The Weight of Responsibility in Rome
Motionlessness was a form of torture for Rose. After hanging up, she had stayed for a few more minutes staring at the stone ceiling, haunted by Christian's voice. She finally forced herself to stand, ignoring the painful throbbing in her muscles. She left the infirmary, walking through the vaulted corridors of the Roman HQ. The volcanic stone walls were covered in frescoes whose pigments seemed to glow with an inner light, recounting the forgotten victories of the Knights Stalkers.
She eventually found Octavia Sylva in the command room, a circular chamber dominated by a massive holographic table projecting real-time data streams. Octavia was in the middle of an encrypted conversation with the Council of the Order.
"...without Rose's intervention, the Palladium would have become an open-air charnel house," Octavia was saying in a firm, authoritative voice. "Burges has agreed to let the incident pass with... a certain compensation, shall we say. We are indebted to him, but the secret is maintained for now."
She cut the communication as she sensed Rose's presence. The Rome Commander turned to her, her face marked by the fatigue of the last few hours. She wore a dark combat tunic, simple and functional.
"The doctor was formal: forty-eight hours of observation," Octavia said, her tone leaving no room for argument. "Your Dragon form was unstable based on what we know about your unique ability to mix DNA. Your metabolism has to compensate every time you force nature like that. You're playing with fire, Rose."
"The Secrets of Kaelen Brice"
Rose approached the holographic table, her eyes fixed on the diagrams of the ruined Palladium. "Brice told you about that?" she asked with a concerned look, as the mention of her genetic peculiarity was normally a secret kept strictly at the top of the hierarchy.
Octavia replied in a reassuring, almost protective tone. "Only on the surface. I only know what he wanted me to know for the success of the mission—don't worry. We all have our secrets in this organization, Rose. Kaelen Brice knows who to keep in the shadows and who to expose."
Rose nodded, but her mind was elsewhere. "I don't have time to sleep, Octavia. Christian suspects something. He knows about the Palladium; he saw the news in Bloom Town. If I stay here, my civilian life is going to collapse. He's already starting to ask questions I can't ignore."
Octavia sighed, leaning against the edge of the table. "I've already sent a report to Brice. He has taken the necessary steps to cover your prolonged absence with your usual contacts. You are officially unavailable. You aren't leaving Rome. We must wait for Maya to emerge from her etheric coma, and I can't let you leave while the Gambler is on the loose."
Rose clenched her teeth. She felt trapped between two worlds. "The Gambler... Maya said he was her husband. How is that possible?"
"That's what you're going to find out," Octavia stated, handing her an access crystal. "Go to the archives. Search the pariah registries. If that man has a link to Maya, there's a trace of it."
"Christian's Infiltration in Bloom Town"
Meanwhile, in Bloom Town, Christian had swapped his sleepwear for a dark, inconspicuous coat. Determination had replaced sleep. He couldn't just sit in his apartment waiting for Rose to return with new lies.
He parked his car at a respectful distance from the Knights Stalkers' headquarters. The red brick building seemed asleep under the light rain, but Christian knew appearances were deceiving. He had done his research: the agency was headed by Kaelen Brice. In the few available photos, Brice appeared as a man in his fifties, imposing, with a short salt-and-pepper beard and a gaze that seemed to see through walls. Rose always described him as a good boss, an expert in international finance.
"International finance..." Christian muttered, adjusting his binoculars. "Let's see what you're hiding, Brice."
He stayed on watch for over an hour. Around four in the morning, a black sedan with opaque windows pulled up to the entrance. A tall man, dressed in a perfectly tailored dark suit, stepped out. It was Kaelen Brice. He seemed nervous, darting quick glances around before slipping into the building.
Christian took several shots, his heart pounding. This wasn't the behavior of an ordinary businessman. There was an urgency, a tension in his stride that confirmed his suspicions.
"Phantoms of the Past"
In Rome, Rose had gone deep into the archives, a forest of shelves filled with ancient scrolls and data tablets. The smell of dust and old paper soothed her slightly. She was looking for Maya's name—her true serial number within the Order.
After hours of fruitless searching, she eventually discovered a wrought-iron box, sealed with a magical lock. She used Octavia's crystal to open it. Inside was a yellowed file dating back to a time when Maya was still a promising young tracker.
She found a magical photograph inside, the figures in it moving slightly. It showed Maya, smiling and radiant, in the arms of an elegant man with a magnetic gaze: Silas, the man they now called the Gambler. They looked deeply in love. The attached report stated: "Silas of theTrackers. Married to Maya of the Mages. Violation of the code, murder and manipulation. Vanished after the Ebony Gate incident."
Rose stood frozen. Maya had voluntarily erased her own memory to forget the man who had betrayed her—the man she loved. She realized that her own life with Christian was following a dangerously similar path.
In Bloom Town, Christian had just spotted Kaelen Brice through a top-floor window. The man was holding an ancient object that projected a pulsing blue light, a glow that was anything but natural. Christian took one last photo, his hand trembling.
The truth was no longer a scoop. It was a threat.