Crumblecity Tales

                “I ask, Esmerela, that you understand why we’ve come to this.

Why there is no choice but to end what you seek.

Why we must break our oaths.

Why I fear, more than anything, that you already understand...”

“Good, now another. Behind you, don’t turn your head,” Aido instructed, as he strode around the small courtyard at the top of the spire, far above most of Delatryss. Ghost felt sweat cooling as it dripped through her fur, chilled in the thin air.

Stranger still, she could feel a similar feeling, her awareness slightly fractured, as two additional copies of her, unmoving but exact, stood a slight distance away from her, one behind Aido, another to her right, just in her field of view.

She concentrated, exhaustion gripping her, as she tried to create yet another copy behind her, her vision blurring with the effort. So close, so close…! She felt a flicker of awareness before the other two copies popped, disappearing into tatters before scattering into light and vanishing. Ghost slumped, catching herself on the stone wall, breathing heavy, wiping sweat from her brow.

“Wonderful…” Aido said, the open awe in his voice giving Ghost a small breath of energy despite her weariness. “The aspect of reflection is rare, Ghost. With further practice you will do so much,” he offered her a flask, which she took gratefully, sipping at the water.

Aido walked to join her at the wall, folding his scarred arms across the frigid stone, seemingly unaware of it’s bite on his cold flesh. He looked across the sea of green, the largest moon peaking over the horizon, beautiful, large, a yellow hue spreading across the forest below. Ghost turned, admiring the view, a rare one, unless you travel to the loftier heights of Delatryss, which she did often. Still, looking out at the moon, she could feel… something. A pull, maybe, or a song, just out of hearing. It had been there ever since that fateful night.

The two sat in silence for a moment, as they often did during the first of the moonrise. “One year,” Aido said, and Ghost started, surprised, “it has been a full year since you joined us, Ghost.” Surprised, Ghost looked up at Aido, who was nearly two feet taller than she was. “You’ve done well, and you’ve progressed fast,” he rifled through a small bag he carried at his side as he talked, pulling out something that flashed briefly in the dark.

Ghost’s breath caught in her throat as she recognized it. The kenkin held a small, square envelope in his hands, made of a deep, red color. It was sealed with a thin, silvery symbol. He ran his fingers along the sharp edges of it, contemplatively. She’d seen those letters before. A task. A target. She had seen Kira and Raid, the other two of their party, receive them. A life that was fated to end. A Red Letter.

“I was given one year, you know.” Ghost looked askance at him, though her eyes never strayed from the envelope. “I was given one year to take you in, train you, teach you. A year to-“ he cut off, looking away and into the distance again. “A year to… prepare you. For this. A choice.” The wind fluttered the thin sheet. A flicker of memory- Ghost, a knife, a red line in the moonlight. Ghost battered the memory away and down, gone as fast as it came. Aido was looking at her. “It is that- you know. A choice.”

Ghost’s mind was blank. She had known this was coming, for the better part of a year now. Aido had told her himself.

“Do you know why I killed you?” he asked now, just as he did then, a year ago. They had been in a clearing then, the faintest of moonlight filtering through the thick canopy as they camped, traveling to the city. Ghost had frowned.

[You were told to.] she said then, a year ago. They were assassins, obviously. It’s what assassins did- you paid a cost so that someone else also did. She was familiar with the concept; her family was wealthy and well known. They had taught her about the dangers. Aido had just smiled at her response, saying nothing. Ghosts learned much in the last year, though. She knew the correct answer.

[Because you chose to.] she signed to him now, and Aido paused, then nodded. His fingers traced the edge of the letter again as he turned back towards the emerald ocean, and the moon, uncaring, shone across it.

“Yes,” he said quietly. It could have been a cold statement, evil even, coming from anyone else, but Ghost understood. “You can always choose. There is always a choice.” The two sat quietly for a moment, before Aido held out the envelope. He didn’t need to say anything. Ghost paused, uncertain. After another moment, she took the opposite side of the letter.

Later that night, she opened the letter, nervously, alone in her quarters. She read the name on it, then read it again, with the brief instructions. She had no idea who it was, but she had three days- the full reveal of the Reaping Moon.

—

“Do you think she knows?” said a voice in the dark, long after Ghost had fitfully fallen asleep.

“What, why would she? Nah, it’ll work. This is my favorite part, you were terrible, that first time, by the way, I’m sure she’ll do better.” Said another, female voice. The male voice made a rude comment.

“Keep an eye on her, please,” said a third voice. “You will both have to be here while I cannot.” The other two gave begrudging affirmation. “I shall return a week hence, if all goes as planned.” There was hesitation- then a noise of someone picking up a heavy pack, the movement of straps and small objects pocketed. “Be well.”

A door opened, and closed, as they do, then silence.

“You don’t have to be an ass in front of the boss,” said one voice, then a quiet laugh. Ghost slept through it all.

—

“Absolutely not, I’ve received nothing from Company 2 leadership. So, no.” The disgruntled red drakken said smugly from behind his wide dark mahogany desk. It was waxed, reflected on the ceiling, and was perfect for letting someone be a complete jerk to whoever was on the other side of it. Especially some up-start Company 2 nerd with a stupid hat. It had been a while since Larrinor had been allowed to just be rude, despite being basically in his job description as Front Librarian.

“Please, we haven’t had the time to coordinate a message back, but it’s vital for a research proj-“ the nerd was saying, but Larrinor interrupted him.

“I said no. Bring a Form 1880- you can get one from Communications two buildings down if they can squeeze you in, and I’ll reconsider, but Company 3 Library rights aren’t just granted because you feel like they should be,” Front Librarian Larrinor said, a smile creeping onto his face. He couldn’t help it; this was cathartic after the recent investigation teams from Company 4 the past few weeks. He was tired of higher ups sweeping past his desk, completely ignoring its spotless, dense defenses.

The blue-scale drakken (why was he in Company 6 anyway?) threw up his claws in frustration. He paused, furrowing his brows, before suddenly glancing up across the small welcoming room. Larrinor glanced in that direction, it was just the two of them in the room. After a second the blue drakken started, correcting his stupid book hat. “I will be lodging a complaint with leadership about obstructing high value Company research.”

“I look forward to reading it,” the Front Librarian said, his grin widening. The blue Drakken gave him a glare- he was better at it the second time- before he stalked out of the room. Larrinor watched him hold the door open for a few seconds, seeming to reconsider. Larrinor had a flutter of hope that he did come back, but the drakken eventually just left, the door clicking quietly behind him on well-oiled hinges. Leaning back in his chair, Larrinor let out a satisfied sigh. A job well done today!

Sammarria gleefully slid next to Enno, who was mumbling some kind of obscenities under his breath, as they walked down the well-paved road. They were on Company grounds, a small area of the city set aside for Company business, just above the docks, so only a few drakken were scattered about the area at this time of morning. Sammarria happily crunched into her fried egg pocket- an egg omelet battered and fried, as they continued towards the large gates, the guards letting out Enno after another brief back and forth, Sammarria slipping through the gates behind him.

“Why didn’t you say anything!?” Enno finally exclaimed once they were out of earshot, into the already busy early morning streets of the city proper. “You could’ve helped or done… something! I don’t know!”

“I bib,” said Sammarria with a full mouth, wiping some egg from her face.

“Can’t you, like, read his mind or something? I don’t know! Why are you even here if you can’t get me into the Library. We don’t even know who you saw! We have three days left, Samm! Three! We’ve been here eleven days, and I have nothing to show for it- we’ve scoured the city, checked every resource I know- I can’t wait for Communications! They said it’d be two weeks before I could see a Chatter!”
“I gob’t,” Sammarria said, mouth full again. She stared at her now-empty claws, breakfast finished. She swallowed, letting Enno whine, his tail swishing wildly in frustration. She let him continue, until he dropped into silence, shoulders dropped. “I said, I got it.” Sammarria said, now that he was in ‘sad boy mode’. Sammarria had started naming each of his moods- he never listened to anyone in half of them, so it was easier for her. She smiled as he whirled on her.

“Go what,” he said, eyeing her suspiciously, flecks of anger still in his stare. “You just sat there, doing your stupid invisibility thing, while that asshole-“

“Woah, hey,” Sammarria raised her claws defensively. “Down boy.  It’s not invisibility, and I got the information. Well, some kind of information. Relax, we’ll talk back at the inn.”

Sammarria took a sick sense of glee at the emotions warring across Enno’s face, before he seemed to finally settle on the edges of hope. “Are you s- Is it what we’re looking for?”

Sammarria rolled her eyes. Enno had been a decent enough working partner, but he was so pathetic sometimes. “I don’t know, it will take a bit of time for Vissero and I to parse it, but I think it’s what we’re looking for.”

Enno didn’t look convinced; despite the desperate hope he started to feel. “You still never explained to me how any of your bond works. Is it even accurate? We’ve been at this for days and you still haven’t told me much,” Enno said, resigned.

It was Sammarria’s turn to look uncomfortable, and she glanced away. “I promise it’s useful, just give me a bit. Vissero says it may take a few hours to… work it out. If you have another lead, though, please, be my guest.”

Enno looked ready to complain, she could see it on his face, but he just bit his lip and looked away, before turning. “Let’s meet at lunch at the inn, then?” he said, and they agreed.

–

Late afternoon light filtered into the small café attached to the inn, warming their scales, as the two talked. Sammarria sipped from her tea to let her point drive home.

“An assassination cult?” Enno breathed incredulously. To his credit, he didn’t glance around anymore after every sentence. He had at least started to trust Sammarria’s ability to keep them from being noticed. “What was it, the, uh, Reaper Moon?”
“The Reaping Moon,” Sammarria corrected. “It’s an order that’s been around since long before most modern records, even. I wouldn’t say cult, though it does have some of that flavor. They supposedly have very strange powers, but they’re organized in disparate cells scattered across the three continents.”

Enno stared out the window, processing the information. “And the person you saw the other day, the one you believe might be the holder of the item we’re looking for, is part of this ancient assassination group?” A strange look passed across his face, and he glanced sideways at Sammaria, full of suspicion. “You… do understand that seems… ah…”

“Stupid?” Sammarria offered.

“I was going to say ‘unlikely’,” Enno said, then sighed. He started to say something, then stopped. For a few seconds he just stared out the window, claw under his jaw, seemingly lost in thought. The two sat in silence, the busy sound of the café around them despite the privacy of their conversation.

Sammarria watch Enno’s expression, and her mood soured as well. He didn’t trust her, of course. She sighed, putting her unfinished tea down. It was always like this. Every time it came down to it, drakken never trusted a serp-

“So, how do we find them?” Enno said, interrupting her brooding.

Sammarria blinked, trying to bring her thoughts back around. “What?”

“How do we find this, uh, cult? If they want to stay hidden, that is.”
“You believe me?” Sammarria breathed, incredulous. Enno suddenly looked confused.

“Y- yes? Why wouldn’t I? It’s, like, what you’re good at, right? We’re here to do… well, you’re here to do what you’re good at. I just sort of floundered all week.” Enno said, glancing away. Sammarria just paused for a second, trying to parse the information.

Suddenly, she realized something important. “Why are you here?” she asked Enno, putting her claws on the table and leaning forward. “What are you here for?”

Enno, surprised, opened his mouth to say something, then closed it and narrowed his eyes. “Why ask now? I thought you were ready to leave me behind once your contract was done.”

“What? I- okay, maybe a week ago… But answer my question.”

“It’s… a project. Glenn, er, Engineer McReed-“ Enno glanced a Sammarria, and she rolled her eyes and wave a hand, “er, Glenn was responsible for even getting me into the Academy in the first place. He was a friend of my mother’s, and after they both passed, he brought me west and got me in, despite being a blue drakken. I didn’t have much left; I owe him everything.” Enno paused, reflecting for a moment, but Sammarria said nothing. “Anyway, after graduation, I joined his research Party. They’ve been working on rediscovering a form of travel, one that was lost years ago.”

“Teleportation,” Sammarria said breathlessly, finding she was leaning forward on the table.

Enno started. “You know if it?”
“I paid some attention to history. Supposedly they could travel whole airships across the world in an instant. Glenn had some kind of lead- he was working with a wealthy family from the west, I think, from somewhere around here. But they were murdered.” Enno’s face darkened. Blood fingerprints on the wall. The memory scattered, and he continued. “The blueprints all insinuate some kind of energy device, something to power the engine, but we’ve never found it and can’t seem to reverse engineer it. It’s powerful, and the huge energy spike from this city is why we’re here. But, as you know, nobody seems to know where it was from, and, well, you know the rest.” Enno leaned back, looking at Sammarria thoughtfully.

Sammarria stared at Enno, a strange look in her eye “Wow that is…”

“Stupid?” Enno said with a scowl, but Sammarria only grinned.

“Wonderful,” her tone shocked Enno. “That’s… wow. Teleportation… that’s big, huge even! Think about how much that would change, well, everything! Airships, anywhere in the world, instantly. Even…” suddenly she realized something.

“Even through the Storm of Thorns, yes,” Enno met her gaze, surprised to find hers was honest.

 Sammarria suddenly leaned back, crossing her arms, her decision made. “It’s like a library, filled with string.”

Enno scrunched up his face. “What is, teleportation?”

Sammaria laughed, “no, Vision. When I use my bond.” An ‘O’ of surprise crossed Enno’s face, excitement jerking him out of his slump. “Woah, down boy. It’s sort of like that. I can see points, things that are connected, people and places and that they are related, but it’s difficult to parse exactly how they’re related, or when. It’s easier when it’s relating someone’s direct thoughts to an exact thing, though, if I’m being specific. It mostly relies on Vissero to parse the information; it gives me a headache if I try too hard.”

“Information Scout,” Enno said, a smile across his face. “I’ve always wondered.”

“Yeah, well you’ll need to know if we’re going to find our target. How it all works, if you want to trust my information.”

“So, you haven’t just been wandering around,” Enno grinned, leaning back in his chair. “I kind of wondered.”
“No, I’ve been looking for connections. That’s why the information was easier to parse. It can show opportunities, or events, and how to be a part of them… or not.”

Enno glanced around, finally recognizing why nobody seemed to notice them.               “Seems powerful. You can read the future then?”

“No. It’s hard to tell when things are related, and it takes awhile to figure out how it might be. But I traced the people, terms and information we’ve found so far. I’m confident this person has what you’re looking for, but I don’t know if it’s exactly the object you’re asking about. I can also see their connection to the Reaping Moon.”

“Can you find them?” Enno asked excitedly. “Can you find the power source?”

“No.” Sammarria said, crossing her arms. She took the briefest moment of joy in watching Enno deflate, but then she smiled. A deep, true smile. She was excited. It has been a long time since she had a mission that was interesting. If anyone else could see her, they’d likely be deeply unsettled. “But I can find out where they’ll be next.”