The crew was sitting in Sato's home, crowded around the small table in his living room. Bella and Adva were sitting in the center, their knees bumping into each other while Victor and Minerva were seated on the outside.
Sitting on the table was a tray of hot tea that Sato had set there. The man himself had gone off, saying he needed to grab someone.
Who was this someone?
Apparently, they wanted to meet Minerva.
Minerva impatiently bounced her legs, nervous about what was to happen.
Evgenia and Momoko were taken to Sato's bedroom. The man had lended his bed for the girls to rest on.
"So, why are we here again?" Adva asked, looking around the quaint little room. Although it appeared cleaned out, the smell of alcohol was still strong.
At least the bottles were cleared out.
"We're here because Sato is part of the rebellion. And he's supposed to explain stuff to us about, er, everything." Minerva said, hoping she didn't miss a single detail.
Victor scowled, arms crossed and fidgeting worriedly in his chair.
Then there was the creaking of floorboards, someone was coming.
The crew looked up at, spotting Sato. He had taken off his prosthetic, walking around the house with his crutch. Sato cracked his neck, glumily frowning at nothing in particular.
Behind him, the crew could see someone. But Sato was fully covering them.
The man sighed, tired bags dragging his eyes. He scratched his head, black hair pulled into a loose bun that sagged at his neck. The man finally spoke, voice gruff and tired, "Sorry it took me awhile, my leg was swelled up."
All that running wasn't at all good for his leg. Good thing it didn't get any worse than that.
Sato looked behind him before stepping to the side, revealing the person behind him.
It was a man with black hair that was just a tad wavy, wearing a simply white button up and dark pants. He had a pair of glasses, one of the lenses was broken.
The man spotted Minerva first, looking shocked at first, then glad, then serious.
Was this the person who wanted to meet Minerva?
The man walked to them, going to Minerva first and holding a hand out. Minerva awkwardly took it, slowly shaking it out of politeness.
The man smiled, kindly saying, "It's so nice to finally meet you, Minerva."
"Um," Minerva suspiciously frowned at him, slowly taking her hand away. Cautiously, she asked, "Who are you?"
The man smiled, a little sad, "I'm Michael, I used to be the Royal Keeper."
Minerva's eyes widened, her breath getting caught in her throat.
The Royal Keeper?
Sato mentioned a while ago that the Royal Keeper was... arrested. And Minerva knew the Royal Keeper was good friends with August. That means... It was really true.
Michael saw the sudden sadness that fell on Minerva as soon as the knight realized that August was alone in that toxic castle. The man crossed his arms, looking away in guilt. Apologetically, he said, "August wouldn't listen to what either of us had to say. It's... really unfortunate that Faust has him wrapped around his finger." He sighed, frowning hard the floor with a bitterness that felt sour, "If I had the chance, I would've taken August out of there as well."
Minerva sat down, defeated by all means. She buried her face in her hands, her mind flooded with thoughts of August falling into a deeper despair. Now, for a fact, Minerva knew that the next time she would see the captain, she wouldn't be able to recognice him.
She could already imagine it. August, with his face twisted with anger, fighting against people he once called friends. People who betrayed his home.
Bella put a comforting hand on her shoulder, quietly asking if the knight was okay.
Minerva didn't say anything.
They all knew she was worried about August.
Michael sighed, grabbing another chair that had been pulled up by Sato. He sat down, achingly rubbing the back of his neck. Every night next he escaped has been restless. The rebellion couldn't afford to have a moment of shut-eye, not if it meant letting that fake of a king causing havoc wherever he wanted.
"As awful as it sounds, Minerva, we can't always worry about August." Michael said, knowing those words was only hurting the girl even more. But it was true. "August isn't the only was suffering. This is a war afterall, we've uncovered everything Joana has been doing and we have to stop them."
"Joana? How did you even figure all this out?" Minerva asked, lifting her head up as soon as the alchemist's name was mentioned.
Michael bit his lip, adjusting his broken glasses. "I might've discovered an undercover lab underneath the palace. And also I may have stolen Joana's study notebook from there."
Minerva sputtered, absolutely flabbergasted.
"What did you find out?"
"Well," Michael looked at Sato, waiting permission to speak. The old man nodded, not really looking like he wanted to be there. Michael started to explain, "Aside from the genocidal actions against mages, we found out he's been converting their magical power into a Moonstone. But we're not sure what a moonstone is, it's unheard of."
"It's a magical stone made from stolen magic," Adva said, trying imitate Evgenia's voice. Usually it was Evgenia who did the explanation on magical objects. Of course, the crew heard Evgenia talk about the Moonstone so many times that the stone's magical purpose has been ingrained in their heads.
Bella chuckled, finding Adva's Evgenia imitation as accurate as a six-year drawing their mother for the first time.
"Hm, that explains the prophecy then," Michael said.
Sato budged in, "Irene said she already knew of the prophecy and the Moonstone. However, she was only willing to discuss about the prophecy for reasons unknown to us."
"Oh yeah, that scary strong lady, what's up with her?" Adva wondered.
Victor scowled, gripping his arms as he supressed his anger as much as possible.
"Well," Sato sighed, it seemed sighing was a common thing for him, "We don't know much about her as well. The rebellion heard reports of a magical force in the forest. Since I was already living in this village they gave me the task to figure that out."
"And what you found was an insanely powerful mage." Minerva said as a matter of fact.
Sato nodded, "A witch to be more precise. She's a mystery to the rebellion, even though she assures us she's on our side. But I think she's only our ally because of your sister." He turned to Victor.
Victor muttered, "Why?"
"Well, you heard her in the forest. She's supposed to be your sister's mentor or something," Sato pointed out. He was just as cautious about the woman as the crew.
Irene was a strange one.
The moment Sato investigated the forest, it attacked him. But then Irene appeared out of nowhere. The moment the woman set her eyes on the man, she smiled. She smiled and said, "It's about time the rebellion has become interested in me."
No one knew anything about the woman. When Sato informed the rebellion's leader about Irene, no one could explain the woman.
To this day, Sato has no choice but to abide with whatever Irene wants. His leader wants to keep Irene on their side.
Her power could be beneficial for the war.
"Okay, if you're here to watch over the forest, then why are you here?" Adva pointed at Michael.
The man sighed, "Long story short, a good friend of mine helped me and another person escape. After awhile, I was put a babysitting duty over Sato."
The crew looked over at the man, expecting him to rebuttal. Sato just shrugged, taking a swig from his flask.
Yeah... It made sense Michael would be sent to watch over Sato. The man was an alcoholic watching over a magical forest. No way would that come out good.
"Who... who was the person who helped you escape?" Minerva asked, curiously.
"A knight, you might know him, you might not."
She had a hunch who it was. Though, she can't really recall his name.
"Timothy," Sato said quietly, looking at his silver flask with disinterest, "His name is Timothy."
Minerva perked up. Timothy! She remembers now! That tall lanky knight!
He was a lower ranked knight, so they never really saw each other. Their only interaction was when he helped her escape. To think he was part of this rebellion.
"Yeah," Michael chuckled, amused at how surprised Minerva was, "Timothy's changed a lot. He's not so skinny anymore, he's kinda built up some muscle. Still a little lanky but he's working on it. Timothy's a low ranking knight which is perfect for a rebellion spy, no one ever expects the underdogs."
A spy?
Timothy was a spy for the rebellion. That must mean he's found out a lot about the plans of Faust and Joana.
He must've done a lot for the rebellion. Timothy is surely a key member.
Michael grinned, "In fact, thanks to Timothy the rebellion was able to ambush mages being transported to the palace and save them."
Sato looked upset as they talked about Timothy.
"Anyway, back to the topic at hand," Minerva said, realizing they've gotten a bit distracted, "You're part of the rebellion. That means you know their leader, right?"
Michael looked at Sato, "Well, Sato has connections to the leader. I'm just here to make sure he doesn't die of alcohol poisoning."
Sato nodded, ignoring what Michael said.
"That's perfect!" Minerva clapped her hands, finally feeling like the tides had turned since the first time they've stepped foot in Renaisse. The knight motioned to her friends, saying, "We've been on a long journey, getting the support of the other three kingdoms. We've successfully gained Arcadia, Scarabi, and Icier as our allies in the war. We came to Renaisse in hopes of having the Nascentia Rebellion as our allies as well."
"Hm," Michael pushed his glasses up his nose, nodding along to Minerva, "That does sound good. Though, Sato and I have no say in the matter. You'll need to talk to the rebellion's leader about that."
"Where can I find them?" Minerva asked, almost begging.
Michael looked at Sato, waiting for him to answer.
Sato didn't say anything for a long time. They could tell the man was silently weighting his options.
Finally, Sato said, "I could send you directions of the rebellion's base."
Minerva smiled, cheering to herself, "Thank yo-"
"On the condition that you take Michael with you," Sato said.
Michael looked at him, scoffing with full offense, "Um, I'm here to make sure you don't kill yourself, Sato! Timothy's worried about you-"
"I know," Sato said, closing his eyes and pinching the bridge of his nose, "But you don't have to worry about me anymore."
"Why?"
"Because I won't be alone," Sato looked at Bella, "I've decided to take you as my student."
Bella blinked, confused.
Was he talking to her?
When realizing he was, Bella nearly feinted.
The bard smiled, excited and happy at the offer, "Really? You're really really really going to take me as a student?"
Sato nodded, "But we'll have to leave the village. If others found out I took a student in, they'll talk about it. Eventually Faust will find out and try to make it seem like I was training someone to go against the kingdom."
Adva cast a sad look at Bella, but the girl didn't notice.
Victor cleared his throat, finally speaking, "Irene... she wants to mentor my sister?"
"Yes," Sato said, "Irene's always been telling me she's been waiting for a long time for Evgenia. Irene says it's her role in the prophecy to mentor Evgenia."
Victor frowned, his jaw getting tense. Adva could feel the dark energy coming from Victor. The necromancer shook their head at Victor, mentally telling him to calm down.
Victor scowled, "I'm not letting that woman take my sister away too."
It doesn't matter if a prophecy calls for Evgenia to learn under another witch. Victor's only family was Evgenia, and he wasn't going to let Evgenia get hurt again.
Evgenia has always been protecting him. She's always been fighting the most, getting hurt the most. She's always been an older sister to Victor.
Now, Victor was going to be a good brother to Evgenia.
Even if it meant denying fate.