Nicoli faked a cough. "Correction, Charles."

"Right." Fareeha followed, more confidently facing everyone, especially JD. "We have something to tell you, Sir St. Michael. About Zalden."

Andrew squinted and walked over to JD's side, crossing his arms right after as he gazed at the other three souls in the room.

"Rather, you have something to tell us about Zalden."

JD's gaze jumped on Andrew and nodded, and then his eyes went to the others.

"That's right."

"...He's not your clone?" Charles asked.

"I don't have clone magic, Charles. I didn't learn it."

He could've, but he didn't want to. For some odd reason, he didn't go for it even when most of his colleagues took the offer when the agency's mentor offered to teach every agent about it.

As JD recalled that, his mind flickered to Andrew, bringing a sense of relief to his soul. It was a good thing he didn't learn it. If he were going to see himself, he'd rather see Andrew over and over again than some clone.

"Then?"

JD looked at Andrew, who looked at him, too-a silent communication. At the end of it, Andrew side-smiled as JD diverted his eyes to Charles.

"He's..." JD smiled a little. "...my younger twin brother."

"You have a twin brother?" Charles replied immediately, almost shouting.

"Yeah..."

"Garnet, JD." Charles pressed his nose bridge. "And your eyes? Are you wearing contacts? I doubt it, though."

With how his eyes shone when he used a spell before knocking out Charles, it was impossible he wore contact lenses. But Charles didn't want to pressure him into telling what was up.

"Well, I awakened an inborn magic this morning."

"Oh!" Charles' expression thwarted to a lighter and brighter one. "Congrats!"

JD offered a smile as he bowed in thanks.

"Can we get on to business?" Nicoli sang in an impatient and playful tone.

"Yeah, sorry." Charles gripped the vial and stood up. "But please, let me speak to JD first for clarifications."

Nicoli looked at Fareeha, who nodded. With that, Nicoli shrugged and gestured for them to continue as he walked past Charles to sit on the couch.

Now face to face, Charles gathered his thoughts.

"JD." Even as he retained his gaze on his friend, Charles couldn't help but peek at Andrew's incredibly identical face, hairstyle, and fashion sense. "I kinda know what happened last night."

"What?" JD gasped lightly.

Charles was mind-controlled like everyone else; that was what happened. But as the girl in a partial summer and autumn outfit claimed earlier, they were not under the influence. Questions rained down on JD all the more.

"I know something weird happened last night. I just couldn't remember what." Charles turned in Fareeha's direction briefly. "Well, until I met Fareeha earlier and got some ideas. Fareeha." Charles gestured for her to step in.

Fareeha nodded at Charles before turning to JD. "I think I know almost exactly what happened."

"Shall we sit down?" JD offered.

Fareeha looked down at the floor before nodding.

"My lady, come sit beside me!" Nicoli called, but then Charles had already sat beside him. "What are you sitting with me for?"

"Huh?" Charles squinted.

Fareeha sat on the armchair on Charles' side. "Be quiet, Nicoli."

"Tch."

As JD sat on the other armchair beside Fareeha's and opposite the couch where Charles and Nicoli sat, Andrew leaned against the chair's arm, his arms crossed.

"Let me introduce myself again." Fareeha placed a hand on her chest. "I am Fareeha Jaser. Zed's adopted younger sister."

"Zed?" JD mumbled.

"Zedekiah Mitchell," Charles said. "Zalden's CEO."

JD and Andrew met eyes, turning towards Fareeha as she lightly faked a cough.

"After hearing about what happened from Zalden's executives last night, I decided to visit this inn in hopes of finding a lead to where Sir St. Michael had gone. This early morning, as I did, Sir Freyda approached me."

"She was asking Ellis about you, JD, so I had to butt in." Charles crossed his arms. "Because my memories have been foggy since the last I spoke to you. Yet somehow, something didn't feel right. I... remember my inborn magic acting up before things turned hazy."

"Nicoli and him being acquainted made things easier and seemed more natural for Sir Freyda to approach me-us. As the inn was still preparing to open, we had enough time to inform him of what happened without anyone hearing us."

"And you can count on that!" Nicoli displayed a proud smile. "I put up a barrier around us so no one would hear us even if they get close."

"And no one really came close, anyway," Fareeha whispered. "I'm sure you already know what I told Sir Freyda, then, no?"

"The mind control frenzy just to capture me."

"Yes," Fareeha answered. "Sir Freyda told us about this hotel room after our discussion. He regarded it as the place you'd most likely take refuge in."

JD crossed his legs and leaned on the backrest. "How about the mind control elixir in Charles' system?"

"Worry not!" Nicoli shouted. "My lady has the magic to cleanse the brain of any mind magic."

"Cleanse," Andrew muttered, catching JD's gaze briefly.

He and Andrew must've had the same thought. As Fareeha said earlier, she and Nicoli were not Geminines-not from The Great Gemini. How they dressed and presented themselves seemed they didn't come from the same land either.

However, cleanse magic had always been common around Julisie and especially Paradise. But the land in particular where said magic had been prominent to the point of pinpointing the nerves precisely to pull in any magic a person has ingested was none other than the land far southwest of The Great Gemini.

This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.

"The Theocracy, huh," JD whispered to Andrew.

"Mhm," Andrew replied in a low voice. "The land of the Sagittarius goddess."

"So," JD said aloud, halting the bickering between Fareeha and Nicoli that Charles had difficulty mediating. "What's your goal? Aren't you supposed to be on Zalden's side? On... Zedekiah's side?"

"No, I... I requested Sir Freyda to take me here to inform you of Brother Zed's plan."

"Again. What's your goal? Why are you doing this?" JD replied hastily.

"I..." Fareeha shook her head slightly when Nicoli perked up at JD's almost harsh tone. "I care about him. I'm... worried about him."

JD didn't reply and only raised a brow.

"It's an understatement to say he's been acting strange lately. It's more like... he's been strange since forever. I just never saw it when I was younger."

"That is quite something to say about your brother." Andrew suddenly said.

"Drew."

"What?"

"It's alright. I see where your brother is coming from, Sir St. Michael."

JD almost wanted to retort to say that his interference with what Andrew said had nothing to do with judging Fareeha. But he wouldn't do that. Only Andrew could know what goes on in JD's head. Only Andrew wouldn't think strangely of how his mind worked. Especially regarding Andrew himself.

"Let me tell you briefly about our history," Fareeha said. "You know how The Unified Scales has fallen into anarchy for decades now, yes?"

JD nodded, hands clasping together tightly on his stomach at the remembrance of the Libra god's death. Humans wouldn't know what happened. But JD and Andrew didn't know it detail by detail either.

"I... have been a victim of those horrors a decade ago. Eventually, I met Brother Zed. He was traveling with his family's small business to the borders where foreign... victims, such as myself, were being held."

A slave.

JD could tell she avoided that word, but that was what it was-what she used to be.

As JD glanced at Nicoli for a short second, it wasn't hard to confirm his ideas. His blood eyes were stricken with uncertainty and deep-rooted hatred, his suddenly quiet countenance and his tightly gritted teeth evident from how his jawline conformed. Combining it with his apparent devotion and adoration for Fareeha, JD solved the whole case. At least in basic terms without the details.

"And his magic... his mind-controlling magic. It was what saved everyone in that area from the harassment of the authorities." A small smile found its way to Fareeha's lips. "He took in everyone. And me being the youngest, or the only real child in there, he adopted me as his sister."

Though there wasn't any formal identification of them being adoptive siblings, it didn't matter. None of it mattered to Fareeha. All that mattered was the warmth and security when Zedekiah had her in his arms and took everyone with him as he left The Unified Scales.

But as curious JD grew with how Fareeha kept avoiding herself being the main topic, like why she didn't specify anything more about how she was there in the first place and why she was adopted instead of returned to her family, JD felt it must be a pathway he shouldn't trudge onto so carelessly.

"What happened to everyone else?" JD asked.

"Their families were either missing or dead, and Brother Zed welcoming them into his life if they ever find that there's nowhere else to come back to has made everyone stay with him."

"And? Where are they now?"

"...All of them are presently Zalden's executives."

JD's fingers flinched, and his brows met slightly.

"I see." He loosened his hold on his fingers. "And you? What of you?"

"At first, I traveled back to my home country and reunited with relatives and friends, but after a while, I returned to Brother Zed and stayed with him for a while."

"And?" JD held back the impatience in his tone, though whether Fareeha noticed it or not, she still scarcely balled her hands on her lap.

"And he's, well, he's been saying and doing some disturbing and suspicious things." Fareeha shrank to her seat. "I overheard him speaking with the family doctor many times, and often, he talked about... something crazy."

She pursed her lips as she paused, then looked back at JD with unsure eyes.

"He... he mentioned... the gods." Fareeha's eyebrows furrowed. "It's quite unclear for me and nothing about it all makes sense to me. But the way he went about things, it's as if he... personally knew them."

"..."

"I know it sounds crazy. I-I thought I'd gone mad myself. That perhaps I was mishearing things. But it continued when he talked to himself sometimes, too. In the morning, he would especially greet Garnet as if he was right there." She shook her head. "I... I don't get it, either. I'm sorry."

"What else?"

Fareeha's shoulders tensed, and eyes sparkled lightly at JD's interest and curiosity. Everyone she tried to talk to about this other than Nicoli had always brushed her off as if she was overthinking things. They all insisted Zedekiah was suffering from a mental illness and that it had nothing to do with the gods themselves. But she thought and believed otherwise.

"Um, his behavior and expressions on several occasions, too, were odd. He would pace back and forth as if deep in thought, then his expression would darken, and his eyes looked so... empty and... scary." Her voice softened. "When he was alone or simply forgot I was in the room, he would start talking to himself."

Nobody said anything as Fareeha's voice went over unusual intervals of softness, hoarseness, and haste.

"He would yell at the wall as if it did something it shouldn't have done. He would break down and cry and scream as if his mind was elsewhere and it was being tortured." Her hands went over her mouth in a flash as her voice cracked. "He would snicker or laugh so loud and maniacally after staring blankly at a distance as if he... killed someone he loathed or successfully took revenge on someone." Fear flashed in her eyes as she teared up and trembled in recollection.

JD's eyes briefly jumped to Andrew as the latter's fingers on the armchair's edge flinched and tightened.

"My lady." Nicoli knelt in front of Fareeha with serious and worried eyes. He reached for her hands, holding them, while his other hand went to her cheeks, wiping stray tears. "Look at me."

Fareeha gritted her teeth and stared back at Nicoli. The pair only stared while Nicoli wiped her face and held one of her hands in one of his. Eventually, he gave a ghost of a smile before standing and returning to his seat.

She breathed deeply and shook her head. "I'm sorry for that."

"It's fine." JD quickly replied.

"Other than those, the last session he had with the family doctor gave me an idea of what was really going on." Fareeha straightened her back and held determination in her light blue eyes. "He... talked about his past life."

"What?" Charles blurted out.

JD and Andrew gasped inwardly, their pupils dilating and their grip on where or what they held tightening.

"The doctor never questioned anything he said, but when faced with me, he was like everyone else. They think Brother Zed's childhood had been filled with phases like this ever since he was born, and they all simply regarded it as an inborn mental health problem."

"What did he say?" JD blinked, suppressing the quivering of his voice. "About his past life, I mean."

"The last one I heard was something about...." She placed a finger below her chin. Then her eyes partially closed as she stared at the coffee table. "...the Gemini gods."

Frozen water splashed across both JD's and Andrew's souls. They froze, eyes wide, mouths slightly agape, and nerves numb.

JD recovered quickly, but Andrew hasn't. His hand on JD's side trembled, and the shaking started vibrating to the rest of his arm. JD immediately grabbed Andrew's hand and squeezed it, calming his soul down almost instantly.

Andrew closed his eyes, then gazed at JD's unmoved countenance as he maintained eye contact with Fareeha. Andrew held JD's hand back and gave it a squeeze, too, assuring him he was fine.

Fareeha looked up again after thinking. "Something about how much he didn't quite like how his uncle always seemed to visit The Great Gemini. Or how fond he is of the place." She shook her head after. "I'm sorry, that wasn't very helpful."

"It's enough." JD faked a cough. "I mean, it's already a lot of information. But, again, the same question as before, what is your goal?"

"Firstly, I, um, know full well about his utmost interest in something." She stared at JD. "Your capture."

"Mhm." JD hummed in reply. "I am well aware."

"But it doesn't make sense, does it? Last night, I heard from the executives that Brother Zed sought out to capture you finally." Her voice reeked of confusion and uncertainty. "And yet, he let you go."

JD placed a hand over his lower face. "I found that odd, too. Do you know what happened to him after that?"

"I... I wasn't allowed in his room after I heard of the operation's failure." Fareeha placed a fist on her chest. "But I could hear him screaming, and the nurses were trying to calm him down."

"Could it be another of the phases you mentioned?"

"I supposed so. But before I left this morning, I heard he was in a fairly happy mood. Saying something like, 'it should happen soon,' and I have no idea what he's pertaining to."

"Strange."

"It is." She breathed in deeply one more time. "And so, my goal is to save him from this-from whatever this is that's making his life difficult. I-I don't know for sure what it really is, but it hurts me every time I see him break down, go angry, and suddenly seem out of it all."

She wiped the insistent tears that streamed down her eyes, holding out one hand to stop Nicoli from standing up. As she relieved herself, she continued.

"And I highly believe my theory to be correct. My theory of what will free him of some spiritual suffering no doctor could identify."

"Spiritual, huh? And it has something to do with me?"

"...Yes, actually. I think he's going after you because he has unfinished business with your soul-in yours and his past lives."

JD furrowed his eyebrows. "Ms. Jaser, do you know what you're saying means?"

Fareeha nodded firmly. "Yes. It's a rumor to others-to many. But it is a real belief to me that souls can remember their past lives...." Her grip on the turquoise ribbon on her chest tightened. "...if their soul housed a god before death."

"...So, you're saying..." JD didn't hide the disbelief in his voice, but Fareeha remained unfazed.

"Brother Zed's soul is a god soul."