"Nice weather," Michael said, voice light.
Nathan didn't answer.
They walked along the winding road, cobblestones flickering faintly under the daylight runes embedded in the path. Fields of sun-touched grass rolled beside them, birds circling lazily overhead. Somewhere in the distance, a caravan sang old traveling songs. Daylight City shimmered like a glass crown ahead.
Michael glanced sideways. "You're awfully quiet."
Nathan's hands were tucked into his coat pockets. His gaze stayed ahead, unfocused. His steps were steady, but something in his shoulders was tighter than usual.
Michael tried again. "So, what do you think? About that corrupted priest. Pretty dramatic, right?"
Nathan exhaled through his nose. "He burned from the inside out."
"Well," Michael shrugged, "it's what happens when people play with gods and forget their limits."
Silence again.
Michael smiled anyway. "I've got about seventy more icebreaker topics if you want to pretend to be social."
Nathan finally spoke, voice flat. "What did he mean?"
Michael blinked. "Who?"
"The masked one," Nathan said, eyes still fixed forward. "The one we met at the cathedral. The one who said the Council hides its rot behind curtains."
Michael's smile faded slightly. "Ah."
"I want the truth," Nathan muttered. "Why does everyone speak in riddles? I've been working leads, chasing cults, spilling blood for a council I've never met. And now some masked lunatic tells me I'm being used."
"He didn't say that directly."
"No," Nathan said, jaw clenched, "he didn't have to."
They walked in silence for a bit longer.
Michael broke it, gentler this time. "Do you trust anyone in the Council?"
Nathan's eyes narrowed. "Should I?"
Michael shrugged. "I don't."
Nathan glanced at him, actually looked at him this time. "And yet you work for them?"
"I work with them," Michael corrected. "There's a difference."
Nathan scoffed. "Feels like I'm dancing on a blade someone else is holding."
"That's because you are."
Michael's voice was calm. Honest. He wasn't mocking. He wasn't hiding behind riddles or deflection. That only made it worse.
Nathan kicked a loose rock off the road. "If I dig too deep, will they kill me?"
"Depends what you find."
"Comforting."
The outer rings of Daylight City were now in view — white walls glowing under the artificial sun, guards in gold-lined armor scanning passersby, laughter spilling from the upper tiers.
Nathan hated how pretty it all looked.
"I don't like being a piece on someone's board, Michael."
Michael nodded. "Good. Then flip it when the time comes."
Nathan didn't answer.
They walked under the golden archway, back into Daylight. The city welcomed them with open arms.
But Nathan's mind stayed behind, buried in the ruin, in the stranger's words.
What if he was right?
***
The light in General Emerald's war chamber never felt warm.
It glowed steady from enchanted lanterns and ceiling crystals, casting everything in a clinical gold.
Emerald stood at the map table, arms crossed, armor half-unstrapped. She didn't look up when Nathan entered.
"Took you long enough."
"Had to walk past a few doomsday ruins. You know how traffic gets," Nathan muttered, stepping in with Michael behind him.
She finally looked at him. "Report."
Nathan pulled a small black pouch from his coat and placed it on the table. The relic clinked faintly inside. "Found the source of the flare. An old solar emblem, cracked with what looked like divine rot."
Emerald opened the pouch, examined the fragment briefly, and nodded once. "Good work."
"There was a corrupted priest guarding it," Nathan added, arms folded. "Could've been a Pilgrim or something newer. He wasn't lucid. Burned from the inside out."
Emerald's brow furrowed. "The divine energy?"
"Something like that. Michael neutralized him."
"The other detective?" Her gaze shifted to Michael. "Efficient."
Michael gave a mild nod. "I try."
Emerald closed the pouch and handed it off to an aide. "We'll analyze it further. Anything else I should know?"
Nathan paused…. then shook his head. "No. That was it."
Her eyes narrowed. "No resistance? No symbols, no signs of who placed the relic?"
"No clear ones," Nathan said. "Whatever was there got consumed along with the priest."
Emerald studied him a second longer. But she didn't push.
Instead, she waved them off. "Good. You're cleared for your next lead. Keep moving."
Nathan gave a slight bow. "General."
Michael just smiled and followed him out.
***
They walked down the marble steps into the courtyard below, past a line of recruits sparring with sun-forged blades.
Michael kept quiet until they reached the lower bridge that crossed over a glowing canal.
"You didn't tell her."
Nathan didn't stop walking. "No, I didn't."
Michael caught up. "I thought you always report everything. But not this?"
"Maybe I'm learning," Nathan muttered. "Maybe it's time I started investigating the Council instead of working for them."
Michael's steps slowed. "Bad idea."
Nathan glanced at him. "You say that a lot."
"Because you keep having them."
Nathan smirked but didn't argue.
They reached the outer district gates, where a few patrols bowed and let them through.
Michael slipped his hands into his coat. "Where are we headed now?"
"There's a priest in the Church of Ra," Nathan said. "Old and quiet, possibly annoying. But if anyone knows what the relic really is… or where it came from… it's him."
Michael tilted his head. "Hold up, you're not talking about the one for crazy believers"
"That's the one," Nathan said.
Michael sighed. "Fantastic. I always wanted to be judged by marble served by humans."
***
The grand doors of the Church of Ra creaked open with a groan older than the city itself.
Warm light flooded the interior, like it had been burning for a thousand years. Sun-shaped chandeliers hung overhead, and etched murals of Ra walking among mortals curved across the ceiling in radiant detail.
Nathan stepped in first, his boots tapping faintly on polished stone.
A soft sweeping sound came from near the altar.
The old priest was there, hunched, robed in gold and white, slowly brushing away scattered ash from beneath the great statue of Ra.
He didn't look up when he spoke.
"You're finally here."
Nathan blinked. "Excuse me?"
The priest straightened slightly, still not facing them. "You've walked through rot, stared into the silence of false gods, and yet you still don't know where to begin."
Michael raised a brow. "I already hate him."
Nathan folded his arms. "Have we met?"
Now the priest turned, his eyes sharp despite his age, familiar, like they'd seen too much and decided to stay quiet anyway.
"We haven't," he said. "But I know of you, Detective Black."
He turned his gaze to Michael now, slower, studying.
"…And so, you've finally met the other one."
Nathan frowned. "You mean him?"
Michael gave a polite nod, offering nothing else.
The priest smiled faintly. "The Council rarely assigns a shadow without its torch."
Nathan glanced at Michael. "Which one of us is which?"
"Depends who's asking," the priest said. "And whether you're ready to hear the answer."
Michael stepped forward. "We're not here for riddles. We need to know about the relic. A corrupted solar emblem, taken from the ruins east of Helmond."
The priest's expression darkened just slightly. "So it has begun again."
"What has?" Nathan asked.
The priest motioned to the pews. "If you're going to ask questions about relics, gods, or the things the Council buried… you may want to sit down."
Nathan stayed standing. "We'll stand."
Michael sighed. "Speak, then. And keep it plain."
The priest's eyes returned to the high sun statue, burning in silence above them.
"Then listen closely," he said. "Because what I'm about to tell you… the Council would prefer you never hear."