~ Chapter 8 ~

Legacy of the Deicide

As they neared the far end of the market district, Trance came to an abrupt stop. He glanced around quickly, as if to make sure no one else was watching, then beckoned towards a windowless storefront. "In here," he said, tugging aside the velvet curtain hanging over the building's only entrance. A rusting sign had been nailed to the wall, labeling the building as a carpenter's shop.

Owain started towards the building, but Morgan tugged lightly at the back of his shirt, stopping him. "After you," Morgan said to Trance and Ferus, ignoring Owain's questioning look.

Trance and Ferus understood at once, the latter laughing harshly. "It would've been easier to arrange an ambush than lay out traps," he pointed out, rolling his eyes. He stepped through the doorway anyways, not wanting to belabor the point. Trance followed close behind, disappearing into the store as well.

Morgan pushed her way past Owain. Then, with one hand resting upon Alondite's hilt, Morgan cautiously followed the brothers into the room. The oil lanterns hanging along the walls were unlit; when Severa entered last, pulling the curtain closed behind her, the small store was left in almost absolute darkness.

Ferus made his way to the corner of the room, then roughly kicked aside a plain, oblong rug. He then crouched down, easily peeling aside a portion of the wooden flooring to reveal a brass handle built into the floor. The concealed trap door creaked open a moment later, and the yellowish glow of an oil lantern shined up through the opening.

"We've got visitors, Captain," Ferus announced, his tone making it clear that he was still amply annoyed with the young, red-haired girl.

"Visitors?" a gruff voice drifted up from the hidden room. "Have you lost your mind, lad?"

Upon hearing that voice, Morgan's face lit up with understanding. She quickly slipped past the twins and agilely dropped into the comfortably furnished room below, foregoing the short ladder altogether. "Hello, Bayn!" she greeted the man within cheerfully.

The older Sun Guard could only gape at her wordlessly.

At Trance's insistent, Severa and Owain followed Ferus down the ladder first. Trance then positioned the displaced floorboard carefully so that when he rejoined the others, tugging the trapdoor closed as he went, the wooden board fell back into place with a soft click.

"How are we going to get back out?" Morgan asked, frowning.

"You'll see," Trance said with a wink.

"Perhaps," Ferus added darkly.

Ignoring his brother, Trance did his best to keep their meeting cordial. "Have you already met the captain, Cynthia? Is that how you knew all about us?" he asked.

"Cynthia?" Bayn echoed sharply.

Morgan smiled weakly, remembering now that she had given Bayn a different false name. "Uh… never mind that for now," she said hastily. "Bayn, you sent Trance and Ferus here to look for Helios's record, didn't you? We ran into them inside Sol Sanctus a short while ago."

"What were you doing inside Sol Sanctus?" Bayn asked, looking horrified. "And how did you know about the records?"

"We were just taking a look around," Morgan said evasively. "We didn't know about the records until we stumbled across them."

"Just taking a look around?" Bayn repeated faintly. "Who are you people?"

"I was hoping to ask you the same thing," Morgan said. "But before we get into that, is there any way you can help us find Helios? I think he'll want to hear what we have to say."

Surprised, Bayn shot a questioning look at Trance and Ferus.

"We didn't get to look for the record. She said we wouldn't be able to find it," Ferus said, pointing accusingly at Morgan.

Bayn turned back to Morgan, who remained thoroughly unapologetic. The older Sun Guard heaved a deep sigh. "I was curious about your Sun Guard friend," he admitted. "Making the journey to Sol Hearth alone after dark is no easy feat, even without the burden of protecting three civilians… but you three aren't exactly civilians, are you?" He gestured towards the weapons Morgan, Severa, and Owain were carrying, most notably Severa's glaive, identical to the one he had confiscated earlier that day.

"Not really, no," Morgan admitted. "Helios really does fight pretty well, though. He destroyed most of the wraiths – I mean, Nightmares – that we encountered on our way here."

"Wraiths?" Severa muttered, catching the slip of tongue.

"Truly?" Bayn asked, sounding uncertain. "Few of the Sun Guard can stand their ground alone against even a single Nightmare. Of those who can, fewer still remain in Fourth Class and out in the Reaches. I knew that either the story he told me was incomplete, or he had done something to scare the Sun Guard into keeping him at arm's length."

"A bit of both, really," Morgan said. "If you can bring him here and let me talk to him, I think he'll hear you out. Unless, of course, I'm wrong about you, and you are planning to destroy Monolith. If you tell him that, he'll probably just kill you all. I'd help him, too."

Severa and Owain both flinched as Trance and Ferus looked at Morgan in alarm. Bayn, too, froze up at the threat, but a moment later, he burst out laughing. "You're a feisty one, Cordelia – or Cynthia, whichever might be your real name," he chortled. "Fear not, lass. My friends and I have no intention of destroying our home."

"That's what I thought," Morgan nodded. "So, can you help us look for Hel?"

"Of course," Bayn agreed. "We've been keeping an eye on your friend. I meant to speak with him tonight if his record seemed promising. I'll go and fetch him; why don't you three wait here? Make yourselves at home."

"Thanks," Morgan said.

Bayn nodded and set off without another word. He pressed his ear against the trapdoor from below, and once he was certain that no one was above waiting for them, he gave the trapdoor a precise shove. There was a loud clatter above as the covering floorboard was knocked aside. Bayn disappeared from sight, leaving the trapdoor open.

"Don't close it yet," Morgan interrupted Trance, who had started to rise. She then began fumbling with her pouch, ignoring Trance's questioning look.

Severa plopped herself down upon a nearby couch, then stared expectantly at her younger sister. "Wraiths?" she asked pointedly.

"I'll explain once Hel gets here," Morgan promised, extracting a small jar from the pouch. The glass container was halfway filled with a gelatinous, dark-colored substance.

"What's that?" Ferus asked suspiciously.

"Nothing important. I just want to make sure Bayn and Hel don't accidentally kill each other," Morgan explained. She rubbed a sizable dollop of the jar's contents into her hair, which quickly changed from its normal vibrant red hue to a soothingly dark shade of blue. "I'll be right back."

Though it was never truly dark in Sol Hearth, the city streets still grew quiet as the Solcryst dimmed. The market district was nearly deserted, for most of the vendors had already retired for the night, either to their homes or to one of the populous city's many taverns. There was little left to see or do, but neither Helios nor Crescent seemed to mind much as they wandered aimlessly without any destination in mind.

"Well? What do you think?" Crescent asked suddenly, breaking the silence.

Helios turned to her questioningly. "Hmm?"

"About that restaurant," Crescent prodded. "Did you like it?"

"Oh. Yeah, I thought it was nice," Helios said. "The open kitchen was pretty neat, I thought. It makes me wish I knew how to cook; I had no idea what those chefs were doing half the time. It's a shame the barracks back in Aquila don't have any kitchens." His expression hardened slightly as his mind wandered. Though he had tried his best not to show any weakness to his new friends before, the fate of his home city still weighed heavily upon him.

Sensing her friend's mood, Crescent immediately tried to change the subject. "My mother taught me a little bit about cooking when I was little. I could show you sometime, if you'd like," she offered.

"Your barracks don't have any kitchens either," Helios reminded wryly.

"Hmm… true," Crescent said thoughtfully. "But if we can sneak into Sol Sanctus, the barracks inside should have kitchens."

"Really?" Helios asked doubtfully.

"You've been to the mess hall before, haven't you?" Crescent asked. "They have to cook the food somewhere, you know."

Helios made a face. "The slop they serve is too tasteless to have come from a real kitchen," he remarked.

"Good point," Crescent said, grinning. "Now that I think about it, it's kind of strange how the mess hall is always so crowded.

"Well, the food there is free," Helios shrugged. "Eating there saves money for drinking, I suppose."

"That's probably it," Crescent agreed, glancing further down the street. A large tavern was situated about a block away. An embossed wooden sign hung over the tavern's doorway, depicting an ornate dagger.

Helios followed Crescent's gaze, smiling when he saw the tavern. "We could stop by if you want. You know, grab a couple drinks, visit with your patrol…" he suggested with a playful wink.

Crescent rolled her eyes. "Very funny," she said, reaching out and shoving Helios lightly.

"Sorry," Helios apologized, though he continued smiling disarmingly. But thinking of Crescent's patrol soon led him to think of his own patrol, and his good humor dissipated again.

"Hey, Hel? Are you alright?" Crescent asked, her eyes shining with worry.

"Yeah. I'm fine," Helios replied. "I was just thinking about my coming reassignment. At least I'm used to getting shuffled around by now."

"I suppose you are," Crescent said in a resigned tone. "Say, you've been saving up your pay for a while, haven't you? Once you figure out where you're headed, why don't you buy yourself a small home there? Wouldn't it be nice to have a place all to yourself?"

"I guess," Helios agreed, though he didn't seem too enthusiastic about the idea.

"Are you saving up for something specific?" Crescent asked curiously.

Helios thought for a moment, then shook his head. "Not really. What about you?" he asked.

"I'm not sure yet," Crescent said, chewing her lower lip thoughtfully. "I thought about buying a small bakery, like the one my mother used to run, but storefronts in Sol Hearth are more expensive than I had thought."

"You're still thinking about leaving the Sun Guard, then?" Helios asked.

"Someday," Crescent admitted. "I don't really want to keep living this life forever, you know? It can be pretty tiring."

"I know what you mean," Helios sighed.

"That day's still a long way off, though," Crescent added. "It'll be a while before I can even afford an actual home here, let alone a bakery. Well, I suppose I could always move out to one of the Reaches instead…"

At those words, Helios tensed up. "Don't," he advised.

Crescent smiled knowingly, and didn't press the matter any further. She and Helios had shared this particular conversation many times before, and though she found her friend's protectiveness to be a bit exasperating, it was also rather touching, in a way.

A voice rang out loudly from somewhere close by, startling both Helios and Crescent. "Well, well… if it isn't the Sun Guard's most infamous miscreant."

At the sound of that familiar voice, Helios's hand instinctively shot up, intercepting a light punch that had been thrown at his shoulder. Helios turned and grinned at the Sun Guard standing behind him and Crescent – a muscular man of roughly his height with tousled, auburn hair, a grizzled chin, and a rough, vaguely wolfish face. "Most infamous, huh? When did that happen?"

The newcomer tossed his head back and laughed. "I knew you'd take it as a compliment," he chuckled. "It's good to see you, Hel."

"Good to see you, too, Tohl," Helios replied.

Tohl raised his arm as if to try to punch Helios on the shoulder again, but unclenched his fist, and the two friends clapped their hands together instead. Tohl then turned and smiled at Crescent. "Long time no see, Crescent," he said, holding out his hand invitingly.

"You mean since joint training yesterday?" Crescent reminded him dryly, though she accepted the offered handshake nonetheless.

"Bah. That doesn't count," Tohl said dismissively. "No one ever talks much during training."

"Oh, they talk," Helios remarked lightly. "They don't do a whole lot else, though."

"Too true," Tohl agreed with an exaggerated sigh. "We all do need a break every now and then, though, don't we? Come on. Let's swing by the Golden Dagger for a few rounds. First one's on me," he offered, nodding towards the nearby tavern.

Helios hesitated, and shot Crescent a sidelong glance.

Crescent smiled, understanding her friend's dilemma. "Sorry, Tohl, but I think I'll have to pass. I'm headed that way myself, but the rest of my patrol is expecting me," she explained. "You two have fun, alright? See you tomorrow, Hel?"

"I… yeah, alright," Helios agreed hesitantly. "See you tomorrow, Cress."

Nearly a quarter of the Golden Dagger's patrons were dressed in white and gold. Many more of the patrons were also part of the Sun Guard, Helios knew, and had changed into civilian clothing before joining their friends and comrades. The tavern was one of the most popular gathering places among the Sun Guard, thanks in no small part to its proximity to Sol Sanctus.

Tohl led the way to a table near the edge of the large common room, and a waitress dropped by soon after. "Two ales," Tohl requested. He had to speak rather loudly simply to be heard, for a group of musicians were playing a lighthearted tune from the stage at the center of the room, adding to the tavern's infectiously cheery atmosphere.

Helios hardly noticed the waitress, nor the band. Instead, he looked across to the other end of the tavern, quickly spotting the very table he had been sitting at when he had first met Crescent nearly two years ago. Helios immediately recognized Crescent's patrol, though he had never been formally introduced to them. When Crescent unexpectedly joined them, most looked up in surprise. Three were otherwise occupied; two were clearly drunk, and were clumsily sparring with a pair of training poles, while the last was speaking with a civilian woman while lazily flinging darts at one of the many targets pinned to the wall.

"So, what happened out in Aquila?" Tohl asked, jarring Helios from his contemplations.

"I'm not entirely sure," Helios said slowly. "I was out of the city when it happened."

"Out of the city? Past curfew?" Tohl frowned.

"I was already on my way here," Helios shrugged, deciding to stick with the story he had offered the border guards. "We were escorting a caravan, but it broke down about a mile out from the city… spent the better part of the day trying to fix it, and ended up staying out just a bit too late."

"Fools," Tohl groaned.

Helios shrugged again. "It should have been alright," he said. "We dispatched the first few Nightmares easily enough. Problem was, just before we got back to Aquila, the Sun Spire went dark. The walls were already swamped with Nightmares. Most of the others wanted to try fighting their way through. I just made a break for it, taking the few civilians who'd listen."

"You abandoned your patrol?" Tohl asked sharply.

"There were only six of us. If we had gone for the gate, we would've been outnumbered ten times over, at least," Helios said in a resigned tone. "I tried to sway the others into coming with me, but they weren't keen on listening. I wonder if any of them made it. I haven't heard anything else since speaking with the border patrol earlier."

"Well, you may have made the right choice," Tohl conceded with a sigh. "Only a handful of ours made it here to Sol Hearth alive. They were all from Aquila's border patrol, so they were near the walls already with their weapons at hand, and still, less than a third of them survived."

"They were all stationed at the walls, huh?" Helios grimaced. "Figures. Guess no one's going to be able to tell us what really happened, then."

"Oh we already know what happened," Tohl said dismissively. "The Nihilists happened, of course. What else could it have been?"

"Sure," Helios nodded. "Still wish I knew how," he mumbled, thinking of Morgan and her friends, and the concerns they had voiced. How had the Nihilists broken through the Sun Guard patrol so quickly? As incompetent as some of the Sun Guard could be, they had been better equipped, and at least nine of the Nihilists had been intercepted before reaching the Sun Spire.

The waitress reappeared with two mugs of foamy ale, then vanished back into the crowd after Tohl handed her a couple small coins. Tohl slid one of the mugs across to Helios, then took a long draught from the other. "So, you haven't heard any news at all? Any idea what's happening to you and the other survivors?"

"Sort of," Helios replied, ignoring the beverage. Though he frequented the Golden Dagger at least once during each visit to Sol Hearth, he almost never drank; most of the time, Tohl eventually drank the second ale himself. "The captain at the border offered to transfer me out to another one of the Reaches. It'll probably happen anyways, unless we can rebuild Aquila's Sun Spire… but if we could do that, why haven't we built more of those things sooner?"

"True," Tohl agreed. "Well, as sad as this business might be, it's a good opportunity for you, isn't it?"

"An opportunity for what?" Helios asked blankly.

"To learn to play nicely with your new patrol," Tohl grinned. "Come on, Hel. Would it kill you to get along with your patrol leader for a change?"

"I don't try not to get along with anyone," Helios retorted grouchily.

"No, you don't. Most of the time, you just stand there scowling and silently judging them," Tohl sighed. "Other times, the judging comes less silently."

Helios shrugged and said nothing. Just like he often tried to discourage Crescent from moving out to the Reaches, this was far from the first time Tohl had tried to convince him to mold himself into a more conventional Sun Guard. As always, Helios remained unimpressed.

As he thought of his other friend, Helios's gaze instinctively swerved towards the other side of the room again. He knew that Crescent's earlier claims had been for his sake rather than her own; the dark-haired woman didn't care much for the other members of her patrol, and while she sat with them with a friendly expression upon her face, she wasn't taking any part in their conversation and seemed to be doing her best to ignore one of the previously-sparring swordsmen, who had since seated himself beside her.

"Ah, well. I suppose it can't be helped," Tohl conceded. When he saw that Helios wasn't listening, he followed his friend's gaze across the tavern. A sly smile crossed his lips. "I think she likes you, by the way."

"Who, Cress?" Helios said absently. "I sure hope she does. We've been friends for nearly two years now, after all."

"You know that's not what I meant," Tohl said, exasperated. "Everyone thinks her a complete recluse. I know a couple guys from her patrol; she hardly talks to any of them, apparently. Heck, I've tried striking up a conversation with her myself down at the training hall, but she just brushed me off. On the other hand, you see her for a week out of every month at most, yet you two seem to get along beautifully."

"Yes, well, maybe you and your friends should try not showing off in front of her at every opportunity," Helios suggested wryly. "When you tried talking with her, did you use one of those cheesy pickup lines of yours? Or did you go with that story about that Nightmare in the cornfield?"

"The cornfield," Tohl admitted with a laugh. "And it was two Nightmares, remember?"

"Of course. How could I forget? You've only told me this story, what, fifty times?" Helios said, chuckling. He went silent a moment later, though, and his eyes narrowed. Another Sun Guard – a tall and fairly handsome man, who seemed relatively coherent compared to most of the tavern's patrons – had risen from his chair and approached Crescent. He was gesturing emphatically towards a set of longbows leaning against the wall.

"It looks like he's challenging her to a shooting contest," Tohl remarked, noticing the same man. "I've heard that girl's got a steady hand, but the stories always seemed a bit exaggerated to me. Guess I'm about to see for myself, eh?"

Helios resisted the urge to laugh. He had never described Crescent's exploits to Tohl, especially since Crescent herself hardly cared to boast about her own abilities. "I doubt it," Helios remarked. "Cress isn't too keen on contests of any sort."

Contrary to Helios's prediction, Crescent rose after exchanging a few words with the other man. Crescent had her own bow with her, of course; like Helios, she always kept her weapon close at hand. Her rival picked up the nearest bow from the wall without looking, nocking an arrow and drawing it back with practiced ease.

"Maybe you don't know her as well as you thought," Tohl quipped.

Helios didn't respond, and the two friends watched in silence as Crescent's opponent took the first shot, placing his first arrow just a few inches off from the target's center.

Before taking her turn, Crescent looked across the tavern towards Helios, and they locked eyes for the briefest moment. Crescent winked, then fired at a second target, managing to emulate her opponent's shot perfectly.

"Not bad," Tohl said grudgingly. "I've seen better, though."

"She missed the center on purpose," Helios murmured, puzzled. "Is she mocking him? That's not like her at all."

Crescent dispelled that notion with her very next shot, for while her opponent missed his target entirely, Crescent's next arrow whistled into the target less than an inch away from her first. The two archers continued taking turns shooting, and after her sixth arrow, Crescent's intent became clear.

"Is she trying to draw something?" Tohl asked, catching on at last. This time, he sounded truly impressed. "Now that I haven't seen before."

Helios only smiled, remembering one of his earlier visits to the training hall beside Crescent.

"Drawing what, though?" Tohl mused, as the contest continued. "She should be nearly finished by now. Most such games only go to ten shots, and she's already on her eight."

"You'll see," Helios said confidently, though in truth, he suspected otherwise.

Meanwhile, Crescent's opponent had finally caught on to her game. He seemed to be growing more and more flustered with each of his own erratic shots, only about half of which had found the target at all.

Then it was Crescent's final turn to shoot, and despite her complete disregard for the game's scoring, she had quite clearly won already. Nevertheless, her gaze sharpened as a look of extreme concentration came over her. She reached for her quiver and drew several arrows at once, then fired them off in rapid succession. As soon as the last arrow left her hand, she began reaching for more.

Half a minute later, Crescent's flurry came to an abrupt halt. No less than forty arrows had been left embedded in her target. Without so much as a glance towards her stunned opponent, Crescent returned to her seat.

Helios smile widened, for he recognized the pattern at once. One of the books in Sol Hearth's library was adorned with a curious drawing – a circle surrounded by elegantly-angled points, leaning against an arc with tapered tips and a smoothly curved outer edge. The book's author claimed it to be a depiction of the long-lost sun and lesser-known moon, and while the shapes bore little resemblance to the stories' claims, both Helios and Crescent had found the picture quite pleasing to look at.

"What is that supposed to be?" Tohl frowned.

Helios knew better than to try to explain. He only laughed, shaking his head in silent appreciation of his dear friend's skills, understanding that the show had been for his sake. None of the other spectators were likely to recognize the drawing for what it was, after all.

"By the light, you two are like a pair of grown-up kids, secretly passing notes to one another and hoping no one else notices," Tohl said teasingly. "Friends, you say?"

Helios shrugged, unsure of what to say. Thankfully, he didn't need to say anything at all, for at that exact moment, another Sun Guard – one that Helios recognized immediately – approached the table he and Tohl were seated at.

Concealed within the busy crowd, Morgan tensed up slightly as she watched Bayn approach Helios and the auburn-haired Sun Guard, who she could only assume was Tohl. Thankfully, with dozens of the Sun Guard nearby, trouble seemed unlikely, but the young tactician could only hope that her dangerously perceptive friend would not see through Bayn right away.

"Bayn knows what he's doing," Morgan reassured herself firmly. Trying to take her mind off of the potential danger, she peeked across the room to where Crescent was sitting, smiling when she saw the dumbfounded expressions the other Sun Guards there wore. Thanks to her small stature, Morgan had managed to push her way through the crowd in time to catch the tail end of the casual archery contest.

"Excuse me," came Helios's voice from somewhere frighteningly close by.

Morgan quickly and obediently scurried aside, then watched as Helios and Bayn made their way towards the tavern door. While she was quite relieved to see that her minimalist disguise had worked, she had been left with the daunting task of beating Bayn back to the secret room beneath the carpenter's shop.

The young tactician took a deep breath, then set off in a hurry, trying her best to visualize the fastest route as she went.

Five minutes later, Morgan tumbled down into the room where the others were waiting, entirely out of breath.

"Are you alright, Morgan?" Owain asked worriedly.

"No one killed anyone… right?" Trance asked in a hopeful tone.

"She's fine, and no one's dead," Severa answered in Morgan's stead, recognizing that her younger sister was only tired, and not otherwise distressed.

"Yeah. Everything's fine," Morgan said breathlessly. "They'll be back soon."

A second later, footsteps rang out in the carpenter's shop above. Then, as if to prove Morgan wrong, the distinct sound of swords being unsheathed rang out above them.

Helios's voice was muffled, but his sharp and dangerous tone could not be mistaken. "Start talking," he demanded.

"That's all we're here to do, lad," Bayn said calmly. "Now if you'll just follow me down…"

"You've got that backwards," Helios retorted fiercely. "Either you start explaining what's going on, or you're following me back to Headquarters."

"Damn," Ferus growled, drawing a slender, curved knife and rising from his seat.

Morgan reached the ladder first, though, and poked her head upstairs in a hurry. "Hel, wait!" she called.

Helios stared down in disbelief. "Morgan? What are you doing here?" he gasped. Then, almost as an afterthought, he added, "And what did you do to your hair?"

"Morgan?" Bayn echoed wryly. "Exactly how many names do you have, lass?"

"I dyed it. Look, Hel, just come down here so we can talk, okay?" Morgan pleaded, ignoring Bayn.

"You've got be to be kidding," Helios groaned. "He's one of them, Morgan! They're the ones who took down the Sun Spire! They killed almost everyone in Aquila's Ascent!" Then he swallowed, as if a dreadful thought had just occurred to him. He began scrutinizing Morgan more closely. "You're one of them, aren't you?" he asked in a hushed tone.

"Of course not!" Morgan insisted quickly. "And they didn't try to destroy the Sun Spire, Hel." She glanced at Bayn. "Umm… you didn't, did you?"

"We did not," Bayn assured her.

"Come on, Hel, just hear us out. Please?" Morgan wheedled.

"I don't believe this," Helios moaned, shaking his head in frustration.

"There's more at stake here than you know, Hel. More than Bayn knows, too," Morgan insisted. "Just let us explain, and if you're not convinced, I'll… I'll head on home. I promise, Hel. I'm just trying to help, and if you hear me out and decide you don't want me here, I'll go."

"Go where?" Bayn frowned.

Helios and Morgan locked gazes, neither of them bothering to answer Bayn's question. Finally, Helios nodded reluctantly, and followed Morgan into the room below.

"Why don't you go first, Cynthia?" Ferus suggested derisively. "You apparently know so much more than we do. Funny, really, since you're the one who came to us for answers."

"Sure," Morgan agreed, doing her best to ignore the biting sarcasm. But instead of delving into an explanation then and there, she turned to Helios. "What's my name, Hel?"

"Shouldn't I be asking you that, and not the other way around?" Helios asked dryly.

"You did ask me that," Morgan said evenly. "You asked, and I answered. I need to know whether you'll listen to me, though, since what I'm about to tell you might be even harder to believe."

Helios heaved a deep sigh. "I'm listening, Morgan," he said. "Just… stop messing with my head, alright? Please?"

"Good luck with that," Severa snorted.

Morgan blushed. "Okay. I'll start, then," she said, trying to retain her composure. "I've seen the creatures you call Nightmares before. We have them in our world, too."

"Our world?" Ferus muttered, at the same time Owain asked, "We do?"

"We do," Morgan said. "Only we call them something different. We call them Necrotic Wraiths."

Severa stared at Morgan in confusion, unsure as to what sort of game Morgan was playing now.

"Severa and Owain have probably never heard of them," Morgan went on hastily. "They aren't very common. I've only seen them once myself before coming here to Monolith, which is why I didn't recognize them at first. The wraiths aren't the 'creatures of the night' that you think they are. Technically, they're not creatures at all."

"Then what are they?" Helios asked skeptically.

"They're leftover traces of magical energy," Morgan tried to explain. "Back in our world, some people study dark magic – a type of magic that's naturally unstable. This sort of magic leaves behind magical imbalances, which can become extremely dangerous if you don't perform the right rituals to correct them. When magic is used to tamper with life and souls – for example, creating a spell to attack someone's life force directly, bypassing any physical or magical protection, or a spell that allows you to drain someone's life force into yourself – an imbalance we call Necrotic Residue is created."

Helios, Bayn, Trance, and Ferus all stared at Morgan in disbelief.

"Draining someone's life force?" Ferus echoed weakly.

"Dark magic can get pretty nasty," Morgan nodded. "Anyways, if this Necrotic Residue isn't properly taken care of, it can manifest into Necrotic Wraiths. These wraiths then try to correct the imbalance on their own by killing any living creature they come across. No one's entirely certain why sunlight weakens the wraiths, but some scholars claim that it's because sunlight is the ultimate source of all life."

"Why do you know so much about dark magic, Morgan?" Severa interrupted sharply.

"I grew up in a library, remember?" Morgan replied evasively.

"Morgan, why haven't Severa and I heard about these wraith things before?" Owain asked, before Severa could derail the conversation any further.

"Because the only people in Ylisse who've practiced dark magic recently were the Grimleal," Morgan replied. "The Grimleal would actually perform rituals solely to generate Necrotic Residue, but instead of letting it form into wraiths, they'd channel it to the Fell Dragon, who'd use it to create Risen instead. The wraiths can't be controlled, see?"

At the mention of the undead creatures the Grimleal had commanded, Severa fell silent, and a shiver ran down her spine. She glanced at her husband, and saw at once that he had suffered the exact same reaction; they both had far too many memories of the wretched monstrosities.

"Now, the problem is," Morgan continued, taking no note of her sister's reaction. "When Necrotic Wraiths are destroyed, the imbalance dissipates… but according to Hel, the Nightmares always come back."

"Then maybe our Nightmares aren't what you think they are," Bayn reasoned quietly.

"Or there are people in Monolith who still use magic, despite it being outlawed," Helios said grimly, understanding what Morgan was getting at.

Morgan nodded. "Not just any magic, either. Dark magic, and extremely powerful dark magic at that," she guessed. "I've read a few stories about Necrotic Wraiths being created on accident, but never more than a handful of them at once, and certainly not as many as the horde that attacked Aquila's Ascent when the Sun Spire was destroyed."

At the mention of Aquila's Ascent, Helios grew angry, and rounded upon Bayn. "Forget the Nightmares, or wraiths, or whatever they are," he growled. "They're not the ones lurking within our walls, hiding among us with their daggers held at our backs. Tell me, Bayn. Why did your people destroy the Sun Spire in Aquila's Ascent?"

"I don't know," Bayn answered reluctantly.

"You don't know?" Helios echoed incredulously.

"They weren't supposed to destroy it," Bayn explained hastily. "Our purpose isn't to destroy, Helios. Not the Solcryst, not the Sun Spires, and certainly not the only home any of us have ever known."

"Then what is your purpose?" Morgan prompted curiously. "Who are you, really, if you aren't who the Sun Guard claims you are?"

"We call ourselves the Seekers," Bayn explained. "Our order is comprised of those who wish to follow in the footsteps of Icarus, the Deicide."

"Deicide?" Severa asked, frowning.

"One who killed a god," Morgan translated.

"You mean to tell me you and yours follow the man who nearly destroyed Monolith?" Helios interrupted, staring at Bayn incredulously.

Bayn nodded stiffly. "We embrace the legacy of the man who allegedly slew a god, dooming the Monolith that was… the same man who forged the Solcryst, creating the Monolith that is," he said. "The Deicide is a symbol of both man's triumphs and failures."

"So, what? You're hoping to destroy everything we have, only to build it all anew?" Helios asked, unable to contain his disgust.

"Of course not!" Ferus interrupted indignantly.

"The legend of the Deicide teaches us two equally important lessons," Trance tried to explain. "Firstly, that the improper use of magic could devastate our lives. Secondly, that the proper use of magic could very well be our only salvation."

"Our people have forgotten the second lesson in favor of the first," Bayn added. "The magic of the Solcryst and the Sun Spires is the only thing sustaining our lives now, yet the High Council and the Sun Guard have forbidden all use of magic… even the study of magic! We are so afraid of the power that once nearly destroyed us that we've accepted our current existence, a pale imitation of what we once had."

"Are they so wrong to be afraid?" Helios countered. He glanced at Morgan. "The Nightmares come from magic, too, right? Even if magic could make our lives better, the Nightmares are living proof that magic could just as easily make matters worse."

"That's just it, Hel. Don't you see?" Morgan interrupted. "I only recognized the wraiths because I've been studying magic for all my life. How could you or anyone else in Monolith have recognized them?"

"We wouldn't have," Helios admitted. "But unless knowing what they are helps us get rid of them, it doesn't really matter, does it?"

"Doesn't it?" Morgan challenged. "Somewhere out there, someone is using magic. A lot of people, probably, to have created all the wraiths you've been fighting over the years. They're the ones responsible for all the people who've died battling the wraiths. They're the ones responsible for the massacre in Aquila's Ascent after the Sun Spire was destroyed. They're responsible for all of that, and you didn't even know they existed!"

Helios fell silent, pondering Morgan's words.

But the young tactician wasn't finished. She reached into her pouch, extracting a scroll of parchment bound by a thick crimson string.

"You stole one of the Sun Guard's records?" Ferus exclaimed, aghast.

Ignoring Ferus, Morgan held out the scroll to Helios. "This is your record, Hel," she said. "The Sun Guard has been keeping tabs on every one of their soldiers. Red symbolizes a tie to the people they've branded Nihilists. Go on. See what the Sun Guard thinks of you."

Helios accepted the scroll warily and carefully unfurled it. As he read on, his face grew steadily stonier.

"I'm sorry, Hel," Morgan apologized gently. "You were never going to earn a promotion. The Sun Guard doesn't trust you. It's not actual nihilists that they're scared of; they're afraid of people like you, who think for themselves and question what they're told."

Helios cast the scroll aside, and his face became entirely inscrutable.

"You told me once that you thought some of the people here in Monolith wouldn't want things to change," Morgan continued. "That's exactly what's happening here. The Sun Guard is happy with the way things are. They know there's a chance life could be made better, but they don't want to take that chance. When they see people like you, who aren't satisfied with their lives, they brand them Nihilists. They can only think of the countless ways Monolith could be made worse, so they claim these people are trying to destroy everything."

Helios looked at Bayn, Trance, and Ferus, noticing the same, somber look on all three of their faces. He swallowed and averted his gaze, staring studiously at the wall.

"Are they right, Hel?" Morgan prodded. "I know you aren't happy with how things are here in Monolith, but if the risk is too great, if you'd rather keep living out your life the way the Sun Guard wants you to… you've been a good friend to me, Hel, and if you don't want things to change, there's nothing more for me here. Severa, Owain, and I can return to our homes, and you can go back to your own life. The Seekers – or the Nihilists, depending on who you ask – can go back to accomplishing nothing while the Sun Guard watches their every move."

"What do you mean nothing?" Ferus bristled angrily.

"What have you achieved, then, beyond accidentally destroying the Sun Spire in Aquila's Ascent?" Morgan asked.

Bayn winced, stung by the painful reminder. "I don't think that was us," he said in a small voice, though he sounded uncertain.

"We waylaid nine of your men on their way to the Sun Spire, minutes before it was destroyed," Helios said testily. "We heard fighting at the base of the Sun Spire, too, and we were on our way to join in the fighting. Do you expect us to believe that someone else attacked the Sun Spire at the same time?"

"I don't know what to believe," Bayn admitted. "We were trying to capture the Sun Spire in order to study it. There aren't any records in Sol Sanctus relating to the creation of the Sun Spires, nor any explanation of how they work. We were hoping to determine if more Sun Spires could be created, spanning the wilderness between the Reaches and Sol Hearth, perhaps, or surrounding the Reaches to keep the Nightmares at bay. The Sun Guard's presence was weakest in Aquila, so we snuck nearly three score of our allies into the city. None of them returned to Sol Hearth alive, so we have no idea what happened that night."

"Ferus told us that the rest of the survivor's from Aquila's Ascent returned a short while ago," Morgan interrupted. "Were there any members of the Sun Guard among them?"

"They were all Sun Guard," Bayn said, shaking his head. "The moment the city went dark, they turned tail and fled, leaving their people behind. None of them were anywhere near the Sun Spire, though."

"Then Morgan's right," Helios reasoned. "You haven't managed to do anything besides getting countless people killed."

Bayn sank back in his seat and seemed to deflate. "You could say that," he conceded tiredly.

"Then what's the point of telling me all of this?" Helios asked, growing angry. "I already knew our world was a mess, even without knowing all of the details. That's why I joined the Sun Guard, after all… but that's all behind us now. I don't know what can be done, and from the sounds of it, neither do you, so what do you want from me?"

"We lost nearly a third of our order in Aquila," Bayn said. "If another opportunity to do something arises in the near future, we'll need as much support as we can find. I thought there was something different about you when we met this morning, so I sent Trance and Ferus here to find your record…"

"The record that someone told us we wouldn't be able to find," Ferus interrupted, glaring at Morgan.

"Well, you wouldn't have, since I already took it," Morgan retorted.

"… hoping to learn more about you, and to see whether you'd be interested in our cause," Bayn finished, ignoring the bickering. "Your friend here assured me that you'd listen."

"And he's listening, isn't he?" Morgan pointed out brightly.

"I've been listening," Helios said. "And what I haven't heard is an actual plan. Say you find your new followers. What then? Are you going to try to capture another of the Reaches, only for one of your people to accidentally destroy another Sun Spire, dooming another thousand lives?"

"Probably not," Bayn said. "I don't know what's in store for us, Helios. I can only promise you that, no matter which course we ultimately choose, we will do so with Monolith's best interests in mind. All I wish to know is whether you're interested in helping us. If not, you're welcome to walk away. None of us will speak of this meeting ever again.

"And what if I am interested?" Helios asked noncommittally, after a brief pause.

"Then, when we eventually come to some sort of plan, I will seek you out and tell you when and how you can help," Bayn said. "You will still be welcome to turn us away then, if you choose."

"Or," Morgan interrupted cheerfully, pulling another scroll of parchment from her pouch. "If neither of you know what to do, you could both help me with my idea instead."

"What's that supposed to be?" Ferus asked suspiciously, gesturing at the parchment.

"This is a map of Monolith that I found inside Sol Sanctus," Morgan explained, unfurling the scroll and holding it up for everyone to see.

"You could have found the same map in the library," Helios commented dryly. "What's the point?"

"Do you two see the problem with it?" Morgan asked, turning and presenting it to Severa and Owain.

At first, Severa saw only an ordinary map. The borders were unevenly drawn into a rough, oblong shape, and slightly off-center towards the northeast side of the map was a large dot representing Sol Hearth. The six Reaches were evenly spaced around it, each precisely the same distance from the Solcryst.

"Monolith is pretty small," Owain noted aloud.

"Well, of course it is. We're limited by the range of the Solcryst," Bayn pointed out.

Upon hearing Bayn's remark, Severa understood what Morgan was getting at. "Monolith's border doesn't make any sense," she said flatly.

"Exactly," Morgan agreed, turning to show the map to the others. "Why does Monolith have an irregular border like this? Why isn't the map simply a circle with Sol Hearth at the center and the Reaches at the border?"

"Monolith has always been drawn that way," Trance said, not seeing the point.

"It could be Monolith's borders from a time before the Solcryst," Helios suggested. "We may have kept our country's old borders for our new maps. So what?"

"So, what lies beyond these borders?" Morgan asked. "This part of your world found a way to survive without the sun, but what about the rest? As Owain pointed out, Monolith is tiny. Even if we go by your old borders, your entire country could fit five times over in Ylisse."

"Ylisse?" Bayn and Helios asked together.

"Never mind," Morgan said hastily. "My point is, you have no idea what lies beyond Monolith's borders, or even what's happening in the rest of Monolith beyond the reach of the Solcryst."

"Of course not," Ferus said irritably. "The Nightmares would slaughter us if we strayed from the Solcryst's light."

Suddenly, Helios caught on as well. "Only because someone out there is practicing magic," he realized aloud. "And since neither the Sun Guard nor your order knew about this…"

"Whoever's creating the wraiths is probably not within reach of the Solcryst," Morgan guessed. "Maybe they're somewhere else in Monolith, or maybe one of you neighboring countries survived and they've found their own solution to the darkness that's somehow responsible for creating all of these wraiths."

"But how does that help us?" Bayn asked. "No one knows what's out there because we can't venture out there."

"Sure we can," Morgan insisted. "Severa, Owain, and I were wandering around in the darkness before, and then again with Hel when we came here to Sol Hearth. The three of us can probably make it to the border all by ourselves, but if you Seekers send some of your best fighters to help us, it'll make it even easier."

"That's your plan?" Ferus asked, dumbfounded. "You want us to wander beyond the Solcryst's reach just to see if there's anything beyond our country's old borders?"

"Is it really any worse than trying to capture a magical artifact to study when none of you know anything about magic?" Morgan shot back.

The three Seekers stared at Morgan silently for a time.

Bayn finally gave in. "You're a clever one, lass," he conceded. "Alright. You win. I don't know how I'd even begin to explain this to the others, especially when I still have no idea where you come from or who you really are, but I'll see if there's anyone who'll go along with you three."

"Four," Helios corrected immediately. "You can count me in, Morgan."

Morgan smiled, her face shining with relief.

"But," Helios went on tentatively. "In return, I'd like to ask a favor of you."

"Name it," Morgan prompted.

"If this plan of yours doesn't work out," Helios said. "If we head out there and don't find anything useful, and we can't come up with any better ideas, there won't be much of a future left for me here. If that happens…"

"Then we'll take you with us when we return to our own world," Morgan offered, catching on quickly. "Crescent, too, if you can convince her to come with us."

Helios's expression flickered briefly at the mention of Crescent. "Well, that would be a slightly awkward conversation," he chuckled, hiding his discomfort.

Severa only shook her head in exasperation.

"So, the four of us, then, unless Bayn can convince some of his Seekers to come along," Helios said.

"Five, if you'll have me," Trance offered unexpectedly.

"Brother! You can't be serious!" Ferus protested.

"Oh, I am," Trance assured his brother. "I don't know how well Captain Bayn can explain this to the others, and I'm not sure how much our new friends would want him to share, anyways, but I've already heard enough. If there's a chance of this working out, that's good enough for me."

"There you go then," Bayn said, nodding at Morgan. "Trance is one of our best, and one of the few the Sun Guard hasn't noticed yet. Take good care of him for me, you hear?"

"That's my job," Ferus interrupted, though he still sounded annoyed. "If Trance is going, so am I."

"The six of us, then," Morgan declared happily. "Once we find a way out of Sol Hearth, we'll be all set."

"I can take care of that for you," Bayn offered. "Judging from your map, Leo's Rest is closest to the border. There's a caravan headed for Leo's Rest soon. You can join the caravan until you arrive at the Reaches. Slipping out of the city should prove easy enough."

"Great," Morgan agreed enthusiastically, and before long, the rest of the details relating to their planned expedition had been settled. The seven of them emerged from the hideout together, and after bidding Helios and the three Seekers farewell, Morgan, Severa, and Owain began making their way back towards the inn.