The Golden Throne

Chapter 15: Black and white

"Where is acting-Grandmaster Lucius Flynn?" Hilbert stormed through the palace front door.

It was twilight when Hilbert and Hilda arrived at Errion City. Hilda proceeded to go to the hospital to heal both their Pokemon while Hilbert headed to the palace to have a word with the Grandmaster-to-be. He strode through the throne room and up the dais where the seats of the Imperial Council were placed.

"Where is he?" Hilbert demanded.

All of the seats, including the Emperor's Golden Throne were empty. Ever since the tragedy of Lake Aeri, there had been no replacements for the Imperial Council besides Ripley and a prodigal Silver Guard by the name of Lucius Flynn, who was currently undergoing a trial for the position of Grandmaster.

"The Grandmaster is training down at the Royal Arena. May I get him for you?" A maid stopped by next to Hilbert.

"Yes please," Hilbert replied sternly. He paced back and forth as the maid rushed off to fetch the man. After a few minutes, a warm and kind voice greeted him. 

"Hilbert, Nice of you to drop by! How did the mission go?" A bespectacled young man with black curly hair said with an outstretched hand for a shake. Hilbert left the man hanging, until he retracted his hand awkwardly.

Unlike Ripley whose post required her to wear a Philosopher's robe, he was dressed in an ornate, blue-trimmed silver armour. He had warm green eyes and a beautiful smile that revealed the most gorgeous pearly whites.

"I-It's nice to see you," Lucius mumbled with a slight tremble of uncertainty in his voice.

"My orders came directly from you?" Hilbert asked, ignoring his earlier question.

Lucius let out a confused chuckle. "Why, yes. Each order I delegate to my agents is based on thorough research and reports.  These are gathered by the Guard's Intelligence Unit. Why the sudden question? Are you sitting for their recruitment exam?" He said playfully, trying to lighten the mood.

Hilbert reached into his sling bag and pulled out the half of Phobos' mask that fell off. He had picked it up when he and Hilda were on their way out of the forest. Lucius' expression suddenly became serious and he snatched the mask from Hilbert.

"Good grace, where on earth did you get that?!" He inspected the piece closer, to see if it was authentic.

"I was attacked by two men when I was headed to the coordinates sent to me. They did everything in their power to try to kill me and a girl I met along the way. They said it was because I was helping the Empire fight the Zaff,"

"Hilbert... do you have any idea what I'm holding in my hand?" Lucius said, his eyes wide with shock.

"A piece of a mask from the two men who attacked me,"

"Not just any men. This mask belongs to the Macabre Twins: Deimos and Phobos,"

"Yeah, those were their names! Wait, how do you know them?" Hilbert eyed the Grandmaster-in-training suspiciously.

Lucius took off his glasses and wiped it with a handkerchief. He sighed and shook his head. "The Macabre Twins are a pair of professional assassins from an ancient religion whose followers were cold-blooded killers.

"They believed in a god who literally thirsts for blood. It's believed that their religion was an offshoot of ancient Giratina-ism. This religion started off as a group who would kill anyone as a blood sacrifice for their deity. They practiced bizarre rituals and had strange rules, such as not being allowed to let anyone see their faces. They became so good at killing that people began hiring them to carry out assassinations.