~ Chapter 14 ~
Crescent
Just as Morgan had anticipated, there was indeed another Sun Guard patrol waiting at the top of the steps. She was relieved to see that this patrol was no larger than the others they had encountered. At the same time, she couldn't help but feel slightly uneasy; for all of its value to the Sun Guard, Sol Sanctus's defense were proving woefully unimpressive and inadequate.
Morgan shook those thoughts away quickly and set to inspecting the soldiers around her. This time around, over half of the defenders were wearing the highly decorated armor and robes reserved for the Sun Guard First Class. Their presence was not overly concerning to the young tactician, for every patrol she and her companions had battled thus far had been led by a member of the Sun Guard elites, all of who had demonstrated themselves to be poor combatants.
This patrol did seem a little different from the others, however. No flurry of motion and confusion greeted Morgan and her friends as they spilled into the room. In fact, only one of the Sun Guard fighters moved at all.
Standing at the back of the Sun Guard formation was a tall, imposing figure, apparently the patrol's leader. She was quite clearly a woman, for though she was armored from head to toe, her armor had been tailored to fit and accentuate her slender and more feminine form. The decorative markings upon her armor were even more flamboyant and distinctive than those her allies wore, and shone visibly, almost hauntingly.
The Sun Guard commander raised her hand, motioning for her forces to hold their positions.
"What is she doing here?" Bayn whispered.
"You know her?" Morgan asked curiously, keeping her voice low as well.
"That's High Commander Harmonia," Trance explained softly. "Nominally the leader of all the Sun Guard, allegedly blessed by the Solcryst itself."
"She should be down at the lower floors, leading the Sun Guard's defense," Bayn muttered. "Why was she waiting here with only a token force?"
"Why don't we ask her?" Morgan shrugged. Then she raised her voice to include the enemy commander. "Hello! It's nice to meet you! Though, this is kind of a funny place to run into each other, don't you think?"
The opposing commander didn't share in the young tactician's good humor. "I am High Commander Harmonia of the Sun Guard," Harmonia greeted them. "I have been charged with defending the summit of Sol Sanctus. Trespassers, you have done well to make it so far into our sacred home, but I cannot allow you to go any further."
"Really? That's a shame," Morgan said mildly. "Are you sure we can't work something out?"
"Absolutely not!" Harmonia thundered. "I will not dicker with criminals who seek to destroy our way of life!"
"Ouch. Touchy subject, huh?" Morgan frowned. "But you know, it wasn't us that ruined your Sun Spires. You can thank your own Solcryst for that. Leaves you in a bit of a bind, doesn't it?"
"Yours words of deceit cannot sway us, little girl," Harmonia laughed. "You stand before the strongest and most loyal servants of the Solcryst. Surrender now, and perhaps we will be merciful. Flee, and we will not give chase. Fight, and you will certainly all die."
"If you're half as loyal as you claim, you know as well as we do that there are things far worse than death," Bayn growled. "We've spent far too long living this lie already."
"Then I will grant you this slight mercy, my traitorous brother," Harmonia replied. She signaled to her soldiers, before lowering her gauntleted hand to her glaive. "Kill them."
Despite her nonchalant demeanor, Morgan had not been idle throughout the brief conversation, and had instead been covertly studying the chamber. It was larger than the other chambers they had battled the Sun Guard in, but was structured in roughly the same fashion. Again, an upper walkway ran across the back of the room, leading into a pair of staircases that descended along opposing walls. There were now two entryways feeding into corridors from both the lower and upper floors – given their curvature, they seemed to lead into smaller, side chambers. Behind the High Commander was a fifth doorway, with a staircase behind it that could only lead up to Sol Sanctus's summit.
This time, only a single Sun Guard could be seen waiting atop the walkway, an archer who immediately loosed his first shot at Morgan. A fireball met the meager projectile in midair, incinerating it.
"Try to get their commander away from the doorway," Morgan instructed coolly, launching a second fireball to send the enemy archer scrambling for cover. "If we can all make it past her safely, I can seal the passage behind us with my last light rune."
"You got it, lass," Bayn acknowledged, and he, Owain, Trance, and Ferus prepared to charge, while Severa began shooting back at the archer above.
Helios was only barely listening to Morgan, though, for something about their enemy's formation struck him as distinctly odd. While the rest of his companions advanced, he quickly took count of their enemy again, which confirmed his worst fears. His heart sank as he looked towards one of the statues positioned halfway along one of the staircases leading up to the walkway.
Just as Helios had feared, a second Sun Guard archer had been concealed behind the statue. The archer was now poised atop the statue, remaining perfectly balanced despite being clad in full armor. Helios found himself staring directly into a readied arrow. His heart raced, and he felt deathly afraid, but he did not move or even flinch when the archer fired.
The arrow soared harmlessly over Helios's head, and it took him every bit of discipline and self-restraint not to shout out in denial.
Standing beside the motionless Helios, Severa finally ended her ranged duel with the first archer on her third shot. The second archer, realizing that Severa would be searching for a new target soon, leapt down and scrambled for the nearest doorway.
Without a word to the others, Helios set off towards the nearby corridor. He knew and dreaded what awaited him in the side chamber, but found himself drawn in that direction nonetheless.
Helios soon arrived in a smaller chamber, a rather simple, square room with only two entrances: a hallway leading back to the main chamber's lower floor, and a curved staircase leading up to the walkway. His thoughts weren't on the chamber, though, nor did they dwell on the battle he had left behind.
Just as it had been with Tohl, Helios already knew who the archer waiting for him at the center of the room was, even before she removed her helmet.
"Hello, Cress," Helios said quietly, barely managing to force the words past the lump that had arisen in his throat.
Gone was the playful spark that Helios was accustomed to seeing in his dear friend's eyes. There was something wholly different about the small, dark-haired woman, a brittleness to her expression that could not quite hide her anguish.
"What have you done, Hel?" Crescent whispered, her pain bleeding into her every word.
"Only what had to be done," Helios replied, trying his hardest to keep his voice steady.
"What had to be done?" Crescent echoed accusingly. "You've turned your back on the Sun Guard. You've turned your back on all of Monolith, on all of your people… on me…"
"I… I haven't, Cress," Helios protested.
"Why, Hel? Please, tell me," Crescent pleaded. "Why would you side with the Nihilists? Why would you want the Solcryst destroyed?"
"Cress, I…" Helios began, but he found himself unable to continue. He wanted to explain – for someone, at least, to believe him – but, haunted by Morgan's earlier warnings, as well as the memory of Tohl's lifeless eyes, Helios felt as if his voice had died altogether.
Several seconds passed, as Crescent waited for an answer. She then sighed. "Do you still remember the day we met?" she asked softly.
Helios said nothing, and remained perfectly still. He wanted to speak up, to assure Crescent that he would never forget that day, but again, he found that the words just wouldn't come forth.
"I still remember how I thought you were a bit odd," Crescent said, and despite her conversational tone, there was a rocky tremor in her voice. "You didn't look any happier to be at that tavern than I was, but while I was there to try and make friends with my patrol, you were just… there. All by yourself. Then you told off that drunkard who was bothering me, and at first, I thought you were trying to introduce yourself in some roundabout way."
"And then I went back to my seat and put my head down," Helios continued quietly, finding his voice at last. "Not quite the knight in shining armor you were expecting, was I? Then again, you never were the type who'd want a knight."
"True," Crescent admitted, her expression growing wistful. "Still, you could have gone a little easier on me. I had to practically pry your name out of you. I managed to get you talking, though, and sometime over those next few days, I saw that you and I were quite alike. Neither of us had found what we were searching for in joining the Sun Guard. We were both lost."
"Lost," Helios echoed, remembering how he had described himself to Tohl the same way. "That sums us up rather well."
"But I didn't remain lost, Hel," Crescent went on. "It may have taken me a few months to realize it, but during those moments we shared – during those weeks when you managed to steal yourself away from Aquila's Ascent – I was content. I kept hoping that one day, you'd begin to feel the same way."
"I did, Cress," Helios protested. "Why do you think I remained with the Sun Guard for so long? Those fleeting weeks we found together were all I had left, and still they felt too short."
"But you've turned against the Sun Guard now," Crescent said accusingly. "You gave up on them, Hel. Have you given up on me, too?"
"Never," Helios insisted. "I was never going to become a proper Sun Guard, Cress. You and I both knew that all along, yet I kept on trying. I kept trying for so long, hoping against all reason, until…"
"Until…?" Crescent prompted, when Helios went silent again.
Helios swallowed. He felt as if an invisible force was clamping itself over his mouth every time he thought to tell Crescent the truth.
Crescent looked away, her eyes filling with tears. "You didn't have to remain in the Sun Guard for us to be together," she said. "I could have gone to you."
"I would never have asked you to leave Sol Hearth for the Reaches," Helios countered feebly.
"Then you could have come to me," Crescent retorted.
"How could I have…" Helios began to ask. Then Crescent's true meaning sank in, and Helios felt his throat go dry.
Crescent's continued staring down at the floor, but her expression softened. "Every time I saw you, I'd hope you'd ask… but you never did. You'd stay for a bit, and then you'd leave, and I'd wonder when I'd see you again. Now… now we're here."
"I never wanted to leave. You know that, Cress," Helios pleaded. "I would have been perfectly happy staying here with…"
"Then tell me, Hel," Crescent demanded, looking up and staring fiercely into his eyes. "The Sun Guard warned us that you were here to destroy the Solcryst, but I want to hear it from you. Why are you here, Hel?"
"I…" Helios tried again.
He heard Tohl's vicious condemnation, and saw his former friend lying against the wall, staring at him through glassy, unseeing eyes.
He saw the fallen Sun Guards strewn throughout Sol Sanctus, and heard again the unrelenting High Commander Harmonia, speaking with misguided conviction.
He remembered Morgan's sincere words to the Seekers, warning them of the risks and urging them to carefully consider their course.
Helios shook his head, defeated. "I'm sorry, Cress," he apologized.
"Hel…"
"I… I can't tell you why. Not yet," Helios said. "I would like nothing more than for you to see the truth for yourself… but even that I cannot promise you; for all the years I've spent hiding behind my blades, I am far from invincible. I can only promise to try, Cress, and maybe… maybe if we both survive the night, you'll understand."
Crescent shook her head in denial, her dark, waist-length hair rippling wildly behind her. "You can't do this to me," she whispered, trembling as she spoke. "You're ready to attack the Sun Guard… to destroy all of Monolith… to give up your own life, if you have to. That's how much this all matters to you, yet you can't even bring yourself to tell me why. Is that how little I mean to you?"
"That's not…" Helios tried to argue.
"What about Tohl?" Crescent demanded sharply. "If it were him standing before you now, would you have brushed him aside like this, too?"
Helios flinched and took a step back, as if he had just been slapped.
Crescent cast her bow aside, then unstrapped her glaive from her back. "I remain a member of the Sun Guard," she reminded Helios heavily. "Are you that determined for us to be enemies here? Are we meant to fight now?"
"We don't have to," Helios said. "Stand down, Cress. You can surrender now, and back away from all of this. Once this is over…"
"I swore an oath," Crescent interrupted. "Just like you, I once swore to protect Monolith's light and defend our people, to shield the Solcryst with my life if necessary." With a quick twirl, she brandished her glaive, assuming a defensive stance.
"I… I'm sorry, Cress," Helios whispered. His head spinning, he reluctantly reached for his swords. Unlike when he had drawn his blades against Tohl, no surge of strength came to him this time.
Not long after the fighting broke out in full, Morgan became very glad that the Sun Guard force they were facing wasn't any larger. The High Commander had chosen her entourage well; her soldiers were stronger, faster, and more disciplined than the rest of those stationed within Sol Sanctus, and despite their seemingly meager numbers, they still outnumbered Morgan and her companions.
Two armored swordsmen began advancing towards Morgan immediately, leaving her precious little time to assess how the rest of the battle was unfolding. The young tactician quickly glanced left and right, taking in her surroundings as best she could.
Severa had already abandoned her bow, and had joined Owain on the frontlines. The two veteran warriors were holding their own against the four enemies that had come against them, but already, the shattered remains of a blue ceramic jar laid at Owain's feet, leaving Morgan to wonder whether her sister and Owain could really outlast their opponents.
Only a short distance away, Bayn, Trance, and Ferus were locked in combat with five more of the Sun Guard's elite fighters. As skilled as the twins had seemed up to now, and as capable as Bayn had proven himself to be, the three of them were constantly losing ground, scrambling desperately to keep from being surrounded.
Neither of the two ongoing skirmishes seemed too promising, but what bothered Morgan most was that High Commander Harmonia had yet to join the battle herself. She remained firmly in place instead, still blocking the stairway leading up to the summit. There would be no easy escape past the Sun Guard, Morgan understood.
Then the young tactician was out of time. She skittered backward as the closer of her two incoming foes lunged, escaping just beyond the reach of the man's curved sword. She drew Alondite with one hand, and plunged the other into her sash, retrieving a small parcel folded weaved from thick scraps of parchment. "Ellie!" she called, flinging the package high up into the air.
Morgan was forced to brace her sword with both hands a second later, when her first attacker followed through with a vicious, overhead chop. Alondite came up just in time to parry the Sun Guard's curved blade, trembling violently and shooting a painful jolt through Morgan's arms.
Sensing his advantage, the Sun Guard struck again, still with both hands upon the hilt of his blade. He leaned forward too, confident that he could overpower his smaller opponent this time. Then he found himself falling, for any resistance he had felt before simply disappeared. The tumbling Sun Guard swept his weapon to the side, and only barely caught himself before falling flat on his face. To his surprise, he found Alondite's gleaming silver blade lying only inches away.
Morgan spun clear of her foe, rather annoyed that she had been forced to relinquish her trusty sword so early. She channeled that annoyance directly into her next spell, and sparkling flames gushed forth, hungrily devouring the prone swordsman.
The second swordsman caught up soon after, but wasn't entirely sure how best to help his companion. He swung his blade halfheartedly at Morgan, forcing the girl to cut her spell short, but before he could decide upon his next move, a small, metallic butterfly darted directly up to his face. "W-what!?" he gasped, trying to back away from his newest attacker.
Yuelle paced him, and hastily stuffed the parchment wad through one of the slits in the Sun Guard's visor. Then, as her victim flailed around blindly, she soared clear of the armored man, angling her wings to whistle softly as she went.
Morgan's next spell struck the second armored swordsman fully in the face, igniting the parchment and eliciting a howl of terror. The parchment wad burned quickly, as did its explosive contents. A loud crack split the air, and colorful sapphire and amethyst sparks scattered every which way as the makeshift firework went off.
When the dust settled, Morgan found herself standing over both of the twitching and whimpering swordsmen. She briefly considered leaving them as they were, but quickly thought better of it; her friends were still in peril, after all, and she owed it to them to ensure that her downed foes were out of the fight for good. She hurriedly retrieved her sword, then clenched her jaw determinedly before slashing through the back of her opponent's legs.
As she did her best to mentally block out the screams, Morgan looked towards Severa and Owain once more. The pair had already taken down two of their opponents, but Owain had been left battling the remaining two alone. It appeared as if Severa had rushed to the aid of the three Seekers, only to be caught in a desperate duel with an armored foe bearing a poleaxe identical to Bayn's.
Morgan studied her sister's movements closely, trying to determine whether Severa was being thrown off by her opponent's unorthodox weapon, or whether said opponent was just exceptionally skilled. "Probably both," Morgan finally decided. "Sis, get down!"
Severa obeyed immediately, throwing herself down to the ground so quickly that Morgan's attack almost came too late. A spiraling wave of energy erupted from Alondite's blade, slicing across the room and tearing a deep gash in the Sun Guard's armor.
In a flash, Severa was back on her feet. She swept her glaive overhead, bashing her opponent over the head. She then reversed her glaive, jabbing the shaft forward.
To Severa's surprise, her opponent rallied immediately, shrugging off all three blows before chopping wildly ahead with his overbearing weapon. Realizing she had no way of blocking the attack in time, Severa rushed forth, hoping to get too close for her opponent to strike at her with the poleaxe's blade. For a brief moment, she felt a sense of grim satisfaction as the tip of her glaive tore straight into her opponent's chest. Then her right shoulder exploded with agony, and she realized her daring move had been but a split second too slow.
Blinded and disoriented by the pain, Severa thought she felt herself falling. She tried to right herself, but with the numbness beginning to spread from her arm, she only managed to upset her balance further. Then she felt something soft propping her up.
"Drink," Morgan's voice instructed from somewhere nearby.
Severa obediently drank from the ceramic jar pressed to her lips. Almost immediately, the pain dulled, and the veteran lancer came to her senses once more.
Standing beside her, Morgan loosed another wave of energy from her sword in hopes of distracting one of the two enemies flanking Bayn. "This isn't good," she muttered, preparing to slash her sword again. "We can't keep this up."
Severa took a quick glance at the others, quickly noticing that the three Seekers had already exhausted the healing elixirs Morgan had given them. Owain still had one left, thankfully, and Severa knew that she still had both of hers. She began to unclip one, meaning to offer it to Morgan, but froze when she realized one of their party was missing entirely. "Morgan, where's Helios?" Severa asked.
"He went charging down that hall," Morgan said, briefly indicating the doorway with her sword. She then spun all the way around, blasting one of Owain's remaining two foes to the ground. "I think the hall leads up to the walkway, too. He's probably hunting down the other archer. I thought he'd be back by now, though."
Something in Morgan's words left Severa feeling very uneasy, and though she knew she should be focusing on the battle around them, she stopped to reconsider their absent friend. Every trained warrior knew the importance of reading an enemy's subtle movements, but the ever-perceptive Helios seemed to glean more information from the most minute details than anyone else, with the possible exception of Morgan. The skilled swordsman must have noticed something about the lone, fleeing Sun Guard, something significant enough to warrant abandoning the battle himself to give chase. Something dangerous, perhaps?
An archer, Severa suddenly remembered. Her eyes widened as the truth struck her like a bolt of lightning. "Damn!" she cursed loudly, and without another word to her allies, she recovered her glaive and raced towards the doorway Morgan had just pointed out, praying desperately that she wasn't too late.
Crescent's posture was slightly forward inclined. Both of her ungloved hands clenched the shaft of her glaive, spread far apart in a defensive manner. Her right hand was in front and clenched more tightly than her left, her knuckles whitening from the tension. Her balance was shifted forward towards her leading foot.
Each of these minor details flickered through Helios's mind, almost subconsciously. That alone should have been more than enough to allow the experienced swordsman to predict how his opponent would move, and to plan his own reaction accordingly. He had trained with Crescent before, too, and should have been able to read her movements all the better for it.
But Helios's thoughts remained a discordant, meaningless jumble, and when his gazed locked with his opponent's plaintive, pleading look, he charged recklessly ahead, desperate to turn aside Crescent's accusing stare.
Crescent shifted her glaive, executing a perfectly angled parry, maintaining eye contact all the while. Then, with one hand, she forced her glaive's blade forward in a sharply angled slash. The basic counter, taught to all novice members of the Sun Guard who trained with the glaive, came far closer to its mark than it ever should have.
One of Helios's swords shot up only just in time to catch the descending glaive. He was stronger than Crescent, and could have easily staved off the awkwardly angled blow with just one of his weapons, but instead of punishing the obvious opening, he reflexively spun and slapped his second sword against the glaive, too, driving Crescent back. Then, without pause, he completed his spin and barreled forth, holding his blades parallel at waist-height and stabbing both forward.
Crescent retreated one carefully measured step, then swept her glaive low and in front of her, smoothly deflecting both thrusts. Then, knowing what was to come, for she had played out that same counter against Helios several times before, Crescent allowed her glaive's momentum to carry her aside, anticipating her opponent to recover with a full spin into a double overhand slash.
Helios did spin away, but the movement seemed clumsy and uncontrolled, and he didn't follow it up with another attack. Instead, he drew back and carefully reset his balance, a conservative move that allowed Crescent ample time to regain her footing as well.
Crescent glowered at her opponent, wondering if she was being mocked. She had seen that particular offensive play from Helios many times before, and every time it had allowed the talented swordsman full control of their battle's tempo. But the only emotion visible in Helios's face was a hint of frustration, and Crescent realized that it must have been an honest mistake. An honest mistake, yet one that should have been impossible, given the countless hours her friend had spent perfecting his technique.
Helios attacked again, as if determined to regain his advantage, but his swords lagged behind, as if they had somehow grown heavier. He deftly carried out the familiar attack pattern regardless, slashing twice across before twirling both swords overhead and finishing with a downward cross.
Up came Crescent's glaive, turning each lateral swipe with seeming ease. Crescent then retracted her weapon slightly and flipped it to rest horizontally, catching both of Helios's blades at once.
Helios withdrew, retracting his blades and pausing briefly in hopes of finding his rhythm, but before he could attack again, Crescent threw her glaive aside.
"What are you doing?" Helios demanded.
"What are you doing?" Crescent countered.
"I'm trying to fight my way past you," Helios growled.
"Past me and to where? The same chamber you left behind moments ago when you chased me here?" Crescent retorted.
Helios had no answer to that.
"You're holding back, Hel. We both know I'm no match for you, up close like this," Crescent went on angrily. "If you were really trying to kill me, you would've finished me off already."
"And if you wanted to kill me, you would've done so in a single shot, long before I even noticed you," Helios argued defensively.
"So if neither of us mean to kill the other, what are we doing?" Crescent demanded.
Helios grimaced, but said nothing.
"Fine," Crescent whispered, sounding thoroughly defeated and broken. "I'm done."
Those two simple words, spoken with such sorrow and resignation, cut deep into Helios's heart like a pair of scalding knives. "Cress?" he asked softly.
Crescent closed her eyes and held her arms out wide, defenseless. "Go on, then. If you mean to kill me, then kill me already," she said. "I can't win, Helios, even with you holding back. I already lost when my dearest friend turned his back on me."
"I… I haven't…" Helios stammered feebly.
"I still love you," Crescent whispered, and that admission stung Helios more painfully than any angry remark possibly could have. "I want to believe you cared about me once, too, but if your new cause is really this important to you… more important to you than I ever was… then I won't stand in your way any longer. Goodbye, Helios."
For a time, Helios remained perfectly still. His arms felt stiff, as if they had turned to lead, and he could not find the strength to lift his swords, even to put them away. In fact, he found it hard simply to keep from dropping them altogether.
Then someone else burst into the room, and Helios instinctively spun around, making a rather feeble attempt at bracing his weapons defensively before he realized it was only Severa.
Severa seemed to take in the scene all at once, and a split second later, she began glowering angrily at Helios. "Are you daft!?" she shouted angrily. "Don't you dare lay a finger on her!"
"I wasn't going to!" Helios protested, clumsily sheathing his weapons. "What are you doing here, Severa?"
"What does it look like I'm doing here?" Severa demanded. "I'm here to keep a certain idiot from killing yet another of his friends!"
When those words registered, Crescent's eyes shot open, and she stared at Helios in shock. "You've already run into Tohl," she whispered.
Helios finally broke. His hands fell limply away from the hilts of his swords, and his head slumped downward. "I had to," he whispered. "I… I tried to tell him the truth. He wouldn't listen to me. We… we fought. I won, and he… he wouldn't let me save him."
"And you assumed I wouldn't believe you, either," Crescent said in a bitter, accusing tone.
"Oh no, he knew you'd believe him," Severa interrupted coldly. She walked straight up to Helios and roughly grabbed the taller man by his shoulders, forcing him to stand straight and meet her gaze. "Isn't that right, Helios? Remember when we asked you about Crescent? Twice the friend Tohl was, you said. You knew all along that she'd believe you, even if Tohl didn't."
Helios tried to back away from the surprisingly intimidating woman, but Severa paced him relentlessly, as if to keep him from trying to escape. "I couldn't be sure…" Helios tried to argue, feeling cornered.
"How stupid do you think we are!?" Severa interrupted him again. "You knew Crescent would believe you. You knew, too, that once you told her the truth, the Sun Guard would want to kill her, too. You're trying to protect her, but you're doing it in the stupidest fashion possible, and somehow, I get the feeling she doesn't need or want your protection, anyways!"
"Is it true, Hel?" Crescent asked quietly. "Is that what this is all about?"
Wishing he could simply sink into the ground and disappear instead, Helios reluctantly turned to meet the dark-haired woman's gaze. There was a knowing glint in Crescent's eyes.
Suddenly, Helios felt very foolish indeed.
Severa tactfully backed away as Crescent slowly approached Helios.
"I never wanted to hurt you," Helios murmured.
"I know," Crescent said gently. "I knew you weren't about to kill me. I only wanted to hear the truth. I only wanted you to trust me again, the way we've always trusted each other."
"I knew you wouldn't want me to try and protect you," Helios admitted. "But after what happened to Tohl… I had to try, Cress. I didn't want you to be here. I wanted you to be somewhere safe, somewhere away from all of this. If something goes wrong tonight, we could all end up dying here, and I can't… I can't let that happen to you."
"Did you ever stop to think what I would want?" Crescent asked, an accusing note slipping into her voice. "If you and your new friends do wind up getting yourselves killed tonight, do you really think I'd want to live out the rest of my life wondering why your last words to me were to try to chase me away?"
Helios shifted guiltily as the full weight of Crescent's heartfelt words settled upon him. He remembered her earlier confession, too, and finally realized just how badly he had erred, no matter his doubts and fears. "I'm sorry, Cress," he whispered, feeling grossly ashamed.
"Good," Crescent said coolly. "Now quit being so stubborn, and maybe I'll forgive you. I know you're not really out to destroy the world, so what's going on here, Hel?"
Helios glanced nervously at Severa, who gave him an encouraging nod. He took a deep breath.
Then a terrible racket erupted from the hallway Helios and Severa had entered the chamber from. All three of the room's occupants turned to the doorway just in time to see Owain, Bayn, Trance, and Ferus crashing through. All four of them seemed winded, and Trance and Bayn both bore several minor injuries.
Without so much as a greeting, Bayn turned and poked his head back into the hallway. "Hurry, lass!" he urged.
"I'm hurrying already!" Morgan fumed indignantly, rounding the corner a moment later. "It's not my fault your legs are longer than I am tall!"
Bayn opened his mouth to apologize, but closed it again without a word, deciding it best not to distract Morgan any further. He and the others stood by silently as Morgan activate her light rune, conjuring an impenetrable barrier of light to seal the doorway.
Angry shouts rang out from behind the barrier.
"What trickery is this!?"
"Break it down!"
"There! That should give us a few moments, at least until they remember there's another way into this room," Morgan panted. She looked up, smiling when she saw Crescent. "Hi, Cress!"
Despite the ongoing chaos, Crescent couldn't help but smile at Morgan's sunny, lighthearted expression. "Hello there. You were with Hel back at the tavern the other day, weren't you? What's your name?"
Morgan gave her an odd look. "You mean Hel and Severa haven't filled you in on everything yet?" she asked, surprised.
"Umm… Morgan, this isn't really the best time," Severa interrupted cautiously, shooting her sister a meaningful look.
Morgan paused. "Oh. Okay," she said, a puzzled look upon her face. "I'll just go and ask the rest of the Sun Guard to point their weapons somewhere else for a bit, then."
"Morgan…" Severa warned dangerously, not appreciating the sarcasm. She bit back the rest of her retort, though, as she reconsidered the barrier the younger girl had just conjured. "Wait, wasn't that your last light rune?"
"Yeah, but we were running out of healing elixirs," Morgan explained. She quickly fished a staff out of her pouch. "Trance, Bayn, hold still," she ordered.
"I thought we were planning to slip past the rest of the Sun Guard and up to the summit," Severa reminded. "How are we going to barricade the stairs behind us now?"
"We aren't. Plans change," Morgan said nonchalantly, as she began tending to the two wounded Seekers. "Especially when there's an unhappy enemy commander refusing to move away from the foot of those stairs. Hey, Hel, hurry it up with the explanations, will you? This barrier won't keep us safe for long."
Helios nodded stiffly, then turned to Crescent once more. "I'm sorry, Cress. I should have…" he began.
"You're stalling," Crescent interrupted, smiling knowingly. "Quit apologizing, will you? You heard the young lady. We're running out of time."
Instead of launching into an explanation, Helios considered Crescent for a moment longer, realizing that she was impossibly calm, given the circumstances. "You already know," he realized aloud. "You were listening when Morgan was talking to the High Commander."
"Of course I was," Crescent said wryly.
"You've already pieced the rest together, too, haven't you?" Helios went on, staring wonderingly into Crescent's eyes.
"Some of it," Crescent admitted. "I'd like to hear the truth from you, though. The whole truth, or as much of it as you have time to share. Please, Hel. You owe me that much, at least.
Helios knew when he was beaten. "Alright," he surrendered. "It's true. Both of the Sun Spires were destroyed by someone within the Sun Guard."
"Who would do such a thing? And why?" Crescent asked, frowning thoughtfully.
"The High Commander, perhaps?" Helios guessed. "It doesn't really matter, I suppose. As for why, the Sun Guard was trying to keep the so-called Nihilists from learning the truth. Our legends have it all wrong, Cress. The sun was never extinguished. Morgan led us far enough away from Monolith that we could see the sun for ourselves. The Solcryst is what's keeping our world dark and creating all the Nightmares."
"I see," Crescent said. She seemed to take it all in stride, though she arched one eyebrow curiously at the mention of the sun. "So how exactly do you plan to destroy the Solcryst?" she prompted. "Even if you could just smash it with your swords, what about the Sun Warden? Won't it try to stop you?"
"Morgan said she'd find a way to deal with the Sun Warden," Bayn said.
"And I did!" Morgan announced happily.
"You did?" Severa questioned, sounding more worried than relieved by her younger sister's enthusiasm.
"You believe me, Cress? Just like that?" Helios interrupted.
Crescent rolled her eyes. "Of course I believe you," she informed him sharply, sounding quite miffed that he had needed to ask.
Warm relief flooded through Helios. He felt strangely lightheaded, yet more hopeful than he had been ever since crossing blades with Tohl. "Thank you," he whispered.
"You're welcome," Crescent said, smiling and shaking her head in exasperation.
"Ah… Morgan, we have a problem," Trance interrupted meekly. "Those guys on the other side of your barrier are gone."
Ferus peeked around the corner as well. "They must be making their way around. I hope we've got a new plan," he said worriedly.
"We do," Morgan assured. She glanced at Helios. "Are you two almost finished, Hel?"
Helios turned and met Crescent's expectant gaze.
"Well?" Crescent prompted, when Helios remained silent. "Aren't you going to ask me to help? Or are you still thinking about trying to send me away?"
"I'm not," Helios said quickly. "It's just… are you sure about this, Cress?"
Crescent rolled her eyes, but before she could answer, their conversation was cut short by the sound of heavy footfalls. Helios reflexively spun towards the staircase leading up to the main chamber's walkway, his swords leaping into his hands. A heavily armored Sun Guard came storming into sight a second later, surging down the curved staircase with his sword raised high.
But Crescent had already retrieved her bow, and before anyone else could react, a single arrow intercepted the approaching Sun Guard, sliding perfectly into one of the eye slits of the armored swordsman's full-faced helmet.
"Of course I'm sure. Why do you ask?" Crescent asked, casually readying another arrow. "Do you not want me with you?"
That simple, yet remarkable display of marksmanship sent Helios's thoughts back to the nighttime jaunts he and Crescent had shared. Suddenly, none of his doubts could find any purchase upon him. "Come on, Cress. You know there's no one I'd rather have fighting at my side," he said.
"Oh? Then what was all that earlier nonsense about?" Crescent teased.
"That was Severa being absolutely correct about me being an idiot," Helios admitted shamelessly, nodding gratefully towards the still-scowling red-haired woman. Then, mindful of Morgan's warnings, he turned to the younger girl. "Alright, Morgan. What's our new plan?"
"I need the High Commander's armor," Morgan answered simply. "Let's hurry up and finish off her and the rest of her patrol."
There was a long, awkward silence as the others tried to make sense of Morgan's words.
Naturally, Severa was the first to find her voice once more. "You what!?" she asked loudly, wondering if she had misheard her sister.
"I need the High Commander's armor," Morgan repeated patiently. "Oh, and if we can get it while keeping everyone in one piece – especially Cress – that would be a big help, too."
Crescent shot Helios a puzzled look. Helios only shrugged. "I've found it better not to ask," he explained, before gesturing towards the stairs. "Shall we?"