Chapter 14 : Back to square one

After our next break, the steady bounce of a leather ball against the cracked walls of our camp had finally replaced the sledgehammers and explosions. Milo threw it at me with such force that I had to take a step back. I blocked the ball with my foot before it hit a bunk.

"Come on, Casimir! Send him back! He shouted as he moved between two pillars.

I aimed at Silas. He cushioned the ball against his chest, almost lost it, and then laughed back at me. Since our victory, Argemira seemed less silent. Perhaps we had simply stopped taking every sound for the announcement of an attack.

Milo picked up the next pass, but kept the ball against him instead of continuing the play.

"Have you consulted the newspaper since yesterday?" he asked.

I shook my head. Between the preparations for Kellan's departure, the aftermath of the battle, and the training that Aria had imposed on me during our last period of activity, I had postponed the moment. My shoulders still bore the scars of his exercises.

Silas came in and snatched the ball out of Milo's hands.

"You should take a look. Apparently, you and Kellan have become the heroes of Argemira. »

He made a low pass to me. Surprised, I landed it with the tip of my foot and watched it roll against the wall.

"Us?"

"That's right," Milo confirmed, following the ball with his eyes. "The Journal indicates that you dealt the decisive blows to the two golems."

"That's pretty amazing," Silas continued, picking up the ball before me and hugging it under his arm. "I was convinced that Taron had finished off the Scarlet King. Or Aria, in a pinch. »

"We were all busy on our side when Ruberyth fell," Milo said. "So what really happened?"

The heat immediately rose to my cheeks. Lying without seeming guilty had never been my forte, and even less so in front of two people who had just interrupted their game to study my answer.

Milo, no doubt touched by my silence, tried to offer me a way out.

"Casimir had already defeated the enemy of Mistmushroom with the help of Aria and the villagers. It is therefore not surprising that he managed to defeat a golem. »

I was grateful to him.

"Even if the ease with which he was able to cut through the core is surprising," he added after a short silence. "Taron himself probably wouldn't have done it with an ordinary sword."

My gratitude did not survive the next sentence.

"Ruberyth's body had been weakened by its own flames," Opaline intervened from the entrance to the room.

We turned to her. Leaning against the stone frame, she examined the ball with limited interest.

"Her core had already been broken by Aria and her leg destroyed by Taron," she continued. "His own flames had exhausted him. Casimir's blade only completed the group's work. »

His explanation was credible, and almost entirely true. All that was missing was the part where Ruberyth had thought me harmless, before the situation turned against him.

Silas was silent for a moment. His gaze slipped from me to Opaline, then came back to rest on my face, as if he were still looking for the detail that would make the story less strange. Finally, his shoulders relaxed.

"It makes sense. Sorry, Casimir. I hadn't considered this possibility. »

"Don't worry. At the time, I also didn't understand how I had succeeded. »

The sentence was close enough to the truth that it didn't give me the impression that I had lied openly.

Milo, who had been following the exchange with mostly opportunistic interest, leaned over to Silas and held out his hand with his palm open, as if to claim what was due to him.

"You should give him ten coins to apologize."

Silas immediately brought the ball back to his chest, in an almost offended gesture, as if Milo had just claimed his most prized possession.

"Nobody touches my pieces."

"I was joking."

"It always starts with a joke. And then you wake up devastated. »

Opaline struck the stone twice with her claws. The little sharp noise is enough to put an end to their nonsense.

"Are you finished? Kellan is leaving soon. »

The ball suddenly ceased to seem important to me. I had accepted her departure because her sister came before the clan; Knowing that it was necessary didn't make it any more enjoyable now that it was becoming a reality. I took the ball from Silas's arms and placed it near a bunk.

"Let's wait for Aria and Kellan."

Some time later, in the dormitory, the smell of ashes mingled with that of the provisions placed on the beds. Kellan was adjusting a small bag that Taron had lent him. He checked a pocket that was already closed, then tightened a knot that was not in danger of breaking.

"I think I have everything I need," he finally declared. "Thank you."

Taron, at his side, waited for Kellan to finish his preparations.

"Very good. I will accompany you to the north gate. Departure in six hundred seconds. Krk-krk... »

"Ten minutes," Milo translated, already sitting next to Kellan's bag.

Since the opening of the north gate, Milo had been multiplying checks and futile questions. Whenever Kellan put away an object, he followed his hands with his eyes, as if looking for an excuse to delay leaving.

"Are you really sure?" he asked at last. "From what Taron said, the area to the north is dangerous."

Kellan raised his head. Her smile was immediate, but her fingers remained clenched on her bag.

"With that, it's almost child's play."

He pointed to the gas mask hanging on the side. Silas, curious in spite of himself, approached to examine his filters.

"It's the one that was on the workbench. I was going to take it. »

"You didn't need it," Kellan reminded him.

"This is not a valid reason. It sells well. »

Kellan preferred to consult his watch rather than answer.

"According to the compass, my sister is still in the northeast. I have to cross the next territory, reach a passage facing east, and then continue in that direction. »

"I just have to cross into the next territory," Milo repeated in a deliberately neutral tone. "Put like that, it seems almost reasonable."

"Don't worry. We'll see you soon. »

Silas stopped looking at the mask. He stared at Kellan with a serious look that erased all traces of lust from his face.

"We are a team. I have no doubt about you. »

"Long live the nameless clan! At least we offer you a dignified outing! Milo exclaimed, raising his fist.

Kellan gave him a little pat on the shoulder. Milo smiled, but immediately went back to looking at the bag.

"Check the clan tab regularly," I reminded him. "As long as your status appears there, we will at least have the certainty that everything is fine."

"I'm going to."

Aria, who was checking the attachments of the mask, let her hands fall back.

"Your absence will leave a big void," she admitted.

Kellan looked at her longer than the others. A glimmer of amusement passed through it, so brief that I thought I had dreamed it. Aria raised her chin slightly, as if to remind him of something in silence.

"It's just a goodbye for now," he replied. "I can't wait to see you all again."

Taron announced the end of the six hundred seconds. Kellan put his bag over his shoulders. He checked the two straps one last time, although they hadn't moved, and then we walked together to the north door.

The mist that escaped from it swallowed up the light of our torches before it even reached the other shore. In front of the passage, Kellan stopped. For a moment he stood still, his eyes riveted on the moving darkness, as if to guess what awaited him inside. Then he inhaled slowly. His hand brushed the compass stored near his chest.

Milo held out his hand. The gesture hung for a moment, awkward, almost too reasonable for what it really meant. His fingers closed on the void, then he abruptly gave up pretending and hugged Kellan unceremoniously.

"Come back quickly," he whispered against his shoulder.

Kellan let out a brief jolt of surprise before his own arms closed around him as well.

"I'll do my best."

Silas waited until Milo had stepped aside. He then approached, stiffer than usual, and tapped Kellan in his hand. A sharp crack resounds in the tunnel.

"If you don't come back, I'll come and get you."

"I know."

"And it will cost you a lot of money."

"I suspected it."

Aria took him in turn in her arms and whispered a few words to him. Kellan nodded, then his gaze briefly fell on me. When she stepped back, her cheeks had slightly pink.

When he presented himself before me, all the sentences prepared during our break seemed useless to me. I could have reminded him of the dangers of the territory, asked him once again to be careful, or looked for an excuse to delay his departure. Nothing would have changed what he had to do.

"Take care of yourself," I told him.

"Watch over them until I return."

He looked over my shoulder. Milo was already staring at the gate. Silas fiddled with the shoulder strap of his bag to keep his hands busy. Aria stood a little too straight, as always when she refused to show that the separation was costing her anything.

"I had planned to do it."

Kellan held out his fist. I bumped into him with mine. He seemed about to add something, changed his mind, then disappeared into the mist after a last smile.

His figure disappeared first, then his bag. The surface of the portal became uniform again, revealing nothing of what awaited it.

Milo stood facing the passage.

"He's going to come back... right? »

I would have liked to answer yes. But I did not allow myself to promise what I could not guarantee.

No one answered. Milo didn't take his eyes off the portal.

Taron waited for us to finally turn away from him.

"Thank you for what you have accomplished in Argemira. If our paths cross again, you can count on us. »

"Thank you both," Aria said. "Without your help, we would never have been able to defeat the golems or reopen the road."

Taron bowed his head and made his way back to Dolmaryth. After a few steps, he stopped.

"Actually..."

His gaze ran through us in turn. He lingered on Aria, then on me, as if he was still searching for the words to formulate a request.

"No. Nothing. Grrrk... »

He left before we could question him. Opaline followed him with her gaze until he turned the corner of the gallery, then turned to us.

"We're going to part ways here too. Do you know the road to point A? »

"I know Argemira by heart, every nook and cranny," Milo said, straightening his shoulders.

"That's precisely what worries me," she replied.

His chuckle relaxed the atmosphere for a moment. Then she approached me.

"Next time, at least try to hit me without waiting for the ground to help you."

"Next time, I'll win without his help."

"Keep dreaming."

"Wait... So it was you two who fought? Aria asked, looking at Opaline and me in turn. "Was it the duel that completed the quest?"

"Have you ever forgotten all those days of suffering at the hands of Taron?" said Milo, delighted to have a new explanation. "Maybe Casimir just likes to get hit."

"Thank you, Milo," I whispered.

Opaline held out her hand to me. When I squeezed her, her expression had little in common with the one we first met, except for the persistent amusement that always made me want to protest.

"Take care of each other," she recommended.

"You too."

She left to join Taron without looking back.

The fall of the golems had not directly opened the way to point A; it had only cleared access to a large part of southern Argemira. We went through the cavity where their debris still formed two piles of stones, and then the opening appeared behind them.

The galleries narrowed between abandoned rails, empty wagons and blackened cables. The slope continued to descend until Dolmaryth disappeared behind us.

As we approached the golems' lair, the traces of a recent passage became clearer. In the last galleries we found cold ashes, a few stacked stones and a piece of dirty blanket abandoned against the wall. Someone had camped there, alone, with almost nothing.

We didn't linger. The new passage was waiting for us further on.

As I walked through the new galleries, the air was refreshed. The farther we got from the city, the more the fatigue of the last few days gave way to the impatience to discover what awaited us after Argemira.

"Looking back, that little adventure was pretty enjoyable," Milo said.

"Okay," Silas replied.

His bag seemed much less innocent than he was. It had grown in size since our departure, and the objects that clashed with it at every step betrayed a more abundant harvest than he would admit.

I pointed to the mass that was deforming the fabric.

"Your bag has gained weight."

"I recovered what still had potential value. A few ores and objects that no one used. »

"Did you steal all this?"

"That's not theft," Silas replied, turning around without slowing down. "Nobody was using them. And then, we could maybe make money from it. I would like to know what these coins are for. »

"Didn't you think to look for the Chrysalis Prism or the Adamantium while you were there?" asked Aria, looking at the bag, and then at its owner. "We need it for one of the quests."

"Since we found out there were some in Argemira, I thought that would be the first thing you would check," Milo added.

"What a shame," Silas said, slowing down.

Aria gave up answering. Silas would probably not escape this discussion afterwards.

"Concerning this quest," she continued, "have you understood the information concerning our crimes? Those who say that our actions cannot erase them? »

"Not really," I replied.

"None of you is better than the others..." Aria sighed, noticing the same incomprehension in Milo and Silas.

"How are we going to live with this if we can never get rid of it?" asked Milo.

I thought back to the phrase on my watch. She wasn't saying that nothing could erase our crimes, only that our actions wouldn't be enough. This nuance was not at all reassuring.

"We don't know enough yet. We will have to keep moving forward to understand what the system really expects of us. »

A little further on, the light in the corridor changed. A white light appeared at the bottom of the gallery, different from that of torches and mineral veins.

"Over there!" cried Milo. "It's the portal!"

He went forward, then remembered that Aria had asked us to stay together. He slowed down immediately, pretending to examine a mark on the ground.

This light resembled that of our arrival in the Bloc. The return to Point A, so far away until now, was finally at the end of the road.

We went through it together.

The white room seemed larger than I remembered. For weeks, the Block had been reduced to a few faces that had become familiar. Running into five strangers wearing the same watch reminded me of how small a small part of it our small group occupied.

The chairs we had left behind when we arrived had been stacked in a corner, freeing up almost all the space. Two luminous passages now occupied the formerly bare walls, and five people were already there, all equipped with a watch similar to ours.

On the right, two almost identical teenage girls remained near the wall. The first protected the other from her body despite the fatigue that could be read on her face; His sister, I suppose, kept a clenched hand on his sleeve.

On the left, a man crouched against the wall had messy gray hair and crooked glasses. His clothes, covered in dust, looked as if they had been worn for days.

Near the second door, a woman with long red hair examined our gait, our bags, and our watches before turning her attention back to our faces.

In the center, a man in a black suit occupied the only place from which he could observe the two doors and all those who occupied them.

Aria tugged slightly at my t-shirt.

"Did you see the screen up there?" she whispered.

I looked up. The same screen through which 404 had spoken to us stood out against the white background. This time, a number was displayed.

9/10

The man in the suit spoke before anyone could react.

"Several arrivals at the same time. It should speed things up. »

His voice carried effortlessly. Milo stepped forward while keeping a careful distance.

"Do you know what's going on here?"

"Since we arrived, none of us has been able to get out," the stranger replied. "As I understand it, something goes off when ten people are in that room."

"So we're stuck until the last one arrives?" asked Aria.

"That's my theory. There is nothing to predict what will happen next, but this number leaves few other possible interpretations. »

Aria went straight back to Argemira's door. She raised her hand, then stopped before touching it.

"There is a barrier."

She tried to the side, without success. The man in the suit looked at her as if he had already seen them all try the same thing.

The sound of soles scraping the ground behind us. The gray-haired man had stood up. His legs were shaking, but he gestured sharply at Milo.

"You little idiots! I recognize you! You and your bastard friend! »

The more reserved of the two girls drew closer to her sister. Milo froze before hiding his tension behind a mocking smile.

"Oh. So you are still alive. »

"Do you know him?" I asked, turning to Milo.

"He was the fourth with us when we arrived in Argemira. He was convinced that we had kidnapped him. »

He said these words casually, but his hands were closed. Aria placed herself slightly in front of him.

"You never told us about him."

"Of course not," the bespectacled man said with a joyless laugh. "They left me there."

"We haven't abandoned you," Milo protested. "You refused to follow us."

"Because I didn't know who you were!"

His voice echoed against the walls. He caught his breath with difficulty and straightened his glasses with a hand that was constantly shaking.

"I survived alone in these galleries, with a dingy blanket and everything I could find. When the southern passage opened, I followed it without knowing where it led. I've been locked up here for two days, convinced that I was going to die outside without anyone noticing. So yes, I'm screaming. »

The camp we had seen on the road must have been his. So he had stayed there all this time, alone, without us crossing paths. There was something troubling about this idea. Argemira was really a huge labyrinth, large enough to shelter someone a few galleries away from us without us knowing it.

"Could you shut up, please?"

The red-haired woman hadn't raised her voice. And yet, this is enough to interrupt it.

"Don't you see that you're terrorizing everyone?" she continued.

"Shut up! Where is that bastard Silas? The bespectacled man retorted, turning to her, his fists clenched.

I looked for Silas among us. My eyes would go from face to face and then back to Silas, as if I had simply missed him. But he was no longer there. He had disappeared.

Aria saw something at the other end of the room.

"But what the hell is he doing there?"

A merchant was occupying a small stall near a terminal. Silas, his eyes glued to the screen, placed a stone in the sales compartment while his former companion demanded his head.

Aria joined him first.

"A man wants to kill you a few meters away and you... Wait. What do you do? »

Silas confirmed the transaction before responding.

"What everyone should do: make the trip profitable. The shopkeeper buys back my finds at a reasonable price. »

"How much did you earn?"

"Two hundred and ten pieces."

He proudly displayed his total. Aria looked at the objects that were still lying near the terminal.

"Keep your part if you want to, but the clan needs supplies and information. If this merchant has anything that may be useful to us, you will participate in the purchase. »

"I was the one who took the risks and picked up those stones," Silas protested, instinctively pulling his watch against him. "This money is mine."

"I understood that part perfectly."

"It also sells cards," he continued, pointing to the products offered by the terminal. "Sixty rooms each: Aubecour, Frost's prison and Celestoria. At that price, who does he think he is? »

"We can't buy them all," Aria remarked after looking at the three entries, "but one of them might be useful. Couldn't you take one for the good of the group? »

"With my coins? Out of the question. »

"The situation is getting more complicated behind us," I remarked as I approached them.

"Silas just won two hundred and ten coins and refuses to spend sixty on the group," Aria summed up, turning to me.

"These are my pieces," he repeated.

"Interesting... So we can buy cards. That's what money is for. And this terminal must be designed for us. »

I bought the map of Frost's prison for sixty coins. The image that emerged from it remained rudimentary: a general shape, a few vague outlines, and a single visible link to Mushroom.

"This is Frost's prison, right next to Mushroom," I noticed. "It seems that you can only enter it through there."

"I'll buy supplies," Aria decided after taking a quick look at the map and opening her inventory. "We will discuss a common reserve later."

Silas understood from his tone that this "later" was not an invitation to forget the subject.

On the other side of the room, the argument had resumed.

"You're the sick one! You tried to attack us! Milo shouted.

"I thought you were the organizers! That didn't give you the right to abandon me! »

"But it is you who... »

"From what I see, you still haven't gotten over your defeat, Aaron," Silas said as he walked back to us.

This name finally allowed me to put a face to Milo's story.

"You're going to taste mine soon," Aaron said, clenching his fists.

He advanced towards Silas. I intervened without thinking. I hadn't tried to find out what Silas might have said to provoke him, or who was right. Aaron was walking towards one of mine; that was enough for me.

"You don't touch it."

Aaron stared at me from head to toe, then tried to push me away with his shoulder.

"Push yourself, filler."

I grabbed his arm before he could pass me.

"You seem very confident."

Aaron tried to get away. His arm contracted violently, like a cramp or even a torn muscle. He staggered and I pushed him away a step.

A simple coincidence could have explained it. And yet, Aaron despised me with such certainty that I immediately thought of the White Knight.

"Let go of me!"

"Stop."

The red-haired woman had approached. His voice remained calm, but gave no one time to react.

"We are confined here until the 10th. As long as we don't know what will happen next, no one has an interest in getting hurt. »

Aaron pulled his arm back and rubbed his forearm.

"You're mentally ill, you are... »

I let him back off. The man in the suit had followed the confrontation without intervening. His gaze fell on Aaron, Silas, and me before returning to the gates.

The red-haired woman stopped in front of us. Up close, she looked bigger than I had imagined.

"Don't pay any attention to him. Since his arrival, he has been barking more than he talks. My name is Eriska. Are you from Argemira? »

She had just ended an altercation without raising her voice and without taking sides. It wasn't a sign of reliability, but it was already more reassuring than anything Aaron had shown since we arrived.

"Casimir."

Aria introduced herself, and Milo tilted his head slightly.

"The one with us is called Silas, but he tends to disappear as soon as he spots something to sell."

Behind us, Silas mumbled confusing arguments about freedom, the local economy, and the fact that a man should be able to disappear for three minutes without being treated like a criminal. Eriska didn't know.

"I saw your names in the Journal. Two territories liberated and two main enemies defeated. »

"Three, including the second golem," Milo said.

"I didn't ask you to correct me, thank you," Eriska replied, glaring at him dryly.

A brief amusement, however, softened his features.

"It's an impressive record," she continued. "According to the Journal, there were five of you. Did anything happen to the last member of your group? »

"No," I replied. "He went north to find someone important."

"North of Argemira... I see," Eriska whispered.

"Is there a problem?"

"I heard a rumour a few days ago. It is probably obsolete by now. »

She interrupted her conversation. Silas was already coming back to us with the two teenage girls, the eldest of whom was still holding her sister's hand.

"I just learned something incredible," he announced. "They have power."

The girl who was standing in front stiffened slightly.

"It's not really a power. It is... particular. »

Her sister nodded without saying a word. Aria knelt down so that she could no longer dominate them from her full height. I recognized her way of softening her authority when she felt that someone was on the defensive; she had never needed to deny herself to reassure.

"What are your names?" she asked softly.

"Lina."

The first answered without hesitation. The other took longer.

"Nor... Nina. »

Lina tightened her fingers around her sister's before Aria continued.

"Would you be willing to show us what it's all about? This could be useful if we ever have to face a difficult situation together. »

Lina exchanged a glance with her sister.

"It's a liability. He is called the Puppeteer. »

The name hovered between us. After all that we had just learned about passives, I had no desire to imagine what a power with that name could do.

But perhaps the most terrifying thing was not the Puppeteer. It was to understand that every person around us probably carried an equally dangerous past. Allies, enemies, future traitors... impossible to know. And among them, there may have already been someone who was simply waiting for the right moment to kill us.

We had already gone too far to turn back.