Leaning his back against the sofa's armrest, Jered fiddled with a lock of his hair, tousling it around his finger, frowning. It had already been over 1 hour since she fell unconscious, and he had yet to leave his position next to her. Alaric and his family were thoughtful enough to leave him alone with Jasmine, but it wasn't enough to quench his worries. After Alaric finished narrating the truth behind Death Apostles, he felt like a boulder was pressing his heart.

Not only that, he had continued recounting him that Death Apostles were an endangered race. Apparently, those 'Up Above' were particularly afraid that such a tragedy, such as the Black Plague, would eventually plague the world again and decided that the best way to appease their restlessness was to wipe away all of them, or almost all of them. Those few who survived were currently concealing themselves, barely maintaining their feeble existence.

Weren't they supposed to be strong? Alaric told him that their bloodline diluted to the point that they hadn't any advantage like their predecessors used to hold, now they were only something akin to magicians with a mana pool larger than normal and an uncanny affinity for darkness. Their only means of survival was to recruit as many people as they could. But was it easy? No.

Nobody wanted to become baptized in Death Energy for they would not gain any overwhelming power over their own, and they'd be hunted down to top it off. It was not worth it.

But if they didn't gather an army or gain the help of powerful allies soon, they would have to face their incoming demise. It was a miracle they managed to live so far, and they had to thank the 'Joan's Farewell', a pendant Joan herself left behind in case her offsprings met with misfortune. It had magical properties that could conceal the wearer's leaking Death Aura and suppress it.

Fumbling around in the pocket of his jacket, Jered drew out a minuscule black crystal fragment, roughly the size of half a centimeter. The original crystal was purposely shattered in many pieces so it could conceal all of the survivors, however, the crystal energy was slowly waning, and once it depleted, so would their lives.

[ Quest received! ]

[ Title: Jasmine's Guardian Devil ]

[ Description: Past tragedies haunt the less forgetful ones, amidst adversity and lurking peril, there is only one safe path to march on. ]

[ Reward: ? Attribute points | ? System points. ]

[ Time-limit: Her death. ]

[ Accept | Decline ]

Jered's eyes hardened as he read the screen over and over. It seemed that Alaric was right, someone was really after them, and his sister had just gotten in that list. How much time did he have before those people would track her down? Tapping on the 'Accept' option the screen bounced out of existence, leaving behind cold rage that shifted his mana pool restlessly, before a maniacal sneer stretched his handsome features.

If they wanted to target one of his family members, then he'd make sure to target theirs as well. An eye for an eye. He shall let it be known what the consequences would entail should anyone have less than pure intentions towards Jasmine, or his mother, for that matter.

"Are you okay?"

Hearing the familiar melodious and lyrical voice that could only be Jasmine's, he looked to the side, a gentle smile on his face as he met her curious gaze, "Yes, what about you? How are you feeling?"

She wrinkled her nose, "Umh... weird... like there's something I can't quite fathom inside of me." she cupped her chin with her index finger and thumb in contemplation, "I feel like I can control it but I don't know how..." her eyes locked on his face as she switched topic, "By the way, what the hell did you do to your face?"

"I've always been that good-looking, my dear puzzled sister," he gave her a smug smirk, "Why, are you finally realizing your younger brother's charm?"

She sniffed indignantly, "Go fuck yourself, bro." her mouth curved upwards as she tittered, "You've become so full of yourself, duh!"

"Gotta be if I have to deal with such a spoiled brat."

"Hey! I'm not spoiled, and I'm not a brat! I'm older than you, you are the brat!"

Jered rolled his eyes, but he couldn't help the smile that etched on his face. He missed the banters between them, something that was a daily matter for their small family, that, however, ceased not long after their father's death.

Sighing, he looked deeply at her, "Do you know what happened to you?" he propped a knee up whilst the other was fully stretched on the ground, "You've seen me before, didn't you? Fighting Alaric..."

She nodded, her expression complex, "Jered... what is happening, how did you do that... thing with your hand?" she studied carefully his hands, as if by doing so she might've discovered something.

"You mean this?" and then a small green flame sparked to life in the palm of his right hand, "It's magic," he replied in a blasé tone.

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"Magic..." she looked confused for a moment before her face morphed into astonishment, "Magic!?"

Jered nodded, "That's what you are feeling inside of you right now." he explained, "You should be able to draw it out but I don't know how to teach you." which was something that he found rather odd, thanks to the system it seemed he had no need to learn a skill by manual means since all of the related knowledge would be granted to him upon acquisition of said skill. However, if he wanted to put his knowledge into words he wasn't able to.

"You're kidding me, right?" she covered her mouth to stifle a forced chuckle, "There's no way such a thing exist..."

"Well, it does, sis."

"Jered! I'm not stupid, don't you try to fool me!"

"Actually, yes, you are."

Narrowing her eyes, she sneakily grabbed the pillow her head was resting on and slammed it on her brother's unsuspecting head, prompting him to grunt in surprise as he almost tumbled forward. Standing up, his eyes darkened by the shadow of his hair, he snatched the pillow from a giggling Jasmine, and proceeded to pound her on her mid-back with heavy thuds.

"Haha! Jered, stop!" she squealed as she tried to shield herself from the hits, "I apologize! Hahaha! Jered!" she curled herself while protecting her head, laughing uncontrollably.

"Payback!" he snorted theatrically, "Heat not a furnace for your foe so hot that it do singe yourself." he quoted Shakespeare with an aloof and contemptuous voice.

"Okay! Okay! I got it! I'll be a good girl," she fluttered her eyelashes, smirking, "Doest that please thee, Thy Excellency?"

"Aye." he chuckled.

Her smile brightened the room, but he couldn't help but feel melancholy. Unbeknownst to her, she was dragged into something she had no idea about, becoming something she never desired to be, doomed to be hunted for a slight sliver of hope so that those who polluted her might survive. He felt angry and helpless.

"Jasmine..." he whispered, his expression downcast, "I need to tell you something."

"What is it?" she tucked a chock of hair behind her ear as she entwined her legs, "I hope it's something good."

Just as he was about to speak again a hurried knock resounded, followed by Emma walking down the stairs with haste. Opening the door, the voice of Jane wafted into their ears, "Hey Emma, long time no see, how have you been?"

"Jane!" Emma greeted cheerfully, "Indeed, and I've been more than fine, what about you?"

"Work is killing me, as always." Jane ill-humoredly cackled, "I came to pick up Jasmine and Jered, he should be here."

"Oh yes! Come in!"

Their mother's lithe and graceful form stepped into the living room, accompanied by a worried Emma.

Jered looked at his mother's worried gaze before speaking in a soothing tone, "Everything's alright mom, she's feeling better now but I'd rather have you take her back home." it was not alright, far from it, but he couldn't surely tell her what was going on. Jasmine shouldn't know it either, but she had the right to know considering she was in the center of this storm, and hopefully, she'd be better prepared against suspicious oddities.

"That's a relief," Jane smiled as she strode towards Jasmine, "I was so worried..." she hesitated for a moment, eager and a bit reluctant, before enveloping Jasmine's in a warm and strong embrace to which the latter returned happily and with an equal measure of strength, "Let's go back home, Jammie," she whispered softly, her face brimming with unbridled happiness.

"I don't like that nickname," Jasmine wrinkled her nose in distaste as moisture filled her eyes, it had been a long time since she was called this way by her mother, "It's not fair, why don't you call Jered by his nickname too?"

Jane giggled as she transferred her line of sight upon a scared Jered, "You mean... Jeddy?" she drawled out the last part in an amusing tone, eliciting her son's eyebrow to twitch, "Come here, Jeddy, come hug mommy!"

"You can't be serious..." Jered blinked, his face crumpled up in resignation, but a smile soon made its way on his face. His mother was not behaving like she used to, so foreign and alienated, she now seemed to have recovered her previous attitude, so although he wasn't fond of her bad nicknaming sense, he acquiesced to her request nonetheless, much to her surprise.

Hooking his arms around his mother's soft and slim back, he inhaled the scent of her shampoo as her locks of hair tingled delightfully his nose. Closing her eyes, Jane enjoyed the warmth of his body as she mouthed out an almost inaudible 'Thank you' to his ear, holding him for a moment longer than necessary, before letting him go, a smile on her beautiful face.

Jered nodded, "Let's go."

Walking to the door, Jered noticed Alaric standing on the stairs looking at him, "Mom, if it's not a bother could you and Jasmine wait outside for a bit? I need to speak with Alaric."

Jane and Jasmine looked at each other nonplussed, before waltzing out of the villa.

Once the door closed, the man in question queried, "What do you have to tell me?"

Jered stayed silent for a moment, "Alaric... do you think my family is a happy one?"

Puzzled, the man replied, "Yes, from what I can see all of you have a very close relationship." he nodded, satisfied with his words, "Although from what I know from Jasmine it didn't use to be so..."

"Do you think such a family is worth protecting?"

"Yes."

"Do you think my family will be torn apart if another one of their members dies?"

"..."

"Do you think that a mentally unstable, very obsessive younger brother and son, wouldn't go on a killing spree in the name of revenge... should such a thing happen?"

Alaric didn't speak for nervousness clutched his stomach.

"Do you care about your family?" Jered asked, his expression unreadable, "Would you do anything for them? What a question, of course you would, and you did." his words were laced with hidden meaning, "Under this aspect, we have the same views, Alaric. I'd do anything for my family, whether spilling blood, guilty or innocent, or... of course, tearing another family apart." he looked deep into his eyes, each word like a cold stab in Alaric's heart.

Jered turned around, his hand on the door's knob whilst staring at Alaric from the corner of his eyes, "I don't like you, I wanna kill you so much, but you're the only one that can give me time to get strong enough and solve the mess you've involved my sister in." he opened the door, letting the sunlight filter through, "Cherish your time Alaric, because soon... very soon..."

And then he closed the door.