HIS FOOTSTEPS ECHOED IN THE STAIRWELL, LONG AND HEAVY, LIKE THE TOLL OF A BELL.
The traveller's timepiece burned his hand as Mori climbed the limestone steps to their meeting place. He'd gotten used to the gentle burn of the synchroniser around his neck, the slow pulse of the tower's energy. But this was different, hot and heavy. It weighed his steps down as he climbed, a chain around his neck.
It has been surprisingly easy to get. He'd asked Ren to borrow one of the tools he knew she kept in her bag. He'd found it at the bottom of her bag, beneath some faded sprigs of lavender and an assortment of strange, crescent-shaped timepieces.
Argent was right; she trusted him.
Not for much longer. The thought hit him hard. It would be easy to trace back to him once Ren discovered the timepiece was missing. If she didn't hate him for the tower, surely she'd hate him for this.
As if it matters, he thought, trying to stave off the guilt. Ren lied to him back on Arkos, left him to manage the tower alone.
Mori looked down at the timepiece in his hand. He hadn't had time to examine it properly until now. It was a small, delicate piece of craftmanship, shimmering silvery blue in the light. He recognised the emblem of Arkos in one on the rings engraved into the cover. Six others formed an interlinking circle, each with its own motif. One for each world?
He rounded the last twist of the stairwell. Golden light, fresh slivers of dawn, spilled in from the arched entrance at the top. Mori stepped through, squinting into the sunlight.
Argent waited for him in the same spot he'd been the evening before, once again staring across the city. Once again, Mori considered rushing him. With the element of surprise, he might have a chance to overpower him. But he hadn't slept much that night. He'd replayed the moment he'd been suspended at the edge of the parapet over and over again, the helpless terror of being unable to move, keeping him up until dawn.
Still, from what he'd seen so far, Argent didn't go to bed that often, either. Mori knew he used the mist leaf tea to help him sleep properly. And Argent didn't seem particularly well-built, either. With his attention on the scenery below him, if he approached quietly...
"I was beginning to think you'd run away," Argent said.
His body crossed the distance to the railing of its own accord, coming to a halt in front of Argent. Mori's arm raised and he dropped the timepiece into Argent's outstretched palm, unable to meet his eyes. He knew this wouldn't end here.
"Thank you." Argent pocketed the watch.
Mori flexed his fingers, and relaxed when they moved. "Are you going right now?"
Argent nodded. "No time like the present." He glanced at Mori and added: "You're welcome to come along, if you'd like."
Mori shot him a murderous glare. "Why would I want to go anywhere with you?"
"I thought you might say that," Argent said, with a quick smile. He turned to go inside, but something made him hesitate. He turned back to Mori, pushing his hands into his pockets. "It really doesn't bother you at all?"
"What do you mean?" Mori said.
"All these secrets. Everything Ren's been hiding. Look me in the eye and tell me she's not up to something."
Mori frowned. "I get it, she's secretive. But she's allowed to want privacy. What she's up to is none of my business. And it's not yours, either."
"Really?" Argent said. "What if I told you that I'm pretty sure Ren caused the cataclysm?"
Mori's eyes flicked up to meet his. "Can you prove it? Or would you say that about anything that happened to the system?"
Argent laughed gently. "Maybe. But anything that affects the system affects all of us. And if the cataclysm is anything to go by, then if this keeps up, one day it will become my business. And when that happens, at the very least I'd like to be prepared for it."
Mori stared at him. He couldn't disagree that Ren was hiding something. He'd never been able to connect her dots. There was a lot about her he couldn't explain. But he'd always been content to let her live her life without questioning it, as she did for him. Something about Argent's desperation for answers he couldn't quite understand, or explain.
"I just don't think what she's doing is dangerous," Mori said. "She'd tell us if she thought it was something we needed to know."
"Hmm." Argent looked at his hands thoughtfully, twisting the ring on his finger. "You trust her a lot, don't you?" He looked up at Mori, a challenging glint in his expression. "Or have you just not thought about it properly?"
Mori's eyes narrowed. "What do you mean?"
"Ren's the clockmaker for Arkos, but even after you nearly died trying to get that power source, she's shown no interest in rebuilding the Tower of Clouds."
Mori shrugged. "She thought it couldn't be done. She said so herself."
"Ren doesn't work that way," Argent said. "When we were stuck in the tower, back during the cataclysm, she didn't quit working until she found a way out. Giving up like that isn't an option for her." He glanced at Mori. "You're a lot like her in that regard. If she really wanted that tower rebuilt, she wouldn't stop until it was done. She said that to you to throw you off."
"That's ridiculous. Why wouldn't she want the tower rebuilt?"
Argent raised his hands. "You're asking the wrong person," he said. When Mori didn't reply, he continued. "Come on. You don't think any of it is strange? The Tower of Clouds collapses, and then you find out out that Ren's already researched how to build a new one. The traveller hasn't been seen for months, but returns the day Arkos is destroyed to give you the one thing you needed to escape." Argent's gaze drilled into his. "Do you believe in coincidence, Mori?"
"So what," Mori muttered. "You're saying she destroyed the tower?"
"I'm not saying anything," Argent said. "I just want to know what she's getting us into. And you deserve to know, too." He held out a hand. "Come with me and find out."
Mori looked at him, his mouth pressing into a firm line. Somehow it was worse that Argent was asking him, when he could easily force him to go along. He considered rejecting it, just to see if Argent would make him do it.
But a small part of his mind longed to go. What if the answers really were up there? He knew he'd never get them from Ren. Maybe up there he could, finally solve the enigma that had been puzzling him for the past year. See everything clearly for once in his life.
It seemed almost too good to be true.
"Alright," he said, finally. "I'll come."
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