Withering Ambition

Helping Both Sides

With a grunt of effort, the window finally budged open. Climbing in from the outside, Necron rolled inside and collapsed onto the floor of his dorm room. With a sigh, he climbed into his bed and rested his weary eyes. 

For the first time in weeks, he would get a full night's sleep. He had been visiting Kaeman during the night for the last few weeks, but now his night was uninterrupted. He felt his consciousness fading as he drifted off into a deep sleep, unimpeded by responsibilities. 

He awoke to the sound of knocking on his door, and frustratingly arose from his bed. His eyes were still half-closed as he stumbled towards the door, barely awake. Placing his hand on the door handle to steady himself, he looked through the peephole to see who needed his attention. 

It appeared to be nothing more than a young adult, he couldn't be older than 25. Necron turned around and began to return to his bed, but the knocking sounded out once more. With an exasperated expression, he turned once more towards the door and opened it.

"Excuse me, sir, would you mind telling me about your interest in dark magic?"

Necron tilted his head with intrigue and studied the man at his door. White side-swept bangs flowed across his face, with a hood draped over his head. He wore a red scarf around his neck, and donned himself in black garbs. 

Necron spoke out in a curious tone, "Would you mind telling me who you are? And what brings you to me? Clearly you're not here just for fun."

The man nodded his head in agreeance before speaking up. 

"Well, you see, my name is Lanthrop, and I work under Dr. Emmett, and we have found a phenomenon that we could use your expertise to understand."

"I see. Well, Lanthrop, I would be glad to accompany you to this 'phenomenon' you speak of, but you will need to tell me more. I'm not stupid enough to follow strangers to mysterious places."

Necron pondered the irony of his statement for a moment before continuing. 

"What exactly are you hoping that I can do for you?"

Lanthrop shuffled his feet, looking downwards. His posture sank down a small bit, before once again rising. 

"Dr. Emmett tells me you have an interest, perhaps even an affinity for dark magic. We were... hoping that you could help us understand what we see. In case you haven't heard, the Wither King escaped his imprisonment last night. And we were left to survey the damage."

Necron feigned an expression of surprise, trying not to go overboard. 

"I would be glad to accompany you. I surely wouldn't be myself if I turned down the option to explore the areas of dark magic. Let me go get dressed."

Necron closed the door and rushed to the window. This was a predicament. He mustn't reveal what he knew about dark magic to Dr. Emmett. Perhaps he could feed him some... false... information. Necron spoke out quietly one last time before exiting the room.

"My loyalties remain with you, Kaeman. I will return to you. I promise." 

The door opened, and Lanthrop smiled, turning around and gesturing for Necron to follow him. Necron dusted off his clothes that he had worn to bed and followed. He was playing for both sides now.

https://discord.gg/Y6P8fc3wgQ

This chapter is dedicated to loklok, an active member of the discord who is pretty cool, if you ask me. Thank you so much!