Apollo vomited amounts of blood, but there were no visible wounds.

“Damn it! What the hell happened?” asked Chroma with a concerned tone as she tries to help Apollo

“I don’t know…” answered Apollo, trying to sit up as he wiped the blood off his lips.

Chroma looks at Clay, “Clay, are there any enemies?

Clay clenched her necklace, her eyes turned from black to blood red, and her eyes scanned the room, she then turned to Chroma and shook her head, her eyes then slowly turned back to normal, her hand still on her necklace.

Apollo looks at Vin, he then looks at Chroma and whispers, “Let’s go to the living room for now,”

Chroma nods, she reached for Apollo's hand, guiding it to rest on her shoulder, providing him the support he needed to stand. Clay trailed behind, her back turned to them, a silent guardian scanning the room for any lingering threats. As the three of them enter the living room, Chroma carefully lays Apollo on the sofa, Clay looks at Apollo with a puzzled expression.

“Hey Apollo, why didn’t you use your Artifact on yourself?” asked Clay as she crossed her arms.

Apollo shakes his head, “I can’t, somehow my Artifact just won’t activate…”

Chroma and Clay’s eyebrows furrowed, still somewhat perplexed by his answer,

“Is it just like my wound?” asked Clay,

Apollo shakes his head, “No, it’s different from your wound… it’s hard to explain, but for now, we need to keep a close eye on that kid,”

“You mean the guy or the girl?” asked Chroma

“The guy specifically,” replied Apollo.

As the three of them, continued to converse, Vin's eyes fluttered open, greeted by a flickering environment, constantly changing from impenetrable darkness to a blinding light that pressed against his vision like a heavy shroud. Intense pain coursed throughout his body, followed by a sense of numbness, disappearing altogether, and returning seconds later. Within the flickering environment, he can see parts of his body, detaching from his torso, floating about aimlessly. Vin wants to scream, he is in pain and yet is not, he could feel a rush of emotions cascading through his mind, clashing with his thoughts, madness, delight, sorrow, dread, frustration, and satisfaction.

Vin tried to move his body, he could feel his arms swaying, and his legs curling as well as his chest, inflating and collapsing, yet nothing seemed to change, he tried clenching his hand tightly, he could feel the pressure of his fingers as its nails began digging into his palm, yet his hand was still open, he didn’t know what else to do, his body felt heavy, his eyelids were forcefully shut, Vin gritted his teeth, hoping that this would end soon.

Vin’s eyes fluttered open once more, his vision was obscured with a mist of uncertainty like a camera losing its focus, the surroundings were smudged together, barely able to identify anything. Vin then saw a shadow, looming over his line of sight, he could feel their pressure on his chest, his cheeks becoming wet, as liquid dripped from their face. Vin rubbed his eyes as he groaned in pain, his sight now returning to normal, the shadow disappeared, his chest feeling heavier and damp, he raised his head and saw Elaine lying on his chest, as tears fell from her cheeks and onto his shirt.

Elaine’s words were drowning in tears as she tried to create sentences only to be interrupted by her snivels. Vin looked at her with worry and delight, and without even realizing it he was chuckling. Elaine stopped crying upon hearing Vin’s chuckle, she glanced at him, feeling annoyed yet relieved, and a small smile tugged the corners of her lips upon seeing him.

Claire took a deep breath and smiled at Vin with a hint of irritation, she then punched Vin on the shoulder, “You bastard,” said Claire

Vin flinched from her punch, he then sat up and rubbed his shoulder, “What was that for!” said Vin in a slightly annoyed tone.

“I’m over here crying for you and you’re laughing at me,” replied Claire.

Vin smiled, he held her wrist and pulled her closer to him, as he wrapped his arms around her body and said, “I’m sorry,”

Claire returned the embrace, and replied, “Just don’t scare me like that again,”

Vin gently pulls away and looks at her, with a furrowed brow, “Scare you? How? I was just unconscious,” asked Vin

Claire looks at Vin, her eyes filled with dread, her breath trembling, she stutters her words before successfully replying “N-No, you were not just unconscious, you were…” She shakes her head, unable to continue,

Vin looks at her in the eyes, he can see the terror in them, every ounce of breath she takes is deep, yet filled with tremors, he can feel that she is trying to maintain her composure. Vin was confused, Claire remained unfazed by last night’s ordeal, but now she was clearly shaken by whatever happened to him.

Vin holds her shoulders as he tries to calm her down, “Claire, can you tell me what happened to me while I was unconscious?” he asked

Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.

Claire hesitated, she looked at Vin’s face, her chest pounding, her hands shaking from fear, she closed her eyes and took a deep breath, memories of earlier came flooding back, the horrific scene that she wanted to forget haunted her, and in that moment, her mind returned to the past.

Claire’s eyes fluttered open, the clarity of the surroundings slowly taking shape, she found herself laying on a bed, staring at an unfamiliar ceiling, her eyes widened as she remembered last night’s events, she hurriedly sat up and looked around. Claire was in an unfamiliar place, but despite that, the first thing on her mind was her friend, Vin, she hurriedly stood up, and as she was about to approach the door, she saw Vin, lying on the floor, unconscious but unharmed, she then breathed a sigh of relief. Claire knelt next to him, she could see his chest expanding and shrinking, and all of her concerns were flushed out of her mind. Claire smiled and rested her palm on his forehead, she then flinched as she jolted her hand away from Vin, and felt a hot fiery sensation from her hand as she hissed in pain.

Claire looked confused, as she clenched her hand from the pain, she then looked at Vin and tried touching him once again, this time her hand felt cold, and it quickly escalated, his body was too cold to the point where her hand felt like it was burning, she jolted her hand away from Vin once again, her focus shifted to her palm, she was confused, it seemed like she could not touch him without experiencing the burning pain. She then heard a crunching sound, followed by a snap, she turned her head and was frozen from the horrific scene that unfolded before her.

Vin's body was becoming contorted, and blood splattered out of his body, leaving spots of red on his surroundings. Claire tried to hold Vin's body, but something pushed her away, she tried again and again, only to end up tired and bruised. She watches in horror as her friend's body continues to twist and bend its body out of shape, hearing his bones getting crushed and snapped. Vin's limbs were slowly ripped out of his torso one by one, she could hear the blood gushing out, his muscles and skin getting ripped apart. Vin’s limbs seemed to pass through solid objects like a specter.

Claire's body was shaking, this was nothing new for her, however seeing her friend like this made her want to throw up, but she couldn't, she was frozen from fear, her chest tightening, and every breath she took was shallow, accompanied by an audible gasp, cold sweat traveled down her whole body, she felt helpless, unable to help Vin, she clenches her fist, and closes her eyes, unable to look at the horrific scene, trying her best to calm the turmoil storming through her mind.

The sound abruptly stops followed by a loud thud, Claire opens her eyes, the blood disappeared, Vin’s body returned to normal, and everything was back to the way it was as if nothing happened. Claire bursts into tears, she hastily runs towards Vin, hugging his body tightly, she closed her eyes feeling his warmth.

Claire’s mind returned to the present, she looked at Vin who was waiting for her response, she nodded slightly, and explained to him what had happened. Vin's eyes widened in shock, he felt his heart leaping out of his chest, a cold chill ran through his spine, his throat ran dry, he didn't know what to say. All of this information was too much for him.

Vin sighed heavily, he looked at Claire and asked her, “Do you know what's the cause of this?”

Claire looked down and answered, “I-'m not sure, but it's p-probably because of your A-Artifact,”

Vin nods, he lies on the floor followed by a small groan “God… all of this… is just too hard to process, Artifacts, Curators, Abilities, and all other stuff…” he says, whilst covering his eyes with his forearm.

“Curators, How did you know about that?” asked Claire, her tone laced with curiosity.

“The people who rescued us, one of them told me about these Artifacts and stuff” answered Vin,

Claire's brows furrowed, and her eyes had a hint of hostility “These people… did they do anything to you?” she asked

“ … No I don't think so,” answered Vin, “What’s wrong? Are they bad people?”

Claire shrugged, and replied, “I’m not sure, but most of the time, Curators would ask something in return, …or they would try to recruit you,”

Vin sighed, he took his forearm from his eyes stared at the ceiling, and replied “Oh, ok… wait…,” Vin stood up and looked at Claire, “Don’t you have something to tell me?”

Claire nods, “Yeah… there’s some stuff that probably needs explaining, but not right now since it looks like you’re on the brink of your sanity,”

Vin shrugs, “Alright, fair enough,” he replied

Claire giggled, she leaned back a bit and quickly leaned forward, hitting her forehead against his, the both of them, winced in pain as they rubbed their foreheads.

“What the heck was that for?” asked VIn with an annoyed tone,

Claire grins, “Remember when we were kids, we used to headbutt each other whenever one of us was caught off guard,”

VIn nods, “Yeah, I remember… getting hospitalized because of your damn concussions,” he replied, as a small smile tugged across his lips, “Thanks, you’re not really good at comforting someone, but at least you tried,”

Claire’s cheeks flushed red in embarrassment, “W-what do you mean! I’m great at comforting people,” she said

Vin raised his brow, with a smug smile on his face, “Yeah, yeah sure you are,” he replied

“I-I’ll show you!” said Claire as she approaches Vin,

Vin grabbed her shoulder and forced her to sit and stay, he smiled at her as he patted her head, “Jokes aside, I’m really thankful for trying your best though,”

Claire sighed and smiled, she closed her eyes, feeling the warmth of Vin’s hand, as he softly caressed her head, she wanted this moment to last for a long time, and forget being a Curator, she wanted Vin to stay away from a life of a Curator, she knows that he won’t be able to handle it, but now that it has come to this, the only thing that she could do was help him get through this. Claire opened her eyes and looked at Vin, her gaze then darkened, she promised herself to protect Vin, even if it meant killing everyone who stood in her way, regardless of whether it was a friend or foe.

“What’s wrong? Looks like you’re thinking of something deep,” asked Vin, noticing her being lost in thought.

Claire shook her head, she stood up, and smiled at Vin, her smile seemed different from the one she usually lets out, it gave Vin chills upon seeing it, Claire’s smile turned into a grin, and her body quickly disappeared from Vin’s line of sight,

“C-Claire?” asked Vin as he stood up scanning his surroundings

His attention was then redirected towards a creaking noise, he turned around and saw Chroma, entering the room.

“Oh, Kid! Looks like you’re awake, that’s a relief,” said Chroma, seeming genuinely worried,

“Y-yes, thank you for the help,” replied Vin,

Chroma shakes her head, “You can thank our quack of a doctor later, and not me, speaking of which, I should properly introduce you to the others, she said, “Come on let’s go to the living room,”

As soon as Chroma turned around, Vin saw Claire reappear behind Chroma, her hands curled up in fists ready to attack her, Chroma turned and blocked the punch with her arm which was covered in paint.