"Give me back my fry or I will fry you," Daxelle snarled. She snatched her waffle fry back from Iaelie who shrugged and motioned towards the mound of potatoes on Daxelle's plate.

Iaelie sighed, "Can you believe we've only been here a week?"

Adahlia threw a grape into her mouth, "Nope. I mean, just eight days ago, I was still in Eyra crying over my books." Zadyn raised an eyebrow at her, slowly chewing his apple. The slices were paper thin and he barely had to open his mouth to eat them. His jaw was bruised from where he fell facedown during a late-night training session.

"Why were you crying over a book?" he asked.

Adahlia gaped, "You mean you've never cried watching a movie or reading a book?" When Zadyn shook his head, she launched into a rant about how movie and book crying differs from pain crying. 

"I like crying over my books," Adahlia finished, shrugging. 

Daxelle stared at them, "This is the weirdest conversation of the morning." She shoved two fries into her mouth and her next words were near intelligible. "Difd tou knorw irve bin inf a confurthasion abough te fooneral aboufth a lemoffe."

Zadyn cocked his head, "What?"

Daxelle held up a hand while she frantically chewed and when she swallowed, she repeated, "I've been to a lemon's funeral."

He deadpanned, "That's six words, where the other eight?"

"I'm summarizing for you, smartass," Daxelle leaned onto her forearms propped on the picnic table. "And do you just count words as a hobby?"

"Was that a compliment?" he asked with a straight face.

Daxelle snorted and returned to her food. The sound of doors slamming filled the room otherwise occupied with the sound of Daxelle's chewing and Avanth walked in.

"Ok, so who knew sleeping with the window open would lead to three squirrels belly dancing on top of your bed," Avanth grumbled, sliding into the seat beside Adahlia.

Daxelle's eyebrows rose up, "Ok, this is the weirdest conversation this morning."

Avanth took some fries off Adahlia's plate and some apple slices off Zadyn's and when he left Daxelle alone, she smirked with a knowing grin that seemed to say, He's afraid of me. He knows I'll melt his brain if he even thinks about touching my food.

Just then, Gwydion walked into the dining hall and smiled when he beheld them all gathered around the center table.

"You're all up and fed?" he asked. There was a chorus of sorta's and possibly's that followed.

He offered a half-smile and clapped his hands together, forever the cliche English teacher, "Alright, I have your transportation to the nearest city—which has quite a number of attacks. You can all pack up and I have some things for you as well. When you're all finished eating"—there was a knowing glance towards Daxelle—"and gathering your things, meet me in the training ring." 

He left with a bow of his head and the doors swept shut after him.

"I really don't want to go back into my room right now, the squirrels will beg me to stay for a show and . . . well no," Avanth shuddered.

Iaelie rolled her eyes and Adahlia snickered.

"Well, I'm going, I have like ten rapiers I need to somehow shove in a backpack," Iaelie said, gathering her food scraps and heading for the trash bin.

"Who the heck needs ten rapiers?" Daxelle asked. She tossed a fry into her mouth. "I mean, five is a reasonable number, but ten?"

Iaelie cocked an eyebrow, "Five is too little. What if your rapiers snap?"

"All five of them?" Daxelle asked incredulously.

Iaelie shrugged, "It's happened before." Daxelle rolled her eyes and shoved another fry into her mouth. Zadyn pushed his chair back and he got to his feet, slightly wobbly. Adahlia jumped up too and patted Avanth on the head.

"Alrighty, children. I'm going to pack too," she started for the doors and threw a kiss over her shoulder.

She waited for Zadyn to catch and he was slightly panting. He smiled slightly when he caught up. Adahlia slowed her pace so it matched Zadyn's.

"So, do you want half of the weapons?" she asked.

"Hm?" he turned to her, his gait slowing even further.

"Y'know, the weapons I packed?" Adahlia clarified. "And the food I guess. So you can eat whenever you want."

"Oh, I'll just use the daggers you gave me," Zadyn said, patting his thigh scabbard where one of the daggers she gave him was sheathed.

"Psh, you need more than that. I brought two maces, I think a battleaxe, maybe two swords, six rapiers, ten daggers, three vials of poison, maybe two hatchets, a longsword, a broad sword, a pair of nunchucks, and—"

"Ok, how the heck did you get all those weapons into your backpack?" Zadyn asked.

"Just shove, Zadyn. Just shove," Adahlia flipped a hand airily.

Zadyn snorted, "Do you have any bows? A bow and arrow?"

Adahlia raised an eyebrow, "Do you think I can manage to shove a bow into my backpack?" Zadyn choked and she laughed. "But I'm pretty sure I remember how to make a bow. The arrows are easy."

"How did you learn all this? And how to use the weapons?" he asked.

She shrugged, "I had training."

"From that cult?"

She shrugged again, albeit a bit more stiffly, "Yeah." Zadyn nodded. They fell into silence and split apart at their respective cabins. She gathered all her stuff into a pile on the polished marble floor. 

With the heap of clothes and weapons on the floor—mostly daggers and swords—the room somehow seemed . . . lived in.

She scanned the pearl walls with cat posters scattered around the room. A small bed was tucked away into the corner of the small room and a wooden table lay across from it. A gray rug was placed in the middle of the room, which was where all her stuff was piled on.

Most of the room was unfilled, perfect for training space or just running around in circles to relieve anxiety.

She propped her hands on her hips and surveyed the pile of weapons on the floor and her small black backpack. She had no idea how she had managed to shove it all in before.

The door creaked and there was a snort behind her.

She turned around and found Daxelle bent over her knees laughing.

"Your room is worse than mine," she said. She coughed from the force of her snickering and stood up. "Where are you putting all your stuff?" Daxelle surveyed the things on the floor.

"In my backpack."

"In that? How?" she asked. 

"Talent."

Daxelle rolled her eyes, "I have an extra bag if you want . . ."

Adahlia counted the daggers silently, glancing at the bag, "No, I'm good, thanks." Daxelle's eyebrows rose, but she shrugged and left.

Adahlia collected the rapiers and gently put them into the side pockets, slowly arranging all her stuff into the backpack, moving things around, and taking things out. Ten minutes later, she got off the ground, her things no longer in a circle around her, and smiled.

. . .

The was to group meet in the training ring at mid-morning. When Daxelle found Adahlia with her bag slung over her shoulders walking into the sandpit, she choked.

"No way," Daxelle started. Her eyes were solely on the bag on Adahlia's back, the fabric stretched, but still able to hold all her things.

Adahlia grinned, "Way."

Iaelie walked into the ring then, with an empty duffel bag, Avanth following her. 

"What's the bag for?" Daxelle asked Iaelie.

She patted the baggage hanging at hip-level, "Food and weapons. I don't need anything else." Avanth nodded. They had both been at the Ryhun Confinements before this, and it seemed like they had nothing on them when they ran away with Daxelle.

"Though I'm not sure how I'm going to fit three broadswords in this," Iaelie smacked the zipper of her duffel bag, rolling her eyes.

Adahlia grinned, "I can help." Daxelle snorted, but she didn't disagree.

Iaelie shrugged, "Sure. Though broadswords are still too big—"

"I have ten daggers, two maces, two swords, six rapiers, a battleaxe, two hatchets, a longsword, a broadsword, nunchucks, and three vials of poison stuffed in my bag," Adahlia countered. "Broadswords are fine."

Iaelie glanced between Adahlia and her bag, gaping, "Ok, yeah, pack whatever." Astonishment crossed her face and Avanth watched with high eyebrows.

Adahlia was teaching Iaelie the beautiful art of shoving weapons into every crammable space in a bag when Gwydion appeared at the edge of the ring.

"Prepared, I see," he chuckled. He tossed Iaelie a club, the warrior catching it gently and tying it to the side of the bag. A few more weapons were thrown her way, and soon, her bag was full, crammed full of deadly weapons.

After Iaelie was packed, Adahlia helped shove ten days' worth of food into Avanth's empty bag while Daxelle asked questions directed at Gwydion. She listened intently as she meticulously placed and filled every square inch.

"How do we reach you?" Daxelle asked.

"I'll give you my number." Gwydion took a pen from his front pocket and scrawled a number sequence on the back of Daxelle's hand.

"Ok," she shook out her hand, blowing on the ink to make it dry faster. "What if we find one of the things?"

"Call me as well."

Daxelle nodded, "What if we don't have access to a telephone?"

"Steal someone's phone, if necessary of course."

Daxelle blew out a breath, "What if . . ."

Gwydion waited patiently as she contemplated further questions. The basics are already covered, call him if anything bad or good goes on.

"What if we kill someone?" Daxelle questioned.

Gwydion blinked, the only sign of surprise, "Uh, well, just call me." Daxelle nodded and slumped against the supporting pillar behind her.

"That's pretty much everything I have. I'll call you if I have any more questions."

Gwydion laughed and agreed.

Adahlia dropped a slice of bread into Avanth's bag and brushed off her hands. She zipped the bag up, pinching the sides together to make it easier for the zipper to zip. She jumped up and surveyed the bag before her.

"No way you just stuffed all that food in my bag," Avanth said from where he sat in front of Adahlia, watching her shove a bunch of junk into his duffel.

Adahlia shrugged and grinned in return.

Gwydion clapped his hands together, "Alright, are you all ready?" There was a chorus of yeses and he nodded. "Perfect, ok, I have the bus driver parked just off the side of the road."

Avanth swung the strap of his bag onto his shoulder and let out a breath, "Huh, it's not as heavy as I thought it would be." 

He gave Adahlia a high five before they both followed Gwydion out of Kryium into the street beyond. Across the street, parked in front of a hiking trail, a gray bus sat.

There was nothing identifiable on the vehicle, no words stamped across the side, no license plate either, which was concerning. Inside, there was black upholstering on the seats and dim lights. A perfect bus to drive around in—in the dark, but not in broad daylight.

Gwydion herded them into the bus and rattled off a few quick instructions before smiling and stepping out onto the road.

"Good luck," he waved at them from the ground. They all took a seat in one of the rows, each claiming a whole bench to themselves. Adahlia sat towards the back of the bus, Avanth the closest one to her, sitting diagonally in front.

Iaelie took a seat in the row in front of him and Daxelle took the one next to her.

Zadyn took the seat furthest away from the front and was immediately lying down and asleep.

The hooded bus driver started the engine and the vehicle started moving forward.

Adahlia twisted around to get one last glance at Gwydion through the window. He had dropped his arm and a relieved expression crossed his face. 

When the bus was at full speed, Adahlia turned back towards the front and she must have seemed confused because Daxelle asked her what was wrong. She just shrugged.

. . .

"So, where exactly are we going?" Avanth asked, thirty minutes into the bus ride.

Through the rearview mirror, Adahlia saw the driver's eyebrows raised high, "You ask that now?" 

Avanth grinned sheepishly. "I forgot."

The driver sighed, but lowered the music blasting on the radio and set both hands on the wheel before fixing his gaze on all five of them sitting behind him through the mirror.

"We're taking the fastest route to Gaeoles. We're probably one-third of the way there already," the driver casually turned the steering wheel as Iaelie turned pale.

Her face was ghost-white and her voice was slightly trembling. "Why are we going to Gaeoles?"  Avanth shot her a worried look.

The driver shrugged, "The largest attacks are centered there. Gwydion told me to take you all to the city with the most sightings, and Gaeoles has the most reported." Iaelie's lips tightened and she turned her head to stare out the window.

Adahlia watched Iaelie, wondering if she was ok. What happened?

Avanth caught Adahlia's eyes and mouthed Her home.

Oh.

Adahlia didn't inquire further though, it was Iaelie's business, her call to make if she wanted to tell people.

Adahlia curled her knees into her chest and leaned her head on the window sill. She closed her eyes against the sight of the speeding road. On a particularly big road bump, she banged her head against the metal sill and light blazed through her vision.

She sat up quickly, but no one was paying attention to her. She blinked against the fading light and all it did was disperse the particles, making them clump into little stars.

She kept on blinking, each time more rapidly, but the light didn't go away.

Well, I guess I can say I see the fairies now.

Adahlia sighed and closed her eyes again, but the normal darkness you would see when you shut your eyes was significantly lighter.

. . .

"Should we slap her?"

Adahlia squinted against the light flooding her vision, the sparkles still there. When the floodlights dimmed, she arched an eyebrow at Avanth who was standing over her.

"What do you mean slap me?"

Avanth snickered and shrugged. "I mean, you weren't getting up and Daxelle even tried screaming. Anyways, we're here." Adahlia glanced outside of the window and immediately saw a line of shoppes.

She watched a couple walk into a crocheting store and blinked at the normality of it all.

She pushed herself up and followed Avanth out of the bus. The driver took off his cap and tipped it at them before driving off.

Daxelle was bouncing up and down on the sidewalk, shaking her arms out.

Zadyn was standing by himself, his face turned towards the trail of ants on the ground. Adahlia turned towards Iaelie and found her staring at the line of shoppes rather calmly.

"So what do we do now?" Daxelle asked.

Adahlia glanced around, "We can go talk to people, ask them about the attacks."

Avanth eyed the people milling around on the street. "I don't think you'll get a good answer here. All the shoppes are intact and not a single person is hurrying or doing anything uncalmly. We have to find a bad area."

Iaelie looked at them then. "I know a place."

"You sure?" Avanth asked.

Iaelie nodded and held out her hand where a small silver snake ring twined around her finger, "This was passed down my family, there are rumors that this ring brings protection to whoever wears it, and even if it's not true, I like to believe that it works."

Avanth nodded and left it at that. Relief flooded Iaelie's face and she led them down the street, away from the bustle of people and towards the more secluded part of town.

"This is where the people who are easily bought live. Pay them with anything—food, money, resources, information—and they'll give you anything you want." Iaelie continued down the street, but she spoke like she had experience with this.

When the reek of sewage was prominent and puddles of liquid were all over the ground, Iaelie stopped and stomped towards the closest person she could find.

The man was lying face-down on a brown-painted, wooden bench. His clothes were ragged and it seemed like he had been in poverty for only a short amount of time. His face was cleanly shaved and he had a healthy gut.

The man sleeping on the bench jumped when Iaelie started interrogating him. "Have you seen any of the attacks?"

"What?" he was still half asleep and blinked furiously up at her.

"The attacks. Have you seen them?" Iaelie rephrased.

The man sat up and rubbed at his eyes, "No, I like minding my own business. I know who does know something about the attacks, though."

Iaelie sighed and muttered, of course, under her breath.

"What will it take for you to tell me?" she asked.

The man rubbed at his chin and grinned. "Answer this riddle."

"You're delusional," she responded, finally spotting the half-drained bottle of liquor next to the bench.

The man shrugged, "Do you want me to answer you or not?"

"Fine," Iaelie growled.

The man perked up and cleared his throat, "The Tree of Life prospers because of mortal souls, but yet souls could not survive without the Tree as it is its creation. They would simply not be. They have a mutualistic relationship, but which came first? The Tree or mortals?"

"What the actual heck is that question?" Iaelie asked.

"It's quite simple actually, which came first: the Tree or mortals?" the man said, a slight condescending tone coloring his words.

When they all fell silent, the man slumped back onto the bench, "I'll give you a few minutes."

Avanth turned to them, "Ok, so there's a fifty-fifty chance we can be right."

Iaelie shook her head, "I don't think we can guess the answer."

The Tree or mortals? The Tree of mortals? The Tree or mortals?

The question echoed over and over again in her head, but only the question, never a way to find the answer. If the Tree thrives off mortal souls, the souls would have to come first, but the souls would not be here in the first place without the Tree.

"Do you guys have any ideas?" Daxelle asked. The group muttered the man's question over and over again, but no answer came to mind.

Avanth twisted towards the man, "What type of philosophical shit is this?"

"Just answer it," the man had closed his eyes, his breaths becoming lighter. "It's really not that hard."

Tree or mortals? Tree or mortals? Tree or mortals?

Zadyn walked right up to the bench and stared directly at the man's now open eyes. "Neither. If one can't exist without the other, then they don't exist without the other."

The man opened and narrowed his eyes, mumbling a string of curses. "The Tree is a myth, it isn't real. But the child is right. They both came first, and they both came last."

"What?" Adahlia asked, her brain not comprehending at all.

"Both came first, and neither came first," the man repeated.

"I'm losing brain cells," she said.

Iaelie interrupted his reply. "Who can tell us more about the attacks?" The man's face soured, but he gave them instructions to the man's "workplace".

As Iaelie led them to where the man described, Adahlia went up to Zadyn who was walking a bit behind the group. His legs were healed, but he still insists on walking slower.

"Smart." 

A small smile curved his lips, "If you want to talk to a stupid person, you have to dumb down your thinking to their level." Adahlia laughed.

Daxelle waited for them to catch up, and it seemed like she heard them because she nodded at Zadyn, "Lia's right. Bro, none of us could answer it." Adahlia nodded in agreement. Zadyn ducked his head and they all kept silent as they followed Iaelie.

But, what if the Tree was real? What would the answer be then? 

Adahlia had been thinking so hard that when Iaelie stopped in front of her, she didn't notice and she crashed into her.

"Shit, my unconsciousness was controlling me again," Adahlia muttered as she steadied herself and apologized to Iaelie.

"What?" she asked.

"Nothing."

Iaelie let out a huff and stared at the steps to the metro tunnel. The concrete stairs were littered with trash and were cracking badly. The metal handrail had been dented in the middle and there was the distinct smell of piss.

"What a wonderful place," Avanth said sarcastically. 

"Well, let's go in," Iaelie grimaced and forced a smile.

They carefully made their way down the steps, avoiding the cracks and puddles. When they all got to the base of the stairs, they stared into the dank, darkness of the tunnel.

"So where is this guy—" Daxelle asked before letting loose an ear-shattering scream. "Oh my gods who the frick is that?"

Adahlia whirled around and found nothing in the dark. She continued scanning the ground but Daxelle whispered, "Up", and Adahlia tilted her head.

She jumped a little bit when she found a man hanging upside down from the rafters, blatantly watching them. He blinked at her and when she blinked back, he let go of the ceiling pipes and dropped to the ground.

Adahlia didn't manage more than a gasp before the well-dressed man stood up and brushed the dust from his immaculate suit.

How his suit was still pristine after clinging onto the metro's ceiling, she had no idea.

"What are you children doing in my vaults?" he asked, his voice a crisp accent belonging to southern Iaecaea. 

"Isn't this the metro?" Daxelle asked, eyeing the man nervously.

"Yes, but I sell here and no train has entered this tunnel in five years. I'm the only one down here doing business and therefore, it's mine." The man gestured at the vast emptiness. Wow, what a prosperous business!

"A guy on a bench told us that you know something about the attacks?" Adahlia asked.

"You have to be more specific, kid," the man responded.

"Uh, he was kinda . . . big and had black hair," Iaelie supplied.

The man in front of them glared at her, "Wow, what a magnificent description." Iaelie narrowed her eyes at him.

"Are you talking about Triwyn?" he said after heaving a deep sigh.

"I don't know, does Triwyn make strangers answer stupid riddles about a tree?" Avanth asked.

The man stroked his straight goatee. "That does sound like him. Triwyn was always a strange little man. Making clay dolls for his kids, giving trees flowers, picking up loose pieces of grass on the sidewalk. How is he faring?"

"Oh, uh, he was sleeping on a bench the last time we saw him," Iaelie responded.

"Ah, unfortunate. It seems like many people are falling into poverty these days."

"What do you mean?" Adahlia asked, but the man completely ignored her question and cocked his head.

"What were you saying about the attacks?" the man questioned, redirecting the subject to the reason they were there in the first place. 

"Do you know anything about them?" Iaelie glanced at the secluded metro tunnel and Adahlia knew what she was thinking. How in the hell would he know anything when he's so deluded with his "business"?

"Yes, of course," the man said. Iaelie motioned for him to go on. "I've seen many things. Dark creatures fleeing in the night, eyes of pure black, an arrow of black flame. You have to be more specific."

"What do you know about the . . . possessed."

"Ah, there's the real subject at hand. The Sin-infested kill so many in this city. But the people all only fear the physical representation of these hellish creatures," he shook his head as if patronizing the people of his town.

"What do you mean 'physical representation'?" Daxelle asked.

"They are a manifestation of the Sins. They can go beyond physical manipulation. They can target the brain."—Daxelle and Zadyn glanced at each other—"Mind control is an ability of theirs."

"How do you know?" Zadyn asked, his first words in a while.

The man smiled grimly, "I've seen the visions. I've seen the Sin creator."

Daxelle's face whitened, "Seen what?"

"A world, a dark realm. Leather wings and ebony eyes. Black blood and death. Death everywhere." The man shuddered, but kept on recalling his visions.

Jagged, bloody stones. 

Mortal screaming. 

The crack of a whip.

A red river.

Adahlia felt the blood drain from her face. How would they face all this? This description was of something beyond Hel. This man was seeing something far, far worse.

A tower of bones.

A palace of death.

A floor made of mortals.

True fear coarsed through her veins. They would not survive this investigation. No, they would die before the end of it.

A graveyard of living creatures.

Soul-sucking monsters.

No. They weren't going to simply die from this. They would suffer, they would be in immense pain before the end.

A corpse gallery.

Beyond death, possibly. Was there a Hel for already dead creatures?

A sadistic god laughing upon their throne, marveling in the blood before them.

Yes, they would be irrevocably dead.

as an extra present, I finally finished my drawing of avanth!

rowan and aven, my two friends asked me to draw him through discord and I'm so sorry it took so long!

i actually finished it a while ago, but I didn't really share it, I'm pretty bad at updating my art lmao

but here's avanth!!

anyways, have a wonderful day and drink your water <33

[ also who should I draw next? adahlia or iaelie? i have the pose for both of them already, but any other character is fine too :) ]

march 19, 2022
𝖙𝖊𝖊𝖍𝖊𝖊, 𝐁𝐚𝐢
© azalyme ₂₀₂₂