He began to chuckle, "Hu hu, indeed I am, Ivan. So, how do you think I came to be here?" He asked once again. "…. Something, No… Someone came and brought you here." I said with a serious gaze. "And why do you think that?" Nightingale responded. "Because, there is only one person that would be able to find me specifically. He has found me a few times before, a Skeleton brandishing many blades…" I said while having my own realization. "He… is bound to me…" After hearing my answer, Nightingale's eyes lit up and he smiled wide revealing noticeable fangs. "Yes. GOOD! Very good Ivan… That is exactly what I wanted to hear." Everyone at the table seemed to be confused by what I was saying, and Nightingale definitely picked up on this. "Hm I suppose it's time I let you all in on the conversation. It is true that your skeleton friend came and paid me a visit, how he found me is truly beyond my comprehension. Even I do not know who it was in its past life, to be able to track someone such as myself. Nonetheless, he found me and brought me to this place. He led me here and then vanished without a trace. That's how I came to rescue you all. However, I never would have anticipated such a fight to unfold before I even got there. Ivan, when you passed out all of those young skeletons continued to work. And by the end of the fight, all of those horrible men were dragged down into the depths of the void. I was astonished at first, I had never seen an ability quite as amazing as that. However, now that Albany has bitten you, I have gained some valuable insight." Nightingale said with an excited tone. I wasn't sure what insight he was talking about… I just knew I needed to keep this conversation rolling. "What do you mean by this place? We aren't still in the prison are we?" I asked with concern. "No no, that place has been leveled to the ground. There's no way I would allow such a hideous place to remain in my sight. However, we are still within the same domain as that prison. This… is the hidden city, Gamula. The city of the great Maze. It is a City that resides underground within the kingdom of Cashmere. I will speak more about this cavernous cityi at a later time. Instead, you and I need to have a talk Ivan… Just the two of us. And I'll have to reward you for your answers of course." Nightingale said with a sly smile. I was relieved to know that the prison was no longer there. That horrible nightmarish place should never have existed. But something was eating away at the back of my mind, and I needed answers before I went and spoke with Nightingale alone. "Before that happens, there's something I need to know right now." I said sternly. Nightingale raised an eyebrow and responded, "Well, go on then." "What happened to the other children, and most of all… where is Dune!?" I shouted fiercely. Unexpectedly, Bastien was the one to answer. "Actually, I think I should be the one to speak on this Ivan. Most of the kids down there are safe now, Mr. Night here and his friend sent a lot of them away back to their homes after we got out of the prison. We are only here because we were really worried about you and didn't want you to wake up alone. Now… When it comes to Dune, I don't have a good answer for you. We all saw what happened to him… but even though I was right there with him the whole time, when I looked away for just a moment his entire body just disappeared. One second he was there and the next he was gone. I'm so sorry Ivan, I don't know what happened to him." Bastien said with tears welling up in his eyes. "I-I see…" I said as my gazed lowered to the table. I was very upset. Dune was our friend and now we had no idea if he was okay or not. It reminded me so much about how Oli was taken… and Sid just up and disappeared… I felt anger. It was beginning to boil up inside of me, and I started clenching my fists so hard that I began to draw blood from my palms. Before I knew it, the girl I had met in the room walked over and smacked me on the back of the head. "Enough of that nonsense. You don't know if he's dead, so stop acting like he is. For all you know he could have just wandered out of there during the chaos. So don't get so worked up." I was initially shocked and just rubbed the back of my head where she smacked me. But I began to realize that she was right. I just had to hold out hope that he was alright… "I'm sorry… You're right, I was being stupid." I said regretfully. "It's fine, just don't let yourself get so angry. You may end up doing something you can't take back if you let yourself slip away like that." She said with her arms crossed. "Who are you anyways?" I asked since she avoided my question earlier. "Hmph not that it matters to you, but my name is Jewel Chrysanthemum. I am the apprentice to Sir Nightingale." She said with pride. Where is this attitude coming from though? It's not like I did anything to her… "His apprentice huh? I'm guessing that's why you had that potion as you called it." I replied. Then Lillez spoke up, "AH!! You're that Jewel?! The one who helped treat the Queen of Doria?!" She shouted in amazement. I had just remembered Lillez mentioning she was from that kingdom. I am guessing she had heard about this girl named Jewel because of it. "He he that's right, I am one and the same. The Queen wasn't feeling well so I had no choice but to help her." She said as she bowed to the floor. I could feel the arrogance coming off of her… "Oh hush, all you did was comply with the recipe I gave you anyways." Nightingale said nonchalantly, completely tanking her ego. "Urrrrr JUST LET ME HAVE THIS!!" She shouted at him. Everyone at the table began to laugh as the mode shifted positively. "Anyways, are you ready to speak with me Ivan?" Nightingale said while staring into my eyes. I was pretty nervous, I wasn't sure what he wanted to speak with me about. This man was full of mysteries… "Y-yes. I am ready." I responded. "Delightful, follow me this way then." Nightingale said as he stood up and began walking down a corridor next to us. I followed him down the long corridor until he entered a large door at the end. Inside was a very well put together office space with tall library shelves filled with books, a rugged cobblestone fireplace, and even extravagant red leather chairs. "Go on then, take a seat Ivan." I followed his suggestion and sat in one of the fancy chairs while he went to prepare something at a different corner of the room. He came back shortly and placed a cup of tea in my hands before sitting down in the chair across from mine. "Now then, I think it's time we talk about that power of yours Ivan." He said while sipping his tea. "…What do you want to know?" I asked. "HA! That's quite an interesting response. However, I think this is actually a situation where I can tell you more than you can tell me." He said as he lowered his cup and stared intensely into my eyes. "You see Ivan, that bite my dear Albany gave you wasn't just some ordinary snake bite. Us bestowers have what we call a medium, or rather an instrument that allows us to utilize our god given talents more accurately. But before I get into that, tell me Ivan… Do you know what I am? Look at me closely, tell me what you feel." He said while maintaining our eye contact. I wasn't sure what he meant exactly, but I did feel something kind of odd when I looked at him. I could tell right away that this was a person of great power. He gave off a very suppressing energy that was much stronger than anything I had really encountered. But there was a clear difference. For some reason, this man didn't give off the same kind of energy as someone with a blessing like Bastien or Henry. Instead, it was almost like his power was more pure… or rather, raw. It was completely raw and oppressive. "Well… to tell you the truth Mr.-err I mean Sir Nightingale, I understand that you are what they call a Bestower. As I have heard, you are some kind of conduit of power?" I said with uncertainty. "No no. I don't want to hear what you have been told. Tell me what you see, what you feel. I want to know what you think Ivan." Nightingale stated as he continued to sip his tea. "Drink the tea I gave you and focus." I looked down at the cup of tea, it looked just like any old leaf water I'd seen before. Despite my reluctance, I did as I was instructed and drank the tea. I then looked at Nightingale and focused intensely. I couldn't really feel anything different happening at first. Nonetheless, I continued to focus until I began to see a strange aura emitting around his body. It was dark and raging. The energy around him was like a torrent of pure dark power. "W-what is this!?" I stammered. Nightingale simply laughed and said, "Congratulations Ivan, you have now opened your third eye."
