’We know the identity of the Shadow now - only the queen left.’
Based on what they learned from Nickolas, Calen became nearly certain that the temple was dedicated to the Shadow - or Tharion.
Did that made Cassian Tharion’s champion? It certainly seemed so.
Either way, Nickolas continued his story:
"The following years were difficult - we did not understand what happened back then, nor what dangers lurked beyond the walls. We couldn’t even tell whether there were other survivors - the only upside of our situation was that the absurd amount of fighting we needed for survival made us cultivate aura much faster."
Nickolas leaned back and sighed.
"Centuries went by, somewhere along the way the Order was properly established, and now we’re here. Any other questions?"
"Do you know what’s up with that weird sword Arthur wields?" Calen asked.
"I’m afraid not - I can confidently it’s not cursed, and it’s power doesn’t seem to be derived directly from the Blight..."
"But you think it is connected in some way."
"Yes, it’s still similar to how that power feels, but different in some way - like someone cut out the vile corruption and left only the terror it brings."
"Is it possible he used the blade to manipulate the round table members?"
The answer didn’t come from Nickolas, but from behind the group:
"If he did it then I was spared for some reason." Leon was leaning against the doorframe. "I brought more guests."
Alfred entered the room, still in his Matthew form, followed by a young woman with long black hair and ice blue ice.
"Is that the friend you told Thomas about?" Cassian gestures at the girl.
"Yes, this is Morgan - the only person I’ve found who wasn’t scared to talk about sir Nickolas." Alfred nodded.
Nickolas raised an eyebrow.
"Why on earth did you choose to look like that?"
"Believe me, it wasn’t by choice." Alfred turned to Calen. "Can I take off the mask for now?"
"Yes, of course - actually, give it here I’ll recharge it while we’re at it."
Morgan looked quite confused by the exchange, but what really shocked her was Alfred - or from her perspective Matthew- ripping off his own face.
In a blink of an eye his body returned to normal, earning a gasp from the shell-shocked woman.
Alfred bowed to her with a smirk.
"Allow me to reintroduce myself - I’m sir Alfred, student of sir Nickolas over there."
"Y-you! Why didn’t you tell me?" She demanded. "I teased you and everything, I wouldn’t have done that if I knew you were a big shot!"
"Why? It’s not like you did anything wrong - and I wasn’t tricking you, aside from using a fake name and pretending to be more stupid than I really am sometimes I guess."
Morgan huffed and looked away.
"I might forgive you later, we’ll see. For now at least explain what’s going on here."
This time Isara took the role of the storyteller, and proved to be much more adept at describing things briefly than Calen.
"Okay Matt- I mean Alfred, I forgive you - this is too cool to be upset." Then she glared at him. "But don’t try to trick me again."
"Noted." Alfred turned to look at Nickolas. "How are you feeling master?"
"I’m feeling like I told you to stay in Mountainfall." He crossed his arms. "Why do you always insist on putting yourself in harm’s way? And you shouldn’t have left Mountainfall without an ambassador."
"We don’t need an ambassador now, our settlements are now connected by an underground tunnel." Alfred argued. "And it’s not like I had a choice when I heard they forcefully took your position from you."
"There’s always a choice."
"For once I have to agree with Alfie." Leon interjected. "We need every man we can get, not many are willing to actively oppose the round table’s judgement."
"I told you to not call me that." Alfred grumbled.
"Aw, but you loved that nickname before!"
"I’m gonna use it." Morgan giggled.
The moment of pointless bickering gave Calen time to recharge the mask to the full capacity - he already did it on the second day while everyone else was busy, but it didn’t hurt to constantly top it up.
"So, what’s the plan?" Alfred asked.
"I’m going to find out a way to get this four access to the evidence, but it might take a few days." Leon stated.
"Isn’t that exactly what Harold told us?" Calen frowned.
"Harold is on Nick’s side? Who would’ve thought."
"Wait, you’re in charge and you don’t know who’s on whose side?"
"Of course not, in moments you can never be sure of anyone’s true allegiance - the only allies you can trust are the people from outside who don’t have any personal stakes in the conflict."
"That explains us, but how come the two of you trust each other then?" Calen looked between Alfred and Leon.
"I know Alfred before he could speak, the boy couldn’t do a bad thing even if he tried."
"Sir Leon might have fooled everyone else, but I know he actually deeply respects master and would never do something to harm him."
"Am I the only one who has no what’s happening in terms of relationships in this organisation?" Isara scratched her head.
"It’s complicated." Alfred, Leon and Nickolas said at the same time.
"I bet it is, especially after centuries of being stuck together in a single building." Calen said."Say Leon, could you provide us with a way of getting here without bothering you? It would make the information exchange much easier, and we wouldn’t have to endanger Thomas."
Nickolas responded instead:
"Don’t you worry about Thomas, he could bash in the skull of one of the round council members and they would still probably let him be."
"I don’t know, he hasn’t tried to kill anyone yet." Nickolas shrugged. "But as for a way to get here, there’s a secret passage on the wall opposite this cell - just twist one of the torches and it’ll open. It leads to one of the decommissioned bathrooms in the lower levels, so as long as you’re careful it should be easy to use."
"Does anyone else know about that passage?"
"Probably not, I burned the castle plans after memorising all the hidden paths."
"Since you have a way in here now, I should tell you the poison will stop working soon - we should get going." Leon warned them.
"Good luck, and inform me once you know more."