Ciel put the finishing touch on his cave of secrets and knew the beginning of the end had arrived. He knew after this night, Curtis would be changed forever. All this time, Etaceh grew her power in secret using the ignorance of Curtis, but from this day forth, that ignorance would be forcefully stripped.

Ciel walked out of the cave to find Carolina Westerna. It was time to kick the domino before it built any larger.

…

Inside a bare-boned chamber of granite lit by a few candles, Hunter Westerna was meditating.

He was a man of many mysteries. He served as a public servant since time immemorial. To ensure the prosperity of Curtis was the way of the Westerna. That was the reason his family found the Military Police — the organization tasked with wiping the rot clean from the pristine nation. They were the executioner’s ax, striking anyone attempting to destroy the system which maintained Curtis.

For Hunter, everything was a gear in the ever-expanding machine of Curtis. The system of education forged the ingot of men to supplement that growing engine. Hunter never questioned the purpose of said device, nor the direction it was going. It would be an act of sacrilege akin to questioning his faith. Only one thing mattered for the old man dubbed as hero — the continued march of this nation for another day.

Anything that threatened his sacred purpose must be eliminated. No matter how big or important the gear was, the machine would be the priority.

A long-distance transmitter flashed. Hunter woke from his meditation. Despite the widespread usage of artifacts, Magic Tower still heavily restricted the distribution of long-distance communicators. While accessible, such devices were a luxury. With his status, Hunter himself could buy it en masse, but he preferred a more frugal lifestyle.

Only one person could be making the call now.

Hunter accepted the call.

“Father, I have the location,” Carolina reported. “She will be in a spot near Janus — an underground hideout.”

“Good,” Hunter replied in a raspy voice. “I will be there to handle her.” The old man frowned. “I still have a bad feeling about this. Carolina, I want you to take your source and Holmes into custody. I suspect they are planning something.“

“Yes,” Carolina replied, and cut the transmission.

…

Within hours, Carolina was in front of Holmes’ General Artificer. As an adopted daughter of Hunter, she prized speed and precision. She knew the stake and couldn’t afford to mess around.

Carolina had a lot of gripes with Xia, but the exceptional displays of her power during the Princess of White Incident turned hatred into fear. They needed to thoroughly discover how Xia achieved that power. If using Ciel and Holmes as hostages even the playing field, then capturing them was a must.

Carolina’s zombie mice returned for their scouting mission to reveal the shop was empty. The woman frowned. She made her little scouts sensitive to Ether emissions from security artifacts, and the result was baffling. Holmes only set the basic security measures, nothing beyond her. It was a disappointment from a man of his reputation. Not wasting opportunities, Carolina sneaked closer.

She quickly bypassed the alarm, picked the lock and opened the door to the silent, lifeless shop, dark without illumination.

The place felt dead, abandoned.

Carolina turned her attention to a door. In the shop’s short-life, no one aside from Holmes and his apprentice could enter. The curious agent approached the door and picked the lock.

She burst into the room and instantly knew they got read like a book.

Visible from her position was a message-board pinned with several images of the aerial shot of Hecate in various filters. Notes detailing each image and the illegal modification to the capital they entailed accompanied each picture. Finally, there was a handwritten message written above the collage of revelation.

Carolina recognized Holmes’ handwriting and felt the stab in the heart for its simple, delightful message.

‘I TOLD YOU SO’

…

While Carolina was greeted by the reveal they were played like solitaire, Hunter assaulted ‘Xia’s hideout’ with his team of crack agents.

Aside from Hunter, there was the red-head Robert the swordsman, a bald minor and practitioner of the Red and Black Magic who went by Carle, and — to round the four-man team — the serpent tamer and mistress of Green Magic, Neptis.

The team was determined to either take Xiahana La Louve alive or kill her to silence the threat to Curtis.

Hunter, leading the group, looked at the hatch that specified the meeting’s location.

Neptis gathered the Green Mana and cast a simple spell.

Green Magic Rank 3: Beast Contract

An emerald snake emerged from the ball of Green. It slowly slithered into the hatch opened by Robert.

The group waited in silence.

The green snake slithered back-up the manhole and made its way toward Neptis. With Green Mana in sync to the snake, the Green mage understood exactly what it said.

Green Magic Rank 1: Nature Communication

“The route is cleared,” Neptis informed the group.

One-by-one, they entered the fun house prepared by Ciel

…

The first room was strange. The floor was lined with tiles of letters. A row of holes lined the wall of the room. It was a setting ripped from an archaeological adventure movie. Glowing magical light lit the room, but failed to light the mood.

“What is this?” Robert the swordsman said, stepping on a tile labeled ‘A’ which immediately fell, nearly taking him to the spike pit below.

Thankfully, Neptis was quick enough to save him with a grab.

“Is Xiahana La Louve really here?” Neptis asked Hunter. “This place is more like a game than a meeting.”

Hunter agreed, “Yes, it appears we underestimated Xiahana. She knew we would be coming.” He was amused by the possibility. “But what exactly is the point of all this? Why set the game board? She must be trying to tell us something.”

“There are nine rows on the floor,” Neptis said. “A nine-letters word?”

“Simple,” Carle tapped on a letter ‘C’. “We just have to—”

Clang!

Robert quickly stopped the arrow that was going to give Carle a new hole in his head.

“Be careful, kid,” Robert growled toward Carle, who trembled from the near death experience. “This place is still booby trapped.”

In the end, the group of four cleared the room using Neptis snakes to test each letter. Through trial and error, they finally worked out the sequence of tiles that wouldn’t end up with filled arrows or had quick trips through the floors.

And the sequence?

T-H-E-O-M-A-C-H-Y

…

The entire group made their way into the second room after making sure it wasn’t booby trapped.

“The guys who made that room must be a bastard,” Neptis complained.

“Quiet,” Hunter reprimanded her. “Our enemy is distracting us.”

Then they saw the next room.

Robert was awestruck by the architect, “I must admire whoever invented this trick. They are really imaginative.”

“Yes,” Carle agreed. “Very imaginative and very sick in the head.”

Hunter nodded grimly.

Confronting them was a simple pool, transparent enough for them to see the tunnel leading to the next chamber. Aside from the water, there wasn’t any physical barrier halting their progress. Instead, the maker of this challenge stopped them in their tracks using psychological tricks.

Carved on the wall facing them was a simple message.

‘Care to take the leap of faith?’

“The water must be poisonous,” Neptis said. “It is a trick for us to jump in. Xia wants to kill us.”

Robert disagreed, “I don’t know. Maybe this is a test. Look, if Xia is behind this, she would want to know how much we trust her.”

Carle said, “Yeah, but are you going to take a dip first?”

Robert was silent.

“Neptis,” Hunter said. “Summons another snake. The kind that can swim.”

“Boss,” Neptis looked guilty. “I made a contract with a mountain snake, not a sea snake.”

Hunter resigned himself, “Fine. It appears I have to perform the duty of a leader.”

“Are you sure, Commissioner?” Robert warned.

“Robert, take charge and go back for reinforcement, if I don’t return in an hour,” Hunter waded into the water. “I will see for myself what is beyond this room. If it wants a test of faith, I can assure I have endless faith to spare.”

And he dove into the water. The surrounding liquid was cold like any other water. Relieving for a second he wasn’t about to be parted from his life, Hunter Westerna swam through the dark, barely visible tunnel. He made it to the other side and saw a light up ahead.

In a test of faith, Hunter emerged to see the  final chamber.

…

When his eyes adjusted to the light, Hunter Westerna finally understood why such a message was scribbled on another side of the wall.

Because the final chamber was the theory Xiahana La Louve tried to send, believing it required a test of faith.

Notes, references, papers and articles were tied together with a thin string. Hunter quickly investigated the thread. An ancient timeline wove before his eyes. The prehistoric cave paintings of Acceltra, detailing the coming of almighty beings. The thread connected that to the founding of religions and several central saints. Era of conflicts, coming of disasters, led to modern times. The founding and conquering of lands which built Curtis and Eleanor. Then finally, the mysterious appearance of Etaceh on Curtis.

All of them led to a single note.

‘Edmond La Louve was right.’

Hunter knew he was wrong. It appeared his faith had a limit.

…

The Military Police team walked back to the first chamber, and they were split in their opinion.

Neptis voiced her opinion, “I don’t get it. Xiahana lured us here to share her father’s conspiracy theory?”

“Maybe she followed her father’s footsteps and lost it,” Carle said.

Hunter then made his view known, “The only thing that matters is how this discovery affects her relationship with Curtis.” Hunter growled. “We couldn’t afford her to repeat Edmond’s errors and sell the nation to Yulong.”

Robert didn’t share their opinion, “Look. This is Xiahana La Louve talking about.” The swordsmen stood in front of his comrades, pleading for deeper inspection. “She doesn’t kill that slime as a fluke. Her father, Edmond La Louve, achieved Color Transcendence. They are not a stupid people. They must know something that convinced them.”

Neptis was incredulous, “So you are saying they are right about the shadowy conspiracy of mysterious beings?”

“Not a conspiracy,” said a familiar voice. “But a military buildup leading to a war, with us puny humans right in the middle of the warpath. Oh, and Robert, thanks for the word of confidence.”

Xia sat on her beach chair, chilling at the entrance of the small dungeon, waving at the four in an all new costume.

“Hello, Hunter,” Xia said. “Care for a chat?”