Back at Castle Nocturne, business had continued in a normal manner for nearly a month. With Rocko outed as the spy that he was, his expulsion from the kingdom had brought a peace of mind that Marin hadn't been able to fully appreciate until now. While the anticipation of RAM's approval lurked in the distance, worry for it would not bring the letter to their home sooner. It was a decision that would be revealed at some set date.

  The days began to blend together, as every kingdom citizen routinely performed their duties. Loid oversaw the castle's affairs and settled disagreements. Helva acted as secretary and scheduled meetings and events for the King. Harrel continued to manage the finances, still unsatisfied that he continued to pull from the shrinking gold Marin had saved up. Doctor Eisen isolated himself in the basement, hellbent on solving Marin's immortality potion.

  Everyone played their part, and the castle thrived. Marin of course had his own lengthy list of responsibilities, but even the King needed to partake in some lighthearted event from time to time. While the castle busily operated within its chiseled walls, Marin was currently some distance away from it, along with his underling student Gus.

  In the woods, Gus could be seen angrily standing in the distance while Marin sat against a tree, throwing rocks from a pile beside him. Gus could only watch each cold chunk of stone fly by him as he concentrated his hardest, to no avail. He grunted.

  Marin picked up another stone from his pile, and threw it again in a most casual manner.

  Gus's pupils fixated on the movement, but no action came from him as it landed in the snow among its brethren of other thrown stones.

  "Can you throw it slower?!" Gus demanded as the tenth rock yielded no fruitful results for him.

  "I am putting minimal effort into my tosses. Any less and they wouldn't meet your location," Marin replied from the tree he lounged at.

  "Well then… Can we practice this with a slower-moving item? Maybe a swinging pendulum? A ball rolling down a hill?" Gus bargained, growing weary at his failed attempts.

  "Do you believe your enemies would move at such a snail's pace? Perhaps they might offer you a refreshment before their attack?"

  Gus scoffed at the idea.

  Ever since the young lad acquired the ice element, every moment he was not sleeping or performing guard duty, he was practicing. He had spent more time in the Woods these last few weeks than he had in any other location, his room included.

  So many of his fellow guards he had become friends with were now getting used to never seeing him around any more outside of work. They quit inviting him to after work events, and stopped most conversation with him as he refused to partake in any social activities. When asked what the heck was consuming all his free time, he lied about the reason, giving mundane hobbies as an answer instead. He still was not comfortable revealing the fact that he was now an elemental to them all yet.

  Usually, hedge elementals struggled to progress in their element due to the unofficial situation, but the sheer amount of hours Gus was practicing his ice formation advanced him right along. Because of his burning passion and dedication to the art, Gus had been growing in skill in a similar manner to an Arkanian apprentice or a newly recruited private at Neo.

  Marin would simply introduce a new lesson or two once a week for him to chip away at. Gus could now coat anything he touched in ice. It was weak and brittle, but the frost was slowly growing in strength. He could now freeze items at a distance as well, given a few seconds.

  Marin had now introduced him to his hardest challenge yet: freezing moving targets. Marin threw stone after stone, but each failed attempt at freezing it only built Gus's frustration.

  It didn't take more than a small pile for Gus to demand that Marin accomplish the same requested feat. To no one's surprise, Marin could easily ice any stone thrown towards him, no matter how fast or slow Gus would chuck it. Once again, Marin made these difficult tasks look like child's play.

  "I can't do it!" Gus burst out after yet another rock flew by with no success in coating it with frost.

  Marin finally surrendered his task, and stood up from the tree he sat under. He approached a defeated Gus, whose morale was quite low at the moment.

  "Remember what we talked about," Marin tried.

  "I know! I have to measure the distance of the rock and freeze it. But Marin, it keeps moving! As soon as I lock in, its in a new position!" Gus explained.

  "You're trying to focus on a singular location. Don't do that. Your target is in motion, therefor your focus should not be where it is, but where it's going."

  "You want me to focus on where it's going to be?"

  "That's the idea. I think," Marin spoke.

  That bewildered Gus. "What do you mean 'you think?' Don't you know how you use your own element?"

  "I told you I'm not much of a teacher, Gus."

  Marin had made the same claim way back at Stonefield Inn when they were traveling to Tarenfall.

  Gus was indeed starting to realize that. He had a ton of respect for Marin, and had insisted the King fill the role of a master who guides him in the element. What Gus hadn't realized though was how much Marin would struggle to explain the skills he used.

  Marin's use of the ice element was so second nature to him, he never really considered the thought process behind the execution of his abilities. Explaining how he performed his skills was almost like translating information to a language he barely grasped.

  Gus sighed in understanding. He wouldn't give Marin any more of a hard time, it was he who dragged Marin into teaching him. The least he could do is work with his shortcomings.

  "Alright, let me gather up the stones and you can begin throwing them again," Gus stated.

  Marin continued to throw the rocks, and after every couple, he would try to inform Gus of a different way of trying to coat the moving targets. Marin's ideas were akin to throwing darts at the board and seeing what stuck – none of which had so far.

  Gus was determined, though. Even after another hour of failed attempts, he still wanted to keep trying. Unfortunately, Marin was the King of Nocturne, and the hours away from his responsibilities would cause consequences for him soon enough if he didn't return.

  "That's all the time I have for today, Gus. I'm sorry we couldn't get a breakthrough for you," Marin somberly spoke.

  "That's okay. I'm gonna stay out here and keep practicing. I'll just throw 'em myself and see if I can eventually find the method to the madness. Thanks for the help, Marin."

  Marin's lack of teaching abilities didn't just upset Gus, it greatly troubled Marin as well. He felt bad over the fact that he struggled in properly guiding his student. He would constantly remind himself that Gus strong-armed this situation before him to feel better, but it only marginally helped. At least he had accomplished the hardest part, and that was connecting Gus to the power plane.

  Back inside the castle, Marin performed his kingly duties, which grew quite monotonous at times, but his natural ability to make decisions on the fly and sort out disagreements and issues is why he had founded his Kingdom to begin with. Marin was fair and generous, and if a resolved problem gave one side a disadvantage, Marin usually would offer some sort of consolation to keep morale high.

  The consolation could normally be traced to more gold being spent, and Loid could only wonder if he would still be such a beloved King if he did not have the huge fortune under the castle that he had.

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  The gold had been depleting still, and it wasn't beyond Loid that the amount was indeed becoming noticeable. He or Helva did not have the heart yet to inform Marin about the matter. One day they would have to.

  After all affairs were settled, Marin wandered the castle, checking on his staff and making sure that needs were met. He visited the library, and studied those who were reading books from his towering shelves.

  He met with Marge for a brief period, and checked in on her research status. She was still trying to find a solid lead for Marin concerning his memory loss.

  He then headed to the kitchen, where he watched the chefs scramble after food and bark orders, a noise only challenged by the banging of kitchenware as it was washed and immediately used for new dishes. Loid's wife Sherry was still very much active in the scullery, prepping dishes and ordering ingredients, though she had taken a step back to allow much more energized head chefs to guide the crew into preparing the meals.

  Marin wandered these facilities on a semi-regular occurrence, so most who saw him in their work stations paid him little mind anymore. He approved of that. He liked to spectate the happenings in his Kingdom without disturbing the natural environment of it.

  Marin patrolled the red carpet lined halls of his castle, greeting anyone who walked by and answering any questions they had. As he did so, Loid eventually rounded the corner with a newspaper in hand.

  "Ah, there you are, Sullivan," Loid stated with relief.

  "What is the matter, my friend?" Marin asked, reading the anxious state of his second-in-command.

  "I know you're not one to read newspapers. I hardly find the time myself anymore. But I found an interesting bit of news in Arkana's section that I think you'd like to know about."

  Loid had the section already folded forward, and handed the bundle of pages to the King.

  Marin halted his walk as he studied the page before him. The headline was indeed shocking.

  Monzane had lost his position as the Grand Wizard representing the water element. Elections to bring forth a new Grand Wizard would commence within a few weeks.

  "What!?" Marin exclaimed.

  "I know. I have no idea why. I read the article but the reasoning was vague, if there even was one," Loid spoke.

  Marin looked over the paper more. Oddly enough, Monzane's name was typed out 'Mon Zane'. Marin began to wonder if he had been speaking out his full name this entire time.

  He then skimmed over the article, reading some of the finer details. The only facets the article elaborated on were the details of the new election, the process in which it is conducted, and some potential candidates for the position.

  "...I wonder what happened to him. Do you think this is over the fact that he volunteered to recover the Hallicent Blossom samples for us?" Marin asked.

  Loid shrugged. "It was probably the final straw that broke the camel's back. Monzane was infamous for spending as little time as possible representing his position. He traveled so much, and only appeared for mandatory meetings. I'm surprised he wasn't voted off sooner. That'd be my guess."

  Marin grew worried. Monzane was already taking much longer in recovering the samples than he had estimated it would take him. News now of his dethroning only strengthened those concerns.

  "I hope Monzane's alright. I understand the Ubora Desert is months away in distance, but he assured us the entire journey would only take him a couple weeks. It's been well over two months now," Marin explained.

  Loid lowered his head in thought. "...You don't think there would have been any contention over the retrieval of the flowers, would you?"

  Marin was about to answer no, but suddenly, he had a spark of thoughts chain together.

  John Reech. Was there a chance that the mysterious man tried countering his efforts? It was entirely possible, seeing as Rocko had been relaying information of his plans back to him.

  Marin decided to keep the worry to himself. "I would sure hope not."

  Marin saw first hand the skills Monzane wielded. If someone had given him trouble, or stopped him entirely, there was indeed a powerful force out there trying to halt his progress. If this was the case, Marin had unintentionally thrown Monzane into the fray, and he felt dismayed about it.

  Loid nodded. "Alright. Well, I've got to get back. What are you doing? Walking the castle again?"

  "Until dinner."

  "I'll see you then."

  Loid departed as quickly as he arrived. He seemed to be in the middle of business, pausing it only briefly to tell Marin about the news.

  The business was quite significant for Loid, and he was only able to meet Marin due to him being en route to his destination. Rolling the newspaper back up, Loid continued for the doorway of the castle. A brisk walk brought him there in a timely manner.

  At the grand entrance of the castle, Loid spotted Bob Galrus, who stood waiting for him. He was leaning against the castle wall, looking inconspicuous.

  The short, stout store owner had on a sporty leather jacket and signature beret, items he only wore when leaving the castle for a trip. Bob was relieved upon seeing Loid finally walking up to him.

  "Sorry that took so long," Loid uttered when approaching him.

  "Do you have the money?!" Bob barked out.

  "Shhhh!" Loid was frustrated by Bob's lack of discretion. "Yes, I have it," he responded quietly.

  "Well give it here," Bob boldly responded with his thick hand open.

  Loid turned around to be sure that no one was spying, then opened his inner coat pocket. He produced a heavy bag of gold coins.

  Bob weighed it in his hands, and confirmed its amount just by that alone. Bob had worked with money for so long from being a general goods store owner and from some former professions not known by many, that he could size up a bag of currency with little issue.

  "Fine. Now are you sure this is all worth what you're gonna be payin'? I have one last chance to back out before I leave," Bob offered while pocketing the sack.

  Loid was adamant. "No. The information is worth any amount."

  Bob gave a slight chuckle. "So be it. I'm outta here."

  "Be careful, Bob," Loid stated with dread.

  "I'll be fine, Loid. Be careful yourself."

  That was a bit sassy. Loid watched him walk away. A while back, Loid had asked Bob Galrus about finding information for restoring a lost memory. Specifically for the King. Some method beyond the usual remedies a doctor could attempt.

  Bob had certain 'contacts' from his past that had access to certain 'networks' that had access to just about any bit of knowledge in the entire world. He warned Loid the payment for the service would be steep, and access to the network would be gravely dangerous to anyone besides himself.

  Bob purposely kept the descriptions of this resource vague on purpose, but painted well the danger and seriousness that surrounded it. Even he wasn't entirely thrilled to use this forbidden service again, but was willing to do so if the King needed it so direly.

  Loid was a bit taken back by the explanation, but promising leads for Marin was something he couldn't turn down. As a result, Loid allocated a whopping one hundred gold coins to the purchase of the information.

  Bob chuckled when he stated that if the information was hard to get ahold of, that would just be the first half of the payment.

  Later that evening, dinner commenced and during the meal, Loid mentioned that he sent Bob off on the mission. He was sure to keep any description of the ordeal casual and safe. If Marin knew what danger Bob was getting into, he most likely would stop it from happening.

  Marin was alright with risking his own existence for the recovery of his memory, but he most certainly would not have for others, especially those he cared about.

  "Oh yeah, he's just gonna meet some old friends, I'm sure," Loid mentioned while cutting into his steak.

  "And they're going to have useful knowledge for me?" Marin asked unbelievably.

  "Ah I'm pretty sure it's one of those 'I know a guy who knows a guy who knows a guy' type of deal," he explained in between bites. Secretly though, Loid was sweating over the morbid explanation Bob spoke of.

  "Oh. Okay. Well, I'm sorry I wasn't there to see him off. You should've informed me, Loid."

  Loid had purposely not informed Marin. Bob was a loudmouth and would've borderline bragged about the situation he was about to get himself into.

  "Don't worry about it, Sullivan. Really just a casual run. He'll be back before we even notice his absence."

  Before Marin could interrogate further, Helva spoke up.

  "I really hope you find some method, Marin. I know this has been bugging you badly," she tried.

  "Indeed it has. I was alright with it for a while, but recent discoveries have increased my desire to figure out my shrouded fate. I've been discouraged, though. Even our great librarian Marge has yet to come up with any promising leads. I will be quite surprised if Bob's endeavors yield fruitful results."

  Yeah, it will. A hundred gold coins, it better! Damn, I hope I made the right move, Loid thought to himself. He began to think about if Bob was starting to fall off his rocker, metaphorically speaking. Just don't get yourself killed, he added.