Even as a candle flickered darkness pervaded throughout the room hiding all. All the candle illuminated was the small plate of metal upon which it burned. In that silence where even the air seemed stale a voice spoke, it was tired, exhausted even.

“I need to be honest with you, I can’t escape the feeling… but shit just isn’t going right.”

“Your demeanour spoke as much.”

A second voice responded, this one deep, serious and possibly wise.

“I know, I couldn’t sleep last night. The church this, the church that, they think they know fear, but they do not.”

“I suppose the topic of fighting back was raised then?”

“Indeed, it was, the clan knows well what happens to those who face the church.”

“For the sake of a better world, may the rest in peace, and may their lives not go in vain.”

“For the sake of a better world.”

Silence followed, only broken by a strained swallow and the clinking of a glass.

One of the voices let out a sigh before the other resumed.

“The church is one thing, but it is not enough to make you lose your composure, speak your mind.”

“it’s a bit of everything, I can’t express it, but problems keep occurring faster than they go away. I’m going to bring the trip up again, I know you already know, but it’s just that much of a fucking headache. We have to move the shrine, the Nexus is showing weird readings, imports are down by %15. I just want to cry, I never thought this would, happen, I thought the old headmaster was just old.”

“If I didn’t put such restrictions on what the boy learns then it wouldn’t have caused you so much stress.”

“No, no, that’s alright, I understand that completely, you want the clan’s dark side to disappear. I am sure the rest of the clan understands too, it’s just that the world wants the child to know. No, not the world, my bad.”

You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author.

“Why? The will of the world is not something we can understand, it might be.”

“I felt the same energy on the child the other night that I felt from the old clan head.”

The other voice didn’t respond, the silence left a mound in the others chest. The room seemed to cry out due to the pressure and the voice began to defend itself.

“I swear on my mana that I speak the truth, it was not red, I swear, PLEASE BELIEVE ME!”

The voice grew more and more panicked, and it was soon accompanied by the crackling of wood. It was not the sound of breaking, but more like something was growing, and fast at that.

The serious voice demanded reasoning; their voice seemed to have teeth as the guttural tone bit into the other ears.

“Explain!”

The word wasn’t that loud, but it was clear.

“It was similar to his inauguration; we saw it when we were kids. It was there at your inauguration too I think, but far weaker. It felt almost… loving?”

“Ah, oh, no, no, no.”

The once serious voice crumbled, a pattering sound followed as droplets hit the ground.

“Sir… brother, what does this mean?”

It took a while for him to collect himself, but the man gave a response, his voice unsteady.

“It… it means nothing.”

“Is it that bad?”

“Do you know why the world looks so kindly upon not just our clan, but the others as well?”

“Hope?”

“And how what will help the world?”

“Oh, no, please no, contact Jason.”

“I will, I know that I can’t refuse it’s will, but I want to.”

“I understand, but all good things must come to an end… do you remember that day the five of us decided we would be brothers?”

“Yeah, back then we had such high hopes for the future. We thought that life would be nothing but smooth sailing, we would be the saviours of the world. Now we there are just three of us that rely on the efforts of our fathers.”

“let’s just hope that the child fulfils our wishes from back then. Nothing but smooth sailing.”

“Mathew would like that.”

“How would you feel if I died?”

“You don’t mean?”

“You know how much my duties restrict me.”

“don’t, you…”

“We need a way to deal with that prick, the young ones look up to him. he wasn’t there that day, he just thinks we grew soft with age, he needs to be constrained.”

The other voice gave a sigh before finally accepting.

“Fine, but you know the rules of the clan.”

“AHAHAHAHAH, yeah, I forgot that one, I shall train a successor. She is going to be someone you know.”

“That isn’t really a successor though, she’s off to a named academy next year.”

“If I grovel enough, she might take pity on me.”

“Yeah-right, I know how much of a sucker you are for her… are you sure?”

“Love will not save a life, in the turmoil to come I want her to be on the good side… even if we are to fail.”

“I wish I had such courage.”

“We should visit Mathew, tell him about how far we have come. maybe even reminisce over a few bottles.”

“Do you have permission from your misses?”

“Do you?”

“…”

“…”

“I will go ask.”

“Best we do.”