Yesterday, one of the five members of the Dark Allegiance Council walked out of the Prontera Court a free man. Lord Matthew, also known as The Crimson Lord by his followers, or Lord Macho by his fan club, was absolved of the crimes he was charged with, regarding the disappearance of The Turtle Island eggs some time ago. The weekly protests in front of the Court and Prison did not daunt the Justice System, nor did the clear evidence that the man now known as The Golemancer was actually responsible for the crime.

With a faint smile denoting triumph, he offered a few words to the press.

"Today, I walk out of this house of injustice a free man. My stay here was prolonged unnecessarily despite the evidence absolving me, however, as a sign that I am the better man, I forgive the Rune-Midgard Government, and will not sue them. I will, however, take the opportunity to send a message to this 'Golemancer'.

The Dark Allegiance Council, composed of Ciar, Melot, Rajnish, Tiamat, and I, have decided to use all of our resources to find you. If you wish to make things easier for you, turn yourself over to the International Courts."

During an exclusive interview with Lady Thea this morning, she expressed her worries at The Golemancer's attempts to bring down the relative peace established with the Dark Allegiance. She mentioned discussing with the other members of the Council of the Light Allegiance to help bring The Golemancer to justice, and would announce the results of their talks "soon".

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The nightlife fauna, and the crackling of torches from those who refused to move on to electricity were the only sounds that could be heard at this hour. Two figures, one male, one female, walked for one of the buildings near the south side of town. After several specifically-timed knocks on the door from the female, someone opened, and allowed them to pass.

"Why did you call us to this town, our meetings are always held in Niflheim!" The male cloaked figure asked, in a hushed voice.

"You've been gone for a while now, Matthew, don't you think your houses would have been bugged by now?" A male professor replied as he entered from another room.

"Spare me the arguments, you two." The leader of the group sternly scolded. He was a Paladin, and looked like someone who shouldn't be trifled with.

Lord Matthew took off his coat, as he inquired further. "Why are we meeting anyway? Have we got some news on The Golemancer?"

The Paladin motioned for everyone to sit around the table. "Just before you were released from prison, we agreed to send Tiamat to speak to one of the scourges of the Light Allegiance." He glanced at the only woman in the group, prompting her to speak.

The woman nodded, and began to explain. "I spoke to Thea in secret. It seems she's pushing for us to work together to find The Golemancer, but one of the other members of the council strongly opposes."

Before she could continue, someone previously silent spoke up. "It's that blasted Nereus, isn't it!? Always turning a blind eye to wanton attacks on our allegiance."

"Oh please, Rajnish, as if you or any of us haven't done the same with the Light-siders." The professor replied, calm and collected.

"You've always been too lax with those from the other allegiance, Ciar. Why you're a member of this council will always be a mystery to me." Rajnish snarked back, looking away from the Professor.

With a bang on the table, the Paladin made everyone go quiet again. He motioned for Tiamat to continue explaining once more. "Thank you, Melot." She said, smiling. "Thea only limited herself to saying she would try her best to reach a consensus among her council. Submissive as always, if you ask me." She shrugged. "But if she does succeed, and we do join forces temporarily, there's no way The Golemancer will hide from us."

"I'm not a fan of the notion, but I don't care as long as we find that bloody Golem-lover." Lord Matthew spoke out.

"Is that all, Tiamat?" Melot asked.

The shook her head. "Not quite. Thea also mentioned one of the members of her allegiance might know who The Golemancer is. He went to her in secret, and didn't give any information, but apparently, will hold a press conference in the following days, to reveal who the man is." She closed her eyes and nodded.

"He probably fears for his safety if he won't reveal his identity that easily." Ciar murmured, with a shrug.

Lord Matthew sighed. "Understandable, but at least one of us will need to be there when he announces it. I'd rather we don't get the details from any third parties." He suggested, scratching his chin.

With a faint smile, Melot stared at the other four. Words were not necessary, he supposed.

"I'll volunteer, I guess." Ciar murmured.

"Excellent. Make sure you get every little detail. If Odin's predictions are true, this man is a threat to everyone, especially us." Melot commented, somewhat disturbed.

Ciar chuckled. "Let's just hope he's right on this one. The predictions from his Norn friends regarding Lucretia weren't exactly accurate."

"I still think we should kill him and not hand him over to the damn international police." Rajnish voiced out.

"We can't kill him now. He can't die a hero of the Light Allegiance." Melot replied. "We have to do things by the law this time, or else people will grow to hate us more, and that hasn't worked out so well in the past."

Rajnish scoffed. Tiamat spoke up one last time as everyone stood up, ready to depart. "Oh, and remember to thank the Innkeeper for letting us use his house for this meeting next time you see him!"

Once Tiamat, Ciar and Matthew left, Rajnish spoke up again. "You do know Thea cannot be trusted. At the very least, not with Nereus around. I hope, for our sake, you're not going soft."

Melot simply smiled. "I'm aware of the situation. Thea and the rest are too blind to see that Nereus is a zealot. I'll deal with her during the Allegiance Competitions."

Rajnish, without saying another word, walked out the door, and crushed a butterfly wing with his hand, disappearing into the unknown.

"... Prick." Melot murmured, before disappearing via butterfly wing as well.

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It was the Light side's turn to fight monsters for the Allegiance Competition. The participants entered the combat room, while the spectators -- Mostly high-ranking Light and Dark members -- were segregated as usual, watching from their respective balconies.

Shortly after the end of the third wave, a waiter arrived. He offered drinks to everyone, and after Lady Thea took one, he shook her hand and complimented her work for the Light Side. She smiled, and closed her right hand tightly as she waited for the people around her to pay attention to the fights. Once everyone was distracted, she opened her hand and unfolded a piece of paper.

It simply read:
"We must talk. I'll be at the old simulation room. - M"

With a sigh, Thea walked off for the mentioned room. There, among debris from old monster fights, stood Sir Melot, dressed in a tuxedo like the other spectators.

"Well, aren't you looking dashing today." Thea muttered, with a smile.

"Spare me the snark today, Thea." The Paladin replied. He sounded like he meant business this time.

"No sense of humor, as usual." The Lady Knight's tone turned more serious. "What did you want to talk about?"

"The Golemancer. I want to know when your light sider plans on revealing his identity."

"Before the end of the week, or so." Thea sounded worried as she spoke.

"You do know, for the sake of the peace we were forced to establish, this man must be ended?" Melot reminded her.

She closed her eyes for a second or two, before replying. "You know our stance against the death sentence. But he must be stopped, this we can agree on. After the Light side's public statement condemning his actions, Archelaus and I pushed for an alliance with you to bring The Golemancer to justice together, but old habits die hard, I suppose." She shrugged, helplessly.

"It's Nereus, isn't it?"

Lady Thea nodded. "As well as Maristella."

"I don't know about her much. What I do know is that Nereus is as big zealot as Rajnish is. While it may have been an asset in the past, you know we can't have these type of people around us anymore." The man vehemently replied.

Thea shook her head. "Yes, well, unlike the Dark allegiance, we don't impose our councilmen on people... They are elected by popular vote. I'll see if I can get them to budge. But as I told Tiamat, no promises."

"Fair enough." Melot said, resigning to fate.

Silence fell for a short while, until Thea spoke up again. "Has the emissary brought news of the threat we may face in the far future?"

"No. He doesn't reveal himself to just one of us."

"Maybe we should pay him a visit before he leaves."

"He's too busy testing so-called heroes. Plus, there's no way we'll both be near each other in Prontera and not be seen." Melot commented, shaking his head in frustration.

Thea sighed. "I suppose if he has any new information he would have told us anyway."

"I suppose so." Melot seemed worried. "If the fiend is released, it'll be nothing like Morroc."

Thea's expression denoted distress not seen before by Melot. "We'll find a way to keep things calm."

"And maybe we'll be able to go back to the good old times once it's sealed." Melot muttered, with a smirk.

Thea rolled her eyes and smiled. "Hm. And here I thought we'd be 'friends forever'."

Just then, the bell sounded. The 11th monster wave had been defeated. "I should get going." Melot nodded, and walked off.

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