Hunter of the Evernight
Chapter 588: Confluence

Chapter 588: Confluence

"I don’t get it," Arwen muttered in a tired tone, one-half of her face covered by her palm.

Pursing her lips, Elena inquired. "Is it the Dimensional foyer?"

"First of all, why are you so hellbent on using the word dimensional!?" Arwen exploded, catching Elena completely off guard.

"Well, it best encapsulates the Domain I control, right?"

Arwen’s lips parted only for her to swallow what she wished to say, instead taking a deep breath to calm her nerves before she intoned. "How about we just call it Confluence?"

"That... isn’t so bad," Elena admitted with a thoughtful look on her face.

"Now can we please focus on something else?"

Noting Arwen’s agitated state, Elena inquired. "What’s got you so cranky?"

"I had the dream again," Arwen replied. "It felt really real and I don’t know why, but I feel like I know the person talking."

"Are you familiar with a talking skeleton?"

Arwen let out a tired sigh as she massaged her temples. "I don’t know. My head hurts just thinking about it."

"I mean, it’s been happening since you came back from the Afterlife. Maybe you encountered something there?"

"Maybe," Arwen replied. "But I can’t remember encountering anything that could result in such a thing."

"Honestly, I don’t think I’d be of much help with this, but we could seek help from other people. How about a trip to BlackWatch?"

"Right now?"

"Sure thing. BlackWatch is open twenty-four hours a day, nine days a week. Come on." Elena remarked as she came closer to grab Arwen with the latter quickly backing away while exclaiming.

"Wait!"

"What?"

"At least let me change first."

"No need."

Before Arwen could offer any more complaints, Elena grabbed her and the two disappeared in a golden flash.

***

Arwen opened her eyes to find herself standing before a towering black gate with walls on both sides that stretched for as far as she could tell.

Blinking repeatedly, she tried to make sense of where she was only to be pulled forward by Elena.

"Can we just go in like that?" Arwen asked, still quite self aware.

Elena nodded. "Absolutely. As I said, Constellations and The Department of Defense are in an alliance."

Just then, the gates opened, revealing a grand city within with a militaristic touch.

It didn’t take long before a uniformed man approached with a smile. "Miss Berenice, glad to see you again."

"Oh hey, Phil, looking good."

"Thanks." The man replied before glancing at Arwen who immediately shifted her gaze to stare in a different direction.

Noting her silver hair, the man remarked. "And this is?"

"Apys," Elena replied. "She’s a colleague."

"I see."

"Is Lord Aiden around or any Family Head for that matter?"

The Enforcer raised a brow. "Is there a problem?"

"Depends on how you look at it."

"I see." The man remarked. "Please, follow me."

"Alright."

With the Enforcer leading the way, Elena and Arwen went through a few tests to ensure that they weren’t impostors after which they were taken to meet with Veronica in her office.

The office of the leader of the Valkyries was a rather expansive space with eye-catching furnishings that left Arwen speechless.

"Hi, Vero!" Elena intoned as she made her way over to Veronica’s desk where the Valkyrie head was currently working.

"Firstly, never call me that and secondly, why are you here?" Veronica inquired without raising her head.

Elena pouted. "So mean."

Letting out a sigh, Veronica dropped the quill she was using and raised her head to regard Elena for a moment before shifting her attention to Arwen and then she paused.

Noticing an intense gaze on her, Arwen flinched before meeting Veronica’s gaze.

"Uhmm..."

"Who is this and why does she have such a potent aura of death around her?" Veronica inquired as she scrutinized Arwen further.

"I’m Apys." Arwen introduced herself. "And the reason for the aura is because I’m a Banshee."

"I see." Veronica raised a brow as she asked. "What’s a Banshee doing so far away from the Wailing Peaks?"

"Reasons." Arwen calmly replied, not planning to explain any further.

Respecting her wishes, Veronica shifted her attention back to Elena. "The fact that Lord Aiden crowned your organization as an honorary ally of the Department does not give you the right to do as you please?"

Rolling her eyes, Elena replied. "Sure thing, but it’s not like I came here to mess around. We need help."

"With what?"

"Arwen’s been having nightmares. We were hoping to get a second opinion on it."

Veronica nearly facepalmed as she intoned. "This is not funny, Elena."

"No, I’m being serious," Elena remarked. "I had hoped we’d be able to meet with Lord Aiden or any of the other family heads."

"They aren’t allowed to be disturbed about such petty matters." Veronica let out a sigh. "What’s the nightmare about?"

Seeing that she had been granted an audience, Elena turned to Arwen and gestured for her to speak.

Taking a deep breath, the young Banshee proceeded to narrate her dreams, leaving Veronica with a thoughtful look on her face by the time she was done.

***

In a dilapidated building in Albanum, Nadia, Lucia, Charles, and Robert stood around a wooden table with a map before them depicting the states of Kastarus.

"By now, the Keepers would have arrived at the capital and shared the news of their defeat."

"How long would it take before the Archbishop would get here?" Lucia asked with Robert replying.

"He could get here in the blink of an eye if he was impatient."

Charles snorted. "But he won’t. That fanatical bastard is too smart to do something so foolish."

"Agreed. He would know that he would be walking into a trap if he came here now, so we can expect that he won’t hurry over too quickly. At least not until he has gotten some sort of support."

"Apart from the GateKeepers, what other form of support can he call upon?" Nadia asked.

"We can’t be sure." Robert admitted. "But reports have said that the Regent serving King Lothair is a Mystic infinitely close to godhood. So we can assume that he could get another Daemon to support him."

"How much longer do we have?"

"Give or take, a day. If the Regent is indeed a Daemon, then we have to consider the possibility that we would be facing not one, but two Daemons at a time." Robert calmly remarked.

Taking a deep breath, Charles intoned. "We should get some rest. Tomorrow is going to be a hectic day for all of us."

"Agreed."

"Mn."

"Alright then."