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

Claire rolled her eyes, clearly unhappy with the current situation, she crossed her arms and sighed deeply.

Vin looks at the both of them, he then taps on Claire’s shoulder, “Do you know her Claire?” he asked

Claire nodded, “Sadly, yes,” she replied

Ark chuckles, “Aww, Don’t be like that Claire,”

“Just get to the point Ark,” Claire replied in an irritated tone

“I think you already know Claire,” answered Ark

Claire sighed and shook her head, “If it’s about joining your group then no, we won’t join,”

Ark nods, “You might want to reconsider, especially now that you have someone to protect,” she said forebodingly

Claire gritted her teeth and glared at Ark, “What are you trying to say?” she asks

Ark shakes her head, pulls out a thick book from under her desk, and opens it, turning its pages, “So Vin, how long have you been friends with Claire,” she asks

“Um… around fifteen years or so,” Vin replied,

Ark was silent for a moment and stopped turning the pages as if she was shocked by his answer, she shook her head once again, before continuing to turn the pages,

“So… how much do you know about her?” she asks

Vin hesitates to answer, his mind flooded by the memories of their past and the secrets they’ve shared, “I… I thi-”

“Don’t answer that Vin,” Claire interrupts Vin, she pats his shoulder forcing a smile on her face, “Can you leave for a moment, Vin? I still need to catch up with her,”

“Don’t leave Vin! You need to know everything! Especially the people who you will be involved with,” said Ark as she slammed her hand on the desk, stopping her from flipping the pages

“NO!” Claire replied defensively, “He doesn’t need to know, he won’t be a curator!” said Claire, her tone flustered.

“Claire, he needs to know how to use his Artifact, you should know that out of all people!” said Ark

“He doesn’t need to! I’ll just protect him! He won’t have to walk the same path I did!” Claire replied, her hands tightening to a fist.

“And what if you can’t? What if he dies because he doesn’t know how to properly activate his Artifact?” asked Ark

Claire stood in silence, gritting her teeth, fists tightening, the ring that was nestled in her hand began digging into her palms, she wanted to answer, but she couldn’t, she simply shook her head, glaring at Ark.

After a short silence, Ark shakes her head, she flips through another page, her hand gliding through the stubbled paper, she mumbles to herself before lifting her finger and pointing it at Vin, the papers around the desk tremble violently, before shooting out towards Vin, the papers stop, inches away from his body.

Claire grits her teeth, she activates her Artifact, and glares at Ark, pointing her gauntlets at her “What the hell are you doing!”

“Proving my point,” replied Ark, as she closed her hand into a fist.

The papers rolled into a cone, with the spire pointing at Vin, as they slowly moved closer,

Claire dashes towards Vin, trying to grab his shoulder, however, another set of papers blocked her approach.

“Vin! What are you doing? Move!” Claire shouted

“I…I can’t, my body won’t move,” replied Vin, his body trembling, showing his attempt to move, however he wasn’t able to,

Claire turned towards Ark, she lunged towards her, at great speed, leaving a shockwave in its wake, however before she was able to reach her, she was blown away, crashing into the bookshelves, along with a trail of fluttering pieces of papers, and a thick dust filled with the scent of woodchips. Through the smoke, Claire lunges once again her bloodied arms protruding toward Ark, as Claire reaches closer, the pieces of paper tightly wrapped around her body, constricting her body. Ark then raised her other arm upwards, causing the paper to float along with Claire, she closed her hand into a fist, triggering the papers to tighten around Claire, her hands and feet were forced together, she could feel the papers tightening, giving pressure to her bones, causing her to close her eyes and scream in pain.

“Claire, look around you, you’re completely helpless, unable to protect your friend!” said Ark

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Claire was unable to reply, she was left breathless, still enduring the pain, as she continued to struggle within the binds of the papers, but she could hear Ark’s words clearly, she slowly opened her eyes, her mouth left agape, and she no longer struggled, her hands and feet became limp, her Artifact slowly deactivating, tears trickled down her cheeks. The sight was unbearable for her, as the smell of blood crept through her nose, she looks at the body of Vin, who was currently lying in a pool of his own blood, lifeless.

Claire shook her head, unable to believe what she was seeing, she gazed at Ark, when she felt a sharp pain in her right eye, a warm liquid slowly flowed from her cheek dripping onto the paper, staining it in red, Claire flinched, she had lost sight in her right eye, she began to feel lightheaded, her surroundings spiraling, she sees Ark, shaking her head as she crossed her arms, mumbling something. The paper restricting Claire slowly released its grip, making Claire fall through, the room quickly became silent, with no sound other than a thud on the ground. Claire’s body fell right next to Vin, her tears mixing into the blood on the floor, she was unable to turn her head, her gaze now fixated on Vin’s lifeless body, she closed her eyes, slowly losing consciousness.

As her consciousness continued to fade, she could hear a familiar voice calling her name, every call was getting louder and louder, until she was finally able to hear it clearly.

“Claire!” said the voice, “Wake up damn it!”

The voice was aggressive, with a hint of irritation, she opened her eyes, and to her surprise, it was Vin, still alive and healthy, her eyes widened once again, she jolted from the floor into a sitting position, headbutting Vin, the both of them groaned in pain, rubbing their foreheads

“God, that hurts,” said Vin hissing through his teeth

“Sorry… wait, what happened?” asked Claire

“You suddenly passed out mid-conversation,” explained Vin “Are you alright?”

Claire nodded and stood up, she looked around the room, it was completely free of mess, the shelves weren't damaged and there was no trail of papers, she then gazed at Ark, who was drinking coffee, she then returned her gaze to Vin

“Um… Vin, can you exit for a sec, wait for me outside the room,” said Claire

“Yeah, sure,” said Vin as he stood up heading to the doors,

Ark gives Vin a slight nod, as she watches him leave the room.

As soon as Claire heard the closing of the door, she glared at Ark, she slammed her hands on the desk, causing the documents to scatter and the cups to fall.

“What the hell was that?” Claire asked in an aggressive and irritated tone

Ark rests her coffee-filled cup on the floor and smiles, “Proving my point,”

Claire gritted her teeth, she grabbed Ark by the collar of her shirt, and pulled her closer, lifting her, and causing the desk to fall over, along with its contents.

Claire leans closer, her lips parted “Don't fuck with me Ark! Tell me what you did!” her voice laced with rage

Ark sighed and shook her head, “Like I said earlier, Proving my point,” she replied, “You're strong, but not enough to protect Vin, if you were in your prime, then maybe, but now…” her voice trails off, not continuing her sentence

Ark looks at Claire, “Times are changing Claire, back then, you were one of the strongest Curators I know, you were able to kill multiple enemies with your bare hands, without even activating your Artifact, but right now, you've gotten weak,”

Claire slowly released her grip from Ark's collar, “I-I'm not weak, just rusty,” she replied, her tone slowly becoming calm,

Ark adjusted her clothes, flattening her wrinkled collar, “No, you're not, just face it Claire, you've become weak after trying to live a normal life… Don't get me wrong, I'm not judging you, even I would want a normal life, away from being a Curator,” she said, looking at her fallen desk, “But unfortunately, it's not that easy, especially when you have someone to protect, an innocent person who was pulled into this madness of an underworld,”

Claire remained silent, dwelling in her own thoughts, however, she continued to listen to Ark

“Wanting to protect that person by sheltering them from the unknown… I know that… I've tried that, and paid the price, not only have I lost my ability to see, but also lost someone precious to me,” said Ark, patting Claire's shoulder, “Don't make the same mistake as I did Claire, I could tell how much he means to you,”

Claire's fists tightened, she didn't want to admit it, but she had gotten weak, Ark had also hit the nail on the head, her words weighing on her mind. Claire wanted to keep Vin away from everything, not wanting to push him deeper into the rabbit hole, she was now torn, thinking about her choices.

Ark then sat down on her chair and resumed drinking her coffee, “Just remember this Claire, protecting is different from sheltering, take your time to decide,”

Claire walked away in silence, her mind still fixated on Ark’s words, her trembling hand reaching for the door handle when Ark’s voice stopped her,

“Before you leave, let me talk to Vin, feel free to stay and listen to our conversation if you want,” said Ark,

Claire didn’t reply, she opened the door and exited the room, she took a deep sigh and looked at Vin, who was sitting on the side of the hallway next to the door, with his back turned against the wall, his head bobbing, as he tries to maintain his consciousness. Claire gave VIn a light kick, causing him to flinch, Vin looked up and yawned, he stretched his arms and legs before standing up, his eyelids barely opening.

“So… how did it go?” asked Vin his voice low and weary,

Claire shrugged, “It was… alright,” she replied her voice barely above a whisper, “By the way Ark wants to talk to you,”

Vin nods hesitantly, he glanced at Claire who was in deep thought, he sighed and flicked her forehead, Claire flinched but didn’t say a word, instead, she looked at him and sighed heavily, she shook her head and smiled, she then sat on the floor the same place where Vin was.

“Aren’t you coming with me?” asked Vin

Claire shakes her head, “We’ve already had our talk,”

Vin looks at Claire with a shocked expression

“What's with the surprised look?” asked Claire, with a slightly irritated tone

Vin shakes his head and replied “I'm just a bit shocked, you've been a loose cannon for a couple of days now, and seeing you calm makes it harder for me to read you,”

Claire chuckles at Vin’s reply, “Just go,” she replied

Vin smiles and nods, he waves goodbye and enters Ark’s room, upon entering the room he sees the mess, papers littered the floor, some were soaked by the spilled coffee, and the desk had now fallen over. Vin looks at Ark, who is sitting on her chair, drinking her coffee nonchalantly, ignoring the mess in front of her.

“Oh, Is that you Vin?” asked Ark as she turned her head towards Vin’s direction.

“Um… yeah, Claire said that you want to talk to me?” asked Vin, as he walked closer

“Yes. that’s right, please don’t mind the mess, please sit wherever you like,” answered Ark

Vin takes a chair and sits in front of her, with the only thing between was the fallen desk