They had only just arrived in Thalassa, and now they were already leaving it.
Once Mathew and Ophelia had finished work with Nikolos and filled up on supplies elsewhere in the city, they reunited with their companions at the inn.
While the two of them had been out shopping, Argus had stayed with the three girls as they cared for Hamlet, and Pandarus had disappeared, only to return at night with no explanation.
They then rested one more night before continuing on their journey.
A pair of bridges that spanned the River Lethe, connecting Attica to Scyvia, were now freed from the danger of the rogue Nightspawn. The group had arrived at the toll bridges.
"Well, this has been a nice change from the Forest of Terror," said Siyah. Mathew snorted in response.
"You only say that because you didn't have to fight a man-eating monster. It was practically a vacation for you."
"It's no fault of mine that certain metal people need to pull their weight around here."
"I have it on good authority that metal heads are very heavy actually," Mathew replied. "So it takes a lot of effort for someone like that to "pull their weight'."
"Is that so… Who is that?" Siyah said, pointing. Mathew followed her finger and noticed a very familiar city guard running up to them.
"Excuse me!" Stella shouted, a hand high in the air as she ran. The group had just reached the stairs leading to one of the toll bridges, and Ophelia, who was in the lead, turned to face the woman. Everyone parted to let her have a clear line of sight to her target.
"What is it this time?" She asked. "Are we not finished dealing with your Lord?"
Stella skidded to a halt, panting.
"I… Um… huh… Lord Aventinos says that he has granted you free passage across the bridges for your aid to the city."
"How generous of him," Ophelia replied. "What does he want?" Stella hopped from her left foot to her right; her body was filled with nervous energy. It was understandable… Ophelia seemed to have that effect on people.
"He says that before you leave Thalassa, he wishes to meet you all. He has invited you to his home to eat with him."
"How wonderful," Ophelia said, though her words did not match her frowning face. "Unfortunately, we must decline."
Stella's jaw dropped.
"Pardon me, my Lady," Pandarus said in a low tone, "I believe it would be a mistake to—"
"Do not lecture me, guide," Ophelia hissed back. Mathew and Siyah were doing their best to keep quiet and not get involved in the chaos.
"U-um… did you say you decline, ma'am?" Stella finally stuttered out.
"That is correct. We do appreciate the magnanimous gesture, though. Tell your Lord that we will take him up on his offer the next time we visit."
"Next time you visit? Wait, but that's…"
"In the meantime, we shall accept his gift of free passage across this bridge. Please send him our gratitude."
Stella stood and watched in pure shock as Ophelia and everyone else left without giving anything more than a few apologetic glances. No one stopped them as they crossed the River Lethe, completely free of charge.
…..
Once they reached the rocky beach on the other side, the ascent up the mountains of Scyvia began.
At first the land was as barren as the one they had left, but after only a day of travel, lush greenery began to pop up everywhere. The weather was quite warm throughout the days, and did not drop too low in the evenings. Meanwhile, the trees became larger and more plentiful by the hour.
"I'm surprised that we haven't seen any Nightspawn around," Siyah said. "Dokkebi hasn't chirped once this entire time…"
"Stop talking like that, immediately," Mathew warned. "You will jinx us or something."
"Jinx?"
"You know, if you say something hasn't happened, the universe will ensure it will happen? Like Karma."
"Karma? What is that?"
"Never mind," Mathew said, shaking his head.
"I wouldn't be too worried about it, lass." Said Pandarus, listening in on their conversation. "We have plenty of strong people in our crew."
"About that…" Mathew said. "You told me in Thalassa that Enhanced beings are not that common. Is our group really that special?"
"Most cities might have a single person of the 3rd Tier protecting them, and an entire nation might barely brush the double digits of Enhanced beings. The descendants of Gods are not so common these days. With six in our group, we are practically a small army."
Well, they actually had 7 enhanced beings in their group.
Mathew looked at Era Belle, who sat riding Hamlet, silent as usual. He knew she had to be an enhanced being; she had a blessing after all… but why hadn't she revealed herself yet?
Maybe she just didn't wish to be forced into combat like him. Even if she was Enhanced, that didn't necessarily mean she was trained to fight just because she had a blessing. In addition, not all blessings were even useful as weapons: The Cleansing Font was one such example.
He looked at Ophelia, then decided to keep Era Belle's secret to himself for now. He would just have to see if he could talk to her alone about it later.
Perhaps it was because he was thinking about it, but he instinctively activated his Truesight in one eye, taking a look at all the colored lights around his companions.
Nikolos had said that the power could be trained, and that he could get even more information from the lights someday. For now, though, all he could tell were the different colors. The one near Era Belle was less a light itself, and more a black stone that absorbed light.
When he looked at Ophelia, he came to a realization: The newest light attached to her, which had to have been the False Face, looked exactly like the black stone near Era Belle.
Did that mean that the black stones represented curses? If that were the case, did Era Belle get hers from an alchemist?
He dismissed that theory, though, when he remembered Ophelia's Ivory crown.
It too was a Cursed Numen, so it should have appeared as a black stone, but of all the light's attached to the cruel princess, only the False Face looked like that.
He decided to drop the train of thought for the moment.
…..
A few days later, Pandarus decided to finally ask where they were going. No one else had seemed brave enough to do so, and for Mathew he just didn't care that much.
No matter where they went, his role as a slave wouldn't change.
"So, my Lady, do you have any intention of allowing me to know our current destination now that we have arrived in the holy land?"
"Sinae," Ophelia replied. Pandarus looked shocked.
"You mean Sinae, as in the Holy Dragon City?"
"Will that be a problem?"
"Actually, it might be, my lady." Ophelia scrunched up her nose.
"Explain."
Pandarus cleared his throat before speaking:
"The residents of Sinae are very particular about who they allow into the Holy Dragon City. Scyvia as a nation stays far away from any wars and conflicts between other world powers, which is why they heavily toll any foreigners going in and out of their lands. The capital city itself is even more strict: The people there are greatly mistrustful of races other than human, especially Dovkin like me. Even someone from Elysium would have trouble there, but me? I wouldn't even be allowed to set foot in the city."
"What do you suggest we do about it?" Ophelia asked, wearing annoyance like a blanket.
"Well, all we can do is split up once we reach the capital. And I will have to take Dokkebi with me."
"What possessed you to believe I would allow you to take the lantern with you?"
"Well, my Lady, you can't hold it yourself, and if we bring a Nightspawn to the Holy Dragon City, it will be killed or chased away immediately."
Ophelia looked like she was going to throw a tantrum, but Argus rested his hand on her shoulder.
"Do not worry," he told her, "The guide is still bound to you after all. He will not break our trust as long as the contract is in place."
She pouted for a moment before seemingly coming to a decision.
"The port city of Haiyang," she said, "We will travel there next. You will wait for us there."
"How long do you plan to stay in the capital?" Pandarus asked.
"A few days at most to get everything I need. Then my goal should be in sight."
The strangeness of the statement was not lost on Mathew. What goal was she referring to?
"I see. That works well then. We will part ways when we near Sinae, then I will continue to travel alone and wait for you in Haiyang."
Ophelia nodded, blowing air out through her teeth.
"Hold on," Mathew said. She rolled her eyes at him.
"What now, Dread? I am not in the best mood."
Was she ever?
"I'm just wondering, how will I be able to enter the city?"
"Cease this nonsense. You are following me, of course."
"No, I mean, look at me. Surely they won't let me in the capital either once they see my face."
"Yeah, you are pretty ugly, Dread," Beyah said. Siyah tried to hide a chuckle.
"I feel like you already used that joke," Mathew retorted. "Besides, I know you two will be fine, as long as you don't go into Frenzy. No accidentally eating someone, k?"
The glares of both sisters were fixed on him, but he shrugged them off, feeling like he had won some kind of contest.
"So what do we do about me?" He reiterated.
"You still haven't figured it out, lad?" Pandarus said. Ophelia stiffened.
"Figured out what?"
"Your mistress has a gift just for you that will solve this problem. The new Cursed Numen she had crafted."
Mathew turned to her in surprise.
"The False Face? You're going to let me use it?"
"Well, I cannot have us being kept from the city because of you, Dread," She huffed. "And unlike the guide who is merely a hireling, you are a terrifying monster. I need to keep you on a leash."
"Wow… Thanks…" Mathew had almost felt gratitude at the initial revelation, but now it was gone,
"When we get close to the capital, I will lend you the Curse, and your face will no longer frighten all who look at it."