Forum Thread

At this point, Fier really regretted letting herself be overcome with boredom, as it allowed her thoughts to roam free and access memories she really didn't want to resurface. It all started when she begun thinking about the Saakri-Lumen, which of course led to other things. While she was chasing him, did she really feel excitement? The adrenaline? Or was it just something she convinced herself to feel while masked emotions desperately clawed in the back of her mind, just hoping to finally break free and become a part of her once again? The more she sat, doing nothing, the more he started to think about that very thing. She could feel hidden emotions, ones she hadn't allowed herself to feel in years, boil up inside of her and overcome her mind. Her muscles tightened to the point where her body began to shake, her eyes were glued shut as she tried to hold back tears. She couldn't let herself be weak, think about these things! She couldn't just cry over such a small thing, she had already gotten over it, right? Why was she crying?! She yelled in frustration as she threw her shaky arms over her eyes, wiping away the endless tears, only to be replaced with more. She sat up quickly, gripping her hair tightly and violently rubbing her eyes, begging it to stop. She didn't want to feel this, she didn't want to cry or look weak, why couldn't she just sit in silence without dealing with this foolishness? She wasn't the type of person to dwell on the past, let emotions take control, that's why she had locked them up, only letting the thrill of putting herself in danger give her any kind of emotion. She just couldn't deal with it again, not like this...

"W-what do you mean...?" The young child slowly pushed herself away from her mother's chest, looking up with tears in her eyes, only to see a sad smile. "Mama...? What... What are you saying...?" 1 step, 2 steps, 3 steps, pause. She stepped away from her mother slowly, fear and pain flooding into the tears that ran down Fier's face. "Sweetie, those girls... They were cruel people, terrible little children... I'm sorry I let you become friends with them, I truly am..." Her mother's voice, sweet as honey, had the sting of a bee in Fier's heart. At the time, the poor girl never realized the horrors those girls had exposed her to, she was only clouded by the curtain of lies they had put up, the illusion of being a companion tying Fier to them. "No... Why would you say that?! I hate you, you demons!"

That was the last time Fier had people to call family.

She stormed off, running out the door and into the woods, not caring about the consequences of what she had done. Running away would mean she wasn't guaranteed safety anymore, no shelter and no easy life. She had to live alone, with nothing but the clothes on her back. She ran and ran, ignoring those who called after her or tried to stop her. She was small and agile, able to slip through the small cracks in between buildings, the hands of those oder than her that had realized what she was doing, all of it. She avoided everything until she had reached the forest, including her own thoughts. Fier was never one to try and understand her emotions and thoughts even when she was young and wasn't concerned about much. Tears and sweat mixed as they ran down her face, heavy breaths filling the empty air as she darted through the trees. All she wanted to do was keep running, she didn't care if she was safe. She wanted to run from their deaths, run from her cruel parents, run from everything. It helped her, but only temporarily. The only reason she stopped running is when she passed out, of exhaustion of course, on the cold ground, the faint sound of her crying still being heard in the area around her small, frail body.

Whenever she woke up, she found herself in a small hut made out of sticks and leaves, just the right size for a little girl to lay in. The stickiness of her sweat still lingered on her face, causing stray leaves to stick as she rose to a sitting position. She was too tired to speak or even open her eyes properly, but she could still hear the voices of 2 little girls on either side of her. "She's awake! Laura, I won the bet!" The faint sound of a groan from one girl and the laughter of the other rang in her ears as she still tried to process what was going on. "You gotta give me the candy Laura, she's still alive!" Laura... Laura... Where had she heard that name before? Fier slowly lifted her hands to rub her eyes, getting all the grime and tiredness out of them so she could see clearly. The clear image of the two girls alone was enough to knock her right back to sleep, but the shock is what kept her from falling over. The two voices, the ones she assumed were the ones who brought her here, belonged to dead people. It was them, the two she had watched die with her own eyes, were right in front of her, alive and well. "Sadie? Laura?! W-" All of a sudden, a cold and ghastly hand was clamped over her mouth, the girl behind such deed being Sadie. "Shh... It's alright..." That was all she said, before they both disappeared into a column of smoke. They didn't even bother to explain anything or set Fier's mind at rest. But one thing was for sure, the two little girls she had met, were using a power only a saakri-lumen could use, only to decieve her and leave her with an overwhelming feeling of dissatisfaction. Fier would never get the pleasure of coming to peace with the death of those she loved. Not even when her parents died, 2 weeks later. They had taken their own life after hearing news that Fier's body was found in the woods, and they had been overcome with grief. Fier lived in the woods for 2 years after the death of her parents before returning to her old home and turning it into her own. She would forever be scarred by the experience, the fact that the girls who had been her only friends, being the one thing she hated most. She never saw their damned souls again after that, only whispers of their voices constantly filling her mind. She had come to figure out that those little girls were simply just illusions, and the sight of Fier's dead body was just another one of their stupid mind games to ruin her life even more.

Oh god... Not that memory again... It was the one that left her miserable in the first place, and it always came back to haunt her. She was constantly being reminded that her parents were never terrible people, they knew all along but they couldn't bear to see Fier heartbroken. She was constantly being reminded that Fier was the monster, the one she saw her parents as. All she did was be a horrible person, all thanks to those demon twins. Their existence was the reason she hated their species so much, but it was also why she secretly didn't want them dead either. She knew that if it came down to it, she couldn't really kill one, no matter how much hatred was built up inside of her. Maybe that's why she let the boy go, the Saakri-Lumen with the power of blood, because she didn't want to see herself kill one. Agh, the constant battle that was going on in her mind was killing her, and also giving her quite the headache. She let her arms fall to the side and just sat in silence for a bit, letting herself fall to the comfort of her pillow as she waited for the headache to go away.

Once she had finally gathered herself, she slowly got up and walked over to her sink and looked in the mirror. Her hair was a mess, her eyes were puffy from crying, and the faint glint of dried tears could be seen all over her face. She groaned and turned on the cold water, then drenched her face in it. She then dried herself off, brushed her hair, and changed her clothes before walking out the door. Maybe... No, that was stupid. Going back into the forest just to maybe find the Saakri-Lumen again was stupid. She should probably just take a walk around town, clear her head a bit or something.

---

Though Astrid had gone unconscious, she was still plagued with those horrible memories. In a bitter sense, it was almost as if the fall had knocked loose memories and moments that were hiding in the crevices of her psyche, just out of reach until now. But they were all flooding back, so that Astrid could only register flashes of them, like trying to catch snowflakes in your hand and watching them melt within seconds. A large, rough yet warm and gentle hand taking Astrid’s tiny one and leading her somewhere Being pushed around by a group of faceless boys and girls, crying out for help More recent memories Stealing from a guard for the first time Being knocked to the ground after she first tried to climb to the rooftops It was too much, too overwhelming, and though Astrid was already in pain, she was racked with a different kind, her entire body shuddering as the memories came back. She couldn’t stop it. Astrid was completely and utterly helpless, and she hated it, praying that it would stop and her pain would end. At least, the mental pain. Astrid didn’t mind the physical pain. That was one thing. This was another. Her unconscious mind flashed with all of these images, and more, and eventually they began to blur together, and Astrid slipped into the dark and still as her mind was too exhausted to move. And that was how Astrid hoped that she would stay, because she didn’t think that she could take anymore than that, no matter how strong she thought that she was. No matter how strong anyone thought they were, she doubted that they could take this. Regardless, it was too much for her to bear, and she’d tried.

Eventually, Astrid could slowly feel herself waking up, though she didn’t move and she didn’t open her eyes, wanting to register where she was. She figured she was in a jail cell. After years and years of stealing food, that was the only reasonable place for them to send her. What else were they going to do with someone like her? There was no hope for her. She’d been stealing for as long as she could remember, and she was eighteen years old. She wasn’t a child anymore. This was probably the place she’d spend the rest of her life. Astrid was already resigning. She had always known that one day things would catch up to her. She’d taken too many risks, been too daring, and now it was coming back to bite her. This was the end. It was the end of the line. Was there anything that Astrid wished she had done? Of course, that list was endless. She wished she’d remember more from her past. She wished that she’d been faster. She wished she hadn’t been scared off by the woods. Astrid wished she’d cared more. She wished that her parents were alive. She wished that she had friends. That last statement caught her off guard. Did she really wish that she had friends? No, she couldn’t depend on anyone. That memory that had distracted her, causing her downfall, was proof enough, but it was a lesson engrained in her. It was something that she would never forget. Sometimes she felt herself rebelling against that lesson, but she always shut it down. It would never happen again. Astrid would guard her heart, never opening up. Otherwise, things would always go wrong, and things would never work out. Though some would say otherwise, she knew the absolute truth.

That was when she had fully awakened, and she allowed herself a sneaking look at where she was. But she wasn’t in a jail cell. Astrid was somewhere she hadn’t ever been before, and yet at the same time it felt achingly familiar in a way she knew wasn’t possible. She’d never been to…wherever this was. This was a new place, and a frighteningly new one indeed. Where in the world was she? Who had brought her here? Her mind was already racking with questions, but she barely moved and barely opened her eyes, only allowing herself a fraction of vision so that she could know what was happening. And unsurprisingly, she didn’t get much information from this. But she knew that she had to stay still. At least until she could come to a final decision. Or, at the very least, find out who it was that had rescued her from the guards. And what they wanted in return. People always wanted things in return. Everything came with a price. And Astrid knew that they’d make her pay for it, so she wanted to be ready for the moment that the “Catch” came. Otherwise, it was a hassle for herself mentally that Astrid really, really didn’t want to have to go through. It just wasn’t worth it. And if they wanted something Astrid couldn’t pay at all? She wanted to be aware, ready to spring away. Some people might argue that not everyone was looking for something in return, and maybe whoever rescued her was just doing it out of the goodness of their heart. Astrid nearly scoffed at the idea. Nobody cared about her. Really, Astrid didn’t think that there were any people like that left in the world. If they really were there, they were extremely rare.

Astrid decided that the only way she’d ever be getting information about where she was, what was going on, etc. So, she opened her eyes and tried to sit up fully, but she was still in pain, and nearly cried out. Had it really gone that badly? How badly was she injured? Astrid’s vision was still blurry and she could barely move, so it wasn’t like she could examine herself at all, or figure out what she had broken. That was all that Astrid could really tell, if she was being honest. Her head hurt horribly, and her wrist felt like it was on fire, but she bit her tongue to keep from making anymore noise.

---

𝕾𝖊𝖕𝖍𝖙𝖎𝖘 𝕬𝖓𝖙𝖎𝖕𝖍𝖔𝖓𝖊𝖘
" 𝔗𝔥𝔢 𝔮𝔲𝔢𝔰𝔱𝔦𝔬𝔫 𝔦𝔰𝔫'𝔱 𝔴𝔥𝔬 𝔦𝔰 𝔤𝔬𝔦𝔫𝔤 𝔱𝔬 𝔩𝔢𝔱 𝔪𝔢; 𝔦𝔱'𝔰 𝔴𝔥𝔬 𝔦𝔰 𝔤𝔬𝔦𝔫𝔤 𝔱𝔬 𝔰𝔱𝔬𝔭 𝔪𝔢. "

Sephtis was busy tending to the cooking meat outside, making sure it didn’t get burnt, nor stolen by the other villagers who watch out for every opportunity for an easy steal. He foraged through the nearby bushes to see if there were any of those painkilling fruits growing. Sadly, there were none, and he wondered what crazy maniac would’ve taken all of them. While those purple berries were sweet and delicious, an overdose is deadly, which was why Sephtis only ate them if his pain was beyond bearable.

He let out a groan as he walked a little further, closer to the walls. There were more of those bushes growing there and they had to at least bear 3 of the berries, just enough to numb the other Saakri-Lumen’s pain, who was probably awake in the shed by now if his guarding orbs were looking correctly. Even if he was no doctor, he knew a fall like that, not cushioned by powers or soft items, would inevitably cause a broken rib or two, and he knew how crazy they hurt. Thankfully, the bushed there were untouched and there were plenty of the dark-purple fruit for Septhis to choose from. He plucked off 3 of the smaller ones and returned back to the fire to take out the hare and prepare the drink.

Honestly, he didn’t even know why he was helping this random girl. Sure, they both could relate to having a terrible past but he’s heard countless of other Saakri-Lumens with worser stories, and he never made the actual effort to help them whenever they were under a crisis.

“That’s because you’re actually a nice guy under those claws and fangs of yours,” he sighed. While it rang through his head in a blank tone, I came off as mocking to Sephtis, and him.

“Oh please, if you think that’s a compliment, you might as well be insulting his brains,” he laughed, earning a mental scoff from Sephtis.

He was seriously wondering who these voices were. Were they just his own voices talking back at himself or something else?

He blocked out the rambling going on in his head from the two voices as he took the hare off the fire and served it neatly into a metal disc, which was as close to a plate as he could get, before grabbing a cup to mix the berries with water, earning a purple-black solution when he mixed the two together. Once everything was finished, he stood up to meet the girl again.

A flying red orb approaching him grabbed his attention, as his blood orb, which he hadn’t destroyed for days now, returned to him and told him that his friend was on the way back. After a nod of approval from Sephtis, it flew off to finish another command. Sephtis let out a sigh of relief.

The faster he can get him here and heal her, the sooner he could get this over with. He entered the hut in time to see the girl try to sit up and wince in pain.
“Oi, don’t move so much. You’re not fit to go anywhere yet,” he grumbled, laying the offerings in front of her. “The black drink isn’t poison. I’d suggest you drink that first to get rid of the pain, you obviously broke a rib in your fall. It’ll help you cope with it until my friend comes back to heal you,” he explained, a hint of annoyance tainted his voice. Not wanting to linger around with her any longer, he left the shed, leaving the Saakri-Lumen alone. He wasn’t sure if she would take up his offering, there was a clear look of distrust in her eyes.

Then again, if she didn’t want the delicious meat, he didn’t mind eating it for her.

He didn’t really know what to do while waiting for him to arrive so he decided to just wait outside, sitting on one of the benches surrounding the fire, clearly visible to the girl in the shed. He had a bored expression as he kicked at the stones, sending dirt and dust flying towards his face. He was trying his hardest to ignore the chaos going on in his head, both the whispers and the memories that were repeating over and over again. Maybe if he got some sleep he can escape from the slight ache in his chest.

---

Astrid was still confused and disoriented from all that had happened, but she was a sharp girl, and she picked things up almost immieadientally. She could hear the sounds of cooking outside, and almost on instinct, she tensed up a little as she tried to pick up more information. But she couldn't see enough or hear enough, so she waited a little, just to see what would happen. Astrid couldn't pretend she wasn't extremely curious about the identidy of her rescuer (or potential kidnapper, not to wipe that off the board) so she waited, trying not to move. She'd quickly learned her lesson about that one, for sure. When the mystery person came back, just before they came into her line of sight, she had the thought that it could be the man from her memories, the one whom she seemed to at one point had some kind of connection with. But that thought was quickly dissapiated when she saw the person. It wasn't him. Astrid didn't know if she was dissapointed or relieved at this, but still, she kept a watchful eye on him.

The black drink isn't poison At first, Astrid was nervous about this situation, but then she almost laughed. Why in the world would he try to poison her after doing all that? That wasn't to say that Astrid didn't trust him. But she also wasn't paranoid to think that after all of the trouble that he had gone to rescue her from the guards that he would pull something like that. It didn't make any sense, after all, how was he going to get what he wanted if she was dead? Then the entire thing would have been wasted. So no, Astrid didn't think that he was trying to poison her. But honestly she didn't know what she really thought about him. Astrid could audibly hear her stomach growling, and she turned red with embaresssment at the noise. Astrid hadn't eaten since the night before, so she was extremely hungry. She wasn't going to pass up food, no matter where it came from. But she did want to get rid of the pain, so she took the drink first. It was slightly bitter, and she grimaced, but she took the entire thing, and sure enough, the pain was starting to lessen. She finished the drink and looked back at the food. She may not trust this person, but she wasn't going to pass up food. As soon as she started eating, Astrid visibly relaxed and kept eating. In less than a minute she'd finished it. Astrid hadn't realized how hungry she was, and she hadn't eaten since the night before. She looked up and saw the mystery person sitting on the bench, so she sighed. It was best if she asked now, and got it over with. So, though she didn't trust the person one bit, she reached into his mind again.

Thanks for the food. Now, who are you and what do you want from me?

---

[Made a slight alteration so that my former post was right before the time-skip. Let me try getting a hand at that long posting y'all are doing.]
Tidetaiko is not responsible for any kind of damage to the eyes, nerves, brain, or arm, nor does he hold any responsibility, if you hit your screen out of cringe. He is like that. Sorry.

Week one - The rarest commodity
Sara sat down once more, glaring at the rubble of marble in front. The air in her office changed, to more of a battleground than a spotless office. But so did her mood. Ruminating about the whole war itself, how it came to be... and some of the shadow operations in the background. She did not know it all, of course, but some ties to the government does grant a bit of insight regardless. Then, a phone ring. A standard ring, the one most standard ringing known to humanity. Sara picked it up, held it on her ear and, apart from the occasional "I understand", she did not say much. When hanging up, she gritted her teeth. That was one of her main suppliers. The war drafted most of their work force, they will not be able to meet this week's quota. Once more, she felt the rage building up, wielding her launcher again, ready to demolish the next statue of grandeur... but no...

Instead, she holstered it completely, storing it in her bag and got a hold of the phone, which linked her to the intercom to the main manufacturing line. Taking a deep breath and, to speak a little more freely, opening her shirt by just one bit, she started speaking her own speech.

"My dearest employees, managers and everyone else in this facility. Let us not beat around the topic, we have a war coming front and centre against the Saakri-Lumens. And I am sure you have your fair share of concern and fear, but I ask of you to put those aside. We have the resources, the will... to make this war short. And while Ignis is concerned with winning the war, I value your lives far more..." A short pause. Sara took a deep breath; she was always one for long and daring speeches but this one was different. She found it difficult to articulate herself, difficult to find the correct words to infuse her workers with confidence. But of course, all they heard was "a short pause from Radcliffe". Then she resumed.

"To all workers... We will run at reduced capacity. We have a shortage of material this week. As much as I do not want to spoil that extra free time... I would request for you all to go down to the medical examination bay. Get yourselves checked, both psychologically and physically. I want you to perform at peak performance during these next troubling weeks. If you are diagnosed with illness, request a sick leave immediately. You will be financially compensated, there should not be a worry. Thank you for your attention, and... as always... Stay strong. Stay sturdy. Stay alive." The last alliterations, she spoke with tears. Audible ones, the workers could hear her throat acting up and getting emotional. It was the first time in years they have seen a sensible side of her.

Hanging up the phone, Sara quickly shook her head and slapped herself, trying to get a hold again. She cannot risk emotions clouding her judgement. If she wanted to make profit and get both sides to pay her, she needs more. More output, more production... until she saw herself in a large mirror across the hall. There, it hit her...

the rarest commodity. It was not steel. Neither good nor even labour. It was intelligence...

End of week one – Ordinary Advice

Five days had passed. Sara looks at the numbers of her main line, a long document stretching dozens of pages, with a lot of red numbers stretched across all of them. Her expression was still one of gloom and desperation. “Numbers haven’t looked this bad since the Great Iron Deficiency…” The businesswoman leaned back in her seat, letting a stressed groan out. It was then when her secretary had returned, putting down a simple coffee. It smelled like standard cheap instant-brew, but she drank it regardless in one swoop, tossing the paper cup on the pile of others she had accrued over the past days. Then, she regained her composure and looked her petite assistant in the eye. “Could you… give me some insight?”
“W-What…?” She was flustered, shivering, and holding the table close to her chest, turning red.
“Your insight. I am in both a creative and financial down right now and could use any other point of view. Tell me… you are aware of our current situation. What can we do?”
The assistant, a short brunette with no discernible features other than a bit of a tan, which is rare amongst the ranks of Cecifido Industries. The room stood quiet for a bit, before she uttered out a phrase.
“M-Maybe put something back… making sure that when things go sour, we aren’t knocked down completely?”
Now, Sara usually would dismiss such a comment, after all, telling one of the leading business owners in the whole realm such a simple financial tip would, at best, net you a stink-eye. This time however, she nods a bit in agreement. “I can see where you are going… all right. It is time we settle this.” With that, she grabs a piece of paper and writes down several numbers, alongside a few strange sentences and even a few symbols. Handing it to her, she nods. “Alright. Take this and call each number on this list. If they ask you for your name or query, tell them the sentence afterwards. Do not be surprised if the voice changes. And when you are done with the whole list, burn it. Dispose of it so that nobody can restore it. When you are done… take the rest of the week off. I do not want you here for the upcoming events.” Shocked to hear that, the little girl ran outside, as Sara sat back in her chair, her arm clacking a little like clockwork.

Week Two – Cooperation, Friendship and Takeover

The new week dawned, with Sara herself preparing the conference room alongside a few workers she picked out of the line. They made sure that the large hall was free of dust, filth, and signs of use, as it was a storage room before. With a large hexagonal table in the centre now, in the middle a large assortment of coffee but also beverages of both alcoholic and safe nature, she wipes her hair back. It is the meeting she is always envisioned but to have it this soon was hard, even for her. As gasps fill the hallway, she quickly dismisses everyone and lets them leave through another door behind Sara’s seat, as a few figures stepped in, all varying in shape, size, and colour, though all of them wearing a suit, just like Sara herself. “Gentlemen… I welcome you. Please, have a seat.” She smiles, pointing at the large mahogany table, as each of them slowly sat down. Directly opposing Sara, a man already waves his hand without a care in the world. “Cut the small talk, Radcliffe. We know why you called us; we know you are doing poorly. You need help from us real businessmen.” He chuckled, as some of the others do too. “We’ve been preparing for that, we made sure that your severance will be more than sufficient.”
Another voice came out, a higher and reserved one. “W-What he is actually saying… is that we are always on the look for such opportunities, a-and it is an honour to be midst your ranks, Miss Radcliffe.” He stuttered, lacking the confidence of his predecessor but showing some remorse.
Sara just sighs, folding her hands together. “Gentlemen, if I could now actually start talking, that would be appreciated.” Her voice had the signature sternness and serious tone again, alongside her rolling of the letter ‘s.’ A few vexed groans came up, but nobody objected. Thus, another speech of Sara starts, while she pours a drink of her own.

“You all know the reason you are here. We are all facing tough times, do not pretend like I am the only one. I am just the first one to take initiative, do not assume the worst… Riporte.” She made sure to chew the last name out like a piece of jerky, to which that large man that cackled before just made another groan. However, he did not speak up, letting her fellow manufacturer continue. “Now, it is obvious that we all sport the most power in this realm. We produce it all, from simple toys, over to kitchen appliances, all the way to weaponry for the government. However, we will inadvertently suffer major losses, if we let that self-proclaimed hero Ignis do whatever he pleases. And I for one, while on the side of humans, am not too content on that.” Silence fills the room. All one could hear is the occasional gulp of Sara before Riposte opened again. “So, what is it that you are saying? That we should side with those filthy Tenebrises? Over my dead body.” Sara just follows with a sigh, but Riporte was not done yet. He stood up, knocking his chair over and leaning on the table, creaking from his weight, as he points at her and kept talking. “We should have you delivered straight to him already for even proposing to go against his orders. This war is between us and him and that filthy Andrea will not stop either. And neither will we, we will not stop until we see her quartered on a silver platter!” Most of the table agreed, cheering at the fat man, apart from one. The one who had defended Sara before, who gave a more hesitant cheer. Sara meanwhile just gave a chuckle, leaning back in her chair. “Gentlemen, please… sit down again. I think what I will say and do next is of grave importance.” She stopped talking, waiting for Riposte to sit down again, while pulling out an envelope from beneath her table. “You all should have an envelope like this taped on the underside of your table. I request of you to take it out and open it.” The men did as they were told, only to drop their jaws, glaring at Sara, who was already smiling triumphantly. Even her friend was a little shocked, speaking up first after the revelation. “W-Where did you get this?!” He asked, flustered, and almost paralyzed in fear. “Where I got it, is of no matter, Conover. Though I appreciate the curiosity. What matters is that I have copies stored in secure locations. It would be… a shame if somehow those got leaked out to the public. Or worse… to the higher-ups of Ignis.” They all shocked at first, Riposte threw the envelope onto the table, narrowing his eyes on the woman in front. “You know as well as I do that, they are fake. You cannot threaten us with that non-sense.” He grins, his fake teeth shining through. “Though you’re welcome to try. I will make sure to take you down with me.” Reaching into his pocket, he aims a gun right at Sara… only to instead hold a banana in his hand. “What th- “The click of an actual gun interrupts his muttering, as Sara had pulled out a simple revolver. Top Shelf. Fancy decoration, even a sticker of a unicorn on the side. Smiling, she explains. “I… went the extra step of letting your weapons get involuntarily confiscated. Do not worry. I will make it quick.” Pressing the button, most of the business owners ducked, and Riposte was frozen in terror, only for a flag to hit him in the forehead instead. A flag that said, “Coup critique!” Laughing, she fell in her chair and could not stop, as the people around her quickly caught on, looking at her as if she had just cracked a joke at a funeral. “Goddamnit woman, are you insane?!” Riposte yelled, before Sara stopped her laughter a little abruptly, still wiping a tear off. “No-no… I just… hah, I had not seen that fat face of yours like that since they cancelled shrimps at the last get-together… ahhhh… but really.” With a bit of coughing, she smiles once more, pulling out the papers from her envelope and handing them to each one. “Sign this, a standard contract. I keep those blasphemous pictures out of circulation and make sure that they never see the light of day… and in return, each of you will give me most of your company. At least seventy-five percent. Do not worry…” A sadistic smile forms, as she stood behind Riposte, pinching his neck, and digging her nails a little deeper into it. “I made sure your severance is sufficient~” She whispered, just enough for everyone to hear it, while giving the large man in front a small flick on the neck, before walking to her seat again. “Oh yes… these contracts are interlinked with one another. So, a breach of contract from one of you… will ensure that everyone gets punished. So, if I were you… I would keep an eye on the others as well.” Closing her eyes, she smiled and heard pens writing. One of her most favourite sounds of the day, before receiving five signed contracts and, after reassuring that they all have been signed properly, she nods. “You are all dismissed. Your pay will be transferred by the end of the week, you are free to visit at any time, though I would discourage you to do so… and as always, it is a pleasure doing business with you all one final time.” She gave another smile, as the doors opened and the others left the room, all hunched with an expression of horror…
 
End of Week Two – Merging & Caring

It is the end of the second week. Sara did the best she could to appease her newfound fortune, lowering the production for the week, distributing the workforce over the factories she had just “graciously received.”

Of course, such a large takeover was not done secretly, as many newspapers and magazines covered the face of Radcliffe now, calling her “The Unifying Thread.” A name she would hear from her subordinates, most of which were of course in PR, the most. She did not mind; it has been a long time since she got an epithet like that. And secretly, she was happy as that would mean her old one, “The Mechanical Maniac” was finally put out of commission. The rest of the week, she made sure that the former owners would not spill anything, which is why they were properly taken care of by some of her more dubious associates. Nevertheless, with this new power and control, Sara finally got her main line up and running again, now only awaiting some sort of response from Ignis’ forces. Surely now, he would want to approach her with some kind of advance or ventures.

After the Speech of Ignis – No place for Altruism

Holding a glass of wine in her hand, she sat in her newly decorated office. Having this many locations around semi-forced her into moving into a new separate building, which she had also taken over swiftly. The new office was not too much to brag, as Sara was a woman of modesty as well. While the hallway to it was decorated in all grandeur, with red carpets, marble statues in assorted colours and the fresh scent of leather, her office looked poor in comparison. The best thing though was the large view onto both the city centre and Ignis’ hold-out. Swaying her glass, she just gave a simple chuckle. “Poor fool… waging war on a race you do not know, with weapons you do not know the quality of. Let us be honest. All you know… is holding speeches, drinking, and eating like the glutton you are and occasionally getting one good decision in your myriad of bad ones.” She downed her drink at once and slammed the glass on her desk, before looking back at the new documents. The numbers were black again, new ventures and pages added… but after storing them away like normal, locking the door and turning on a signal jammer, she prints out a new page. One that is encrypted in a foreign language, an ancient one that not many could read anymore. Sara does not recall why she could even, but it proved practical. Smiling to herself once more, she leans on her mechanical arm, caressing her own cheek. “Guess Andrea is just as desperate as I thought she was…” She chuckled, at once torching the document again and throwing the burning paper into the bin. “It’s only her subordinates…
Thankfully, she anticipated the military service. Not at this size, but she did, nevertheless, putting most of the effort into automation. With new sentry guns outside, robotic workers inside, she smiled. “Automation progress?” She asked, the little brunette back again, as she frantically looked through her papers before nodding. “N-Ninety-five percent, madam.” “Excellent.” She replied, walking into her office again and getting her gear ready, her signature weaponry and a little bag. The bag itself looked more like it would belong to a college student, with stickers and logos glued, with a white crudely knitted writing reading Engineer’s Essentials. With that, she smiles and nods at her assistant. “I’m on mobile for indefinite time. If I don’t call back within eighteen hours, you’ll take control. Standard procedure, you get reprimanded for any kind of lowered output. Godspeed.” She smiled, waving at her and after dressing herself a lot more inconspicuous, now sporting just an ordinary hoodie with a polo shirt underneath, a beret and aviator sunglasses, before also putting on a skin-coloured glove over her mechanical hand, before she waved, leaving her industries before the drafting could reach them.

Title: IV: Behind Stone Walls

Ignis looked on at his chess board, turning to face the singular window, overlooking the land of his kind. He appeared as a drunk, brainless monster on the outside, but the inside was so much more terrifying. Like Andrea, he was cold and calculating, making sure each and every move was accounted for. He was currently playing chess with his advisor Jax, as they decided over battle tactics. Jax was currently moving the pawns around, muttering calculations under his breath. Ignis turned away, longing for some peace, yet also wanting Jax to stay. He was one of the only real friends he ever managed to make….apart….apart from her. Then all hell broke loose, their loved ones lost, and then they were put against each other, each doing their duty for the good of the rest of the world. “Iggy? Are you alright?” Jax asks, concerned. Hearing that familiar nickname caused his heart to ache…he had heard that nickname before…when no one wanted to friend the freak….she had called his name, prevented the others from further mistreating him…..that nickname was spoken with such affection…such concern. But it was all over now…she was here no more, relationships long since cut off and twisted, shaken by the past fears and failures. “Yes…yes Jax I’m fine. How’s the planning coming along?” His eyes harden once more. You’re weak…stop thinking about the past….how many times have I told you? He thinks, fists clenching under the table. He realised what he was doing, and unclenched his fists, inhaling and exhaling slowly. “Preparations…yes…we must prepare the people when they face the Saakri-Lumens. Use all the weapons we have…enlighten our people of the power the Saakri-Lumens hold…teach them how to use each and every piece of tech we own. Should we falter, and have a weaker hand in battle…I shall use this…it will surely give us the upper hand.”

---

It only took a few minutes for Fier to notice anything abnormal. Of course, she wasn't exactly her usual self today. She wasn't hiding under the safety of her concealing hood on her jacket, so people could easily identify her and avoid her at all costs. Whenever that happened, she would usually respond with that devilish grin, followed by going up to one of those who had desperately tried to escape her gaze, and toy with them. This time though, she did none of that. Her face held an emotionless appearance, but she wasn't keeping her head down, making that part of her easily noticeable. She kept her hands in her pockets, not at her sides, carelessly swinging her daggers around as she walked. She never made eye contact with anyone, never ran after those who walked by, nothing. Some people didn't take the risk of staying just a second longer to notice the strange behavior, but the ones who did never did anything. Out of the corner of her eye though, she could see their puzzled glances and slowed walking, but she didn't exactly care. She just wanted a walk, that's it. She didn't feel like messing around today, she clearly wasn't in that state of mind and she wasn't exactly sure when she would return to normal. That morning really messed her up, which only reminded her, once again, why she doesn't allow those things to happen. Fier was able to make it to the center of town, still continuing forward along the sidewalk, without much trouble. That is, until a small tug was felt from the pocket of her pants, as well as the belt she wore. It only took her a split second to turn her head towards a small child that had been running with her stuff in their hands, and beginning her run as well.

She didn't exactly have any prejudice or exclude anyone from her way of doing things, and this little child was no exception. She would continue chasing them until she got her stuff back, leave them with both a mental and physical scar or two, and return to whatever she was doing. She only started to notice a problem when a few minutes passed and she was unable to close the distance between the two. The kid was fast, matching her speed and seemed to match her in stamina and street knowledge as well. They were able to weave in between buildings, make unexpected turns, and she even found herself running across the rooftops with them at one point. If the situation was any different, she would be quite impressed and even applaud the kid, but right now she was missing some pretty valuable items and quite a bit of pocket money. She couldn't afford to let her mind wander and deviate from her goal to retrieve the stolen goods at the moment. There were times where she came so close to grabbing the child and accomplishing her goal, but her fingers just managed to slip away from the loose clothing on the kid's back. She kept trying and trying, never managing to catch up. The two even managed to catch the attention of the townspeople and higher ups, but they outran them very quickly and lost them.

After a while, Fier found herself at the border between the town and the forest, which didn't register in her mind for a few moments until she started to get smacked in the face with tree limbs and stray sticks. She still continued running, sweat dripping down her face and her speed faltering. She could tell the kid was getting tired too, because with one last reach, she finally grabbed hold of the rim of their shirt, stopping the chase.

"Finally caught you, ya little gremlin..." She growled, but a slight smile tugged at her mouth as she said that. She had them pinned to the bark of a tree, their squirms doing nothing against her grip. The only thing she had heard from them thus far was grunting and whines, which hurt her ears and annoyed her quite a lot. "Oh shut up, hand over my stuff and maybe I'll spare your poor soul..." Her smile was turned into a grin, her hand reachng back into her pocket and pulling out one of he knives faster than the kid could react. She held it up to their chin and got closer to their face, causing the squirming to stop but the whines to intensify. The kid wouldn't move at all, meaning she hadn't gotten her stuff back, so she decided to use brute force. She quickly reached for her things, which had been hanging out of a small, ratted bag they had been carrying, but was stopped by a desperate attempt to keep the items in said bag. Hands clasped over a small, thin box and a wallet full of money, but the attempt was useless against the sheer amount of force Fier had been using to retrieve her stuff.

Even after completing the task she had done this whole thing for in the first place, she wasn't going home without doing something with this kid first. The blade was still at their throat and her arm still pinned them to the tree. She was curious about this kid, as even taking one clear look at them told her that they were... unusual to say the least. They reminded Fier of, well, her. A small little kid, intelligent enough to easily learn how to survive, but sadly bound to that horrible fate, resulting on getting everyone's bad side by being a thief. This poor kid had probably been homeless for quite a while, even though they only looked to be about 10. All the attempts to escape, as well as the cries to be let go, had stopped at this point, allowing Fier to at least try and talk to them. She squatted down in order to get to their level, still maintaining a solid grip on them, but lowered her knife and put on a less hostile expression. "Hey kid, what's your name?" She asked simply. Pause. 1 second, 2 second, 5 seconds, 10 seconds, a minute... All of it was silence. It was quite awkward to Fier, but she could tell the child was in a state of fear or shock even, which would explain the hesitation. "A-Aiden..." They replied, their name being the only thing that came out of their mouth. "Aiden, huh... Hmm... So Aiden, you wanna start apologizing about stealing my stuff? Or do you wanna be left here to die?" She pulled out a roll of string from a pouch in her belt, then looked up to the sturdy branch above. Aiden looked as well, and from his expression she could tell that he knew what she meant. She could very easily tie him up and leave him here, with only the hope of someone passing by and having mercy on the poor kid to save him. Of course, she was starting to like this kid, so it was highly unlikely that she was going to do that.

"Quick question little guy, do you know who I am?" The question was out of the blue, which seemed to shock the kid a little bit at first, but he answered the question just fine. "No ma'am, no I don't..." His voice was still low and soft, almost making it difficult for her to hear. To be honest, the answer surprised her. She figured she had gotten quite the reputation around town, meaning pretty much everyone had the pleasure of knowing her, but the reality that her assumption wasn't the case shocked her. Either Aiden had somehow avoided her until now, or he had come from quite a ways away and ended up here. Either way didn't really matter though, so she moved on. "Ma'am? Do I really look like the type of person who deserves to be called that? Damn, mama raised you good, didn't she?" She laughed a little at her small remark, the laugh fading when she noticed the gloom that started to cover the boy's face. So, he didn't have parents either, that was... interesting, she supposed. After a few moments, her grip loosened enough so that he was free from Fier's grasp, but he didn't move much other than getting himself off of the tree bark. "I'm really sorry ma'a- miss, I didn't mean to cause much trouble..." He had kept his head low and said nothing else afterwards. "I would've ran by now if I were you, but since you decided not to save your skin..." She gave a menacing grin as she stood up straight and carelessly threw her hand onto his shoulder. "You're staying with me, you'll be good for stealing stuff. But..." She slowly raised the dagger to wave in front of his understandably confused and slightly terrified face. "If you run off, or pull some BS, there will be... consequences to say the least." She let out one last laugh, letting her arms fall to her side before turning to walk in a random direction, allowing the two to get completely lost in the forest. She was well aware of the extra humans that populated the area, but she figured the two could easily slip past them and continue enjoying their walk.

---

𝕾𝖊𝖕𝖍𝖙𝖎𝖘 𝕬𝖓𝖙𝖎𝖕𝖍𝖔𝖓𝖊𝖘
" 𝔗𝔥𝔢 𝔮𝔲𝔢𝔰𝔱𝔦𝔬𝔫 𝔦𝔰𝔫'𝔱 𝔴𝔥𝔬 𝔦𝔰 𝔤𝔬𝔦𝔫𝔤 𝔱𝔬 𝔩𝔢𝔱 𝔪𝔢; 𝔦𝔱'𝔰 𝔴𝔥𝔬 𝔦𝔰 𝔤𝔬𝔦𝔫𝔤 𝔱𝔬 𝔰𝔱𝔬𝔭 𝔪𝔢. "

Thank you for the food, now who are you and what do you want from me?

Sephtis wasn’t shocked at her voice anymore like before, it only took him little time to adapt to things, and it wasn’t as if the other two in his head hadn’t suddenly cause a commotion in there at the worst moments possible.

“You don’t need to know me, I have no interest to meddle around with you after this anyway,” he replied frankly. He just needed to fix those injuries and would probably never have to see her again after that. He never intended to cross paths with her in the first place.

It was all just a twist of fate, but the outcome will stay the same nonetheless.

“Oh please, don’t pretend to not know this idiot. As if you didn’t stalk him when you first met the other day,” he whistled in Sephtis head. He didn’t realize he’d unconsciously blurted out his lines. If they’ve ever met, Sephtis can’t remember, the only one he’d seen that day was a human-

In the dark alley, a pair of blue eyes stared back at his bloody, red ones. He smirked, what a weakling. With such great power, with no limit like the boy had, she could’ve outmatched anyone who’d put up a fight with her.

Ah, what a shame. A pity indeed…

Sephtis shook his head at the sudden thoughts that flooded his head. He never thought of that and he couldn’t recall seeing those eyes in the alley either. He thought the girl was playing tricks on his head.

“Quit that, it’s not funny,” he growled, though her blank expression told him she didn’t do it. If anything, she looked as confused as he was. He just shook his head with a complaining groan. “Nevermind, my head’s just making a mess today,” he grumbled. His annoyance was soon washed away by the sound of calm, incoming footsteps.

“Finally, you made it. The center isn’t that far from here you know?” he greeted. The other Saakri-Lumen didn’t seem bothered.

“Yes, but unlike you I don’t act like a monkey jumping on rooftops,” he answered.

“At least I don’t have to stand for countless hours in a jam,” he retorted. The other man just smiled.

“Yeah, yeah,” he said before he got into the shed with the girl.

Sephtis waited patiently outside while he mended her bones, looking up at the sky at the forming dark clouds. Ah, it was going to rain and his hadn’t patched up the roof. Looks like they won’t have to bathe at the stream today. The man emerged from the shed a few minutes later, with the girl behind him.

“I healed her, she’s good to go now,” he said. “You might want to give her a little break, though. Her body still needs some rest,” he added. However, Sephtis couldn’t care less, taking the girl’s hand from him and staring their way into the maze of tents.

“It’s not like she’s on the brink of death, it was just a broken rib. She’ll be fine,” he said before they left, his hand raised in the air with a symbol only him and his friends know. The other Saakri-Lumen smiled but shook his head.

“You’re welcome. Be careful,” he replied to Sephtis’s signal.

Sephtis didn’t warn the stranger about what she’d have to put up with while they made their way out. The horrid stench of trash and whatever [bloop] was laying around in the soil was enough to kill 5 Saakri-Lumens if they weren’t use to the smell. There was also the suspicious, and horrendous, smell of blood and rot coming from all directions. Every now and then there would by the hurried scuttling of mouse behind the metal cans or the loud buzz of, not bees, but flies as hey swarm what they could only hope was a dead animal and hopefully not the body of a Saakri-Lumen. Sephtis wasn’t bothered by the smell, nor did he have any sense of disgust when he accidentally stepped on a cockroach, the pressure on the insect causing an almost comical ‘splat!’ as its body was squashed, it’s insides oozing out under the sole of his boots. He was used to all of this; it was his home since childhood. Though he still wished to have a cleaner home soon, but there was no space in the center for low-lives like them.

The further away from Sephtis’s camp they went, the quieter the surroundings became. The shouts and laughing seem to fade, even nature quieted down, their footsteps were the only apparent sound in the silence. He didn’t explain a word to the girl, but his pace picked up, not wanting to stay on the ground in the area, for good reasons. If the girl was in better shape, he would’ve made them climb the roof to get out, but she was fatigued from the healing so he couldn’t do it. Even if he could carry her, if both his hands were occupied, he might be late to react to anything that came their way.

It was because the area was the ‘territory’ of the actual bloodthirsty Saakri-Lumens. Some even call them cannibals. Those who don’t pass through carefully were never seen alive and not even their dead bodies could be retrieved. All their family members were left to hold onto was a bloody knife at their doors as a confirmation of their loss. Truly, the being living here were more ruthless than Sephtis and the humans combined. If anyone were to call someone serial-killers, it should’ve been them, not an innocent family that did no harm just because they were rumored to have such an evil ancestor.

“Don’t think about that,” he mentally scolded at himself as they pressed on, the area getting darker as the tattered clothing above them shielded the light, leaving them in their shadows. It reminded Sephtis too well of the forest. When he met the human under the darkness of the canopy, when he made that terrible slip up and the wild chase after that.

*SNAP*

No, Sephtis didn’t repeat the same mistake. No, he didn’t just step on a branch and break it. Sephtis blank face suddenly warped into one of alarm. It came from his right and his head made a sharp turn to face the intruder.

“Look out!” he shouted, his arms extending in front of the girl before a knife pierced through his skin. He winced at the sudden shock of pain before pulling the blade out, his blood already spilling. Before he could pressure the wound with a bandage, he caught shadows moving in every direction, the crazy footsteps made it impossible for him to predict where they’ll come from next.

This was it for them, they were surrounded. But if he could just wrap the cut-

A yell from above cut his thinking and he pulled the girl just in time before a huge Saakri-Lumen landed and shook the ground, making them lose their balance and nearly fall if it weren’t for the support of the wall close to Sephtis. He shook his head, there was no time for first-aid. Since his blood was already flowing in high amounts, he might as well use it.

He won’t make that mistake again. He never will.

He was brought back to that time, fighting the horde of people, with the little girl beside him. It may just be a random stranger, and Sephtis could’ve just let her die while he makes a run for it, but she reminded him of her too much. His mind can’t stop thinking that he was back in the past, even when he knew they were all long gone, even when he clearly knows he’s the only one of them left.

“Proelium!” he roared, as the blood on the ground rise, hardened and sharpened into dagger-like crystals, scattering in every direction and hitting home one every other Saakri-Lumen surrounding them, he watched as they start dropping dead, one by one in a circle. They made it, he thought, as he got up to finally treat the bleeding injury.

He thought too soon. The moment he took his eyes off his surroundings, he was pushed back by a sudden force and thrown against the wall, he heard a crack in his chest.

Great, for saving a person with a broken rib, he broke one himself. He tried to get up but the Saakri-Lumen had him pinned, a knife in the other hand, their long tongue flickering eagerly like a snake. He grimaced, his blood daggers should have gotten everyone, but he understood why this one wasn’t affected. His body was plated with hard scales, impenetrable to sharpness or force. Sephtis was powerless under his strong grip, his red eyes met with the girl, who was standing safely in the distance. He couldn’t speak because of the crushing weight on his chest, amplifying the pain of his broken rib, but he tried his best to tell her through his eyes.

Run. Get out of here, it screamed. But the other voice in his head thought differently. He was suddenly forced to shift and his vision went black.

“Come on, you’re clearly underestimating her,” he scoffed, blood spurting out his mouth. He knew he could defeat his opponent, but with the boy so weak and losing so much blood, they’d die in the process. But he won’t let him die. He had to protect him.

He had sworn to protect him.

“Hey, you wimp. You have two choices. You can either use that damned great power of yours and save us or you can run like the coward you were and abandon us, though you’d better watch your head because I will make sure to cut it off that pretty body of yours,” he snarled. It was a huge gamble; he wasn’t even sure if she’d try. “You asked what this boy wanted with you, right? He saved you for no utter reason and threw himself into unnecessary danger that I’m seriously disappointed in him. He could’ve just been taking his usual nap right now or walking in the woods, but he saved you anyway and look where that got us,” he continued, feeling his strength slowly fizzle out. As much as he hated it, his expression softened a little and his voice became gentler.

So, please. All we ask of you is to save him,” he ended.

---

She didn't resist, but that didn't mean she wasn't wary.

Astrid went along with all of this, obviously because there was nothing else she could do. When the stench hit her, she almost pulled back in disgust. Astrid had seen plenty of disgusting things, but this was probably the worst. Still, she had to keep going, though her eyes watered from the stink. She was completley caught off guard by this strange person pulling her to safety. What was going on?! She soon realized that there were people attacking them. Everything in her screamed to run. She should have ran. But she was still healing. And the fear kept her frozen.

Astrid knew death. She had known it from a young age, growing up on the streets. Animals died. People died. Everyone would meet their end someday. Astrid couldn't pretend that she wasn't de-sensitized too it. She could see that the Saakri-Lumens who had pinned the boy who had rescued her was eager for his death. The message that echoed through her brain made her freeze. She could save him. She owed the boy, anyway. But she'd be risking her own life for this moment. What if she couldn't do it? What if she was the reason that he died? No. No. Astrid's mind was racing, until she finally made a split moment descison. She had to save him. So, she reached out and made a connection with the Saakri-Lumens that had pinned him down. She was deterimend to break him, and so she let go.

The chaos would have its chance.e

It tore at the poor Saakri-Lumen's psyche, screaming and muttering and crying, doing everything in its power to drive him insane. He crawled back, hands clamped over his head like he wanted nothing more than to tear his own brain out. But Astrid had given the chaos too much control. So, with a cold and emotionless face, she kept going. She dug out every horrible memory of her own and turned it into a nightmare to plauge him, until the Saakri-Lumens went limp, his heart stopping out of fear. The chaos was satisfied, and gave Astrid control. She realized what she'd done, and her eyes widened. No. Nonononothiswasn'trealthiswasn'treal. She backed up a few steps, shaking as she stared at the person that she'd killed. But somehow, she knew it wasn't the first. Another memory came back.

She was only nine years old, and someone was following her. She hurried down the street, late at night, speed picking up. She'd never been on her own for this long before. Astrid was desperate to get home. But the woman just picked up speed. She was going to hurt her. Astrid knew that the minute that she had started following her. And Astrid knew there was nothing she could do. It wasn't like she was going to use her powers. She couldn't. The dark feeling would come back again. And she would forget everything. So she took off running. There was a loud popping noise as the woman teleported beside her. "Got you!" she crowed as she tightened her grip so she couldn't run away. Astrid didn't have the control she had now. It broke loose and connected to the woman. Her eyes widened and she pratically threw herself to the ground as she shook and screamed, and Astrid just kept going. She didn't stop until the woman's eyes were red and and she was dead. Astrid's stomach dropped, and silent tears ran down her face. She had killed someone.

And it was all

her

fault.

---

𝕾𝖊𝖕𝖍𝖙𝖎𝖘 𝕬𝖓𝖙𝖎𝖕𝖍𝖔𝖓𝖊𝖘
" 𝔗𝔥𝔢 𝔮𝔲𝔢𝔰𝔱𝔦𝔬𝔫 𝔦𝔰𝔫'𝔱 𝔴𝔥𝔬 𝔦𝔰 𝔤𝔬𝔦𝔫𝔤 𝔱𝔬 𝔩𝔢𝔱 𝔪𝔢; 𝔦𝔱'𝔰 𝔴𝔥𝔬 𝔦𝔰 𝔤𝔬𝔦𝔫𝔤 𝔱𝔬 𝔰𝔱𝔬𝔭 𝔪𝔢. "

“Sephtis, are you okay?”

He opened his eyes and frantically tried to look around; his mind still not calm from the situation they gone through. Where was the girl? What happen? Why is everything so bright?

Is he dead? Was this the end?

“Hey, bro. Calm down! Everything’s okay,” the voice reassured, a sudden warm grip held his shaking shoulders. Sephtis felt weird, he couldn’t move but his vision was crystal clear. He looked at the person who was in front of him.

Those red eyes look exactly like his, the difference was only the color of their hair, a pitch black rather than Sephtis’s pure white, but they looked alike nonetheless. The person had a gentler and more mature look than Sephtis that was so familiar it brought back the ache in his chest. Sephtis didn’t need further explanation
He was watching another memory, and this person was definitely his older brother. It all felt so real that he could feel his eyes start to water.

“Hey, why are you crying? You did nothing wrong,” his brother said, gripping his smaller hand. It was 3 times smaller than Sephtis’s actual hand, more like a child than an adult. It took a while for Sephtis to register what was the sticky substance on his palm. There was dried blood staining his pale skin. He tried to control it, knowing it only worked for his blood, but the blood stayed still.

This was someone else’s blood.

Though Sephtis wouldn’t actually be scared of it, his heart started to race in terror and his vision was shifted upwards, where a dead body laid. He heard his child self scream in horror as he backed away from the corpse. Judging by the looks, it hadn’t been long since the person had been murdered, and it wasn’t a Saakri-Lumen. The scent of the body, other than the dreadful smell of rot, was definitely human.

Countless thoughts ran through the mind of the child, projecting themselves in front of Sephtis like someone showing flashcards. He just murdered a being, with his own hands, he thought. Sephtis felt the grip tightening around a metallic object which he assumed was a dagger or a knife. The strong iron smell was enough to tell him it was drenched in the victim’s blood.

His vision was brought back to his brother, who had the unresponsive look on his face, the face Sephtis always made no matter what emotions ran through his head. The sight of his family members was an exception, though, and he almost begged for himself to wake up and stop seeing his face already. He didn’t wat to see or remember them again. If it hadn’t been for the girl’s powers that uncovered his darkest memories, he wouldn’t feel so broken.

“I killed him! I’m a murderer!” the child cried, bringing Sephtis back to the events of the memory. He thought he was pathetic, the crying made him cringe inside. His brother wrapped his arms around his small body. How he wished he could return to his loving warm embrace.

“You’re not a murderer. You were just doing what you needed to do to survive,” he said, the crying child didn’t want to listen. To him, he was a killer that should be punished, just like what any innocent child, untainted by the cruel world, would think if they were in his shoes. Even when the brother tried to maintain a composed face, there was a tinge of annoyance. “Look, it was either your own life or his. He wanted to kill you anyway. You think he’d cry about his sins after he takes away your life like you are doing now?” he sighed. “Sephtis, you need to learn that, in this world, there are times you need to be heartless. There are times you must throw your emotions to the side and kill off your enemy or you won’t live long in this world,” he explained to the child, his crying lessened to hiccups.

“But there had to be another way. There could’ve been a misunderstanding,” he fought. He wanted to believe that everyone had some good in them, that he could reach to them if he tried. The older brother looked like he had given up on trying to change the kid’s mind.

“Not everyone in world is as nice as you think, Sephtis. You’ll understand once you get older,” he sighed as he lifted the small boy up. “For now, you need a shower. I’ll bury the body later,” he said. The boy leaned on his brother’s chest as they returned to the village, staring at the body of the life he had just taken. Slowly, his surrounding faded into a blank white.
Sephtis didn’t want to believe that embarrassing child was him, but that was the reality. He did learn as he grew up, especially after he lost them. Truth be told, now he no longer felt anything when he killed someone, the emotions discarded down the drain, worn from all the experiences he had gone through. In the end, no matter how civilized they are, the system was still the same as in the wild.

In the end, it was all a battle for survival for them, the unfortunate ones, a disguised ‘eat or get eaten’ system.

»»———-　　———-««

He let out a satisfactory sneer at the pain the person went through. With the weight of his chest, he could finally breath freely, though not to deep so his chest wouldn’t hurt from the broken rib. He took out the bandaged Sephtis carried around in his pockets and tightened it around his chest and cuts before making his way to the girl. His face, that was close to shining with pride at the girl’s strength, immediately turned into one of discontent as he watched her kneel on the ground, with eyes filled with shock at what she had done. He groaned; oh, this was definitely like the past now isn’t it. What a pathetic look on her face, it should have been a look of superiority, a victorious expression of making it out the war alive. He kneeled to make eye contact with her, ignoring the searing pain in his chest.

“Why in the world are you making that face? Aren’t you happy that you won the battle?” he protested as he pulled her up by the arm, and dragged her along on their way. “We best get going now, that wasn’t even half of their actual number. They could come back any minute now,” he said as they quickly left the area, the smell of the Saakri-Lumens dead on the ground intensified the atrocious smell of the surroundings.

Slowly the grey backgrounds of crumbling sheds, huts and tents shifted into a natural green, the smell of wet grass and moist soil overtook the lingering smell of rot and blood. They made it out, it wouldn’t take any longer to get to the center. He could already hear the chattering of Saakri-Lumens as they socialized in the market, accompanied by the clanking of the metal gears of the guard. He was quickly reminded that they could be hunted and chased down the minute they are seen. He lifted the girl onto his back as he leaped and grabbed hold of a metal railing. He can’t believe he was going to do this with his injuries.

“Hold on,” he ordered blankly as he leaped and climbed at immense speed to the rooftops, gripping onto the gaps in the bricks and leaping from empty balcony to balcony until he could get a clear view of the whole center, high up on the roofs.
They all look so happy, so content. He felt furious that the boy could never enjoy such a peaceful life, the unfairness of it all pissed him off.

This was reality, nothing in life is ever fair.

He found an empty and dark alley and dropped the girl from his back, hissing at the worsening pain in his chest and holding back the blood in his mouth from spurting out. He really should go now before his wounds worsen.
“I believe you can take it from here,” he rolled his eyes before tossing a sack at her. The boy was bringing it to give it to her, which he couldn’t comprehend why. Maybe we was softening, for crying out loud. Why would he waste 3 full hares to someone they randomly met, as if putting his life on the line wasn’t enough. He shook his head as he sprinted away, leaping back up onto the roofs.

Thankfully, Sephtis had another healer nearby, hidden somewhere deep in the center. He searched through the darker parts of the center, where blue soul lanterns eerily light up the surroundings of the silent alley. A building with a particularly odd metal door caught his attention and he kicked it open, knowing how hard it was to open.

He was met with an old Saakri-Lumen sitting at the desk, in the middle of reading the newspaper. He smiled at Sephtis, not surprised he came back again so soon.

“What did you do now?” he laughed as he stood up and fixed his spectacles. He sat down on the metal table in the corner, unwrapping the bandages and taking off his bloody shirt.

“Almost killed himself for a stranger. Obviously being the idiot he is,” he complained as he laid on the cold surface. The man laughed as he puts his gloves on, knowing that he was the one taking over Sephtis’s body.

“So, you switched in to save him? You really stick to your duties, eh?” he said as he started to chant something, a green glow emitted from his hands. He smiled as he shut his eyes.

“Of course, even if I’m gone, I still have a mission to fulfill,” he said as he faded away. “Besides, he’d the last of us left. We can’t just let him die from his childishness,” he sighed as everything turned to black.

---

Sara first went to the city centre, past the line of mandatory recruits ready to sign for the war. Going past everyone, she slams down a thick envelope, fancy paper with a fancy red letter seal on the back, depicting a wrench. The wrench though was in a different colour, being in golden wax instead. The recipient just said "Ignis. If a letter reader opens this, make sure he gets the message instead." With that, she nods, tips her hat and after giving kind regards, she left just as quickly as she appeared. With that, she made her way... towards the other realm.

She couldn't take any of her or her facilities' carriages. They'd give it away that she effectively deserted, so instead she picks up a standard-issue double-barrel and sat down in a normal carriage, riding to the border. During that time, while delving into thoughts... she made a little conversation with a stranger.


Crossing the border was an easy enough feat for her, same with making her way towards the capital again. Dropping the shotgun and a few piece of clothes she burned then and there, she made sure to leave the impression of a failed soldier outside the town, before going in the city border, back to the same town square she was caught by Andrea prior. Lifting her sunglasses to look around, she walks around, trying to find what the Saakri-Lumen equivalent of the city hall would be. She keeps looking... for any traces of Andrea. So much for "not being as lenient next time". Or maybe she is blind. That would aid war efforts lots, though that moron of human leader would be the last lifeform on Iridantia I would ever tell it about. Her expression a little sour, she kept walking, looking around.

Andrea appeared busy, dressed professionally in full black, that covered her arms and legs. Her hair was tied up in a high ponytail, and two sparkling diamond studs were on each ear. She was wearing black court shoes, and carrying a thick black file. She skilfully weaved an illusion to hide herself, then disappeared to do her ‘business’. In her hurry, though, she dropped a thick red leather bound book. Her diary— to be more precise.

Dandelion Fields

April 1st.
Dear Illy, I met a boy today. Maman and Papa introduced me to him. He’s a human, and he seems very interested in my magic. He’s a very fascinating human too. It’s my first time meeting a human, and it was during Maman and Papa’s peace treaty with the humans. While they were having their boring meeting, we went to play together. Guess what Illy? He knows how to play chess, and he doesn’t find it boring either! He’s not very good though, maybe I can teach him?

War of Death

July 6th.
Illy, I need help. Maman and I received a huge shock when our town square was destroyed. It was a human weapon! Why would they do this? Maman is very worried, but she won’t tell me anything! And Papa hasn’t…I haven’t seen him ever since the peace treaty. Where could he be? Maman says he’s busy with other stuff. What other stuff? I want to know!

July 8th.
Illy, I confronted him about it. He doesn’t know a thing. Is he faking it? I used my illusion powers to sneak into the human land. Maman told me about beautiful palaces and complicated structures, and more in the human lands. She lied. The human land is nothing like ours, it’s a barren wasteland with no jungles or pretty ocean, and their cities are so filthy and polluted. Why…why would Maman lie to me. Has she lied about anything else?

August 2nd.
Illy, he knew!! He knew Illy, I’ve never felt more hurt. Maman’s dead, I found her diary and I now know everything. I can’t believe it…..Papa was shot! Now I don’t have parents, I’ve lost both of them, all because of humans.

The Vow of a Queen

August 16th.
Illy, I’m a leader now. The new leader of the Saakri-Lumens. J and Lixie have been trying to educate me and catch me up on everything that happened in full horrifying detail. Lixie shared their memories with me. It’s like watching a full on horror movie without any censorship, so fully realistic I failed to remain standing. J had to calm me down cos my powers were spiralling out of control. Sometimes I wonder if Maman and Papa shelter me too much…

August 17th.
I forgot to tell you, Illy, I swore an oath. To protect my people, and defend them. The world has place for only one species, and I’m going to make sure it’s our species. Whatever it takes


Everything Goes According to Plan

February 2nd. (This entry is quite recent, about a year before the present)
Illy, the final piece is in place. After all the work I put in, this is the final stretch. A few more adjustments, a little more tinkering….and everything will be okay. Illy, I wish you were still here. Maman said, as we covered your body with a white cloth, that you had reunited with angels. Is that true? What is it like? I’m sure we could’ve done better if we were together, and we faced it together. But Maman says you’re forever in my heart…Thank you, Illy.



The rest of the entries were very complicated, recorded in the ancient Saakri-Lumen language. The ink seemed rather fresh, though, bright red among the plain yellowish paper.

---

𝕾𝖊𝖕𝖍𝖙𝖎𝖘 𝕬𝖓𝖙𝖎𝖕𝖍𝖔𝖓𝖊𝖘
" 𝔗𝔥𝔢 𝔮𝔲𝔢𝔰𝔱𝔦𝔬𝔫 𝔦𝔰𝔫'𝔱 𝔴𝔥𝔬 𝔦𝔰 𝔤𝔬𝔦𝔫𝔤 𝔱𝔬 𝔩𝔢𝔱 𝔪𝔢; 𝔦𝔱'𝔰 𝔴𝔥𝔬 𝔦𝔰 𝔤𝔬𝔦𝔫𝔤 𝔱𝔬 𝔰𝔱𝔬𝔭 𝔪𝔢. "

Sehptis’s eyes started to open as he stirred from his slumber. Little by little, he could start seeing a blur image of his surroundings, a badly covered brick wall, a shelf crammed with countless books and a very dim blue lantern sitting on a study desk. He squinted to try to focus more as he willed his sore body to move, sitting up on the table, holding his throbbing head in his hands. As his vision cleared, he looked around, his mind frantic and confused yet again. Once more, he had blacked out and awakes to a random place, with no memory of what happened to him after that, with the only signs being the injuries he’s sustained. He was bandaged from his waist to his chest and his arms were covered with more of the white, strong thread. He might as well be a real walking mummy.

As he examined his surroundings more closely, he felt a wave of relief go through him. He was familiar with this place. At least he didn’t end up in a random stranger’s house that could have potentially been a serial killer’s lair. He looked for the old man and sure enough he popped up from behind the wall of another room.

“I see you’re awake now. Feeling any better?” he asked. Sephtis got off the table and tested if he could stand, which he managed to do quite well despite the dizzying aftermath of being down for quite some time.

“Yeah, I’m good,” he noted, untying his bandages to see scabs from the wounds. While the healing speed is annoyingly slow, it was sped up by the old man’s powers. There was still the slight ache in his chest from the broken rib, but he could manage. “How did I end up here?” he asked the man, since he didn’t know how he even made out that predicament alive. He had forgotten about the other Saakri-Lumen, but since they came all the way to the center, he knew deep inside that she was probably safe.

“Well, you waltzed in here all bloody and bruised like you always did,” the man answered, taking a vial of glowing green liquid and tossing it at Sephtis. “Drink that, it should speed up you’re healing a little bit. You should stay for the meantime. You’re still to tired to go,” he suggested, though he knew the stubborn boy wouldn’t listen to his advice.

“Come on, you think I’m that weak?” Septhis said, rolling his eyes as he finished the drink in one gulp, ignoring the awful bitter taste. Instantly, a feeling of exhaustion washed over him and he as tempted to go back to sleep, but he resisted.

Sleep is only for the weak.

“Seriously, I really need to talk to you about this,” he groaned, rubbing his eyes. “I don’t get why I can’t remember a single thing about me coming here after blacking out in the fight earlier, how did I ‘waltz’ in here? Did I sleep walk or something?” he asked, annoyed by the fact he can’t figure out why he was acting all weird. Did it have to do with those voices in his head?

“How should I know,” the man said, arranging his apparatus on his workbench. Sephtis didn’t need anything else to know he was lying. He definitely knew something.

“You’re lying,” he answered, his brows furrowed. Why would he hide things from him? What good will it do if he knew Sephtis would irritate the life out of him until he spills it? The man turned to look at the boy straight in the eye.

“As much as I want to tell you, boy, I had promised to keep it a secret from you,” he admitted. “Until they tell you themselves what’s been happening to you, you are not ready for the truth,” he explained. The fact that he had to wait longer to find out bugged him. Who in the world did he mean by ‘they’?

“What do you mean I’m not ready? Why should I be kept away from it?” he backfired, the tone in his voice rising. This was always what they did to him, they’d isolate him from the dangers of the world, thinking it would do good when, in reality, it only crushes him with pressure when they couldn’t do anything to stop it anymore. There was no advantage of being spoiled with peace only to be met by a perilous chaos later.

“Have you gotten over your self-negativity?” the man asked. Septhis looked at him confused.

“Huh?” he hesitated, unsure where the conversation was going. The old man gazed at him seriously, as if he was inspecting the boy’s every word.

“Tell me, what was the reason your family died?” he brought up. Sephtis went silent, his eyes widened at the question. The whispers in his head overtook him.

They died because of him, because he was too weak, because he was only a burden to them.

“And that, is why you aren’t ready to know yet,” he concluded before turning around again to continue his task. “Just be patient boy, the time will come,” he muttered before he started brewing weird things into his cauldron. The last thing the man heard was the swing of the metal door and the fading beat of the running footsteps. The boy had left.
Sephtis put on his shirt, washed off from all the blood and grime, as he sprinted for the village, his anger surpassing his sorrow.

If they won’t tell him, he’ll find out himself. The answers should be somewhere in the house, it should be there. Even after the event, the place hasn’t been visited nor touched for years, the rumor of the curse lurking around it kept any Saakri-Lumen away from it. So theoretically, it should be there.
He moved to the rooftops to escape the crowd, passing over the majestic building of which he assumed was the leader’s palace. The designs and the glimpse of the furniture through the clear open window was screaming with luxury that made Sephtis feel envious. Though, something on the floor caught his eye, a red book on the black and gold carpet. He stopped running for a second, annoyed by the sight of it.

For goodness’ sake, the building has to have at least 100 shelves to put a book in and this one was left on the floor. On the other hand, this book gave off such an important aura. It felt like it kept secrets he shouldn’t be reading. He looked for any openings in the windows and found one open just near to the room. Quietly, he snuck in.

He was taken aback by the lack of security in the area. Maybe he could steal some goodies while he was at it.

He made his way to the room and picked up the book on the floor, approaching the nearby shelf to put it in. Though, his curiosity was tugging at him. There had to be a reason the book was laying on the ground alone. Maybe someone dropped it? He turned it over to see if it had any topic on the cover.

Diary, was the word written in bold on the first page, written in gold ink on a black sheet of paper. Suddenly he felt like he was invading the leader’s privacy. But did he care?

Absolutely not.

He skimmed through the book, ignoring the incomprehensible ancient language one some of the pages and focusing more on the ones that were easy to understand. While he did know a little of said language, he still needed time to decipher them, and in his current situation, there was very little time for him to hang around.
The backstory, though tragic, wasn’t uncommon. It was the same old as everybody else, only that she had to shoulder a huge responsibility just after. Sephtis was left with questions. Who was Illy? Nothing in the book told him of her identity, but he didn’t want to know much of it.

But the recent entry intrigued him. The least it did was creep him out. Who in their right mind would write to a deceased person? If they are gone, then that’s it. For all they know their too busy frolicking in heaven or suffering in hell that they don’t give a damn about their living relatives.

A sudden chorus of laughter filled his head, causing the headache to get worse.

“HAHAHAHAH, boy. Don’t tell me you think of it that way. That’s the dumbest thing I’ve heard come out of your mouth since the day you were born,” he guffawed. Sephtis could picture him rolling around the ground in a fit of laughter.

“Hahaha,” the other one simply chuckled, his voice sounded like a wind chime.
Sephtis knew the two voices sounded familiar, even if he couldn’t pinpoint who they exactly were. He just couldn’t wait to get back to the old home to find the answers. He shook his head to forget about the two and continued reading the entry.

What was the final stretch? Was the leader preparing to war against the humans? Who was this human friend of hers from long ago? These were questions he must find an answer to.

The sudden approach of footsteps caught the boy’s attention. He quickly shoved it in the cracks between two other books from the shelf before making is way to the window, quickly snatching a bunch of fruits sitting on the desk, before he disappeared, flinging himself back onto the rooftops. Before he could find the answers to the three questions, he must know the ones for himself first. With that, he sprinted away and left the center, approaching the rundown building he had once called home.

---

“I believe you can take it from here”

Astrid wasn’t expecting the food, though she couldn’t pretend that she wasn’t grateful for it. Though, before she could thank him at all for it, he had already left. It suddenly occurred to her that she had met him before. He was the person in the alleyway. The one who had been talking to the human. How had she never figured that out before? This was ridiculous, Astrid needed to be quicker than this. But there was nothing to be done about that now. Astrid needed to stash the food in a hiding spot, and finish her rounds. The hares were a rare find, but she had a system going that she wasn’t going to end anytime soon. Otherwise, it would mess everything up, and the hares wouldn’t last forever. So, she started walking, keeping her head down and the sack close to her. She wasn’t the only thief out there.

Astrid had found her hiding place, a hidden hole in the wall she’d discovered when she was much younger that had served her well. She checked it. Undisturbed, as always. With a slight smile, she stored the hares away. Those would serve her well. She snuck out and was preparing to hit her next mark when someone hissed, “You! Girl!” Astrid was going to ignore it, but the voice was familiar. She spotted the source of the voice in a skinny, guant pale man with a hood, who grinned when she made eye contact. “I’ve got another secret,” he whispered in a sing-song voice. “You know that I gave up on that. It was one. Time. I told you that I’d never use my powers like that again,” She thought snappishly, before going to climb up the wall. “Now buzz off.” “It’s about the war, aren’t you interested?” Astrid paused. She'd originally told herself that she didn’t care about the war. Wasn’t that why she left the speech? She reasoned with herself, a silent debate. On one hand, she’d be better off not involving herself. On the other hand, this war could get nasty, so if she only dipped her toes, she could get away from the raging river before it overflowed its banks and took her down to its depths. She stopped climbing up the wall, and jumped down, walking over and dragging him into an abandoned building. “I have every right to walk away. So you’d better make it worth my while. And I have some rules. No killing or hurting. Whatever I do, Iit shouldn’t take more than a week.” The man sighed. “You were always a stubborn one, weren’t you? Fine, I agree to your terms. And I can make it worth your while.” He disappeared with a whisper and repeated next to her, whispering, “I can tell you what happened to your parents, and what really went down in your past that took all your memories.” Her face went pale. “You’re lying.” “Why would I? You’re invaluable to our cause. And you know that I knew your parents for a very long time.” “You never told me that.” “I couldn’t. But I’m making it right.” The man’s smirking face became serious. “Astrid, I need you and you need me. If..it makes it better, think of it as persevering your own life.” She sighed. “Fine. One week. What do you want me to do?” The man’s smile returned. “Good, good. I recently received news that a suspected human has been spotted sneaking into Saakri-Lumens land. I need you to get any and all information they have, as well as find out why they’re here, and if they are connected to the human leader Ignis, understand?” Astrid sighed. “I’ll see what I can do in a week.” “Good.”

Astrid knew the best way to do this was to get to the rooftops. Unfortunately, she was still suffering from the broken rib, so there was no way she’d make the climb. She could barely manage to get over that wall, or even walk around. So how in the world was she going to do this? Then, the answer struck her. But the feeling wasn’t pleasant. She was going to have to go back there. Her earliest memory save her first kill. It was the only place that was safe enough to get to the rooftops without injuring herself further. So, she left.

Astrid made her way to a crumbling building tucked away in a corner of the kingdom, surrounded by dirt, grime, and a feeling of despondency. She ignored the pitiful cries for food, kicking aside the corpse of a rat, before making her way into one of the buildings. She moved quickly past all of the memories that this place kicked up, going to a set of stairs in the back that led onto the roof, and carefully making her way across the rooftops. It was slow moving this time, but at least it was moving. That was what counted.

She quickly caught sight of someone whom she was sort of hoping that she wouldn’t see again. The one who’d rescued her. Why did it have to be now? And so soon…Astrid figured she’d leave him alone. But that was until she caught sight of what he was doing. Eyes narrowing, she got closer, yet still watching him from a distance. This was getting interesting. Obviously, he would have information from…whatever it was he was doing, that would get her out of this deal more quickly. And to do that, she’d need to follow him. Astrid followed him back to his village, making no noise

---

Sara kept walking, making sure her disguise was concealing enough that her human side wouldn't stick out too much. In her deep thoughts, before looking up to the rooftops. "The wanna-be inventor..." She muttered, sighing and holding her head. "Sometimes, this feels more like causality being lazy than war." With that, she saw over to the window he emerged from, then back to him. A thought struck her head. Breaking into a high-class building for... fruits of all things? He went off in a hurry. Let's see what that little scamp was up to. Walking right beneath the window, she pondered. Athletics were not her strong suit, parkour even less. Though she did have everything she needs in her bag:
Using a standard monkey wrench and a long line of cable ties, she grappled her way into the room, looking around and noticing the book. Crudely stuffed in, in stark contrast to every other book. Grabbing it, she skimmed through and sighs. "I know this tragic backstory angst mash-up from teen romances... and not particularly good ones. But the cover is far too good for that." Putting it back correctly in the bookshelf, she flinched at the sound of footsteps and jumped out of the window, the monkey wrench hanging onto a flag pole a little further down, with Sara still in earshot.

𝕾𝖊𝖕𝖍𝖙𝖎𝖘 𝕬𝖓𝖙𝖎𝖕𝖍𝖔𝖓𝖊𝖘
" 𝔗𝔥𝔢 𝔮𝔲𝔢𝔰𝔱𝔦𝔬𝔫 𝔦𝔰𝔫'𝔱 𝔴𝔥𝔬 𝔦𝔰 𝔤𝔬𝔦𝔫𝔤 𝔱𝔬 𝔩𝔢𝔱 𝔪𝔢; 𝔦𝔱'𝔰 𝔴𝔥𝔬 𝔦𝔰 𝔤𝔬𝔦𝔫𝔤 𝔱𝔬 𝔰𝔱𝔬𝔭 𝔪𝔢. "

Everybody in the village knew to stay out the of the area surrounding the white house on the rocky hill in the very end of the village. The house was almost too easy to recognize, the odd one out of the other neglected sheds surrounding it. It was said to be full of riches, left behind after the family was brutally slaughtered and has yet to be retrieved and claimed by the sole survivor. It was a shock that nothing had been stolen.

It was because of the ‘curse’. Anyone who set foot into the area would have to be ready to lose their sanity as a price for trespassing the ground. Those who return to tell the tale, with their mind somewhat intact, expressed the horrid smell of blood that hit their nose the minute they walk in. Others who go beyond that tall about the angry whispers, the faint shadows that would appear every now and then, almost trying to stop them from advancing. Anyone who had ever tried to explore more than that have never came back. The house was immediately assumed to be severely haunted, cursed by the dead souls of the Sanguis bloodline, which why the riches and secrets remained safe even after 10 years of desertion. The curse kept people away, not allowing them to go past the empty hallway, where the pictures of their ancestors were hung up on the wooden walls, their names carved into the gold bars under their picture frame.

The only ones who aren’t affected by the curse would be the members of the lineage and certain people who are granted permission to enter such as guest or visitors. However, they also have their boundaries. The library and the study were the two exceptions to this permit, only accessible strictly to the members of the bloodline. The process to enter the room itself was very strict, with the members needing to draw blood in a sacred vase to open the door. If the blood didn’t contain the specific gene the Sanguis Saakri-Lumens possess, not only would they be denied access to get in, they may also never make it out alive unless a member of the ancestry forgives them. The contents of the library were unbelievably confidential that the children don’t even know what it holds. Even if they could enter, the other members tend to keep the secrets of the library and study to themselves, guarding the rooms to keep the curious young ones out.

But now Sephtis was alone, and there was no one to stop him.

He passed the well that sat in the center of the village, the water far from the old crystalline blue it used to be, its stones were fully blanketed in moss and dirt. The area was empty, since the other Saakri-Lumens wanted to keep away from the house, and nature had claimed the empty area, the stone pavements that used to be neatly arranged was now nothing more than rubble, while the abandoned stalls had collapsed under the harsh winds and rain. He walked further, a turn towards the woods, where the house was hidden, behind the towering trees.

He was fully aware of the two footsteps, two different stalkers following behind him. One was light on their feet that he could only barely catch their movement, while one was apparent to his heightened sense with the tinkling of metal and the clanking of what he could only assumed were high heels, a ludicrous footwear that Sephtis thought was crazy for someone to wear, what more with the uneven area he was going to. He could never tell if they had a malicious reason to follow him, but he didn’t care. Once he gets into the area, they wouldn’t be able to follow him for long.

Soon, the shadows of the trees darkened his surroundings and the only light that illuminated the way were the scarce surviving lamps that were put in random places, some barely flickering their glows. The jagged, stone pavement gradually turned into a smooth, wooden surface and he could make out the sound of the rushing stream. He raised his eyes that had been looking down on the ground, the sight of the old house creating a small feeling of longing in his heart.

He could make out the tiny trace of blood that created a circle around the property, still not dried even when they have been there for decades, going back to when the Saakri-Lumens had more land to roam, where they didn’t have to cram into such a small space within the limited territory they were given. The circle had become smaller over time as their space was reduced, taken over by the greedy humans living on the other half of the world, their factories and towering skyscrapers taking up the space that should’ve been designed for them, and the current size was the smallest it could get to be able to fit the already small house. His foot walked past the circle and the liquid emanated a small, red, glow.

He wasn’t hit with the nasty smell of blood like the others told in their tales, instead he was overwhelmed with the smell of fragrant roses and he could hear a small choir starting up in the wind. It was almost welcoming and he felt like he was still a kid, coming back home after a long day of work to crash into his mother’s arms.

The tree that had used to bear Sephtis’s favorite fruits was now bare, it’s branches not holding a single leaf and the trunk gnawed away by termites and other creatures. The door and the building, however, still looked as good as it was without a single visible fault. He stepped onto the porch and pushed open the door, knowing that it was never locked.

The empty hallways greeted him; the dust particles seemed to dance in the stale air. The lights were off and probably long dead, but the eerie, crimson glow was enough for him to see through. It was probably the blood lamps, those plain transparent containers were filled with someone’s blood that could light in the dark in case their power was cut off, which happened frequently in the past. The pictures of the walls of his ancestors stared right back at him, their faces uncaring and blank. A vase that once held flowers on the desk below them was now empty, the plants had been reduced to dust.
The hallway itself brought back too many memories. He could hear the laughter in the silence, not as evil as how the other Saakri-Lumens who entered have heard it. The faint sound emitted joy and freedom, the sound of two happy children playing. The shadows danced in the dim light, showing a figure that closely resembled a couple waltzing through the space. There was the also the hum of piano notes and the whisper of someone singing. All of which had been his memories of his time living there in the past, revived from the deepest parts of his heart.

He pushed them all away as he repeated the reason he was here. He wasn’t here to mourn on something that happened a decade ago. He was here to find out the truth they had kept hidden from him. He must get over his loss.

The long corridor came to a halt on a metal door, with intricate designs etched into the steel. The vase sat on a small stand besides him, empty even when it had contained the blood of countless other members in the past. Sephtis used his claw to cut his arm and his blood poured into the vase. Shortly afterwards, he heard a small crack of the opening door.

This was his first time going inside, he didn’t know what to expect as he pushed open the unlocked door.

The wave of dust that met him as he entered was no surprise. The study itself didn’t look anywhere different than one someone can find in a typical house. The shelves were filled with books and the red lamp was the only light in the dark room. Septhis picked it up from the table and proceeded to the shelves, the door slowly closing behind him.
The books were like a set of diaries, written by different Sanguis members starting from the very first ones. The bloodline prided over their history, since they used to be a noble family, a close acquaintance of the leaders from both empires and so they kept the events of their lives recorded in paper for the young children to read and look up to.

Of course, it was almost ironic for them to keep it concealed at the same time.

Septhis didn’t bother to read the old ones, only interested in the recent works. The newest ones were probably written by his father as the head of the family are the ones in charge of the books, so he searched for the book that had his name carved on it, and he soon found it at the very last shelf.

Antiphones Azrael

The name had shoved images of his father into is head. His bright amber eyes, his pitch-black hair and his very pale skin. His face that always looked tired whenever Sephtis looks at him, yet determined. Sephtis locked it away again, reminding himself again that they were dead, that they no longer exist. Not even as soul or ghost, he didn’t believe in those things.

Once someone is dead, they’re literally wiped off from the world, be it the real one of the afterlife, if it existed. End of story. That was what the boy believed.

He got comfortable in the corner and opened the book in the middle, he didn’t want to linger there any longer than he should. Even if he wasn’t affected by the curses at all, the memories that kept resurfacing could be considered a curse to the boy, who just wanted to forget it all. He focused on the words and kept reading.

A new disease has been spreading around the village. I believe it has something to do with all the pests that increased in numbers in the area. More patients have started showing the signs. Lack of energy, ghostly skin as if their blood had been sucked out from them and, in severe cases, hallucinations and serious pain in their skulls. I will try my best to speed up cure research to combat this new disease.

The disease is getting worse that it has gone up to the point where 50 deaths a day wasn’t uncommon. I’ll need to start testing if the effects of Asa’s immunity blood can solve this problem.

Nothing’s going great, the people are still getting sick. Even worse, they started assuming that the Sanguis clan was the cause of the disease. Rumors of us being satanic vampires are spreading. I don’t like where this is going, my children are starting to be targeted in the village. I need to quickly address this problem.

The next following posts were probably when Sephtis was born as the next two pages wrote about him as a baby. He immediately skipped those entries and carried on to when his powers first showed and when they found out about his healing problem.

Sephtis nearly died today, almost bled himself out while showing off. It is very weird as all of us can heal instantaneously, no matter how deep the cut. It is an essential part of using our powers effectively. Now that I know this is not the case of for him, I’m afraid that he’ll be defenseless so I limited his time going outside, especially with what is happening to our family these days. Evan got attacked by a group just days ago and was nearly murdered. The children are now not allowed to go out, it’s too dangerous. But it would be a hard thing to do, especially to explain to them without worrying their little minds.

The other entries described how the attacks became more dangerous as time moved on. He got to the last few pages, just moments before the night of the raid.

The village was quiet today, it seemed that everyone had moved out. Thankfully, the cure for the disease was just distributed hours ago and the number of patients has dwindled drastically. If all goes well, we’ll be free of the plague in the next month or so.

On the other hand, I’ve seen strangers spying around the house grounds and it’s worrying me. They had weapons with them, guns that had to be purchased illegally. I wasn’t able to sleep these past few nights thinking that they could break in and kill us all.

The next page shocked Septhis. Instead of the clear, white paper like the others, this one was stained and almost covered in blood. The handwriting was almost unreadable, just a bunch of scrawling and scratches, though he could still make out the words from them. There was no mistake that this was what his father had written right before he died.

We’re doomed, they caught us completely off guard. Seraphina is already dead, bleeding out on the ground, and I’m barely clinging on to life. My children are next, they’re already going after them. At least Emet came just in time to hear my final wishes, I hope he was able to do it, I don’t have even ten minutes left to make sure.

At least one of my children… must… su….continue….legac….to regain…..p..ace…be…en…he…o…l..ds

The last one was hard to read and he couldn’t make out the whole sentence. He couldn’t think what the final wishes were, even if he wrote that it was for one of them to survive. He was sure that was not it, or his oldest brother, Emet, would’ve made it out alive, especially since the people had gone after the kids immediately after killing the parents. There was a high chance that he would’ve survived.

But he didn’t emerge from the house and if the killers had left right after to go for the children, that that would mean they didn’t take his life, but he did himself.

Then again, Sephtis could be wrong, he could’ve just been killed afterwards and they didn’t see him sneak out the house, but that was unlikely. Emet was the strongest among the five, with physical strength surpassing the leader themselves. His blood was also unique among the others, giving him the ability to not only control the person, but also to read their thoughts, hear their plans and even feel their emotions or pain. To make it short, he can possess the person whenever he wills, all it required was a little blood contact once and that curse would stay with them for life.

Septhis eye’s widened at the sudden thought. Piecing the facts together. The familiar voice in his heads, the way he acted differently whenever he was in a dire situation, where he’d black out at the most inconvenient and dangerous moments possible but still get out alive. Like he was being controlled by a puppeteer. He denied it, it couldn’t be him. It couldn’t be.
But deep inside, he knew it was him.

Guilt suddenly weighed his shoulders, which immediately hunched under the invisible impact. Sephtis wasn’t only responsible for the death of his little sister who he failed to save; he was probably the reason his brother took his own life. He couldn’t remember when their blood mixed, he couldn’t remember a thing.

But he was sure of one thing, he was the reason nobody else survive. Why would they waste their life on someone as weak as him? He couldn’t bear the guilt, his legs folding as he crumpled to the ground with his head in his hands. His own voice was screaming at him.

It’s your fault, it’s your fault. You’ve known this from the start, didn’t you? That they wasted such potential futures for your pitiful life. You should have been dead. They would have had a better use in the world. They could’ve rebuilt the clan, not run away from it like you did. You’re such a disappointment…

They ranted at him again and again and Sephtis felt like breaking, the toll of grief and blame that had been bottled up for years were erupting inside of him like a bomb, and he couldn’t stop it. The will to live slowly drained. He kept up with it for years, arguing that it was all just the outcome of twisted fate, but to know how many lives were on the line…

”Okay, that’s enough of this nonsense” he piped up and Sephtis eyes were forcefully shut, though he could still feel his surroundings. It was like he was dreaming, with nothing around him but black.

“Listen here, you idiot,” the voice ordered, louder and clearer than how it would normally be. Sephtis turned to see the person.

His brother’s scowling face looked back at him. It wasn’t just his voice this time. He could see his face, even if it was blurry, making out the scar on his left eye and his crimson eyes similar to his own.

“We have a lot to talk about,” he said.

---

Astrid was good at going unseen, but the for the most part, she was experienced at going unseen in places with large amounts of people. This village was much, much smaller and had less places to hide. Just like the woods, it was unfamiliar territory. And Astrid's heart was nearly bursting out of her chest with fear. Still, she kept a low profile, going completely out of sight when she could. A part of her was fascinated with the idea that there was a village here that she'd had no idea even existed. How had they gone without Andrea's notice for this long? But on the other hand, had Andrea known about the village and kept it a secret? Or was it just below her notice? Questions, questions, so many questions. Honestly, Astrid was tired of questions. She wanted answers. She was going to find answers about her parents, about her past, but at the moment, about why the boy who had taken the chance to rescue her hand taken yet another chance, this one to break into the castle. But this time, she was hunting this one for answers. She didn't owe him anything, and he didn't owe her anything. They'd both paid eachother back, him saving her life from the guards and healing her, her saving his life from the assaliant. Thinking back on it, why had he seemed...different after she'd killed that attacker? Astrid shuddered just thinking about it, but her train of thought went on. Did he feel things like she did? Like there was something living in him, just waiting for the moment to pounce? Maybe she'd been talking to it. Maybe she'd seen a darker side of him. Whatever. It didn't matter. Never really had mattered. So she might as well forget it. But that still left questions, which made Astrid more and more annoyed. One day, she swore, she'd be done with the questions.

She watched him go into the white house, which seemed to radiate emotions. Fear, anger, and something far more evil. Though, Astrid was already feeling paranoid. Maybe she was just imagining it. It was pratically her life's theme: Things weren't always what they looked like on the outside. They never were. Too many people had judged her just because she was a Saakri-Lumens. Because she was small. Because she was mute. Because she was dirty. A rare few because of her power, which she rarely revealed to anyone. Though, it seemed like lately she'd been revealing her power too much. But it was a rare few that knew sign languge. That made her think of the man from her memories. The one that she seemed to, at one point, have some kind of connection with. But she had to focus on waiting for the boy to come out. She had to push aside that memory. But it kept floating just beneath the surface, teasing her like a cat with a mouse. Astrid couldn't belive that she was letting her own memory control her. So, frusturatedly, she pushed the man out of her mind and continued watching. Astrid had chosen a spot just twenty feet from the doors. As soon as the boy was out, she'd know. Was he a boy? A man? Honestly, Astrid didn't really care. She didn't have the time. All she was here for was answers. And so, she waited.

---

𝕾𝖊𝖕𝖍𝖙𝖎𝖘 𝕬𝖓𝖙𝖎𝖕𝖍𝖔𝖓𝖊𝖘
" 𝔗𝔥𝔢 𝔮𝔲𝔢𝔰𝔱𝔦𝔬𝔫 𝔦𝔰𝔫'𝔱 𝔴𝔥𝔬 𝔦𝔰 𝔤𝔬𝔦𝔫𝔤 𝔱𝔬 𝔩𝔢𝔱 𝔪𝔢; 𝔦𝔱'𝔰 𝔴𝔥𝔬 𝔦𝔰 𝔤𝔬𝔦𝔫𝔤 𝔱𝔬 𝔰𝔱𝔬𝔭 𝔪𝔢. "

”We have a lot to talk about”

Sephtis’s mouth curved into a scornful smile, that was the most ridiculous thing he could’ve said at a time like this.

“Heck yeah, we have plenty to talk about,” he said, almost hissing. Even if he was struggling with emotions, he still wouldn’t want to look pitiful in front of people, let alone his own brother, even though he was acting like it. The older Saakri-Lumen smiled back.

“That’s the attitude I want,” he chuckled. Before Sephtis could swamp him with a river of questions, he silenced him with a raised finger. “I will tell you everything if you listen patiently,” he stated. However, one question slipped off his tongue.

“What do you mean I wasn’t ready to know?” he asked, Emet let out a single laugh.

“Oh, come on, don’t act like you don’t know. If I hadn’t interrupted your bawling just now, you could’ve flooded the house with unnecessary tears,” he joked, approaching Sephtis and slinging his ghostly arm on his shoulder. He felt like nothing but cold air. “But I knew you’re stupidly stubborn so there was no point trying to stop you, but I better not have you spurting more of that baloney or I’ll scoop your eyes out and sew your mouth shut,” he warned. “Now, let’s get to the Q&A session, shall we?” Emet dramatically announced as he yawned and removed his freezing hands from Sephtis’s imaginary shoulder. “One question at a time or I’ll ignore you. Shoot,” he signaled. Sephtis’s question was almost immediate.

“How are you still talking to me? You’re dead, or am I hallucinating?” he asked. Before Emet could reply, another presence, made known by the sudden drop in temperature, entered the conversation.

“That would be my doing” the voice said, the gentle one in contrast to Emet’s harsh tone. Sephtis turned to see an unknown Saakri-Lumen, their white clothing almost a lustrous, bright radiance. He timidly approached Sephtis. “You must be confused; we’ve never even met in person before, but surely you must have heard of Angelus clan before?” he inquired.

Sephtis recognize the name of the bloodline immediately it was another special family of Saakri-Lumen, were well known as necromancers that had very close contact with the dead. He wasn’t of the Sanguis bloodline, but his clan, the Angelus clan had a very close friendship with them, the two groups always seen working together. In the past few years, however, they had received the same treatment as the Sanguis families and retreated beyond the walls, hidden either in the unclaimed forest or the human territory if they were lucky enough to get in, forcing them to cut ties with the Sanguis clan. They haven’t heard from them ever since.

And by ‘they’ Sephtis excluded his parents and probably Emet.

Another thing was known about these Saakri-Lumens. It was that they had the power to still roam the world of the living even after they have passed, sometimes bringing other people with them. They were called the bridge between life and death, allowing those who had died early to do some unfinished business before leaving the world for good. They sometimes built communities, mixing with the living creatures, but invisible to the normal eye. They were basically ghosts that lived alongside them. When Sephtis learnt this, he thought it was far-fetched and didn’t believe it.

But now he was witnessing it happen in real life, all his past doubts were literally being answered.

“I’ll take it that you know from the look in your eyes. I won’t dwell on the topic,” he concluded, standing right besides Emet. The two were so different, one being dark and rough while the other was bright and calm, it was hard to think the two could even get together, especially with Emet’s private attitude.

“But, why did you die? Why didn’t you just control me while you’re alive?” Sephtis proceeded. Emet put his chin on his hands and sighed.

“That would be a long story,” he started. “Look, I didn’t even expect to die, I was thinking of the same thing,” he muttered. “As you can tell from the diary, dad had told me to do something, right? It was to meet their clan, for some reason. I never get his intentions sometimes,” he groaned as he sat down with one leg raised. There wasn’t a chair so he just hovered in the space. “But it was our old man’s dying wish so I might as well do it, even if I was really dreading about leaving you guys behind. I thought Asa and Evan could have taken care of you other two and the other guys. So I went, past the walls and into the woods like dad said,” he continued.

“He thought, well hoped, that some of their members were alive, which was too high of an expectation since the forest was teeming with humans. And I wasn’t surprised to find none of them there. It was clear they had all died, so I gave up and started to get back to you guys,” he elaborated further. “I didn’t expect to see a human at that time out of all the places. Just like how they caught dad off-guard, I was shot to death,” he sighed. “It was just my luck that the whole world was against me and, contrary to what you believe, I met our parents as souls, and was worried when I saw Evan and Asa too. You two weren’t there so I thought you made it out, but this guy popped up and told us otherwise,” he signaled to the other person besides him. “Just shortly after that Aonani joined us, and you were the only one left to come to the realm of the dead. But dad was against it, saying that one of us just had to live and you were the only one left, which was good enough for him. Since my ‘curse’ was the only one that was still attached to you, I could still manage to control you in the living world,” he went on. “All this time, the voices in your head were just me and him following you around,” he ended, taking a deep breath.

“Even in the bathroom?” Sephtis questioned, to which Emet only responded with a smirk, the other guy looked away, hiding the guilt in his face.

Well, that was an invasion of privacy.

“Anyway, now you might be wondering why you can’t see or hear the others, even when they’re actually surrounding you as we speak,” he diverted the topic. “We roaming dead souls actually cannot communicate with the living much, except under certain circumstances. One is that they have some sort of eternal connection to the person, like curses that stick to someone for life, and they meet a communicator Angelus, which is actually rare in the dead realm, with only a few of them mastering the skill. Of course, none of the others had that eternal connection except me-“

“But I never had your blood,” Sephtis, interrupted, earning a glare from the older man.

“You never remember, having my blood, because you were unconscious during that time,” he said. “Back when you were bleeding out, we had to have an emergency blood transfusion or you’d die and dad couldn’t get to the hospital fast enough to save you. Since I’m the only one with a compatible blood type, I gave my blood to you that time,” he explained. “I didn’t really think it’d matter so much up until now, apart from saving your life of course,” he clarified. “As I was saying before you decided to interrupt me, I was the only one who had some eternal connection with you since my blood was running with yours, which meant you were trapped in my puppeteer curse, which I can still do even though I'm dead. This meant I was the only one who could talk to you, which relieved dad. He then asked that I be brought to the living world and make sure you made it out alive. He said it was a must. So I went, with this guy in tow, to where you laid, bloodied on the ground as the sun rose. You probably don’t remember what happened beyond that since I swapped into you at that moment to bring you to a healer and run away from the guards, a hard feat with the blood spills you were having. I never thought you’d make it, but you surprisingly did,” he sighed. “So now, you understand why it had to be you. I didn’t have my curse on Aonani so there was no saving her, and I was too late anyway. So, it is safe to say that, yes it was all a twisted fate that chose to keep you alive,” he ended.

“It is still my fault I couldn’t save her, at least,” Sephtis mumbled.

“Yes, that may be true, but we knew there was nothing you could do. It’s no use moaning about something you couldn’t change so just get over it,” he grumbled, which made Sephtis mad.

“You think it’s that easy?”

“I never said it was easy,” Emet growled back, the other man stood between the two.

“Now, let’s not get too hostile with each other,” he said, shooting a warning look at Emet, who reluctantly backed down.

“Whatever, but you can’t stay here for long, or you might lose touch with reality,” Emet said, rolling his eyes. Sephtis was confused.

“Isn’t this in my head?” he asked.

“Of course not, this is the realm between the living world and the afterlife. You’re not supposed to stay here for long or you might vanish from the real world,” Emet replied.

“So, we’ll have to send you back, but I need to tell you about a ‘mission’ first,” he proceeded. “Listen, you pretty much know the news going around about a war erupting so I won’t explain that, but what you don’t know is that you’re the trump card for either side,” he said. Sephtis’s head leaned to the left in confusion.

“How am I a trump card?” he asked. How can someone like him who can’t even use his powers freely be the one to decide the victory in such a huge battle?

“Your birth was one of a miracle, one written in the clan prophecies. A Saakri-Lumen who has the pool of all the powers of the ones before them. Though you can only use a few, you actually have all the powers of the others which lay dormant inside of you. However, while you cannot use them, other people can take them. There is one that is particularly dangerous on the opponent’s side if they manage to take it from you,” he warned. “The blood of the very first ancestor. The blood of immortality,” he stated. “So far, only very few Saakri-Lumens have this power, but for some reason the power cannot be extracted or given, it is only for their own use. In your case, it is distributable as long as you remain alive, the immortal effect will still last on said person until you die. Since the Sanguis clan used to be very close to the humans in the past, it won’t be long until it the name passes through Ignis’s mind, so we need to keep you away from his radar until then,” he went on. “But your dad, has other plans,” he grumbled.

Sephtis didn’t like how this was going.

“While most humans have built a huge resentment toward Saakri-Lumens, he still managed to befriend a doctor in the human world. He reasoned it was because we couldn’t manufacture a lot of their advanced medication since we didn’t have the required technology and equipment. The two were working on something at the time, something particularly for you,” Emet said, before stopping for a slight pause.

“Which was?” Sephtis pressed.

“They saw this war coming, and they knew they would come after you for your blood, so they created something that could erase all the dormant powers inside of you, including the immortality blood. I don’t know how they do it or what they did to even make it, but they did. The ‘machine’ they built was said to also be able to activate certain ones, such as instant healing,” he explained, seeing the spark that shone in his little brother’s eyes.

“Which meant that, while you’ll need to give away some unnecessary powers, you’ll be able to take much more. And if it’s successful, you might be able to heal normally again,” he summarized. “Of course, the machine hasn’t even been through trial, and there was no way they could bring it all the way to the Saakri-Lumen territory so there is only one way to get there,” he admitted.

“You’ll have to venture into the human world, into their walls to get to that machine. It’s unbelievably inefficient since you’ll be brought really close to the enemies and I don’t know how this will turn out. God, we don't even know if it works or not,” he complained. “This is a huge gamble. So, you don’t have to go if you want to, there’s a high risk to it-“

“I don’t care,” Sephtis interrupted. His mind was already crazy about the fact of being able to heal faster, being able to use his powers to no limit. It would be a dream come true. Who cared if he’ll get chased in the end after that? He might as well rule the world. “In the end, they’re coming for me anyway, so I might as well just get to it already,” he argued, his eyes expressing his excitement while Emet had a worried expression.

“If you’re going, you’ll have to be very careful. If you get caught before you can reach Alden, all of the Saakri-Lumens would be doomed,” he reminded gravely. Sephtis was only fixed on the healing powers, he wasn’t thinking about the dangers associated with this adventure and it was making Emet concerned.

“Anyway, you should go, I can explain more through your thoughts if you need more explanation. That’s all you need to know right now," he said nodding to the person besides him. “I’m warning you Sephtis, don’t you dare let them get you out there or I’m going to kill you 10 times over when you’re dead,” he repeated.

Sephtis nodded before Emet disappeared, and his eyes slowly opened, greeted with the dim red light and the dark library.

He never believed the time would come so soon. He shot up and immediately ran out the door before his brother’s voice went through his head again.

“Oh, and you might as well take that girl with you. She’s hiding over there, don’t you see?” he told Sephtis. He looked to the right in between the two cabinets to see the girl he had saved squatting in the small space, concealing herself in the dark.

“Why would I bring someone with me to the human world?” he asked out loud to the voice in his head.

“Her powers are… really useful. You can use her to get around,” he answered before going silent, not even his cold presence besides Sephtis. He sighed; Emet left him on his own.

“Anyway, what are you even doing here?” he asked Astrid.

---

When Astrid was waiting for things, she would sometimes go into a trance of sorts. Time would slow down and her mind would wander as she waited, sometimes missing the things she was waiting for. It was a frusturating thing, and she hated it and herself when it happened. But it had happened, and she missed what was going on as her body went into autopilot. Almost on reflex, she berated herself for it, until realizing that he was still there. She hadn't missed anything that affected her...as far as she could tell. She thought that he was going to walk away, and thought she'd be able to tag him and confront him, but somehow he had spotted her. He kept noticing her, but only after something seemed to point it out to him, like an invisible man who was far more perceptive than he was. Astrid was dying to know what that meant, but that wasn't any of her buisness. As long as she got the answers to the questions that she had, and possibly any more information that could get her quickly out of this deal, she would be fine. But still, he had noticed her, and that was the important part. She stood up, and stepped out so she was more visible. At first, she lifted her hands, tired of using her power and wishing she could sign out her thoughts, but realized it was probablly better if she used her power. So, with a slight sigh, she opened the connection.

Wanted to know what in the world you were doing in the castle. My employer would be intrigued if you were to find something out. Don't worry, I'll be out of your hair soon.

---

𝕾𝖊𝖕𝖍𝖙𝖎𝖘 𝕬𝖓𝖙𝖎𝖕𝖍𝖔𝖓𝖊𝖘
" 𝔗𝔥𝔢 𝔮𝔲𝔢𝔰𝔱𝔦𝔬𝔫 𝔦𝔰𝔫'𝔱 𝔴𝔥𝔬 𝔦𝔰 𝔤𝔬𝔦𝔫𝔤 𝔱𝔬 𝔩𝔢𝔱 𝔪𝔢; 𝔦𝔱'𝔰 𝔴𝔥𝔬 𝔦𝔰 𝔤𝔬𝔦𝔫𝔤 𝔱𝔬 𝔰𝔱𝔬𝔭 𝔪𝔢. "

Why did he break into the castle? He himself had no clue. He thought about it for a minute before he answered.

“Honestly, I don’t know. It was all just for a book on the floor, one filled with secrets I shouldn’t have read,” he replied frankly.

”She’s definitely looking for information, about what I can’t be certain of,” Emet muttered. Now that Sephtis knew who the voices were, he didn’t dare miss a single word they say, even if it gave him headaches. Emet was a wandering ghost; he was an advantage for Sephtis. He could faintly hear the thoughts of people, even if some of them were inaccurate. He would warn him whenever danger was nearby and he would handle it if it was too much for Sephtis to comprehend.

It did feel nice to have his brother back, even if it was only a ghost.

“The book was just secrets of Andrea’s past. Just a bunch of random entries about someone called Illy and some human,” he elaborated, not going into too much detail of what the war meant for him.

”Alright, now ask her for help,” Emet said, making Sephtis let out a mental groan. He hated asking for help, it was the thing he would like to avoid, even when he really needed it. It took some convincing to get the boy to even ask. Even when he didn’t want to do it, he could feel a cold squeeze on his shoulder and sighed.

“Look, I’m planning a crazy trip to the human world and I might need your help,” he blurted, forcing the words out of his mouth. He could just imagine Emet looking at him, either snickering or laughing at him.

”You forgot the magic word~” he teased, just like when they were children and Sephtis wanted to ask their mother for things.

Actually, Sephtis took back what he said, having his brother back was a nuisance.

“You did not mean that,” Emet said darkly, but playfully. Sephtis shook his head.

“Whatever,” he thought, which was enough for Emet to hear.

“Anyway, will you join me or not?” he asked Astrid. Even of she didn’t follow him, since it was such a wild thing to even do, he wouldn’t care.

He was getting to this ‘Alden’ person and his machine no matter what it takes.

---