Fall from Grace

Fall of the Raven II

After the strange event that was House Athena's disappearance. The White Raven returned to the Royal palace. Upon entering its inside his nose immediately became stuffed, and he became unable to smell anything else but the scent that swallowed everything.

Ever since the night before he was unable to smell anything else but the dominating scent of the person who touched the cup. Everywhere he went in the Capital City he could smell them, and there was nowhere he could go to avoid it. But most noticeably, upon getting close to the Royal palace he found the scent becoming much, much more stronger than before. In a weird way, it was like the source of the scent was standing right behind him - clearly this isn't possible because no one was behind him.

So why was the scent so strong then?

It's because the source of the scent has been lingering around the Capital City for a long time now, and he's only just noticed it. It was also because the scent was picked up by the others who interacted with him and they were also spreading his scent around.

The closer and closer I get to the Hall of Inquisitors, the stronger the scent becomes.

This was correct.

The Hall of Inquisitors was the epicenter of the scent. So when the White Raven approached the doors and pulled them open, he was blasted with the full strength of the lingering scent that had been building up inside the closed doors of the Hall of Inquisitors. The blast of the scent was so strong that it was like hurricane winds were hitting him. A scent so strong that he had to turn away from it just to regain his strength, so he didn't notice that the hall was fully packed with human and elven lords.

"With this, the hall is adjourned."

Queen Ashley immediately noticed him, and she wasted no time ending the meeting. She wasn't the only one who wasted no time either. The entire Hall of Inquisitors quickly unpacked itself as all of the lords passed by the White Raven without acknowledging him.

Where is this smell coming from? Who exactly does it belong to here?

Despite the hall quickly unpacking itself, he still found it as hard as before in trying to pinpoint where the smell was coming from. In fact it was still just as hard as ever. How was this possible? Shouldn't the scent become weaker with all the lords leaving? Does that mean that Queen Ashley was the one who made House Athena disappear?
To answer. The White Raven already claimed that the scent didn't belong to Queen Ashley, so the latter is impossible. The former has no explanation other than that something inside the Hall of Inquisitors gave off a scent that was much more powerful than the entire collection of elven and human lords.

Perhaps the room itself was the pinpoint?

When the doors behind him closed, Queen Ashley turned her attention to him. The two of them were the only ones in the room.

"Is something wrong, White Raven?"

The White Raven nodded. "Last night, I investigated the House Athena mansion and the fog disturbance. I wasn't expecting much, but I did find the fog that caused the complaints."

"Is House Athena safe?"

"No... As of today, I am declaring all of House Athena to be missing," he sighed. "Before the fog came I saw them all gathered inside the mansion and in its courtyards, enjoying themselves, enjoying the beautiful night, enjoying life. After the fog came and swallowed up all of that joy, I saw nothing but emptiness, darkness and cold... so I was left with many questions."

"I'm sorry to hear that."

His eyes narrow at her.

Is she really sad to hear that? After all, she was in competition with Lady Athena for the affection of the Lord Inquisitor - and she lost. It's possible that after all these years she's accepted her loss since she ended up winning by having his children, but sometimes that jealousy never disappears. I know her, I know her well enough to have a grasp of how she feels, and I highly doubt she's forgotten it.