Rapture leaned back upon the cotton bedspread.

His chamber was silent come fall of night.

He closed his eyes, prepared to fall into slumber.

All of this was observed by Amelia, who had yet to leave his side.

Then came a knocking on the chamber door. Amelia kicked her body free from the wall and turned to face the closed mahogany slab of door.

Rapture glanced her way, he peered over her shoulder as she spoke to another woman, a Venus City Soldier.

He didn’t hear what was being said, whatever it was, however, it pressed Amelia to glance his way. She struggled to come to a decision, but even that did not last long.

“Watch him,” She said to the soldier.

“Yes, Milady,” The soldier replied. However Amelia’s heart was still uneasy, she turned to face Rapture with a troubled glare.

“That all important guest of ours has gone missing, I’ve been asked to help track her down. Will you be alright?”

“Sure,” Rapture replied. He sat up and stared at the soldier before him. She was a familiar face, one who knew him well. He felt no discomfort in having her guard his chamber door.

“Very good,” Amelia said. Yet still she hesitated. Not once but twice did she peer back into the room before finally she did depart.

The Enforcer of Venus stepped into the hallway, the door clicked shut behind her.

Silence fell again for a time. The woman stood still, her gaze firmly locked upon the sealed chamber door. Rapture’s gaze never left her form. He sat up, for he noticed a disparity in her behaviour now.

This chatty woman actually hadn’t said a word to him, her expression was even somewhat abnormal, as if she was pondering something deeply.

This was unlike her, for while she wasn't an idiot, she was far too carefree.

The woman's pupils locked upon him. The boy felt a tremble go down his spine. Instantly, he imagined a scenario inside his head.

Suppose he leapt forward, even with all his might he would be easily subdued and wrestled to the floor. This woman before him had that kind of skill, thanks to his tireless days spent training in that courtyard, and a lifetime of hunting and gathering, he could tell it by instinct.

She stepped forward, reached out to his desk and seized the chair laying there. She sat backwards upon the wooden seat and crossed her arms over the back of it. Her gaze locked upon the boy, whose instincts had dissuaded him from making a move.

“Do you not offer tea to your guests where you come from?” The girl inquired. Rapture’s sense of dread didn’t vanish one bit, but he focused it. Instead of abject fear, now he felt only caution. This woman, most likely, her goal was not to kill him. He glared her way and said to her.

“I do not consider uninvited guests worthy of hospitality.” The woman cracked a smile, she laughed even. Indeed, this boy’s reaction to her presence was an amusing one, that much had to be said.

Her laughter persisted for a time. Before long, her hair turned to golden threads, a mature woman of unmatched beauty, bearing golden brown skin to match her glittering locks, appeared then before the boy’s unflinching gaze.

All of Venus’ women were alluring sights, even Rapture, whose mind was focused on training and that alone, hadn’t managed to ignore them completely, but this woman was something entirely different.

Her beauty was refined, and her façade was as charming as the buried truth it bid to conceal.

“Let’s cut to the chase then, shall we boy? Tell me, what is your connection with General Avance, the woman named Beatrix and the group that they oppose, the men who call themselves Cain.” Rapture’s expression wavered a little.

When his mother’s and his father’s names were uttered he felt a sense of unease. However when he heard the name of Cain, their enemy, he drew a total blank. Lucretia’s own eye caught that flash of confusion.

She realised it then, that this boy, Rapture, truly had no idea who those people were. “How curious,” She muttered aloud. With the click of her tongue she then pondered, “It seems you don’t really have anything to do with that lot.”

The boy didn’t understand. Who was Cain, what did they have to do with his parents? What was it this woman sought to learn by asking him about them?

He understood only one thing, that Lucretia’s gaze upon him became considerably less hostile once she knew that he wasn’t one of those men. That emboldened him somewhat, it allowed him to speak with her with far less caution in his tone.

“Who’s Cain?” He asked her. Indeed, that was the most pressing question. What she knew of his parents was an important question too, but one for later. Lucretia shot a glance upon him, only that, but it was enough to have him fall silent.

“I’d very much like to know myself,” The Princess said as she turned her gaze away from him. “Tell us, Amelia, why don’t you? Who are these men who have infiltrated our lands. Who are these men who tried to murder General Avance? Who are these men who are lurking in the shadows and scheming against your Sovereign?”

The room fell silent once again. Even Rapture turned his head to face that corner of the room, which had been beset upon by the gaze of Lucretia. When he heard the Princess' words, a look of unease appeared in his eyes.

Amelia’s voice echoed out, a tired sigh and nothing more. She appeared from the darkness, her form becoming visible like a chameleon free of camouflage.

“You tricked me, Princess,” Amelia said with a scornful glare.

“No I didn’t,” Lucretia said with a scoff. Indeed, Amelia wasn’t a fool, she’d known from the start what was going on. She had known, also, that as many as seven powerful Platinum Class had suddenly beset their Ashen senses upon her at that time.

Compared to Jupiter’s elite, she was maybe a fair challenge for one of them, maybe three if it was Melany, but she could not hope to match all seven. The cat was out of the bag, she knew it from the start and had been forced to play along, lest she be slaughtered.

Indeed she hadn't been tricked, she had been threatened.

“What did you just say?” Rapture’s troubled voice broke the silence. Both Amelia and Lucretia turned with baffled gazes to face him. His eyes, which were locked upon Lucretia’s form, betrayed his shock.

“Avance is...my father? Right?” The boy muttered aloud as he turned his gaze Amelia’s way. The enforcer faced the boy’s troubled face, glanced towards Lucretia’s curious expression, and then nodded.

She confirmed it, Rapture’s parentage, right in front of Lucretia, who was only mildly shocked to hear it. The Princess turned her gaze back towards the boy, only to find him staring toward her. “You said that these people, Cain, tried to kill him?” He asked her.

“Yes,” Lucretia replied. Her expression returned to neutral, she accepted everything quickly and responded frankly. “They did indeed.” She frowned coldly as she glanced Amelia’s way.

Now she understood that this boy was the son of Beatrix and Avance, living proof of their romantic involvement, everything she needed to prove right the story Mourn had told Jupiter’s Sovereign before was now in her hands.

That said even Mourn hadn’t mentioned any offspring, perhaps he didn’t know? She did not relish Amelia’s unease, but she did capitalise on it. She then turned back to face Rapture, who was now facing her head on.

“Is he alright?” The boy asked after the health of the father he’d never met.

“We have no idea where he is right now,” Lucretia replied. Some hint of sentimentality overcame her only recently hardened heart. They had not succeeded in locating Avance’s body so he was more than likely alive, but where was he? Why had he not appeared by now? She had no idea.

“I’d like to confirm his status myself,” She muttered those words aloud, clearly uncaring whether or not the boy could hear them. Rapture looked her way with a troubled expression.. He shook his head and then turned to face Amelia.

“Did you know about this?” He asked her. His tone was full of panic and pleading, but Amelia did not answer him right away. He was asking her about Cain, and about his father’s status after facing them, of course she could not answer quickly.

She remained silent for a while and in so doing she confirmed that she knew more than she wanted to say. The boy felt a sting inside his chest, one which hurt worse than the rest. Betrayal, he’d never felt anything of the sort, not until today.

“Who are these people? Amy, what else haven’t told me?” Amelia raised her head and faced the child whose heart was full of shock, confusion, fear and rage, and lamented that she could not deny her own hand in making him feel this way.

She glanced towards Lucretia, the Princess, who now didn’t need to do anything but watch and listen to learn all she’d come to find out. She gave in, despite her spite, for what point was there in hiding it now?

"We did not know Avance was attacked, but his absence until now made us think it likely. He went after you and your mother, you see, went to save you when your half brother revealed your existence, and that of the Beacon to call a God you mother had in her possession, to Jupiter.”

Amelia glared Lucretia’s way for a moment, but the princess ignored her. There she sat, arms crossed over the seat of her chair, blatantly ignoring her role in all of this.

Rapture’s heart ached for more than one reason. His father came for him, for his mother too, to rescue them from Jupiter. This was the truth. He had to wonder from then on, had his mother truly been approaching the end of her lifespan? Had she not, in truth, simply thought there was no other way?

He glared towards Lucretia, this time with eyes full of bloodlust and fury. She noticed it, but treated it with only a glance. He was too weak to act on his desire to harm her, no matter how misguided it was.

“Do not make the mistake of assuming your mother was an innocent victim in all this,” The Princess said with an indifferent tone, “The Beacons are taboo, I was just doing my civic and royal duty in attempting to apprehend her.”

The boy trembled, yet some part of him understood. That Beacon, which called down a god in exchange for the user’s life, if his mother had not possessed such a thing as that then perhaps her fate would’ve been different in the end.

“Besides, my job was only to arrest her, I wasn’t there to kill anybody. I may not look it, but I’m more pacifist than most people, granted, I like to think myself a realistic pacifist.”

The boy could grasp that much if he followed the full story. He was able to reason that it wasn’t her army but this force called Cain who’d acted with intent to kill. With that said, he turned to face his master, the enforcer, Amelia.

“Why did you keep all of this from me?” He asked her, whilst perhaps exercising a far more patient tone than one would expect from a lad his age. The enforcer raised her head. She locked her eyes with his. Many emotions could be gleaned there, sorrow and regret chief amongst them.

“It was your mother’s will that, if possible, you not be drawn into this mess,” She honestly replied. Her words were far from lies, she spoke them with sincerity. The boy calmed, his gaze softened. Only now did he begin to calm his rage. All of this secrecy was his mother’s will? Her desire to keep him away from some old enemy?

“What do you mean,” He asked, for he had to know.

She knew what he was asking: who was Cain? Why had his own mother sought to hide him existence from them? What did they seek and what did it have to do with his family?

“My brother already told you about Abel, didn’t he?” She asked to confirm, for if he knew not of Abel then he was less than likely to comprehend Cain.

“Yes,” Rapture replied. He thought back to that conversation and recited, piece by piece, what he knew of the organisation known as Abel. “Rudolph told me about Abel, and about the Immortal Clan, who are both my ancestors and their enemy.”

Lucretia perked up her ears. She had heard of these groups at least once or twice before, but Abel was a foreign power and the Immortal Clan was just a legend, one nobody had ever seen.

She had not expected to hear even one of those two names mentioned here today. Those mighty entities were the stuff of legends to her, faraway beings she had never seen and expected to go her whole life without seeing. She opened her ears wide to listen on.

What followed then was indeed a tale of legend, but one no less real than the words penned to paper by a scholarly historian.