We found ourselves in a small but comfortable sitting area, adorned with luscious rugs and bright red couches. At the centre of the room was a low, glass table, and the room had viewing screen walls, which depicted a seaside landscape, probably streamed live from one of the wealthier sky cities’ famous beaches. The whole place was bathed in a pleasant outdoor lighting that really lifted the mood of the otherwise sterile building that lay around it.

Still, despite all this, Scarlett’s expression was far from happy. The Lunar Knight looked as bitter as Neptilia looked smug. As we entered a serving bot asked Neptilia if she or her guests would like a refreshment, and she ordered us a round of vodka and lemonades. Under different circumstance; as I sipped at the cool liquid out of the crystal glass the robot had brought back on a serving tray; I might have imagined I was on vacation, however, my mind was still clouded, and the alcohol that I gulped quickly down only served to numb my senses.

Whilst the two female knights glared at each other across the coffee table, their drinks standing full between them, I quietly called for another, handing the robot my empty glass.

“I imagine we both have a lot of questions,” Neptilia said.

Scarlett nodded. “And I imagine you expect me to explain first.”

Neptilia grinned. “How astute of you. It’s no wonder you were always top of the class, Scarlett.”

Scarlett folded her arms and leaned back in the couch next to me. She hadn’t touched her drink yet. I quietly sipped at mine as I listened to her speak.

She explained how she’d received a distress signal from Olympus-3. How she’d flown there, only to discover a horde of Chaos Gargoyles, run into me, and how we’d then gone to the Tower of Delphi and seen the breakout of what we’d dubbed the “Chaos Sickness”. She then explained that we’d been told only Alcandor’s name, and that the only thing we knew about him was that he had the key to the seal for the Chaos Portals. She told Neptilia about our coming here, but omitted the lengthy events involving the sandman.

Neptilia scratched her chin. “So, you want to find this Alcandor guy, to close up the portals and stop the sickness spreading further?”

“That’s about the gist of it.”

“You know that closing the portals wouldn’t dispose of the Chaos that are already in our world, right?” Neptilia’s eyes darkened as she said this.

“You’re referring to –”

“Otamisia, the Vampyre Queen.”

Queen – almost immediately the word struck something within me. Renă had mentioned her “queen” several times, and somehow, I knew this queen must be the same person of which the masked girl had spoken.

“She keeps to herself, for the most part.”

Neptilia smirked. “I suppose. She isn’t likely to care too much if you cut her rivals from home off either.”

“Your turn then,” Scarlett replied. “What are you doing here, Neptilia?”

The ginger knight bit anxiously at the nail of her index finger. “I shouldn’t really be blabbing, but you already told me. Not that I owe you anything. I did save your ass back the–”

“Cut the crap. Either tell me or don’t, but don’t waste my time.”

I continued to sip at my second drink. The cold condensation had wet the palm of my hand. Honestly, I was glad to be listening to this conversation under the mild effects of the alcohol. On second thought, “conversation” wasn’t really the right word for it; the air was too tense; more like an encounter.

“I’m escorting an important emissary from New Athens. Currently he’s in talks with the top brass of this guild.”

“You’ve never heard the name Alcandor, have you?” Scarlett asked, sounding disinterested in the other knight’s so-called secret mission now that she’d actually heard the details.

Neptilia frowned, then shook her head. “Unfortunately, not.”

At that moment, whether through the bursting need to speak after having held my tongue so long, or my drink had spurring me on, I spoke up.

“Those guys back there seemed to recognise his name pretty quickly, and it seemed like they wanted to hide any knowledge of his being here, if you ask me.”

Neptilia chuckled. “Your friend’s quite interesting, Scarlett.” She paused a moment and glanced at me. “They may know something about him. They most likely know where he is.” She shrugged and took a sip from her glass. “They are all part of the Mage’s Society, after all.”

Scarlett looked deep in thought, her mouth buried in her hands. “Where are you headed from here?” she asked, raising her head once more.

“My charge has an audience with the Babelonian King in the coming week. We’ll be staying at the palace from tonight onwards.” She seemed rather smug at this declaration.

Just then, there was a knock at the door, and it swung inwards. A man in a grey suit stepped in. His hair was combed smoothly over, like a doll’s, and he had such an agreeable face that I found myself instantly liking him. He smiled cheerily as he shut the door behind him.

“I hope I wasn’t interrupting something.”

Neptilia stood and gave a short bow. “No, of course not, sir. I just bumped into an old acquaintance.”

Scarlett looked displeased at Neptilia’s intonation. I introduced myself to the man and the Lunar Knight sitting beside me begrudgingly did the same.

“How lovely,” the man responded. “I am Basil, an emissary from New Athens.”

“Basil, was there by any chance mentions of an Alcandor in that meeting you just came from?” I spoke without thinking. I’m not even sure where the words came from and the sound of them escaping my lips surprised me.

Neptilia’s eyes widened. “Hey, you can’t –”

“It’s alright, Neptilia.” Basil silenced the knight with a wave of his hand. “My dear Sander, there was indeed. It seems the man to which you are referring was here until last week, when he was summoned by the king himself.”

Scarlett jumped up from her seat. “So, he is here,” she said, her voice a whisper.

Basil nodded cheerily. “Say, why don’t you tag along with us? I’m sure you’ll have a chance to meet him once we’re there.”

Neptilia looked outraged at the suggestion. “Sir, I implore you not –”

“You offer is most gracious and generous, Basil,” Scarlett said with a bow, cutting off her fellow knight. As she stood upright, she gave Neptilia a wicked smirk.

“Well, it’s settled then. You’ll accompany us to the Silver Palace. I hear the Hanging Gardens are quite something at this time of year.”