Unedited.

Just a reminder! Project Nightfall is different in these books. It has nothing to do with canon KOTLC

Ruy paced, his hands mussing his hair. This was a risk he shouldn't be making. Seamus wasn't being watched. He was written off by every single member of the Neversen that could be a threat to Ruy. He was invisible and exactly who Ruy needed.

He gave very specific instructions to Seamus. But the man was not a spy, and he doesn't know Inalia well. Ruy only hoped that his instructions were clear enough.

Ruy jumped at the feeling of fur along his ankle. Seamus's cat was weaving between his legs, softly purring. Seamus was yet to come up with a name for the cat, but they were practically attached by the hip. The only reason she liked Ruy was that Seamus told her he was okay.

"Go on now." Ruy muttered, shaking off the feline. The cat just sat in front of him, cocking her head.

"Go on. Git." She just flicked her ears at him.

Ruy groaned. He hated just sitting here. Maybe-

"Ruy?" Seamus asked, shuffling up to him. Ruy jumped to his feet, the kitten running to Seamus.

"How did it go?! Did they take the info? Were there anyone to watch you drop the report-"

Seamus blinked, putting up a hand, "It went well. Yes, they took the info. Two people watched me drop the info to the site you marked."

"Two people? Were they hooded?"

"Yeah, they looked like your Assassin friends. They watched me walk away before taking the report from the drop off location."

Ruy felt like a million pounds of his shoulders. That report was his first one and made Seamus drop it off to one of Maria's spy outposts. It held everything he learned from himself and the information Sophie gave him. Ruy can't imagine how worried Alexios and Filomena were about her.

And most importantly, it has the information on Governor Heinrich. Hopefully, Alexios can get the information to Queen Arsinoe before it's too late.

"Perfect. Thank you Seamus." Ruy breathed, patting him on his shoulder. Seamus and Ruy walked side by side in the lower parts of the Castello, carefully whispering.

"Why are you here if your aren't loyal?"

"I could ask the same question of you."

Seamus shrugged, stopping to scoop up his kitten, "Safety. I'm from the Neutral territories. The Neverseen hold such a powerful hold throughout them I just felt joining was natural. But I mostly just wanted to get away from home."

Ruy nodded, "I see."

"Why are you here though? You never did answer my question."

Ruy thought for a moment, contemplating his answer. He was here because his mother wanted him. But he still didn't know what for.

"I'm here for information. Nothing more." Ruy said curtly. Seamus sensed the end of the conversation and awkwardly patted the cat's head, clearing his throat.

"Where do you think Hathem and Dom went?"

"Don't know, don't care." Ruy's mind drifted back to the Matchmaker lobby, to the awkward conversation he had with Grady. When Sophie hears about it, she is gonna laugh so hard she won't be able to stand.

But Ruy had to admit, he quite liked talking to Grady. It felt natural, at least, near the end when Ruy got over his shock. Ruy was excited at the suggestion Grady made about inviting the family over to dinner but trying to imagine it was difficult. He kept imagining taking his plate to the back of the house, trying to stay out of the way and out of the happy family reunion. Not to mention, he is not welcome in the Lost cities. He was still exiled. Would Grady and Edaline trust their daughter's word when she says Ruy could be trusted? Would they trust him with her heart?

From what he heard from Keefe, if he couldn't get on Grady's good side, Ruy didn't stand a chance.

Ruy never thought beyond what he and Sophie had now. The secret rendezvouses and sloppy neck kisses and whispers. But something public, to be able to hold her and tell her how much he loves her in front of others. To not have, he just now started to realize the appeal. When he gets the chance, he should ask Sophie about it. They moved past the shy kisses and sideways glances to something more. He never held a woman before and felt so happy like with her, so relaxed. What they had wasn't a distraction like his past relationships but something raw and true. She was the reason Ruy stayed here, the reason he stayed to protect the Assassins. He couldn't cave in now.

"I have another thing to ask."

"Shoot." Seamus said, still babying his kitten.

"Have you seen any Assassins around? Or heard about them? We are missing a Lith, three Vatarians, two elves, one troll-"

"No... but I saw in the ledgers that we've been making deliveries to spots in the Lost Cities. The cargo is only marked as classified. It's in a blue folder I think. I gave it to one of Vespera's assistants;"

Ruy stopped, "The Lost Cities. You think they are moving the Assassins to the Lost Cities?"

Seamus shrugged, "It's the only thing I've heard that could be close to what you are talking about. Either that or the Neverseen are just killing them-"

Seamus and his cat yelped when Ruy yanked them behind the alcove, shoving them into the darkness. Ruy barely peeked around it, carefully watching his mother as she began down the hallways.

"How bad were the damages?" Vespera hissed.

"Nothing too bad, aparently. They jsut created a bit of a rucus. It seemed the women that attacked the factory were Assassins, one of which being Amalia. They sent our Sirens after them, but Maha Abara took them out. They were our only casuality besides the occasional guard."

Ruy bit his tongue, trying to listen as their voices got murmured. An update on Sophie and Maha. It might be the first he'll have in a while. Ruy reached behind him, expecting a hood for him to pull up. But there was nothing his uniform would provide for him for cover.

"Stay here." Ruy hissed at Seamus. Seamus nodded, but his cat thought otherwise. Seamus tried to hold the feline still, but instead, it jumped out of its owner's arms and bounded after Ruy. Ruy trailed behind them, his footsteps silent.

"-Lord Firenze? What of him?"

"He persused the attackers of his factory, my Lady. He attacked the island they were residing on, was met with resistance, before being assassinated by Amalia."

"That's my girl." Ruy whispered, relief overwhelming him. If anything, it sounded like one more cruel man was taken out of the world. Vespera was still in her Inalian regalia, the outfit only getting more and more elaborate. He used to only wear a Renisanca hair snoot if anything. But now she wore empire gown with emerald green and royal blue, silver crosshatching on the puffed shoulders and bodice. A gown that speaks Inalia. Why did she change so suddenly?

"That will push our plans back quite a bit. But nothing we can't handle. Anything on the Morretti?"

Ruy dragged his fingers against the wall as he trailed them, ducking behind pillars and decrepit furniture still littering the halls.

"She still resists Ma'am. We believe that she knows where the Observatory lies. Either that, or she knows someone who did." It was Maria. It had to be.

"The Morrettis have always been stubborn. You should meet that ox of a son she bore. More stubborn than Amalia, I say." Vespera grabbed a blue folder out of the man's hands. She flipped through it, he blank face taking in the details, "We can't continue with Project Nightfall until we have access to the Observatory.

"I know my lady, I am-"

"You are taking too long, is what I'm implying. If Amalia is still alive and making alliances, she will continue to be a thorn in our side. Names carry weight in the Vatarian world, especially Amalia's. I want her out of the picture while she is weak and doesn't have access to her Assassins."

"What do you propose we do?"

Vespera thought for a moment, tapping her foot. "Tell our contact inside the Assassins to increase his efforts."

"With all due respect, he does not listen to us as much as you like. He doesn't work for us, only works with us when it suits him. And guilt tends to rack him quickly, my Lady. He may come clean to the Assassins if we ask too much of him."

Ruy froze. He could knock out about half of the guild right there. The spy was a male.

Ruy carefully hiked up some barrels pulling himself into the rafters of the hallway. This was Sophie and Alexios's favorite way to spy. You could often find the siblings just hanging out in the rafters of the guildhall as well, throwing a discus to each other or just relaxing like cats bathing in the sun.

He understood the appeal of the rafters, they were quiet, and the acoustics made it a bit easier to hear from farther away. Vespera's assistant carefully set his stack of folders and papers down, pulling up his minyama as Vespera began to pace.

"He has been sitting on the sidelines for far too long. He can handle it. As much as he pretends, we scare him. That is why he has gone to these drastic meausres-"

A small meow made Vespera freeze. Ruy banged his forehead against the wooden rafters as they noticed the kitten trailing them.

"Aw, how cute-"

"How did it get in here?" Vespera stomped towards the cat, her assistant carefully handing it to her.

"We are quite deep in the wilds, mistress. It can be quite easy for critters to get into the castle-"

"This kitten would not last a day in Inalian wilds. Unlike your elven cockery, our nature kills us just as much as we kill it."

Ruy was not going to put his position in the Neverseen on the line for Seamus's cat. He just wasn't.

But that blue folder, however, might be useful.

His mother wasn't dumb. She would notice it missing. So a quick peek is what he would have to settle for. Ruy carefully leveraged down from the rafters, side-eyeing the distracted pair as he shuffled over to the folder. The paper was rough on his fingers as he quietly shifted through the information. It was all riddled with code and info he didn't understand. But Ruy did recognize the entries Seamus mentioned earlier. He was right; they were suspicious. All the others were perfectly labeled and exact, but these shipments were vague and happened around the time the kidnappings started. Something was scribbled into the cliff notes. Maybe to help her remember something?

Gold. That was the only thing written.

"I don't care, you fool-" Ruy dashed from the papers, slicing his finger along the paper's edge, "Just get rid of it." Vespera scowled at her assistant, who gathered up the cat and dashed away. Ruy watched from the rafters, scrambling on just in time, sucking away the blood pooling on his ring finger. Vespera sat at her desk, cursing Inalian curse words that not even sailors use.

His mother stopped, staring at the open blue folder. And the flecks of blood spilled on the edge, staining into the page.

Vespera stood, glancing around in a frenzy. She knew someone else was there.

But Ruy was gone before she ever got the chance to say hello.

The Pythia was a snarky one who reminded Alexios way too much of his sister. She was fighting his clutch the entire time, spitting smartass remarks, and made her distaste very clear. But she opened the hidden wall for him nonetheless, leading him down from the room of rock. It was steep, and there was very little light, but the Pythia clearly directed him with short orders. Soon, the tight tunnel opened up. They had to be in the heart of Adonis's isle; he couldn't hear anything from the outside world. The Pythia gestured to the empty room, "Here you go, murderer. The fruit of your endevours."

This couldn't be it. The room was empty and looked very mediocre.

"This can't be it. Why did he need this?" Alexios didn't even realize he was murmuring to himself.

"Who the hell are you talking about? Besides, only those who are directly related to my bloodline can open the Observatory."

The Pythia stomped on his foot, expecting him to let go, but Alexios remained still. The pain was nothing but a tingle as his mortal form melted away, his Pancras form shimmering to the surface. The Pythia went slack at the sight of his silver eyes.

That is exactly what he needed.

His senses lit the room up for him, made him see the alcoves carved out of the rock. He shuffled over to a mechanism in the wall, dragging the slack-jawed Pythia with him. He fiddled around with the buttons and levers, snarling in anger before slamming his hand into it. That, somehow, managed to do the job.

"Oh hey! I did it!" Alexios smiled as light filled the cracks between the rocks. Everything started with a gentle hum.

Alexios looked down at the Pythia, "Why didn't you tell me to do that?"

"I-It doesn't work with Vatarians. Or at-at least modern Vatarians."

"So you just weren't going to tell me in hopes I would leave it alone?" Alexios snarled. The Pythia scowled, trying to squirm out of his grasp.

"This is getting ridiculous." He snatched some of the thin rope he kept on him, tying her arms and ankles and tossing her down.

"Stay." He commanded, moving further into the room. Hogtying and threatening the Messenger of the Gods probably secured his place in the Underworld, but he would cross that bridge when he came to it.

The room seemed bigger now with it lit up. The light that filtered through the cracks was a gentle blue that hummed with life. It all resonated to three points in the room. Three empty archways that lead to nowhere but the rock wall behind them. Alexios poked his head in the arches, cursing when nothing happened.

"What are they?"

"I'm not speaking to the likes of you anymore." The Pythia snapped. Alexios sighed, running his hands along it. A gentle hum radiated from the arches, almost soothing. Alexios closed his eyes focusing, on the sound. It reminded him of his mother. When Maria's snarky personality melted away, she always was a lover. She would hum him to sleep, stroking his hair until he drifted away.

Or maybe it was the humming of Amalia whens he would practice her dance steps, gracefully tapping her pink satin slippers against the polished floors of the ballroom as she practiced. She would hum and whisper the counts under her breath, doing it over and over again until his mom would call them all for dinner. She would do it over and over again when they were children. He still caught her mindlessly copying her old dance steps while looking over documents or daydreaming.

The warm tingle that shot up whenever he thought of his family. Lilac's giggles, Allesandro's cheers when Alexios caught his first fish, Amalia's teasing and rowdiness.

Alexios didn't realize he was squinting, his eyes closed as his fingers grazed the no longer cool stone of the archways. His eyes fluttered open, staring in disbelief as the strings of light leading from the tips of his fingers to the cracks of stone. The archways hummed louder now, the light making the rock sizzle, small pebbles peeling away to reveal the sleek titanium underneath.

He looked behind him, planning on chewing out the Pythia for not telling him their true purpose. Her bound hands were covering her eyes, her teeth gritting as she looked away. There was searing heat as the archway glowed brighter and brighter. Alexios's palms were bright as the strings of light continued throughout his veins and his body. He was glowing, he realized. Actually glowing like a ray of the early morning sun.

With apprehension, he raised his hand to the empty space in the archway.

The light died with a final singe of heat, and Alexios's hand now pressed against the chill wind of a portal. The portal was clear and shimmery, like watching through a piece of purple silk. It leads to a dark cave, where a woman sat on a throne.

"Salve?" Hello? Alexios called into the portal. The woman jerked in her seat, sitting up to stare at the portal. She had white hair that went to her hips, poorly plaited to her side. Golden eyes glared at him as she shakily gets up from her rock throne. She was pale and weak, black veins traveling along the length of her face and body. She limped over, staring in disbelief. She wore long claw-like jewelry on her fingers as she placed her hand against the portal, right on Alexios's own. Clawed finger jewelry was a sign of Inalian power and royalty, but this woman had no crown.

"Allo éna?" Another one? She whispered.

"Poios eísai?" Who are you? Alexios insisted, trying to push through the portal. The silk-like glass that was the portal turned to pins against his hands, pushing him away from the woman. Alexios screamed, tumbling back. The minute his hand severed connection, the portal snapped close, leaving the silver-haired woman in her cave.

"No. No, no, no!" Alexios scrambled to the archway, trying to hear that humming again. But it was completely dead.

"No! Merda!" Alexios kicked the arch, cursing. Who was that? Why did that happen?

He turned to the Pythia, who was completely quiet. This left him with more questions than answers. Why did Allesandro need this?!

"N-No one knows about this. You hear me?"

"I-"

"Not a soul. Not even your god will be able to save you if you open your damn mouth!"

The Pythia nodded, her fists clenched. Alexios flicked his wrists, sawing his hidden blades across the ropes. The Pythia rolled her wrists out before darting out of the Observatory, running to the gentle shine of sunlight above, a door opening for her.

Alexios glared at the room before stomping back out. This didn't answer many of his questions. Why did his uncle need this place? How did he get in? Why did his light do that with the portals? Who was that woman?

Uncle Allesandro only could've gotten into the Observatory with either the Pythia herself, which is unlikely for her hared of Cyevan Assassins.

Or he found someone else from the Pythia's bloodline. That would probably be Alexios's best next step.