A Report to Give

Noble's hand twitched as sparks coalesced into a dagger in her hand. 

"Who are you?" She demanded.

The door flew open, causing both occupants to separate. 

"Master Yosh!" A tall man with glasses smiled warmly with a stack of synthetic pages in his hand. "I am sorry that it took so long to find out where these got printed. I have the maps of population distribution as you requested, though you didn't need to come to the Archives personally...oh hello!" 

The archivist's brown eyes fell on Noble and he nodded to her. 

"I will be with you in a moment." 

Seamlessly, Noble hid the dagger against her sleeve as she put more distance between herself and the men.

The mysterious Master's face looked normal once again.

Yosh gallantly gathered the papers from the archivist and bowed over them. "Thank you for your effort. I will handle things from here." 

The hateful Master cast his gaze on Noble sending another chill down her spine. 

His expression changed slightly as he came to a decision. A smile bloomed on his unblemished face. "Until we meet again, Master Noble." 

Yosh swept out of the room with his papers in tow. The pressure in the room decreased dramatically.

Noble watched him close the door, her jaw tense. 

Had she imagined his demonic expression? 

Maybe his hatred had conjured it up in her mind, but she didn't think so. 

If the Archivist hadn't returned when he did...

"It is good to see you, Master Noble. How can I assist you today?" The young man asked, startling Noble from her thoughts. 

"What? Oh! Sorry," Noble covertly dismissed her weapon and looked up at the tall gentleman. "It is good to see you too, Hex. I am here to submit research papers for publication." 

"Oh, those are my favorite kinds of visits! Right this way!" The archivist motioned to one of the desks near the back of the room. 

"Hex, I don't mean to pry...but where is everyone?" 

More footsteps in the hall gave way to a flood of employees.

Hex waved to his colleagues.

"Welcome back! How was the meeting?"

A woman in a blue suit rolled her eyes. "You didn't miss much."

The knot in Noble's stomach eased considerably. It seemed no crime had been committed, at least nothing she could prove.

'Maybe I overreacted?'

After moving aside his empty coffee cup, Hex took his place behind his desk and typed the passcode. "I am ready when you are, Master Noble!"

Nodding Noble hovered over the chair on the other side of the desk and pulled the datapad and papers from her bag. The professor passed over her work as she explained.

"These papers are data to support my Memory research. Both that research and my work on the history of the Dream Realm are contained here."

Hex took the papers and began the process of entering the relevant information on his screen.

"Sorry that I kept you waiting. Did you have a good conversation with Master Yosh?"

Noble blinked, "Why do you ask?"

Hex shrugged. "He told me about his time in the Battle of Black Skull. I thought he might have given you more information."

"He was in the Battle of Black Skull?" Noble tilted her head.

The battle which Chancellor Gui had told her about eventually reached the media and was christened by this name. Many of the articles claimed that this was when the Sovereigns first appeared and swooped in to save the day, but Noble knew that this was a lie.

Not that the truth seemed to count for much these days. 

'If he was at that horrific battle, I wonder if he knows...' Noble felt her mind unable to finish the thought. She furrowed her brow as something else occurred to her. "That was less than a month ago. How is here already?" 

"He said something about Saint Cor bringing him back from outside the Tomb of Ariel. I guess Wake of Ruin must have sent him straight home after that?" Hex scratched his head. 

"And then sent him to look up population maps?" Something was odd, but Noble couldn't quite put her finger on it.

The trip could conceivably be made in the Waking World in that amount of time, but it would have been a stretch. Maybe another Saint had brought him more quickly via the Dream Realm after Cor had saved him...

But the stranger thing was the nature of his visit. Maps could be looked up on government computers. A trip to the Archives was unnecessary. 

"Seems so," Hex tapped through the protocols as he continued inputting data. "I would have liked to hear more about the Tomb of Ariel though. It sounds fascinating! I doubt Saint Athena, Saint Jet or Saint Kai will take the time to write a report. And Saint Cassia and Lady Changing Star would keep their findings with Valor." 

The archivist sighed. 

"Can you imagine? A Tomb! What kind of secrets do you think they found? If someone ever writes a book about it, you can bet I will read it from cover to cover." 

Anyone who worked in the archives needed to have an appreciation for the past, but Hex's enjoyment of the history of the Dream Realm was above anyone else in the Archives. 

"That would be interesting," Noble had no strong opinion on the matter.

"And it would be even better if it was as well written as this beauty! I can't believe a man talked to two Gods and a Demon and lived!" Hex thumbed through the pages of Noble's report. 

"I mean, he was turned into a Monster and eventually corrupted, so it didn't exactly work out for him," Noble pointed out. 

"You make a valid point. Still, to live a life like that would be quite remarkable." The archivist was silent for a few minutes while he focused. Or perhaps he was contemplating the life the ancient king had lived and squandered.

Either way, it was a long time before Hex spoke again.

"You are meticulous as always," he said at length. "My preliminary review is to approve the report. You will receive notice when it is officially added so you can claim your contribution points."

"Thank you, as always. You are a credit to your field." Noble took back her datapad and slipped it into her bag.

"You know what they say. Knowledge is power. So that thing back there is a Corrupted Terror." Hex pointed to the whirring machine behind him.

"Why not a Unholy Titan?" Noble smirked.

"There's always room for growth," Hex tapped his temple twice.

"Fair enough." Noble rose to leave.

It had been a productive morning.

As she got in the hall, Noble heaved a sigh of relief.

'I half expected Master Yosh to be lingering out here waiting for me.'

A vision flashed across her mind. A stone hall. A bearded man with his hand on his heart telling her, "Well done!"

She knew where she had seen Master Yosh!

He was the Master who had accompanied Saint Cor right after she conquered Crestfall.

But how could that be? That man had been placid and kind, whereas this man was full of vile hatred.

What's more, the emotional signature was completely different.

'It's like someone else is walking in Master Yosh's skin.'

Noble got a sinking feeling for the second time that day.

'I have to tell Fort.'