owain so that he could read it with her.
"Darren. Nineteen. Fourth Class. Leo's Rest. Patrol leader, Gris. Combat prowess, below average. Preferred weapon, glaive. Father, farmer, deceased. Mother, farmer. Two younger brothers. One younger sister, deceased. Subservient. Punctual. Easily discouraged," Owain said, reading from the scroll.
"It also lists some of his friends, the date he enlisted, and each of his transfers," Severa added. She looked again at the shelves, noting the vast amount of such scrolls. "They must be keeping such a record for every member of the Sun Guard."
"I wonder if Helios has a record around here somewhere," Owain said.
"Probably," Severa replied absently. "But something isn't right here. Morgan was right; this doesn't add up at all. Why would they lay all these alarms or traps here, protecting their records of their soldiers, but not in the armory with their weapons and armor?"
Meanwhile, Morgan had already finished searching the rest of the room, and rectangular patches of chalk dotted the floor haphazardly. She had then made her way to the desk, and was poring over the unfurled scrolls lying upon it. "Severa, Owain, you should come see this," she announced.
Severa rolled up the scroll she was holding and retied it with the thick, golden string, doing her best to restore the newly furled scroll to its original state. Then, she handed it to Owain, gesturing towards the shelf, and began carefully made her way around the marked traps to stand at her sister's side.
"Crescent. Twenty-two. Third Class. Sol Hearth. Patrol Leader, Baron. Combat prowess, exemplary. Preferred weapon, longbow. Father, Sun Guard, deceased. Mother, baker, deceased. Older brother, deceased. Subservient. Modest. Loyal. Intelligent and inquisitive. Emotionally sensitive. Not confrontational. Requested additional training with the glaive. Enjoys reading. Known acquaintances: Kristi, farmer. Leia, baker. Dahlia, librarian. Helios, Sun Guard, Fourth Class. Demonstrates romantic interest in Helios. Patrol Leader highly recommends promotion to Second Class," Severa read aloud. She frowned. "This seems a little bit excessive. Making a note about her friends and love life?"
"Look closely, Severa," Morgan urged. "See how Helios's name is written in red?"
"Yeah," Severa acknowledged, and she shifted the scroll slightly so that Owain – who had finally finished replacing the other scroll – could read it as well.
"A scarlet hue to represent the burning passions of the heart," Owain suggested.
"To point out how glaringly obvious it is," Severa offered. "To everyone but Helios, that is. You'd think that kiss would've tipped him off…"
"The word 'inquisitive' is also written in red, though," Morgan pointed out.
Severa saw that her sister was right. "That is odd," she said, frowning.
"And look," Morgan went on, pointing towards the shelves lining the walls. "Most of the scrolls are bound with golden string, and there's a golden string here, too, beside Crescent's scroll, but some of them are bound with red string instead." She stepped over to the nearest shelf, and selected two of the scrolls bound with red string. She returned to the desk and put one aside before unfurling the other.
Unlike the first two scrolls, most of the scrawled notes upon this new scroll was done in red, and one particular comment immediately stood out from the others.
"Suspected Nihilist!?" Morgan exclaimed.
"Davis. Twenty-eight. Fourth Class. Ursa's Respite," Severa muttered, reading from the top. "It's all written in black until…"
"Insubordinate. Easily frustrated. Confrontational," Morgan said, continuing to read off the red lettering. "There's a list of his acquaintances, too, and several of their names are in red, too." Plagued with newfound worries, the young tactician brushed Davis's scroll aside and laid flat the other scroll that had been bound in red. Almost all of the traits listed on this scroll shone crimson.
"This one says 'Confirmed Nihilist'," Owain said wonderingly. "They know they have a Nihilist among the Sun Guard, and they're not doing anything about him?"
"Well, they're listing everyone he associates with, and most of them are marked in red, too," Severa pointed out grimly. "I bet they're watching him pretty closely. No wonder this room was so carefully protected."
Morgan was no longer paying any attention to their conversation, and had begun searching through the other shelves in a hurry. At first, she moved from shelf to shelf, though after looking through about a dozen scrolls, she narrowed her search down to a specific pile of scrolls.
"What's wrong, Morgan?" Severa asked, sensing an uncharacteristic sense of distress in the younger girl.
"Red ink. They use red to indicate a connection to the Nihilists," Morgan babbled frantically, sounding panicked.
"It looks to be that way," Severa agreed. Then her expression became one of shock as she realized what Morgan was hinting at. Severa looked down at Crescent's record once more, and the first instance of the red lettering that they had noticed.
At the same time, Morgan had finally found what she had been searching for. "Helios. Twenty-six. Fourth Class. Aquila's Ascent," she began to read aloud. "Combat prowess: Extraordinary. Preferred weapon: sword. Father, Sun Guard, deceased. Mother, tailor, deceased. Independent. Perceptive. Rebellious. Inquisitive. Insubordinate. Dedicated. Reckless. Highly confrontational. Trains individually. Often disregards personal wellbeing. Known acquaintances: Tohl, Sun Guard, Third Class. Crescent, Sun Guard, Third Class. Strong nihilistic inclinations. Suspected Nihilist."
"Suspected Nihilist," Severa echoed hollowly.
"Almost all of it is in red," Morgan whispered, horrified. "All of his traits… even the note about him being an extraordinary fighter."
Maybe they're wrong," Owain said hopefully.
"They must have made a mistake," Severa agreed. "Independent? Rebellious? Often disregards personal wellbeing? They could say the same about you, Morgan, and you don't seem to have any interest in ending the world, or whatever. They're just misreading the signs."
Morgan didn't seem to be listening. She tossed Helios's scroll aside, and began scanning the shelves around them, a worried look upon her face. "Look how many there are," she said in a hushed tone. "So much information about their soldiers… so many scrolls bound in red."
"Exactly. It must be a lot for them to sift through. Surely they'd make a mistake every now and then," Severa reasoned.
"No," Morgan said, shaking her head vigorously. Her voice grew steady once more. "It's not a mistake. It can't have been a mistake," she said firmly. "They've examined so many lives and noted down so many details. By now, they must know exactly what they're searching for."
"But Morgan…" Severa began to protest. She cut her sentence short when she heard the soft clapping of approaching footsteps. She, Morgan, and Owain all instinctively looked towards the doorway. Realizing they wouldn't be able to hide with Morgan's chalk scattered across the ground, all three of them wordlessly drew their weapons.
A moment later, a youthful brown-haired man dressed in the robes of a Sun Guard appeared in front of the entryway. He was joined almost immediately by a second man who looked eerily similar, down to the same hair, face, robes… even the same shocked expression.
"W-what are you doing here!?" the first Sun Guard gasped. "You shouldn't be here!"
For several seconds, the two parties stood frozen, staring at one another. Then Morgan sheathed her sword, and to everyone's surprise, she smiled. "Neither should you," she guessed.
"Watch it! We're Sun Guard. You aren't," the second Sun Guard pointed out nastily.
"But you're only Third Class," Morgan pointed out, gesturing towards their robes, which looked almost identical to the robes Crescent had been wearing. "You aren't supposed to be up past the first floor, either."
"Who says?" the second Sun Guard barked defiantly.
"Well, why don't I just set off one of these alarms, then?" Morgan offered teasingly. She drew her sword once again and motioned as if to throw it onto one of the marked pressure plates.
"No! Don't!" both of the Sun Guards exclaimed.
"Oh?" Morgan asked, winking slyly. "Why not? You're Sun Guard, aren't you?"
"Okay, fine! You got us. We're not supposed to be here, either," the first Sun Guard admitted hurriedly. "Look, we won't say anything about this if you won't. We can all walk away from this. No one has to know any of us were here. Alright? Deal?" he offered, though he glanced nervously at the chalk markings Morgan had made.
"I think they'll know someone was here," Morgan said. "And sorry, but no deal."
"If they catch us here, you'll be no better off than we are," the second Sun Guard sternly reminded.
"They won't catch me here," Morgan said confidently. "And they won't catch you, either, if you hurry up and do as I say."
"Umm… I think you're pushing your luck," Severa warned Morgan softly, though privately, it amused her to see two adult men cowering before a thirteen-year-old girl.
As she was often in the habit of doing, Morgan simply ignored her older sister. "Who are you two?" she asked the two Sun Guards. When they simply stared at her in disbelief, she heaved a dramatic sigh. "Fine, I'll go first. I'm Cynthia. Nice to meet you," she said brightly.
The Sun Guards stared for a moment longer. Finally, one of them reluctantly gave in. "I'm Trance," he introduced himself.
"Are you sure about this?" the second Sun Guard asked him nervously.
"Do we have a choice?" Trance shot back.
The other Sun Guard sighed helplessly. "Ferus."
"See? We can be civil about this," Morgan said. "So, Trance, Ferus… say, are you two twins? Never mind. What are you two looking for? Maybe we can help you find it."
"A scroll," Ferus replied evasively.
Morgan glanced at the wall, which was covered in nothing but scrolls. "Could you be a bit more specific?" she asked mildly.
Trance groaned. "Look, we were ordered to come here and take a look at a specific record, alright? Neither of us even know the guy."
"Hmm… that doesn't sound like an order the Sun Guard gave you," Morgan noted, her eyes narrowing accusingly. "You're Nihilists, aren't you?"
Trance cringed and looked dismayed. In contrast, Ferus seemed angered by the accusation. "We're not Nihilists," he spat hotly.
"Oh, I know. That's just what the Sun Guard calls you, right?" Morgan said. This time, Severa and Owain joined the two Sun Guards in staring curiously at the young tactician. "You are up to something, but that something certainly isn't destroying Monolith."
"H-how did… what do you…" Trance stammered weakly.
"What do I know about the Nihilists?" Morgan guessed. "Absolutely nothing, asides from the fact that you're not nihilists at all. I'd love to hear your side of the story, but as you pointed out earlier, we really don't want to get caught here. So, why don't you tell me whose record you're searching for? My friends and I can help you find it, then we can all get out of here together and hole up some place safer to talk," she offered calmly.
Trance and Ferus exchanged worried looks.
"I… alright, sure," Trance agreed tentatively. "We're searching for some guy named Helios. Fourth Class, out of Aquila's Ascent."
Morgan's composure finally faltered. "What for? Is he one of yours?" she asked, trying and failing to keep her voice even.
"No idea," Ferus said. "Err… I mean, no, he's not one of ours. We're not sure why the boss wants to see this guy's record. I was there when the survivors from Aquila's Ascent arrived a few hours ago, and there wasn't anyone named Helios among them."
"We just need to take a quick look at it. If you'll just let us find it, we can all get out of here. Then we can take you to the captain and you can ask him yourself," Trance offered.
"Sure," Morgan agreed, gesturing towards a nearby shelf. At the same time, she subtly shifted Helios's fallen record further behind her feet, keeping it out of sight of the two Sun Guards. "That's the shelf for Aquila's Ascent, but you won't find Helios's record there."
"How do you know?" Ferus asked suspiciously.
"I searched it already. Do you want to waste time searching it again yourselves, or can we get going now?" Morgan asked. "I'm telling you, it's a needless risk. You won't find what you're searching for."
Trance looked as if he was about to argue further, but he changed his mind, throwing up his hands in a gesture of surrender. "Fine. Let's just get out of here," he said.
"Hurry it up," Morgan urged impatiently, knowing they didn't have long before the next patrol came by.
"This is insane. You're insane," Ferus wheezed, sounding terrified as he continued slowly climbing down the rope, hand over hand.
"Sorry. My brother's always been scared of heights," Trance muttered.
"It's okay," Morgan said, although she looked back and forth nervously. Getting out of Sol Sanctus had seemed incredibly easy at first. It had only taken them a few minutes to reach the nearest window, tie down a rope, and lower it to the ground. Severa, Owain, and even Trance had followed Morgan down the rope with little to no hesitation, but Ferus seemed half-petrified with fear.
After what felt like an eternity, Ferus finally reached the ground. Looking overcome by relief, he nearly collapsed then and there.
"We can't linger here," Morgan berated the Sun Guard.
"What about the rope?" Severa asked wonderingly.
"Ellie will take care of it," Morgan assured, waving up towards the open window above. A few seconds later, the untied rope slipped down to the ground in a messy coil and the window above closed. Ellie plummeted down towards the ground, catching herself at the last minute and squeezing herself into Morgan's hood once more. "Alright. Lead the way, Trance," Morgan said. She fully expected that the unlatched window would be discovered sooner or later, but likely not before someone stumbled across the chalk she had left all over the Records Hall.
"One second," Trance said, nodding towards his twin. The two of them began removing their robes in unison, revealing ordinary clothes beneath. The two of them still looked almost identical, and the only difference to be found was in their colored scarves: a rich, vivid red one for Trance, and a soft, forest green for Ferus. When Trance saw Morgan staring at the scarves, he winked at her. "We wear them so that others can tell us apart," he explained.
"Good idea," Morgan said.
Without another word, Trance and Ferus started off towards the nearby market district. Owain began following them right away, but when Morgan tried to do the same, Severa held her back. "Morgan, what's going on here? What do you know?" she demanded quietly.
"I'm not entirely sure," Morgan admitted. "But something else is going on here… something big that Hel, at least, doesn't know about. Come on. We don't want to get left behind."
"You said earlier that the Nihilists aren't really trying to destroy their world," Severa reminded as she and her sister resumed walking. "How did you know that?"
"I was guessing," Morgan admitted. "It's been a while since I've read any philosophy, but true nihilists are supposed to people who don't care about anything. The people the Sun Guard has been making note of are the exact opposite. They're all people who care too much, like Hel."
"Care too much?" Severa echoed doubtfully. "Helios didn't seem to care much about anything at all, other than maybe Crescent."
"Really? I was thinking exactly the opposite," Morgan said. "You saw how well Hel fought, both against the Nihilists and the Nightmares. People who've stopped caring don't spend countless hours training on their own like he does. It's rules that Hel doesn't really care for… and can you really blame him for that?"
"I guess not," Severa said.
"The strange thing is, when we asked Hel about Crescent, he seemed to really care about her," Morgan went on thoughtfully. "But he barely mentioned her before that. Even when we were talking to the border guard, he only mentioned that other friend of his, remember?"
"That's because he's an idiot," Severa muttered.
Morgan gave her sister a puzzled look.
"You heard what he said before, about how visitors can only spend seven days a month here," Severa reminded.
"So?" Morgan asked, not quite understanding.
"So he's scared," Severa answered simply. "He joined the Sun Guard with high hopes, and that all fell flat, leaving him with nothing. It's not that he doesn't care about Crescent. He's just afraid that he'll never be able to get close to her."
"Hmm… he might have been right to be afraid," Morgan said. "Since the Sun Guard considers him dangerous, he'll probably never get his promotion."
"Which is why he's an idiot," Severa grumbled. "He doesn't need to be promoted. He just needs to stop worrying about messing something up long enough to see what's right in front of him."
"Are we still talking about Hel, or are we talking about you, now?" Morgan teased.
"Me? What are you talking about?" Severa asked blankly.
"After you two left Ylisse, Morgan told me that you might have left because of Owain. She said the two of you were close, but you seemed to be afraid for some reason," Morgan said. "She was worried that neither of you would ever work things out. How long did it take, anyways?"
"T-that's none of your business!" Severa snapped.
"If you say so," Morgan said with an infuriating smirk, before skipping ahead to catch up to Owain.
With an exasperated groan, Severa quickened her own pace as well. Morgan's words lingered in her mind, and almost involuntarily, she remembered the day Owain had finally proposed to her, immediately after a failed prank.
A smile crossed Severa's lips as an intriguing idea occurred to her. Her younger sister had yet to explain what it was that had driven her so far away from her home in Ylisstol; perhaps there was a way she could convince Morgan to open up a little bit about her past…