Ceremony

Wednesday, March 28. 125 S.A.

Fortaleza de los Cuervos (Raven Fortress), Finisterre, Galicia, Spain.

The afternoon had arrived and with its orange light painted the landscape of the fortress that was already more than a hundred years old.

Known by some also as La Fortaleza del Ocaso (Sunset Fortress), or simply El Castillo (The Castle), it was immersed in an aura of mystery for those who saw it for the first time. It was located on the cape of Finisterre, formerly considered the place of the End of the World and which contained several legends associated with the afterlife.

The complex stood on the highest part of the cape, a colossal mass of concrete and metal that combined a bit of the rawness of brutalism in the distance, but with the ornate elegance of Art Deco at the same time, for anyone who saw it up close.

The site belonged to Nevermore's SID.

That fortress was not a base or station of the SID, and in fact fulfilled functions related more to ceremonies, parties and resting place for the agents who passed nearby, besides that in Galicia there were several stations of passage for agents and detection of Dark Events.

The fortress consisted of three interconnected buildings, each with its own identity, but all dominated by the same sense of unshakable strength. The main one, a heavy, monumental structure, really looked like a concrete fortress wall, with its long windows and east-facing facade, interrupted by giant columns rising skyward in the manner of modern towers with some parts glazed from the base to the top.

Smooth concrete surfaces alternated with art deco details, in panels and reliefs that seemed to dance with the light, forming elegant patterns of curved lines and ornamental shapes that softened the rigidity of the structures seen from a distance.

Behind the main building was a vast garden, with corridors, staircases, and a smaller building of about twenty stories in the shape of an arch. In contrast to the solidity of its neighbor, this building breathed a lighter modernity, its glass walls reflecting the sky as the shadows of night began to envelop it. The grand green staircase, adorned with wrought iron railings, led visitors to the heart of another courtyard, where an imposing semicircular opening invited entry, reminiscent of ancient amphitheaters, but with a more modern feel.

The third building to the west had a U-shape and its arms enclosed the entire center complex with its gardens, the small arched building and the amphitheater. It was surrounded by the same type of columns rising to the sky. Although the east and west buildings embraced the whole complex, both had certain openings through which the morning and evening sun could shine in.

The whole structure had been built following certain astronomical alignments, coinciding with the solstices and equinoxes, since the rays of light of certain dates hit certain crystals in the part of the main entrance and others at the back of the sunsets, which were specially designed to create special optical effects in the interior.

On the upper part of the fortress there were also green spaces. But they also housed spaces for the parking of ships.

As the sun began to set, the castle was tinged with shades of orange and purple, casting long shadows on the outer gardens surrounding the fortress, a garden that included a labyrinth of more than two hundred square meters on the north side. Blue flowering vines twined around the columns and stone statues of faun and nymph faces in an Art Nouveau style. Through the labyrinth and its surroundings, several geese walked freely for those who understood the true meaning when they reached the center of the labyrinth, represented by a number 63.

Around the gardens, were a number of smaller buildings that served as entrances, security and parking for vehicles approaching the site.

That pattern of interconnected buildings with internal spaces and gardens was something that many Nevermore structures around the world shared.

To the south, a little over a mile away, Cape Finisterre ended in a complex with a lighthouse on top.

That complex had also been owned by the SID for the last hundred years. It was called the Campus Stellae and was well known for its history. It was the resting place of Nevermore's SID fallen agents on European grounds.

The site had been chosen for its symbolic significance. For it was said that the dead departed to the afterlife from that place since ancient times. Legends before Christianity attributed many names to that place. Path of the dead. The coast of the end of the world. Coast of the dead. And in Christian times the legends were syncretized, creating the so-called Camino de Santiago, but the legends already came from earlier times.

It was the way of the souls to reach the Land of Eternal Youth of the Celts.

And related to the legends and symbolism, that the place received the nickname of Fortaleza de los Cuervos (Raven Fortress) was not only because it was the emblematic bird of Nevermore. The fortress stood in a place where there were plenty of ravens, as well as other native seabirds.

At that moment a raven fluttered around the outside of the west building and perched on an upper balcony, that had its doors and windows open. The voices of those inside reached it. It was a guest room, but at the moment it looked like it was being used for changing clothes only.

Lizbeth, a bit angrily, was trying to adjust the tie on Shin, who didn't seem very happy about having to wear one. Both were dressed in uniforms that had some decorations and knee-high boots. Both had tied their hair in ponytails, although Shin didn't like it very much, preferring to tie his hair at the nape of his neck. With a ponytail and Shin's hairstyle some people jokingly told him that he looked like a weird kind of mutant pineapple from afar. It had taken Lizbeth quite a while to comb his hair, but at least it didn't look like he had used a firecracker to comb out the hair on his head.

"Stay still!" She said as a vein pulsed in her forehead, the evening light streamed through the window and with her forehead she dazzled Shin's one good eye.

"I don't want a tie! They're bad for me and I hate them, you know that. In a fight it's a weak point. Ties only give your enemy an advantage," Shin grumbled.

"No one is going to want to murder you here!" Lizbeth said, jumping on top of him and sending him to the bed where with her knees she pinned both his arms.

"Are you sure about that? I saw some stares that looked like they wanted to blast me earlier," Shin said, twisting his face but giving up.

"Maybe that's because you came in with a flower on each arm?" She said and leaned in until their noses touched.

Shin looked at her for a few seconds. "Two very pretty flowers," he added.

Finally she had won and the tie had tightened. Lizbeth smiled in satisfaction. Shin looked at her and sighed. Even though they were dressed formally she looked beautiful.

It seemed incredible to him that not many days ago they had been in the middle of a mission that had ended in two battles.

It had been almost a week since the final confrontation. It had been a busy few days but it seemed that everything had returned to normal. Or at least a strange kind of normalcy.

Dark Events were down to about ten percent a day from what they had been in the past months. Many unknowns remained, but they had no doubt that it was surely due to what had happened at the lake. The investigation at the lake had not revealed any new anomalies of what had happened, but a double security guard would still be set up in addition to the one that had been in place prior to the event. There were still teams at the site scanning and searching for parts of the plane, but it was estimated that the search would be completed in two more days. There was nothing left to find.

In all the chaos Jim Stuart's body had not been found and the hypothesis that Janus could have stolen the body became stronger. Even more so considering those cases where he had used hypnite on Van and Jen Anderson. Some had thought there was a possibility that Janus had used hypnite on Jim Stuart to manipulate him, but there was no proof of that. His Neurowire had been deactivated a few minutes after the so-called time travel occurred in the accelerator. With the Neurowire turned off, it was impossible for his consciousness to have returned to his body. So the hypothesis that he might actually be dead had also gained more strength.

Janus meanwhile was also unaccounted for and had been searched for throughout Scotland, Ireland, England and neighboring countries but with no positive results.

The riddle of the mysterious woman against whom Shin had fought had been solved. Benjamin Bloodworth would travel with her to Siren Island during the rest period to apologize and explain what he knew. For both he and the woman, now known to be named EVE, had been kept partly in the dark about Janus' motives.

The small dog, now named Nue, had been transported to Siren Island, which would become his final home. In the meantime it would be investigated exactly what was happening to his body that had acquired so many properties in so few days.

Jack Piersons would be on the island under observation, while they tried to figure out what to do with him. Although the laws said that the mental conditioning he had received from Janus made him innocent because he did not know what would happen with the plane, the situation of being a unique type of homunculus could put him in the sights of certain dangerous people.

Aleister Crowley had decided to take refuge on the island while the situation on Mars was being resolved with his physical body, accompanied by Lam. In passing he would have time to talk with his old comrade about dangerous matters.

Shin was somewhat concerned about the messages Thor had transmitted to him from Gehirn's hologram. Gehirn had taken a somewhat dangerous item from the place Shin had left it stored since the World War II in the Ancient Era and, what was worse, he had left no clues as to where he had moved it. But one thing was certain. He had removed a part of it and taken it with him into deep space. Who knew what other secrets he had taken with him.

They would be problems for the future. For the moment there were other matters to resolve and carry out.

The days had passed and it had been decided that in Finisterre would take place the ceremony for the oath taking of the new eight special agents that would be integrated to the SID at a global level. Originally the ceremony was to take place in Paris last Wednesday, in one of the halls of the Council, but Mai was not in the mood to go there. So it was to be held in Spain, in a place that was Nevermore's own.

Mai on the other hand wanted to officiate at the farewell ceremony for two agents. One had retired more than fifteen years ago due to illness, but had asked to be brought to Campus Stellae when he died. Another agent had died more than a week ago on an off-world mission.

It was a day of welcomes and farewells. And justly Shin would be proclaimed an official Nevermore agent. Besides, he and Mai and Lizbeth would now form a three-person team.

Shin looked at Lizbeth and she released his arms and helped him stand up. She adjusted her clothes a bit from the shaking, but it was hardly necessary. Shin grabbed her around the waist and hugged her.

"Eh? What's wrong?" she said blushing a little and joked. "We can't do anything now. The ceremony is about to start."

"Let me be a little like this," he said and pulled her close to him as he bent his head down to smell her hair.

With the memories he had recovered he had made many things clear in his memories of that erased time. And now that he could think about things a little more clearly he realized how crazy it had been. They had really died once. First he had lost Lizbeth during that attack when the building collapsed. And then a few years later he lost Mai to the injuries from the collapse. Therein lay the irony. The version of Mai he had seen die had been the one who was half human, half fey. That Mai had never gone to the Other Side. It was as if survival had depended on both of them, Shin and Mai, being transported that day in 1999 to the Other Side.

Either way they were both alive and Shin was more than happy that they were.

Shin as he held her against his chest opened his eyes and Lizbeth could not see his worried expression. Now that he had memories there was another matter that concerned him and that he knew he had to attend to but, to do so, he had to test the waters first. To know if he was right about his suspicions and, more importantly, if it was safe for that person. If he was right it would be something he would have to handle with care.

"Excuse me? Am I interrupting something?" a head with a nervous smile had peeked through the door of the room. It was Virginia Mortenson, wearing a ball gown, who had traveled for the ceremony. "It's going to start. Whatever you're doing you'd better keep your clothes on and come downstairs." Shin released Lizbeth and she took his hand smiling. "Let's go!"

The three of them rode the elevators down to the first floor and out into the inner courtyard.

There must have been at least a little over a two hundred people there. Many were part of the fortress staff who were in charge of administration. But there were service personnel and in the garden area several tables had been set up for the banquet following the main ceremony. Around the arched building, part of the grounds had been cleared for a dance floor. Balconies and steps of the inner courtyard had also been decorated for the occasion.

Many of the guests had come from nearby stations to take advantage of the occasion and there were even agents and some guests in charge of the local government. But there were also important people.

Shin didn't know too many, but there seemed to be businessmen and other people with ties to Nevermore. That was to be expected, since Nevermore was a research institute to begin with, and the pharmaceutical and technology development side of the business was one of the most powerful in the world. Many of those present there were also investors, people with interests that due to their investments had obtained a position of relevance to know about some of the internal situations of the institute and more precisely of the SID.

Of those Shin knew there were a few as well, almost all members of the SID and others that he did not know how they had gotten there.

Shin sharpened his eye and looked at the guests, the one he wanted to talk to was also there. He would have to find a way to test if he could be trusted.

Philip and Zi were there, accompanied by Rein, Noki, Mii, Hazmat, Kohi and Nikolai. The group wore uniforms similar to Shin and Lizbeth. Zi seemed to be eating something and Philip reprimanded her because it was already the third dish she had eaten. Nikolai especially seemed unhappy to see so many people around and had gone to the back and reserved for himself a tray with a bottle of wine a bit hidden.

Mii was wearing a dress, but she had put on a jacket like the others over her shoulders, almost making her look like the head of a clan from the Ancient Era. She was accompanied by Van who was also wearing a dress, but with a long coat.

Shin recognized some familiar faces that greeted him and felt cold sweat running down his cheeks. "Are there any ex-girlfriends around here, besides the ones I know?" let out Lizbeth with a teasing smile.

Shin sighed. "Leave her alone, are you still tormenting her?"

"I'm not talking about Mimi, why do you think I'm tormenting her? I love Mimi, she's my friend. We have good memories... the three of us."

"Just in case, leave her alone, please. For some reason I think she's been avoiding me since I arrived." Shin sighed and continued to look at the guests, but not before giving Mii a sidelong glance. She really did look pretty, but it certainly seemed to Shin that she had been avoiding him quite a bit since his arrival.

"Maybe old flames flaring up?"

Shin looked at Lizbeth a little worried but decided not to say anything.

Five people from the Council had come, and they must have been the ones most sympathetic to Mai, Shin supposed. A sixth had promised to come from China, but due to official business had excused himself at the last minute. There were rumors that the other members were quite upset with the loss of Azusa and that the bow could not be separated from Mai.

Those five who had turned out were Travis, the immortal alchemist, wearing a white suit. Clark, the nervous-looking, pale homunculus wearing a dark-colored tunic. The third was a human named Pin Whiskers and Shin could only think that the name suited him because of his strange hairstyle and facial hair style. Whiskers wore blue and white and was rather short in stature with short legs that contrasted with his torso and broad shoulders, almost making him look like a walking bust.

The other two members were two fey women. Anikka, tall and dark-skinned with a slender body, curly hair and brown eyes, wore a white and purple dress with gold embroidery at the bottom. The last woman was Lorena, a hobbit barely one meter tall, with short blonde hair, light blue eyes and especially large ears. Lorena had a face that was especially hard to forget, because she always seemed to have a smile and a chubby face that anyone would have mistaken for a child. She wore a simple black dress with a party shawl and heels that gave her about ten centimeters more than her actual height.

The oath-taking ceremony would take place in the amphitheater section. A circular red carpet had been laid in the center of the area.

Mai was already prepared and was standing at the side of the carpet. She was wearing a snow-white one-piece dress. The tanned skin had begun to fade, but it was still there and stood out against the white dress. Mai had done her hair differently for the occasion and had decided to let out the moth-like antennae that moved in the wind.

Although she was still sad Shin and Lizbeth had done their best to cheer her up over the past few days and it had slowly worked. Losing friends in Nevermore could be something that could happen at any time, but it was something that no one should get used to even though it was part of the dangerous life they had.

Mai smiled from a distance as she watched them arrive.

Lizbeth separated and Shin joined the new agents who wore the same uniform as him. They stood side by side while Mai read the oath. Shin had had a chance to cross words with them and they all seemed to be young in terms of age. Only one was over a hundred years old, so Shin was the oldest of them all with three centuries on his back.

A rehearsal meeting had taken place in the morning in order to be able to speak in unison during the entrance ceremony. The oath was a long one, so in order to gain some time the new members had to synchronize.

If you spot this narrative on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

And so the ceremony began before the sun had completely set over the horizon. All the guests stood around the amphitheater and listened to the words.

There were five women, three feys, one aeon and one human. Of the three women one stood out because of her legs, a beast type that had ungulate feet and horns, accompanied by a cow's tail that was constantly moving. The other two were two male feys, one a fee type that was over a hundred years old and the other looked like some kind of lizard hybrid, due to its scaly arms and disproportionate to the rest of the physiognomy. Shin guessed that the long tail must have helped a bit with the balance of those arms. Still Shin was the tallest of them all and the one who looked the least happy to be there but, since that was because his face was like that, he couldn't do anything about it.

He simply tried to put on as relaxed a face as he could while he prepared himself and hoped he didn't screw up the timing.

It was an entrance ritual that had been created a long time ago and had been shortened because it was said that the original oath was so long that Rein, the previous director, had almost fallen asleep in an occasion.

The truth is that it was more symbolic and nothing more. The badges of the eight had been updated with their ranks, promoting them from being probationary and rookie agents to Special Agents. One of the girls had even had longer training, because she had failed tests at the first opportunity five years earlier. Shin was the only one in a long time who had been promoted so quickly, but that was because he had experience since the 20th century solving Dark Events cases.

The training tests had all been passed, all that was left were the university exams for which Shin had been studying for the last few months and would have to take them in a few weeks.

The eight stood side by side at their positions and prepared for the oath taking.

"Under heaven and Earth and with the present as witnesses. Silentium Praecipio!" Said the voice of a dwarf guard in armor, striking the bottom of a spear against the rock of the theater. The guard who had positioned himself a few meters away from Mai, but outside the central carpet.

There was a silence broken only by the wind passing through the openings of the fortress.

According to what Shin had learned, for that ceremony only those who were inside that carpet could speak. Mai would first pronounce the speech with the questions and then they would have to pronounce the oath they had had to learn, which were the answers.

Accompanied by the fresh breeze that brought the sea air and the scents of the plants in the garden, Mai began her part. The group stood firm and began to listen to the words of the oath.

"On this day we have gathered to accept the new feathers to our wings. New feathers! Step forward!"

The eight took a step forward and put their hands behind their backs.

"Here it matters not your name, real or preternatural. It doesn't matter who you were. Where you came from. Your species or race.

Today your watch begins. Are you ready to face the responsibility that is given to you today? You will raise your eyes to the sky and confront realities that will question the known natural laws?

In this universe where the inexplicable is part of our daily life, are you ready to assume the commitment to be the shield and the sword with these wings? Do you accept to help those in need? Regardless of where you are called from, and by whom, do you agree to take up a sword to wield justice and use that shield to protect the defenseless?

For those souls in distress in the darkness of the incomprehensible, do you pledge to carry a light of hope? And for those souls who need to cross over, do you pledge to use the tools necessary to bring both rest to them and comfort to those they have left behind? Do you believe you have enough composure to do so?

You will face the most incomprehensible conundrums, along with the knowledge of those who came before you, as well as those who will become your companions today. They will be your companions, colleagues and they will be your family. They will take care of you, and you will take care of them. Will you vow to protect your peers as hard as they will take care of you?

Will you pledge allegiance to life, justice and custody, transcending worldly concerns? Even if at times you must also veil the truth to save someone else's life or the lives of many?

Will you assume the role of bridge between, boundaries, worlds or dimensions if necessary?

Will you vow to be transparent in all that you set out to do and never violate the code of conduct of responsibility that rests on your shoulders today as a coat?

Will you firmly embrace this calling and embrace your role as a night guard even though you may become a star in the field?"

Mai finished her part of the speech and it was time for the eight who raised their voices in unison.

"Under heaven and earth, and in the presence of witnesses, I take this oath:

I solemnly swear to dedicate my self, my mind and my heart to the mission of being one of the feathers of these wings. I will be a feather and my companions will be my wings. They will be my feathers and I will be their wings.

In this world where the inexplicable is intertwined with reality, I pledge to serve as a guardian in the darkest moments of existence. My actions will be the sword of justice and the refuge of the helpless, no matter what dimensions I traverse.

I promise to keep the flame of hope burning in the hearts of those who have been touched by the supernatural. My vow is to those whose lives are intertwined with invisible threads, to lift them out of darkness and lead them to understanding and truth.

I will rise above distances and barriers. My actions will know no boundaries, for my service will transcend the confines of worlds and dimensions. I promise to cross the distances necessary to offer comfort and support, and I will unlock the secrets of the realms of the visible and the unseen.

In this life and in the lives to come, in the rivers of time and in the stars of the firmament, I pledge allegiance to life, justice and the protection of those in need.

If I am to become a star in the field, so be it. May what I live and leave behind serve the guardians who will come after me.

May my heart resonate in tune with the hearts of those I will care for and who will care for me. May my feather be the gateway that leads them to a better and brighter future.

So I swear, with my spirit high and my purpose unshaken, forever and ever beyond. May this oath be inscribed in the history of worlds and universes, as a testament to my unwavering commitment to the cause of life, justice and protection."

Silence returned for a few moments until a round of applause began to rise from those present. In the midst of the applause Mai smiled and uttered the final part. "May these words be carved in stone so that they will not be forgotten by the history of the world and the universe. May memory not erase this commitment to life, justice and protection.

Remember the meaning of Nevermore, we only have this one life and it is one chance."

The applause finally broke out and Shin looked at the crowd. It seemed too pompous but well, that was part of public relations. He could almost be sure that many of the businessmen, stockholders and the like had never had bullets whizzing around their heads or parts of them being sliced off by some unknown creature.

"Uwahh, even though I rehearsed it's still embarrassing when I have everyone in front of me and the others are watching," muttered one of the new agents next to Shin. Shin nodded and tried to smile but it just came out in a crooked grin that scared the person next to him.

Maybe we should shorten it even more, Mai thought in the meantime. And inside she was remorseful at the thought of the oath. In those words there was little allusion to the truth. And the truth was that some parts of it had been taken out because it was certainly necessary to hide details from the public many times in investigations. Just like what had happened with the case of the lake. That oath was also, in a way, a confidentiality agreement.

Mai sighed and tried to put on a smile. She had to, after all the newcomers to SID were the ones being entertained that day.

Lizbeth looked happy, but so did Rein and Noki, who smiled mischievously and greeted Shin with two thumbs up. That was because Shin had always said he would never be part of an organization again, after the dissolution of the Tempus Fugit group in the 20th century, and now he was there, offering an oath to Nevermore.

Mii approached Mai, holding a black velvet tray in her hands. There rested eight badges of a raven projected on a compass rose. Mai took each one and pinned them on the lapel of the new agents' suits.

When she reached Shin who was the last one he bowed slightly and she whispered in a mischievous tone. "Welcome, sweetheart."

"Did you have to tell me in that voice?" Shin grumbled under his breath.

Mai just smiled at him and that part was over.

Then in just five minutes she moved on to another part that was quicker. Travis officiated that part, handing over some credentials that were absorbed into the badges of Mai, Lizbeth and Shin. This was so that for the Council, the Midnight Blues team would be formed.

It wouldn't have been a problem to do it discreetly, but apparently the Council wanted to show that they had a say in how Nevermore formed groups and more so considering that the team violated one of the rules that forbade having amorous relationships between agents of the same team. It was a rule that no one really paid attention to, but they still wanted to show others that they had power in that ceremony.

The truth was that the fact that the three of them had a relationship was secret and only those closest to them, the Council and a few others, knew about it.

It was highly possible that the Council would have given in and allowed that team because they knew that Mai would not take it lightly if they had lied to her and withheld information about the lake case.

Even if that was necessary, it didn't take her mind off the fact that the Council had once again played its cards without concern for the agents. More so by telling what had happened to Oxy, Van and the missing Jim Stuart.

After the oath and formation of the team, it was time for the reception party.

The sun had already set and the night was just beginning.

Accompanied by music, everyone ate at the tables set up, while the new agents socialized with many of the old agents and other guests. Lizbeth and Mai on the upper steps watched as Shin talked a lot with one of the most important guests who had traveled from Romania: Franz Rackhenhell, The Boy. A really old man, but with a young appearance, short stature and a plump face.

And an incredibly powerful vampire.

Mai knew him for different reasons, but she knew why Shin might want to talk to him.

"That has to be because of what he told us, right?" Lizbeth asked quietly, looking sideways at them.

Mai nodded. "I hope it goes well. We need to talk to Leon, but if it's true this could be a scandal."

"Well first we have to make sure."

"Yes, but we have to do it carefully and find the door first."

Shin finally ended the conversation and joined the party, where he was requested by several of the guests and many of them women.

Mii, while watching from a distance sat at a table drinking champagne. Van ran a hand over her head. "Envious?"

"Shut up." Mii said, pouting.

Mai and Lizbeth meanwhile looked at Shin and the other agents being surrounded.

"Those are..." asked Mai.

"Yeah, a couple of ex-girlfriends."

"The red one?"

"And the one with the succubus tail."

"A succubus?" asked Mai as a bead of sweat trickled down her cheek. "He was busier than I thought before he found me."

Lizbeth smiled. "Nothing to worry about, we weren't together. If you want to worry about someone...look over to the table where the boys are."

Mai looked over to the table and at that moment realized what Lizbeth was referring to. Mii was staring at Shin. According to Lizbeth the only woman who could have almost taken Shin away from her was Mii. Shin had always protected her just like Lizbeth. And from what Lizbeth had told Mai, she knew that the three of them had even had relations several times in the past. Just circumstances of the moment, and then the three of them parted ways. After all, Mii might be the one who had the most in common with Shin since they were both classified as Keelians. The only two from another universe according to the Council's fey search system.

Mai at that moment thought about Azusa's words about sharing happiness. Mai blushed a little as an image came to her mind. She hoped Azusa didn't mean having more members in the relationship. Counting Kotori, four was already a crowd. She shook her head trying to get rid of the slightly steamy image that had come to her mind and looked up at the sky.

Carissia was currently flying over the fortress and guarding the place with her mecha, but she took a moment to make sure that Mai and the others weren't in any danger that had gone unnoticed. It didn't seem so, but it was always best to be sure. Despite being on duty she was wearing a red dress that matched her pigtails. About twenty minutes and she could go down to the party as the fortress night watch would be activated.

Shin, meanwhile, had tried to run away from the place to join his companions. Not only because he felt overwhelmed to be surrounded by so many strangers, but also because he had begun to notice some hostility in some conversations in a low voice. But not so low that he couldn't hear them.

He had not revealed any details of his relationship with Mai and Lizbeth, so he assumed the source was someone knowledgeable who had passed the word along.

"You didn't hear? Miss Mai's on a date," said a woman who had introduced herself as a countess, talking to another fey woman.

"Eh?! With whom?" asked a man further away.

And the comments jumped from person to person, as if each was continuing the conversation, as more murmurs were added.

"That tall guy over there."

"That's the one who just got sworn in, right? Isn't that favoritism?"

"What? It can't be! I always thought Miss Mai was lesbian... didn't she have a relationship with the blonde girl with the ponytail? I think her name was Lizard or something," said a fey girl who had arms, legs, tail and tiger ears. She obviously had something against Lizbeth because she was looking at her like she was throwing curses at her.

"Ms. Mai is bisexual, apparently."

"Damn it! It should have been me!" replied a depressed voice from someone.

"Well feys are much more liberal than us humans, it's not uncommon for a relationship to have more members. And on the other hand there are more female feys than male feys after all," explained someone with a quirky hairstyle that made Shin wonder if he hadn't used a hand grenade to comb his hair before attending the party.

"Who is that bastard?" Asked several guests of both sexes and different types of feys, as Shin felt stares like daggers stabbing into his back.

"Why is he so tall?"

"Not too much is known about him, but he seems to be strong. I bet I can defeat, that bug."

Who are you? Some prince from another planet come looking for a fight? Go to your story, damn it! Shin thought.

"He's too tall for Miss Mai. Look at him! You can probably see him from the Orbital ring. It's a space elevator."

Someone who's eight feet tall doesn't have the right to tell me that, Shin thought.

"Mai probably has to take a ship every time she wants to kiss him."

Aren't they being too cruel to her now too?

"Is that guy planning to set up a harem?"

No, I'm not.

"He should die."

Who said that now? I'm listening damn it, Shin thought depressedly.

If those were the rumors, he couldn't imagine what would happen if the news came that the relationship would probably have one more member soon, Kotori. Although they would have to think about that too next week when they finally arrived on the island to take a long break and talk it over with the one in question.

The conversations continued for a couple of hours more and accompanied by the music of a cat-fey DJ, that replaced the dinner orchestra, some had even decided to dance. Badges were removed and hairstyles and ties were loosened a bit. Shin took the opportunity to dance with Mai and Lizbeth separately. He always liked Mai's way of dancing. As her name indicated, she was a real dancer, although Lizbeth was no slouch either. Everyone knew that Mai danced very well, but the surprise was how she could dance with Shin considering the height difference, but that she was wearing platform heels helped to close the gap, at least a bit.

Philip had tried to dance with Zi, but he couldn't help but laugh at her face. She hadn't stopped eating throughout the party. Noki was another one that many sought out to dance to some of the more upbeat songs, to see if it was true about the little fey's speed.

Rein danced a little with Franz Rackhenhell, although it seemed that they were talking about more than just dancing. Kohi had asked Lorena to dance. The fey hobbit had proven to be the friendliest of the Council group.

Van amused herself by pulling Nikolai out onto the dance floor, who had tried his best to run away. Van had also pushed Mii towards Shin, but Mii had fled the dance floor with lightning speed. In that way more and more couples and mismatched couples were joining the dance floor, while the friendly atmosphere was evident. It wasn't long before Lizbeth came out behind her and forced her back to the dance floor where she danced with Lizbeth.

Then, as Mai switched with Lizbeth, Mii agreed to dance with Shin, red as a tomato. Lizbeth could see that neither she, nor Shin, exchanged words even though Shin was looking at her, but Mii seemed to evade his gaze, looking away.

And in that way the time passed with more dances and then, in silence, towards the Neurowires and taking Shin's hand Mai secretly ordered something.

While the party in the fortress continued an hour later, Mai and the SID members, accompanied by the new agents and the members of the Council, were absent to carry out another ceremony in the cape where the lighthouse was located.

Depositing the ashes of the fallen members in the memorial pantheon of the fallen in service.

As Shin approached the site he could see that there was a guard in place. They were three dwarves who greeted the group with a bow as they crossed the walls to enter the complex.

They began to climb the wide stairs of the building and reached the landing in the middle, where there was a memorial stone that had at the top a bust of an old man with wavy hair and a mustache. On the smooth side underneath was a carved poem. The poem read:

You may live, you may die,

on the shore of the night,

so the new day may have its light.

Let a raven carry your weary soul,

and leave your old feathers behind,

so in the field of stars,

the new feathers shall remember

what's worth fighting for.

And so the sacrifice is forgotten Nevermore.

Shin read down and could see that it was signed Edgar Allan Poe.

He knew that name.

Edgar Allan Poe was one of the scientists who had been part of the Fog Society. A group of scholars and adventurers who were secretly writers in their spare time, even though they had never published anything. Edgar Allan Poe had been a great adventurer investigating Dark Events, but publicly he had been best known for being an astronomer and cosmologist in the nineteenth century.

The group continued up the final part of the stairs but, before they did, Lizbeth smiled as they passed the bust of the scientist and poet in his spare time.

"Hi," she murmured under her breath.

The building was fully lit, but the light was not electric. That place was illuminated by a type of magic whose technique had been partly recovered in the last decades, but it came from very old. That was the magic of the so-called perpetual lamps, in the form of torches on the walls.

Stones that had been imbued with magic and could last for centuries, as they burned slowly. Beyond the name, the new magic was artificial and did not last as long as the ones in the stories, but they could last for decades without being changed. If magic continued to progress it was possible that at some point in the distant future perpetual lamps could be recreated that could last for centuries.

Perpetual lamps were common in the legends of tombs and other ancient temples. Nevermore had made use of those stories to try to keep the flames of that building always burning.

The urns of ashes were deposited in holes in the walls of the building. Once an urn was deposited in an empty hole, the structure of the hole was closed forming a rectangular surface in high relief as a tombstone and by means of magic imbued in the walls proceeded to record the name of who was in that place. There was a complex system inside the walls that was connected to a database. If someone passed their hand over one of the gravestones, a text appeared telling part of the agent's story.

Shin could see that on the tombstones appeared the name and the numbers they had had, but there were agents whose numbers were repeated. That must be because the number of special agents was always intended to be between four and five thousand around the world and the moon. For example, Shin's number, Agent 4444, had only been filled three times.

In addition to the special agents who moved globally, local agents in each country and FRT members also received tombstones there and in other locations around the world. Honorary agents, special collaborators and some exceptions also had their tombstones on those walls. But they were all people who in one way or another had been part of the SID or Nevermore and had contributed both in cases and in a more passive, but no less important way.

While Mai carried out the work of depositing the urns in silence, Shin could finally see how many tombstones there were in that place. As far as his eyes could see in that part, there must have been at least five hundred names of agents in that hallway. But the whole building was a graveyard. At that moment a green glow came out of Mai's hands and for a moment the pattern glowed on her skin as it ran through her body. That lasted a couple of seconds, but her skin had regained the tanned tone of the past days.

Shin and Lizbeth at that moment could see how Mai had just closed a third hole in the wall next to the other two she had just closed. Inside that hole was not an urn with ashes. There was simply a small green and turquoise stone.

She had materialized a part of Azusa's body with her thought, removing it from the body that Azusa had left attached to hers in an invisible spatial dimension. By materializing it in that way it could look like nothing more than a precious stone, or a small fractus nucleus and nothing more, but for Mai it was also a way to put her friend to rest in that way. It was another reason why she wanted the ceremony to take place in that place. Azusa, on more than one occasion, had told her ancient stories of that place where at night the Milky Way really seemed to point a way to the afterlife.

"Good job, friend," Mai murmured softly. Then those present took a moment of silence. Praying in their different beliefs, or simply as a farewell and respect to those who had already left and perhaps started a new life beyond the visible spheres.

And so the group quietly returned to the party. A party that lasted well into the night.

And although the retinue did not show in front of the guests what they had done during those moments of absence, the truth was that the new members understood the meaning of that small farewell ceremony to the agents who were no longer there.

They knew that the contrast could in some way be a reflection of the future. That the world would continue to spin even if they were gone and became a star in the field.

And that even if they were no longer a feather in the organization's wings, the hard work they would do would also become experience for generations to come and not just a gravestone on the Campus Stellae.

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