After Eclipse departed for the night, I continued to sit upon the table, drinking the hot tea and thinking in worry. I finished up the glass and poured myself a second cup, and then a third, and a fourth, and a fifth, until I found the pot empty and tea bags no where within sight for making a new pot. I began to dig through cabinets to find some replacement bags, although it was not a very hard hunt as the shelves and cabinets where highly organized and structured, the bags were nowhere near the first place I checked. It did not take long to find a box of tea bags though and I dumped the three old ones out and replaced them with new ones along with water, placing the pot on the stove and setting the temperature to  the lowest setting so that Eclipse would have some hot tea by the morning.

I would have loved to stated that I stayed up all night in worried trepidation; however, the sand in my eyes were weighing tons and the event of the night had worn me down, not to mention I was still recovering from injury. Within five minutes of me putting myself down on the couch, I was out cold, and by the time I had awoken, the lunar disk in the sky had vanished and been replaced by the day's star. I stayed on the couch as my eyes adjusted to the natural light flooding the room, it was a wonder how a room under a city could be so bright and rich in sunlight.

Eclipse's hooves toiled from the kitchen as plates touched down on the glass of the table. I turned my head and found the kitchen to be just out of view, being blocked by the curvature of the living room. Plates continued to clash on the table and the radiating aromas escaped towards me hinting at a plethora of different delightful fixations. A chair scraped backwards momentary before being readjusted forward in ridiculously slow increments. I held in my laughter at Eclipse's slow approach as a dozen of jokes flooded my mind about it; another voice did not, a mare's embarrassed giggle ventured through the air, entered my ears, and was processed by my brain.

Hopping up from the couch in a rapid pace, I ended up finding my first up-close encounter with a hardwood floor as a blanket that had been placed on me, by who I assumed was Eclipse, tripped me and causing me to crash downwards. I squirmed out of the blanket and brushed myself off, noticing no change from the kitchen setting. I folded the blanket up and placed it on the couch and creeped my way around the corner where two lime-colored eyes instantly greeted me and waved a friendly hoof.

"Good Morning, Bladz!" A youthful light green pegasus cheered at me, who wore a dark green scarf around her neck in the middle of Summer. Her mane was composed of a blend of three shades of green that complimented her coat and eyes, and her cutie mark resembled a tree with the roots forming a circle. She picked up her glass of tea and grinned with Eclipse beside her before taking a short sip. "I would introduce myself but I would be wasting my breath, would I not?" the mare teased placing the cup back on its respective platter noticing my shocked stare. "That was not very lady like of me to do that, my dearest apologies. I am"

"Cera, nature pegasus," I interjected. "How is Begonia doing?"

"Much better, thank you heavily for being brave with her." Cera took another small sip of tea. "My real name is Cera Gardena though," she stated uneasily. "You want any tea? Eclipse made it with a rather delightful batch of flavor."

"I told you already, I did not do anything to it" Eclipse responded honestly. "Did you finish up the tea yesterday night Bladz?" I nodded in response and Eclipse sighed in relief afterwards. "Well that explains the difference, that was not my tea to use."

"Oh, I am sorry. Your friend will not be mad will he?"

"Do not worry about it, I am sure Ryan is not going to mind."

"This is Ryan's home!" I exclaimed in surprise. "Why does he live here?"

"He doesn't, this is one of his several homes." Eclipse informed me. "He has a home in every major location in the empire, and we have known each other so long that he has given me permission to say at anyone he is not using, as long as I leave it in good conditions."

"Why doesn't he use the bases?" I inquired.

"Because sometimes it is nice to visit a place without being a center of attention, not that Cera would know anything about that."

"Well excuse me mister look-at-me-the-shining-diplomat," Cera placed the cup on the platter and readjusted her posture. "Some of us have control of our social egos."

"And that is why you are wearing an expensive designer scarf." Eclipse chuckled at the mare's defense as Cera straightened out her scarf sternly.

"Not my fault you have no sense of taste. One would think that you would develop a taste for fashion over the years."

"Maybe you can teach me one day when you are not snooping around at parties across the empire. Is that what happened four years in the Serentian highlands?"

"Why I say! Have some decency my lad! It was on business, I assure you!" Cera proclaimed in bitter aggravation before they both broke into laughter.

"Did I miss something?" I questioned completely dumbfounded with the event.

"Sorry, Bladz. Cera works as an intelligence officer for Armonia, and we have know each other a really long time I guess you could say." Eclipse explained.

:"You mean 'the intelligence officer,' It is not there are multiple ponies in my position unlike a certain job that I know of."

"Yea , keep telling yourself that your job is important when I do all the work."

"So you would wish! If it was not for me you would not have a job."

"Excellent idea, keep telling yourself that." Eclipse proclaimed which acted as the final straw for Cera who threw her hooves up in surrender. "Well played, but once again I prove victorious!"

"What is an intelligence officer?" I demanded.

"Sorry once again," Cera stated, "I am the empire's eyes I guess you could say. I explore recent gossip by blending into society and visiting the various conventions hosted by ponies of influence. Almost all ponies, regardless of how trustworthy, eventually slip and tell me what I seek when placed in the correct situation. Thus, I get the news on the latest potential problems while they are still in development and relay them to Lord Armonia."

"So you are like a spy? Does that mean you work for the Scout Corps?"

"Heavens no! Working even at their peak, the guards could only wish to work a fifth as quickly as I do. They are stuck waiting for commands and clearances from their superiors, slowing them down." Cera cited. "Do not get me wrong, the Scout Corps once they get the information passed down to them from Armonia, they do a fantastic job investigating, but they are not very good at finding things out quick enough unless they waste valuable time."

"I do not think I have ever seen that commanding pegasus ever wear a suit for longer than twenty minutes," Eclipse added.

"I do not think I have seen you not wearing a suit longer than twenty seconds," Cera countered, which Eclipse applauded to and sarcastically marked a line on a napkin.

I rolled my eyes at the two, secretly trying not to submit to their comedic arguments. "So how are you here anyway Cera, like here at this house," I posed openly to the two.

"I invited her here," Eclipse informed me while pouring himself a glass of now warm tea.

"You invited her this morning?"

"No, yesterday." Cera recalled to me.

"Yesterday? Why were you invited yesterday?"

"Well the original plan was for you to come down here in the morning and for me to meet you two here shortly after, but our plans got skewed a bit," Cera stated with a half-laugh.

"For what reason would I have to come down here besides for what I know now about those two pegasus who attacked Begonia and are responsible for abducting Hope?" Eclipse face quickly lost its joyous emotion as he stood up from the table and placed the kettle back on the stove. "Sorry?" I told him uncertainly.

"It is no problem Sir Angelo, I was just hoping that you knew was all. I guess that is the price of being the physical protector unlike you Cera," Eclipse sighed.

"Did I miss something?" I asked Cera in whisper. Cera trotted to Eclipse, knocked him on the shoulder and pointed to me.

"Sorry for that." Eclipse retook his seat. "In dangerous situations, you may have seen a white unicorn that acted as a guardian. That was me, well part of me as it is my essence's current purpose is to protect. " Eclipse waved mock-seriously.

"That was you? How do you know this?" I demanded.

"Cera and I do not know this, we are making a fair guess. We do not know what our essences have shown you and we do not even know if you are very familiar with them, but since you broke both of our seals, it would only be fair to assume that you have seen our essences ,considering it is your connection with them that breaks the seal."

"Wait, back it up. I have broken two seals? When did I break yours?"

"When you stood up against Sypherous to protect your friends, when you barely knew them. You proved yourself worthy of my essence's approval and thus my essence broke the seal, allowing you the structured use of the magic of light and purity, and granted you your cutie mark, which changed when you broke Cera's seal."

"But, I knew you before all this happened." I replied in growing unease. Eclipse stood up and led me to the chair, telling me to sit and drink some tea that he quickly poured for me.

"You do not need our essences for us to exist, Cera existed long before her seal was even broken." Eclipse turned to Cera who nodded in agreement.

"I have known you for quite a while now Bladz," Cera affirmed. "You have seen me while you were maturing, I am sure. I visited you several times while you were growing up to check and look out for you. I know you saw the sheets that I laid out."

"The ones I made when I was a very small colt. I could not believe you had them."

"They had never been used before now. I bought them so that I would not find myself worrying about you as much."

"So does this mean that others I know could be seals? How do I know if somepony is one of my seals?"

"You will not and can't. We ourselves don't even know if there are other seals that you could even meet, besides for one," Eclipse proclaimed. "It is because of this essence running amuck that caused Cera's seal to break. This third essence  wishes you no harm, Bladz, and I want you to understand he is only unstable due to his current confusion."

"How do you know that this other one is present?"

"My essence would have no meaning without this third essence. My brother and I must exist together for one of us to have power because without darkness and corruption, there is no such things as light and purity."

"So Sypherous was not after power when he attacked in Temperoca, he was after your essence?" I gasped and Eclipse nodded.

"They do not only have your friend Hope, they have Eclipse's brother too" Cera interrupted.

"Without the essence of darkness they will not be able to directly use my brother's magic; however, they know that he is of value to me, just as Hope is to you, and they are trying to lure us in so they can use his dark magic for evil, immoral actions once more," Eclipse concluded. "I am not sure that there is anything we could do at the time, the guard, as well all know, is not in the best of conditions right now, hence why they have chosen to begin this treason. And what makes matters worse if we do not even know who 'they' are and how many we are up against." All of us wore faces of worry, and this time it was I who found their self unable to remain sitting as I left the kitchen without a moment's notice. The other two I felt wanted to check on me as I dropped myself onto the couch, but neither them did.

How are we supposed to be successful with Serentia's current military situation? I kept asking myself in my head with the obvious answer repeating tirelessly. The answer to this question was obvious and upon accepting this I picked myself up and traveled down the hallway opening every door finding nothing I was hunting; that was until I came to the second to last door which I found locked. I quickly unlocked the door with my magic, reinforcing to myself just how rare a unicorn was around here, and became witness to a room containing a variety of detailed maps that would be used for strategic planning.  I scattered through them and pulled out a map of Serentia, a map of Cittàdiali's high grounds, and one for the region below, rushing back into the kitchen where Eclipse and Cera both were still residing. "Cera, how long would it take for the Ryan to get here, if you left right now, with the needed forces."

"They would at the earliest be able to get here by mid afternoon tomorrow with current situations I would believe. You need me to leave to talk to Ryan?" Cera responded confined.

"No, that is not needed. How did you two figure out that Shadow and Lightning were not going to return?"

"It was given knowing Shadow that he is going to want to stay if he ever visited Equestria again," Eclipse replied.

"And how many people knew Shadow that well?"

"Not many, just high ranking employees of the empire and Shadows men."

"So how else would they know that two captains are not retired?"

"What are you trying to get at Bladz?" Cera inquired.

"The only other way for somepony to know this information this quickly is for this pony to be a guard. I do not think we are dealing with just citizens, I think this is a lieutenant who would be aware of the state that the guard command would be in and is planning on deceiving the people of Cittàdiali in order to gain power." I explained moving everything off the table and spreading the maps out. "The chances of a Flight guard invading without reason the home city of the pegasus breed is unlikely and even less likely when they figure out that there is a possibility that they could be fighting fellow pegasus guards. Those who do swear their loyalty to Armonia over Cittàdiali nevertheless will not have an easy time getting down here to this region below because the only way down is through a lift system that would be controlled by the rebels below." I pointed to the center of Cittàdiali and how all lifts are concentrated.

"This is true," Cera agreed. "The region below was designed as a fortress against foreign attack after what happened with Sypherous. It would take a miracle for the guards to get in here, especially since it is the guards inside that control the massive gates that seal this place up along the ground paths."

"Precisely! That is why we must strike tonight!"

"Tonight? With the three of us? Only the three of us?" Eclipse asked in disbelief with my suggestion. "You want us to charge in there tonight without any back-up if we would need it, so we can go get ourselves captured and made witness to their reign of chaos?"

"We are not going to need backup. You see Eclipse they are expecting us to be so scared of what might happen that we take the safer route of the two evils because they know that tonight would be too risky for us. They do intend for us to strike single handedly and if they are to do as I predict they are going to need to prepare so when the time is right they can effectively convince the population that it was Serentia that turned on Cittàdiali. They are trying to start a war and break Armonia's mentality before the real fighting even begins."

"And what if you are wrong!" Eclipse challenged.

"Then we are only catalyzing inevitable doom for this empire and eventually our neighbors!"

"You know it really sucks when you yourself don't come up with such a thorough analysis and plan of action." Eclipse rolled up the maps and placed them back in my hooves. "You better not let us down, you have my support."

"Well look at you Eclipse returning to battle." Cera teased. Eclipse grabbed the maps once again a threw them at Cera. "Use that magic of yours and figure out what you can find out about our new friend of ours. If Ryan was smart, which I know he is, he would have copies of supplemental records laying somewhere within that office that would be somewhat up to date. Find out anything you could about the officers in this area, I do not care if it as dumb as a minor infraction for stepping on a turtle, find out subjects for whom in the hell we are dealing with."

"Yes your majesty." Cera teased. "Finally some work around here that utilizes my expertise efficiently!" Cera was so excited with the new task that she bumped into the wall twice as she charged towards the her latest source of intel.

"And as of for you Sir Angelo, Serentian Royal Knight, we have some work to do if you are going to be ready for tonight."

"Come again?"

"You did not think that I have spent my entire life being only a boring Diplomat did you? While Cera is working let us get some training done. There is a practically abandoned indoor sports complex down here that would work perfectly for our training purposes." Eclipse exclaimed as he sparked his horn and manifested a polearm constructed out of pure light magic before he dissolved it in satisfaction. "Oh how long it has been since I have felt the sweet taste of my magic's passion for carrying out justice. This shall be advantageous for both of us I feel." Eclipse grinned fiercely.

The sports complex had been replaced and abandoned for a reason which I found out the hard way by the time we finally got there. The complex laid at the very north end of the port city and it took a good thirty minutes of precautious jogging to get there. Besides for that, the complex was a beautiful setting for athletics with courts, fields, arenas, all packed together in a way that maximized the efficiency of the location. Eclipse led me to an enormous auditorium area with an indoor racing track, where he smiled in satisfaction noting the suitability of the area to his plans.

"Is this where you had in mind?" I questioned Eclipse who nodded.

"I think this is just about as well as I think I could ask for, regarding the short notice. Anyway let us get on our way," Eclipse determined. "The primary element of being successful in a small-party invasion force is being able to blend in and get what needs to be done done, and then haul tail out of there. Our main purpose is not going to be facing the enemy, but locating and extracting your friend and my brother."

"So what is first?" I pondered. Eclipse acknowledged with a gesture and using magic began placing fallen ceiling tiles and other forms of debris to block out the windows, eliminating a strong portion of the light in the hall.

"The first step to being discreet is being silent, for if we are not silent we cannot hope to be successful regardless of how talented or prepared we are for combat; we would be left with a fight that I don't think we could handle and would be in grave danger." Eclipse informed me walking forward carefully with extremely light hoofsteps. "When you move around you need to place the front of your step softly and then roll the force of the walk into your hooves to minimize the sound of them." Eclipse trotted slowly stressing the movement with each step and encouraged me to do the same. I was surprised to find the movement rather simple and after a few stumbles while trying to do it at a jogging pace, I was a natural at it and darted alongside the courts lines in nearly complete silence before Eclipse stopped me.

"So what else is do I need to know when dealing with stealth?"

"Not much else to it, just need to ensure that your movements are fluid and you use shadows to your advantage, which you did rather well last night when I found you. Now that you have the sound factor down, we shouldn't have any issues here." Eclipse extended his right fore hoof out and sparked his horn to generate the polearm of light once more. "The key to our success is going to rely on defense though because I do not see many possibilities that the most prized possession of these ponies is going to be able to be easy captured without raising alarm." Eclipse marveled at the polearm, running a hoof down the formulated shaft. "Ludicium is the name of this beauty, she had been my weapon of choice during all my days in the face of in combat training exercises."

"So I understand that defence is important sir, but what is the purpose of summoning your polearm?"

"Oh that is rather simple," he smiled spinning the polearm magically in the air and thrusting the weapon quickly at me causing me to roll backwards in surprise.

"The hell was that for!" I demanded.

"Basic reflexes exceptional" he determined aloud blocking out the remaining light in the building causing the room to go dark. The point of the weapon nearly skinned my throat as I quickly used magic to grab a steel plate to block with. "resourceful - very interesting."

"Are you out of your mind!" I hollered as a third strike come around and cracked the concrete beside me forcing me to jump out of the way.

"You are missing the point of this exercise! Do not simply try to avoid the blade, predict where it is going to be and use the movements to your advantage." Eclipse continued to carry out one steady, powerful strike after another with each attack conveying the same danger as the last. The shining spear penetrated the floor and walls with the sound of grinding tears and the force of each impact caused additional debris to pollute the dusty air. The time between the strikes were not allowing rational thought as was Eclipse's obvious intent, I could see it in his eyes. I circled the room in trepidation rolling backwards each time and Eclipse relentless pursued until a corner neared. Forced to make a decision about which direction, I forced myself to roll with uncertainty's strength straight under Eclipse's thrust, and instinctively grabbed the shaft of the polearm, pulled the point into the ground forming a pivot point, and used Eclipse's momentum to rip him off his hooves and head-first straight into the wall with alerting force. His body slammed into the ground, the spear of light disintegrated.

"Oh my! Eclipse! Are you okay?" I charged over and shook his barely conscious body. He slowly turned his head to face me, an expression of surprise tainted his face, before he quickly turned his head back and spat up blood. He waved me off a bit as he shakingly pulled himself back to his feet, spitting up another mouthful of blood in the process.

"Remind me never to push you into a corner again," Eclipse bursted into light laughter. "That is one hell of a way to show me how to use one's movement against then." He brushed himself off and regenerated the polearm. "How about we try this a few more times now that you have experienced what I was looking for."

Eclipse continued on with the swings, joists, and swipes with the generally the same amount of force, yet the ferocity of the first wave of assaults was gone, replaced with focus amongst the two of us as I practiced adjusting myself at the last moment to exploit the momentum of the polearm and add my own contribution before assisting in producing gentle stops. Eclipse I could tell was by no means using all the strength with each lunge, maybe not even half, but the swings of his polearm were far above what felt normal, even for many of the guards.

"How are you feeling with defending and using momentum?" Eclipse inquired after we completed a couple dozen practice scenarios, a strong majority of which I proved success in, causing for a sense of pride to be found in Eclipse's approving stares.

"Feeling confident in them," I replied optimistically with the results and Eclipse nodded confirmation to me. "What's next?" I declared excited for the next activity.

"That is all I got for you."

"But, what about offensive skills?"

"I cannot teach you offensive skills for we all are all naturally drawn towards our own weapons and abilities that are part of what makes us unique. The weapon is was destined to wield was the polearm class and I am afraid there is no way of knowing what weapon suits you, until you know yourself."

"Can't we just learn some basic skills of a weapon, I know that I am not going to be a master at it but I would still like to atleast try." Eclipse considered my proposal briefly and finally nodded, giving in. Levitating two boards he cut slices of wood away using magic to create two mid-sized wooden swords that he assured to round off for safety.

"Swords are not the easiest weapons to develop true skill with, but if you are going to learn the basics of a weapon, the sword has served and will continue to serve well, I would imagine, as a widely accepted symbol of power, nobility, and grace and is worthy of recognition." Eclipse testified and I wrapped my hoof around the hilt testing the weight. "yeah, I would not expect it to be balanced or anything if I was you, I am not a craftsman afterall."

"It is no issue," I assured him and Eclipse, pleased with my attitude, began to show the basic steps of swordsmanship. I felt I caught on quickly and before long I found Eclipse and I conducting in playful mock duels. Eclipse with light humor narrated every swing, spin, parry, and slice as we both worked on our abilities with the wooden pseudo blades. Eclipse was by no means inexpierenced with the sword, yet his form and confidence with a sword lacked the ferocity and synergy he demonstrated with his polearm allowing me on more than just a handful of occasions to better his stand, outmaneuver his thrusts, and parry him with surprising ease. The art of swordsmanship was honestly easier than Eclipse had made it out to be and overall I greatly enjoyed the weapon, but the sword in a way felt wrong to me and I it did not match the natural rhythm that Eclipse declared prior.

"One moment," Eclipse paused me holding a hoof up and looking out the ceiling windows. He waved to grab attention as he pointed out the windows and then rotated his arm around to instruct me to look completely around. The sun was completely out of sight indicating an afternoon time. "We should get heading back soon. We need to find out what Cera might have discovered." Eclipse warned and threw his weapon aside. I was hesitant to do the same; however, upon rational thinking I realized it would have been pointless and perhaps even dangerous to be carrying a sword in broad daylight, wooden practice sword or not, and threw the imitational blade aside, trotting hastily behind Eclipse.

When we returned to Ryan's industrial cottage we were greeted by an energetic green pegasus dancing around the kitchen with glee. Aroma engulfed the air with pleasures, stacks of files and folders engulfing the kitchen table, all of which were neatly folded and stacked, save one folder. Cera somehow, unknown how by either Eclipse or I, was able to visit the local market in our absence and three small pots were left parboiling on the stove.

"Since when do you cook?" Eclipse interrogated Cera as we rounded the corner and grabbed her attention.

"I will have you know that, what happened to your face?" Cera replied in a mixture of concern and  vengeful laughter. I turned to see Eclipse instantaneously annoyed, his lips were still swollen and bits of blood was dried onto the outside of his mouth.

"Is there really any need for your lip?"

"I would give you lip, but I think you have enough for both of us! Anyway how did training exercises go?"

"Very well, Bladz is a natural starter for everything we tried." Eclipse pronounced proudly as he pulled a chair back to sit  down.

"That is fantastic!" She addressed to me. "You guys are a bit later though than I expected but you two are just in time."

"Yea, sorry about that, we got caught up in offensive training. What were you able to find out?" I inquired to her as she carefully moved the pots on the stove and killed the heat.

"An interesting little bit on a friendly pegasus around these parts here." Cera walked over to the table and pulled the lone folder forward. She threw the folder open and slide the file towards me that illustrated a blazing bright red Pegasus with a laundry list of comments written below on his rep sheet. Ember Coalstone.

“Who is this guy?” I asked to Cera who pulled a second file aside from atop of the towering stack.

“Look at the last few comments on him,” she instructed pointing to the rep sheet. Disorderly conduct, suspicious behavior, treasonous activities, tried on dangerous engagements against the Serentian Flight Corps, discharged on supported believes of acts of unlawful research.

“What is about this guy that is interesting you? I agree that this guy appears to have had a screw loss somewhere, but we need guards actively apart of the guard.” I protested to her and with which she opened the second folder and placed it on top of Coalstone’s file.

“Notice anything?” The new image was of a slightly older stallion, but was without a doubt the same Pegasus with the last name being only slightly changed to a ‘k’ instead of a ‘c’. “Now look at this” Cera announced to Eclipse and I, pointing to the dates of Coalstone’s discharge that was five past years’ January. “You remember anything that was significant that occurred around the same time?”

“Shadow and Lightning became captains around then, so?” Cera pointed at Ember’s discharge rank. Grade three officer: captain of guard research.

“He was the one that was in line for corps captain when the divisions were split, he I would assume he would have a few unsettled grudges because of that.” Cera rationed closing both the files and handing over a report titled Close call: the king of darkness by Ember, written but never released. “He would be the best bet to guess that he is the one after the dark essence. He would be angered by Armonia and Ryan’s decisions and predicted that the likely hood of Armonia repelling a second return of the darkness would be unlikely.”

“I suppose that means that the attack on Temperoca was an effort to gain troops and with Sypherous being defeated he need a new method for causing chaos.” I added.

“And a civil war is just the chaos he would need because not only will an army of minions, but a civil war would weaken the nation by splitting forced in half and allowing a distractive film to be placed over the Empire’s eyes.”

“What did the file say about his abilities in combat?” Eclipse motioned.

“I think a bumblebee would be a greater danger than him if he was the one fighting; however, as a researcher he would have made some very powerful friends and chances are the mere idea of facing him head on is ridiculous and unrealistic. He is going to do everything he can to not have to fight his battles himself and get others to do it for him. In most of these cases, the leader places strong trust in a handful of individuals and these are going to be the ones that assure the most danger.” Cera testified preparing three plates of rice, beans, and oats for lunch, sliding the plates in front of us.

“The two pegasi,” I whispered to Eclipse.

“There is a good chance; they sure did have a unique brute way about them with the little I have seen.” Eclipse nodded in agreement.

“Eat you guys, we can continue with this afterwards, but right now you need to make sure we are well and full so we do not feel the reverse later.”

All three of the creations held a wonderful taste to them and upon completing my meal, I washed off my plate and placed it appropriately into the dishwasher rack. I dismissed myself to Ryan’s study where the maps had been extended out and pinned on the center table which I drew closer to study. The detail of the Serentian was not something phenomenal, yet still held great accuracy. The survey of Cittàdiali was quite different, charting small alleyways and the location of fences on top of the expected streets and points of visual reference. The port of Cittàdiali I realized after study was not just center for the city but was the median by which the roads blended and spanned from making it a strong defensive point while not quite the opposite.

Retiring from the cartographics, I leaned back against the wall, suddenly surprised to find the drywall to have sharp crests and troughs in it, and pivoting I became aware that the walls actually lacked wallpaper or basic drywall. A series of shelves instead laid superimposed into the wall containing a plethora of texts. The sections of the wall were grouped and divided up into similar contents by categories that were organized alphabetically, and upon closer inspection every category itself was organized the same way with all the books being sorted alphabetically in subfields.

My eyes scanned the room vigorously looking at all the numerous texts of war and strategy, anthropology and logistics, architecture and diplomacy, chemistry and physics, Biology and psychology, and the so many more categories that lined the room. Surprisingly the largest section was dedicated to mythology with there being a massive collection of at least a thousand novels composing it, and I ran my hooves along the spines of the texts quickly reading all of their diverse topics until I came across a sole Maroon spine that was not labeled. I slide the book from besides it neighbors, dusted the cover to reveal a sole symbol, and dropped the book in shock, it landed pages up with Ryan's handwriting marking up sheets of paper that had been placed inside. It was the book of The Complex, Ryan had tried to solve the puzzle of the missing two.

I did not pick the book up from where it fell. I instead lowered myself to the text and laid down with grating curiosity. The pages that Ryan had left inside the book were fragments of ideas and evidence for theories that he proposed, but none of these theories were listed or discussed in the papers I scanned by the time Cera and Eclipse appeared behind me.

"What are you doing?" Eclipse was the first to inquire to me. I folded the book up and held it in the air.

"What can you tell me about this," I pointed with my free hoof at the book and then all the books surrounding us.

"Ryan is one of the brightest and most talented scholars in Serentia, as well as a brilliant military strategist and commander." Cera explained causing me to develop an even stronger appreciation for the man.

"And what about this. What can you tell me about The Complex." I demanded, but their faces displayed unquestionable ignorance and uncertainty. "Never mind," I dismissed the question realizing that despite how knowledgeable they were, they had limitations and were not scholars themselves. "Sorry, let's continue with what we were going over earlier."

"So we need to have a plan of action, I pinned these maps down and have already found out the key events of the evening, but I am no strategist," Cera qualified to us as we all surrounded the planning table. "The lower guard is stationed near the gates and functions with two dynamic shifts, meaning that all guards don't start and stop their shifts at a certain time and the transaction occurs gradually over the course of an hour, 18:30 to 19:30. If they are smart, which we know that Ember is, they would wait about a half-hour before they do anything to ensure that the first wave guard is retired. Also, not every guard on the night shift is likely to be apart of this operation so public centers would be out of the question for them, so what I want to know where this operation would be located and when would be the best time to attempt this rescue?"

"What about here?" I pointed to a medical clinic slightly north of the house.

"That is a place of medicine that has guards stationed there and is a public center. Why would they station themselves there." Eclipse challenged.

"No, no, Bladz has a point though. A place of medicine would be the absolutely worst place for Serentian guards to assault if a plan for civil war did carry through. Also, guards who are stationed at hospitals don't have rotational schedules because guards with medical abilities are need there in case something was to happen. Moreover, it is easy to convert the clinic, as long as they are still doing what they are designed to do they are not going to be under too much fire if changes in organization occur," Cera testified for me.

"Do you think that is how they were able to find and capture Hope so quickly?" I posed.

"I did not even think about that! If their base was a clinic they would have easier access to patient records around Cittàdiali! That is all the evidence I need," Cera celebrated a little. "Cittàdiali medical centers switch to night staff near 20:30, so how does a couple minutes past the third hour before the new day sound?"

"Sounds like we have a time and a place, but how exactly are we supposed to break into a medical clinic?" Eclipse expressed skeptical of the plan. "How are we supposed to break into a medical clinic with hopes of not being successful and not get anyone hurt?" Neither Cera or I had an answer for him, and neither of us wanted to respond for Eclipse was emotionally and morally split and neither of us could figure out what to say to aid him first. "We are not going to be able to, we are just going to have to hope for the best and hope that luck is on our side because we need hope if we are going to save Hope, my brother, and Serentia." Eclipse pulled open a drawer in Ryan's desk, picked up a small bag, stuffed it with a few metal objects from various drawers, and tossed the bag over to Cera.

"What is this?" Cera asked barely catching the bag in suprise

"A wretch, a knife, a few breaching charges, and two smoke capsules."

"Why do I need a wretch, a knife, a few breaching charges, and two smoke capsules?"

"Bladz and I will not blend in around here and this is what you do for a career. We need you to break in and cut the power to their lighting. We may not have their layout and energy grids but I do not doubt your abilities. You have never let Serentia down and without what you do we would not be where we are right now." Eclipse told her. Cera was momentarily stunned upon hearing Eclipse admit the importance of her job and then saluted in understanding. "Bladz, looks like our little bit of training is going to be essential. We will have a few minutes before Cera cuts the lights, let us pray to make the most of those minutes and the chaos that is going to occur afterwards to get this task done."

"Understood sir!" I saluted him in respect.

"Oh and Bladz?"

"Yes sir?" I puzzled at him as left momentarily, returning with a black bag from which he pulled a long metal line from and placed on the table.

"There was a reason for me training you in swordsmanship, if this ever came to this I wanted you to be competent enough to be able to use this. In training you showed that you are able way more than I could have dreamed for." I cracked the hilt forward and was amazed by the sheer beauty of the blade with symbols of silver lining the interior. "That blade was crafted with what little I had left of my former abilities as a master of light magic, I never was able to figure out why I made it, that was until I heard that you became a Royal Knight."

"What are these symbols for?"

"This is a magic blade, unsheathe it and find out." I pulled the sword out of its crafted sheathe like instructed and held it steady. Eclipse dug into his bag once more, picked two small items up, and pressed one against my free left hoof resulting in a white light to engulf the room and yellow symbols to appear on my arm. "Thank you for getting this for me, Cera."

"It is no problem." she replied after the light had finished.

"What was that?"

"The white crystal soul; each magical domain has three parts, an essence that serves as the base fro that magic, a crystal soul that allows you to channel it, and a key that allows you to embody the domain."

"And what is this key?"

"Do me a favor and hold him still for this one, Cera." Cera wrapped her hooves carefully around my torso and took a firm footing as Eclipse placed a second stone on my hoof that was freezing. "You will find out soon enough, now try to resist this and I am sorry." Eclipse pressed down on the second item causing the room to be engulfed in purple and black lightning and intense pain to be originating all over my body. "You can do it! Persist!" I gripped the hilt of the sword hard enough that I could feel blood vessels pulsating in the hoof. The event only lasted roughly five seconds; however, it felt like centuries of straight pain. "Bladz, how you feeling?"

"I do not know! You tell me how I look like I feel!" I screamed; however, before I could state anything else on my mind Cera spun me around, jumping up and down while hugging me.

"It worked! It worked!" Cera celebrated

"What worked? Almost trying to kill me?"

"That was he crystal heart of darkness and the essence was able to accept it without even having the seal broken. Your abilities never do stop impressing me, but now it is time for you to learn about this sword. Hold the blade out and view the sword not as a weapon but an extension of your magic." I nodded and focused light magic towards it. The symbols glowed a white light and the hilt of the blade developed magic wings that wrapped around my hand.

"Whoa, can I do this for all the domains?"

"I would expect so, but right now is not the time to figure out how to use nature with it." Cera announced. "Where am I supposed to meet you guys?" Both Cera and I turned to Eclipse who wore a stern expression and sighed.

"I am afraid that when the time comes, chances are that you will have the answer to that question already."