Chapter 116: The Last Secret pt.2

The bronze key felt unusually heavy in Cassian’s hand.

It was no larger than his palm, forged from a dark bronze alloy that had resisted the passage of centuries. 

Tiny runes spiraled around its shaft, glowing faintly as if recognizing that its purpose had finally returned.

Lord Aurelius closed Cassian’s fingers around it.

“You are the head of our house now.”

Cassian’s eyes widened.

“Father I…”

The older man raised a trembling hand to stop him.

“Listen… I am still alive.”

“And by every blessing I intend to remain so.”

A faint smile crossed his weathered face.

“But there are moments when duty must pass before death ever arrives.”

He looked directly into his son in-laws eyes.

“This is one of those moments.”

Lady Aurelia gently rested a hand on Cassian’s shoulder.

He silently nodded.

“I understand.”

⸻

The estate took the rest of the afternoon to clear.

Every remaining nightmare creature got hunted down by Cassian’s surviving knights.

The family servants who had survived the ordeal emerged cautiously from various concealed passages beneath the manor.

Some cried openly upon seeing their lord still alive.

Others simply embraced one another.

Lady Aurelia organized where to place the wounded, while Cassian directed construction workers to do repairs just sturdy enough to prevent the estate from collapsing.

By sunset, Mother Sarah arrived through a shimmering portal accompanied by members of the Dark Chapel.

The nuns worked quietly.

Gentle prayers echoed through the broken halls as healing magic washed over the wounded.

Mother Sarah decided to examin Lord Aurelius herself.

“He will live.”

Lady Aurelius nearly collapsed with relief.

“But…”

Mother Sarah continued softly,

“…he must not remain here.”

She turned and motioned to the window.

“The cult knows that this place has a lot of weaknesses, so they will return.”

Cassian already knew.

“Our home is lost.”

His father gave a weary nod.

“A house can be rebuilt.”

“A family cannot.”

⸻

Before nightfall, another portal opened.

Beyond it laid the market, the vast neutral settlement.

Families, refugees, merchants, and soldiers moved through its busy streets.

It had become one of the safest places.

Lady Aurelia embraced her mother-in-law.

“You’ll be protected there.”

Lady Aurelius smiled through tired eyes.

“You two be careful.”

Cassian hugged both of his parents.

It had been years since he had done so.

His father chuckled weakly.

“I wonder where’s that son that is too proud to hug me.”

Cassian laughed.

“I’m still proud of you.”

The portal closed behind them.

Silence returned.

Only a few people remained.

Cassian.

Lady Aurelia.

Moira.

And a handful of royal guards.

⸻

The journey to Moira’s archive surprisingly took only a few hours.

The old historian there stood waiting outside before they even arrived.

She adjusted her spectacles.

“You all look terrible.”

Cassian smiled faintly.

“I’ve heard worse greetings.”

Moira noticed the wrapped bandages across his armor.

“…Your father?”

“He survived.”

Relief visibly washed across her face.

“Thank goodness.”

Cassian held up the bronze key.

“We are going to need your office.”

“My office?”, Moira inquired.

“Yes… Immediately.”

⸻

The archive had always seemed ordinary to visitors. 

Rows upon rows of books, Ancient maps, and worn journals.

The shelves were packed so tightly they seemed ready to collapse.

Moira crossed the room.

“I’ve worked here for nearly twenty years, and I wasn’t aware of any crypt being so close.”

Lord Aurelius’s instructions echoed in Cassian’s memory.

“Move the seventh shelf.”

Together they pushed and at first…

Nothing happened.

Then ancient gears groaned beneath the stone floor.

Dust rained from the ceiling.

The bookshelf slowly rotated inward.

Behind it…

A narrow staircase descended into darkness.

Everyone stood frozen.

Moira whispered,

“I’ve catalogued every room in this building.”

“How have I never found this.”

Cassian answered quietly,

“Because it was never meant to be found.”

⸻

The stairway descended much farther than anyone expected.

The air became cooler.

Old moldy smells tickled their noses.

Every stone heading downward had been carved with Dreamseer runes unlike any Moira had previously documented.

She hurriedly filled pages of her notebook.

“This writing predates every manuscript I’ve ever studied. Athena would absolutely love this place.”

Eventually…

The stairs ended.

A single chamber waited below.

It was surprisingly small.

Barely large enough for six people.

No piles of treasure.

No elaborate decorations.

Only a stone pedestal resting in the center.

Upon it lay a single object wrapped in faded green cloth.

Cassian approached carefully.

The bronze key suddenly became warm.

Without thinking, almost on instinct, he touched the key against a shallow depression carved into the pedestal.

Click.

The chamber trembled.

Silver light flowed through the walls.

The Ancient protection spells quietly dissolved.

Moira gasped.

“Atleast we know this place is definitely linked to your family.”

⸻

Cassian slowly removed the cloth.

A sword rested beneath.

No jewels decorated its hilt.

No elaborate engravings covered its blade.

Its beauty came from its simplicity.

The visage of a once mighty tiger adorned the hilt of the blade. 

The metal itself was unlike anything any of them had ever seen.

It shimmered with shifting colors.

Silver, Black, White, then Gold.

The hues changed depending on how the light struck it.

Almost as if it refused to belong to a single color.

Moira slowly reached toward it before stopping herself.

“…May I?”

Cassian nodded.

She carefully lifted the blade.

Immediately her eyes widened.

“It has almost no weight.”

She inspected the edge.

“There isn’t even a single mark of decomposition…””

“No corrosion. No rust. There aren’t even signs of sharpening.”

She looked utterly bewildered.

“This blade is impossible.”

“Even I cannot estimate its true age.”

She swallowed.

“This sword…”

“…is older than every civilization I have ever studied.”

⸻

Beneath the sword rested another object.

A folded parchment.

Unlike the green cloth…

Time had barely touched it.

The parchment unfurled itself the moment Cassian lifted it.

Ancient symbols covered every inch.

Moira’s breath caught.

“Dreamseer Prime Script.”

Cassian looked over her shoulder.

“Can you read it?”

“Psssh! Can I read it? Boy of course I can! .”

She began translating.

“‘To the guardian who opens this vault…’”

“‘The blade before you was never forged for kings…‘Nor conquerors…’”

“‘Nor heroes seeking glory.”

She paused.

“‘It’s true power shall remain sleeping until the Mirror is restored to at least eighty percent ”

Cassian exchanged a glance with Aurelia.

That was definitely The Mirror of Fantastic Illusions.

Moira continued.

“‘Only imagination joined with courage may awaken what rests within.’”

“‘If this chamber has opened then our hopes have survived longer than we dared dream.’”

The final line made her voice soften.

“‘Carry this blade to the Keeper of Nightmares.’”

Everyone immediately thought of the same person.

Gene.

⸻

Cassian looked down at the mysterious weapon.

“So our family wasn’t protecting a royal relic.”

Moira smiled faintly.

“Nope. Looks like your family were protecting a Dreamseer secret the whole time.”

Lady Aurelia carefully rewrapped the sword.

“I don’t think we should announce this to anyone.”

Cassian nodded immediately.

“The fewer people who know…”

“…the better.”

Moira looked thoughtful.

“If that Great Teacher is correct…”

“…then Gene may already possess the knowledge needed to understand this weapon.”

Cassian smiled.

“Then we shouldn’t keep him waiting.”

⸻

They climbed back up into the archive.

The hidden doorway sealed behind them so exactly it was as though it had never existed.

Moira carefully concealed the entrance with shelves once again.

The wrapped sword rested securely inside a reinforced carrying case.

The evening sky had turned deep crimson.

Far beyond the mountains…

Thunder rolled.

Not from a storm.

From the surging waves of war.

The Hollow King Cult was still moving.

Still searching.

Still believing they understood the Seven Gems.

They had no idea another piece of the Dreamseers’ legacy had just awakened.

Cassian rested a hand on the case containing the ancient sword.

“For generations my family protected this without knowing why.”

Lady Aurelia smiled.

“Now we are finally getting to know why.”

Moira looked toward the distant horizon where the Nightmare Hotel lay beyond countless worlds.

“I have a feeling…”

“…Gene is going to be very interested in what we’ve found.”

Together, the three of them set out for the Nightmare Hotel.

Behind them, the hidden crypt fell silent once more.

Ahead of them waited old friends, new mysteries, and a war whose outcome would be shaped not only by armies, but by the forgotten creations of the Dreamseers.