Three days left before fullmoon.

I. Choices.

Boneclad, a name befitting to a city standing tall on thousands of its founders' corpses. In the climax of a never-ending war, the line between good and evil was faltering in sight. Children were born to fight against an entity their ancestors created, hatred was bred amongst their virgin hearts. Humans are too arrogant to confess the mistakes they've made along the way of progression, thus, they'd rather curse their creation than accept defeat, all under the name of survival instinct.

Abigail's thoughts and motives were unknown to everyone including herself. Her human heart lingers but not in her chest, only a phantom of it beats in her soul, the one she thought she had lost. Revenge was a priority that she feared pursuing. She believed that she had the right to go rouge and murder all those responsible for the metal cage she was locked in, however, her attachment to her human past kept her tamed.

Abigail was a time bomb.

In front of Andrew's office, Clyde stood anxiously. He was in visible distress as he fought the urge to bite his nails. The office was swarming with officers and important legion personnel which made Clyde suspect the downfall of his and Carvo's play.

"It's our turn." Marclyn prepared herself as she tapped on Clyde's shoulder.

"Do you know what this is about?" Clyde asked.

"I don't know, but it must be a good opportunity! It's Andrew himself." Marclyn cheerfully replied as she opened the door and went inside.

Marcyln was a fair woman in her early twenties. She had short black hair and very enchanting indigo eyes. She was Clyde's partner in most of their missions, however, Clyde hated how much of a control freak he believed Marclyn was. Clyde mustered enough strength to drag himself into the office where he and Marcylen stood like brick walls awaiting Andrew who was drowning in piles of paper. Clyde felt his soul leave his body as Andrew cleared his throat and peeked with his head outside of the documents.

"You two must be very anxious, so I won't let you wait any longer." Andrew spoke.

"Few days ago we received a noise complaint coming from the 4th Neo Grand avenue, the neighbors reported the sudden chilling screams of what seems to be a lady." Andrew stated as he got up from his desk and approached the two soldiers, "We sent a soldier to do a welfare check and surprisingly, the lady was completely fine." Andrew sighed as if he was disappointed.

"Now, listen to me clearly. What I'm about to say is top classified information that none of you should ever speak of outside that office. Even between both of you." Andrew said in a threatening tone, the soldiers nodded, "We suspect that this lady has been possessed by a thinking shifter. One that's lurking our city as we speak." Andrew walked right past the soldiers. Clyde's fear made his legs go weak. His brain was electrified. He realized that Andrew has caught the first string to unravel the secret. He struggled to maintain a straight face but Andrew didn't notice anything.

"I have gotten a permission to place three owls on this lady's house. I'm expecting this to be done efficiently and secretly. No one, not even a snail, should hear about this." Andrew walked back to his desk, and Clyde thought to himself that this was the end, "The address is right in front of you. You shall go to the inventory and assemble the owls. I expect this to be finished by six. I will be waiting. Any questions?" Andrew commanded as he went back into sorting his documents. "Sir I wa-" As Clyde was about to speak, Andrew interrupted him, "You can go now."

The two bowed and exited the office with a face as red as a tomato. Andrew was not an easy man to interact with, in fact, the entirety of the legion personnel were very strict.

"This our chance, Clyde! He chose us! It means he trusts us, and more importantly, our names will land in this report, perhaps this will secure us a higher position!" Marclyn cheered. She was very ecstatic as she felt a great opportunity presented to her. On the other hand, Clyde's heart was racing as his mind drifted away, completely ignoring Marclyn.

"At six, we would have put the owls. And, at ten, Abigail would go to meet this Brando guy.." He thought to himself. Marclyn tapped on his shoulder as the two of them walked towards the basement were the tunnel to the inventory was. "You look pale, are you scared?" Marclyn said in a rather mocking tone.

"Uh-no, of course not! Just stick to the task and hand, okay?" Clyde shuddered as Marclyn raised an eyebrow. Clyde's mind and heart were in a battle. He would either put the owls and run straight to Carvo, informing him that Brando is being watched. Or he remains silent, leaving the siblings to meet this painful yet deserving demise. Clyde was patriotic, and even after all the interactions he had with Abigail, he still believed she was a monster, an enemy he must expel.

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Clyde's moral compass is clouded but not yet broken, and as he walked forward, a painful choice was to be made.

II. The allies' rivalry.

Abigail rested on her chair while Carvo walked around her in circles, making her more uncomfortable, "Don't do it. I don't like this!" Carvo pleaded.

"And if I don't? What will you do?" Abigail teased him knowing how powerless Carvo is when it comes to harming her.

"I have a bad feeling about this. This thing is dangerous, it's possibly a new specie!" Carvo shouted as he frowned at Abigail who suddenly stood up and locked her eyes with her brother.

"It?" Abigail asked with a forlorn tone that dawned on her pale face.

Carvo stood still. He was silent and remorseful, he had come to the realization that he is struggling to understand Abigail and her emotions, and as he starred into her teary eyes, he understood that her determination has been strengthened by his actions.

"I didn't mean this. You're.. Abby.. You're my sister. I'm sorry."

Carvo sniffled like a baby and Abigail starred at her hideous reflection in the cup of water she had. There was nothing Carvo could say to make Abigail feel better, the longer she stayed hidden from the outside world, the more she realized what she was, a monster.

"I'll do it. Today, at 10." Abigail glared at Carvo with eyes filled with determination, she had taken the final decision concerning this matter. A meeting with Brando was a written destiny Abigail couldn't erase, it was time Abigail acted on her instinct and trusted her guts.

Carvo was frustrated and disappointed in himself, he couldn't approach Abigail as she had isolated herself in the basement and kicked him out. He thought about how catastrophic the situation would be if Brando hurt Abigail or even worse, blow her identity up. If this were to happen, the three of them would have their heads hung on the entrance alongside the hundreds of traitor's skulls. Carvo had to act fast, he knew something was wrong.

It was five and a half. Marclyn and Clyde had got on their horses and slowly approached Lady Maria's house. Clyde still hadn't made his mind, he feared Abigail's wrath and saw her as a threat that needed to be eradicated, but a part of him saw the human remains she had, and that part of him was what made his decision hard to be made. Clyde wasn't a hypocrite, he knew he was a coward. His horse's hooves crushed the bones of his comrades that dissolved within this immortal snow, but he was no hero to avenge them. All he could do is be an eye that captures all that happens in this god forbidden city and deliver it to those who can use their swords.

"There, we stop here before we gain any suspicions." Marclyn almost whispered as she pulled Clyde out of his mountain of distress.

"But one of us must go oversee the house. We must make sure she doesn't see us." Marclyn continued, Clyde rolled his eyes as he believed Marclyn loved to complicate things as usual, but he had no energy to argue. "What do you want us to do, then? You can't go plant them on your own while I play football in front of her house." Clyde sighed, "Take off your coat." Marclyn ordered, "Excuse me?" Clyde gulped, Marclyn pushed him back into an alley. "Do as I say! If Andrew is correct, then we need to distract this thing because it already has its eyes on the entire street." Marclyn stripped Clyde off his coat as he shied away from her. "And what am I supposed to do?! Deliver pizza?" Clyde protested, "I've got a stack of city permits, go and force her-or it- to sign them." Marclyn took a clerk's coat from her bag and handed it to Clyde who was dripping in sweat.

"There's no way I'm meeting this thing!" He trembled as he found himself holding a coat and a stack of documents as Marclyn readied the owls. "There's no other option." Marclyn replied as she assembled the owls. "Why don't you do it, then?!" Clyde pleaded as he still refused to go on with Marclyn's plan. "Stop bitching around and do it! We are running out of time!" Marclyn angrily muttered, Clyde frowned and obeyed her orders with his heart falling through his rib cage.

"Its coming back to bite me in the ass." Clyde murmured as he wore the clerk's coat and mocked the irony of karma, it was six past ten, it was Clyde's time to knock on Lady Maria's door and forge a flawless lie to trip the vicious being he knew it already devoured a woman.

Clyde walked like a scared chicken across the streets as Marclyn watched him with her binoculars. He investigated his surroundings and took a glimpse of the documents to know how to navigate the conversation. "You can do it.." He breathed heavily, "I'm going to take them down, both of them." Clyde struggled to sound confident and shut down his demons as he stood on the doorstep. He took a deep breath and knocked on the door calmly, replaying the conversation in his head.

The door opened and there it was. Lady Maria, fully intact and wrinkled as she always was. Hardly any sign of her being a mooncaller was apparent, Clyde gulped as he starred into the being's wide blue eyes.

"Hello, Lady Maria! This is Anthony Berckly from the survey's office, we wo-"

"What a surprise." Brando interrupted Clyde who sensed something off right away. "Clyde, Carvo's spy?" He smirked, discovering Clyde's identity right away. Clyde fearfully stepped back but Brando grabbed him in a non-suspicious way. "Come inside, you don't want her to notice, do you?" Brando arrogantly pulled Clyde inside who hardly resisted.

Clyde was armless in the devil's nest, Abigail unknowingly followed the same path while Carvo stood powerless. Marclyn had fixed the owls, trusting Clyde's skills to walk out of this without any trouble, little did she know that her partner was now seemingly a hostage to a man-eating beast. The clock ticked and a terrifying encounter awaited Abigail.