Dew is in the car with Rowan.

It's Monday, a few days ago Dew and Marley set up a date and time that would work best for them to meet up. Marley basically said that they shouldn't talk about it over the phone, whatever that means. So, Dew is commuting with Rowan to work.

Rowan is driving a government vehicle, which is strange because he usually has a driver. The two of them also haven't done Origin work for the past three days, for whatever reason. Rowan has asked at least three times why Dew is coming with him, and Dew has refused to tell him.

It's because I think you're certifiably Weird, and Marley agrees.

When the two arrive, Marley is actually there at the staff entrance to greet them.

Nocona palace burnt down not too long ago, so it was rebuilt. It's also much smaller than it used to be, with about half the staff that Allorn had. It's still really pretty, and in the same location, though.

Rowan enters in front of Dew, before saluting the king. Then, he continues on his way, leaving Dew alone. he's not sure what to do. Should he bow? They teach this in school, but Dew dropped out of school. Fuck it, he's not going to do anything.

Marley smiles at him, and Dew takes a moment to note that the king is taller than he originally thought. He has to be around six foot. He's taller than Dew, that's for sure. Together they walk down the staff hallway, and Marley addresses him.

"How are you, today?"

Just lost my house and I'm pretty sure Spikes has a cold, but other than that, spectacular!

"I'm good," Dew replies. He feels a sense of ease around Marley, which he's thankful for. People who are erratic or paranoid (or angry) are essentially the worst people to be around. Marley, however, has a calming aura that Dew appreciates. "How are you?"

"Good," Marley replies, and the two begin making their way up some stairs. They go down a separate hallway and into a room. It doesn't take Dew long to recognize it as an office.

Marley walks over to the desk and begins to go through the drawers. Dew just sort of stands there awkwardly, not knowing what to do. Sorry but it is so weird being around the king like this. Like, Dew talked to him on the phone a few days ago! What the hell?! That's insane!

"So, my dad sort of had a safe, and this key," Marley holds up said key, "goes to it. The actual safe is in the castle basement, which is where we are going to go." Marley makes his way out of the room with Dew walking alongside him. As they go, Marley continues;

"I always wondered what was in there, and recently I found the time to look in it. It's got some weapons, which I assume are why he didn't want me to get into it, and some money, but also..."

They go back down some stairs.

"It's about Rowan."

Dew raises his eyebrows at the king as they go down the stairs, then a separate hallway, and more stairs. This flight obviously leads into the basement.

They make their way down the stairs, and once they reach the bottom Dew spots a maid sweeping. He smiles at her, and the two continue on their way. They walk down several winding hallways, and Dew is absolutely going to need help getting out of here. Eventually they reach a back room, and inside is only a single safe, about as tall as Dew.

Marley walks over and unlocks the safe, while Dew just stands there and looks around. The basement is actually quite pretty, with tile floors and pretty glass lights on the walls. Eventually Marley finishes, and the door to it creaks open.

The thing is divided into three sections. One takes up an entire half of the safe, while the other splits the half in two sections. Both of the smaller sections are stacked with files and papers, while the large half has several guns and ammo in it. Marley immediately begins sorting through several of the files, while Dew stands off to the side and watches him.

"So, I've gone through about half of these, and they were mostly recounts of the war and some sensitive documents, but the rest are about Rowan. I'm just going to assume you've figured out by now that he... doesn't make a lot of sense."

Dew nods. "Just a little bit."

"Well Allorn felt the same way," Marley continues. "He wrote a lot about it. Mostly they're inconsistencies in Rowan's story and about how several of the legal documents he had provided seemed wrong. Also recounts of certain things he's said or behaviors in the past that seemed strange. Allorn seemed to be building up to something, but he never got to finish it."

Marley sits on the ground, grabbing and sorting through more files. Dew takes a moment to examine the situation. The king of the Westhem is sitting on the ground. It's so strange, since he always stands so tall. It's also crazy that he actually believes Dew! This is awesome, because Rowan made Dew feel like he was going crazy.

It's good to have confirmation that Rowan Lux is actually Fucking Strange.

Dew sits beside Marley, and takes one of the files that the king had set aside. He opens it up, and finds a typed document.

"So what have you noticed?" Marley questions, and Dew feels curious because Marley currently feels curious.

"Well," Dew puts the file down. "My empathy doesn't work on him, and the only reason I can think of is that he's not human—since I'm only able to empathize with humans."

Marley nods.

"Also my cat is like weirdly interested in him. He seems to not want to make progress with our investigation, since every time I feel like I'm onto something, he cuts me off. Plus, when we were in the Easthem—"

"You guys went to the Easthem?" Marley asks, seeming confused.

Wait, how did the king not know? Don't they need his authorization to travel anywhere?

"Yeah, did you not know?"

Marley frowns. "No."

Huh.

"Well, when we were in the Easthem, investigating where the Origin was first recorded—"

"Hang on." Marley shakes his head, appearing very confused. "Sorry to interrupt, but we don't have any record of the exact location the Origin appeared. All we know is that it was in the Easthem."

Dew frowns. What the fuck? Then how in the world did Rowan know where it was? Something is very wrong about this, and Dew feels like he's right on the verge of everything clicking into place.

"Well we went to an exact location, it was a cave, and when we were in there he seemed to have a different objective than I did. Like he was looking for something specific. Then there was an explosion, and he protected me, but there's no way he could have survived that."

Marley's eyes widen, as if he just got an idea. "Wait, that makes sense! He's immune to fire! That's his abnormality."

"You think he's abnormal?" Dew replies.

"Yeah! A while back the castle caught on fire, and I went back inside to save one of my friends, but I lost consciousness from being in the fire. Then, at the very last minute, right before I lost consciousness, someone saved us. I didn't remember at the time, but it was Rowan."

Rowan saved Marley? From a burning castle?

"I kept thinking that there was no way he could get through all those flames and still be fine, but that makes sense."

Dew nods, thinking about this. Rowan is abnormal. Dew already had an idea of that, from his weird eyes, but the thing is that Dew is almost positive that Rowan isn't human. Dew has seen enough conspiracy documentaries to know that there are other types of creatures on this planet, and he's quite sure Rowan is one of them.

Is Rowan abnormal? Or is he something entirely different? That's the question.

"Nocona?"

The two of them look up at the voice, and Dew finds a tall man standing in the doorway. He has black hair and what appear to be red eyes. His skin is a caramel hue and he's wearing an entirely black outfit, as well as staring at Marley.

Oh. Dew recognizes him. This is Marley's boyfriend, Nero Accardi.

"Yeah?" Marley responds.

"Drey's pissed off because I broke the TV and now she wants you."

Marley nods in understanding, then looks at Dew. "I'll be right back, you can just look through these files." Then he gets up and follows Nero out the door. Dew's pretty sure that 'Drey' is Andrea Holly, which is Marley's heir. Dew isn't sure of the entire story, but he's pretty sure she was in one of the institutions for a while.

Dew looks down at the file he'd been holding. He opens it again, and begins reading the typed paper.

Rowan Lux was first enlisted into the military twenty years ago—

Woah, what?! Twenty fucking years?! You need to be 18 to enlist in the military, which means that at the youngest that would make Rowan 38 years old. Not to mention that this document is dated, so he'd have to be more! What the hell?! He doesn't look much older than Dew!

Dew shakes his head, and focuses back on his reading.

—and since then there have been several oddities that I have taken notice of. For one, he hasn't seemed to age at all since the day he arrived. Also, there is no record of where he was before then. Several of the documents he provided appear falsified as well. I have taken to investigating this man, as I believe there is a potential that he could pose a danger to the Westhem if left unmonitored.

He performed remarkably well in all of his basic training, as well as in the WIA academy. He was top pick for all of his promotions, and is generally just exceptional at what he does. It was no question when it came to promoting him to his current position. However, I believe there is something wrong with him.

Another instance I recall is when he was in basic training and his squad was involved in an explosion malfunction. He was the only survivor, which would be impossible since they were in a small enclosed space.

Dew stops reading, and puts the paper down. He stares off into space for a while, thinking over what he'd read.

Okay, so this document basically just reenforces the idea that Rowan is fireproof, for some reason. The obvious and logical answer would be that he's just abnormal, but the thing is... Dew can't empathize with him! That's the thing, not to mention that he gets uncomfortable when Dew mentions mythical creatures. There is no way that Rowan is human.

Or maybe you're just looking too far into it.

Dew groans. What the fuck is he?!

Dew sighs, falling back on the floor. Rowan, you are a goddamn puzzle. Dew can't seem to figure you out for the life of him.

Since he's fireproof, it would makes sense that he could be some fire creature, right.

This feels familiar.

Then what the hell could he be? A dragon? No, he's not a dragon. He has the appearance of a human. Then again, maybe he can turn into one? Maybe dragons are humanoid? Or maybe it's some sort of werewolf shapeshifter business?

Dew's mind flashes to his Origin investigation, and his mind supplies him with one word:

Phoenix.

Is Rowan... a phoenix?

No! He's not a bird! There's no fucking way, he's clearly a human. Then again, there are some stories where Phoenixes are described as humanoid. Dew did some research over the weekend, okay?

Suddenly, Dew's eyes widen, as he comes to a realization.

Phoenixes... phoenixes... When a phoenix is rebirthed, there are records of certain phenomena happening. Typically, with a phoenix rebirth, there comes a plague. At least, that's what the internet and the book Dew rented said.

Could abnormalities be classified as a plague?

Plus...  Rowan seems so uncomfortable when Dew starts to investigate the Origin. The other day, when Dew brought up phoenixes, Rowan went cold. He just shut the fuck down.

So, either Rowan is in fact a phoenix, or maybe he knows a phoenix. Maybe he knows the Origin? Maybe he knows that the Origin is a phoenix? Maybe—

Dew shoots up, as his blood runs cold.

Maybe Rowan is the Origin.

Holy fucking shit, that would explain so much! Why he seems to want to run their investigation to the ground, why he got pissed off the other day when Dew was catching on, why he knew exactly where the Origin was first recorded. Oh god, it's the reason he shuts Dew down every time he starts to figure something out!

Marley walks in, the door shutting behind him. "Okay, Drey's good, did you—woah, are you okay?"

Dew stands up, hands trembling. Fuck, fuck, fuck, did he figure it out?

"Yeah, just... I have an idea. Can you call a car to take me home?"

"Sure." Marley replies, "are you sure you're okay?"

Dew nods, and now his entire body shakes as his mind feeds in more and more evidence to Rowan being the Origin. Could it be possible?

"Yeah."

"Okay..." Marley replies, raising an eyebrow. The two make their exit.

Rowan, what are you hiding?