There was a lethargy that came with waking. My entire body was being pressed down by something that made it heavier than it ought to be.

  “-should be the last one.”

  “-isn’t that just positively fascinating. Here I thought you were just going to be a boring old man.”

  Voices, two of them. It took only the slightest of twitches to realize that my arms were bound. So were my legs. I was on…a chair?

  “-don’t insult my life’s work so.”

  “I didn’t say a thing.”

  One voice was obviously Duke Indri. The other was a woman. Her voice sounded vaguely familiar, too, though I really couldn’t place it right now.

  My brain slowly caught up with what was happening. I’d been drugged, obviously. How many days has it been since I’ve come here? Two? Three? It wasn’t that I was shocked by him doing something like this; I just hadn’t expected it so soon. Then again, the eight-day time limit was something I had to abide by. It had nothing to do with Duke Indri. Damn it, I’d been careless.

  “Hey, Duke. You do know she’s awake, right?”

  “What?”

  Fuck. I made myself go still, forcing my body not to react. If she saw anything, I had to hope she’d second-guess herself. Every muscle tensed, holding my breath as if the smallest move would give me away.

  “That really won’t work, you know. The mana of someone asleep and someone awake aren’t exactly the same.” The voice was much closer now, practically right next to my ear. I hadn’t even heard footsteps. Damn it.

  I opened my eyes. It took several seconds for it to adjust. It was largely dark, save for a few Magical Implements lining the walls, their orange glow illuminating the room. The walls were all an indistinct brown. If there had to be one word to describe this place, then dungeon would fit.

  This place was hardly empty. I stared down below me, at a very large black circle, a symbol etched on its surface. I remembered this. This was…the Transmutation Circle. Along with my chair, the circle had other things. Scarlet’s hammer, her shortsword. All of her effects the Duke had made me use.

  Then, there were the sculptures. I counted three of them. I couldn’t look behind me. Doubtless, there were even more things hidden from view.

  There was also the woman staring at me with so much open curiosity it was hard not to fidget under her gaze.

  Silver hair. Round, warm features. Brown eyes that seemed to project kindness, even as her lips twisted up into a smirk. She was wearing a long black tunic, a matching veil, trying and failing to contain her hair. She was dressed as…a nun? A rather blasphemously dressed one at that, given how her clothes clung to her.

  

  “You…you’re from…the auction,” I muttered.

  “Oh, you do remember me! I’m touched.” She bowed deeply until her back was straight. Then, she stood in one complete motion. “Of course, I would have been very upset if you didn’t. I did save your life and all that, remember?”

  I had suspected that much already. By all accounts, I should have been dead long before anyone with the ability to heal me had ever found me then.

  “You know her? You never mentioned this!” Duke Indri stepped into view, stopping just behind the silver-haired woman.

  “I didn’t?” The woman paused. “You didn’t ask, did you? I think we’re even.” She turned to meet him. “Don’t worry too much. I just thought she was an interesting girl, and so I healed her a little. If I didn’t, she wouldn’t be here for you, would she? I think you should be thanking me!”

  “You bastard,” I growled. “What the hell do you think you’re doing?”

  They both turned to look at me then. “You’ve gone insane if you think you can actually tie up the heir to House Veyne like this, and for what?”

  Duke Indri frowned slightly. “I apologize for the…inconvenience, but this was the only way.”

  Whatever I had expected him to say, that hadn’t been it. “Is that what you told the other children, too? Did you apologize for the inconvenience to them?” I snapped. My anger was bubbling. I wanted so desperately to reach for my mana, no matter how dangerous that might be in this situation.

  The Duke met my gaze for only an instant before he looked down. “No…I did not. Maybe I should have.”

  “What…what are you doing here?” What else could I say to this absurdly vile man?

  He looked back up at me, followed my gaze, and shook his head. “Fixing an injustice that should have never happened. That’s all.” I almost thought I saw tears in his eyes.

  Did you know this text is from a different site? Read the official version to support the creator.

  “You’re referring to your wife,” I muttered. “And now you’re trying to bring her back? Is that it?”

  Duke Indri stared at me. The silver-haired woman laughed. “I knew you were a smart girl. Though poor Indri here wasn’t exactly subtle either. You can’t complain now.”

  “Shut it.” Duke Indri hissed back at her. He still refused to meet my gaze. “Yes. That’s- that’s right. That has been my only goal for a very long time.”

  “For such a small reason?” I hissed. “You sacrificed so many children, for just that reason?” I could taste the venom on my own tongue. Duke Indri, I was sure I could take. It was the woman who was making me hesitate. Something primal told me that she was dangerous.

  “Small reason?” He hissed, the words low and cold, unexpected enough to make me flinch. Silence settled, and then my own anger was back.

  “You drained them of their mana, then disposed of them. What the hell are you planning to do to me, you bastard?” My voice was echoing from the walls now.

  The sword whispered. It's voice sounded distant. Quiet.

  “Esra.” He met my gaze. Something in his eyes hardened. “You’re the right vessel. Perhaps one of only a handful in this entire nation. It’s simply fate.”

  “Because I have a lot of mana?” I shot back.

  “Because you have a body that can survive having that much mana.” He said. “Of course, your mana itself will be very useful as well.”

  We stared at each other. A thousand more questions raced through me. “Why…why did you use those other children then? If I’m so rare, then what the fuck was the point of involving them?!” I was shouting now. I didn’t want to reach for my Gift to stomp on these feelings. If I did, the only thing I might do is make them stronger.

  “Experiments.” Duke Indri murmured.

  “What?”

  “You’re a smart girl, Esra. Maybe you understand some of the implications of my work. That work required test subjects. Experiments. I needed to be sure. That…required subjects, and children prove far better subjects for this sort of work than adults. So many Gifts. So many Intents. So many ways things can go wrong or right.” He might have been staring at me, but he wasn’t looking at me. He seemed to shake his head, collect himself again. “And then there’s th-”

  “You think that justifies even the tiniest part of what you’ve done?” I hissed, cutting him off. “Bullshit yourself all you want, don’t fucking try to bullshit me.”

  Duke Indri stared at me and frowned.

  My anger was boiling. Experiments? That’s all they were? The anger burned so hot it looped back around into becoming a cool rage instead. “Death is what you’ll beg for most when I get out of these,” I whispered, channeling mana. It…didn’t come. I felt it in my core, but it simply didn’t travel outwards as it should have.

  “I am afraid that won’t work. Those aren’t ordinary restraints.” Duke Indri turned and began to walk away. He stopped in front of the silver-haired woman. “You will still do your share of the bargain, will you not? Give it to her.”

  The woman smiled. “And what will you do?”

  “Prepare.” He muttered. “It seems we have guests, and they are rather strong. Even the Artifact might not hold.”

  “Ooh, almost makes me want to go outside and see for myself.”

  “No.” The Duke hissed. “Do your part, or our agreement is over.”

  The woman sighed, moved towards me, even as Duke Indri left the room. “People can be so serious sometimes. It really is rather sad, don’t you think?”

  “Fuck you.” I hissed. “Stay the fuck away from me.”

  “What did I do?” The woman frowned, stepping closer still. “It’s not like I’m the one trying to turn you into their dead lover.”

  “What?”

  She paused. “Maybe I wasn’t supposed to say that. But you already knew, right? Vessel for what, hmm?”

  It wasn’t like a part of me hadn’t expected something like this. That didn’t make it any less horrifying to have it confirmed for me just like that. “But that’s….”

  “Insane?” The woman tilted her head.

  “Pointless,” I corrected. “I can kind of guess how now. He….” I glanced around, stared at the Artifacts, all of which I now knew had a tiny piece of the woman inside them. “...wants to take these Intents, and shove them all inside me.”

  The woman clapped. “See? I knew you were bright! Just like how you pretended so hard you didn’t notice me. It was pretty funny. I almost gave myself away a few times by laughing!”

  More implications. More questions and answers. She was my silent watcher? How? Why? That wasn’t important right now.

  “Even if…these tiny bits of Scarlet can be shoved into me…that doesn’t mean Scarlet will come back. She’s still dead!” That was the most infuriating part of all of this: all of this bloodshed and insanity was for nothing.

  “Right? It’s totally crazy.” The woman smiled. “Especially because it’s you.”

  “What?”

  She just smiled.

  There were too many moving pieces here, and I barely understood any of them. My mind was racing.

  The woman moved closer still. She swiped at the empty air next to her. The air split, her hand sank into something I couldn't see. I stared as she pulled it out, and in her hands was…a syringe? A pale pink liquid floated in the syringe.

  “What the hell is that?” I tried to move farther away, as futile as it was.

  “Does it matter? It’s not like you can stop this.” She brought the needle to my arm. There was a stabbing pain as she injected me. “Can’t fill a cup already full and all that.”

  Panic rose. I had come to rely on my Gift, and now I couldn’t control myself without it. “You won’t get away with this.”

  Surely Anias would come soon. I hadn’t sent the signal, but surely people would come soon, all the same.

  The woman laughed. “It’s too late for that. Besides, I am dying to see what’ll happen now.” She let the syringe drop, moved forward, and touched my bindings. They fell.

  I stared at her in surprise. The surprise lasted only a moment, and then I was channeling mana.

  The blade screamed, louder than it ever had before. I reached for the Godblade. I was going to skewer her, and then I was going to do ten times worse to that bastard. I just had to get to him.

  Mana flowed through me, and with it…something else. Something alien. Something pressed inside my skull, stretched towards a part of me I knew all too well.

  “I knew you’d channel right away.” The woman beamed. "It does work much faster if you do."

  I froze. My Gift worked. I’d never even reached for it.

  The world turned cold. The colors were still there, but now they were lifeless to my eyes. I stared dully at the woman in front of me. Who was she, and who was I? What was I doing again? Did it matter? No, nothing really did.

  A whisper, louder than the shouting but distant all the same. I didn’t ignore it. It simply ceased to matter.

  “I do wonder just how this will turn out.” The strange silver-haired woman smiled.

  She slashed the air in front of her again. The world split open, a black gash of absolutely nothing at all. The woman stepped inside, and was gone.