~28~ Six Artifacts, Three Portals, and One Assassin.

This chapter is a massive info dump, just a little bit. And a bit of a mess. Enjoy.

Super unedited.

Sophie had never run so fast in her life. She peeled off her face mask, pain prickling her face, and kicked the door open, tears staining her eyes.

Leto looked over his shoulder, smiling.

"Dear gods..." Sophie clamped her hands over her mouth, giggling before running into his arms. Leto laughed, hugging her tight.

Her Rastus father was alive. Kynareth let him live.

"Move it, it's my turn!" Mansi laughed. Leto gave her a tight hug, mindful of her growing baby bump. Alexios ran into the parlor as well, not even stopping as he threw his arms around Leto.

The two tumbled to the ground, cackling laughter filling the room.

"Son of a bitch, man! You really gave us a scare!" Alexios laughed, giving Leto another bone-crushing hug.

"I forgot you aren't a scrawny little boy anymore," Leto coughed, starting to turn blue around Alexios's massive arms clamped around him. Alexios helped him up, brushing him off.

"Now, where is Maria? I need to catch up with her." Leto asked. Everyone went quiet.

"Where is Maria?" Leto repeated.

Alexios cleared his throat, "My mother went with us to Egypitnat. She knew there would be good doctors in Arsinoe's court and wanted to bring them home for you."

Leto's face fell, "And she actually went?"

Alexios quirked an eyebrow, "Uh yes?"

Leto slumped down onto a seat, running his hand through his hair, "Gods above. And I imagine that she was taken during the siege?"

"How do you know about the siege?" Nour asked.

"The Assassins in the dining hall filled me in when I asked. I haven't been here in so long, they looked at me as if I had two heads." Leto began to pace, "Do we know where she was taken?"

Alvar stepped up, "No, but Ruy has a lead. We are just waiting for him to get back to the guild."

Sophie swallowed, "He is okay, right?"

Alvar shot her a look. Sophie wasn't the only one that was worried. Alvar is missing his best friend, "I haven't heard anything from him. I believe he managed to get out, I just don't know where he is."

"We need to find Ruy. We get his lead, we get Maria."

"We have no idea where he is!"

"Let Ruy figure his way back, we need to focus on finding Maria before him."

"Leto, I know you don't trust Ruy, but he is extremly important to us."

"I'm not the only one that forgot he was with the Neverseen and made our lives a living hell- right? I'm not the only one-"

"Yes, Leto. We remember Ruy made mistakes."

The bickering continued, and Sophie's stress levels were back to sky-high. She massaged her temples, her eyes clamped shut.

But then there was a new voice.

"S-Sop-..."

"Sophie... I'm s-s-cared...."

Her head snapped up as if confirming no one else was saying it. There was a flutter at the back of her mind like the fluttering of grass against your palm.

She knew that voice.

So, out loud, she asked, "Fitz? Is that you in my head?"

Everyone went quiet.

"Lia?" Mansi asked, placing a hand on her shoulder.

"Fitz are you there?" Sophie asked again, not caring what she was saying out loud as well as in her head. Alvar shot up from his seat at his brother's name.

"Sophie?" Fitz asked, his voice clearer.

"How is this happening?"

"It's working! I-I can't believe it's working!" Fitz's voice was scratchy and loud. Their connection was humming louder and louder, like a tv that was about to be snapped off.

"Fitz, what's wrong?"

"They took me! I'm with Maria-"

"You're with Maria?!" Everyone jumped when Sophie said that, Leto the most.

"Yes! We have no idea where we are and Maria doesn't have that much longer! She h-as brown ey-... The-y w-want me.... break.... S-Sophie?"

"No! No, no no! Fitz the line is breaking! Where are you?!"

"W-water-"

Silence.

Sophie looked over the confused inner circle, Mansi delightfully breaking the silence with, "What the hell just happened?!

"Somehow, the Neverseen got Fitz and they are holding him with Maria." Sophie looked at her brother, "He said she doesn't have that much time left."

Alexios clenched his jaw, "Do we know where they are?"

Sophie's shoulders slumped, "All Fitz said was water."

Leto straightened, "Alright, all hands on deck. Let's spread out, contact everyone we know about any leads on Maria."

Everyone held their breath.

"What's wrong?"

Maria warned Sophie about this when Leto first showed up in Inalia again. Leto hasn't fully registered the fact that Allesandro isn't the Mentore anymore; Sophie is. Leto isn't the second in command; Ruy is.

Sophie squared her shoulders, "No."

"What do you mean no? Amalia, we need to find Maria as fast as possible-"

"We are going to find Ruy first. And then contact the Vackers to see Fitz is okay. My men are occupied enough as it is. I have men protecting the Observatory, spies in the Neverseen, hunting down the Neverseen's sponsors, protecting the Ancient Vatarians, and still completing contracts. We find Ruy and move from there."

The Inner circle stared as the two stood off, fighting for command. Nour was the first to straighten, nodding to Sophie.

"Right away, Mentore Morretti." He bowed his head, filing out of the room. Everyone followed suit, except for Leto.

This wasn't how she expected the reunion to go.

Leto bowed his head, a hand over his heart, "Right away, Mentore Morretti."

Sophie didn't miss the way he gritted his teeth before striding out the room and closing the door behind him with a stern click.

And then Sophie was alone. She sighed, striding out the room and to her bedroom. She changed out of riding leathers she threw on when she was dragged out of her bath. She put her hair up after sliding into a cobalt blue and white peplos and white leather corset.

Sophie has never been one to relax much, anyway.

Ricin was waiting in his dragon form, nose pressed to the ground. His but wiggled as he waited for just a moment before jumping into the bushes.

"Ah, ah, ah- Ricin! No!" Sophie pulled on Ricin's tail, pulling him out of the bushes and cringing at the rat dangling in his mouth.

"If you wanted some food, just tell me. Don't eat rats in the gutters!" Ricin cowered at Sophie's raised voice, whimpering and dropping his head.

"Aw, wait, baby. I'm sorry." She placed a kiss on his forehead, "I'm just stressed."

Ricin cooed, slurping up the rat before nuzzling against her hair.

"I wanna go check up on something while I'm picking her up." She opened her saddlebag, double-checking that it was still there. Ricin stretched like a cat before his body began to morph and change, a horse manifesting right in front of her. She slid the saddlebag onto his back behind his cheap saddle before flicking the reins.

The Pythia was waiting in the lower part of the temple, Lilac next to her. Lilac squealed when her sister came into view, running up and tackling her with a hug as soon as she slid of Ricin's back.

"How did your second day with your auntie go?" Sophie asked.

"Kinda well?" Lilac glanced over her shoulder at her aunt, "Kinda awkward."

Sophie smiled, kissing her sister on her forehead, "Well, you're with me for the rest of the week. You'll see her next weekend."

Sophie glared as the Pythia neared, standing up all the way. Sophie standing at a 5'9 with arms that could crush a watermelon, towered over the 5'2 Pythia, who swallowed in her presence. Sophie sighed, pulling out a cloth-wrapped object on Ricin's saddlebags as she addressed the Pythia.

"I'm sure everything went well?" Sophie asked, her voice deep and threatening.

The Pythia smiled disarmingly, "Yes, my heiress."

Rolling her eyes, Sophie grabbed Lilac's hand and strode into the temple.

"Uh, where are you going?" the Pythia asked, twirling from her spot.

"I'm going to the Observatory."

The Pythia slid in her way, "Like hell you are. It is my divine duty to protect the Observatory with my life."

Sophie looked her up and down, "And it is my divine duty to clean up Kynareth's messes. And my divine nosense trumps yours, so too bad."

Sophie sidestepped the Pythia, still holding Lilac's hand as they went down more and more.

The rock face slid free, revealing exactly what Alexios described. Three archways leading nowhere carved out of the stone. The one Alexios said he saw the woman in looked extremely underwhelming.

The woman he described in the portal sounded exactly like Kassandra, and Sophie had to check something.

Unwrapping the cloth from around it, Sophie revealed Kassandra's crown. It hummed with a power that Sophie attributed to the godly queen. But... what if this hunch was something more?

The crown was a deep gold laurel wreath that curled around her head and flourished at the pinnacle of the forehead, small rubies, onyx, and pearls tucked beneath the leaves. Small pearls dangled from the crown and hung around the head. The pinnacle of Inalia, everything that it was then and it is now.

Sophie kneeled before the portals, closing her eyes. Lilac did the same, following Sophie's lead.

"Queen Kassandra?" Sophie asked.

Her words echoed in the chamber, making it seem emptier and emptier.

"Who is Kassandra?" Lilac whispered, her eyes still clamped shut.

"A friend." A voice answered from the darkness of her eyelids.

Sophie's eyes flew open, gaping on the now open portal. Kassandra smiled from her throne, the black veins further up her face than before.

Lilac yelped, hiding behind her sister.

"H-How?"

Kassandra nodded to the crown in Sophie's hands, "That little trinket. Tezca told you to retrieve it for a reason."

Sophie gaped at the crown then to Kassandra. Gulping down her shock, she muttered, "I met Eira."

Kassandra's eyes widened, "Did you now?"

"She nearly killed me with a toxic smoke bomb."

"That sounds like her," Kassandra sighed, leaning back in her throne, "She was always a fiesty one."

Kassandra noted Lilac hiding behind Sophie, giving her a little wave.

"So, how goes stopping Mephala?"

"We found two of the artifacts. One was given to us by a, uh, soldier in the Neverseen named Cynna. The other was a pair of glasses we just found in a Neverseen casino-"

"What is a casino?" Kassandra asked.

Lilac piped up, "A place where people get drunk and waste their money."

Kassandra shrugged, clearly not fully understanding.

"So you have three, then." Kassandra sighed.

Sophie blinked, "We have two. The glasses and the key."

"And my crown."

Sophie froze, looking to the laurel wreath crown her hand was holding. She then dropped it with a gasp, wiping her hand on her peplos.

"Take it easy! Don't just drop the pinacle of your Inalian history to the floor." Kassandra snapped.

"Oh gods, I touched it. I touched it! It's going to be like rope in Foxfire again!"

"Amalia, enough!" Sophie quit her wailing to gape at Kassandra.

"Your crown is a godly artifact." Sophie breathed.

Kassandra rolled her eyes, "Yes, my dear, it is."

"And why didn't I freak out? If you touch an artifact with your bare hands-"

"Only active artifacts will do that my dear. My crown, and those glasses, are sleeping. They hold more power, but are sleeping in order to keep it retained."

Sophie didn't even realize that she touched the glasses without gloves. She touched the glasses with her bare hands.

"So, they are safer?"

"I did not say that. They require an owner that is powerful enough to handle the artifact. It will be on their person at all times. The last time the crown was active when it was on a head long before even me. When Byzanthar first created the artifacts, he created two artifacts that hold the bulk of the power. The crown he made resembled an Inalian crown that the royal family already wore, so it could easily replace our existing crown. Since our bloodline held so much power in it, it was passed to each ruler."

"S-So you knew it was an artifact? A priceless object passed down from the rulers of Inalia and you just handed it to me?!"

Kassandra shrugged, "You made it down to my crypt, I figured you were worthy of it."

"Oh jeez."

"I mean, how could you have known if you brought my crown down here, it would contact me?" Kassandra asked.

Sophie shrugged, "After my brother described what he saw down here-"

"Oh, so that was your brother? Yes, he woke up my portal even without the crown, even if it were just a few moments."

Sophie nodded, "When he described you, I just thought I would bring your crown down here and try to get the portal to open myself. Bringing the crown was a gut feeling."

"Well, the feeling was right."

"So, it seems you know more then you let on," Sophie gestured around her, to the two other portals next to Kassandra's, "What do these do?"

Kassandra bit her cheek, thinking her answer through.

"You don't know much about the artifacts, do you?"

"No."

"Well, Tezca visits me every once and a while to fill me in. The dragon was alive when Byzanthar made the artifacts. I pieced the rest together myself."

"Should I get a notepad or..."

"You have a photographic memory, fool. Now pay attention."

Sophie sat criss-cross with Lilac in her lap as if they were listening to a story from Aunty Filomena.

"There are six total artifacts. The goblet, the crown, the rope, the apple, the key, and the glasses. When Byzanthar made them all with the power needed to kill Mephala, he made them with a smother over them. Put them to bed, so to speak. All of the artifacts can be woken by anyone of extreme power, whether it be a Vatarian, Ogre, Lith, Elf, Dunmer, whatever."

"Extreme power. What does that mean?"

"Someone who has strong abilities, mental strength, and a powerful heart. And even then, the artifact may not connect with the wielder."

"Okay, what does each artifact do?"

"Settle down, I'm not done. The most important artifact is not my crown, but rather, the rope. When I died, my wife was heartbroken. She was a princess from the Chiranu kingdom, and an expierenced techy person."

Lilac giggled, "Techy person?"

Kassandra scoffed, "I've never been good with those gizmos and widget thingies."

Lilac fell into a fit of giggles, Sophie fighting her smile as well.

"Damn younglings- But yes, my wife, Princess Daiyu, was heartbroken when I died. She knew the secret of the artifacts, I told her about my crown and the other artifacts when we were married. The rope has the ability to cross thresholds, godly or otherwise. She knew this, and since the rope was initially held in Chrianu, she began work. She was the one who created the Observatory, believing that if she found enough artifacts, she could use their power to teleport to Egil's children and help them defeat Mehpala. She created three portals using the golden rope, one to my crypt, one that goes to Eira, and one that goes to Halvar. She took three artifacts that will open the portal to each person. The crown opens mine, the glasses opens Eira's, and the sphere opens Halvar's. Techincally, the sphere is called the Apple, but I never liked that name.  At the time, we had all in our possession before Daiyu spread them out after the Observatory didn't work out."

Sophie stopped, going cold.

"The... sphere?"

"That's what I said isn't it?"

Sophie leaned to Lilac, "Get something to write with and parchment from your aunt. Now."

Lilac sped out of the Observatory, returning quickly with a bundle of crumpled papers in one hand and a cheap pen in the other. Sophie carefully drew on the parchment balancing on her knee, Kassandra struggling to see what she was scribbling.

Sophie held up the sphere her father held years ago, scribbled in ink on the dirty parchment. She sketched a hazy outline of the sphere in her father's hand, his face muddled in the back. Sophie worried that if she drew too much of his face, it would bring back unwelcome memories.

Kassandra's eyes widened.

"That's... exactly it. That's the sphere. That man looks like you- is he your father? Of course he is, he has brown eyes.  Did he use it?"

"Y-yes."

Kassandra truly looked worried, "You must find it as fast as you can. Your father woke up the sphere and, I'm guessing, that last one to have the sphere?"

"As far as I know."

"So that means there are two woken items. The rope, woken up by Daiyu and the sphere, woken by your father."

"The rope has been destroyed, so just the sphere. The Neverseen are looking for the Observatory. Why?"

"They probably believe they have the artifact to reach me. They kill me, my power divides between Eira and Halvar, making them more powerful and one step closer to Mephala being released."

"They know where Eira is, they are also hunting her as well. So, the portals teleport to the three beacons of Mephala's power, the Neverseen kill you and Eira, just to give more power to Halvar?"

Kassandra shrugged, "Probably."

"But Halvar will decay with all of Mephala's power, it will kill him just like it did Egil."

"Exactly my thought too. But from the information I know about the Neverseen, they aren't that dumb. They muct have something else up their sleeve." Kassandra leaned forward, "Amalia, you need to get to Eira before they do. Make her your ally before the Neverseen make her your enemy. Create defenses, collect the artifacts before they do so that Mephala can be stopped before anything else gets worse."

"It seems like she is already my enemy, Kassandra. And we have no idea where my father hid the sphere."

"Then change that. Time is of the essence, Morretti. I can already feel the changes in the air."

"What changes?"

"War is the in air, Amalia."

Here are the artifacts in a _Sibylline_ original drawing!

He spilled everything to them, every question they had they asked. He had only barely avoided spitting out his and Sophie's real relationship.

Ruy now stood side by side with Edaline, washing the dishes with lemon soap and sponge, working in silence. He turned to place the dish in the dish rack, smacking a dinner chair over with his wings.

"Oh, so sorry." Ruy pulled the chair back up, tucking his wings closer.

"Since you are half Dunmer, you can put them away, can't you?" Edaline asked.

Ruy shrugged, "Yes, but it feels a bit easier to just keep the wings out. Especially with my injury."

Edaline hummed, taking the dish from Ruy's hand and placing it in the dish rack for him.

"I know Sophie is jealous of the wings."

Ruy laughed, "She has mentioned it once or twice, yeah."

Edaline looked over her shoulder. Grizel and Sandor were viciously glaring at Ruy, just waiting for him to mess up.

"I just wanted to thank you for telling me the truth. But I still have a question." Edaline sighed, ignoring them.

"Ask away."

"You haven't mentioned much about how close you are with Sophie."

Ruy stiffened, wiping his hands off on a pink dish towel.

"Well, she's the mentore, and I'm the second in command, so of course-"

"Ruy." Edaline hip-checked him, whispering, "You should see your face when you talk about her. Like a giddy little boy talking to his crush at school."

Edaline laughed at the pink crossing over Ruy's cheeks.

"It turns out Sophie has that effect on people. You should've seen how Keefe and Fitz tripped over themselves around her. Even Dex- though that one was a bit awkward. Well they were all awkward, none of them knew how to flirt."

Ruy paused, looking at Edaline, "What?"

Edaline faltered in her dishwashing, "Sophie and Fitz had a, uh, thing going before she was taken by the Neverseen."

Ruy slid the towel back onto the handle, "I see."

Edaline realized she may have said a little too much, "Don't worry, I don't think it was anything too serious. A little teenage romance is all."

Why should he care? He had been with a lot of people before he was with Sophie. Sophie had every right to be with someone else before him.

But Fitz?

He didn't exactly seem like her type. Fitz was more, uh, put together than Ruy. Ruy's hair was messy, and no matter how much he shaved, he always had the faintest hint of stubble. Fitz was always well suited and had a big smile. Meanwhile, Ruy couldn't even tie a suit tie without Sophie's help.

"You are taking the fact that I'm dating your daughter very well." Ruy sighed, changing the topic before he fretted over it too much.

Edaline's eyes widened, "I said you had a little crush on her, I didn't say anything about dating each other. But thank you for answering that question for me."

Fuck.

"W-Wait, I didn't mean-"

"You best keep that quiet from Grady, kid. He's already mad at you." Grizel chuckled to Sandor, "I always knew her taste in men was questionable after that whole thing with Fitz. But I never would've guessed an enemy of hers. How poetic."

"Hush, Grizel." Sandor snapped.

"Aw, he doesn't think you're right for her either." Grizel snickered. Sandor was glaring even harder at him, his massive arms twice the size of Ruy's and looked like they could crush him with just a single strike.

"You'll have to patient. You did create quite a few problems for us when you were younger."

Closing his eyes and taking a deep breath, he turned to everyone, "I should really apoligize for what I did."

Everyone paused what they were doing. All attention turned to him. Ruy wanted to wrap his wings around himself like a cacoon and never come out, but he continued.

"I created a lot of problems for you all when I was younger. It was selfish of me and I should've left the Neverseen as soon as I could. I know this is too little too late, but I'm really sorry about any problems or heartaches I may have given any of you."

It was silent, everyone looking at one another. As if they were deciding what to say with their eyes.

"I take it back. Maybe Sophie's taste isn't that bad." Grizel shrugged, smiling at him. Edaline looked him over. Her eyes were hard to discern; it was a mix of apprehension and impressed shock.

"We will see about that, Grizel." Edaline finished the dishes, flicking the water off of her hands.

"But for right now, I forgive you."

Ruy nearly collapsed onto himself when he heard those words. One parent down, another one to go.

A knock at the door made Ruy jump out of his skin, ducking beneath the countertops in case they saw him. He is still an exiled criminal, after all. Grizel and Sandor snatched their weapons. Apprehensively they approached the door.

Sandor sighed, undoing the locks.

"It's okay. They're here." Sandor opened the door, revealing the Keefe Sencen and his father, Dizznees, Song twins, Marrella Redek, Wylie Endal, and the Vackers. And then a group that Ruy could only describe as a fever dream followed them, all of their identities hidden. They all gave Dex's mother, however, a slight nod of their heads. Out of recognition, maybe? Ruy assumed this was the Black Swan collective he had heard so much about.

Grady came downstairs, clearly expecting them.

"This is what is left of the Black Swan." Grady said to Ruy.

All of the parties turned to Ruy.

He had a lot of apologies and explanations to give.

Alden opened his mouth, but Della charged forward, "Where is our son?" She demanded.

Her son?

"Alvar is still in Inalia. Last I heard he is still planning the wedding-"

"Fitz is missing, Ruy." Grady snapped.

He hadn't even heard a rumor about this in the Neverseen Castello.

"When did he go missing?" Ruy demanded.

"Two days ago. The council has demanded we be quiet about it and no one has been able to find him. No one is looking for him," Della's lip quivered, turning away and holding Sofia closer to her chest, and Biana continued in her place.

"The Neverseen got him when he was bringing Sofia to Atlantis. They put a fake ad about a toy shop so they could lure them there. Sofia got away, she managed to get to a Black Swan base by Blur."

"Who is?"

"He was a part of our Collective."

"Well, where is he? I can work with him in order to identify the attackers, then we can-"

"Please." Dex's mother breathed. Her eyes were red, and her eyelashes wet. She had been crying, "Blur died in the altercation."

Ruy bit his lip, beginning to pace. "This doesn't make any sense, why on earth would they want Fitz? He has nothing that would beneift them."

Sofia raised her hand as if she were in class waiting to be selected.

"Uh, yes Sofia?" Edaline pointed to the little girl.

"They said something about him breaking Maria's mind. Whatever that means." She said, lowering her hand to suck her thumb.

Sofia was the only witness to the event.

Ruy knelt down to her level, smiling gently. Della and Alden moved to interject, but Edaline shook her head.

"Miss Vacker, do you mind telling me what happened? That way we can find your brother and make sure he gets home safely." Ruy asked quietly. Sofia looked up to her mom and dad before nodding, thumb still in her mouth and smiling at Ruy.

Grady stood up, "Everyone, give me your coats."

Edaline also took place next to him, "I'll make everyone a hot chocolate. We're figuring this out together."

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_Sibylline_