“You know, after we come back from the frontline trip, I think I’m gonna introduce Ash to my parents.” Zac said.

Mahon and him were going back to their residences at school. They had spent the whole day playing music, chit chatting about their future and laughing together. It had been a nice break after the stress caused by the ending of the Fada cult. Usually, Zac would use any excuse to sleep with Ash, but he had said they had to prepare for the trip and left with Mahon.

Their last embrace had lasted for a long time before they separated and waved each other goodbye. Zac would only see Ash in a week, and it already seemed too far away for both lovebirds.

“But they already know her.” Mahon answered.

“Yeah, I meant formally introduce her. Like telling my parents we’re together.”

“Oh…”

“Yeah.”

“What do you think they will say? She’s not a noble.”

“I don’t think they really care about that as long as I’m happy. They’ve met Ash already. They’re probably even expecting this. But it’s good to announce to everyone we’re together. It’s a nice step forward in our relationship.”

Mahon smiled. “So, nothing to worry about?”

“Not really, but I can’t stop myself from being nervous just thinking about it. Being officially together is… I don’t know. An important step? Kind of.”

“I think I know what you mean. It’ll not change anything about your relationship with Ash, but it’s becoming official. It’s linking you together a bit more.”

“Exactly! I think she’ll love it.” Zac said with a blissful smile.

Mahon chuckled, but deep inside he was also happy for his friend. His friends, actually.

“I think I’ll invite them to a nice restaurant and then tell them.” Zac continued.

The conversation continued on the same topic for the whole trip, and the two friends chatted about how Zac could find a nice way to reveal his relationship. Mahon wasn’t the best person to ask for such a thing as he had both no experience and knew almost nothing about noble’s traditions for such an event. Yet Zac was happy to confess and talk about it with Mahon. Sometimes, one only needed an attentive ear, and Zac and him had exchanged so much advice about anything that it just felt natural for Zac to ask his friend.

They spent a bit more time discussing at the doorstep of their residences before they each went to their respective home to rest for the night. The day had been calm and uneventful, but given their recent nocturnal activities, they were more than happy to have time to rest. And depending on Jorik’s information, tomorrow might also be turbulent.

Mahon stepped into Nightmare and looked around him. He didn’t feel like going to his usual place to train. Instead, he walked around without purpose. The events had happened one after the other without real breaks in between, and he hadn’t yet had time to process what he did against Belanor.

“Another step?” He spoke out loud, but only silence answered him in the deserted world. “Or is it just the Flow?” He continued his musing.

Mahon had never dived as deep as he did against Belanor. Not in Ratho, at least. He had executed the Steps dozens of times in Nightmare, and yet he had never felt the pull for another step after the twelfth before.

He invoked his spear and breathed in and out. The Flow’s warm embrace welcomed him, and Mahon spent some time to recreate the same mindset he had against Belanor. He immersed himself deep in the Flow and started the Steps.

They flowed one after the other with extreme ease, and he completed the sequence without any issue. But when the last step ended, he didn’t feel anything.

He tried again, immersing himself even deeper, but it led to the same results. Nothing. Disregarding the strange phenomenon, Mahon promised himself to try out while training in Ratho as soon as he could. Maybe he had to be in the real world, and Nightmare was simply too intangible to feel the next step. It could also explain why he had never felt it before.

Mahon continued his slow stroll while thinking about what awaited him in his new life with Zac and Ash, and all that they could accomplish together. Lost in happy thoughts, a smile crept up on his lips and never left for his whole stay in Nightmare, and even though he didn’t even meditate, he woke up feeling rested and ready for the day.

He dressed himself and woke up a still sleeping Zac by knocking loudly at his door. While he waited for his friend to come down, he noticed Jorik coming towards him at a quick pace. The noble was still walking, but faster than he needed to if he had nothing important to say to them.

Did he manage to find the backer?

Zac exited his house at the same time Jorik reached them, and the three men glanced at the others with a knowing look.

“Back inside I guess?” Zac said while gesturing to his house.

Jorik nodded, and Zac reopened his door and invited Mahon and Jorik to follow him. They sat on the sofa in the living room, and Jorik immediately started the hostility.

“I found him.”

Mahon and Zac nodded. They had guessed that much.

“He is a noble, but not working for the noble families.” Jorik continued. “He currently resides at the Blue counselor residence.”

“The Blue counselor?” Zac asked in disbelief, but Mahon interrupted him.

“The woman? Or the man?”

“Woman. Why?”

“I know her…” Mahon took his head in his hands. “What the fuck does it mean?”

“That’s a really good question.” Jorik acquiesced. “She’s the one who got you there?” He then asked, fitting all the pieces together.

“Yeah. She wrote my recommendation letter. She seemed nice to me.” Mahon sighed loudly. “I assume the backer isn’t there without her knowledge?”

“No.” Jorik shook his head. “I went to observe her house last night to confirm my sources. The backer was talking with her as if they were two friends.”

“So the Blue counselor is behind all that? She wants to get rid of the no-dream pill? Or does she want to destroy Ratho?” Zac mused out loud.

“Given her tendencies, I believe she wants the no-dream pill to disappear. Maybe she thinks it’s a nuisance to Ratho?” Jorik shrugged.

“There were still other ways than sacrificing so many people to put down the no-dream pills…” Mahon said while clenching his fists.

Both Zac and Jorik nodded. “So, you’re still ready for this?” The First Black asked. “We knew someone powerful had to back up the cult. Now we know who. If we want to understand why, though, we’ll have to get involved.”

Mahon didn’t hesitate long. He was feeling betrayed. Did the Blue counselor send him there knowing that the school would chase her Fada cult? Did she try to set up a stage for Mahon to grow faster? Mahon couldn’t help but shiver at the thought. If that was her doing, then she didn’t know him as much as she thought.

Or I was a very different person in the past…

Mahon chased his dark thoughts and focused back on the situation at hand.

“What’s the plan?”

“We’re leaving early tomorrow for the frontline, so that leaves only today to try something. I can see two different ways. Either we walk there during the day and ask to talk to them. It could work, but it could also go terribly wrong. And if they’re suspicious of us, we’ll not have another chance to go at them.”

“Yeah, it’s probably not the best idea.” Zac agreed.

“The other option implies a more discreet operation at night. We break into the counselor’s house and gather evidence of their implication in the Fada cult and make it public. We just need to do that to bring them down.”

“Hmm…” Mahon thought out loud. “You’re right, we just need to make it public that they financed the Fada cult, and Ratho’s people will do the rest. But how hard will it be to sneak into her house and steal important documents?”

“There are guards patrolling around the residence, and the building is nicely protected. That’s what puzzled me. It looked like there was something hidden inside the house and there was, since the backer resides here.”

“What if we try another plan?” Mahon said. “A mix of both options?”

“Talking and stealing?” Jorik asked for confirmation.

“Kind of. You have a reputation among the high nobility, right? The Blue counselor would receive you anyway if you went to knock at her door. But we aren’t sure she’d tell you any interesting information. Given her past actions, she might have a very good reason to do this that we do not know. Even if the way she did it is more than questionable… Anyway, you could go there and talk to her while we sneak in with Zac and steal documents.”

“Oh, I see. I’m the bait, but if there is indeed something justifying all this, she might just tell me. And if she doesn’t, I’d be distracting enough for you to steal what we need. Kind of like a pincer attack.” Jorik nodded, more and more convinced by the solution the more he thought about it.

“I like this plan.” Zac chimed in. “We can also make sure that whatever she said to you is true with the documents we stole. And it’s also not really against Rym’s order. We aren’t attacking anyone, just officially discussing and maybe revealing things.”

“So it’s settled?” Mahon asked.

The two nobles nodded at him, and he grinned back. “Time to solve this shit.”

“Let’s meet at my house two hours before night falls.” Jorik said. “Bring black clothes. We’ll observe the residence, plan your sneaking, and we’ll go in just after sunset.”

“Ok.” Mahon acquiesced, and the First Black left the two friends to their own business.

Zac turned back to Mahon. “So, behind your nonchalant demeanor, you’re still curious about it?”

“I really hate schemes, but I admit I want to know. She helped me get there. She created the Fada cult. She is part of the Council, so she even probably agreed to the Pine Hill Officer Institute dealing with the cult. It’s too much of a coincidence for me. And if she tried to plot around me, then I want to know.”

Zac nodded. “Right. Back to investigation time, then?”

“You mean endless talk about the Blue counselor as you did with the nobles?”

“Exactly.” Zac grinned. “We didn’t talk much about her because we thought she wasn’t involved. But now, we better fill in the gaps.”

“That will only be for that night. It’s not like we’re preparing for a long infiltration. Is it really useful?”

“If you want to understand everything that is at play and if you want to solve this mystery and satiate your curiosity, then yes. Or did you have something else planned?”

Mahon thought back about his experiments of a thirteenth step in Nightmare. He wanted to try it in Ratho. He needed to know if he could do it again. But the Blue counselor took precedence over his fighting skills.

She was the one to lead him on this path.

Am I just a pawn in someone else’s game?

He had promised himself to solve mysteries and make the world a better place. He had made the Fada cult collapse, but had he really solved the problem? What did the counselor know that they didn’t for her to scheme to destroy the no-dream pill? Was she believing in the return of the Fada? Was the false book at the origin of the cult containing some truths?

“You’re right. I need to know.”

Zac smiled back at his friend and stood up a bit straighter, taking his orator posture.

“So…”