The Research and Intelligence department was located on AIKA’s third floor of the West Wing. Caelin had only been there a few times when hiding from Lilac. It had once been a ballroom—but now, the pastel dresses and elegant dancers were replaced by overworked employees collapsed upon document-covered wooden tables. Thankfully, the painted ceilings of mythical scenes and large gold trim windows overlooking the gardens still provided some entertainment for visitors. 

When the Combat Division 3 members entered the room, they were greeted by the aroma of coffee and tea. The sounds of shouting rose as Research and Intelligence employees fiercely argued over large diagrams sprawled over tables. 

“They’re over there,” Killian said, leading the group to the back of the room near the windows. 

Lilac leaned against a desk, nodding along with a serious expression. A woman with dark green hair sat in front of her, her words inaudible from the group’s current distance. The Division 1 members were already there, seated or standing along in nearby desks and chairs arranged in a misshapen circle. A man with dark hair, like the night sky, and deep lapis lazuli eyes stood beside Lilac with his arms crossed over his chest. 

As Caelin stared at him for a few moments longer, she realized that he was Blue, the Division 1 commander. 

“Oh we really are meant to be together after all,” Viviette said, greeting Theo with a coy wink as they joined the group. 

“This is our newest member, Theo,” Lilac introduced him. “And everyone should already be familiar with our long-term resident, Caelin, who’ll also be a part of Division 3 temporarily.”

“I’m Blue, the commander of Division 1,” Blue introduced himself,  his eyes fixed on Theo’s tattoo.

“I’m Sage, head of the Research and Intelligence department,” the green-haired woman said.

“Michel, part of Division 1,” a light brown haired man sitting next to Dragos said quietly.

“Dragos from Division 1.” Dragos’s vertical pupils sized Theo up and down.

“You still remember me, right, love?” Viviette said. “I’m Viviette.”

“We all just saw each other less than an hour ago at the Infirmary,” Dragos scoffed. “He’s new, Viviette, not stupid.”

“Feel free to ignore them,” the lady standing next to Michel said as Viviette and Dragos began arguing. She tucked a stray strand of light blue hair behind her ear adorned with a gold pearl drop earring. “They’re always like this. My name’s Lavinia, by the way.”

Sage clapped her hands together, gathering everyone’s attention once introductions were finished. “I called for everyone today because we need to discuss a strange connection between both divisions’ recent missions. Commander Blue, would you please debrief what your division experienced?”

Blue nodded. “Division 1 was dispatched to investigate a serial murder case in Fimora. The town is known for high-quality textiles, and the tailors and seamstresses are well-regarded in Lunaria. We were alerted of the case for three reported deaths. The victims were all seamstresses. It was a bit difficult identifying the victims initially, since they had all been skinned, but we connected the deaths to an Imperator with the ability to turn invisible. We identified her as a competing tailor. She was jealous of her fellow peers since she hadn’t been chosen as an assistant in designing and creating Crown Prince Soren’s coronation attire. Thanks to her own vanity, she wore her original designs when committing her crimes and we traced her as the culprit. Of course, the victims’ skin sewn into an abysmal coronation robe found in her atelier solidified her involvement.”

“And I thought turning people into puppets was bad enough,” Hale muttered under his breath, shuddering in disgust.

“We managed to separate her from her Imperium, but we declared her dead on site after overuse of her Imperium.The Imperium itself turned into black dust,” Blue said, frowning at the recollection. 

“We encountered a similar experience,” Lilac said. “In Gorvia, multiple townspeople disappeared without cause. We discovered the perpetrator to be the mayor’s son, who was also an Imperator. His Imperium had the ability to turn people into puppets.Sage is currently helping us discover how to turn the puppets back into humans. Unfortunately, our culprit also passed away from Imperium overuse. His Imperium immediately disintegrated into a pile of black dust as well.” She glanced at Theo. “This wasn’t the first time we’ve seen this. When Hale and I were tasked with that emergency mission to retrieve Duchess Remya’s handbag in Apatite City, the Black Hat gang member’s Imperium also met the same fate.”

Blue uncrossed his arms and fidgeted with a fountain pen from the desk behind him. “There’s definitely a pattern. Where are these civilians acquiring these Imperiums from? Moreover, I’ve never heard of an Imperium turning into dust before when the Imperator passes.”

“We ran some tests on the dust collected, and I believe they may actually be man-made rather than mined from the grounds like real Imperiums,” Sage revealed.  

“So then who’s manufacturing these fake Imperiums?” Dragos asked.

“There’s something else our culprit from the last mission mentioned,” Lilac added. “He said that ‘Xero’ has returned.”

There was a collective, audible gasp from the Division 1 members, and Blue’s head snapped up, looking sharply at Lilac. 

“There have been many rumors about the reappearance of Xero in the past couple of years, but none of them have been proven true,” Sage cautioned. 

Lilac shook her head slowly. “I know. But I can’t shake the feeling that he might’ve been telling the truth. He said that Xero is granting ‘hope,’ which may be referring to the faux Imperiums.”

Sage’s expression darkened.“If Xero’s truly returned and is manufacturing these Imperiums, then things are about to get very difficult.” 

“We can’t outrule the possibility that someone is impersonating Xero to instill fear. Especially given Xero’s reputation,” Theo suggested.

Sage nodded thoughtfully and pursed her lips. “But who would risk the chance of the real Xero discovering and taking revenge for impersonation?”

Hale warily raised a hand. “Sorry, but I thought Xero died at the end of the Dagann Wars? And after he died, Astilbe immediately surrendered to us since their best fighter was gone.”

“Astilbe surrendered because they couldn’t continue to afford the war with their own political turmoil since their king died,” Killian said. “But I heard rumors that Xero retired and opened a small bakery in the kingdom’s remote countryside. He allegedly makes very good croissants.”

Caelin shuddered. “I can see that. Only psychopaths are good at making croissants.”

Michel slammed a fist on a desk, surprising everyone by the sudden sound. “Xero isn’t some scary monster in a fairytale story. He’s caused massive destruction and massacred many innocent civilians in not only our kingdom, but our allies too.” Michel inhaled shakily. “Please excuse me.” 

He then abruptly walked away from them and left the room. 

“He doesn’t mean to be rude, but Xero killed Michel’s fiancée so it’s a delicate topic for him,” Lavinia said softly, breaking the awkward silence.

“I thought she died when an avalanche hit their village?” Dragos asked.

“Yeah, an avalanche that Xero caused during the Battle of Hallinger.” Viviette elbowed Dragos in the ribs for being insensitive. 

“Maybe the avalanche was an accident?” Theo said.

Blue laughed scornfully. “Leave it to a Maliator to try to find a way to excuse the actions of a war criminal. Or is it just some sort of creed amongst outcasts?”

Theo stiffened at the words dripping with disdain. 

“Blue,” Lilac warned lowly. “If you have a problem with the mark on his face, you can explain yourself to Alice.”

Blue tossed aside the pen he’d fidgeted with back onto the desk and walked away. “I’m just a bit disappointed in you, Lilac. I know that Division 3 was lacking members, but I expected you to be more discerning in your choices.” 

Seeing their commander leave, Lavinia, Dragos, and Viviette also hurried after him, too embarrassed to stay. 

Lilac sighed and slouched, seemingly drained of all energy. “There’s nothing more to discuss today. You guys should get some lunch before the dining hall closes to prepare dinner.” 

She then walked to the opposite side of the room to talk to another group of people.

While Killian and Hale walked out with Theo, trying to assure him that they didn’t share the sentiment as Blue—Caelin dawdled behind, moving the desks and chairs back to their original positions.

“Did you need something?” Sage asked after Caelin continually moved the same chair from one position to another.

“Well since you offered,” Caelin immediately pulled up a chair to sit beside her. “I was wondering if you could tell me what a ‘Maliator’ is. Does it have something to do with Theo’s dragon tattoo?”

Sage nodded in understanding. “Most people today don’t know about it and the meaning behind it. To be honest, I wasn’t aware there were some places still practicing it in this day and age. Keep in mind, I’m not an expert, as I’ve only read a few books on the topic. But around the time of the founding of Lunaria, that downward dragon symbol was more prevalent and used to identify certain groups of criminals. They included thieves, war deserters, murderers, essentially anyone who could be considered having broken the law. An act so grave that it could be considered a sin upon their very soul. 

“It served as a warning to anyone who met them to not associate with them. Depending on where the mark was made, it represented the different types of sin committed. For instance, a mark on the leg represented a deserter, while one on the back represented a murderer. Thieves were generally marked on the arms or hands.”

“So then what about one on the face?” Caelin prompted when Sage fell silent.

Sage cracked a wry smile. “Well that’s when things get a bit more muddled and superstitious.”

Caelin frowned. “Superstitious? Like it’s not even real?”

“It means they’re a bad omen,” Sage explained. “A bearer of misfortune wherever they go. Perhaps they had brought the plague to their village or were born under an evil star. A trail of blood would be left in their wake, and all that they loved would be destroyed.”

“And yet now we’ve welcomed one into AIKA,” Caelin stated.

Sage raised an eyebrow and looked at Caelin in amusement. “Alice and Lilac didn’t take these tales seriously, but I certainly didn’t imagine you as someone who’d actually believe them.”

“You were right, I don’t,” Caelin agreed. “But I hope it is true.” She smiled as she remembered how easily Evil Theo had cut down the puppets with a dull sword and the bloodthirst in his eyes. “After all, just think of how much more fun we’d have.”