It had been a week of nothing. Their magic radars hadn't sensed a thing, and the reports seemed to have died down about the alleged god sightings. Cygnus was frustrated, but not disheartened. He couldn't give up so easily because he knew Arthur was back home, waiting for him. If he couldn't uncover the truth, then the world would never be able to unite and fight against whatever darkness was coming their way. He felt the heavy weight of humanity's future on his shoulders, even more so than the day his father and all the other great scholars of his town were killed.
"Something isn't right," Epsilon said. "The anomalous magic was so abundant before you came, yet it seems to have vanished overnight."
"It's like the calm before the storm," Samson said as he held the orb to the magic sled. He was drenched in sweat despite the cooling breeze wrought on by the moving vehicle.
"I've recorded many of the past readings, and it doesn't look like there are any patterns in how the strange magic shows up," Ada said. "It also looks like it never shows up in the same place. It's like lightning, never striking twice."
"Such an intuitive young lady," Cygnus remarked, redirecting his focus from the scribbled notes on crumpled paper in his hand. "Samson! How come I've not heard of such a promising addition in your letters?"
"Oh, you know me. All business and right to the point," Samson said as he let out a nervous chuckle. "I'm so result-oriented, I don't sweat the small stuff."
"Fat chance," Epsilon said. "You've been too busy lazing around and stuffing your face with Dactyl meat that you've completely neglected your responsibilities. If it weren't for your geographic expertise, we'd have sent you back eons ago."
"Like you've been any more useful than me," Samson mumbled.
"Let's stop for the night," Cygnus said. "I have something to discuss with the lot of you once we've finished setting up."
Epsilon began crafting a spherical earthen structure with his magic while Samson started a fire to cook a bit of their rations. Ada and Cygnus were left alone in the cart.
"Thanks for helping us out," Cygnus said pleasantly. "We three are useless when it comes to directions, and we'd likely end up dusty bones without you."
"No, it's I who should be thanking you," Ada said. "You're the savior."
"Your village is still going on about that. Really, it was nothing," Cygnus said. "All I did was use medicine that we already had. Your gratitude is wasted."
"That's not true," Ada said. "I watched you as you stood over my brother for days on end without a wink of rest. If you already had medicine ready, you wouldn't have had to work until you passed out."
"Is that so? I don't recall," Cygnus said.
"Say, what made you want to be a scientist in the first place?" Ada asked. "What are you trying to accomplish?"
"That's a question I've been trying to answer all my life," Cygnus said, looking up to the darkening horizon. He gazed lovingly at the stars, which gazed right back, twinkling in his bold eyes. "When you learn something fascinating, how do you feel?"
"I feel great!" Ada said. "My body gets excited, and I can't help but want to know even more!"
"Right?" Cygnus said enthusiastically as he turned to Ada with gaping pupils. "With each new discovery, I can't help but feel giddy in every nerve in my body. It's like an exhilarating pulse of lightning rushing through my veins, and I can never get enough of the feeling. Uncovering the secrets of this world is like unwrapping the greatest gifts of all."
"That's putting it lightly!" Ada said. "I want to learn all the secrets of magic and share them with the world!"
Cygnus paused for a moment and stared down at the eager young woman before him. It was like looking into his reflection in the pond, surrounded by white stars all around. "As do I."
In the spherical sand structure created by Epsilon's earth magic, the three Westland men and the young Southland woman sat in a circle around a lantern imbued with the faint light of the fairy quartz within. The hardened-sand house was crude but sturdy, and kept the chill of the desert night out well enough.
With a pinkish glow illuminating their stricken faces, they awaited Cygnus to speak. Truthfully, Epsilon and Samson had never seen him so serious. He was always focused, and he went a bit insane the more nights he went without sleep, but he never once wore such a deadpan expression.
"Is it okay for me to be hearing this?" Ada asked. "I can go out of earshot if you wish. I do not mind."
"No, I've already decided you will be part of my team," Cygnus said. "That was your desire, yes?"
Ada's eyes lit up, and her heart sped up as if it were to beat out of her chest. She couldn't contain her immensely pleased cheeky grin.
"It's what I've always dreamed of!" she said. "I'll dedicate my soul to you."
"It's not as if we're getting married," Cygnus laughed. "But I appreciate the sentiment and welcome you, though it seems there won't be a formal initiation ceremony. That's because, as of now, there is no one left in the kingdom I can trust other than you three."
"Huh? What does that mean?" Epsilon asked. "This is the first you've said anything about this. I've certainly not seen any major changes in the kingdom's newspapers, though we do receive them a bit late."
"Listen closely and do not speak of anything I tell you today," Cygnus said. "I haven't been able to say anything until now because we've been watched constantly. From this point on, you must be as careful as I have been. That means no letters, no speaking when others are around, and certainly do not listen to anything anyone says, whether they be a comrade or foe."
"What's with the sudden seriousness?" Samson asked. "You've never been so grave in how you spoke."
"We are soon to fall to ruin," Cygnus said. "Loyalty to Arthur has waned to a handful of followers, and it seems civil war is inevitable."
"There's no way that's true!" Epsilon said. "But if it is, then the Northland won't stand idly by. They'll surely seize the opportunity to invade, and that's not to mention the volatile factions of the south. Don't they know that humanity is soon doomed if we don't act now?"
"That's probably what incited this rebellion," Cygnus said. "I don't know what Lionel's true intentions are, but he's influenced most of the country."
"If the kingdom's against us, then what is there left to do?" Samson asked.
"We continue on and have faith in our allies," Cygnus said. "Once the realization that the gods are against us sets in, humanity will have no choice but to unite under a single cause and escape to the Moonless Terra, the only place they do not dwell."
"You've got an awful lot of faith in your little device," Epsilon cackled. "Can you really make it? A machine that'll save us all?"
"It's not a matter of if I can do it, but rather whether we can do it in time," Cygnus said. "Right now, we lack resources and information."
"Shouldn't we head back West then? That's where the brunt of the academic community is," Epsilon said.
"We'll return in due time, but the anomalous readings we've been tracing is precisely the same frequency of magic I've been trying to develop," Cygnus said. "Whatever it is, it holds the key to everything. Arthur's put his hopes in me, and I shant let him down."
"You loyal dog!" Samson roared. "But the same can be said about us. Still, are you sure the old man is doing okay by himself in a castle of traitors?"
"He is the one favored by fate and our king," Epsilon pointed out. "He won't die so easily."
"There's just one more thing," Cygnus said. "Several weeks ago, not long before we left, an angel attacked."
"An angel?!" Epsilon and Samson exclaimed in unison.
"Hush now," Cygnus said. He glanced at Ada, who also looked quite alarmed. "Worry not, for the threat was extinguished."
"Who could have possibly killed an angel?" Ada asked. "That kind of thing is impossible."
"It must have been Sako," Epsilon said.
"Alas, it wasn't," Cygnus said. "It was done by Xinyu Ma. Against that beast, I couldn't do a thing, yet she was able to slice through its heart in one fell swing."
"That little girl?" Samson asked. "She's quite cute, but I'd never have thought it if anyone else had told me."
"Yes, she's quite strong," Cygnus said. "But what's more important is that the angel was corrupted with anomalous black magic. The same we've been chasing, and one that I had glimpsed not long before Xinyu's arrival."
"Do you think the Eastern girl might know about this black magic?" Epsilon asked.
"It's quite possible, but I never got the chance to ask because we were always being watched," Cygnus said. "I'd like to probe her about it, but she seems to have disappeared. I've saved a lock of her hair to track her down, yet I can't find her no matter how much magic I expend. Perhaps she's underground."
"Could she be dead?" Epsilon asked.
"Not likely," Cygnus said. "I do believe from my own experiences that she wouldn't be done so easily. She will return in her own time. For now, I believe there is another way we can attain information from. Brax, the gentleman who had accompanied us to these lands."
"Why would he know?" Samson asked. "Didn't you tell us he was just a peasant with a drab past?"
"Aye, there's nothing special about him on the surface," Cygnus said. "But for whatever reason, he's the man that Xinyu trusts the most. If anyone knows anything, it would be him."
"How odd," Samson said.
"Is it really that strange?" Cygnus asked. "We all need someone to trust and relay our secrets to, and what better person to trust than someone who gains nothing from betraying you. Brax is a man who was born to nothing and has lived at the bottom his whole life. He's the most unimportant guy in the world, which might just make him the most trustworthy. At least, in Xinyu's eyes."
"Well, after we're finished eating supper, then I suppose we should go track him down. Kofi said he was training the poor fellow," Samson said.
"You've eaten enough," Epsilon said. "Far too much in your lifetime. Come, let's head out now."
"Now, now," Cygnus assured. "Let's savor this meal. I'm not sure how many more we'll get in the future."