The man gave a shrieking breath and collapsed with a thud upon the fresh hay of the stable, where above the roof lay unrepaired for several years, leading to rays of the setting sun to peek through.

Daqu bent down, almost deceiving, as if she were about to observe a lowly man's body with empathy. Instead she chose her more logical approach, grasping the small package wrapped in thin twine, damp from the carrier's perspiration.

She thoughtfully unwrapped it, unfazed by the corpse beside her, revealing a stone, peridot in color, and intricate patterns woven into its flesh. It emitted a type of glow that burned Corai's eyes when he gazed onto it.

It was unmistakeably the possession of someone too familiar with the cluster of people within the dusty room.

"Fuga really did it."

Hollia shook her head in disbelief, pouncing down from the rack above the four nimbly. She landed on a crate, laying among the other miscellaneous items scattered throughout the horses' lair, most likely a wealthy man's property before it was inevitably discarded to be at the condition it is now currently.

"Is isn't worth much I bargain. Though the shine its got gotta make us some sort of profit." Daqu turned the girl's slender body towards hers.

"It's not that which pays this significance. It's the fact that he managed to find his way in and out of the walls of the palace, even though this most likely resulted in his untimely death. Saro heal him within the skies."

Corai felt calm whenever Daqu uttered reverent words, giving him reassurance of an omnipotent prescence anyone, including as solemn as Daqu, could recognize.

Hatz peeked up from behind Hollia, giving her a doubtful look. "We don't know that. This could be a misdirection. Even someone as skilled as Fuga couldn't reach back here alive, how will we assume that all five of us will? Not to mention that its taken two years for this to reach back to us." He placed strong emphasis on "two years".

Corai was unusually paranoid as well, seeing as not a word or letter was sent to them for an entire twenty months after Fuga's departure. It would be wise to be wary for the time being.

The five knew of the deception the building has used to prey on its meek voctims like common thieves and armies of trained men. A sane person could be trapped in a limbo for eternities, many explain, transforming his demeanor to being carnivorous and malicious if he ever was granted the miracle of touching soil again. For no one knew of the dark power the palace was placed under, but it was strong enough that trees perished into a ghostly, skeleton within a hundred miles of it, previously standing for thousands of years.

Unsure of how the group would approach the latest information, Corai began to anaylze his mates. Hollia and Hatz often leaned towards a more emotional, impulsive approach, Daqu the drastic opposite, her limitless strength and predictability balancing the twins' often extreme behavior. And Corai felt he himself was a more closed off individual, self-aware enough to let the more knowledgeable and experienced ones lead. Zuat was nowhere to be found, and would remain that way for a long duration.

Daqu quietly tied her sleek lavendar hair back, it barely touching her broad shoulders, bluntly cut. Corai vaguely remembers the one time watching her rebewing her naturally grape-colored hair's shape outside the arena, carefully sawing off each strand precisely with a dagger. He often wondered how such a stern person was cursed with such bubbly hair, but he mood to it seemed indifferent.

"Mind your own business, Cor," she called to me, her fierce gray eyes focused on his. He nodded absently, and glanced away as he flushed with embarrassment at his pathetic thoughts.

"Alright, since Gappi has ceased communication with us like Fuga had, we can only assume the worst. This means we need to do something other than these pointless missions. Ideas?" Daqu scans the room, being met with the empty face of Hatz and the furrowed brow Hollia carried. "Thoughts, Cor?" Corai bit his tongue. He had a suggestion but he deemed it too risky.

"Tell us," Daqu could see through his silence,"it's no use to us if you shut your mouth the entire time." He sighed and rubbed his forehead.

"Fine. Since know that the palace is basically impenetrable, we meed to find another mode of invading Versoll." "And what is it that you are thinking of?" He took a deep breath. "Restricting their most essential alliance. Kilnon." Hollia's thick eyebrows were raised in alarm.

"Are you unwell, Corai? Kilnon is the most destructive nation my parents have every come across." She apprehensively twirled her thick, curly chestnut hair. "But they lack what makes Versoll so indestructible. Without any utilization or kniwledge if how to control the Power, it is bound to be easier to capture and control than Versoll. Hatz does have connections, as we know." Hatz nervously rubbed his neck in response.

"They are very tense, but I suppose they could be taken advantage of. Although Iwoel still has a price on my head." "Noted. But what other option do we have?" Corai realizes his plan of sharing was brutally torn apart once Daqu asked for his advice. But it was done, and little else was being contributed to the conversation.

A moment of silence was present before Daqu spoke up. "Okay. It seems risky, if it wasn't obvious, but I would give the kid a chance. First we need our initial strategy for how to confront this. Hollia I need you to-" "What in Saro's name?" Zuat appeared behind Corai in an instant, causing the jet-black hair on his head to stand on edge like he had been struck with lightning while he jumped back, startled.

"Zuat!" Hatz called, just as startled as Corai.

"Why is there a body on the floor?"