The clock struck eleven, and in a forest-tinted pigsty of a room was Valerie, having moved the various papers away so she could have free room to do push-ups in peace. She hadn't kept count of how many she had done - after all, fitness was not the goal here. She just needed to de-stress before the fight.

It had been a long time since she'd last seen Iago - a good couple of years, in fact. And he was already pretty crazy as things stood. Now that he was Libera's most active enemy for the time being...well, she had to have known this day would come someday. But that didn't make her any more prepared for it. She'd been running from this very confrontation, but today the Mikado had picked her up and thrown her directly at it.

As she tried to take her worries off her mind, she heard a gentle knock on her door, and she ceased her exercising, standing up to open the door. There, she saw Scarlett standing there, a carefree smile on her face. Valerie crossed her arms, staring at her. "May I help you?"

"Hey, Val." the blonde waved, leaning over slightly with a mildly concerned scowl. "You doing okay?"

"M'fine." Valerie mumbled, narrowing her eyes. "Did you want something?"

"I wanted to check on you! You don't look fine at all!" Scarlett shook her head, leaning against the doorframe. "I mean, you are very cute, but you look miserable!"

Valerie raised an eyebrow at that remark, clearing her throat. "I told you, I'm fine."

Scarlett nodded at that, accepting that she couldn't and shouldn't force Valerie to spill the beans, even if it was obvious that something was up. Perhaps a different approach was needed here. She smiled slightly, standing up and leaning towards her. "Well, I won't fight you on that." she said, her hands behind her back. "So...you feel like a massage?"

"Are you offering?" Valerie asked. "Because I strongly doubt there are any places open at this time."

"I'm actually quite a talented masseuse, I'll have you know!" Scarlett exclaimed proudly. "If you don't believe me, you can try it out for yourself. Trust me; everyone I've ever laid hands on was satisfied at the end."

"I'll take your word on that." Valerie shrugged, chuckling a little. "Alright, then. I guess I could use a little rub round the shoulders."

"Alright, then!" Scarlett beamed, stepping into the room and placing a hand on Valerie's shoulder. "Lemme get some of that stress out of your system. I'm sure you've had a tough day at work, so just...relax."

"Yeah, yeah. Just don't take too long." Valerie sighed, walking over to her bed and sitting down, while Scarlett followed her. "I do have places to be."

Scarlett hummed at that, getting onto the bed and kneeling down next to her, getting up close as she put her hands on her shoulders, getting a feel for her before beginning the massage. "This late at night?" she asked, a cheeky little smile on her face. "Why, Valerie! I didn't think you'd be the type for something so licentious!"

"Er, yer what, mate?" Valerie stammered a little, her feelings of earnest confusion only made more apparent by her feelings of flusteredness at the realisation that Scarlett was, in fact, pretty good at this. Seeing that she was nervous, Scarlett pressed on, continuing the massage as though everything was just normal.

"So, who's the lucky guy - or gal?" she asked playfully. "What was his name again, Simon? Has he finally graduated from 'gym buddy' to fu-"

"No." Valerie interrupted, her cheeks mildly red. "And for the record, his name is Silas."

"Haha, I'm just teasing you." Scarlett giggled, shaking her head. "You have all the cute girls you could ever want right here!"

"Har har. And what if I wanted a guy, too?" Valerie rolled her eyes, sighing and allowing herself to be at ease. "You're, like, the least manly person I know."

"Oh, hush, you." Scarlett smiled, lightly increasing the pressure. "So, where are you going, anyway?"

"Arc." Valerie replied calmly, only to immediately realise what she'd let slip. She widened her eyes, hoping Scarlett wasn't listening, and quickly thought of an excuse while Scarlett, smiling, put more effort into her movements in a bid to calm her down. "To, uh, go to the gym. Because I'm meeting up with some friends there."

"And you didn't invite me? So rude." Scarlett pouted in mock offence.

"Scarlett, you have the upper body strength of a rat. You wouldn't last a minute." Valerie deadpanned.

"I can so lift, thank you very much!" Scarlett gasped, shaking her head with a smile. "And I could strangle you in this position, just so you know!"

"You wouldn't, though. You like having arms too much."

.........

It wasn't too long later that Scarlett was finished, walking out of the room and bidding a relaxed Valerie farewell. She was glad, knowing whatever was on her teammate's mind, she had managed to divert her focus for a little while. And she'd managed to get a little bit of information, too, even if it was just a sliver. With a smile on her face, she bounced over to her room, patting herself on the back for a job well-done before sitting on her own bed and thinking about what she knew.

The location? Arc Town. Probably because that was where their target was. She didn't know where in Arc they'd be, exactly, but she knew she'd have to find Inigo - and maybe Iago would be nearby.

The objective? To capture Iago. She wasn't entirely sure how they planned to do this - did he count as a Valerie-level threat? She had her suspicions, but she couldn't say anything for sure.

The method? Bombs. Either Iago was scared of explosions, or there was something else at play here. She wasn't privy to the Mikado's thoughts, and frankly, she wasn't sure she wanted to be.

The conclusion? This was dangerous, enough so that she felt something within her stirring up, telling her to act. And it was much louder than the seed of fear within her heart - that hadn't happened before. But it was unmistakable nonetheless. So, what was a girl to do?

Pulling out her silver warp crystal, she took a deep breath, considering her options here and deciding once again that yes, this was worth it. She raised it in both hands, mumbling under her breath, "Take me...to Arc."

And the crystal obeyed. In a flash of silver light, she was gone.

.........

"Night, Iago."

"Haha! As the moon rises, we shall fall into the night and slumber!"

Classic Iago, always so melodramatic. As Inigo got into his bed, he did his best to fall asleep, but with the sheer volume of things on his mind, this was a tough feat.

For one thing, Iago was definitely up to something. What that was was unknown, but it was clear as day that he knew more than he was letting on. He knew his last name, but wasn't spilling the beans about anything else regarding his past. Getting answers out of him was like squeezing water from a stone, though, so he could only hope to find the answers from the Mikado herself.

Then there were Libera's plans with the bombs, whatever those may be. He couldn't help thinking about that rat bastard and his explosions. It made sense that they wanted him to lay low after what occurred recently. But why did they even need bombs just for one guy? All this relied on how similar Grant was to his co-workers. Either way, he had given a few orders here and there. Silas and Azurine were planted somewhere else in Arc, and he'd told Iago to stay put. If chaos broke out, he'd be ready.

There were other things on his mind, too - like the Ravener, Makoto, and his new ideas for combat techniques. But the aforementioned two were the most prominent. He kept his eyes closed, beginning to enter the land of dreams. By which, of course, we mean sea. He noticed the black fading into blue, and though he felt awake, he knew he was dreaming. Submerged in water, with a glowing constellation of Noctua in the distance - it was the same dream as a few nights ago, but the stars seemed closer now. Brighter.

"Here we go again..."

"Greetings, magician of mist." the familiar voice spoke to him, and at once Inigo felt static flooding into his brain. But he closed his eyes, simply pulling through it all as he adjusted himself to this weird lucid dream, moving his arms and legs to a slow, irregular rhythm.

"Last time, it was 'child' of mist. What changed?"

"Let us say...I've been watching you." the voice said, its words more soothing than before. "And you are the architect of a great chaos, aren't you? In that little red town of secrets, the joker's mark is omnipresent, whether they know it or not."

Inigo didn't say anything to that; not physically, and not even telepathically. He knew what had happened in Ruben was his fault, after all. He didn't like it - and the fact that he even had it in him to make that decision was something he'd rather not unpack until he had more memories. But the voice continued speaking, not knowing or caring for his turmoil.

"I am not judging you for this, magician of mist. On the contrary, I am quite proud of you." it said. "You truly are one who brings chaos - and there is more to come."

As it said that, the constellation changed - from a purple rendition of Noctua, to an orange rendition of the constellation of Crux: the Southern Cross.

"No doubts there. But what do you even want with me?"

"What do I want...I must say, that's a good question. I seek chaos, because chaos is what I am. It is what we are." the voice mused. "I sense a thick fog in your future, magician of mist."

"Fog...uncertainty, no doubt."

"Precisely. As you peer deeper into this ocean of hues, you will leave no end of uncertainty in your wake." the voice said. "But perhaps the fog isn't so bad. It is through questions that we find the answer."

"Wow, how profound. Can you answer my question, then?"

"Ask away. And just the one, if you will."

Inigo nodded at that. He wasn't a stranger to weird, cryptic answers, but this voice actually seemed to have meaning behind its words. This wasn't quite a dream, but it wasn't a memory, either. Could it have been some kind of premonition, then? Or maybe Libera had someone to fuck with him. It was unlikely, but it was a possibility worth considering.

"Who are you?"

"A simple, direct question. And one that has already been answered, no less." the voice seemed to sigh at this, and Inigo felt the static slowly returning to his head, forcing him to brace himself. "I am entropy, uncertainty and despair. I am chaos and darkness. I am mourning."

"...I see."

"But, above all, I am running out of time. Perhaps, if you survive, we will see each other again." the voice said, slowly beginning to fade away as Inigo's vision faded to black. "I hope you don't disappoint me, magician of mist."

"If disappointing you means dying, then I guess we're of the same mind." Inigo thought, closing his eyes and returning to a more "normal" sleep. For a while, just a little while, he was able to find a modicum of peace through slumber - though his current circumstances were anything but peaceful. He couldn't stop thinking about what might go wrong, what Libera might do. He kept his eyes closed, trying desperately to relax, but alas, sleep was light tonight.

Little did he know that this would ultimately be for the better. Just as he'd managed to let go of his consciousness, he heard a loud booming sound echoing through his head, as well as the frantic sounds of human fear - screaming, sprinting and panting. The sonic bursts repeated themselves over and over, almost reminding him of his fight with Galileo. And that couldn't have been a good sign at all.

So he opened his eyes, for real this time, and found himself in his room. His cheap, two-bed economy room, with no colour scheme outside of copious amounts of grey. The explosions raged on outside, and as he sat up and looked around, he saw that the other bed - the one that Iago had been in - was utterly empty. The idiot had disobeyed the one thing Inigo had told him to do. He wasn't sure why he was surprised.

He stood up in annoyance, not having changed into his nightgown tonight, and instead wore his usual attire - a black polo and trousers, just enough for him to throw on his jacket, shoes and scarf on top as he looked out of the window. For a nighttime, it was strangely populated, with people running up and down, some people fighting other men and women in suits. Some people were holding bombs, and as he saw someone throw one, he observed as it blew the building it landed inside to smithereens, leaving the people inside to feebly, fearfully crawl away.

Just then, he heard his phone vibrating, and grabbed it off the desk with his psychic powers, bringing it to him so he could see what was going on. There, he saw that the group chat had a few new messages on it:

"Inigo!"

"Libera's here"

"they're blowing shit up! it's just like Ruben again"

"You getting these? The situation's pretty dicey."

"I'll help the citizens get to safety, as planned."

"and I'll kick some terrorist ass!"

Inigo sighed, glad that things at least seemed to be going well on their end. He rubbed his eyes, typing in:

"And I'll look for Iago."

"I've got a bad feeling about this."

"Wait, wasn't he meant to be with you?"

"Wouldn't you believe it, he fucking left."

"Aw, damn it."

"I'll try to save who I can on the way."

"good luck!"

"you'll need it"

Thanks, Azurine. Inigo sighed, putting his phone away, grabbing his room key and opening the window before jumping out. The world had been forcibly woken up tonight, and Iago was certainly in danger. He didn't know what the enemy had planned, but his ward's recklessness was bound to be the death of him. Using the power of wind to slow and cushion his fall, he landed on the ground, immediately setting out.