The unusual noise in his home so late at night had woken Logan up from his sleep. By the time he made it down the stairs to the main floor, he found that everything had gone quiet and the front door was left open with no one in sight. He adjusted his sleeping gown before approaching the front door that let the chilly night air into his home. Shivering, he looked out toward the fields surrounding his home and waited for any noise. Was there a faint shouting echoing? He couldn't tell, maybe he was imagining it.

Logan stepped out onto his front lawn before looking around. "Virgil?" He cried out. "Virgil, are you there?" His voice echoed a bit before everything grew quiet. "Virgil, please be okay."

He stayed outside for a bit, listening to the sounds of the forest around them. Something had happened and Virgil was gone. Patton and Roman either hadn't woken up or had chased after whatever had caused such a ruckus. Perhaps it wasn't the best idea for him to be outside so late alone.

Turning back to his home, Logan rubbed his arms to generate some heat in the chilly night air. As he stepped up the few steps into his home, he could see his shadow grow and stretch onto his home. Spinning around, Logan squinted and held up an arm to block the mysterious bright light that was pouring into his home before it slowly faded away. "What is going on tonight?" Logan paused and lowered his arm, staring back into the forest. He let out a huff before turning around. "If something is going on, I might as well find out what it is."

However, the last thing Logan expected after he had gotten properly dressed was to find the king being led into his home by Virgil who was simultaneously asking a million questions and making sure he was alright.

"Are you seriously making sure he's the real one?" spoke the figure trailing behind Virgil and the king.

"You just told me that someone is already masquerading around as him. Doesn't hurt to make sure!" Virgil snapped out as he led the king to an open seat. "Though, pretty sure he's the real deal."

"I'll say," Roman mumbled as he led Patton into the kitchen. "Come on, Pat. Let's get you a drink."

Logan descended the stairs, careful of the candle he was holding to light his way, and looked around the room. "Would anyone care to explain what exactly is going on?" The room froze as everyone turned toward the nobleman. "It is the middle of the night and everyone has seemingly fled before returning with two other people, one of which is apparently the king?!" Logan jumped as he realized what he was saying. "Er, good evening, Your Majesty."

"No need for formalities, Logan." Thomas waved off the comment. "It is not the time for them anyway."

"Yes, right. Please, how did you come to be at my home at such an hour?" Logan approached and circled around, staring down the other figure. "... Joan?"

"Hey, you're that noble with the shitty parents Thomas helped, right?"

"Joan! Manners!" Thomas cried out as he fell back into his chair to close his eyes. He didn't have the energy to argue further.

Joan rolled their eyes and looked back to Logan. "You were given a stone to keep protection of, right?"

Logan looked at Thomas before slowly nodding. "Yes, that is right."

"Don't have to worry about it anymore." Virgil walked up and held out his hand. Resting in his palm was a stone, dull and dark grey. It looked completely ordinary, nothing special about it. "It's pretty much just a rock right now."

Logan reached out and took it before holding it up to the candlelight. He slowly turned it, expecting the rainbow of colors from the first and last time he had looked at the stone. "Are you sure you did not simply misplace the stone for this one?"

"It's the same one, Logan." Thomas didn't bother moving from his spot on the chair, his eyes remaining shut. "Turns out that a sorcerer can trap someone inside of it and that'll change how it looks. It was a golden yellow when I looked at it last."

Logan lowered his arm and gripped on the stone firmly. "When you saw it? What caused it to change color?"

"Oh, you know," Roman walked back into the room alone. "Evil sorcerer gets awakened from stone. Evil sorcerer takes form of king. Evil sorcerer traps king in stone and sends him away to take over without anyone noticing." He shrugged. "The usual."

"Sorcerer? As in magic?" Logan turned toward Thomas and Joan who was lingering nearby. "I apologize, I don't quite understand."

Joan pushed off of the chair Thomas was sitting in that they had been leaning on. "Magic existed once. The only person left with any of it is now walking around the castle like he's Thomas and no one else is aware of it."

"Well," Logan paused to think. "Then we reveal he is a fake."

"He's already in the castle." Thomas finally opened his eyes and sat up properly in the chair. "He's already started convincing everyone he is me. Also, you know, he has magic. So there's that. We're starting at a heavy disadvantage."

"So," Roman crossed his arms. "What do we do?" They looked around the room as silence fell once more. "Where do we even start?"

"At the beginning." Everyone turned as Patton entered the room from the kitchen. His eyes were red and bloodshot and it was obvious he had been crying. Despite that, he looked resolute as he spoke. "We see what we have, we use it to our advantage and we get King Thomas back in the castle. Make it look like he had been there. We have his best friend on our side, don't we?" Patton looked at Joan before glancing away. "We know what we're building, we just need to start at the foundation." Patton looked around and noticed everyone had been staring at him. "O-or something. I'm not, um, the best... Yeah."

"That's brilliant." Roman smiled and turned to Patton. "We have the element of surprise! We have a member of his royal court!" He motioned to Joan across the room. "We know the story! Patton, you said this was the story you read to your sisters before, right?"

Virgil perked up and smiled. "The book I brought to you from your village! Was that the one?"

Patton blinked and nodded. "Yeah, that's the one. There's just one big problem."

"The sorcerer, he was trapped inside the stone." Joan spoke up. "Someone trapped him inside the stone. Well, not just someone." They looked up at Thomas who nodded back in response. "My family has been friends with the royal family for centuries. Farther back than most history books go. All the way back to when my ancestor betrayed the sorcerer and trapped him in the stone in the first place as a sign of peace to the king."

Thomas slowly pushed himself off of the plush chair to stand on his own. "My ancestors thanked theirs for the support and we've been connected since. Sometimes friends. Sometimes acquaintances." Thomas turned and smiled at Joan. "Sometimes the best companion you could ever hope for."

"Sorry, your majesty, I'm taken." Thomas chuckled and shook his head. "What? I don't think Talyn would be very pleased."

"The point is... we don't know anyone who can do any magic. No one does."

Logan looked around confused before turning to Thomas. "I'm sorry, Thomas, but there's something I don't understand."

"Yes, Logan?"

"Was it not Joan that rescued you from the stone?" Logan motioned to the person in question. "Being the descendant of a magical being, it would make sense. I assumed that's how you were able to be rescued, were you not?"

Patton jumped as all eyes quickly turned onto him. "W-what? Why are you all looking at me like that?"

"Patton," Logan started to piece it together. "You were the one who rescued the king from his magical prison?"

"W-well, yeah. I just followed what the story said." Patton turned to the king. "Isn't that how you got the sorcerer out?"

Thomas held up his hand before showing a big, bulky ring sitting on one of his fingers. "It's a family heirloom. They say it was forged with magic. I assumed that was how I managed it. I had tried before without it and nothing happened."

The room's attention turned back on Patton who shook his head. "I'm a farm boy, I barely own anything more than a child's story book."

"Patton," Roman walked up and reached out, grabbing one of his hands. "You are so much more than that. Don't sell yourself short."

"Well," Logan clapped his hands together. "First, we need rest. Then, come morning, we start gathering some answers. We have a lot ahead of us."

"Yeah." Thomas turned and walked toward Logan before patting him on the back. "It's not everyday I get to dethrone myself from my own kingdom."

"An uprising? Sounds fun!" Joan called out. "I'm in!"