𝘞𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘪𝘴 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘤𝘩𝘦𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘯𝘰𝘸?

Albion inwardly grumbled but decided to accept the strange girl's offer out of pure curiosity. He reasoned that he still had a few minutes to spare her.

“Alright, sure. But if you try anything funny, don't blame me for being impolite. I am a dedicated advocate for equality.”

With that said, Albion helped the girl up before silently following behind.

Jingle!

The two soon stopped at a imitation of a cafe on Earth. Upon entering, Albion discovered that it was illuminated by candles which revealed four tables, each with chairs. It also seemed to be cleaned regularly.

The girl motioned towards the chairs and went to the counter. She picked up a plate with a cup of water and a large mushroom that resembled a muffin, then sat it in front of him.

She took the seat opposite him.

“Comfortable? Enjoy the food as a small peace offering, on the house. You're welcome,” she offered.

𝘏𝘰𝘸 𝘨𝘦𝘯𝘦𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘺𝘰𝘶...

Albion took a bite of the food, his eyes widening in surprise at its meat-like taste. He washed it down with some water, noticing a leviathan engraved on the metal plate that was most likely stolen.

“I suppose you think this makes us even? Considering you tried to rob me, this feels a bit… ” Albion's voice trailed off as he finished his small meal.

“I knew you'd say that, luckily there's more,” the strange girl replied with a charming smile. “That's why I'll let you in on a secret that very few damned know about: Transcendents. It doesn't matter what you call them, outsiders, wizards, sorcerers, chosen ones or apostles. But Transcendents are what they're officially called.

“The reason it's such a large secret is because they require a Vestige, which are mostly created by pure chance. A Vestige is a broad term generally used to categorize any treasured object that has obtained a will of its own. This is a result of the intense surge of emotion and feeling that goes into said object usually stemming from tradedy. These emotions will always relate to one of the fourteen Archetypes.

“Depending on the feelings poured into them, the very nature of a Vestige will differ from one to another. However despite this, all Vestiges share 2 traits in common; Those traits being that all Vestiges will seek similar souls as sustenance, and all Vestiges will select a user whose disposition resembles their own.”

“If they're so secret, how did you find out about them?” Albion questioned suspiciously.

This was his second major revelation in just a single day!

The strange girl smiled mysteriously as she replied in a low voice, “Want to know my secret? We'll get to that later. First of all, I want you to take a look at the doors to the shop. Notice anything different about them?”

Albion turned around and was left speechless. He rubbed his eyes to make sure he wasn't seeing things before confirming and jumping out of his seat.

𝘐𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘥 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘳𝘪𝘤𝘬? 𝘉𝘶𝘵 𝘩𝘰𝘸 𝘪𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘯 𝘱𝘰𝘴𝘴𝘪𝘣𝘭𝘦? 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘥𝘰𝘰𝘳𝘴...

The strange girl seemed to read his thoughts and said calmly, “Yes, the doors are gone.”

Albion, understandably freaked out, cut his finger on the knife in his pocket. After confirming he wasn't dreaming, his burning gaze focused solely on the strange girl.

“What did you do to me?”

His voice was much colder than he expected.

The strange girl leaned back and was silent for a few seconds. Then she suddenly said, “Starting to freak out a bit? Take a closer look if you want. The door has disappeared.”

Remembering his brother's advice, Albion took a few deep breaths and mumbled, “It's okay, I can still get out through the windows.”

Although he said this, there was one major problem. There weren't any windows in the shop either. All of them were gone. All that remained were four pink walls, four pink tables and the chairs.

𝘉𝘶𝘵 𝘩𝘰𝘸 𝘥𝘪𝘥 𝘸𝘦 𝘨𝘦𝘵 𝘪𝘯𝘴𝘪𝘥𝘦?

The strange girl, now grinning from ear to ear, laughed and said, “Don't worry, everything's alright. Just a concerning change to the way the shop is set up. It's not like anything bad is happening. I mean, it could be way worse, right?”

𝘈𝘭𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘥𝘴 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘮𝘦𝘢𝘯𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘵 𝘮𝘦, 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘦𝘹𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘴𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘥𝘰𝘦𝘴 𝘦𝘹𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘭𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘰𝘱𝘱𝘰𝘴𝘪𝘵𝘦... Albion could only muster a weak smile. He only wanted to stop what was happening.

“You're right, at least we're safe in here—” He was about to finish only to be cut off.

“It's not like the tables are coming to life to kill you.” The strange girl said, scanning the room only to chuckle wickedly. Her voice quickened as she said, “Oh wait, yes they are. The desks are coming to kill you!”

If you encounter this story on Amazon, note that it's taken without permission from the author. Report it.

“What are you going to do? How can you possibly survive?” Her voice became even more frantic.

As he tried to keep calm, he backed up slowly.

“Why are you just standing there? The goddamn room is alive and it's going to kill you. Watch out for their teeth,” the strange girl gazed had turned crazed.

“Stop it! This has to be fake, it has to be,” Albion said, although he knew he was in danger.

The strange girl just glared at him in annoyance and roared, “Don't try to deny it you bastard! This is real, this is happening, this is my power. And you're going to die unless you do as I say. I am a First Order Vassal and you are nothing but a mere damned!”

“Damn it! What do you want from me?” Albion shouted in panic when he saw the table he was just sitting at steadily approach.

The leviathan was now swaying as if it were swimming at sea.

𝘊𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘰𝘯, 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘬! 𝘏𝘰𝘸 𝘥𝘰 𝘐 𝘨𝘦𝘵 𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴! 𝘗𝘳𝘦𝘧𝘦𝘳𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘺 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘥𝘺𝘪𝘯𝘨... Albion felt his mind race as he frantically searched for anything to help his dire situation.

As soon as Albion realized there was nothing left, he pulled out his knives.

This caused the strange girl's clear blue eyes to widen in amusement rather than fear.

The situation was rather comical; a boy wielding two knives against a defenceless girl who had brought a shop to life.

“Oh? A real tough guy are you? If you think you have a chance against me, you're wrong!” the strange girl growled. “You have guts, but I can have them ripped out faster than you can blink.”

𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘐 𝘥𝘰? Albion knew he was out of options and cornered. The walls were closing in, and the entire room appeared to be warping and melting before his eyes.

“Urggh! What exactly do you want from me?”

That was the only thing he could ask. Caligos was likely searching for him and would be worried.

The strange girl stood up from her chair and got really close to him and whispered, “Close your eyes and don't open them for five minutes. If you do that, I'll let you go, okay?”

Despite his desire to object, Albion had no choice but to begrudgingly comply.

“I did it. Are we done now?”

“You know how to follow instructions I see? Well done! Now stay still~” the strange girl patted his head, as if he was a dog.

Albion bit back a curse and inquired politely, “Are you finished?”

He sensed her take a couple steps away and murmur, accompanied by a faint sound of metal? However, he still didn't receive a response.

“Hello? Are we done now bec—”

Jingle!

𝘞𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘴𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥? 𝘔𝘺 𝘱𝘰𝘤𝘬𝘦𝘵𝘴 𝘧𝘦𝘦𝘭 𝘢 𝘣𝘪𝘵, 𝘯𝘰, 𝘢 𝘭𝘰𝘵 𝘭𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵𝘦𝘳. 𝘋𝘰𝘯'𝘵 𝘵𝘦𝘭𝘭 𝘮𝘦...

Albion opened his eyes, realizing he was alone and penniless. After a while of cursing, he left the secluded shop and mournfully returned to Caligos, where he endured a brutal scolding for the rest of the evening. He remained silent, absorbing the reprimand as they made their way home.

The two made it back without any issues and he just listlessly flopped onto the couch.

“Tomorrow you better wake up early so that I can be sure you know how to defend yourself,” Caligos said, hanging up his trench coat before turning to Albion.

Albion grumbled before replying, “Fine, whatever! I'm going to take a shower.”

“No, I'm showering first.”

As soon as the words left his mouth, the two brothers locked eyes with each other.

A few seconds passed before they both raced to see who got there first.

“It's my turn, plus you always take forever to finish.”

“No I don't, idiot! You're only saying this because of your new girlfriend.”

“She's not my girlfriend!”

“Hahaha! Albion and weird girl sitting in a tree, k-I-S-S-”

“𝘊𝘢𝘭! I swear to Kyrious, you're dead!”

***

Splash!

After a taxing previous day, Albion awoke to cold water. He spent the dark morning practicing combat skills and a few basic workouts with Caligos until lunchtime. Then, he played around with his brother and helped prepare their possibly last dinner.

Following that, he packed everything he needed and left for the tavern to meet Gerard. He once again made his way to the rustic tavern, entering without being stopped by the huge bouncer.

Albion and Caligos knocked on the door and were greeted by a wrinkled face.

The old wolf quickly ushered them in, whispering, “You're here, come in. I'll go over my perfect plan one last time.”

After taking a deep breath, Albion entered the room and listened to the plan one final time.

Himself, Caligos, Barbarian, and Degenerate who held the bag containing the decoy box, left the tavern and headed towards the alleyway.

Halfway there, the husky voice of the barbarian woman caught the group's attention. “Hey, who's that up ahead? Shit, are things going wrong already?”

As he and the others turned to follow her gaze, Albion recognized the man who had been asleep earlier. Before he could utter a word, he was taken aback by the sight of the degenerate who had made the first move.

“You alright there, gramps?”

“Don't just stand there, Private. Get to your position!”

“I don't think he's thinking straight...”

The older man in front of him looked afraid and disoriented. Albion could only think of scaring the man off but found it difficult to choose between morality or efficiency.

“Good news, gramps. You won't have to worry about starvation ever again!” the degenerate said, trying to reassure the man.

Immediately after his declaration, he pulled a hidden dagger and choked the man. Then, in one nonchalant gesture, he cruelly slit the poor man's throat. Unfortunately the man was still alive and clearly in agony.

“Wh-hhck dgr gurgle... gurgle...”

He wanted to intervene and took a step forward, but a firm hand on his shoulder stopped him. Albion clearly wanted to object but chose to obey.

The villain didn't stop there. The degenerate crouched down and picked up a can which contained 5 cygn.

The degenerate took it all before walking back towards them happily, whistling a tune.

“Thanks for the... hm?”

The degenerate suddenly looked down and noticed a trembling hand gripping his ankle, causing him to scowl.

Albion felt a sudden surge of panic but it was too late. He could only watch as the degenerate savagely stomped and crushed the poor man's wrist.

However, as it were, the only thing he heard was the awful sound of the man choking on his own blood.

It was as if the entire scene was underwater.

His body trembled, and his jaw was clenched so tightly that it felt like his teeth would crack. In that moment, Albion glared at the degenerate who noticed his expression.

“What's wrong, runt? Oh, I see. Don't worry, I'm not selfish. We're a team. Here you go!”

He said nothing as the degenerate placed a single coin in his pocket and was about to pat his head. Just as his rage reached its limit, Caligos swung his bat, stopping only millimeters away from the bastard's temple.

“Don't. Touch. My. Brother.”

There was a tense silence as the three of them glared angrily at each other.

“That's enough," the husky voice of the barbarian woman broke the silence as she sighed. "We shouldn't be fighting amongst ourselves. Save it for 𝘢𝘧𝘵𝘦𝘳 the mission.”

“Tch, how childish! It's not like he'll stay dead forever anyway.”

The degenerate cursed and stormed off, followed by the stoic barbarian, leaving the two brothers behind.

Caligos sighed before turning to his little brother.

“Try and endure it for now, okay?”

Albion stared at him blankly, then nodded and followed behind as they continued towards the warehouse.

𝘑𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘰𝘯𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵.