The six of them sat scattered across two large couches arranged around a table laden with fruit platters, glasses of fresh juice, and delicate pastries. The maids bowed and departed. Phaser leaned back, a glass of mango juice in one hand.
"Alright. Let's start."
Verdamona stopped chewing her slice of melon and straightened slightly. Hinesia crossed her legs neatly. Xaessia and Thales exchanged a look, both already sensing the tone of what was about to come.
"Tomorrow, a Fluve Field will appear."
That was enough to draw a shift in the room. The sound of ice clinking in glasses stilled. Hinesia agreed with him as she set her glass down.
"It will manifest around Time. My sources caught wind of the fluctuations last night. The energy build up matches the pattern of a Fluve Field."
Thales frowned. "A Fluve Field? Here?"
Verdamona set her drink down slowly. "You're sure about that?"
"Yeah. It's inevitable."
Phaser paused, glancing briefly at Haruno and Hinesia, the two people who, like him, carried the weight of knowing too much.
"And since some of us have... prior knowledge of how this goes, we can't really pretend we don't know what's coming."
Haruno twirled her straw in her drink and muttered, "You know how bad a massive Fluve Field gets. Tens of thousands will die. Most cities near the radius won't even get evacuation alerts in time. And even if we told the Empress this, or if the people find out, it can cause more chaos than what the Fluve Field can bring."
Xaessia leaned forward, resting her elbows on her knees. "You're saying we can prevent it?"
Phaser shook his head. "No. But we can decide what we do about it. Now, technically, we could just leave tomorrow. There's still time to escape before the field forms and avoid the whole thing. None of you are obligated to stay. I'm not going to be part of the fight this time."
Verdamona blinked. "Wait—what?"
Hinesia nodded slightly, confirming his words.
"I'm going after another Primal Synsiline Treasure. This time, for Haruno."
All eyes turned to Haruno, who raised both hands. "Hey, don't look at me."
"Since I'm a Witness, I can take Haruno toward the Odachi's trial. And since I've already completed mine, I'll be pulled into hers."
"Ah…" Haruno groaned. "Right. Forgot about that tiny cursed detail."
"So yeah, I'll be gone, probably for the rest of summer vacation, maybe longer. Which means while we're gone, you decide what happens here."
He swept his gaze across Xaessia, Thales, and Verdamona.
"If any of you want to declare that you'll leave Italy before the Fluve Field appears, say so now."
The silence that followed was heavy. Xaessia exhaled through her nose then scoffed.
"If it's going to hit this hard, then I'll do the opposite. I'm going back to Antarctica tonight. I'll bring back staff and supplies from the Argemenes Estate. The House of Argemenes has kept to the shadows long enough. It's time we act like a House again."
Phaser's mouth curved in a faint smirk. "Didn't think I'd see the day."
"Don't get used to it, brother. I'm not doing it for the politics."
Thales raised his hand. "For me, this is a chance. If I help stabilize the region, the House of Erdict will have no choice but to acknowledge me as a legitimate successor. I've been looking for a way to prove my name. It seems the world's handing me one."
Phaser nodded slowly, then looked to Verdamona. "And you?"
Verdamona hesitated. Everyone's eyes were on her. Her fingers tightened around the glass. She thought of the screams that would fill those cities, the helplessness she'd felt before, back when being a "hero" was something she wore like armor. Finally, she met Phaser's eyes.
"If people are going to die… then I can at least help stop that."
A small smile tugged at Haruno's lips. "Spoken like a true heroine."
Verdamona sighed. "He hates it when I say things like that."
"I don't hate it. I just think you're a suicidal hero sometimes. But fine, if you want to play the savior, I'm not stopping you."
Hinesia chuckled softly. "You say that as if you're not proud of her."
"I am proud. I just don't want her to die doing something stupid."
Verdamona rolled her eyes but smiled all the same. Phaser clapped his hands lightly.
"Alright, back to the real matter. You all have your own goals. I'm not here to make you pick sides. But what you should know is this. When the Fluve Field opens up, the Empress will make a public declaration. She'll ask all Noble Fluxers currently in Rome to assist in the fight in exchange for a royal reward."
Thales's eyes lit with interest. "A royal reward? That'll make the Empire's nobility crawl out like ants."
"Exactly. Which is why, if you accept her request, you'll be under Hinesia's banner."
Hinesia inclined her head gracefully.
"I can handle that. In fact, if I deploy my own envoys to Rome under my House crest, the House of Rameses will gain quite a bit of favor from the common populace. They've grown disillusioned with the Nobles. If they see my people helping civilians directly, it will turn their perception around."
Xaessia raised an eyebrow. "You're turning this into a publicity move?"
"An opportunity, Miss Xaessia. I don't intend to exploit suffering but influence shapes who gets to keep helping later. If I must play politics to gain leverage for future reforms, so be it."
Thales whistled. "You're scarier than I thought."
Phaser smirked. "That's why I trust her to manage it."
Hinesia smiled, taking a sip of her juice.
"You mean you're dumping your work on me while you run off treasure hunting."
"Treasure hunting? Please. I prefer 'high-risk acquisition of ancient weaponry.'"
Haruno snorted into her drink. "Yeah, sure, Phaser the Explorer."
Phaser leaned back into the couch again, stretching his arm across the backrest lazily, but his eyes were far from relaxed.
"You know, Norphie's mansion is one of her private estates. There are bodyguards stationed around the perimeter and at least five different security layers woven into the mansion's architecture. If anything happens here, it will be the safest place in Italy. Oh, and one more thing. All Fast Travel Rooms are going to be inactive once the Fluve Field activates. The moment it opens, the system will shut down. You can't travel through a world that's been swallowed by another one. Italy will be... isolated."
The room fell silent. Thales tapped her fingers against her glass.
"So basically, once it starts, we're locked in until the Field ends?"
"Yup. The Fluve Field forms at around morning tomorrow. So if you have anything you want to prepare, do it early. By then, you'll have no way out."
"Comforting."
Verdamona, who had been silent for a while, finally spoke.
"Phaser, why can't we warn people? If we told the authorities, if we even just spread word that something was going to happen, people could get to safety. I know it would cause chaos, but it's better than letting thousands die, isn't it?"
Phaser looked at her for a long moment, long enough that she almost regretted asking. Then he sighed softly and gave her an answer she did not expect.
"Because the Fluve Field has to happen."
"What?"
"If the Field doesn't manifest as it's supposed to, the resulting spatial imbalance will ripple across the continent. It wouldn't just hit Italy. It could spread across all of Europe. Tens of thousands would turn into millions. So yeah. It's cold logic but the world can't always be saved the clean way."
"And if the Nobles find out beforehand?"
"Then we're in bigger trouble, Thales. The Nobles came here for the Duel of Champions. If they panic and leave, the Empire's entire upper command disappears overnight. There will be no coordination, no containment or even a response force to fight back the Fluviums because they will be afraid. The Empire collapses under panic before the Field even finishes expanding."
Verdamona lowered her eyes, her fingers tightening around her glass. Her voice trembled just slightly, though she tried to hide it.
"I know you're right but hearing it out loud... it feels different. You're all Nobles born into that kind of thinking. I'm not. Maybe that's why I can't understand it."
Her words landed softly, but they carried an honesty that silenced the room for a few seconds. Hinesia was the first to respond.
"You're not wrong. You see people through sympathy. We see them through structure and consequence. It's not better just... necessary."
Xaessia added with a sigh, "We grew up understanding that sometimes people die so the world doesn't. You grew up believing that the world should protect everyone. Neither side's wrong but we can't always afford to choose yours."
Verdamona's eyes flickered toward Phaser. "Then what's the point of strength if you can't use it to protect who needs it?"
Phaser looked at her and felt something shift. She wasn't the naive, idealistic girl from before. He wanted to tell her she was right but he couldn't.
"Maybe that's what makes you different from us."
Verdamona smiled faintly, a little bitterly though. "Different, huh? Perhaps so. Or maybe I'm just too stubborn to accept reality."
For a long while, he didn't speak. The others went quiet too. Then his thoughts turned inward. Something wasn't adding up.
'The Empress knows. She's an Outer too and is aware of what's coming. She's seen it before so why hasn't she acted? Why hasn't she ordered evacuations, or even hinted at restrictions in the capital?'
It wasn't carelessness. The Empress never acted without reason.
"What is she planning?"
Thales glanced at him. "What?"
"Nothing," Phaser said quickly. But his thoughts were already spinning.
If the Empress was staying quiet despite knowing what the Fluve Field would do, then maybe she wanted it to happen too. But what kind of purpose demanded the blood of tens of thousands?
'Maybe she's the coldest one of all.'