There was once a child who was always told the same thing.

“See,” his father said, ripping a piece of bread between his teeth, “your life is worth less than a glass of beer.”

The child hung his head.

The bruises on his arms stung, and his body ached – but not as much as the fragile heart of a seven-year-old.

No one told him otherwise. Not even his mother, who left him with his debt-ridden, gambler father.

His classmates always picked on him. His teachers never sided with him.

His father’s debt collectors loved ambushing him on the way back from school.

He was always beaten up.

No one cared.

And no one ever would.

*

Rin woke up on top of a clockwork to the sound of soft piano music. It was a slow and simple melody, lacking intent or flourish.

Her body ached, and her wrists were bound behind her. She struggled to sit up, wincing as her shoulder gave a nasty throb.

Beneath the transparent floor was a giant set of revolving gears and mechanisms of unfathomable complexity.

A short distance away, a couple waltzed across the floor. The man, with his brunette hair slicked back, wore a dress coat adorned with a red rose over his chest pocket. His polished shoes shone as bright as Cnaris’ prided glassware collection. The lady was a delicate beauty with oval eyes, small, peach-colored lips, and elegant golden braids that fell down her back. Her layered dress trailed across the floor as she spun and twirled to the music. Flecks of white cascaded around them like fresh snow. Illuminated by the spotlight from above, the sight was ethereal.

Further behind was a grand piano in all its splendor. Lying motionless near the piano stool was Hayle. The person playing it was –

Kazu.

The shock of the realization was like electricity pulsing through her skin. Why is he here?

Did he come because of her message? Was he real, or was he a trick – a product of the Territory?

The flat melody hammered into her a sense of foreboding.

Rin was very familiar with Kazu’s music. A long time ago, she requested that he compile it into a playlist so that she could listen to it whenever she wanted to. His music spoke emotions, pictured the weather, and told a story – light like clouds sailing through the sky on a clear day, tranquil like morning dew clinging to the tips of leaves, angry like turbulent skies before a downpour.

This sounded like a machine that lacked a soul, playing for the sake of producing sound.

The music picked up speed, and the dance steps became sharper, fancier. Head tossed back, arms flung out, arching backs, frantic feet tapping over the floor, it was a performance teetering on the brink of danger and lunacy.

Someone clapped. To her left, the man who demanded her heart earlier was applauding. The clapping grew louder and louder as more and more townspeople gathered around them. Soon, the couple was surrounded by a crowd, their applause sounding like a standing ovation at a concert hall.

At the final note, the couple ended their dance with a flourish.

The man bowed to his audience and waved. The lady, on the other hand, stood stiffly by his side with a passive expression.

“Thank you, esteemed guests.” The man said, “Thank you for gracing us with your presence.”

He was looking at her.

The audience vanished as suddenly as they appeared.

“I believe we have met before, young lady.” He made his way towards her, wringing his gloved hands together.

“You’re the Manager.”

She had recognized his voice the moment he spoke – the soft, lilting tone of a salesperson that was well-versed in addressing concerns, promoting products, and convincing buyers.

He smiled at her approvingly. “That is correct.”

She glanced over at Kazu. He was sitting very still at the piano, fingers poised over the black and white keys, eyes gazing at nothing. Is he really Kazu?

The Manager noticed. “Do not fret, young lady. I assure you he is in no state of suffering. I have been waiting for you ever since you came of your own volition. Never did I expect another Hunter to step in before you. Well, like they say, the more the merrier.”

“What have you done to him?” Rin demanded, struggling to keep her voice level. She refused to let him know how she was feeling.

The Manager smiled like a teacher encouraging his pupil. “I just happened to look into his heart.”

His lady companion blinked slowly. Rin had the strangest feeling that she was a moving doll.

“Did you happen to look into your companion’s heart as well?” She asked, glancing at the lady.

The Manager chuckled. “Young lady, I cannot even if I wanted to.” He stepped over to his beautiful partner and touched her face lightly. “Because she does not have one.”

He paused for effect. “My dearest Emilia is a Creation.”

A Creation – an artificial being spun from ancient forbidden magic. They resembled human beings but lacked everything that made them one. They were meant to serve as puppets in the rebel war that dated a couple of centuries back because of their lack of compassion and their nonexistent sense of pain. The Council had destroyed the manufacturing plants, incapacitated the ones involved, banned all information on Creations, and enacted a law that forbade further endeavors.

Rin never thought she would encounter one in person.

“I will give her a heart.” The Manager clapped his hand over his chest.

Rin finally knew his true intention: to forge a heart from all that he got from the townspeople and give it to Emilia. “A heart isn’t made up of a jumble of emotions and intentions you gather from others.”

It was meant to be cultivated from experiences and strengthened by the values imparted from life lessons.

It was meant to leap with joy, weep with sorrow, tremble with anticipation, grovel with regret –

A heart had to know how to feel.

He had convinced himself – or had been convinced – that he could achieve the impossible.

“Then, how about you tell me, young lady?” He stepped closer to Rin. “ I am curious what yours looks like.”

He leaned down and tilted her chin up so that she was looking at him. She struggled against her binds, trying not to look into his eyes. His grip was surprisingly strong, and she wasn’t feeling her best.

“Would you let me look into your heart?”

It was not a question. It was a perfunctory knock on the door to let the owner know he was going to enter with or without permission.

She found herself trapped within his gaze, unable to look away. The black of his eyes grew larger until they swallowed the golden irises, until they morphed into one and claimed the whole of his face.

It bloomed outwards, engulfing the edges of her vision.

She was standing in a warehouse. In front of her was a smoldering black Magic Circle. In the middle was a familiar bloodied, battered figure, held up by his wrists by invisible ropes.

Love this story? Find the genuine version on the author's preferred platform and support their work!

Rei.

Five people stood around him, one of them turning a sword in his hand. Without warning, he stabbed Rei in the chest.

“Rei!”

He lifted his head. Blood dribbled down the corner of his mouth as he whispered, “Don’t come.”

The pain on his face pierced through her heart. Somewhere inside her, she knew she had seen this, been there before – but she could not look away.

Stop.

Her legs disobeyed her, taking one step and another towards him.

Stop.

His lips parted, saying something she couldn’t hear. The figure next to him lifted the sword again, ready to strike –

No!

The image broke.

She was on her feet, disoriented and shaky. An arm caught her around the shoulders, and she glanced up.

Blonde hair, and the familiar nevus below his right eye.

Next to her was Kazu, his gun pointed at the Manager.

Relief washed through her – a wonderful, welcoming feeling. At that moment, she almost wanted to laugh.

The Manager’s look of surprise was just as profound. “How?”

“I never said I’d let you look.” Kazu said, his voice low.

Rin had never seen him so angry.

The Manager regarded him with interest. “What strong willpower. I am curious. Exactly what are you trying so hard to hide?”

Rin thought she saw something flash through Kazu’s eyes. That moment passed, and she wondered if she had imagined it.

In a fluid movement, he cut her free from her binds. She had a dozen questions rushing through her mind, but no words came.

He noticed the questions in her eyes and responded with a look that said, Later.

Rin obliged.

Over at the piano, Hayle stirred.

“You lost,” Rin said. “Give it up.”

The Manager sighed. “Well, this is unexpected, but thankfully, I have prepared for such contingencies.”

The back of Rin’s neck crawled. The Seed stirred.

A thick, concentrated presence was rising, and it seemed to be coming from –

Below.

The mechanism clunked and tinkled with fervor.

The Manager smiled. “It turns out to be sufficient. We are just one step away from success.”

Cracks formed in the transparent floor. The air stirred with unease, and the space started to shudder.

The Manager turned to Emilia and whispered, “Are you excited, my love?”

The walls fractured, pieces falling off and revealing the nothingness behind it.

An expression of alarm crossed Kazu’s face. He glanced at Rin, and she knew he was thinking the same as her.

The Seed was ripping its Territory apart.

“Stop!”

Kazu’s warning fell on deaf ears and a hardened, twisted will. Too late to turn back.

The Seed’s aura was thick and suffocating. It was awakening, a snake uncoiling after months of hibernation, a parasitic flower blooming after absorbing the necessary nutrients – eager to feed, ready to devour.

The Master was serving himself up on the sacrificial plate.

“Emilia is my everything. She is the one who made me feel alive again. She is the only thing I have had throughout my life. I shall give it all back to her.”

A powerful force broke forth from where he was standing, throwing them back. Rin’s feet skidded over the floor, stopping only when she hit the wall. Looking up, pieces of the Territory rained down on them like confetti.

In the center of the stage, the Manager stood with Emilia next to him, as rigid and expressionless as before.

He embraced her. “Everything will be all right.”

*

A man with empty eyes walked down the street on a drizzling evening. The sky, the buildings, and the asphalt were a dull gray, like his soul.

He had just finished his meager desk job for the day. He did not like it, but he could not hate it. He had no idea if he had ever had a dream. There was nothing else he could become. He was unqualified; his resume was blank. His presence was subservient. His employers only called after no one else wanted the spot.

His colleagues were advantage-seeking bastards with their hands rubbing, waist buckling, and flattering laughs, sucking up to their superiors for promotions.

He learned their ways – not for promotions, but to reduce unpaid overtime and additional work that was supposed to belong to someone else.

Today, he was lucky. He managed to get off work on time. Tomorrow, he would be back there again.

Day after day, the world seemed to lose color little by little. Someday, perhaps it would end up completely white or black.

Then, he caught sight of a pair of eyes just like his. Eyes that had no vision for the future.

They belonged to a girl. Crouching by a dumpster like an abandoned doll, she looked at her feet. Her long hair hung limply over her shoulders, dull and lifeless.

She was drenched. Her pale skin glistened in the rain. Raindrops clung to her long eyelashes.

He stared at her, transfixed. She was beautiful. So beautiful she took his breath away. His heart skipped a beat. His breath caught in his throat.

For the first time, he felt a sense of wonder. And that wonder was a feeble spark, which gradually grew into action.

He closed the distance between them.

She looked up. Her eyes were like endless voids, sucking him in, and he let himself be.

He opened his mouth. “Would you like to come with me?”

And so, they began to live together.

Like a fairy tale, too good to be true.

He found out she was a Creation within the first half hour. She had not the slightest idea how to wash, dry her hair, prepare a hot meal in the microwave, or make a bed.

So, he taught her, and she learned everything. For the first time, he felt useful. She made him useful.

He stopped her from burning the tenth saucepan he bought within the month, from melting his new shirt when ironing, from strangling herself with the sheets they washed on laundry day.

For the first time, his life had meaning.

But, as much as she learned everything, she could not learn how to feel emotions. She did not know how to laugh when she was happy or cry when she was sad. What it felt like to be boiling with rage or cringing from embarrassment.

She would never know what it felt like to helplessly fall in love.

One day, he looked at her. “I will get you a heart.”

It became a vow. It became a purpose.

He began researching ways to acquire a heart, though he had no idea where to start. He pored over books, visited the black market during weekends, and sought the rumored great mages, but none managed to give him an answer. His ability was mediocre at best, barely sufficient to perform any of the forbidden spells written in the complex spell books.

He was wallowing in dismay in a bar one evening when a hooded figure approached him and said, “I have exactly what you’re looking for.”

He was handed an ornament that looked like it was fashioned from the unwanted parts of a machine.

Unnamed and faceless did not concern him.

All he wanted was an answer.

And that answer presented itself to him.

*

Rin’s head throbbed with the Pulses that invaded her mind.

She felt his resentment, which then became resignation, and then an endless pool of longing, obsession – and something else that she could not place her finger on.

“You see, I do not think what I did was wrong. After all, I did ask for permission. They were the ones who greedily asked and readily agreed to it.” His voice echoed throughout the wrecked space. “They asked for it – the ones responsible for murder are the ones who asked for it. She is having an affair with my man – I want her dead. I hate his guts. He stole all my hard work and took all the credit – he deserves to die. All these were fervent wishes made from their hearts. I just made it happen.” He regarded them. “Tell me, would you blame the cat if the mouse ventured into its lair looking for cheese?”

Kazu rose to his feet and dusted himself off. “There’s a difference between intentional and accidental.”

The Manager shook his head. “There is no difference when it comes to survival. Every human heart is selfish; it is only a matter of how it is represented. The mouse chose to look for cheese in a cat’s lair. The cat chose to eat the mouse. In the end, there is intent in every choice made. Who are we to judge? Every person who came to the shop intended to get something in return for their payment – be it blessing or someone else’s suffering. I am just fulfilling their wishes.”

Rin thought of the children trapped inside the photographs, the people trapped inside the clockwork. “There is a difference. Implicating the innocent is always wrong. They do not choose to be here. You cannot justify what you do at the expense of others.”

Seeds amplified negativity. Prolonged exposure to a Territory made people prone to corruption. Some people were corrupt to begin with. Some people, however, were victims of corruption.

This man was neither. He was prey to his circumstances; he developed the mindset along the way. Morals did not apply to him.

To him, he was achieving his goals. To Rin and Kazu, he was a criminal and the Master of a Seed that had to be destroyed.

A black item glinted between the rose petals over his chest.

Rin’s body reacted the moment she saw Kazu move.

A gunshot rang out.

The Sygn cluttered across the floor. The Manager fumbled for it. Rin closed in on him, blade drawn.

A blur of movement invaded her field of vision, and the edge of her blade was countered by force. A blur of silver missed her by an inch as she ducked and rammed her elbow into the assailant.

Emilia stood in front of the Manager, one hand holding a knife, the other bleeding from a long gash. She showed no signs of pain.

Rin realized belatedly that Emilia’s blood was the same color as a human’s.

“My dearest!” the Manager exclaimed, cradling her injured arm in his.

“Elziel?”

Rin turned.

The impact earlier landed her close to where Hayle was, and the noise seemed to have woken him up. He squinted at her and his surroundings. “Where’s Rayve?”

The Sygn on the floor broke.

Nothing happened.

For a moment, Rin stared at it, her mind reeling.

The space was still falling apart. The mechanisms were still rotating, picking up speed as time passed.

She glanced over at Kazu, who mirrored her puzzlement.

The Manager glanced at Hayle and sighed. “Do you know what is the most powerful of all?”

When no one answered, he did it himself, “A wish, something you want, a Desire you would die for.”

Rin’s misgivings grew. It had been gnawing at her since she entered the Territory.

Hayle was picking himself up, unsteady on his feet. Awake.

A Master would usually be unaware that he was in a Territory; his mind would be trapped in a sleep-wake state, led by the Seed’s illusions, and living entirely in the Territory. If the Master woke up, there would be two alternatives.

Either the Territory would disappear or the Seed would grow agitated and show itself.

“Do you…” Rin began. “Do you remember what happened?”

Hayle looked utterly confused. “What happened – I…” He shook his head. “I think I had a long dream, but I couldn’t remember what it was. Why am I in a Territory?”

He was completely himself, as though freed from the Seed.

Or –

He was never under the influence of the Seed.

The Manager was smiling.

A wish… Something you would die for.

Please don’t leave me alone… You’re all I have.

All this while she had been assuming Hayle was the Master – because she had been led to believe it.

She had seen him in the alley because she was made to see it.

“You!” she began, glaring at the Manager.

He played his cards in a way no one could tell.

“Yes, you guessed right.” The Manager said, very pleased. “I am no longer the Master.”

He had given his Heart away to the Seed and was now no different from his clients.

The actual Master was the one who lured her there and had been acting strange while remaining unaware of it.

The person who made the trade, the person with the desire, with the wish…

It was Rayve.