The Silver Moon ushering in a new day never looked more foul.
Emma had never felt disdain for the giant that had eaten their sun. It was the only thing she knew. The Sun would have been a stranger. But now she shared the hate the rest of the Empire had.
"Emma, please," Adenius said, pointing at her full plate. "Eat. Today is important. You will need all your strength."
She narrowed her eyes at him, but he had a point. She couldn't be weak today.
Emma had struggled to sleep that night. Her execution had finally arrived. Now, only a few hours separated her from the flames. He had promised her she would not meet Harras today. He would fake her death. After all, he was her dear friend, and friends help one another.
The bureau had been chaotic. The preparations for what would become a bloodbath were yet to conclude. Emma had looked out of her room's window, seeing the Inquisitor's men move around, dots hurrying towards the marketplace. Despite all, Adenius had found the time for one final breakfast with Emma.
His office looked fine, not mirroring the havoc he had unleashed outside. His mountain lion lay next to him, sleeping. She knew of the battle ahead, saving her energy.
Adenius sighed. "It is a shame our time has come to an end, my dear Emma," he said. This mask of his was effective. It made him sound genuinely sad. "I have to apologize for not seeing to your needs personally, but these last few days… have been hectic. They required my full attention. But at the very least, we can have this meal together. And there is no one else I'd rather share it with than you, my dear friend."
Emma smiled, a short one. She had yet to test her Conduit. With the spy's eyes on her, she couldn't risk revealing her new abilities. The dreams didn't help either. She had yet to open her Gate in them. But knowing she had a weapon, as small and weak as it might be, calmed her. It gave her some hope for today.
Emma had turned her face into ice, but nothing escaped the Inquisitor's glance. He cocked his head, giggling. "You have changed. You have done something. Uh, this is exciting. Let me guess. You were contacted by your brother, and he gave you something?"
Digging her nails into her legs, Emma didn't respond. Though, as she already knew, this was a response in itself.
"Good," Adenius continued. "How he made contact, I can't say. But whatever he smuggled to you must be powerful. It could be a tool from Anginseran, the Alchemist. He is quite dangerous if he is well equipped. But it can't be something big. I would have noticed."
Emma recalled what Liron had said. Adenius relied on her overestimating him. He needed her to believe that he was this untouchable genius. One wrong word, and he knew all about her. However the Inquisitor was only a man. One hiding behind a mask. If her silence would be weaponized, she had to play his game.
"But it could be," Emma said. "As you don't know how they got to me, you can't say what is possible. Or perhaps it's something I can build myself. Perhaps they just gave me a few smaller parts and a description of how to craft it."
Adenius nodded. "Yes! Yes, that could be true! You could have a weapon hidden somewhere on you. Something your parents didn't find when they searched you. Perhaps it's Nanium you swallowed when no one looked. Or perhaps your brother told you how he became a Wizard so you could open your Gate, too."
Emma's eye twitched. He caught her off guard, her body reacting to what was said without a chance to suppress it. The same trick she had used against Tobées. A basic strategy, but one easily forgotten in the heat of the conversation. Adenius leaned into his chair, not saying anything. Trying to refute would do nothing. He had seen her expression shift.
"How do you know that?" Emma asked, keeping her voice steady.
Adenius didn't respond, shoving his mask up to eat something. Emma never saw a glimpse of his face. "Quite easy. I know that your brother has become an Apprentice. You heard the proof for that, I'm sure. And don't worry, he's still alive."
Emma's composure crumbled, her trembling breath escaping her lips. Liri lived. The little boy crying when the neighbors kids called him Ravenspawn had survived. And he had kicked Adenius right between the legs last night. Emma slammed her fist on the table, making the plates shake, smiling. She whipped the tears away, becoming iron again.
Adenius observed Emma, silent as a statue. As she had calmed herself, he continued. "His progression is frightening. Based on my intel, he has grown in strength within days. Not unheard of. There are talented Wizards, but they are rare. Some would even say one in a million. No, something has happened to your brother. Something he might have shared with you.
"The second piece of evidence is what you did to my former room. Rather impolite to treat the property of someone else with such malice. I had many fond memories of the things you destroyed and threw out of the window. Of course, at first glance, this would appear as you taking revenge against me in the only way you can. Letting your anger take control right after seeing and touching your parents' faces."
Emma grunted. He knew she was aware of her observer. So obvious, he didn't need to mention it.
Adenius' mask clicked, changing his voice into a deeper one. A teacher schooling his student. "All of this to, potentially, hide the fact that you have turned one of my treasured belongings into your Conduit. What better way to humiliate me than defeating me with something that used to be mine?"
"Fittin'," Emma said, eating.
Adenius giggled again. "Ah, I love this. I can't say what your Gate is, what Conduit you chose, or how this is even possible. It is connected to the vision. That is obvious. But how? It must have done something besides altering our dreams. I must say, my curiosity is killing me. I am really considering torturing you just so I can know. But what would be the point of that?"
Emma remained unshaken by the Inquisitor's threat. Although the last thing he had said caught her attention. "The point of it? Are you dumb?"
"Emma, you have blown past my expectations," Adenius said, ignoring her question. "You are a quick thinker, observant enough to notice you are being watched, and then gain the confirmation for it by outwitting our dear Tobées. He told you already, but you do have great potential as an Inquisitor."
Had he questioned his apprentice, or had he someone or something to eavesdrop on the conversation? No matter the answer, Emma held onto her promise. The Empire would burn, but to kindle the flames, she had to become better. Adenius was the best teacher she could ask for. With him, she could practice.
"The ass that watches me," Emma said, rummaging through her food. Eggs with bread. Nothing fancy. The bureau must have been running short on their reserves. "They are a Wizard, right?"
Adenius put down his fork, resting his chin on his clapped hands. The black eyes of his mask demanded her to continue.
"I could be a Machina," Emma said, "or an Alchemist. I know nothing about either, but your mask sounds like a bird gettin' pushed through a meat grinder. I've heard nothing in my room. So, perhaps Machinas aren't the silent kind."
"Perhaps," Adenius said. "But perhaps they're not. Perhaps I have only shown noisy ones to make you believe that."
"Sure, but I can't do anything with that. Could be true or could not be. I also could be Drom and you could be Xeras. Both might be true, but they give us nothing to work with, so I shouldn't focus on them, right?"
Adenius' silence spoke volumes, cheering her forward.
"But I think my admirer has put something in there to watch me. Never saw or noticed anything, so it can hide itself from me. Sounds like a difficult spell. Has to be costly, or it needs someone who knows what they're doin'."
"It could also be a perfect combination of Gate and Conduit. Something that is meant for spying unseen and unheard. A spell from this union wouldn't require a delicate hand."
"No… but I have to guess based on what I know and what is most likely. For example, who the Wizard is."
Adenius pointed at her. "Indeed, Emma. He could have been one working for me, serving the Inquisition."
"Would be useful for you cunts doin' your shit. But I don't think he's with you the way you describe it."
"Why?"
"Because I have felt watched since yesterday. Never before. Tobées also never had any slipups about someone stalkin' me before that. You didn't have the Wizard from the get-go."
"Really? Because I could have only used them now? Perhaps to make you think about this very thing."
"Perhaps, but again, I can only guess from what I know. And I do remember you mentioned a fight. A fight in which an assassin was part of. You never gave me details, and I couldn't do anything with the name of the assassin's clan, but we've heard stories about them. Movin' in the shadows. Stalkin' their prey like predators. Unseen and unheard."
Adenius clapped. "Emma, that was beautiful! Exactly! You didn't fall for any of my traps. Oh, how I will miss our time together."
Emma searched for any hint of humanity in the lifeless mask of the Inquisitor. She knew she would find none, but the hope remained. That perhaps even someone like Adenius had a soul left. If there was any, the mask hid it well.
"Why are you helping me?" Emma asked. "I don't get it. Why not just torture me and get everything out of me? Aren't you supposed to serve the Empire? How isn't this knowledge important enough for you to get?"
"I serve Harras, Emma," Adenius said. "And in return, He does serve me."
Heresy. Spoken with utter confidence. "What is your plan?" Emma asked.
Adenius leaned forward. "Did you tell your brother about your parents' fate?"
Again. The same trick worked on her. She hadn't learned yet.
Adenius chuckled to himself. He picked up his fork and played with it. "You see, when I announced the Raven Hunt, your brother was rather furious at me. I haven't explained what that is to you? Well, it doesn't matter. Not really. Well, your brother's anger makes sense. I have you, but that should force him to be more cautious. No, I think he knows about your parents because you told him."
Adenius said nothing else. Had she acted as he thought she would or not? Was he happy that she followed his expectations or that she broke with them? Either way, he was happy.
Adenius played with his food again, amassing his eggs over one another. "What makes a good hunt, Emma? Any guesses? No? Then allow me to explain. In a hunt, you catch and kill your prey. Easy to understand. The issue is that it doesn't promise to be a good one. And if you go for a hunt, you don't want to have a bad one."
Hands as calm as the sea before a storm, he proved himself a little artist, using his fork and knife to twist his food into a shape resembling a snowman. "With a broken leg and outnumbered, no prey will put up much of a fight. What's the point in catching them then? If everybody can do it, why waste my time with it? No, for a good hunt, you need your prey to be at its best.
"So you help them. You give them the chance to improve. And if they don't, you force them. There is no glory in the hunt if it's not a challenge. You are my prey, Emma. As is your brother. And there is beauty in it. We should be enemies, but I see you all as my dear friends. Only friends help one another to grow. I will do anything to take out your brother, and thanks to you, now he will do the same to me. I talked about a good hunt. But I want a great one. For that, who is prey and who is hunter needs to be put to question."
Adenius slammed his knife down, impaling his figure and breaking his plate. "Whoever stands at the end has grown tremendously thanks to the other. Some things might break alongside it, but that's a sacrifice I'm willing to make. But that doesn't answer your question. You asked me what my plan is. I will tell you. I will tell you my biggest secret.
"I have no plan," Adenius said, his voice turning high and shrill, similar to a jester. "I never planned anything. Everybody just thinks I have when that's not true. But you know what I do? I create chaos. Chaos forces conflict, Emma. It forces us to think in the moment, risking everything. Only then can we evolve into something greater. Plans are for the foolish. Strict ones, at least. I forced your brother to do better. I forced him to become something beyond the boy he was. And now that I have succeeded, he will force me in return. This is evolution, Emma. That is what you can call my plan."
She had sworn not to fall for the Inquisitor's lies anymore. To not be unnerved by anything he had said. But throughout all the time she had spent with him, listening to his manipulation, twisting truth and lie into one, she was certain. For once, Adenius was honest with her.
Adenius giggled. "Ah, Emma. Today will be special. I can't wait."