Cairon and Marek moved into the smaller room beside the main operation one, closing the wooden door behind them. The room was barely large enough for a table and two chairs, with a single oil lamp hanging from the ceiling and a narrow, small window barely positioned on top of the wall, like looking into the street from the sewers.
Marek stood beside the table, his arms crossed.
"Cairon, this guy is dangerous. We can't just let him join. It's like letting a snake come among us, never knowing when he might bite and poison us."
Cairon looked at him.
"I know, Marek. I don't trust him either. I never said we'd let him join."
Cairon leaned against the wall, thinking about the old man sitting in the other room.
"But he's our only source of information about this madness. And it's obvious he knows way more than he's telling us."
Marek remained silent.
"And what he said about the Coilbloods being finished is correct. You can't dismiss that. He might actually need some form of security. It's reasonable for him to want to join us."
"Reasonable?" Marek asked skeptically.
Cairon shrugged.
"Maybe."
Marek shook his head.
"Still, we gotta be sure. I'll only allow it if he's restricted."
He paused for a moment, remembering something.
"What was that thing he said about an Aetherbind?"
"I don't know."
"Then ask him what it is. If it's useful, we get it and use it on him."
Cairon nodded.
Marek looked at him for a moment before his expression changed slightly.
He remembered the past, when it was only him and Cairon, how they met each other, how Cairon was a homeless orphan who used to sleep on the cold street stones, going hungry for days until he could scrape by a piece of stale bread or trash from diners and inns.
"But before we proceed…"
Cairon looked at him.
"Cai, are you okay?"
Cairon looked back at him.
"What do you mean?"
"Since last night."
"You awakened a power we don't understand, threw an Ironclad across the street, and somehow survived an explosion that destroyed the Clock Tower."
He looked Cairon up and down.
"Are you truly okay? Do you feel any different?"
Cairon didn't answer immediately.
He thought back to everything that had happened since the previous night.
The vial, the water, the explosion, and the strange feeling that had followed him afterwards.
Then he remembered something else.
"Two times, I felt this strange sensation. As I look back at it, it was in no way normal."
Marek raised an eyebrow.
"What?"
"It happened twice."
Cairon looked toward the small window on top of the wall, connecting to the street like a sewer entry, his eyes narrowing as he tried to remember exactly how it had felt.
"I went absent-minded. Like… getting submerged in water, I could hear murmurs."
"Murmurs?"
"Sounds."
Cairon nodded.
"Sounds that weren't anywhere near me."
Marek's expression became more serious.
"The first time was right before visiting Misty."
"And the second?"
"Later, right before the explosion. That's why I didn't think about it till now. Looking back, that wasn't something normal."
Cairon paused.
"I didn't think much of it at the time. I thought maybe it was because of everything that happened."
Marek frowned, thinking.
"So is this another power of yours or a side effect?"
"I don't know."
Marek stared at him for a moment.
"What did you hear exactly?"
Cairon hesitated.
There was something he wasn't telling Marek. The first sounds had been different, stranger.
He couldn't explain them, and something about them made him uncomfortable even thinking about them.
He decided to leave those out for now.
"I heard two alchemists talking, pretty sure they were Coilbloods."
"Where were they?" Marek asked.
"I don't know."
"So you couldn't see them?"
"No."
Cairon shook his head.
"I didn't even know where they were. I just heard them."
Marek leaned against the table.
"What were they saying?"
"They were talking about whoever was inside the tower, someone who also gave the order to look for the vials."
The ticking of the old clock somewhere beyond the wall suddenly seemed much louder.
Marek finally looked toward the door.
"So the Coilbloods were actively looking for whatever is in those vials."
Cairon nodded his head.
"It was probably to awaken more of their members. It can easily be surmised, the vials were a new power piece between these gangs and their power struggle. Whoever got 'em first could awaken more members and in turn hold more power on the streets."
Marek's eyes narrowed. Cairon was always like this. He was always sharp and had a knack for politics.
"And the one who gave that order was probably the last leader of the Coilbloods and was inside the tower."
Marek remained silent.
Cairon watched him.
"You think Ignis knows what they were doing?"
Marek looked back at him.
"I think Ignis knows a lot more than he's telling us. He was their former leader and he also was present after the explosion happened."
"That's what I thought."
Marek sighed and rubbed his jaw.
"This keeps getting complicated."
Cairon gave a faint smile.
"Actually, things are getting interesting."
Marek didn't smile back.
"No, they're not. We shouldn't involve ourselves any more than this."
Cairon looked at him.
"You're still thinking about what Ignis said."
"About what?" Marek asked back.
"That things are changing."
Marek looked away.
"Anyone who has lived in Valdrin long enough knows when something is wrong, and as you can see right now, something is very wrong."
Cairon remained quiet.
Marek continued.
"First the shipment, then the Ironclad incident, then the Coilbloods, then the explosion, and an old man who apparently doesn't fear anything suddenly decides he wants protection from us."
Cairon pushed himself away from the wall.
"So we ask him."
Marek nodded.
"Agreed."
Cairon reached for the door.
Marek stopped him.
"One more thing, kid."
Cairon turned around.
"Don't tell him anything of the stuff you just told me."
Cairon stared at him for a moment.
"I wasn't planning to. You know me."
"I do. Just be careful," Marek replied.
Cairon nodded at him and then stepped out of the room.
Marek followed.
The old man was still sitting inside the Ironbind, looking completely comfortable, yawning despite being restrained.
Ignis opened one eye as they approached.
He smiled.
"Back already?"
Cairon pulled a chair across from him and sat down.
Marek remained standing behind him.
Cairon looked directly into Ignis's eyes.
"You mentioned something called an Aetherbind."
Ignis's smile widened.
"Oh, then you considered letting me join!"
Cairon looked sideways at Marek and then looked back at Ignis.
"You're sharp. Yes, we did. We don't trust you enough to let you roam around with those powers of yours, so tell me about this Aetherbind."
"The Aetherbind is something you guys can use right now, to restrain me. It blocks the ability to use Aether. Think of it as an Ironbind but for the awakened alchemists," Ignis, satisfied with the situation, answered.
"Where did such a thing come from? Didn't people just awaken?" Cai asked, wondering how such an item was created.
"Actually, the mechanism is quite simple. You know how Aether condensers draw Aether-rich air into machinery, separating and concentrating the substance. It is then refined into an Aetheric oil, which became one of the primary fuels of Valdrin's industrial machinery.
Further refinement allows the oil to crystallize into dense Aetherstones.
Even this Ironbind you're using on me has a really tiny Aetherstone inside it that is powering it."
Cairon, not much of a scholar and with no education, asked back, "Okay, and what does this have to do with Aetherbind?"
"In short, these modern alchemists' Aether condenser technology that absorbs the Aether from the air, they tweaked it a bit, and now are using it as a device that absorbs and consumes the Aether that is in the air around the bound target."
"Honestly, it's genius and shows how fast they can adapt themselves to any situation, which is admirable," Ignis, really amused, explained.
Cairon, contemplating the new information he heard, asked back, "Where can we get it from?"
"Lucky for you, it's pretty easy to find. I have one in my study at my house. I got it from the alchemists' black market. It was hard to find and quite expensive. I'll tell you the address. Just go grab it," Ignis replied.
Looking towards Marek, Cai said, "Marek, I will go to his house, grab it, and come back. Watch over him."
"Alright, take Vynn with you."
"Got it." Turning his head to look at Ignis, Cai said, "Okay, old man. Write the address for me. I'll go get this Aetherbind."