In the small garden behind the swan statue, the early and mid-spring flowers had already finished blooming. Nature, this vast, living, vibrating kaleidoscope was once again showing different colors and shapes in Sophia's flower garden this season. Behind the colorful family of irises, the soft rays of the sun emerging from behind the clouds after a brief shower still reflected on the petals of the peonies. The colorful little folk: the daisies, nasturtiums, and starflowers had also bloomed next to the bench. Nature buzzed and shimmered, here in late spring, already leaning toward the beginning of summer.
But aside from Ulf and Solveig, not many noticed the beauty of the place now. Oh! And yet nature can be a true teacher to minds seeking answers. Recently, though, Ulf and Solveig hadn't spent much time here, so the late-spring, early-summer jubilation of nature went mostly unnoticed.
Two weeks had already passed since Rhys had not returned from Nexoria. That he had gone to Nexoria and remained there, of that, everyone was certain. On that point, at least, there was agreement. Yes, on that point.
The black priests, the darker forms of the holo-tellers had shown that Rhys had not fallen victim to a crime. More precisely, he had not become a victim here. Dressed in that dreadful outfit, as Sophia called it, holding the double flute carved with ancient motifs, Rhys had mysteriously disappeared into the twilight, smiling, without using a holo-gate.
There hadn't been any crimes committed in living memory. The certainty that any perpetrator would be inevitably caught and punished had completely eliminated such incidents. If someone had good reason, they could activate the black priests, and those would show exactly what had happened in a certain place or to a certain person. The certainty of punishment had ushered in a time when even the justice system was no longer needed.
No crime had been committed now either. This was a miracle. And for miracles, the black priests had no rules. The family decided: only the family and their circle of friends knew that Rhys had gone to Nexoria. The holo-tellers had not communicated the event to the broader community.
All signs pointed in that direction. And also to the fact that this was not Rhys's first time in Nexoria. He must have brought that dreadful outfit and the old flute from there during a previous visit.
There was another point of agreement. That Xewith's abilities were beginning to unfold somewhere. Otherwise, Rhys would not have been able to cross into Nexoria, at least not without memory loss. Whether Xewith's awakening had influenced Aisling and Rhys, however, was a matter of debate.
"You'll find Xewith in Nexoria," Sophia always argued.
They disagreed precisely on the most important questions. The central issue was whether they should go to Nexoria now, or not.
"I think Rhys just can't get back on his own," Sophia insisted stubbornly.
"I think Drakthor kidnapped him," was Aisling's opinion.
Aisling was truly angry now. Drakthor surely couldn't accuse her of wanting to steal jewelry if she voiced her opinion about Rhys's abduction. Now that she was this angry, she no longer saw those dream images. Or maybe that wasn't the reason. Everyone questioned everything.
"We can't go to Nexoria. The awakening of the Society is our most important task," Aisling kept trying to convince those siding with Sophia.
"We have to go to Nexoria. At least those who can," Sophia always responded with a reproachful look at Aisling.
Aisling was the only one they were certain could cross into Nexoria.
"Something happened to Mirael and Kaelen in Nexoria. They were looking for a symbol, and we don't even know why. Xewith was there too, and still, something went wrong," came the strong counterargument from those who supported Aisling's side.
After a while, they stopped arguing. They wrote down their questions and began investigating in groups of three or four.
And the Feast of the Martyrs was approaching. The day when Rhys and Sophia were supposed to appear before the community, where Rhys and the others, who were just completing their year of subordination, would accept the title of ephemeri. And Sophia would formally enter her year of subordination during the ceremony in front of the community. And Rhys was missing. Then everyone would know that something had happened to him. They didn't want to keep secrets from the community, but they didn't want to stir up the whole society either.
Now Sophia was sitting by the bench with Azita, the Alani girl. In front of them, the table was covered with scattered sheets of paper, as if they didn't care about order. Sophia looked paler and thinner than ever. Azita, the girl who always wore clothes decorated with combative motifs, had never been so sulky. They were waiting for Ciro and Callista, Rhys and Sophia's maternal grandmothers. They were also part of the team investigating the reasons. Right now, they were compiling the possible reasons why Rhys hadn't returned from Nexoria.
"Maybe he miscalculated the timing on the way back, and he's no longer in Nexoria," Azita's thoughts had reached this point. She dutifully wrote it down on the sheet in front of her.
"That's exactly why Aisling should go to Nexoria," Sophia stated.
"And what if Aisling isn't the only one who could go to Nexoria?" Azita murmured, just to avoid leaving Sophia's statement unanswered.
"But only members of the Brotherhood can do that," Sophia responded with a resigned wave of her hand.
"What if you are one of them?" the Alani girl continued, fixing Sophia with a piercing stare.
"But I haven't experienced anything strange."
Azita put her pen down on the table. She began loosely adjusting her braids. Only her sharp gaze didn't soften.
"Any one of us could belong to them. Even you, Sophia. Would you go alone?"
"Yes. Even right now," Sophia replied defiantly.
"What do we even know about Nexoria? Only what the historical research team has managed to gather from the libraries and the bards in the past two weeks. Maybe we'll learn more from them today. Maybe they're arriving right now," she gestured toward the holo-gate in a slightly more distant part of the peristylium. The holo-gate had just activated.
Now Azita wanted to calm Sophia. She was the worst possible person for that.
The historical research group consisted of Nabu, Aisling, Tjeerd, Velia, and Solveig. Although the holo-mentor had summarized the information, the group still went through the books, papyrus scrolls, parchments, and clay tablets in their original form. They hoped this way they would come up with new questions or find answers to existing ones. Their task was the most extensive, so they were the largest group.
Azita, although her talent in school had been learning history, had an inclination for storytelling, she preferred researching causes. That's why she joined Sophia's team, which mainly focused on Rhys and Kaelen.
Whenever the historical research group wasn't sitting in the Ulpia, they visited the other teams and asked about their progress. It was precisely them who arrived now through the holo-gate. The arrival of the historical research group brought the argument to a halt.
Aisling was frustrated. She wanted to be calm, wanted to stay calm, but felt the research was progressing too slowly. Of course, this often made her scattered. As a result, the research went even more slowly.
And she was very angry at Drakthor. Not just because of the suspicion of wanting to steal the jewel, which she had seen in the vision of the future, but also because of Rhys's disappearance. Even though there could have been plenty of other reasons why Rhys hadn't returned from Nexoria, Aisling was convinced that Drakthor alone was responsible for Rhys's disappearance.
Still, she was also upset that the dream images weren't coming anymore. Naturally, only so she could learn more about Mirael, Kaelen, Nexoria, and yes, Drakthor. That's what she told herself.
She tried everything to see the dream images again. But she told no one about the kiss. That was something only the involved parties should know.
"I'd now like to ask the cause-investigating team to think thoroughly and write down every possible explanation… I want to know how I can see them again…"
No matter how much she lied to herself, that kiss kept coming back to her mind, and it annoyed her.
"They're not in a good mood," Nabu shook his head after observing Sophia and Azita more closely.
"Well, neither am I," whispered Aisling so that only Nabu could hear her.
"Don't you dare ask again," Azita warned Sophia in a hushed voice.
This made Aisling smile. She wasn't angry at Sophia for pestering her so much.
"Hey! No need to ask anyone again. According to our calculations, by next week we'll know enough to talk about how to get to Nexoria," Nabu tried to lift the mood with encouragement.
"Where are Ciro and Callista?" Velia asked curiously.
"They went to eat with Ulf," Azita informed the newcomers.
"Maybe it would be better if we went to eat with Ulf too," Solveig suggested timidly.
"I agree, we could go have lunch. At Ulf's we'll discuss what everyone's found in their research," Nabu supported Solveig's idea.
Ulf immediately called Sophia aside, but not to talk about the research. He enthusiastically explained and showed her his latest food experiments.
By the time the others had prepared the steamed vegetables, the rolls made from rye and amaranth, and the flavorful stew made from soy, Sophia wasn't hungry at all anymore. While the others ate, she stayed by Ulf's side and talked with him. No one minded because Sophia was clearly enjoying herself.
Ulf was in a team with Baalit, Rhesus, and Lars. The Viking even managed to cheer up Lars, Rhys's maternal grandfather, a little bit every day. Their team investigated the strange occurrences on the day of Rhys's disappearance so thoroughly that even Solveig, Thana, Sibius were under observation because they had overslept that morning and had been sleepy all day. Astra, the white cat, was also caught sleeping in the dressing room.
Baalit wasn't there at the moment, he had gone home for a while to talk with his parents and Fabia. The three of them made up one team.
Aisling's group had involved Eshmun and Elisa in the research too. Their research area was the mysterious symbol Aisling had to obtain from Drakthor.
While Aisling's group was cooking, Ciro, Lars, Callista, and Rhesus were already sipping their invigorating herbal drink. They were now getting ready to leave somewhere.
Lars and Rhesus waved to Ulf.
"We'll be back in half an hour."
"We're going to the Millennial Oak to have a chat with Daphne and the others," Ciro added, looking at Sophia.
"We'll be at the swan statue in half an hour," promised Callista.
"We'll be back by then too," replied Azita, who had just stopped behind Ulf.
Sophia only nodded. She was again nibbling on a fruity treat with great enjoyment. Azita came to taste that as well.
Solveig also found her joy in Ulf's creative circle. After a few bites of food, she went out to tend the roses.
The others were still arguing.
"Please, let's leave Nexoria aside for a while during lunch," Tjeerd asked, cutting off Velia mid-sentence.
"And what should we talk about then?" Velia asked back sharply.
"About Solveig and Ulf's flowers, anything else," he answered more and more impatiently, gesturing toward the girl crouched beside the roses.
That wasn't like Tjeerd. He wasn't usually impatient.
Of course, Solveig noticed that they were all staring at her, and she almost cheerfully waved at them. Then she stood up and, having nourished the roses, started heading back. Her dress hem also had rose motifs today.
"Strange. It's not the first time I feel like I should know something when I look at the flowers," Aisling said aloud, thinking.
"There we go again. Nexoria," grumbled Tjeerd.
At that moment, all their bracelets signaled simultaneously. Ciro's hologram appeared above each of them. If they hadn't all been in the same place, the serious and pale-faced Ciro might have scared them.
"Come immediately, all of you, to the Millennial Oak. Rhesus found something."