Chapter 32: Mother White

"200 Years, General? Are you mad? The hand has only had its hand in the 'pile' as you say for roughly 10 years now. And in the past 3 years, it's died down to almost a trickle of petty crimes" Lucas put his hand on the table with obvious confusion and anger apparent on his face.

"I am not one to be conned. I have been a liar, a thief, and a charlatan but I pride myself in the ability to not get lied to. I read intentions well, General, yours seems rather desperate... I have been wondering why this entire time I have been in the compound,"

The general had a look of general discomfort on his face after being confronted directly.

"Lucas, calm down. I am only telling you what my organization has documented. The Hand you know may not be 200 years old but some variety of it has been around since the old Monarchs age,"

Lucas furrowed his brow at the mention of the Old Monarchs. It wasn't something spoken of lightly anymore and definitely not something that he had learned in school. He had only heard whispers and those whispers were not spoken in kind tones.

The General saw that Lucas had remained silent for a moment before taking on the mantle of the conversation.

"'The Hand' Itself hasn't been around for more than 20 years, give or take. But the Knights of The Table, The Snake's Eyes, and The Magicians Bet have all been around for hundreds of years," The General closed his hands together in a sign of concentration as he continued speaking.

"These are all subtle variations of The Hand that you know of. They disappear for a few years and another head pops up. They all base themselves around gambling and similar facades of the act of games,"

"It is thought that the master of the current 'Order of Gamblers', as we call them, creates a group and has a go around the world. Taking what they please and so on. But after having their fun they take another individual as their protege and teach them the secret of the trade. As they grow older the Master retires and the newly taught 'Player', as they call themselves, takes the lead and the cycle continues,"

He brings a hand to his temple as if suffering a painful headache and continues speaking in a frustrated manner.

"We thought you were the protege of the current master, Ethan Grey." He takes a deep breath in. "And we thought we were right. Until now. Either you are a good enough actor to fake my 'Detect Deceit' Skill or you truly know nothing of what I am speaking of," The General Finished.

Lucas took a deep breath as he finally understood a good portion of the motives of the group he was nearly the 'Master' of.

"I... probably was the protege. Before I changed my mind and put my mind away from crime. My life's dream has been based on a fairy tale my entire life. And only after joining the hand did I learn that the fairy tale I once knew was not fulfilled. I learned the true meaning of the story and quite the life that I had previously lived before I made the same mistake that the story showed. I learned it's moral, to say the least." He finished by wiping away the sweat that was on his brow that wasn't from the heat but from exhaustion.

The general continued to rub his temple before seemingly coming to a conclusion. "You are a strong ally. You seem like a good person. You kill those who provoke you, and only in a way that truly affects you."

"I want to amend our relationship, Lucas. How can I do that?"

A single thought entered Lucas's mind and he realized he had the upper hand for the first time in his life.

"I want that fairies release and a single favor to cash in for the future," Lucas said plainly as he gently pointed towards the fairy who had a look of general understanding on her face.

"It's a tall bargain, Lucas, but you have a deal," The General said before reaching his hand across the table for a handshake.

Lucas returned it and noticed that the same notification from before came up yet the General showed no reaction to it this time.

"I apologize about that, It's something I cannot control, to say the least," A bashful look appeared on The General's face as he realized that it may cause misunderstanding among his new 'ally'.

Lucas nodded in response before replying, "We all have our secrets, Carter, and I intend to keep mine a secret, so I don't mind you keeping some of yours for yourself and your people,"

The two of them stood up and the general motioned towards the Fairy's cage and the guards, who promptly approached it and unlocked it with a shake of a hand in front of a sensor.

"You should know, Lucas, that this fairy is peaceful. We only took her as a captive to learn more about her and her people. She was okay with her capture as long as we provided her with reasonable accommodations but it became difficult to keep her happy since we had heard rumors of her kind being underhanded in nature,"

The cage was opened and the fairy floated across the room gently next to Lucas and bowed politely towards him in a manner of respect.

"My name is Arethel but you may call me Mother White. It is a pleasure to meet one of my kind's friends. How is my dear Lucielia?"

An expression of worry immediately appeared on Lucas's face as he remembered Lina's dire situation.

"Not great, Mother White. She recently gained her wings but damaged them shortly after."

Mother White's face turned stoic in an instant and a tear dropped from her left eye and gently fell to the ground, but before it could hit the floor it floated and lifted to her outstretched palm.

A small silver flash came into existence as a vial appeared in her hands, incasing the tear in the process.

"This should mend her wounds young Fey Friend." Mother White said as she passed the vial on to Lucas.

"Now that I have helped you overcome your issue may I have my leave? I have some duties that must be addressed immediately. Though I promise that I will come to your aid, as well as the rest of my kind if you so ask."

A gentle smile appeared on Lucas's face as he realized that the fey seemed like trustworthy people. He nodded gently towards her and bid her a fair well.

Mother White smiled in response and flapped her wings, which had changed from screaming faces into thousands of butterflies that constantly seemed to be flapping their wings. After a single flap of her wings, she disappeared in a flash of white light and left behind a single white butterfly in its place.

Lucas gently went over and helped the small creature out of a nearby window but instead of leaving him the butterfly flew directly onto his shoulder and nestled into him.

An off-putting feeling entered Lucas as he immediately used <Appraisers Eye> to look at the creature to garner what it was.

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<<Name>: Waldin <Levels>: Tier: 0: <Fey Spirit of Joy: LV: 1> <Age: 1 minute old>>

<Description>:

Fey spirits of joy tend to pick out the best of the litter to help guide them on their journey. Though not always powerful they can be useful allies when it comes to scouting and detecting deception.

---

"Hellow little one, have you chosen me to be your ward?"

The butterfly flapped its wings in response and nuzzled up to Lucas's neck and fixed itself into his collar.

Laughter filled the room as Lucas felt the sensation of Joy fill his body for the first time in quite a while.

The General was on standby during this entire process and respected Lucas's moment. But after Lucas had finished his interaction with the fairy and his newly acquainted friend he finally interjected.

"So Lucas. Would you rather us be allies or make us two as one? Become one group of people?"

A look of decisiveness filled Lucas as he knew what to answer but before being able to say no the General spoke up once more.

"There are benefits to joining us. I will freely share all the information we acquire and will be very open to others joining our ranks. I will respect your thoughts and feeling like a being and not an object."

Lucas hesitated for a moment before hesitantly answering.

"I suppose we can as long as it's non-exclusive."

The General nodded in thought before replying with a sort of friendliness present within it.

"Not an issue. Just don't share our information with others that join your rank and we will have a deal."

He nodded in understanding before making an unspoken promise.

The General waved for Lucas to take his leave as he seemed to be in a hurry but before Lucas could leave the room he said some parting words.

"We are friends. And as friends, I am happy to say that I am glad you are the ruler of this land, Lucas,"

Lucas gave him a confused glance before continuing on his way.

Lina was in danger, and he needed to save her as quickly as possible.