Curling on the sofa Hildebrant had a dream that the entire room was covered in blood and that same blood dripped down from every nook and cranny he could find. The blood in his dreams looked normal until small eyes opened and gazed into his soul.

All the blood in the room observed him, watched him, and the only visible way to escape was through the pure white doors that pulsed with crimson light.

It was as if his dreams tried to warm him of something bad and dangerous.

But what does it want to tell?

One drop of blood then fell on his forehead and his eyes shot open.

With it, Hildebrant woke up, and before he could take a breath of fresh air, something shuffled under the sofa faster than he could observe. It was fast, and the only thing he had time to register was its shifting shadow and crimson snake-like tail that disappeared with the rest of its existence under the sofa.

Did he still dream?

Hallucinate?

Now wide awake he brought blanked closer to his body and waited while controlling his flames and letting them course through his flesh.

Anything that hid under his bed should still be there.

If there was even something in the first place.

Trembling he reached for the girl and hugged her, and she hugged him tightly in turn.

Exchanging their heat Hildebrant eyes slowly began to close until he was asleep once again but when the clock on the floor rang, the first thing he noticed after opening his eyes was a ravaged surrounding and Icarus who had already begun to clean the room.

Most of the rubbish and papers were without mercy burned in the now exposed fireplace that was most likely hidden behind all the rubbish that was rolling on the floor.

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"Good morning princess, did you dream well?" Asked Icarus sheepishly and threw notes and books in his hands into the fire without any hesitation.

"It could be better." Said Hildebrant still half asleep while he rubbed his eyes.

By habit, he then tried to find his black clothes just for him to freeze and remember he was no longer home with his uncle and return sitting on sofa while grasping his head and jawing his tiredness out.

Icarus who was watching him smiled.

"If you so wish you can go sleep for a while more."

"No need," Hildebrant said and began to stand up and stretch his body.

He did not notice before but after the extreme pain he went through on ship his body became sturdier, his muscles a little firmer but none of them beyond what he could consider human limits.

Was it the effect of becoming an ascender?

Strong heat touched his back and when he looked behind himself Icarus stood before the flickering fire of the fireplace throwing another set of notes, papers, and things into its maw, feeding it with a smile on his face.

"Does something matter?" Icarus asked out of nowhere while Hildebrant stared at him and after some time of quietness, Hildebrant finally could not help himself.

"Yesterday you said Juliana was ascender and that's why gods and Supremes went after her."

"It is not entirely because she was ascender but yes, it's one of the reasons." Said Icarus calmly and then turned his gaze to Hildebrant.

"What about it?"

Gulping down his salvia Hildebrant gazed into fire.

"Is being ascender dangerous?"

Icarus blinked and then grinned wildly while also turning back to the fire.

"Yes, it is. Being ascender means constantly fighting against yourself and the world. If you stop just for a moment you will disappear into the annals of history never to be remembered again. As someone educated you must know it better than others or you would be absolute clues about what ascenders are."

Hildebrant stared into the fire, his eyes gleaming with memories of a small girl being dragged into a room where the Key of Everlast resided and then doors closing and the only thing he and others could hear were screams.

Her figure disappeared from fire and Hildebrant visibly shivered while hugging his body.

"Yes, I know."

Icarus gave him a pitiful gaze.

"Don’t worry while you are here, I will protect you. That’s why I came immediately after sensing someone entering the sanctuary."

Said Icarus and turned back to the fire, from where he took a small half-melted metal, he accidentally threw in.

"Look this I got from one of my dear friends his name was Nuna. It sounded like a girl's name, and he looked like one but don’t be fooled he was a boy and warrior who could fight very well until his last breath."

Lifting his head Hildebrant still has tears on the edge of his eyes as he thought about the consequences of what he became but Icarus's words make him curious.

"What happened to him?"

He asked, and Icarus threw metal back into the fire with a smile.

"I twisted his neck. "