Arthur used Godstep to teleport directly into the same room as Nephis.
The moment he appeared, he let himself fall onto the sofa across from her, making it sink under his weight.
Nephis immediately jumped back, going on alert with sword and armor already manifesting over her body. But when she realized it was Arthur, she stopped the summoning and looked at him with murderous eyes.
"Why did you do that?" she asked, looking down at him from above.
He tilted his head.
"Do what?"
"Whatever you just did."
Arthur shrugged. "I did several things in those seconds. You're going to have to be more specific."
"Could you stop?" she requested, her voice betraying something close to anger.
He didn't care.
"Stop what?"
Nephis remained silent, still watching him.
Several seconds passed in which they only held each other's gazes. Eventually, she took a deep breath and sat back down on the sofa.
"I don't appreciate what you did, just so you know."
Arthur shrugged again.
"What did you want to talk about?"
Changing Star stayed silent, looking at him for a few seconds. Then a flute appeared in her hand, canceling all sound coming from the outside, ensuring no one could overhear them.
Then she began.
"I wanted to talk to you about something important. Something that…" She paused and looked at him a while longer. "Something that could bring me a lot of trouble in the future, depending on how this conversation ends."
He raised an eyebrow and let her continue.
"I'm going to tell you about the Sovereigns, the fall of my clan, and my father's death."
"You mean," Arthur leaned forward, "the fact that they killed him?"
Nephis's lips curved slightly.
"In the end, you did figure it out."
"You made it too easy for me."
She nodded, but immediately her expression turned dark.
"Yes. I believe they were the ones who killed him. I was four when it happened, and by that time, the members of his cohort were like aunts and uncles to me. They were his friends."
Her eyes remained calm and cold as she continued.
"But after he was gone, something changed. I was too little to understand, but none of these… friends… came to our help. Instead, the Immortal Flame Clan fell while their clans soared." She clenched her teeth slightly. "And a couple of years after that, the first assassin was sent to eliminate me."
"Assassins?" Arthur repeated, blinking. "Assassins like Caster? Against a child of what—seven years old? With only the protection of a falling clan?"
Nephis nodded, looking at him intently.
"Yes to everything you mentioned."
"But," Arthur frowned, "why did they betray him like that?"
Nephis looked away.
"…I don't know."
He frowned and hesitated for a moment. He didn't want to sound bad, but…
"Then… how are you still alive?"
Nephis glanced at him and shrugged.
"I suppose some luck and a lot of bodies getting between the assassins' swords and me."
"And they never thought to pay you a personal visit?" he asked sincerely, though he knew the question came out wrong.
She slowly shook her head.
"They simply couldn't. The Sovereigns… it is hard for them to enter the waking world." She paused briefly. "In truth, I don't know much about the Sovereigns' power. All I know is that it is restricted in the waking world, and that they can't enter it freely. That is why… that is why none of them could harm me directly."
Arthur remained silent, absorbing all the information, and his perspective on everything slowly began to shift. But even so… something didn't fit.
"Wait." He lowered his brows. "I understand what you're telling me. You believe the Sovereigns killed your father… and then when they went to clean up the rest of your clan, and by extension you… they couldn't do it personally, but they sent assassins to do it?"
Nephis nodded.
"Then… I still don't understand how you're alive."
She tilted her head, not understanding what he meant.
Arthur continued. "I mean, your father and his cohort were the first Saints, and that was a couple of years before he died, right?" Nephis nodded again. "After that, a few more years passed, and there were more Saints in the world. So… why didn't they just send one to kill you?"
Nephis remained silent, looking at him.
"That… I don't know."
"You really don't know?"
She frowned slightly, looking at the ceiling.
"I really don't, but… I think I can come up with theories about why."
Arthur stayed silent, giving her the opportunity to continue, but she didn't.
"Can you tell me?"
"I can." She lowered her gaze, and her serious expression returned. "But it would be dangerous for you, and especially for Sylvie."
"A Dreamspawn thing?" he asked, his voice already stripped of all friendliness.
She nodded.
"Then all the more reason for you to tell me."
"But…" she began to speak, but he interrupted, not caring.
"You're telling me it could be dangerous for Sylvie, and you expect me to accept not knowing why?"
Nephis looked at him for a long time and then sighed.
"Okay, I'll tell you." She paused before continuing. "The truth is, there aren't two Sovereigns—there are three."
Arthur blinked—surprised.
She continued. "I don't know much about him, to be honest, but he is also a Dreamspawn. In fact, he is the first of them all, and I suspect that he will try to do something with us."
"You know that Dreamspawns are beings who belong to both worlds but are welcomed in neither. We are not human nor Nightmare Creatures, but members of an entirely different race who inherit traits of both."
He frowned.
"What makes you think that alone will put them in danger?"
"I don't know," she replied quickly. "That guy was always strange."
'But she's not entirely wrong either. Mordret told me to take care of Sylvie too… what connection does he have with this Dreamspawn?'
He decided to voice his doubt.
"You did your Second Nightmare with Mordret, from what I know. Do you know what connection he has with this Dreamspawn?"
Nephis replied with certainty in her voice.
"He was his teacher for a few years."
'So there is a connection between this guy being a danger to Sylvie and her being a Dreamspawn.'
"Where is he?"
"On the moon."
Arthur blinked and repeated.
"On the moon?"
She smiled slightly and nodded.
'Well… this is strange.'
Nephis returned to the previous topic.
"Finishing what I was telling you… my theory is that he wants something from me. I'm not sure if it's related to the Dreamspawn Attribute or if it's because of my lineage, but I am sure of one thing… he is dangerous—perhaps more than the other two."
Arthur let out a sigh and collected all the information she had told him. After a few seconds, he said:
"So… you're saying that these three Sovereigns were the ones responsible for killing your father, for the fall of your clan, and for making your life miserable by sending assassins after you while you were a child—or at least two of them did. And let me guess… you want to kill them?"
Nephis smiled.
"Yes."
He sighed.
"You're telling me you want to kill three demigods."
She shrugged.
"The gods are dead. Who says three demigods can't?"
'Well, she has a point.'
Even so, he didn't like where this conversation was heading in the slightest.
He had just returned from a journey he wouldn't like to repeat—one that had cost him two years away from his loved ones' lives.
And now, if the answer to the question he was about to ask was what he thought, that meant even more problems were going to pile up in his life.
Arthur already had the whole matter regarding Grey, which was not insignificant.
He still didn't know which of his decisions were entirely his own and which were consequences of the map Grey had left behind. He clearly remembered the words Grey had said to him in his First Nightmare.
About how he would feel his instincts pushing him toward certain decisions and certain places, and today, he had already felt his instincts pushing him twice.
The first was when Cassie told him about Sunny in Antarctica, and the second was now, with Nephis telling him about this.
He knew what she would answer to the question of whether she wanted his help with that, and he also knew that if he asked what she knew about Antarctica, somehow the clans would be involved—in a bad way—not to mention the fact that Mordret had mentioned a future war between them.
Arthur definitely didn't want to get involved in more situations that would keep him away from his family, but… at the same time, it would be hypocritical of him to ignore a future war in which he would end up participating.
Not even his Flaw would save him from it. The moment the war started claiming innocent lives, he would act. So wouldn't it be better to get involved from the beginning? To prevent those tragedies from happening? Or at least to minimize them?
As for helping Nephis kill three Sovereigns, he didn't know. He even thought about refusing, but if he used the same logic… it would be hypocritical of him to do so.
He had known Nephis since the Forgotten Shore, and even though he didn't agree with many of the decisions she had made, he could still understand them to some extent…
But killing someone from your own cohort? Then causing the fall of their clan and going after the only heir—a seven-year-old girl?
That was already cruel and evil.
Surely there was a valid reason for them to act that way, but what could justify such actions?
He definitely lacked information to make a decision about that, and he judged that he wouldn't get that information from Nephis, since she probably didn't know it either.
So that was what he was going to do.
First, he would extract all possible information from Nephis, and then he would go to Seishan. If she didn't know or didn't want to tell him, he would have no choice but to go to the Queen herself if necessary.
Arthur focused on her again and was about to ask if she was going to ask for his help, but the answer was already written all over Changing Star's face. So he asked about something else.
"Tell me why the clans are about to go to war with each other."
If Nephis was surprised by the question, she didn't show it on her face.
"I'm not entirely sure of the reason, though there are several." She studied him for a few seconds and continued. "The ones I'm sure of, I can tell you."
She summoned a Memory that was a water bottle and took a few sips. Then she offered it to him, but he declined since he wasn't thirsty.
Nephis shrugged and began to list.
"The first reason is precisely what we two did with the Dreamer Army. Two hundred and fifty new Awakened who returned with greater potential than any Awakened has ever had in history. Even if a few dozen retired and didn't join any clan, those who did are making a difference."
She looked at him with a hint of jealousy…
"The Fire Keepers and the King's Wardens are one of the reasons for this. Song adopting the latter ended up with a slight advantage over Valor—an advantage that also added salt to the wound, considering Song has thirteen Saints while Valor only has twelve."
She drank again and continued.
"Now with your return as an Ascended, and considering our potential, Song can aspire to have three more Saints with you, Sylvie, and Seishan. While Valor can also have three with Morgan, Cassie, and me. But that's without counting the return of the banished Prince of War, Mordret—and then Song would have one more than Valor."
Nephis lingered for a few moments and then added.
"Finally, also considering the potential of those who can become Saints, Song would end up winning as well. In the end, it's two Divine Aspects against one. Although they don't know I have one, it won't be easy to hide for long."
At that moment, Arthur suppressed his face from betraying him, because while Sylvie didn't have a Divine Aspect, she currently had seven cores, and in theory, in that sense, she would be stronger than both of them.
Nephis, unaware of this, continued.
"All of this means that if nothing happens, the balance of power will shift, and Song will become much stronger than Valor… which means the latter can't just sit back and wait. And that makes the excuse already present—not that they need one, but it's there." She paused, and her eyes hardened slightly. "Now all that's missing is the battlefield."
Arthur finally spoke after so long.
"Let me guess… this battlefield will be in Antarctica?"
She looked at him with a strange expression and then nodded in agreement.
"Yes, indeed. I think it's the perfect opportunity for them."
"The perfect opportunity to start a war on the second most populated continent?"
Nephis raised an eyebrow and looked at him with confused eyes.
"Arthur, do you know what's going to happen in Antarctica?"
"I mean, no?"
He remembered Cassie's vision, obviously, but she hadn't told him when it would happen, so it could very well be before or after such a war, right? Though after didn't make as much sense…
Changing Star let out a sigh.
"A chain reaction of nightmare gates are going to open on the continent. Allowing countless Nightmare Creatures to invade the real world. And all that is going to take place in Antarctica."
Arthur froze at the implications of what Nephis had just said…
"Then…" He blinked several times. "The clans are going to fight each other in the middle of a constant fight against Nightmare Creatures and Gates?"
Was the question he asked really that stupid? Because he could swear he just saw the stoic Nephis trying to suppress a laugh?
After several long, painful seconds in which Nephis was making strange facial movements, she took a deep breath and replied.
"No, Arthur. They won't start a war in a situation like that… they'll probably wait a while until things calm down, and then it will begin. Besides, remember there must be another reason? It's probably related to that as well."
Arthur nodded, trying to hide how his ears had threatened to turn pink from asking such a stupid question.
"Oh, right. That makes sense. But, wait…" He frowned, and a feeling of fear ran through his body. "You're not going to tell me that 'waiting until things calm down' means they won't participate in the campaign to evacuate people, are you?"
Nephis remained silent, and with every passing second, Arthur painfully understood that was exactly what was going to happen.
"They're insane."
"They are," she agreed. "But at the same time, they gave up on the Waking World decades ago, so for them, it's the right decision not to act."
Arthur blinked and lowered his gaze to the floor.
"So only the government is going to handle evacuating nearly nine hundred million people while fleeing from countless Nightmare Creatures?"
Nephis could only answer honestly.
"Yes, and that means they're going to need a lot of their agents… which also means—"
Arthur interrupted her.
"My parents are going on a suicide mission."
He stood up from the sofa and looked down at her.
"Thank you for telling me this, Neph. I need to talk to my parents right now." He moved to use the Aetheric pathways but stopped and added, "You'll have my answer about whether I'll help you kill the Sovereigns another time."
Arthur used Godstep before she could even respond. He didn't actually care in the slightest what she might say. He wasn't ungrateful, but right now, his family was what mattered.
Nephis could wait.
During the journey, he took the opportunity to ask Sylvie everything she knew about what was going to happen in Antarctica. Thanks to the use of Godstep, the trip was relatively fast—it must have only taken a few minutes.
Arthur stopped in front of his house's door and took a long breath. There was no point in being angry or agitated right now.
Then he opened the door, and his parents were sitting on the sofa watching a video on the projector. Both turned to look at him as he entered and gestured for him to sit with them.
He went and sat on the corner of the sofa, with them almost directly in front of him.
Since he entered, they had both remained silent, watching him. Finally, his father let out a long sigh, took the remote, and paused the video.
"I notice something's bothering you," he said, watching him attentively.
Arthur remained silent for a few moments.
"Why are you going to Antarctica?"
His parents exchanged a glance.
"Because it's our job," his father replied.
"And because someone has to do it," his mother added softly.
Arthur clenched his teeth slightly.
"What about Ellie? She's about to turn sixteen. She still needs you."
"The plan was for her to stay with Rain's family while we were there," his mother explained.
Arthur looked down.
"Ellie still needs you…" His voice trembled. "What… what would happen if you died in Antarctica?"
Reynolds simply nodded slowly.
"I understand your concern." He leaned forward slightly. "You're right. Ellie is still young, but tell me something—do you really think there aren't other girls her age over there? That there aren't families in far worse situations than ours?"
Arthur didn't respond.
"There are. Possibly millions of them, and someone has to try to help them." His father exhaled slowly. "Now it's our turn to do it."
His mother nodded.
"This isn't just work, Art." She waited a few seconds before continuing. "If we ignored this crisis, knowing what could happen… how could we look at you after? How could we look at Ellie?"
Arthur frowned.
"But there are so many people working for the government. There are other people who could take your places. Why does it have to be you?"
Reynolds watched him for a few seconds.
"You're being a bit of a hypocrite."
Arthur blinked.
"Listen to me." He paused. "You just got back, so there are a lot of things you don't know. While you were away, our lives changed a lot." His gaze softened. "There was always an empty place in this family. A place where you should have been."
Arthur looked down.
"I know that at first you didn't have a choice, since the Winter Solstice is something that happens to all of us." He paused briefly. "But during the Siege of the Crimson Spire…"
Arthur's eyes tensed.
"Are you sure you didn't have the chance to go through the Gateway first and come home?"
Arthur remained still.
His father smiled as he said, "I'm saying this because I'm your father, because I know you, and I know you had the chance to return at that moment and still decided to stay."
"And that's why I'm proud of the decision you made, Art. Because it meant putting others before yourself, and that's exactly what we're going to do now."
His mother continued where he left off.
"The option to stay here exists. We could pretend that what's going to happen in Antarctica isn't our business." She shook her head slowly. "But if we took that path… we wouldn't be the people who raised you."
Arthur swallowed.
"I understand." His voice came out lower than he expected. "I really do." He looked at them both. "But I don't want you to go."
His parents exchanged a glance.
There was sadness in it, and also determination.
"The decision has already been made," Alice said softly. "Ellie has you now, and she'll need you to protect her while we're gone."
Arthur remained still for a few seconds and then shook his head.
"No."
His parents frowned.
"If you're going to Antarctica…" He stood up. "Then I'm going too."
"Art…" his father began.
"The decision has already been made." Arthur took a breath. "If you'll excuse me… there's something I need to do."
Without waiting for an answer, he turned around and left the house. As he walked, he took out his communicator and called a number.
It was time to do something he had been putting off.
Moments later, a husky voice answered him.
"Little Arthur, to what do I owe the honor of this call?"
Arthur rolled his eyes.
"Could you stop with that, Beastmaster?"
"Oh my… it hurts me that you call me by my True Name and not my real one!"
Arthur sighed.
"Fine… I need your help with something… Eunbin."
He heard a soft laugh, followed by,
"Obviously, little Arthur! Tell me what you need?"
"I need…" He looked around the street before crossing. "I need you to give me access to the compound Hel offered me."
There was silence on the call. Eventually, the Saint said,
"Are you sure about that?"
"No, but I need a place like that for something," he replied.
Beastmaster laughed softly.
"Alright. Give me two hours."
Arthur smiled.
"Thank you, Eunbin."
"You're welcome, handsome." And she hung up.
He let out another sigh, because it was time to stop putting off something he should have done a few days ago.
It was time to see the level of the King's Wardens and train them.
If Arthur was going to Antarctica, at least he wasn't going alone.
'I don't exist, then?' asked Regis, waking up from a nap.
'You don't count, Regis. Wherever I go, you have to come with me.'
Regis let out a sound of disappointment.
'What was it that Hel had asked you in exchange for that compound? I'd forgotten.'
Arthur let out a laugh.
'A few hours after my presentation with them, Hel came to offer me a deal.'
Regis began.
'Don't tell me she asked for…'
He interrupted him, laughing.
'Yes, Sunny's number in exchange for a compound for the King's Wardens.'
They both started laughing openly between themselves.
'He's going to try to kill you, you know that, right?' Regis asked between laughs.
'I'm sure he'll try, but it was too good an offer to refuse!'
'And funny too!'
Exactly two hours later, Arthur stood with Regis at his side, looking at a group of eighty Awakened that were standing in the dojo of a compound just for themselves.
'We're going to kick some ass!' Regis commented excitedly.