"Mother?"
Queen Maria had been inspecting the newly-rebuilt throne room when she had heard Huepow speak up behind her. His voice carried a tone that was more inquisitive than the sad mewling she had grown used to - which, in her mind, was progress.
"What do you know about the Crucibles?"
The question threw her for a loop - the boy had spent hours in the trophy room, studying memorials and artefacts from throughout their kingdom's great history - but he had always been content with observing, never caring to know the past of certain objects.
"Oh." She spoke, in that delicate tone of voice she used when unsure of how to respond to a question.
"I…" Huepow hesitated. He knew the question was blunt but he wanted to save any questions for Sol until after he could be sure he was safe.
"…I was always confused by them. The two… jewels? I think? What are they for?"
The queen shook her head no, and smiled softly.
"Always curious… no, they're not jewels - they're, well - exactly that. Crucibles. They were meant to refine the leftover energy of the great crystal into weapons, defences… that sort of thing."
So Sol's story was at least consistent - Huepow had no reason to doubt that Sol was lying to him, but given his prior angry outburst, he didn't want to take any risks. Still, a few questions still ate at the back of his mind.
"Why did we never use them?"
Maria frowned, acknowledging their potential.
"We did try. But it was a lot of effort - to form an object from the Crucible, one must not only have a perfect idea of what the object will look like in their mind, but a "base" to form it from. A sort of skeleton, if you will. This worked for smaller objects, but anything like barricades was simply too much effort, and without such a skeleton they had very little integrity. Besides, only two successful crucibles were ever produced…"
"So that's what we needed the vessel for," thought Huepow. "He needed something to mould the body from."
Huepow spoke up. "Couldn't we make more?" He asked inquisitively, to which Maria sighed.
"I'm afraid not - the Crucibles were forged during the time of the hundred day war, 3000 years ago - when Ghadius first attacked. only one man knew how to perfect them, and he… died in the war."
Huepow reflected - that' must be how Sol knew about them. He made them - or helped to make them - and took the knowledge to his grave. But… the way she hesitated to say what happened, the way she didn't say his name. Something was… wrong. Regardless, he knew this was probably all he needed-
"Why are you asking me this?"
The question cut through him like a knife through butter, and he knew he'd said too much. He began to shuffle away, his only response being a quick "just curious." The queen said nothing, and returned to her duties.
The boy was two steps into his bedroom when he felt the hand slam down on his neck. Without a moment to process, he felt himself slammed against the wall, those sunken-in eyes staring at him with an uncharacteristic fury.
Sol.
"What have you done?'" He demanded.
"What- why are you here? I thought you were in my head-?"
"No of course I'm not just in your head, how else could I have figured out who could help me? How else could I determine when to approach you? How else could I clean up your mess?!"
Huepow was panicking, Sol's grip tightening on him, as he struggled to process what was happening.
"W-what mess? What's happened?!"
Sol saw the fear in Huepow's eyes and let go, before circling him in frustration.
"You let yourself get caught, you let the queen "arrange for someone for you to talk to," and now you go and ask about the Crucibles? It's like you're trying to get us caught!"
Huepow spoke up, harshly and defensively, trying to defend himself. "I was curious ok! And - and it's clear she was going to arrange that anyway, she'll do anything but address the problem head on-"
"And that's the issue. You need to learn how to leave well enough alone lest you hopelessly complicate things more than you have!"
"…ok. So I messed up. I own that. Now you tell me: how exactly have I complicated things-?"
"She's assigning you a bodyguard."
Huepow paused, before covering his hands with his face and silently swearing to himself.
"Yes, exactly. Now let me ask you, Huepow: how do we recover the Crucibles and the star matter if you have some wretched brick of a man watching your every move?!"
"I don't know, OK?!"
Their argument was punctuated by three gentle knocks on the door, followed by an unfamiliar, chirpy, yet slightly irritating voice.
"Um… excuse me? Sir Huepow, are you ok in there?"
Huepow took a deep breath, and responded in a voice that was clearly strained.
"I'm - I'm fine! I'll be a minute!"
"…Okie dokie then!" The voice responded, before going silent. Huepow and Sol stared at each other, before Sol spoke up in a hushed voice, having calmed down from the interruption.
"…I've misjudged the… severity of the situation and for that I apologise."
"…No problem." Huepow responded, annoyed by how quickly he changed his tune after scolding him.
"…But this still doesn't change the bigger issue at hand. Your mother will know you're up to something and it's only a matter of time before she catches on."
Huepow paced, deep in thought, before being interrupted by the voice again. "Can I come in now-?"
"In a minute!" He called back, trying not to lash out, before whispering to Sol.
"…I will convince her that I am acting alone, that I want to study the Crucibles and their properties. It'll give me an out for collecting star matter and might just get us access to the Crucibles without having to force our way in."
"And if that doesn't work?"
"…We'll cross that bridge when we get to it."
"Very well. Figure out how to deal with…" he motioned towards the door. "...That, get the Star Matter, and we'll speak again soon."
With that, his form dissipated, and Huepow tentatively stepped over, and opened his bedroom door.
"'Ello!"
Standing in front of him was not a standard Cressian soldier - he was young, about Huepow's age, with bright, optimistic eyes and an almost dopey smile. rather than the tall, ceremonial shako traditionally worn by the Cressian guard, he wore a fitted hood and a short, crimson cape, much like Huepows. His uniform was as pale white as the other soldiers, but with gold accents that served to differentiate the bodyguards of the royal family, and the front of his uniform bore the insignia of the guard - two swords, crossed over a pointed badge. The front of his belt displayed a hexagonal amethyst crystal with the symbol of Cress carved into it: a crescent moon with a four-point star, two of the points aligning with the crescent ends. The belt also contained a sheath with an ornamental dagger, which would prove useful in close range combat. Huepow looked the bodyguard up and down, somewhat confused - this was who was expected to protect him? The two stood in an awkward silence for a moment, unsure of what to say to each other - before the bodyguard jolted.
"Oh-! My apologies." He bowed. "My name is Emilio, your highness. I'm your new bodyguard!" He spoke enthusiastically, clearly a lot more excited about this arrangement than Huepow was. He looked around the bedroom, as if searching for something.
"…Who were you talking to?"
Huepow stuttered nervously - would he even believe him if he told him the truth?
"…Nobody! I was just… just talking to myself. It calms me-"
"You mentioned Star Matter?" Emilio interjected, a tad forcefully - though not deliberately. His tone indicated that he took Huepows word at face value - clearly Sol had overestimated how much of a threat he posed. It was then that Huepow realised he had an opportunity on his hands, and he spoke up tentatively.
"That's… right!" He chimed, an air of hesitation to each word that was lost on the bodyguard. "I… wanted to try something regarding the crucibles, and I - I knew I'd need to gather some Star Matter first-"
"May I accompany you?"
Huepow was… flabbergasted. That was the only way to put it. "You - you'd just… let me take it?" He asked incredulously.
"Of course!" Emilio chirped enthusiastically. "You're technically my superior, and there's nothing exactly - well - dangerous about the star matter, to be frank. And even if the Queen doesn't completely approve I'm sure she won't hold it against you."
…Huepow took a strange sense of comfort in the words of encouragement. Emilio spoke to him with complete enthusiasm and support, and it put him at ease. He silently nodded, before stepping out of the doorway, turning to face his new bodyguard.
"Shall we?"
The two of them descended through the regal, crystalline halls that made up the upper layers of Cress - making a brief stop to retrieve the jars and vials that would be used to contain the Star Matter - and eventually stepped out into the starry skies, onto an elevator platform that took them up to the Great Crystal's chamber. Huepow stared up in wonder - surrounding the crystal and elevating the rest of the palace structure above it were five hourglass shaped pillars, through which sand endlessly trickled down. The beauty amazed him - from this great crystal, the world of Phantomile itself, and his beautiful kingdom, had been formed - There was almost a divinity to its presence, the way the forgotten dreams of this world materialised and oscillated around it. A rounded, wide, short and flat pillar lay under the crystal itself, a small indent caved into the surface to collect the residue from the crystal - the remainders of this world's forgotten dreams - the Star Matter.
Huepow tentatively stepped towards the pillar, before Emilio gave him a reassuring nod - he knelt down, removed the corked lid of one of the jars, and set to work collecting the liquid while Emilio kept watch.
"Who built the Crucibles?" Huepow asked cautiously. Emilio rubbed his chin, pondering how to answer."
"I'm... not sure I'm allowed to answer that?"
This caught Huepow's interest. "Why not?
Emilio stuttered. "Um... It's a complicated issue. It's an open secret among the Royal Family and its close associates but we aren't particularly allowed to speak about it..."
"What did he do? Who was he?"
A few stray beads of sweat ran down Emilio's face and he wiped them away. "...Ask your mother. I don't think she'd be happy if I disclosed that."
the two kept to themselves for a while after that, as Huepow filled each jar and vial with the Star Matter, taking note of how it shimmered within the jar, and how it seemed to whisper with incoherent, forgotten thoughts and dreams. Though Huepow had been reassured that it posed no threat, he still had a feeling that he wasn't supposed to be doing this - these weren't his dreams, his thoughts to take. But he put that out of his mind as he thought about who he was doing this for. If this was what Sol needed to survive, Huepow would simply have to do it.
Emilio was the first of them to break the silence.
"...Why are you interested in the Crucibles?"
Huepow paused and hesitated at this, but remembered how he'd eased his mother when he returned through the mines.
Half truths.
"...I made a mistake. A few months ago... and I thought that with the Crucibles, I could fix it...?"
Emilio sat in silence, contemplating how to respond.
"I know what you're talking about."
Silence. The response shook Huepow to his core.
"...The dream traveller. Right?" He continued. Huepow sat, unsure of how to respond, and only nodded. How else was he meant to respond?
Emilio saw his reaction and knew that he had overstepped.
"...Y'know... if you wanna talk to me about it... I'd be happy to listen?"
Huepow simply looked at him, unsure of how to respond. bearing his soul in that manner wasn't something he was used to. And yet, Emilios mere presence was so reassuring to him that he couldn't help but want to? He wasn't sure why, but in that moment, he trusted him with his darkest secrets - his very life.
He set aside the vials and jars, and they sat for a while.
As he finished explaining what had happened, Huepow felt more at peace than he had since that terrible day.
Despite never having met him prior, Emilio had listened the whole time and spoke to him as if he was a friend he'd known his whole life, and it put him at ease. He had reassured him that what had happened wasn't his fault, and that he wasn't a monster for what he did.
He didn't have to hide anything, didn't have to choose his words or actions carefully to avoid being corrected - or berated. He didn't have to be a prince.
He didn't have to be a solution to someone's problem.
He could just be Huepow.
And that was all he wanted.
The two had stuck around each other for the rest of the day after Huepow had finished collecting the Star Matter - not that they had the choice given it was Emilio's job.
Still, the two shared a closeness that Maria noted in her head during dinner as being unprecedented between the Royal Family and their bodyguards, and even as Huepow settled into his room for the evening, Emilio insisted on at least sitting outside his room to ensure no one got in without permission.
As Huepow shut the door, he knew what was coming next.
"...So. How's that little problem of yours going?" Sol's tone was sharp and jeering, as he manifested in the room and began speaking to him, being careful to quiet his voice to avoid detection.
"It's going well, actually," Huepow replied with an indignant tone. "And you're right about having misjudged the situation. He's not a hazard."
"That much has been clear for a while now. So... you have the Star Matter. How exactly are we going to play this?"
Huepow spoke calmly and matter-of-factly. "I'll wait to properly gain their trust-"
"And how long are you planning on waiting? I don't have forever."
It was then Huepow noticed that Sol was keeping his hand shielded within his cloak, hiding it out of sight. He paused.
"...Ok. Fine. Give it a day or two, and then we can do it."
Sol was silent, but nodded affirmatively.
"And how will you get the Crucibles into the mines once you get a hold of them? They'll be keeping you under close watch you know."
This was where Huepow really had to think - He hadn't considered that.
"...I'll bring the skeleton pieces up wherever they let me test it. Heck, I could mine more pieces, make a few weapons from them-"
"What are they going to think if they learn you've been speaking to voices in your head for days on end? I told you, the queen wouldn't help someone like me, I'm a nobody to her-"
"I don't think that's entirely true." Huepow interjected.
For the first time Sol seemed completely shocked, but regained his composure momentarily.
"What on earth are you talking about-"
"My mother didn't say who you were and actively hesitated when talking about you. Her description of their creator taking his knowledge to the grave explains how you know so much about them - you made them, I'm assuming - but Emilio claims that whoever invented them did something bad, and the Royal Family isn't allowed to talk about them. So... what did you do?"
Sol hesitated, before turning away.
"Something I regret. That's all I'll say."
"What did you do? Answer me!"
Sol tensed up as if about to yell at him, but calmed himself. "I will explain when I am alive again, but I promise you, you won't regret helping me."
Huepow stood silently, a conflicted expression befalling him. "How do I know I won't?"
Sol almost unnaturally put on a more gentle, tender expression - as if to ease him. "Because I've put that behind me. And besides..."
As if sliding on a glove, Sol returned to that snide tone he took earlier as he began to fade away.
"I'm all you've got."
Unsure of what he could do, Huepow lay on his bed and drifted off into a dreamless sleep.