After a very pleasant Sunday morning, Arthur and his family enjoy a wonderful day together. At night, he has a great time with Nyx and Margaret before sleeping embraced by both.
The night is calm in Fletcher Village as usual, but outside, it is at such a time that the most important things happen in the shadows.
Inside one of the most luxurious taverns in the capital of the Lumindell Kingdom, six hooded figures ascend the stairs. It's past midnight, so there are few people in the tavern, mostly overnight guests and the establishment's own employees.
Whoever they are, everyone can feel the cold and somber aura around these mysterious figures, so everyone keeps their distance as they head to the VIP area. Passing through a long corridor filled with magical defenses, they meet another hooded figure at the end, but that person's clothes are brown, not black.
As the six black figures approach the door at the end of the corridor, the brown figure becomes alert and stands in front of it; based only on their silhouette, it's possible to tell it's a slender woman no taller than 1.65 meters, but she does not seem willing to back down. "My Master was waiting-" She begins to speak in a polite tone.
"Get out of the way," But one of the black figures exclaims with a deep, malicious male voice. Yet, the brown-clad woman continues to guard the door. "Only one person can enter."
"You little piece of shit," the hooded man raises his hand, which begins to glow with dark-green sparkles, and the whole tavern starts to tremble. But another man beside him grabs his hand, making the sparkles disappear, "Easy, Vorren, the girl is just following orders."
The girl does not change her posture and seems calm, but beneath her hood, her cloth mask becomes wet with sweat. The leader of the group takes a step forward, and his cold aura makes chills run through the girl's body. "Do you know who we are?" He asks calmly, but it is clear, a threat as well.
"Yes," the girl nods. "But your power and influence have no significance here; if you do not follow my Master's rules, she can turn this place to ashes in less than a second, and even if you don't suffer a scratch, all the information she has gathered would be lost."
Hearing the girl's words, Vorren extends his hand to the wall, and the dark-green light appears again, revealing hidden symbols and patterns on it. "Hundreds of runes, perhaps thousands throughout the whole building, all Master Level, fire, and light types..." His tone remains confident.
"I see..." The leader turns his attention to the girl. "Your Master seems not to be so foolish after all; I suppose she has found some useful information, right?"
The girl nods, but Vorren disagrees. "Or she's bluffing; I suggest we tear this city down, show these rats what happens when they contradict u-"
"Shut up!" The leader speaks in a stern tone, and Vorren steps back in silence. Then, the leader calls someone else. "Circe," She steps forward and bows respectfully. "Ivar,"
"Handle this," Ivar orders, and Circe quickly nods. "Of course," She approaches the door, and the girl opens it, then Circe enters the room. The place is quite dark, but as soon as the girl closes the door, the sound of a *Clap* echoes, and magical lights illuminate the place.
The Fox Lady's eyes sparkle even more as she points to the sheets in Circe's hand. "See for yourself."
Circe, confused, starts to look through the reports in her hands, but all mentions from the person who wrote that indicate it was impossible to register the power of the person who began to be described as the Butterfly Mage.
"There's nothing-" Circe looks through all the report sheets until she gets to the last one, which is also a photo of the mage with the hat, but this one makes her eyes widen. "This can't be real?"
The photo shows a beach with thousands of soldiers, all staring towards the sea, where the head of a giant serpent emerges hundreds of meters above the surface. But in front of the frightening creature, the Butterfly Mage floats with a staff in hand, creating a tornado even larger than the serpent, which seems afraid of her.
"You must know how powerful that creature is, right?" The Fox Lady asks in a sarcastic tone. "That Mage alone defeated a Tzukán, saving the city of Lithian from total destruction..."
"Alone?" Circe seems doubtful of that. "Do you think she's a Sage?"
"I only work with facts, and I have no way to measure the power of a Sage," The Fox Lady shrugs. "But honestly, I wouldn't want to have this mage as my enemy."
Circe ignores that comment and questions the Fox Lady again. "And the blonde woman? Did you find anything about her?"
The Fox Lady waves her hand, and only two sheets fly toward Circe. One is a photo of a beautiful woman with blond hair and blue eyes wearing a gray cloak; the other sheet is a short report that the Fox Lady summarizes in a few words. "She was with the Butterfly Mage nineteen years ago, but I have nothing more on her."
"Hmm..." Circe makes a doubtful expression. "You're not hiding anything from me, right? I only need to snap my fingers to crush an ant like you..." As she speaks, Circe begins to touch the bracelet on her arm.
"I have no doubt about that," The Fox Lady continues to maintain a calm posture, but her eyes are extremely attentive. "But I advise you not to use that disgusting trick on me; I've prepared well for this meeting; if my ability to control my own mind falters for a second, my body implodes."
"Oh, you would really kill yourself?" Circe asks in a sinister tone, and the Fox Lady nods slowly. "Dead, I can't be more useful to you, but alive, I can continue searching for information about this blonde woman. She seems much more reserved than the Butterfly Mage, but I'm sure I can find something if you give me more time."
"Smart fox..." Circe smirks and makes the photo of the blonde woman and a bag of black crystals float towards the Fox Lady. "Continue looking for her, and the next payment will be even better."
"Alright," The Fox Lady makes a slight bow as Circe leaves the room with the reports she prepared. Her eyes sparkle with curiosity as she glances at the blonde woman in the photo in her hand. 'Who are you, girl?'