Part 1

With nothing but the sound of cascading water, Anatoli's eyes quickly opened as he was jolted awake.

Several heavy breaths filled the area.

The elderly man began to look around.

A throbbing pain began to ring out in his head.

A water tunnel.

Light from the walls inside the wall gave the water a blue-green glow that illuminated the area.

Beyond the sound of flowing water, everything was quiet.

He was sitting on the ground, with his back leaning against the brick wall. Closing his eyes, his face winced in pain as he moved his tongue inside his mouth, tasting blood.

He raised his left hand to his face, with his thumb, index finger, and middle finger touching his lower jaw.

His face stung to the touch. He raised his right hand, sticking down the sleeve of this left shirt.

Fumbling for a bit, he pulled out a knife with a yellow marking on the handle.

Holding the knife several inches from his face, Anatoli stared at his distorted reflection. He could tell that his face was heavily bruised.

His mind flashed to the blue-eyed, black-haired teen before closing his eyes.

Anatoli sighed.

"That kid, he did not seem like much...." Anatoli started to speak, lightly throwing the knife into the air, causing it to twirl.

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The knife fell into the man's hands, and in a quick motion, he stabbed the knife into the ground.

In the silence, there was a faint sound of chains rustling.

Leaning the back of his head on the wall, Anatoli opened his eyes, glancing to his left.

Surrounding him were several floating, black-tattered, cloaked individuals.

Blank white

Their skull-like faces, reminiscing of the mask his squad used to wear during their kill missions.

Empty and void.

Anatoli closed his eyes.

After a few seconds, the outline of his body began to illuminate a bright white.

The bruises and small cuts close and disappear.

His body was slowly healing.

(That kid......if I had fought seriously from the start, I wouldn’t be so far off my original objective.)

Grabbing the hilt of the knife with a grunt, he pulled the knife out of the ground.

Slowly standing up, the white light surrounding the man began to fade.

Clicking footsteps could be heard from dress shoes as Anatoli walked to the ledge, staring at the water below.

(This method of spreading sigils across the city... had I not fought that person, the sigil for this part of the city would be marked.....with what just happened, I can't afford to waste any more time now.)

There was silence from the man as he stared at the knife before lowering it to his side.

"It seems that a much rougher method will be needed."

The tattered figures began to inch closer to the elderly man.

"No, not yet."

Anatoli's hands began shaking.

One of the figures appeared behind the elderly man, looming over him.

The figure raised its bone fingers mere inches from Anatoli's face, causing the elderly man to start breathing heavily.

He gripped the knife with his shaking left hand.

Anatoli's vision went black as the figure slowly moved to cover his eyes.

There was silence as Anatoli stood there.

And then-

With a grunt and his left foot sliding across the ground, Anatoli spun around counterclockwise, swinging the knife in his left arm.

There was a faint sound as the blade cut through the air, hitting nothing.

The figure behind him and the other figures in the room vanished.

Wide-eyed at the realization, the elderly man fell to his hands and knees.

"....No."

The elderly man began to take shallow breaths.

"Still not yet."

"Just a little bit more time, and this will be all over...."

The sudden action had caused a silver-thin locket attached to a necklace to pop out of his shirt.

Hanging several inches above the ground, around his neck, Anatoli cupped the locket in his palm, staring at it for a few seconds.

“Please…..” Anatoli said in a low whisper.

His body was slightly shaking as he stood up.

"Just a little more time, and we will be together again."