Hours and days became meaningless—one and the same, acting as an uncounted and unnamed blur that crawled slowly past Felix as he sat against the wall. At one point, sleep claimed him suddenly and pulled him into its depths. He awoke with a start to a pitch-black cell, his shoulder aching from the press of the stone against it. The torches had gone out, but a small, blue light hung at the end of the hall far beyond the locked door. When Felix tried to approach it, the light fizzled out, leaving him alone in the dark. He wasn't sure how long it was before one of the guards returned and the torches were lit again.

The jingling of keys mocked him, as did the distant echo of voices in the castle, far beyond the confines of his cage. Although his body ached from constantly resting against the unforgiving floor, and his nose grew blind to the musty smell, he couldn't find it in him to be dissatisfied. As long as he thought only of how he was freed from the burden of choosing, he had nothing to worry about. Dinah couldn't bite back at him for his failure as long as he remained in Niveus, and Aiko...

His chest tightened painfully at the thought of her. Shifting his position against the wall, he glanced down at his scarred, rough, and calloused hands. The vision of blood didn't torment him this time, but his mind provided something worse: the cruel ghost of her soft hands resting in his. They were small against his palms, smooth as the hands of someone who had never had to work hard with them. There was nothing different about her hands—free of scars, adorned with a ring of gold—compared to any other noble he had killed before. Yet she was different.

There was a fire in her eyes, burning brighter in her soul. It was warm and comforting, like the gentle touch of the sun in the early spring. The madness he had seen before seemed less and less solid the more he looked back on it.

If nothing else, he wished to speak to her again. And if she was foolish enough to return, he pleaded that it would be to listen to him rather than to mock him. He didn't have the energy to play the mocking game with her, and he knew he stood no chance of persuading her to stop once she had started it.

"I want you to stop Aiko from taking the throne no matter what it costs," she said as Cinere, with her mask firmly in place. He had almost forgotten about it, yet now it resurfaced. It was what started it all. Those words were the reason he was tangled up in this mess. The task had been simple when Dinah gave it to him; straightforward and to the point: kill Aiko then return for your reward. There was nothing complex about it.

By his own indecision, curiosity, confusion, and all-around foolishness, he had made it complicated. Perhaps his heart yearned so much for freedom that his head had forgotten its place in the game. His hands had moved when he did not want them to, and his feet had strayed so far from the path that he couldn't find it if he wanted to.

It was simple, and he had made himself a fool. He would remain a fool until he could think clearly again, and perhaps the deafening silence of his own company would provide him with the time he needed to get his head on straight again.

His gaze landed on the cuff still firmly settled against his wrist. Its weight somehow connected him to her. If he played his cards right, he could still see her again, though he doubted it would be before her coronation. He wasn't sure how long he had been in the dungeon already, but there wasn't much time before the coronation when he came to the palace with Aiko originally.

Before he could land on a proper conclusion, the dungeon fell dark again. A scuffle broke out as the guard jolted from his stupor, leaping to his feet. The keys which had mocked Felix for who knows how long clanked against the floor. Shortly afterward, a thump followed as the guard himself collapsed. The blue light reappeared at the end of the hall, casting a haunting glow across the fallen guard and his silver keyring beside him.

Felix shot the front of the cell, clinging to the frigid metal bars that separated him from the hall. The blue light crept closer, hovering too low to the ground to belong to a person. The jangling of keys was the only sound that hinted at footsteps. This time, the sound wasn't mocking, but rather it was promising.

As the light drew up against the cell bars, it illuminated a face that made Felix's heart sink. White fur and silver whiskers greeted him, along with that curved mouth that so often looked like a cat's version of a smirk.

Frowning, Felix sat back on his heels. "Mae," he greeted the cat in a monotonous voice. "I never thought I would see you here. Did you come to play with those keys in front of me?"

Mae narrowed his brilliant blue eyes, swishing his tail from side to side. His glare sharpened, as wicked as the daggers Felix had lost. With a mewl, he dropped the keys in front of Felix and pawed them toward the bars. Despite his small, innocent-looking house cat form, Felix couldn't help but shiver at the sight of him. The memory of the beast that had nearly torn him to shreds prickled through his skin. Mae was not to be underestimated; he was perhaps more frightening than Aiko and the guards under her command.

"I'm not going to be able to get those through the lock," he explained. "It's on your side. Are you gonna transform into a human now and let me out?" There was no proof that Mae had such an ability, but he was afraid to assume anything about the cat after what had happened. If he could shapeshift into a drooling, snarling beast, who was to say the form of a man was beyond him?

Mae didn't respond. His blank stare made Felix groan. Why was he talking to a cat in the first place?

Silent as always, Mae took a few steps back. He dipped his head toward the keys, breathing a cloud of smoke around them—blue, like his azure eyes. The smoke wrapped around the ring and lifted it toward the keyhole. Puzzled, Felix glanced between Mae and the smoke as he pushed himself to his feet. The locks opened with a click and the door swung wide, creaking on its hinges. As soon as it was fully open, the keys dropped to the floor and the smoke vanished. Mae gave himself a shake, stretching his lithe body as if he had done nothing.

Felix stepped cautiously through the door, wiping the dirt from his palms onto his pants. "Alright. I stand corrected. You're uh... you're more magical than I thought you were."

Mae flicked his ear. He lifted his paw and began to lick it.

"No need to mock me." Felix had known for quite some time that Mae was something of a magical creature—his transformation back in the Core room had made that painfully obvious, if nothing else—but he had never seen him outright perform a feat of magic. The sight of something downright wrong generated a painful pressure against the base of his skull. No wonder Dinah lives in fear of Aiko's curse if she pictures magic this way.

To remain on Mae's good side, Felix dipped his head politely to the cat. Though he itched to leave as soon as he could find the exit, he remained firmly planted in place. The only person Mae listened to was Aiko, and he couldn't imagine Mae was here on her orders this time. And if he wasn't here for Aiko, he must have been here of his own volition.

Felix bit the inside of his cheek. "I assume you're here because you want something from me?"

Mae ran the foot he licked across his whiskers, playing the part of an innocent and oblivious animal. When he was done, he padded away from Felix, trailing off down the dark hall. Unsure of what he was supposed to do, Felix followed. His footsteps were soft against the stone, but Mae's were soundless. There was pride in the way the cat carried his head high; he strode past the guard who was still unconscious on the floor, tail waving in the air. Never once did he attempt to explain himself, nor did he stop for Felix. It was as if he believed the world revolved around him and everyone was expected to know what was on his mind without explanation.

Felix began to wonder why he was bothering with the cat at all. He didn't speak, he didn't give reasons, he was a cat.

And yet, he was enveloped in a shimmering aura much like the one that was wrapped around Aiko's cuff, only Mae's aura was tainted blue instead of gold. Consistently, Mae had led him to things he was searching for. Aiko, the world between worlds, the Core. Who was to say it wouldn't happen again?

His best bet was to follow Mae.

It wasn't long before they reached the end of the hall, which took a sharp turn and opened up to another dingy passage. Mae padded on confidently until, finally, they reached a flight of stairs. Two more guards were unconscious on the floor, though neither appeared to be wounded. Both were face-down, though one had turned his head to the side ever so slightly. His eyes stared blankly ahead and his mouth was left hanging open in a scream that never came.

Felix had seen countless bodies after a kill, but nothing was as eerie as the empty look on the soldier's face. It wasn't the same look as a dead man, but rather that of someone whose mind had been silenced. Felix wrenched his gaze away, pinning his focus on other things.

Above, the usual bustle of servants and palace staff had changed. Music drifted down, faint as it filtered through the wooden doors at the top of the stairs, but it played a soft, haunting melody. Chatter overlaid the music, and it seemed like more voices than he had heard before. It wasn't the dull melody of work-life talk, it was more engaging and full of life: the kind of talk he had only ever heard in large gatherings of nobles and other court members.

It struck him all at once. The coronation. It must be the coronation celebration. He spun around to face Mae, who had seated himself on the ground beside one of the guards. "You do know this is the worst night for me to be trying to escape, right? If Niveus is anything like Furvus, the guard has probably increased threefold—especially after my last slip-up."

Mae nodded to the bracelet that clung to Felix's wrist.

"This?" Felix lifted his arm and gestured to it firmly with his other hand. Then, with a pointed stare, he gestured to the rest of himself. "They're going to know, Mae. I can't just..." With a frustrated growl, he tore his fingers through his hair. His nails scraped against his scalp. The sensation dragged out the cold, empty part of his blank. As the trickle of pain subsided, he took a long, deep breath.

"You're not asking me to escape, are you?"

As always, Mae said nothing, but the tip of his tail twitched as though he was agreeing.

Felix pressed his lips into a thin line, cupping his chin in his hands. "Then... you want me to find Aiko?"

At that, Mae rose to his feet. With another flick of his ear, his magic stirred to life once more. The weight of Felix's cloak settled around his shoulders, as did the brush of his weapons hidden beneath the folds. Puzzled, he glanced down at himself. Midnight blue enveloped him, warm and smothering as the fabric hung loosely from his shoulders. His hand brushed against the knife resting against his hip.

"Are you... asking me to kill Aiko?"

Mae's stare bored into him, unwavering and unyielding. Felix wasn't sure if blanks applied to animals as well, but if they did, Mae had the worst one he had ever seen. It was more unreadable than Aiko's or even his master's. Nothing slipped through. He played the part of an empty-headed pet all too well.

Why don't you go up there and see for yourself? he seemed to be saying, though the only sound he made was a soft purr. It was almost more mocking than the constant rattle of the keys.

A sigh built up behind Felix's clenched teeth as he turned to the stairs. One step at a time, he climbed toward the door. The haunting melody had stopped, replaced by something a bit lighter, and the sound of it grew louder the closer he got. His chest ached at the thought of people behind the door—guards, staff, and guests alike—but what hurt more was the knowledge that he had no plan. He only had his cloak, his weapons, and his scattered thoughts.

If he could, he needed to find a moment to speak with Aiko. Then, he could put everything together and make a decision. The logical part of him knew exactly what to do: he would bargain with her and cut his ties with Dinah's promises. But another, smaller part of him simply yearned to hear her voice again. If she was foolish enough to hear him out, he was foolish enough to fall prey to her perfection once more.

The weight of her bracelet around his wrist seemed to drag him down as he lifted his hand to push the doors open. Bright light spilled into the stairwell, and he was forced to screw his eyes shut until they adjusted. A ballroom opened up before him, the walls shimmering with gold and red. A delicate chandelier hung from the domed ceiling, casting iridescent flecks of light across the room. The floor was crowded with nobles and wealthy-looking guests, dressed in fine suits and expensive gowns. Laughter mingled with the sound of music.

At the far back of the room, an elegant gold throne sat upon a raised dais. Aiko was seated on the throne, clothed in a red gown much like the one he had seen in her portrait. She was too far for him to read her expression, but he could imagine her discomfort. From the way she had spoken of the coronation—always trying to do things before it happened—he knew it was an event she had dreaded.

Although, as his gaze drifted up ever so slightly, it seemed her fear had already come into play. On her head, there was a crown. Not the tiara or circlet of a princess, but the lavish, jeweled crown of a queen.

Bewildered by the sight, Felix turned to question the pesky cat at the foot of the stairs. He was met with the sight of another hallway, although this one was spotlessly clean and lined with the trinkets, tapestries, and paintings he would expect to find deep inside the palace. Red carpets replaced the stone floors of the dungeon, trimmed with gold that shimmered in the brilliant torchlight. No Mae, and no dungeon.

A curse rose to the tip of his tongue, but he quickly swallowed it as he ducked around one of the columns in the ballroom. That cat and his stupid magic. Cautiously, he peeked around the pillar. Aiko remained seated on her throne, far away from him. Beside her stood a man with a gold sash across his chest, much like the guards that had apprehended him in the Core room. The man didn't look like a guard himself as he held his head high and surveyed the room like a hawk. He was a predator on the lookout for prey.

Felix's gaze drifted away from the dais as he dug his nails into his palms.

Guards were posted at various places around the room, easily distinguished from the guests by their red and gold sashes, pinned together with the crest of the sun. Mae had placed Felix in a weak spot, near the exit. Perhaps the guard thinned there because they assumed there would be others posted outside the room to keep watch. Felix didn't bother trying to understand Niveus's security anymore; it seemed to rely too heavily on the Core's barrier and too little on its men.

He cast a quick glance down at himself. A faint blue aura surrounded him, warm as it brushed his skin. With a frown, he turned to the room again. Judging from the way that no one had even glanced his way when he entered the room, he could only assume Mae had done something to his appearance. Hope bloomed in his chest. Perhaps the cat's stupid magic could work in his favor. He could steal a moment with Aiko and be on his way before anyone even realized who he was.

The music quieted. As the audience chatter slowly faded, Felix's gaze swiveled back to the dais. Aiko rose to her feet, graceful and poised as she made her way down from the raised platform. The crowds parted for her like water, and a murmur drifted through the room as she walked. Her full crimson skirt trailed after her, pooling like blood at her feet.

With the crowd surrounding her, the guards were far away and had no clear path to get to her. Felix swallowed hard, steeling his resolve.

If he wanted a chance to speak with her, this was the moment.

He stepped out from behind the pillar, curling his fingers tight against his palms as many of the guests turned their gazes toward him. These nobles looked down on him with confusion and disdain, lacking any of the fear he always saw in the faces of nobles from Furvus. It was another reminder that here in Niveus, he was no one.

And right now, enveloped in Mae's shifting blue aura, he was an entirely different person altogether. He didn't know what they saw, but it must not have been a dirty, ragged prisoner—or perhaps that was why they all stepped aside for him as he made his way out to meet Aiko. What solidified his guess was the lack of recognition on her face. She stared at him with wide, hazel eyes, her lips parted as if to speak, though she never said a word.

Perhaps he could truly consider himself "Kou" in this moment. Someone else, someone who wasn't Felix, someone whose hands weren't steeped in blood, someone who wasn't bound to the world by the greed of others.

As his mind drifted, so did his gaze. Time seemed to slow as he surveyed the crowd. Many faces blurred together, but there was one who stood out among the nobles. Her face was scarred, her black bangs choppy and pinned back awkwardly. There was a steely glint in her eyes and a patient, watchful look in her expression.

His breath caught in his throat at the sight of her. It was faint, and he couldn't recall her name, but there were memories of her from one of the guilds he had worked with long ago. Somewhere well hidden from sight, she was carrying her crossbow, and she could shoot and kill whenever she chose to.

Felix's steps quickened as he yanked his gaze away. It had been foolish of him to assume Dinah would only send one assassin to do her dirty work. This was what Mae was trying to tell him. He wasn't asking Felix to kill Aiko, he was asking him to protect her.

I wrote this entire chapter while I was sick and coming in and out of naps. It's probably a total mess but somehow, it did help me work out some plot things that I needed to nail down. Yay for the sick brain!

Who is this random lady in the crowd with a crossbow? Is this Ace's prediction of a love triangle coming true?? Who knows! Stick around and maybe you'll find out soon! :D

See you all next week!