“And that's what happened,” Saix explained, lying on the couch as if the room was his own home. “Life comes sickly, rock and roll. Stole my line.”

“And the unspawn?” Adam asked from his seat.

“I took care of most of them. But those two kids took out a big one each. They're strong, no doubt about that, especially given that they don't have Soul Arms.” Saix yawned and stretched to the lazy summer heat. His voice then dipped. “There were casualties though. Close to fifty people died. Some injured. I won't lie, it'll take a while for the town to recover from this one.”

They were in Adam's personal chamber. Saix hated the room for being too much 'everything'. A large king-sized bed sat to the far left corner sided by the couch. In the middle of the room, a large round table akin to those used to plan for war was centred and surrounded by wooden chairs, on one which Adam sat. Maps of the world was strewn over it with mixed chess pieces placed around. Burnt out candle lamps and tinted stationeries kept atop them as weight. All of which sat under a gleaming chandelier of crystals, each giving off a soft white glow that combined to give light.

On the right, a long, intricately carved red wood desk sat strongly before an ornate leather chair. Behind, the regalia of Aleynonlia's rule – an ornate long sword – sat mounted on the wall. Opposite the entrance, a balcony with three sets of arcing double doors of stained glass windows stretched from end to end. Each of the glass set depicted variations of the royal insignia throughout time, with the final door half decorated with two crossing swords.

Adam stood to his feet and paced around the war table, contemplating at the maps of the world.

Sensing his friend's distraction, Saix added, “We've had stragglers before. Probably just another wayward tear.”

“Not in these numbers.”

“We send some Spellblades out to patrol, maybe even get Cray or Feathers to drop in on the towns every once in a while. Problem solved.”

But Adam did not seem to buy it. The king continued to pace, eventually making his way out to the balcony and resting his arms on the edge overlooking his kingdom.

The third member of the room was Ruby Aelkine, the elected Head Consort of the Rubicum Alliance. She wore the traditional red uniform of her nation's officials which paired thankfully well with her bundled scarlet hair and set wood eyes.

She followed the king outside and stood looking at the same view. “We've been getting rumours over in the forest.”

“Unspawns?”

“Like I said, rumours. Nothing concrete. No real sightings. No real contacts. Just... whispers in the treelines. The elves are keeping an eye out and they sense disturbances in the forest, but no real proof yet. But I am worried, especially with all that's happening lately concerning the epitaphs and the rising slave trade.”

Saix chimed in, “I'm not from around here, so you're gonna have to clue me in of the slave thing. I know we've been cracking down hard on them, but there's been slavers for as long as I know of. What's new?”

“The people,” Adam answered. “While most of the population are normal, half of those that have been reported missing are either mages or have a history of combat.”

Ruby interjected, “We think someone is trying to revive the Arena of the Beasts.”

Saix's face scrunched in disgust. “That gladiator ring in Devara?”

“Yes,” the king confirmed. “Though truthfully, there's little we can do about it from here aside from clamping down on the local cells. Ierba is headed there to meet with Nadier, so if anyone is going to put a stop to this at its head, it's them. So for now, I want to focus on the issue with the unspawns.”

Ruby sighed. “Right. I was thinking given the likelihood of an attack, we should call off the Spellblades Tourney. There's also the issue with Class C and their epitaphs. I highly suspect that whatever is going to happen, will happen at the tourney.”

Adam rubbed his chin as if there was a beard even though he was shaven clean. Saix never understood why he did that. Unconsciously, he rubbed his own chin as well.

“No,” Adam added. “We'll continue with the tourney. Tears can't happen in places with large amount of people. And having Spellblades gather together in one place would make Rubicum the safest city on the continent until Winter ends. I doubt there's anywhere in the world that would be more secure than Rubicum during the tourney.”

“And Class C?” she asked. “They are kids. Do we really want to put them in harm's way given the uncertainty of our situation?”

Saix was not sure of what to make of the teenagers. “They were Jax's age when he started the Second War of God.” Ruby and Adam turned to look at him questioningly. “I'm just saying, we can't protect them forever. You remember what happened with Joanne Arc. Once a seer or precog gets involved, it becomes incredibly hard to move things in our direction, if it's even possible at all.”

Silence fell between the three. They knew he was right. No matter how much they tried to prevent whatever event was looming, it was likely not going to happen. It was similar to the video games he liked to play. There were lines of quests for each characters, but only ever so it seems to fit the player of the game. Despite there being hundreds of other people within the game, only those few handfuls ever gets picked out to fight monsters and defeat evil.

“I think,” Saix continued, “That if you want to find Titans, you must first find those who walk in the shadow of the Valley of Titans.”

He thought that maybe then, he understood why the main characters in video games got to solve all the problems. That maybe there was a giant web of events that covered the world, a web that only those who walked on could see. And people like himself and Adam and Ruby and Jax and Scarlet and Ierba were not on the web this time. And no matter how hard they tried to look, they would never piece the strings together. A puzzle without the corners and edges.

Adam asked him, “You've met a couple of them. What's your impression?”

“They are good at what they do,” Saix told him. “Spellblading the way they did was impressive to watch. I remember the first time Jack and I picked up our Soul Arms we needed everything we had to drop even one of those flyers.”

“I'm talking about their personalities,” the king chided.

Saix shrugged. “Four-Chan knows what she wants to do in life and how to get there. Seems like the path is clear for her. Seks is a little behind on his coming-of-age. He seems a little unsure if where he's going is where he wants to be.”

Adam crossed his arms in annoyance. “That's not what I'm asking, and you know that.”

He grinned. “I know. Though what did you expect me to say? They're kids. Finding themselves is all they do at that age.”

“What are we to do if they end up on the side of those against us? They are rebellious at their age. And while it is good to question, what if they make the wrong decisions?” Adam bemoaned. “If the gods are really at play, having even a single Spellblade on the other side of the aisle could turn the tides irreversibly.”

“We help them where we can and try to point them in what we think is the right direction. Anything more than that and we'll be no better than the gods who wants us in their image.” Saix sat up from the couch and materialized his guitar. He started strumming a tune as he added, “Whatever their personalities and ideologies are, it doesn't matter. We just have to hope they're on our side, and if not, hope to everything that we are in the wrong when they come for our heads.”

Ruby added, “That's the kind of trust we Clovers are built on, isn't it?”

Adam leaned against the parapet with a look of realization and defeat. “You're right. Of course you are right, both of you. I'm sorry, I don't know what got over me. I must have sounded like a dictator for a second.”

She went to his side and placed an arm around him in friendly comfort and patted. “You're a good leader, Adam. Near perfect, I begrudgingly admit. But you put too much on your shoulders, my friend.”

Adam looked back over towards the landscape. The capitol bustled with life. Bells were ringing to signal the beginning of noon. Faraway, chimney smoke rose from the the outer districts and farmlands stretched the horizon. Saix's folk music floated out into the air.

“It's the peace,” he said. We worked so hard for it and to only get to enjoy these short seven years seems... wrong. Undeserved.”

“Let's leave it to the kids to tackle a front then,” Saix added, still playing. “Takes some of the burden off both of us. We focus on everything else so they can solve their epitaphs in peace. But honestly, I have feeling they'll simply be stumbling into the answers rather than finding them.”