"Black Rose?"
Midas lowered his head before answering.
"Black Rose is a secret organization that manipulates the events of Noxus from the shadows. That's all I know; it's all they allowed me to know... Almost no one knows about them..."
The Black Rose had remained hidden since the founding of Noxus. Midas knew of its existence because he had once crossed paths with LeBlanc and Vladimir. With carefully chosen words, they had told him that one day he would become part of something far greater than the nation's army.
"And how did you end up in Noxus? I don't think you just appeared there."
Midas shrank further into himself.
"Someone saw my magic... That person was from Noxus. They offered me money and I... left... and left her behind."
Tiana frowned in doubt.
"You left someone? Who?"
This girl's questions were becoming more and more intrusive, but she genuinely wanted to know. More than anything else, she wanted to understand the source of Midas's power. No ordinary mage possessed enough power to light up the night sky with a single spell. If that was the case, then what had given Midas so much power?
However...
"I... I'm not going to tell you that... I'm tired of your questions. Just leave and let me be alone..."
Tiana sighed in disappointment.
"Alright. You've said enough."
It wasn't wise to force a mentally unstable person to talk. Besides, last night she had glimpsed part of the "darkness" Midas carried in his heart. Seeing the traumatized expression on his face had been enough for her to understand that something horrible had happened to him. The scars covering his body, the golden veins stretching across his skin, and the runes embedded into his back were all reflections of his suffering.
Midas had said enough, and Tiana wasn't going to push him any further. Better than anyone else, she knew that wasn't how these things worked.
She got up from the floor and headed for the door. Before leaving, she turned her gaze toward Midas.
The room shimmered with pure gold, while darkness hung over it like a depressing veil. Objects were scattered across the floor, things Midas had probably thrown when he woke up. And in the farthest corner of all that darkness, the man with the golden hands sat silently trying to endure his trauma, his gaze distant and faintly glowing with an arcane hue.
Everything about that man seemed mystical and far away.
'It's a depressing sight...', Tiana thought before leaving the room.
***
After her conversation with Midas, she wandered through the ship's corners, staring at the ocean horizon. Some of the sailors already busy with their work greeted her with those same stupid everyday smiles. Even the captain was up above, gripping the helm tightly and keeping the course toward Piltover.
Tiana simply raised a hand in greeting and sat down on a barrel. In silence, she looked up at the morning sky and carefully reflected on what she had discussed with Midas. There was much to uncover in all of this, but rushing to conclusions was far too dangerous.
"The expression on your face is very different from usual, sweetheart," Kalika said, suddenly appearing beside Tiana.
Tiana glanced at her indifferently before returning her gaze to the sky.
"Last night we almost got killed. It reminded me of the past, when you helped my father get into Stillwater."
"Oh, that..." Kalika said with a nostalgic smile. "Those were good times. It's been years since I last felt so shaken, but that changed last night. It's like feeling the breeze of a new ocean after so long. It refreshes the mind and purifies the heart."
"Haha... How can something that horrible purify the heart? I was so scared I thought I was going to become leviathan food."
"Well, you're very young. You wouldn't understand, not yet. Besides, there are other things you need to think about, because as you grow older, you start realizing things you never understood before."
"That makes sense, I guess..."
"There you go. So? What happened with the client? I saw you go visit him a while ago. What did you two do?" She smiled mischievously.
Tiana shook her head.
"Nothing like what you're implying. He seems to be a man... with a lot of problems."
"You don't have to explain it, dear. We all saw it yesterday. What happened wasn't normal, and neither was the look on the client's face. I don't know what kind of horrible things that man has gone through, but whatever it is, we have no right to pry into it. You know that, don't you? So don't pity him. Just do your job and that's it. Now that he saved us, we should focus on getting them to their destination in one piece. After that, nothing else matters."
Kalika's words might have sounded harsh, but she was only being realistic. Whatever Midas had gone through wasn't something anyone in the crew should concern themselves with. They had accepted a job, and that was all they were supposed to do. The client hadn't paid them to get involved in his problems. That was the reality.
Tiana, however, despite always sounding aggressive and rude toward everyone, deep down felt that she should help people in need, and Midas was one of those people. But after hearing Kalika's words, she began doubting her own thoughts.
"I know what you're trying to say," she said while looking at her hands, thinking of Midas's golden hands, "but I don't think it's right to ignore this."
Kalika placed a hand on Tiana's shoulder.
"Tell me something. Earlier, when you left that room, did you leave because you wanted to, or because he told you to?"
The woman had hit the nail on the head. The surprised look on Tiana's face was the answer she had expected.
"See? There's your answer. As much as it may weigh on your conscience, sometimes you'll have to let those things go. Now go have breakfast and stop exhausting yourself over other people's problems. There's plenty of meat today. You'll like it."
"Okay..."
Those harsh words discouraged Tiana, but there was nothing she could do. That's just how things were, no matter how hard they were to accept.
"Oh. I almost forgot," Kalika said, pulling something from her pocket. "This belongs to the client. If you're going to keep insisting on bothering him, take this along with his breakfast."
Tiana took what Kalika had been holding. Once she got a clear look at it, she realized it was a beautiful red stone shaped like a droplet. The moment she held it, her cloak and hood unraveled into small pieces of cloth and fell away.
"Hm...?"
Kalika was surprised that Tiana had dropped the cloak, but Tiana was thinking about something entirely different.
"This stone... I can't use my magic..."
The cloak she always wore over her shoulders stayed in place thanks to her magic. The instant she touched the stone, it fell because there was no magic left to support it.
"Where did you get this, Kalika?"
At Tiana's concerned expression and obvious confusion, Kalika looked at the stone in the girl's hand.
"Yesterday, when the client removed that strange shackle, this stone fell out. I kept it because it looked important, but I didn't know such a pretty stone could stop your magic from working..."
"Hm... Then this is some kind of inhibitor. It looks like it's made of blood. I need to go back to Midas and—"
Before she could finish speaking, a loud crash interrupted her.
One of the cabin doors fell off its hinges, drawing the attention of half the crew. Everyone's eyes turned toward the doorway, where a sleepy Briar emerged. The girl staggered while yawning and fell face-first onto the fallen door. The impact echoed loudly, but Briar didn't seem to feel any pain at all.
"Midas... Where are you? Let me bite your neck."
Ignoring Briar's disturbing words, Kalika and Tiana exchanged glances. With how heavy the atmosphere had become, they had actually forgotten that besides Midas, Briar was also on board.
"Mm? What's wrong? Why are you looking at me like that?" Briar asked as she stood up and adjusted the pillory resting on her shoulders. Now that she looked around, she searched for Midas but couldn't find him. "Has Midas not woken up yet?"
Everyone seemed confused by the question. Her pointed ears twitched as she tried listening for something nearby, but she found nothing.
"Looks like nobody knows," she said with a yawn. "I'll go wake him up myself."
Kalika and Tiana hurried over to Briar to explain what was happening with Midas.
Seeing them approach, Briar smiled and stepped toward them. She looked as cheerful as ever.
"Hello, friends."
"Briar. Don't go. Not right now."
Tiana still had doubts about Midas's stability. The entire room was covered in gold. If someone incapable of handling mana entered, they would probably turn into a statue.
"Midas doesn't want to see anyone right now."
"Listen to her, girl. She knows what she's talking about," Kalika added while adjusting her hat.
But as expected, Briar didn't understand. What did they mean by Midas didn't want to see anyone?
"And why not? Did he rip out his eyes and now he can't see? No problem! We can still talk!"
Kalika and Tiana looked at each other. Briar didn't understand hints. More than that, Briar was probably the most literal being on the planet, so of course she couldn't understand hints.
"I'll go see him, and he'll feel better in the blink of an eye. You'll see."
Ignoring the warnings of the other women, Briar marched toward the golden door. She swung the pillory over her shoulders while humming and dancing along the way.
She innocently kicked the door open but stopped before entering when she saw Midas. The man was sitting in a corner, hugging his knees with a gaze lost in his memories. His arms were golden and radiant, but the expression on his face was the complete opposite.
It looked like Midas was crying.
Strangely enough, she felt like she could do something about it. Skillfully, she closed the door with her heel and stepped back out. Kalika and Tiana watched from afar, waiting for answers. Briar smiled and gave them a thumbs-up. Then she walked to the room next to the golden door and kicked it open. No one was inside, so she entered and kicked it shut again.
It was dark, just like that prison cell, but warmer and more welcoming. It wasn't cold, there were no delicious bugs crawling across the walls and floor, and there were no voices screaming and begging for the blood that fed their spirits.
This place...
"...is very peaceful."
Within the darkness, she could see clearly with her pale white eyes. She pointed at the wall connected to Midas's room and kicked it, punching a hole through the wood. Then she sat down with her back against the wall near the hole and stared up at the ceiling.
"Hey, Midas. Remember that time we fell into the river and neither of us could swim? We had to walk underwater all the way to the shore."
On the other side, Midas lifted his gaze slightly. He didn't answer, but he listened to Briar's voice.
Separated by a wall, both of them felt as if they had returned to that dark prison. It was dark, but this time they were both free. They could leave this place whenever they wanted, but for now, the darkness was something they both needed.
"Something similar happened to me a long time ago. I think it's a story you already know. Want to hear it again? It's really funny. You won't lose anything by listening, right? You've been doing it for years."
It was a reminder of how depressing life in that prison had been. Of course, Midas wasn't going to respond, but Briar was already used to that. She had spent ten years talking to someone who never answered her stories.
"I think I just remembered something else from that story. You know? When I looked at myself in the water, my face was covered in blood. I got angry because all that blood went to waste when I fell into the river a little later."
Midas remained silent as Briar spoke. He remembered all those years beside her, beside the voice that spoke to him from the other side of the thick stone wall.
Midas knew her. He knew Briar's entire story. She had told him all of it during those ten years, yet he couldn't help but think that he didn't truly know Briar at all. What was going on inside that girl's mind? It didn't matter. He was too busy mourning his own existence.
Briar talked and talked and talked. She talked endlessly and never seemed to tire of it. She repeated the same stories one after another, but eventually something changed.
She began telling the story they were living right now.