The events of last night came to a close, Vin’s eyes fluttered open as the sunlight flooded the room, he breathed a heavy sigh, remembering last night. A figure came into his sightline, it was Claire, her short hair cascading down, casting a shadow on her face, she had a warm smile on her face.

“Hey Vin, you’re up early,” said Claire.

“Yeah… it’s still pretty early, what time did you wake up? Or… did you even sleep at all?” asked Vin, sighing deeply.

“The latter, but don’t worry, I’m feeling fine, I don’t even feel tired at all,” replied Claire as she sat beside him

Vin sighed again, he sat up and crossed his legs with one foot tucked underneath his thigh, he looked at Claire, who was still smiling at him. Claire then caresses Vin’s head.

“So… how’re you feeling?” asked Claire,

Vin shrugs, “I don’t know to be honest… I’m still scared and pretty much confused…all of this is still a bit hard to swallow but at the same time…” Vin shrugs once again, unable to continue his thoughts.

“It's fine… to be honest, you're handling it pretty well,” replied Claire

“I don’t really know about that… it’s like… I know I’m supposed to be pretty shocked about this, but my brain just can’t seem to find it…” Vin replied.

Claire nods, “I understand…I was like this at first,” Claire hesitates for a moment before speaking once again her voice slowly quivering, “Everything suddenly made no sense and made sense at the same time, everything I knew felt so insignificant… and the fact that I got involved in something like this… I knew my life wouldn’t be the same ever again,”

Claire stops and shakes her head, she smiles once again, “Sorry, I didn’t mean to vent,”

Vin looks at her, his eyes full of concern, “It’s fine, you’ve been venting to me for the past fifteen years… so I’m pretty much used to this,” he said, in a playful tone

Claire giggles, “Yeah, you’re right…” Claire breathed a sigh of relief, “By the way…you don’t need to worry about this, everything will return to normal, and we can just continue our peaceful lives,”

Vin shakes his head, “I don’t think we’ll be able to, we’ve already encountered trouble the other night,”

Claire shakes her head, “Don’t worry about that, I’ll protect you, so you can just forget about that and live your life,”

“I’m not sure, Chroma already told me everything,” Vin replied,

“Chroma? Who was that?” Clair asks her brows furrowed

“The woman covered in paint… the person you attacked first,” answered Vin

“I see… so… what did she tell you?” asks Claire

Vin then shared Chroma's explanation with Claire, she sighed and nods.

“That’s all just make-believe, so don’t believe in it,” said Claire

“As much as I want to, it’s hard to just forget about it, after all, I’ve already seen what happened last night,” Vin replied

Claire sighed, “Alright fine, the explanation is correct… as much as I hate to admit it,” said Claire, after a moment of hesitation, Claire added “But she's missing one important thing,”

“What is it?” asked Vin

“There are some Artifacts where its ability is more based on its story,” answered Claire

Vin tilts his head in confusion,

“Uhm… how do I explain this… basically, some Artifacts hold a story of some sort, it’s like their history, which ends up determining their abilities” explained Claire, as she took out a ring from her pocket, “Take my Artifact for example, this ring belonged to a knight who fought and died in battle, protecting her kingdom and saving many lives, giving her the title of 'The Guardian'”

Vin's eyes widened, “Guardian? That's the name Lucid called you… but how does it work?”

“In under twenty-four hours, the history of the artifact should appear in your dreams, and you’d be able to remember it very clearly,” answered Claire,

“I see… so I guess mine is just the normal one, with no backstory or whatever,” said VIn

Claire shakes her head, “An Artifact’s backstory is just a way for the Curator to know more about the Artifact, it won’t have much effect in the long run,”

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“But remember, I’m only telling you this to protect you, the more you know the better,” Claire added,

Vin responds with a nod,

Claire then smiles, her eyes glowing with curiosity, “But more importantly,” she crawled towards Vin, her face inches away from his, “Last night… was that your Artifact?”

Vin leaned back slightly, “What do you mean?” he asked,

“That ringing noise last night, it was so strong, you even made my ears bleed,” Claire answered, her voice brimming with curiosity,

“I’m not sure… wait the ringing noise? Was that why the others covered their ears?” asked Vin

Claire nods, “I guess so, but thanks to that, everything quieted down,” she replied

“And whose fault do you think was that huh?” asked Vin,

Claire pouts, and backs away from Vin. She sits on her shins followed by a slight bounce from the bed and shrugs, “I’m not gonna apologize for what I did… I was just trying to protect you,” she replied

“Thank you, but attacking them like that, after saving our lives… seems like an asshole move to do, right?” replied Vin

Claire shrugged, not planning to respond, she leaned back letting her body fall onto the bed, as she stretched her legs letting them rest on Vin’s shoulders, and let out a sigh of relief.

“Your feet stinks… get them off me,” said Vin in an annoyed tone,

Claire raised her head, her eyes locked onto Vin, a small grin played on her face, “I will, if you can move them that is,” she replied,

Vin grabbed her ankles and tried to lift her legs, however they were too heavy. He instead, leans in closer, a mischievous grin playing on his lips. He stretches his arms sideward and before placing them on Claire’s waist, his fingers begin to wiggle rapidly in an up-and-down motion. Claire flinches, her body trembles at Vin’s teasing touch, and she bursts into a snicker, before letting out a small giggle that she quickly stifles with her hand over her mouth.

Vin paused, as he heard the sound of the door opening, he looked behind him and saw two people, one of them with a shocked expression. A fairly young man, dressed in a black hoodie, wearing a cap and a mask that covered his face, and a very young girl with long purple hair wearing a matching purple beanie and hoodie, her right hand holding onto the man’s hand, and her left hand holding a doll. Claire leans and sees the people, her brows furrowed, as she glares at the man

Silence filled the room, as the two parties looked at each other, the young girl with a shocked expression hurriedly exited the room, dragging the man along with her. Vin took a deep breath and looked at Claire whose glare was still fixated on the exiting people.

“Hey, don’t get any ideas and try to attack them,” said Vin

Claire shakes her head, “No, I’m not planning to… yet,”

She lifts her feet off Vin’s shoulders as she sat up

“It's just… nevermind,” said Claire,

Vin shrugs “Well, whatever you're thinking about, just try and hold it off, alright?”

The two turned their attention to the door when they heard a knock, the door slowly opened, revealing a young woman with brown hair, she wore a simple white shirt and black pants,

“Looks like the two of you are awake,” said the young woman

Claire didn't reply, she instead glared at the woman.

Vin squints his eyes as he looks at the young woman, his eyes then widened, his mouth agape,

“Chroma? Is that you?” asked Vin in a surprised tone

The young woman nodded and replied, “Yeah, I just washed the paint off me, why?”

“You look really different from before, I was just surprised,” said Vin

Chroma shrugs, “I was experimenting with my Artifact, that's why I looked like that,” she replied, “Anyway… before the two of you lovebirds continue, our leader wants to see the both of you,”

Vin tilts his head, confused, “What do you mean?” he asked

Chroma smirked and shook her head, not answering his question, “Just follow me,” she replied

Claire glared at Chroma, she clenched her hand into a fist, along with the ring inside her hand

“Hold on,” Claire said, as she grabbed her wrist

Chroma flinched, she stopped and turned around, facing Claire,

“What does your leader want with us?” asked Claire

Chroma shrugged, “I don't know, she just asked me to bring you two,”

Claire grits her teeth, she grabs the collar of Chroma's shirt, pulling her closer to Claire,

“If your leader wants to talk to us, she can be the one to come to us, since she's the one in need,” said Claire in a threatening manner

Chroma looks at Claire and shakes her head, her expression, unreadable, “she'll be able to help the both of you, especially, Vin,”

Vin's eyes widened, “How did you know my name? I don't remember telling you,” he asked

Chroma shakes her head, “You didn't… our leader told me,” she then turns her head to Claire, “I also know you, Claire, aka, 'Guardian'”

Claire's grip tightened, before releasing Chroma, making her fall to the ground,

“Lead the way,” said Claire,

Chroma stood up, patting the dust off her backside, she then opened the door and exited the room, Claire and Vin followed closely, with Claire holding her Artifact tightly, ready for any fights about to emerge. The three of them made their way through the living room and towards the other side of the house. Chroma stops at a uniquely designed door, full of book carvings, she then knocks at the door, before opening it.

Chroma gestured for Vin and Claire to enter the room, as the three walked inside, the room was dimly lit, with only the sunlight barely permeating through the closed windows, the walls were lined with shelves filled to the brim with books of different sizes, the smell of paper, followed by a strong aroma of coffee fills the room.

“Geez… the room is so dark, why doesn't he turn on the lights?” Muttered Chroma as she guided them deeper into the room.

The three of them stopped in front of a wooden desk, filled with various papers, books, pens, pencils, and five large cups of coffee. Behind the desk was a tall figure, wearing a black long-sleeved shirt, and white ink-stained gloves, a hood rested over their head, cascading a shadow, that hid their face.

“Ark, I've brought them,” said Chroma,

Ark looked at Vin and Claire, she then looked at Chroma and gestured for her to leave, Chroma then nods, she waved goodbye to Claire and Vin as she walked out of the room. Ark then removed her hood, strands of whites flowed down her shoulders like a river that seemingly glowed through the dim sunlight, between those strands was a pale feminine face, her eyes were covered by a cloth obstructing their vision.

Ark smiled as she looked at Claire, “Long time no see, Claire,” she greeted them