T-Day 

Cold rush racing through his veins. Head feeling like bursting out with a drive that the boy can't even fathom to understand. The boy squirmed and screamed in the muddy alleyway muffled out by the rain. 

The paltry amount of holy energy coursing through him resisted the transformation, intending to destroy the foreign evil along with the container. His brain felt like it was slowly being eaten away, disintegrating. Muscles felt like they were pulling themselves apart and woven into clay. 

Just as he was screaming for the pain to knock him out already. His shaking eyes briefly focused on the lifeless body next to him through the pain. 

The body of a fallen vampire marred with fresh blood.  

1 Month prior T-Day 

A young woman dressed in white garb walked through the wide hallways in a hurry through, going as quickly as she can without alerting others whom she passed by of her panic.  

She turned a corner from a hallway, walking with determined steps as the building became more and more opulent with less stray people roaming around until she reached a giant door by the end of it.  

It was adorned with murals of their organization's history dating back to the very beginning of the emergence of human civilization. 

From the day the goddess granted the 4 blessings to the day the first life was corrupted and fought against. It was all expertly etched into the giant wooden door to inspire awe and reverence. 

She however had no time to appreciate the craftsmanship at the moment. 

She knocked once, and as soon as she got a reply, opened the door without a pause. “The Augury has received an Oracle.” She said with a controlled voice, barely containing her panic. 

A man twice in size of her or any other with a laughably small monocle sat at the center of the room, paused looking through a stack of documents.  

“Good or bad?” he said as his piercing gaze sat on her. 

The women uttered a word with stern expression.  

“Worst.” 

3 Days prior T-Day. 

“Nine.... ninety.... One!!....” 

Zeke shouted into the early morning from exertion of the repeated movements. 

His arms burning from lifting the heavy stick hundreds of times radiated its pain across his entire shoulders, making the next consecutive slash that much harder. Yet he kept on with absolute focus and resoluteness to not mess up, as he knew that he would be made to repeat the entire set if he did so. 

“Thousand!......” Exclaimed Zeke with elation as he dropped the heavy stick onto the field before removing the heavy bag from his back and dropping onto the grass himself.  

As if waiting for conclusion, the day quickly rose in brightness by the second, illuminating the grassy field with vibrant energy of the morning sun. 

Contrary, however, to the glimmering morning dew surrounding the lying body, the boy had a face filled with despondency. As his breath gradually slowed down from the daily torture barely masked as “training.”, a sturdy man walked out of the moderately sized house whose field he was training on.  

He had white patches of hair along the sides, with a balding head in the middle. His sharp face which was once handsome were marred with wrinkles and in all accounts was to be called an old man, if you were to ignore the robust body that he carried that is.  

Just from the way his clothes stretched over his body, you could tell that this man was at the peak of his strength and could still deck someone like Zeke with a single blow. On the man's side rested an ornate silver sword that never left his side along with a glare that also had similar attachment.  

The man, Domus Dinard, ex - 2nd rank knight and his grandfather looked at Ezekial Dinard with disappointment oozing from his eyes and spoke with a gruff voice that perfectly matched his appearance. “That is enough.” There was a tone of resignation and anger in the man's voice even though his face and words were schooled, as if he gave up on something. “We don’t want your body to be too sore for the qualification exam. For the next two days just keep both your body and mind as sharp as the sword you are to carry.” 

“Yes grandfather...” Was all the wheezing boy could say as he struggled to get up after the intense training, but the man had already walked back after saying his piece, not slightly interested in Zekes reply.  

Zeke got up with a grunt and followed the older man back to the house with his head hung, the black shades under his eyes deepening. He could almost hear what Domus was thinking. Of how terribly incompetent he was. How much of a waste this whole endeavor was.  

Even after years of hands-on training from one of the best knights, Zeke still couldn’t be called decent with the sword.  

Compared to his peers of his age, Zeke lacked the strength or the speed to use many of the techniques taught to its proper level and even if he could, could only perform an insulting imitation of them. His body, even with the strenuous amount of physical activity, still couldn’t catch proper muscles on it, leaving him with a stature that left much to be desired, even losing to Luna in height despite them being twins.  

With years of expectation and effort concluding in a week, it was no wonder his grandfather had thoughts with the end result of all what was spent. 

Zeke sighed and climbed the perron of the house just behind Domus. The thick wooden door to the house opened to a wide room that had a table with food in the process of being laid out. There Zeke met Luna’s eyes who was setting out the plate along with Isabel Dinard, their grandmother.  

Luna Dinard, Zeke’s twin sister, who looked very different from him with her icy glare and sharp features that no doubt was inherited from the man next to him, instantly sensed his mood even though he tried to mask it with his fatigued expression. 

She strode over the room and greeted Zeke who was behind Domus with a disarming bright smile that enunciated her blue eyes. “Morning Ez. Breakfast is about to be ready, tidy yourself quickly up so you can eat it warm,”  

Zeke’s heart lowered instantly with her greeting Zeke before Dinard right in front of him, and on just the day he was in a particularly bad mood. But thankfully although he looked visibly irked, he stepped towards the table without a word, concluding himself better than a petty provocation. 

Zeke let out a small sigh of relief and looked to see Luna’s sly face, side eying the man with her glare, not even a bit sorry. He raised his hands, smushing her face with both his palms, silently admonishing her. That was really stupid, he told her with his eyes.  

She grabbed his hand and looked at him with a defiant look that was too charming to be mad at before walking back towards the table to continue setting up the food. 

Ahh, hopefully, this side of her won't get her too much into trouble when I'm gone. 

After sighing for the nth time, he went on ahead to his room located on the back side of the house, the room farthest from Luna’s and stretched his hands and shoulders, working the kink out of them before rubbing wet cloth all over his body.  

His head lowered to the hand that held the cloth filled with calluses shaped to snugly fit a sword when clenched, the proof of his years of hard work and dedication.  

It would be the day after tomorrow that he would have to depart the capital to attend the knight's exam with Domus. Others in his town who were either confident with their sword or had their heads up the clouds hoping for a miracle to happen had mostly left yesterday.  

He, though, could afford to be a bit more tardy, or rather, his grandfather could. 

Domus, although cannot be considered rich, didn’t really have much expense in his life other than managing his field and house. Since he spent half his life chasing after demons under the order and the rest working under the lord of this town, managing the defenses of the perimeters against dark creatures and the like. His pent-up savings could easily afford a relatively expensive but comfortable carriage to the capital city, Altor, where the exam would be held at, which was a decision he notified Zeke a few days ago. 

This will also mean that he would be at tip top shape compared to the other participants and with no excuses to fail.  

Zeke’s eye widened as he stared at his hands. 

Ahh, when did my thoughts become so pathetic.... 

Over the years, his pledge of paying back his debt has waned to such a fickle resolution that he was troubled to find no excuses when he fails. 

But... no matter, he still had a debt that he had to repay for bringing them out of that tent reeked with death.  

He heard the scraping of wood being dragged over and was reminded of the food that was being waited on. He hurriedly put on his clothes, arm-bands and walked into the front room to see all the members in the midst of being seated.  

Zeke kept his head low, walked past domus who was seated on one end of the table and sat on one the side with Luna seated opposite to him and Isabelle being on the other end of the table, opposite to Domus, just as Domus intended.  

He grabbed the fork and placed the food mechanically into his mouth.  

The meal proceeded with a bit more tense atmosphere than normal, with Isabell constantly giving Luna the eye, no doubt smoldering the flame to chew her out after the table has been cleared when Domus placed his fork down with a clank, and obvious intention to bring attention.  

All eyes turned to look at him while he leisurely took his time to wipe his mouth with a handkerchief before speaking.  

“The lord, Raven Ford, has decided to host a banquet celebrating the department of his son to the knight's qualification, he has also invited us along with several knights and nobles to partake in this special occasion.” He continued, not looking at anyone in particular, “I expect everyone to behave respectfully and modestly during the event...... and that means, especially you.” He pointed a daggered take at Luna. 

Luna, as if unbothered by his dominating glare, stared at him for a second before answering. 

“Yes... I know.” 

Domus let his stare linger a bit, perhaps doubting her to keep her word but he continued “Alright. Isabelle and I shall be leaving to show our faces to the lord for today, we will return by Late afternoon. I trust you both will take care of the house and keep yourself fed.” 

“Yes, grandfather,” Zeke replied in Luna’s stead with the typical sentence. It wasn’t like Madam Isabelle had made food for them for the past years anyway. Making Luna do all the housework in the guise of teaching her to be a proper woman. 

But he didn’t fail to catch the glint in Luna’s eye when she recognized that we would be free of them for at least half a day though she quickly tried to hide it. 

True to their word, they left the house soon after, making their way towards the lord's manor located in the center of the town and we both were at the front of the house seeing them off, watching their profile slowly walk across view. 

“Are they gone?” Luna spoke. 

“I guess they are.” Zeke said with a sigh as a sort of acclimated tension that he no longer noticed seemed to fade away. 

“Ahhhh 285 days.... finally!” Luna spoke in delight as she hanged behind Zeke with her arms wrapped around his neck, “You have no idea how long I've been waiting for this”  

“Were you seriously counting?” 

Luna said as she walked inside the house “I'll make pancakes and tarts and whole lot of sweets, I learned the recipe months ago from the library and always wanted to make them.” 

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“Wait! Wait! aren't they gonna notice the missing ingredients,” Zeke said as he walked back into the house to see Luna rummaging the shelf for sugar and cherries. “Plus, we just ate food.” 

“Oh please, we both know that old coot enters the kitchen in name only, she’s not gonna notice anything other than the load of work that I need to do.” “Also-” She peeked her head out and spoke “You really don’t want I make?” 

Zeke was about to coldly say no when his stomach who seemingly started working after a long time voiced out for him. 

Luna smirked at him, “There we have our answer!” and proceeded to continue her work in the kitchen cheerily. 

Zeke resignedly took his seat near the table, watching Luna prepare the food with a smile that came to her face naturally. 

Then it pained him to think that he would not be seeing it again for a long time after he joins the Knight orders academy. Well, if he manages to join the knight orders academy. 

The training inside would last for 4 long years, where after graduating he would have to constantly go for missions with fellow cadets to rise in rank that could last anywhere from 5-10 years until he gets a permanent post or join an official unit. 

That is again, if he manages to survive those dangerous missions that 40% of the graduates don’t. 

Ahh, forget it.  

Zeke moved his thoughts from the muddy future and focused on the present where Luna was trying to drag a big bag of flour on top of the shelf. 

“I’ll help.” he said with a smile as he rushed to her aid. 

* 

_ _ _

“C-can't, I can’t eat anymore...” 

Luna, was the first to back off from the half-left mountain of tarts, pies and pancake left on the table enough to feed a family for a day. 

After Zeke had accidently dumped all the sugar into the batter Luna had no choice but to add more batter to offset the sweetness leaving with the aforementioned mountain of food that they had to finish before their grandparents come home. 

“Hey! You can't back off. They’ll kill us if we don't finish them by the time they come back, sugar is costly as it is!” Zeke spoke with tears in his eyes while food was forcefully fed into his mouth. 

“Impossible! I can't ear another bite!!” She said as she spread her body to give her stomach space.“ Ez, you messed it up so you take responsibility and eat it.” 

“Hah? Don't throw this all on me!” Zeke got up from his chair with a large piece of the pancake in his hands and approached his partner who was intending to dumb all the trouble onto him, even though it was mostly his fault. 

“Ah? Wa-Wait! What are you doing? -- Ah! I’m full, I'm full!” Luna tried grabbing his arms but the novice swordsman was still a swordsman and Zeke shoved a whole piece of tarts on her mouth, only causing her to retaliate back with a piece of the pie that was plainly way bigger than Zeke’s mouth. 

Which caused a back of forth retaliation of food being forcefully fed to each other. 

2 hours later, the pair finally managed to clear the table, though with a sacrifice of acquiring extreme distaste towards sweets that most likely wouldn't disappear for years. 

“” Gaww~~”” The two bodies laid flat on the chair as much as physically possible, facing the wooden beams of the house while groaning and holding their stomach. But there was a sense of comfortable happiness in the air. 

He let him arms relax from the chair.  

Despite the tight stomach he felt Freier than ever in this house. Like he was able to finally breathe properly again. 

It truly has been a long time since they could bond like this. And another chance won't likely happen again. Ever again. Zeke felt a sense of dread when thinking about it.  

How precious of a memory this moment would be to him in the future? 

By the time he returns Luna would most likely be wed. With a family of her own, maybe even a kid on the way, opportunities to spend times like these would be few.  

He also felt a new wave of anger towards their grandparents for not allowing these simple moments as well.  

Luna jumped from her chair abruptly breaking his thoughts, “Okay! Now to the town center!!” 

Zeke’s spiritlessly lifted his head to her with a confused face.  

“You heard me. I heard that there was a lot of new shops being set up in the center, so let's check it out.” 

“Huh...? And when did you get so volatile?” 

Zeke really didn’t want to move with his stomach full, but Luna’s excitement outweighed his lack of. Also, he wanted to spend the less time he had with her, rekindling their slightly distant bond that came from being in the same house but unable to properly interact due to their busy schedule and with how Domus intended to keep them separate.  

The emotion came from desperation as it was from longing. “Fine...” he grumbled as he got up. And in the next hour they were at the center of their town all dressed up as they looked at the changed place. 

It was all very different from the West hills Zeke remembered; not like he went much to these parts anyway, the last time being almost 5 years ago when he first came to the town. But the transformation was almost jarring that the place reminded him of the bustling central. 

There were multitude of shops offering products he hasn't even seen before, shops that looked so striking that it was imposing to enter, along with these fun little stalls offering all kinds of stuff. 

“C’mon, let's try that one next,” She beamed as she pulled me along to another stall who set up a challenge to win some kind of a necklace. 

The town, West hills, with its incredibly creative name was coined because it was located west to the capital city and because just past the town was a long sheet of mountains spanning across months' worth of distance. 

Being the perimeter town, there wasn’t much in terms of entertainment along with development but with the recent advancement from the booming industry of crestfallen stones, tons of new business and shops were in the midst of expanding their range and placing their footholds into towns at the edge for their proximity to the new in demand material. 

Currently Luna was in a high, pulling Zeke along to ones that offered participants to test their skills to win a prize. But still... when was she this energetic? 

He remembered years ago, when their parents were still alive and they were still living in central, their roles being reversed with him pulling her along in his excitement and Luna constantly complaining while being dragged.   

Right... it was me that used to like these stuffs. She was the type to stay to herself, away from crowds, reading something and it was me, the nosy one, who used to push her into random stuffs. 

Then it suddenly dawned on him.  

Of course, they would notice the large amount of missing ingredients in the kitchen, Isabelle was not that oblivious. It would just only be noticed after the big party and after he left, with Luna getting most if not all the brunt of the damage. 

He was also reminded that all the things made were what he once liked as a child, begging his mother, who was not blessed in the culinary sense, to always make. 

I must have really been spending too much time with swords. Taking this long to figure something as simple as this. 

And... I must look pretty bad as well for her to be so concerned... 

Zeke’s hands squeezed hers as he stared at Luna. For the person who always had him in her every thought. She looked back at him when she realized he stopped. Her  

His mouth broke into an unfamiliar way as it reached to his eyes and the person in front him, seeing it, glittered and pulled him along with renewed excitement. 

They coursed through all the shops while chatting and trying to win different prizes. Failed to get most of them, with them being cleverly designed to appear doable but tricky when you try for it, much to Luna’s annoyance. 

The market was drunk with an almost festive mood. Childrens running around, couples linking their arms as they enjoying their time with each other, happy families   

And just as the we were about to reach the end of the center; Zeke’s attention was taken by a much grander stall situated on the back. Its velvet lines tunic was placed at the height two people would need to reach and, in the center, lied a copper-colored machine that reached the full height of the shop. What was even more eye catching was the giant red chrome that could be seen in the inside the machine through a round glass in the middle. 

Driven by curiosity, both walked up to the odd-looking contraption and was greeted by the person manning the machine. 

“Oh? You must be Travelers?” said the bespectacled man who was manning the machine with a jovial tone. 

“Eh? No, we are residents of the town, why do you ask?” said Zeke, confused by the man's assumption. 

“Oh!” the man made a face but instantly recovered and continued with a smile. “Oh! Never mind then. Curious about this one?” he said as he points a thumb to the machine behind him.  

“Well, it certainly pulls the attention, what is it?” asked Luna. 

“Well, this little one right here” He says as he puts his hand on the giant machine” is the newest protype designed by the high-council just this year to discern the fates, that’s right, The fate of a person.” He said grandly as he posed as if waiting for applause. 

“Fate... huh? That’s... uh... ambiguous,” Zeke replied, feeling like they should probably leave before they were roped into fortune telling or some other scam. 

“Now, now. I am not planning to coerce any money out of you.” Said the man, trying to lower Zeke’s guard. “I have been placed directly by the council themselves in this region to provide free service to any that may want to try it. In fact, I thought I was mostly done with all the residents in the 3 weeks I was placed here, which is why I was curious if you were travelers.” He said as he procured a badge with 4 silver feathers on it.  

Luna recognized the badge from the book that she read in the capital years ago; it was something only a high scholar would receive after years of merit, and certainly not something someone who comes this far out to carry some dubious work on fate and whatnot.  

“And how exactly does this machine measure something so ambiguous?” Said Luna being a bit more curious after hearing about his background.  

“Well... You can just ignore the peculiarities, but want to give it a go? Its free after all, nothing wasted.” Said the man as he dodged the question.  

Luna considered walking back, but her curiosity got the best of her.  

“Ok! what do I do?” 

“Just place your hands on the dial and the machine will do the rest.” Said the man as he walked to the side of the machine and went to work with experienced movements. 

She looked to Zeke, who looked completely disinterested and moved forward and did as he said, placing her hands on the round dial located in front of the machine. The machine buzzed with a faint noise when she did so, and the man immediately got to work on the side of the machine as he scrutinized with intense focus the lines being made on a paper that the machine outputted. 

“Hmmm... 0.3. Yep! All within normal range. You are completely fine, blessed with good fortune and with a lovely life ahead of you! Now, it's your turn young man.” 

“No, I'm fine.” said Zeke, ready to move to other interesting stalls near them. But after being repeatedly asked by the man and goaded by Luna about the similarity with possums he relented with a sigh. 

The dial felt cold to touch. And now that he was closer, he could see that it was much more intricate than he thought. The dial rather than being a simple metal piece was made with multiple pieces that were interlocked with each other masterfully.  

There was a grove that each piece held that combined to form the print of a hand which is hand pressed on. As soon as the machine buzzed to life, he felt an odd tingly sensation in his palms that quickly grew fiercer.  

The tingly sensation rose quickly until he felt a primal sensation of danger warning him. He quickly retracted his hands and fondled it with his other in pain.  

“Hey!... What in God's name was that! You said it would be-” 

“76.3....”  

The man spoke to himself in shock as he read the output and looked to Zeke wide eyed who was still in shock from the sudden jolt.  

“Ok! OK... Y-Young man, I'm going to need you to write your name in here and wait-” 

Luna bolted with Zeke’s hand in tow. The man screamed something behind them, but Zeke was too shocked with the sudden events to care. 

After running through the center and even further for a few minutes, Luna slowed down from exhaustion to catch her breath. Zeke stopped as well with a confused face. “What was that!?” he asked her completely bewildered. 

“No-Nothing.” She said between breaths while holding her legs. 

“Oh! Ok then.... -- As if!! Why did we run?”  

“It... really is nothing but...” Luna said as she barely lifted her upper body. 

“But?” 

“Did you see that red chrome inside that machine?” 

“Yeah, it looked like a crestfallen rock but I'm not sure since all I've seen were pebble sized.” 

“I think it really is. The ones usually found inside the night creatures are normally only fist sized, most of them being smaller than a pebble but I've read that the ones found in the high witches and greater demons are purer and bigger in size, though I've never even seen it.” 

“Okay? Good for him, I guess. Well, I would about his safety at night since it probably is very expensive.” 

“Ez, you're focusing on the wrong thing.” She paused for a second to look at him, thinking of something. “The smaller ones are used as catalyst or for warding and stuff, but I've heard that the purer ones synchronize with those who are similar to them in nature, with people who are to walk on the same path; with death.”  

Zeke closed his eyes and kept quiet for a second.  “So, they are scanning all the residents to search for people who can potentially cause harm and nip them in the bud?” 

“Possible, it also aligns with the fact that he carries the 4-winged symbol, though it could be fake, I can’t be too sure.” 

“But if it's so rare, how come they’re sending it this far out here? There’s a hundred different town in the west region alone. Surely, they cannot check all the west?” 

“I don’t know, I could be completely wrong and this guy could just be a random scammer with a big machine. But it’s best we don’t go back to the center and stay clear.” 

“Hm....” Zeke nodded, not exactly convinced. 

Some scammer he has to be though. Doing it for free. Zeke thought as he remembered the man's apparent surprise and horror. 

He also did not miss what Luna was insinuating and the fact that he got an atypical reaction from the bloody rock that attract those who are similar to them based on the man's reaction. 

Zeke humored that thought. Then instantly scoffed at it. He had complete and naïve faith in his morals and humanity to not turn out to be some psychopath than some random guy telling he was destined for being in the likes of murderers and demons. 

He is him. If there is a world that he was to be in the opposite of humans, then it was a world where humans were in the wrong. Not this one. 

He looked at Luna. 

Yeah, not this one...  

Thunder struck, breaking his thoughts. Zeke looked at the sky to see thick dark clouds quickly forming and in the verge of breaking.  

It was rare that they experience such a drastic change in weather and from the looks of it, it wasn’t going to be a light one. Since they didn’t want to be stuck here in the off chance Domus and Isabelle comes home so they made a beeline towards the house in the middle of the rain, reluctantly leaving the previous problems for later. 

The rain intensified quickly, pouring down so strongly that it felt like hails were hitting on their body. With the low visibility that came along with the harsh wind, seeing what was in front of them turned into a difficult challenge. 

Zeke clutched Luna’s hand firmly and traversed through the thick rain, proceeding slowly so that they don’t fall into a ditch and break their legs. By the time they reached home, they were thoroughly drenched to the bone and shivering like newborn kittens. 

“You can wash up first.” Zeke spoke as he removed his wet shirt and used it to dry his hair. She didn’t argue, most likely knowing that he wouldn’t go first and so made her way towards the bath creating a small line of puddle where she walked. 

The wind hit the windows of the house, straining the fixture audibly as it rattled from the force. Zeke looked out through the glass, seeing the turmoil outside.  

It was dark, almost as if it was night already casting the inside with shadows. He could see the trees bending and straining themselves from the gust. Loud thunder accompanied by even louder noises from the roof battered by rain. He didn’t dislike the feeling it brought though. It was somehow cozy.  

Hope this doesn’t affect the ride towards Altor. Thought Zeke as he shivered again from the cold. 

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