Nephis sat in a chair in Cassie's office with a blank expression as Cassie spoke to her from behind her desk.
"So that's why that Anvil was so confused as to why you were in the throne room last week, because he never needed you in the first place."
Nephis nodded, a scowl finding its way to her face.
"It was Mordret fooling around."
That monster, why did he have to cause so many distractions at times like this?
'So many problems,'
…
Morgan arrived at her destination, walked past the receptionist, and into the area where the elders usually held their meetings. She entered a room with a round table where they were all gathered, only to be met with confused stares.
"Princess Morgan? What brings you here?"
Morgan frowned.
"You summoned me here for a meeting."
One of the elders frowned.
"There is no meeting."
Was this a joke?
"If this is a joke, then I am not amused."
"It is no joke, Morgan, you must be mistaken, we did not summon you here, we would have come to you in the dream realm if there was a meeting."
They were right, so why the hell did she come to the waking world in the first place? No, she knew there was a meeting.
"Do you take me for a fool?"
"Of course not, Princess Morgan, though you must be exhausted. That is why you likely thought there was a meeting today. You can lie down on the couch outside if you need to rest."
"I don't need rest, I need answers. Who summoned me?"
"No one did."
Morgan growled in frustration and, after a few minutes, returned to Bastion with a scowl on her face as she walked past Jest, who was standing there with a humorous smile.
"What did they mean that there was never a meeting in the first place? Then who the hell summoned me?"
Jest raised his cane in front of Morgan, stopping her.
"What's the matter, girlie?"
Morgan sighed in frustration and swatted the cane away.
"The elders of Valor, I recalled that the elders summoned me for a meeting today, and when I got there, they told me that there was no meeting at all. They think they can try to play me for a fool?"
Jest shrugged with a laugh.
"It was probably a misunderstanding, kiddo. Hey, you wanna hear a joke?"
Morgan stared at him for a long time before nodding.
"Sure, Asterion,"
For some reason, the older man froze in place, and in an instant, his smile had vanished entirely from his face as his brown eyes hardened.
"What did you just say?"
Morgan raised an eyebrow,
"What?"
Jest took a step forward.
"Repeat what you just said, girl."
Morgan frowned at his sudden behavior change and was slightly concerned about the older man, but she hid it behind a scoff and an eye roll.
"I said, sure, Jest, why? What is it?"
Jest didn't respond, grabbed her arm, and pulled her towards a secluded spot by the castle.
"Do you remember anyone telling you about there being a meeting with the elders?"
Morgan yanked her arm from his grasp and hissed.
"What the hell are you rambling about? Is this one of your jokes?"
Jest snapped at her.
"Answer the damn question, child!"
Morgan frowned deeply.
"I don't think so? I just randomly recalled that I had a meeting with them; it must've slipped my mind."
"When did you recall it?"
"Two days ago,"
Jest's eyes widened.
'Son of a bitch.'
Jest leaned against the wall of the castle and asked.
"What route did you take? A different one than you normally did?"
Morgan nodded.
"Yeah,"
Jest scowled.
"Did you just randomly decide to take a different path, or was it on purpose?"
"Randomly decided,"
"Tell me, did you see anyone painting anything of someone or something?"
"Yeah, a mural of an astronaut, where are you going with this, Jest?"
Jest frowned.
"Was it before or after you went to the elder meeting you thought was taking place? What did the mural look like?"
Morgan's frown deepened, and she shrugged.
"Before, as I was walking, I saw two people making a mural of an astronaut standing on the moon while reaching out to earth. I just happened to catch them as they were almost finished, and I was going to leave, but they asked me to stay and watch until they were done."
"And you stayed without question, knowing you had somewhere to be?"
That wasn't normal at all.
"Well, yeah, I have an image to maintain."
"What did the mural say?"
"It said praise the moon, praise-,"
Jest didn't let her finish as he was so shocked at the information that he nearly fell over.
"Motherfucker!"
The girl raised an eyebrow at his language.
"What? Is something wrong?"
Jest didn't answer and instantly bolted past her and ran past the gate, passing by concerned knights who stood guard at the castle entrance.
"Sir Jest? What's the matter?"
'I don't have time for this,'
He didn't answer as he ran past them and then pulled the doors so hard they flew off the hinges and sped walk past the knights that were heading out of the castle.
"Move out of my way! I have urgent news for his majesty."
He heard Morgan's footsteps behind him as she called after him.
"Where are you going?!"
Jest didn't answer as he took shortcuts through the castle, running to the throne room.
'Shit, shit!'
That damn eerie brat was trying to come back, and if the dreamspawn was manipulating Morgan's thoughts from the moon, then he was already far too strong now. Jest walked briskly through to the throne room before he walked in and looked at the knights guarding the door.
"Don't let a single soul in here, at all, not even Morgan when she comes here. Do you understand? It's the king's orders."
"Yes, Sir,"
Jest opened the doors, and they closed behind him. He walked into the room to see Anvil sitting on his throne
"Saint Jest,"
Jest didn't bother bowing; instead, said.
"I need to speak with you, privately."
Seeing the look in his eyes, Anvil nodded, got up from his throne, and began silently walking out of the throne room with Jest following on his heels. They walked in silence with the brat's shoes clinking with each step. He ignored the pounding on the doors to the throne room and continued following Anvil.
Meanwhile, Morgan growled in frustration as she approached the doors to the throne room and eyed the nervous knights.
"Jest? Jest! Where is he?"
"Sir Jest told us not to let anyone in my lady, he said it was the king's orders."
"I don't care what he said; you will let me in."
The knights trembled but held their place.
"I'm sorry, my lady, but we can't."
Morgan would have respected them for denying her entrance into the throne room if Jest hadn't been acting so strange.
'Goddamnit,'
Jest and Anvil continue walking down the halls of the castle, making turns and eventually going into Anvil's chambers, somewhere the man hadn't touched since he gave away Mordret to the dreamspawn. Anvil closed the door behind him and summoned soundproof memories so they could speak in private. Jest sat down in a chair and Anvil sat across from him and clasped his hands on a table.
"Well? What is it, Uncle Jest? I haven't seen you this concerned since…"
Jest finished for him with a grimace.
"Him, yeah, I know, that's the reason I brought you here."
Anvil's eyes slightly widened before they hardened again, and he shook his head.
"That's impossible, Ki and I killed everyone who knew his name, essentially trapping him on the moon."
"Well, looks like you two missed a spot,"
"What are you trying to say?"
"Boy, I'm telling you he's trying to escape,"
Anvil frowned.
"How can you be so sure?"
"Because Morgan said his name without realizing it."
Anvil sighed deeply.
"When?"
"Just a few minutes ago, when she came back, thinking she had a meeting with the elders. She said she randomly recalled the thought of having a meeting two days ago."
Anvil frowned.
"Then?"
Jest ran his hand through his hair and continued.
"Then she said she happened to come across two people making a mural that depicted an astronaut on the moon reaching out to earth. She said she randomly took a route she normally didn't take and that she stayed to watch the people finish the mural."
Anvil regarded his words silently for a long moment before nodding.
"Meaning he's already able to manipulate people's thoughts from the moon."
"He has to be. It's no coincidence that she took a different route and happened upon two of his followers painting a mural of him. He subtly influenced her thoughts and made Morgan think that she convinced herself that she was maintaining her image as a princess of Valor by appreciating in the various forms of art civilians make of things."
Anvil silently nodded.
Jest growled in frustration and stood up abruptly, making the chair scrape against the floor, and he began to pace the room.
"All those years ago, I kept telling you that there wasn't something right with the boy, and you wouldn't listen like the stubborn fool you are. Now look where we are, I should've gone with my gut and killed him while he wasn't a threat."
"We can't change the past, Uncle Jest,"
"You're damn right, we can't."
They were both silent for a few minutes before Anvil saw Jest tapping the handle of his cane."
"Something is on your mind."
Jest nodded.
"How do you even know the thought of you wanting to kill Nephis' father was your own?"
Anvil frowned upon his words and leaned back in his chair.
"What are you trying to say?"
"You know what I'm trying to say, boy, yes, he had gone mad from Heaven's death, but he didn't have to die."
Anvil immediately shook his head.
"He did have to; he was convinced that she was trapped in the fifth nightmare, and he would have fast-tracked death to everyone. He was a threat to humanity."
Jest leaned forward with a frown.
"To humanity or to him?"
"What?"
"Think about it, the moment Broken Sword began looking for the shadow god lineage was when he 'convinced' you that Broken Sword had to die. For whatever reason, that thing is obsessed with finding every lineage. How do you know he didn't twist your thoughts to make you agree to his plan to kill Broken Sword and tricked you and Ki Song into believing that you were saving humanity when really all he wanted was the lineage Broken Sword found instead of the Shadow god's?"
Anvil shook his head.
"He didn't manipulate my thoughts, as you said. Broken Sword had gone mad from Heaven's death; he had to die."
Jest immediately shot back with his own rebuttal.
"How can you be so sure? You know, and I both know that he doesn't feel emotions like normal people do, and I would bet my life that he doesn't have true feelings. How do you know that he truly didn't twist your thoughts to fit his agenda? How do you know for certain that he didn't lie about hearing the spell announce Broken Sword's death-"
Anvil interrupted him, his gaze as cold as steel.
"That's enough, Jest. We need to focus on the present. Broken Sword was a threat, and he had to be killed."
Jest scoffed.
"Sure, whatever you say, brat, I just want you to take a minute and really remember what happened that day."
"I will do that on my own time."
Jest shrugged.
"That's fine by me. But you see what I mean? He twisted people to fit his agenda or just for the hell of it. I mean, just look at what happened to Mordret after you gave him to the dreamspawn as a sign of a truce? The boy came back here as practically an entirely different person. He went from kind and sweet to a remorseless, eerie child with a hell-bent mission on killing you. He hasn't been the same ever since you gave him away to the dreamspawn."
Anvil slowly nodded.
"Yes, he did come back as an entirely different person."
Jest shook his head as he knew the look in Anvil's eyes.
"It's like you have selective hearing. Mordret is not one of the others, no matter how messed up he is, I know he's not,"
"You said it yourself, he came back an entirely different person."
"Cut the bullshit, Anvil, you and I both know nothing happened between Gywn and the other you; we were watching them 24/7. Besides, you've encountered the others before during the times you went into the great mirror and into true Bastion, you would know better than I do if he was truly a child of the demon of imagination."
Anvil didn't respond, and Jest sighed, shaking his head.
"Why do I even bother?"
Anvil eventually spoke.
"Who else has said his name?"
Jest stopped for a moment.
"Just Morgan that I know of,"
Anvil sighed.
"Then plenty more have already said it, no matter how many we kill, there's no stopping his arrival. We have no idea how much power he has at the moment, but he's already too powerful."
"Alright then, let's focus on something else, how about that kid, Lord Shadow?"
Anvil raised an eyebrow.
"What about him?"
"He's a sellsword, so maybe if we entice him with enough money, we could get him on our side."
Anvil suddenly frowned.
"The mask that I've been told he occasionally wears is more priceless than anything we can offer him."
Jest sat back down with a chortle.
"Good for him, I guess. But you're not curious as to where he found a mask of Weaver? Perhaps he got it from a priest of the nightmare spell, or maybe Weaver themselves gave it to him as a gift. Now that's crazy talk. Do you think he's the one with the shadow god lineage?"
Anvil's frown deepened.
"How did you know it was a mask of Weaver? He has multiple ones, and I never described the mask."
Jest was confused for a moment before his eyes widened in horror as he realized where the conversation had randomly shifted to.
"Motherfucker."
Do you all think Mordret has dance-offs with his vessels?