The trio sat in silence at Ariel's room in the Palace. The sun peeked from the horizon.
"What was that about?" Peter asked.
Silence stretched between them, again.
"I don't trust Gerald." Ariel answered.
"Why?"
Ariel glanced at his backpack then back to Peter.
"My brother had a claim on the throne. He withdrew his claims and vowed loyalty..." Ariel sighed.
"A few months later a rebellion happened in the Golden City. Where only disloyal dukes and my brother died. It all went perfectly for the imperial house, too perfectly."
Amy stared blankly. I wonder if my family ever did the same. She shook her head.
No way. She added.
Peter raised his eyebrows. "Wasn't information about the event blocked?"
"For the commoners, yeah." Ariel said. "It was more of a show of power for royalty rather than a rebellion."
"What will you do now?" Amy asked, lifting her head from the orb.
"I want to find evidence." Ariel answered.
A footstep rose from behind the door.
The trio flinched, their heads snapped to the entrance.
Ariel rushed to the door. Grabbing the handle, he opened the door with full force.
A lady in red maid dress stood behind the door. The lady flinched back, almost dropping the bowl of snownuts in her hand.
"A-ah, I'm sorry I didn't mean to scare you." The lady mumbled.
She handed the bowl. "I thought you would enjoy it after a long quest!" The lady chuckled awkwardly.
Ariel gave a small bow. "Thank you." Then he closed the door.
"I don't think she heard it." He exhaled.
Walking back, Ariel set the bowl in the middle of them.
"Will you guys help me?"
Amy flicked her finger across the orb. "I found a story in the underground, I think you will find it interesting."
Ariel tilted his head. "Go on."
"Away from the time, through the ages and through the hardships, Two races stood close..."
"One with horns, hair and pride, one without."
Humans and half-humans... Ariel's eyes shone, he leaned closer.
"Living in the same place with harmony..."
"That until the hairless king ordered exile..."
Ordered exile, huh? Ariel faintly chuckled.
"Yellow City stood tall, an unbroken pride."
"That until the hairless set fire to ground."
"Run wherever you can; the Red Forest, the north or the east..."
Ariel raised his hand. "You don't need to read more. That should be enough evidence."
Peter scratched his head "Can't they just say that the story is made up?"
Ariel pointed at the imperial banner hung near the window. "They can, but that is why I stay here. The kingdom banned any royalty from checking the imperial documents." Ariel explained.
"That's why the dukes don't trust the king anymore. This story along with the inconsistencies of the documents will be the last drop."
He threw a snownut inside his mouth. The nut's spikes drew blood from his mouth. Ariel spat it back at his hand.
Peter and Amy chuckled.
"Have you never eaten one?" Peter asked.
"I was... Never mind," Ariel sighed
"Just be careful in the night. I'll give a sign, then we start," he said it in a whisper.
Amy and Peter got up from their place and headed out towards their room.
Glancing around, Ariel made sure that there were no traps. Then he walked towards his bed. The torches went out with a puff. He kept his halberd under the blankets. Then he waited.
Ariel listened to the crickets and the rain that just started. Pat, pat, pat on his window. His eyelids became heavier.
Why is this bed so... comforting?
His eyelids shut. He took heavy breaths.
The door slowly creaked open.
Ariel snapped out of his tiredness, his eyes opened. He gripped onto his halberd.
The footsteps came in closer and closer.
Beads of sweat formed on Ariel's forehead.
A figure leaned over him.
He heard something lifting off the ground. Then the figure walked back. Closing the door behind it.
Ariel exhaled. He laid in his bed for a minute or so.
Getting up, Ariel grabbed a torch nearby and ran his mana through it. The torch caught fire. Ariel scanned the room, nothing was out of ordinary. Except...
The snownuts bowl?
He slowly blinked.
Maybe I thought of Gerald too highly.
Glancing through the windows, Ariel let a few more moments pass.
This should be enough.
The cold wall clashed with Ariel's gauntlets, he ran his mana across the wall. Then he got up from the bed and carefully walked towards the door. Just outside the door Amy and Peter stood.
"You didn't tell that you'd poke us straight to the ground." Peter said, rubbing his nose.
"I said sleep with one eye open." Ariel answered.
"You!" Peter sighed. "Let's just do this."
Ariel led the group. They tip-toed towards the Archival Treasury.
"How are we going to find the mismatches? They probably had rewritten them out." Peter asked.
"The Archival Treasury is big as three houses. Varsia doesn't have enough literates to rewrite them for another fifty years."
Amongst the darkness two guards stood with torches on one hand and swords at the other.
"How's your kids?" one of the guards asked.
"I haven't seen them in a while, actually. I will take them to the festival tomorrow," the second guard answered.
Ariel planted his hand on the walls and ran his mana through it.
One of the guards yawned. "We have another long day huh?"
The torch in his hand crackled.
...
"Hey answer!" the guard turned his head. the second guard was lying on the ground.
"Get u..." A block of stone flew towards his neck. The guard plopped to the ground like the other.
Opening the archival door, they walked in. The torches all around flashed up. The bookshelves stretched up to the ceiling, parchments hung from every cubicle. large spiral staircases wrapped around and inside of the bookshelf tower. An earthy and light scent hit their lungs and the dusts flew upwards with the wind.
"Where do we even start?" Peter asked.
Ariel and Amy already had climbed upstairs.
"We just have to start." Ariel answered. "Look for archives that are about an operation. They all should have titles."
Peter walked upstairs with them.
Amy grazed her hand over titles, feeling the rough texture of the parchments. Many of the documents were water damaged.
The branching off of the imperial house, The unification war...
She lifted off a parchment.
This one is not in Varsianic it looks like... Middle Eranic?
Pulling out the parchment, she started reading it.
Script is Eranic but the words are Urian. Decoding it will take a while.
She sat on the stairs with the orb by her side.
The... lies of the Varsian King? Amy rubbed her chin.
A footstep.
Amy's eyes widened, she tried to get up.
A piece of metal pierced through her back. A cold sensation spread across her back. She coughed up blood.
With a hit of her elbow, the figure got slammed to the ground.
She turned around, azure-orange mana particles reached her fingers.
But there was no one lying on the ground, only a small wind where a figure should have been. The blood coated her dress. Amy pressed her wound with her free hand.
"Ariel, Peter! There is someone else here!" She shouted, stuffing the document in her backpack.
The sound of metal clashing echoed throughout the archive.
Before Ariel, a figure stood in full black clothes with only their eyes visible. The figure held a morning star.
Ariel swung his halberd towards the figure. They dodged to the side and countered with a blow.
Ariel rotated his body and caught the morning star with his halberd. The shock from the attack shook his arms.
They are strong. He looked around, the space was narrow.
Martial arts should do. Ariel sighed. I should've had a secondary weapon.
He leaped forward in an instant. Grabbing the figure, Ariel threw them downstairs. They collided with another figure.
There are two of them? I didn't even feel him walking.
Two figures fell down the stairs like tumble weeds.
Peter clashed his sword with another figure. His eyes shifted towards two figures crashing down to the floor. The figure in front of him leaped closer, slipping their sword around and grappling with Peter.
Placing his foot, Peter tried throwing the figure to the ground, It didn't budge.
How heavy is this guy!?
The figure grabbed Peter's arm and swung him to the ground. The air got knocked out of Peter's lungs.
Placing his hands on the ground, Peter rotated his body. He threw a kick to the figure's stomach, making it stumble backwards.
Using his hands, Peter threw himself on his legs. The figure swung their sword back instantly. Peter caught the sword with the guard.
Close call.
Peter stepped back, just out of the reach of the sword. He looked at the stairs, the other figures had gotten up.
He shifted his eyes between the three figures closing on him. Then he gripped his sword harder.
Exhale.
I can do this.