Maerith remains perfectly still beneath the dagger. Blue witchfire ripples across her russet fur and the black-feather seal, revealing faint lines of matching script beneath her skin.
Maerith
The Ivory Talon is not merely a trafficking network. It is a custodianship, built to monitor Authorities before they awaken fully. Yours awakened in Aurelia.
Sella’s ears flatten. Behind the tapestries, the hidden passage stands open, while distant campfires remain quiet under Veyr’s forgotten obedience. Vael’s mark gives one uneasy pulse.
Sella
You knew his arrival was coming? You knew what he was before the rift opened?
Maerith
I knew the signs. The Aurelia breach, the Eidolon channel, the restored memories at Briarhollow. Someone is collecting what Coco loses.
Maerith slowly turns one ledger page with her fingertips. A charcoal sketch lies beneath it: Coco beside the Worldtree’s ancient root, his name carved into bark.
Maerith
Lower the blade, and I will show you who receives those memories. Keep it at my throat, and the ward beneath this palace will begin consuming them instead.
“I lower the blade and hear her offer "fine but if you try somthing il have veal tear you into two"”
SUCCESS (Legendary Willpower, rolled +1)
Coco
Coco lowers the blade. Fine, but if you try something, Vael will tear you in two.
The dagger drops from Maerith’s throat, though Coco keeps it ready at his side. Vael’s mark pulses once, and green light gathers beneath his sleeve.
Maerith
A reasonable precaution. I will not betray you. The ward beneath this palace recognizes authority, and it has already recognized yours.
Maerith removes the black-feather seal from the ledger and presses it against a hidden stone panel. The chamber floor opens, revealing a quiet archive beneath the palace.
Maerith
These records show where the Ivory Talon sent every stolen memory. The oldest entries name the World Tree, the Eidolon channel, and the one who receives what you lose.
Within the archive, sealed ledgers confirm the trafficking routes and identify hidden buyers across the eastern territories. Maerith orders the remaining network disarmed and the captives’ records destroyed.
Sella
The captives are safe, the Talon is broken, and its accounts are in your hands. Whatever waits beneath the World Tree, you will face it knowing the truth.
Quest Complete
Learn the truth behind Coco's awakening
Skill Upgrade: Persuasion Fair→Good
− Story Quest Removed
Uncover the Ashen Knight's connection to Coco's awakening
The hidden archive fell silent as the last Ivory Talon records burned to ash.
Sella
The captives are safe. The Talon is broken.
Maerith
Your stolen memories are no longer theirs to trade.
Coco
Whatever awakened in me, I will meet it as myself.
Above them, the palace wards dimmed, their hunger finally stilled.
Coco left the archive with the ledgers behind and their future no longer chained to the Ivory Talon. The truth of the awakening remained incomplete, but its power had been returned to the one who would bear it. With Sella and Maerith beside them, Coco stepped into the dawn, carrying the silence where stolen memories had been and the freedom to make what came next their own.