CHAPTER 115: REUNITED

Charon turned, his eyes widening as he saw a familiar swordsman, his hood pulled back to reveal long blonde hair.

"Emerius?"

With more energy than he expected, his friend ran up to him and pulled him into a one-handed hug, quickly pushing him back to study his features.

"I can not believe you are alive! You had told us fifteen minutes, yet Red told us to wait longer. I was beginning to fear the worst when she informed us of your return."

Right on schedule, the others rounded the corner, their forms coming into view. At their head was Darius, his gaze scanning every corner for a sign of trouble.

Emerius didn’t turn to look at them, his hand remaining on Charon’s shoulder.

"What happened out there? When you left with the misty figure, the others stayed back and watched us. We were planning how to escape when they vanished. Did you slay the beast?"

He shook his head and frowned. He glanced from his friend to Achlys, the former seemingly unable to notice her presense.

’Can he not see her?’

Figuring it was a situation better left unresolved for now, he did his best to look confused.

"I don’t know. It led me to a cave a little bit from here, and gave me a crown out of nowhere. I saw some visions after touching it, and once those ended, I was alone. I’ve been wandering back for a while now."

Truth be told, he wasn’t sure why he was lying. He trusted Emerius. Maybe not with everything, but enough to let him hear the whole story.

Despite that, he kept it hidden.

"Crown?"

The blonde swordsman’s gaze moved upwards to the pale band around his forehead. He tentatively reached out to touch it before meeting Charon’s eyes and thinking otherwise.

"It looks... unusual. It is difficult to tell from here, but I can not recognize the enchantments woven into the metal. I can tell they are powerful, though. Did the visions tell you anything more?"

The rest of the group arrived just then, interrupting his question.

Darius stood beside Emerius, following a similar trend as he looked from foot to forehead, his brow crinkling in confusion at the Crown of Mists.

The girls paused a few feet behind them, a smile on Annie’s lips and apathy on Reds, her expression unreadable as always.

Liam was far less reserved, his large, meaty hand wrapping around Charon’s upper arm to jerk him to the side.

"Where have ya been? You told us fifteen minutes, and it’s been hours! I was thinkin’ you died!"

His tone was teasing, inciting a grin as Charon noticed how none of them gave Achlys any attention at all. It was as if she didn’t exist.

’So I was right, they can’t see her. I can’t tell if that’s a good thing, yet. It does spare me a more in-depth explanation, but their knowing could help in a fight.’

Darius opened his mouth to speak, but was silenced by Emerius.

"I was just asking Charon what happened. Apparently, he earned a relic and saw some visions, the contents of which I am very interested in learning."

The mention of a relic and visions caught everyone’s attention. Five pairs of eyes settled on Charon as he sighed. His brain worked overtime to come up with a fitting description of events.

"Okay, I might as well start from the beginning. Please save all questions until the end."

He gave the last comment while giving Annie a pointed look, remembering how often she had interrupted his last stories.

They all listened silently as he went through his version of events.

According to Charon, the creature in the mist had led him out of the town very quickly, their walk unmarred by things like conversation. They reached an onyx cave with an altar inside.

Upon which sat the crown he was wearing, and the being told him that they had been watching, and found him worthy of taking the relic as their own.

Unwilling to deny a powerful creature, he reluctantly took it, only to find out it was somehow cursed. It sent him into a string of visions centered around the collapse of the town and the Dead Lands in general.

Charon omitted certain details, such as Alastor’s name or his association with the God of Death, framing him as a mysterious mage who had incredible magic powers that allowed him to summon the undead as half-machines, half-men.

They watched with rapt attention as he described the horrible events in the village, how he came in and slaughtered the civilians without mercy, even converting the area into a macabre material, explaining the dark wood and stone.

Things changed when he depicted the fight between Achlys and this mage. He used her true name and even gave away how it was the same figure they saw in the mist.

His reasoning for this was simple: he had used it when they first met her. To play ignorant now would easily be caught, causing further scrutiny on the rest of the story.

He took a while describing the contents of their fight, hoping that the unimportant facts would hide the gaps in understanding. It was strange how easily it came to him, lying while spinning a tale.

If he had been born a few millennia earlier, he could have been a bard.

Charon ended his recount with a steady breath, allowing them to stew in the horror he had seen. His eyes were fixed on the cobblestones as though they might swallow up the lies he had sown, made worse by the suffocating silence that followed.

Each member of the group was digesting his words in their own way.

Darius rubbed his chin, his eyes narrowing in thought as he clearly weighed the truth against the holes he might have detected.

Liam crossed his arms and shifted his weight impatiently, as though expecting Charon to add something more.

Annie’s brow furrowed, her earlier smile gone, replaced with a contemplative stare that lingered on his crown.

Red, as always, gave nothing away, but Charon could feel her gaze piercing through him like she could sense the hidden details. Which, he knew, was absolutely the case.

’The ability to read minds makes lies impossible. For whatever reason, she still isn’t sharing mine. Only the gods know what plans she is dreaming up.’

As always, she didn’t react to him acknowledging her, playing her role perfectly.

’She has a future as an actress if she ever wanted one. If not for me knowing her spells, I never would have guessed this strength of hers.’

Only Emerius seemed satisfied, his expression a mixture of relief and admiration. It was unexpected from the noble who had seen more than his fair share of greatness.

"Then you truly did face something remarkable."

He spoke softly, a note of awe in his voice.

Charon forced a nod, though his chest tightened with guilt. Emerius had always been quick to believe in him, to give him the benefit of the doubt. It made the lie heavier, like chains binding his ribs.

It didn’t help that he literally had chains across his chest.

’One day, I’ll fill him in on everything. He deserves that much for all of this. I just need time to figure it out myself, first.’

Before he could dwell on it too much, Liam clapped him on the back, the heavy blow jolting him forward a step. He coughed wetly and tried to distance himself from the brute.

"Well, at least ya came back in one piece. That’s more than the lot of us expected! If not for Red, we woulda have been long gone!"

The laugh that followed was very loud and very forced, but it broke the tension for a moment, something they all appreciated.

Darius seemed to finish his contemplations, arriving at an unknown verdict before he met Charon with a tight-lipped stare.

"What vexes me so is the creature’s reason for choosing you. I do not wish to discredit your accomplishments, Charon, yet we have done little during our stay here to warrant any reward. You also knew her prior to our arrival. You stated her name in a way that seemed to rattle the world itself."

He paused as his expression shifted darkly, a threat in his eyes.

"Do us a favor and explain how."