Noble couldn't believe her ears. The whispering of her name had been barely audible, but his plea just now was crisp and clear.
She knew that voice. It was none other than the observant librarian whom Bee had fought in the finals. The assassin was Nickel.
"How? Why?" she stuttered.
"Do I know you?" Nic's eyes narrowed. "Wait, you can speak!"
Keeping the estoc in place, Noble chose her next words carefully. "Don't move, and don't try anything."
"I do know you! You didn't call me Unorganized Laundry. You called me by my name. Who are you?" Nickel tried to sit up only to feel the point dig against his neck.
"I said don't move. Now who sent you?"
"Like I am going to tell you that." Nickel dismissed the Memory around his head.
When the black cloth faded, the strange aura around him disappeared. Bee could feel his emotions and see his face clearly.
Both said he was amused. "Just kill me."
"Not yet," she threatened, "I am going to interrogate you first."
Nickel's expression changed. "Noble?"
'Blazing Bees...'
"Ah! It is you, isn't it?! I should have known..." Nickel tried to lift his head. "At least tell me I am right before you end me."
If the professor let him get arrested, it wouldn't take much for him to confirm his suspicion based on who was in the cart. And if he died, the secret would die with him.
'I need his help. Maybe this is the only way.' Sighing, Noble shook her head. "How did you know?"
"You are the only person I've ever known who announces that they'll interrogate me." He shrugged slightly. "Now if you will excuse me."
"Oh no you don't!" Noble sent a little essence into the end of her estoc. The buzzing of the sword warned Nickle to stay put. "Why did you just try to kill us?!"
"Be careful with that, will you? You already got my hand tonight. I don't want a repeat of the finals."Nickel pressed his lips together. "I didn't know you would be with the government contingency. It wasn't personal."
"Nothing personal? You tried to murder me! Wait, that girl...that wasn't Ren was it?" Noble knew of Memories that could alter appearance. Up until the woman had lied, the professor had not been paying much attention to her.
The librarian suddenly became defensive. "Ren has nothing to do with this! I don't know the person who brought you here. I only knew that someone from the government would come. I was only doing my job."
"I don't think this is in the job description of a librarian." Noble frowned.
"Not that job..." Nic looked away, unwilling to meet her eye.
Noble clicked her tongue. "You have a second job. One that makes you murder people?"
"Not usually. And I didn't kill anyone. At least not this time. Everyone should be fine."
The professor could sense his remorse. He didn't want to be on that rooftop any more than she did.
"You didn't want to kill them... Who were you even after? Master Kenz?"
"It didn't matter as long as I got someone." Thankfully, Nickel had failed at his mission.
"And you were alright with that? Just offing someone for reasons you don't even understand?" Noble couldn't fathom such disregard for human life.
"It's complicated. Not everyone has the same options that you do, Noble..." Nic's voice was filled with bitterness. Whether it was toward her or the situation, she didn't know.
"And to think I assumed that was just a persona in the Dreamscape. I never would have imagined that you were doing things like this....wait! Saint Thane! That wasn't an accident, was it?" The thought hit Noble all at once.
Nickel chuckled.
"I spent years trying to get close to him. Thane is so elusive that he didn't even attend the group finals last year. When you suggested that Queen Bee might make a group, I realized that might bring him to the party. It did." He was more than a little proud that his plan had worked.
Noble was confused by his vibrato. "But you barely scraped him."
The librarian smirked. "That's all that was needed. I just had to disrupt his hold on the Dreamscape for a moment. To cause a moment of vulnerability in his kingdom."
"Why?"
Nic's smile faded. "That, I do not know. The war has been coming for a long time, and I'm just a small piece."
"War?" Noble's mind began to race. Did he mean the war for Antarctica?
"There is so much you don't know, Noble. Clans Valor and Song have always quietly been struggling against one another, but things are about to change. What was once a silent battle will be an open war."
The Professor felt like she had been struck. She knew the two Clans were not particularly friendly towards one another, but open hostility would rip the human world apart. Where did the Dreamscape Saint and she fit into that? Maybe the act against Thane was a warning…maybe it was something more.
Would Noble and her family get caught in the crossfire as well?
She realized they already were. "So, you were sent to make sure the government doesn't take Valor's side in the coming conflict."
Nickel nodded. "A murder at the Clan's manor, even if it wasn't Valor's fault, would show their weakness. The Mirror Master who sent me was firm on that point. He said if I didn't do it, he would take care of things in my stead. I didn't want to find out what he meant."
Mirror Master? That was oddly specific. Why was the man admitting all of this so freely? Only one reason came to mind.
"If you are trying to get away from this life, come tell the government what you just told me. They will protect you."
"You are funny," Nickel laughed dryly.
Noble's eyes swirled faster. "I mean it. You know Fort is a good man--"
"It is going to take more than a good man, Noble. Even if I wanted to get out, it would take a miracle." Nickel stared at her defiantly.
"Then we will make a miracle. Come with me willingly. As long as no one is dead, I am sure we can work something out..." Noble was surprised as the librarian began to laugh in earnest.
"Ha! Do you think for a second that Valor is going to let me leave alive if they know who I am? Try to take me back with you, and I'm as good as dead before sunrise." Nickel slid back slightly at the thought.
The professor couldn't easily force him to come. The Memory around his waist meant she could not float him back to the main part of the manor. She doubted very much that he would dismiss it if she said please.
Help was slow in coming as well.
"You promise that no one was seriously hurt by your attack?" She waved the point of the sword slightly.
"I hit the engine but not the people. If that cart makes it back in one piece, I would be shocked." Nickel answered honestly.
That explained the delay. The government officials were walking.
"If I let you go, will you promise to at least come and talk to Fort about this incident?" Noble monitored his emotions closely.
"If that is what it is going to take to save my skin, I'll even take him out to lunch and buy him jewelry...but I make no promises on what I will say."
His mix of sarcasm and lack of commitment made it hard for the professor to get an exact read on him. She needed to lower his guard.
"Did you lose on purpose in the Dreamscape?" The professor felt Nickel's emotions shift suddenly.
"What? Are you kidding? You held your own against Mongrel. There was no way you weren't going to win." The man meant his words.
"Then you know what I am capable of. I will let you go tonight, but if you break your word, I will find you. And I will not be so understanding next time." Noble let the words sink in.
The librarian considered her words and nodded. "A talk. I will give them what I think they need to know but nothing more," he agreed.
Noble nodded. At least for that moment, he believed what he said was true.
She removed the blade from his neck. "Go."
Dismissing her armor, Noble turned her back on the librarian. He disappeared into the night.
"Noble!"
A door to the roof opened, and the woman turned to see her husband surrounded by a dozen of Valor's guards. He broke free of the group and ran to embrace her.
"Where is the assassin, ma'am?" One of the soldiers asked brusquely.
The professor took a deep breath. "He's gone."