Chapter 61: Report
Marie looked down, biting her lip before quickly explaining everything. Starting from when they arrive in town, meeting Anasha, discovering Ven in the tunnels, the beast displays, fighting Phineas, the Star Walker summoning, and finally the town’s destruction.
As she spoke, Klaus’s expression gradually shifted. His grin faded first, replaced by attentive focus, and when Marie described the underground chamber with beasts arranged like art, his eyes narrowed.
At the mention of Phineas confirming himself as the Stage Maker, Klaus removed the cigar from his mouth and crushed it in his palm without seeming to notice.
Vanna’s silver eyes widened fractionally, the first real emotion she’d shown when Marie explained the Star Walker’s summoning using three hundred souls. Klaus’s eyes slightly widened at such a phenomenon.
"H-How is that possible? How can someone be a Beast Spirit from the Throne of Myth!?" Bruno asked in disbelief as his body trembled.
"...Wait, was it always possible? Maybe-" Lloyd muttered.
"No, it should be impossible. Many have tried to summon to contact or create a portal towards the Throne of Myth, but none have ever succeeded." Klaus says with a slight frown.
"Unless this is a method used in the past? The Sinners did raid the Knowledge Tower four years ago." Vanna says, leading Klaus to furrow his brows.
"Alright, we will look into what was taken and go from there... Continue Marie." Klaus says after a sigh.
Marie continued explaining, and when she further explained Anasha’s part.
That there was a little girl who was a Blessed one who’d created a family from Phantasm Beasts without knowing, who’d lived in an illusion of her own desperate making, Klaus’s face went completely still. His hand tightened on his cane until his knuckles whitened.
"The townspeople were never human." Marie said quietly. "They were always beasts. Anasha’s faint connection to her Beast Spirit created an illusion that made them appear as people. She didn’t know and simply thought they were real... I think she may have forgotten to drag herself to the town and simply deluded herself into thinking they were always here."
Jessie’s hand flew to her mouth. "What?"
Kyle staggered backward. "That’s... that can’t be..."
Lloyd’s claws retracted completely as his face turned pale. "Mr. Halloway wasn’t... the cafe owners weren’t..."
Suzy trembled as she looked at the ground in shock. "Those cafe owners, the innkeepers, and those street performers. They were all..."
Bruno sat down heavily as he held his head. "Beasts. Just beasts."
Marie continued with a calm tone despite her trembling hands. "Phineas told her the truth in the Clinic after making her watch as Ven transformed. Then he kidnapped her through a portal, and then he said the next stage will be in Phanes city in ten days, with Anasha as the star of his greatest masterpiece."
Klaus’s voice was dangerously quiet when he finally spoke. "And the town? The fire?"
"His way of ending the act, I suppose." Joseph said, speaking for the first time. "He rigged the entire district to explode, and then after he left, it went off, forcing us to escape while everything burned."
The Cup Inquisitors absorbed this in stunned silence, their earlier outrage at Phineas now mixed with horror at the deeper truth. The Inns they slept in weren’t real, the food they ate and baked wasn’t made by a person.
The people they’d spoken with, walked among, and received help from were all illusions... They were just beasts that didn’t understand what they’d been.
Reinhard glanced at all five Inquisitors and couldn’t help but sigh. Unlike the three of them, they spent a longer time with the Mensis Towns folks.
Vanna’s fingers moved rapidly across something off-screen. "I’m pulling records on Phanes now. Klaus, I’m also alerting-"
Reinhard spoke up softly. "Don’t. If you alert the City Guards, it will become even harder to find Anasha, and it might just push them to move. I have seen multiple times with gangs who get too loud and have the guards moving to end them."
Vanna paused before nodding as she said. "Then we will need a small team to enter Phanes city and begin searching for her."
Marie puffs her chest out with a grin as she says, "We can do it! Make it our second expedition!"
Marie lifted her chin, the exhaustion of Mensis already pushed to the back of her mind. Her grin was bright as she declared. "Then let’s make this our second Expedition!"
The Cup Inquisitors blinked at her in disbelief while Reinhard raised a brow, but couldn’t help but smile at her energy.
Klaus however, didn’t smile as his deep voice cut in. "You say that so easily. Do you even understand what you’re asking?"
Marie crossed her arms and still smiled. "Of course! We saved the Cup Inquisitors and found them as our first mission required, even if it turned out differently than we thought. Now Anasha’s in trouble. So, expedition number two is simple, we go to Phanes and bring her back."
Klaus leaned forward, cane pressing against the ground. "Simple, she says. You just described the Stage Maker turning three hundred lives into fuel to summon a Beast Spirit down from the Throne of Myth. And you want to run straight into the city he chose for his next ’performance’? What makes you think this isn’t exactly what he wants?"
Marie’s grin softened into something steadier but no less bold. "Then that just means we have to beat him at his own game. If he wants us on his stage, we’ll take the script, tear it up, and make our own ending."
For a moment, it descended into silence for a couple of seconds.
Then Vanna’s voice cut in, cool and measured. "Marie, Reinhard, and Joseph, you three must understand the danger here. Phineas is pulling you along with words alone and must have already made plans for you three. Every step you take toward Phanes follows the path he prepared, and even now, you are dancing to his rhythm."
Reinhard stared blankly while Joseph frowned deeply.
Marie didn’t falter and only grinned. "Maybe. But we can’t just do nothing while Anasha’s with him. The townspeople gave their lives so she could live, and if we turn back now, we betray that."
Klaus’s gaze bored into her. "And if I forbid it? If I order you to return, to stay in the academy where you’re safe?"
Marie planted her fists on her hips. "Then I’ll leave the academy and I’ll go on my own."
The Cup Inquisitor’s eyes widened in shock while Vanna furrowed her brows and even Reinhard blinked, then let out a chuckle.
"You’re serious." Klaus said at last with an indifferent expression.
"I am." Marie replied firmly. "We promised them we’d protect her. How could I go back on my word?"
But Reinhard laughed while shaking his head as he walked to Marie’s side and placed a hand on her shoulder. "The academy is the path to my goal... my only hope. But if I don’t go with you to save Anasha, I’ll regret it forever... And even those two will be disappointed, so I’ll still go even if it means leaving the academy."
Joseph sighed and stepped to Marie’s other side. "My older sister would have my head if she knew I abandoned a child in need. The Grey family doesn’t abandon the innocent, and we don’t abandon those who need us."
The three stood together, shoulder to shoulder with a smile on their faces.
Klaus studied the three of them for a long moment, face unreadable, and then slowly, a grin returned to his lips. "With that much conviction... How can I refuse? Fine. I’ll approve this as your second expedition."
Marie cheered and threw her fist up in triumph before wrapping them around Reinhard and Joseph’s neck as she grinned.
Reinhard laughed while Joseph shook his head with exasperation and a chuckle.
Vanna sighed as she pinched the bridge of her nose. "Very well. The Cup Inquisitors will return to report in full. You three, the Three of Swords, will head to Phanes City and locate Anasha’s whereabouts."
Klaus chuckled as his cane tapped the ground. "And you won’t be alone. You’ll coordinate with the Four of Hearts team."
Marie blinked in surprise. "Four of Hearts? Are they already on assignment there?"
Klaus nodded. "They are. And I suspect, much like you, they stumbled onto a rumor that wasn’t a rumor after all."
Jessie let out a long sigh, rubbing the back of her neck. "The Star Jewels... Here it was just a rumor. But in Phanes... It might be something else entirely."
Klaus’s brows rose, surprise flashing before a wide grin spread across his face. Vanna’s fingers paused on her device as if she’d already begun pulling records.
Lloyd spoke up. "The Sinner Phineas seemed obsessed with Phanes. Said it would be the stage for his masterpiece. While he toyed with us, he mentioned a jewel that resides in Phane City, and it’s probably why his next performance is there as well."
Klaus tapped his cane, his grin sharpening and his eyes shining. "Now that... is interesting. If the Star Jewel really is there, then we might really be able to get it."
Vanna’s silver eyes glinted in agreement.
Klaus then looks at Reinhard, Marie, and Joseph before saying. "Regardless, that has nothing to do with the three of you. Please be careful when you guys go to Phanes and focus on meeting up with the other team. Vanna will give you their information after she contacts them and begins making plans. And above all else, retreat from the mission if any of you are in danger of dying. While I understand your desire to save Anasha, that little girl would blame herself if one of you dies because of her."
Klaus last words made all of their expressions shift.
But they still nodded their heads, leading Klaus to sigh, and then his image faded away. This led to Vanna’s image taking up the projection fully again.