Elson was taking a walk to clear his head when he stumbled upon a body. The dead soldier was contorted across the ground in an unnatural position, with blood still pulsing out of his mouth and onto the grass around him.

"Guards! Search the area!"

"Have you found anything?" King Yensid asked the guard who had just walked into the throne room. Elson, who had been staring intensely at the floor, looked up.

"No. This just appears to have been an unfortunate accident."

An unfortunate accident. Elson wondered if that's what you would have been. An unfortunate accident.

Elson didn't trust Crowley as far as he could throw him. However, he had to hand it to him this time, despite not believing his story in the slightest.

"Close your eyes," Crowley instructed, putting the obscured object in his cloak. "Now, what am I hiding?"

A much younger Elson closed his eyes and concentrated. His Father had sent him to Crowley for a day to access his magical potential, so he wanted to do his best to make him proud. He focused hard on the task.

The object in Crowley's cloak was a simple spinning top. It was purple with red triangles. However, Elson was surprised to see that the vision didn't stop there. It kept going, taking him across the room and to the stairs. He slowly travelled up them, one by one, further and further away from the room. He made it to the top of the stairs and saw the long, dark hallway on the top floor. There were five doors total; two on each side, and one at the very end. He stopped in front of the closest door.

Slowly, a key turned before unlocking it with a click. The door swung open.

"Well?" Crowley asked. "Did you see it?"

Elson opened his eyes and trembled. "W-why is there a room filled with x̴̡̨̡̡̛̯̯͉̠͍͎̱̪̲̤̰͍̺̼̱͉͚̗͉̝͇͔͖̯̘͇̝̮͕͚̜̐̀͊̈́̏̓̐͋͐̽̇̈̆̊͑͌̅̃͝ẍ̶̧̡̛̭̖͔̖͖̝͖̯͍̙̥̮̮̮̗͚̩͎̻̞̮̫̯͇̯͖͚͓̹͕̘̟̹̺̤̺̬̳̘̖̹̣̖̹́̂͐͐͌̆̇̂̾̓̒͌̈̋͆͂̉̃͘̕ͅx̵̣͙̠͍͚̙̙̊̄̅ͅx̵̫̂́̿̀̓̔͌̍̄̉̈͗̚̕̕ẍ̷̹̼́͗̔̐͊̅̈́͌͗̀͗̃̊̀̈͆͊́̾̊̔͒͛̂̂̇͛͊͐͋̊̇̏̀̆̒̿̉͛̎̀͆͒̓̈̇̚͝͠x̷̨̡̛̭̻̖̖̺͇̯͎̯͕͕͈͉̩͚͒͋̈́̄̈̃̑͌̒̊͋̃̆́̃͌̓̿̿̽̽̈̊̽̍̍̍͌̓̏͐͗̋͗̄̿͑̂̑̚͘͘̚͘͝͠͠x̷̡̢̡̧̛̛͚̱̩̫̖̫͈̗͎̹̠͍̻͎̘̦͔͉̘̮͇̣̻̳̪̲̝͚̝̊͑͊̉̒̽̍̓̈́̅́̅̇͐̊̈́̇̑̈̀̓̈͒̈͆͊́̂͌͗̿̏̕̕̚͝͠͝͠͠͝?"

Crowley's face fell, all expression melting off his face as he stared at Elson coldly.

Since then, Elson had never trusted Crowley.

"I see." The King lamented. "Send his family our regards and the standard 200 gold pieces. We will cover the funeral costs."

***

"Who are you?"

He took a sip of his tea. "Dire Crowley, Court Mage and Servant to the King."

"A King who you've lied to, which technically makes you a traitor to the Kingdom."

"If I hadn't, you'd be dead."

"The King thinks we're on the brink of war."

"An attack that will never happen."

"You think he'll believe that these 'bad guys' will just give up when they've been planning this for fourteen years?"

"No, but I think that once enough time has passed he will find more important things to fret over."

"What about my necklace?"

"As I told you, it's enchanted."

"So you weren't lying about that?"

"Gracious no!" Crowley huffed. "I do not just spin tales."

"Your track record thus far hasn't been that great."

Crowley spluttered. "Regardless! And you aren't exactly in the position to debate the ethics of my actions."

"Touché," you nod. "Where do I fall into whatever you're doing?"

"Ms. Y/n, if you don't mind me asking, who gave you this necklace?"

You stiffened. "No comment."

He sighed. "I suppose that's alright. For now. Do you remember this?" He took out his ring and held it up for you to see.

"To be honest, I doubt I could if I tried."

"When I bring the stones together, it produces a glow. This is because they're connected. They're cut from a very special kind of magestone."

"Magestone?"

"A kind of gem by which magical energy transverses across to produce a reaction. The most common kind are the ones kept in the magical pens used by spellcasters. It helps to channel their energy and reduce blot formation."

"What's blot?"

"Nothing you need to worry about," Crowley shooed away the idea with his hand. "The crystals you see in these jewels are known as Chandelstones, and there's only one known to the world. However, I believe there are up to four."

"Four?"

"The King's staff is the only one on record. Another was lost some years ago. However, there are two more. One for me" he held up his ring as he said it, "and one for you." He tossed you your necklace.

"So they're expensive?" Crowley's eye twitched.

"Yes, but you're missing the point! Now listen. Fate has brought us here together. You attempted the stupidest- I mean bravest heist in history, and failed."

"I'm well aware."

"However," Crowley continued, "you got further than anybody else has ever managed. This means that should you attempt to pilfer any other... unassuming items, it should be no trouble."

"...what do you mean by that?"

Crowley leaned in and lowered his voice. "It just so happens that there are some things I want in my possession that are worth lying to the King about."

You smile in realization. "Okay then. What is it that you want so badly that you would risk so much to have?"