Hidden In Plain Sight (MxM)✔

Chapter 29 - The Search

Maximilia stopped clapping. "I've been busy."

Luke huffed at her answer, then looked down at Cortez's corpse once more. A wave of shame washed over him when he realized he had committed murder. 

"Where's Nicholas?" He asked, trying to distract himself. "Is he okay?"

"Oh he's better than okay." She strutted passed him. "He's been whooping the Emperor's ass all over the castle. Take a look."

Luke followed her to what was once the throne room, only to find the ceiling had caved in and the ground was littered with rubble. A few arms stuck out from under the stones, each clad in the Emperor's armor. Maximilia walked up and kicked one. "He's been on a roll. I've always known he was powerful, but I had no idea that he was this powerful. He nearly took down half the castle when he first showed up."

A loud rumbling noise sounded in the distance, and the two glanced over to see smoke billowing up from the city. "Looks like the rebellion is well on it's way. It's only a matter of time before Archduke Greer's men arrive to blast the city gates open."

"So you've known about his involvement?"

"I'm one of the first people that Sir Greer enrolled. He's been spearheading the plan to take down the Emperor since the beginning."

"But why?" Luke asked, upset to hear that Nicholas's Ex really had been using him for his power.

Maximilia rolled her eyes. "Because he found out the Emperor was trying to kill Nicholas, and Nicholas didn't care. We all have our reasons for wanting the Emperor dead, but Greer's is...Complicated. He wanted to protect Master Nicholas and became obsessed after the tenth assassination attempt, so he started recruiting people to overthrow the Emperor. Nicholas would have been fine in a fair fight, but with all the sneaky tactics the Emperor was pulling, it was only a matter of time before one of them worked...And it did." She looked at Luke seriously.

"It did?"

"Remember when you first met him? My Master was drugged, and then set up in a carriage accident and attacked. Had you not shown up, Master Nicholas would not be alive today, and Greer understands this. He's doubled his efforts ever since. It was dumb luck that you were there."

Another loud crash, this time much closer, put the two on edge as Luke witnessed a section of the castle collapse into a plume of smoke not too far away. The knight stood beside him, watching.

"I'm supposed to help guard him, but he's doing fine without me, so I'm just getting rid of the trash that's left behind. Thanks for helping by the way. That last rat was particularly pesky." She bumped Luke with a smirk.

"Is that them fighting?" He pointed towards the smoke.

"Somewhere."

"Should we leave?"

"And go where?" She replied. "There's fights starting up everywhere. We might as well join in. I'm just making sure no one interferes with theirs."

Luke stared intently, waiting to see if he could spot either the Emperor or Nicholas in the mess. After a moment, he saw something flying through the air. It was practically a blur, but based on the colors, he presumed it was the Emperor.

As the blur flit up into the sky, a second one slammed into it, and a shockwave had the both of them taking a step back as the air was sucked from their lungs. Then the figures both dropped to the ground, causing another large explosion that shook the earth.

Luke knew he wasn't being very useful just standing around, and if Nicholas spotted him, his presence may actually distract the man. He could try to leave, but where to?