NEZHA

The man was the last one. We didn’t succeed in hurting him and he got out faster than us from the other door. Now, his pistol aimed at me. His eyes stared right at me. I lifted my hands and tried to maintain my heartbeat. Why didn’t I put my mask on? Why didn’t I use Minerva’s weapons? Why did I…

The man took a deep breath and moved his pistol back on his belt.’’Too much blood was shed today. ‘’ His voice was almost broken as if he was trying to maintain his own emotions

I looked back and saw Pete still trying to move with painful grunts coming out of his lungs. Azizos did not even try to move. He couldn’t.

‘’Go ‘’The man said again.’’Or Stolas will make sure this won’t happen again. On his own ways.''

Their bodies were heavy. Even if Pete was trying to manage, to help move Azizos, his face seemed that he had aged centuries. I tried to help him face death. And yet. None can not face Lord Death.

‘’Pete?’’I asked with a cry.

‘’Get,’’His voice changed, becoming less harder than before, less…’’Help me, please’’He cried later with a pitchy tone.

I rushed to his side, taking Azizos’ corpse away from him and then I saw his clothes getting tighter, his…

I lowered my shoulders and sighed with disbelief.’’Oh, no.’’

We were right in front of the door of FOURTH CIRCLE, carrying Azizos with our remaining strength. I looked up on the road,noticing Minerva, Mara, and Arsu almost getting inside the door. Their eyes fell on us and Arsu rushed to us.

Pete took a step away, letting Arsu hug his dead brother and he almost collapsed to the floor but Mara caught him fast, moving her arms around his armpits.’’Easy,’’ She grunted as Pete’’s weight made her knees go lower.

‘’He is hurt’’I gasped

‘’What happened?’’Minerva asked, panting.

I was bleeding from my arms. I was far too much in the rush that I didn’t even notice it.

Minerva did not even try to help as she went back to her lab. Arsu took his brother’s body in his arms and walked away. He only gave me a look. A cold harsh look as he took his collar.

He died like a ghost. He will perish in prison. Down to the ground, to the thick water…

We said nothing to Mammon. Even when he asked about the blood on my hands I kept my silence. That was one mistake I wish I did not make.

Back in my room, I took a fresh wet towel, lifted my sleeves, and pressed it on the bloody wounds. Pete nibbling on his bed, eyes heavy, voice tired.

The door opened with Mara and a medical kit

So, I stood inside my room with Mara trying to stitch Pete’s leg.

Her fingers were steady and her eyes tired. She let out her helm, telling herself that she wanted to take a breath out of the leather piss.

‘’Did you,’’I asked her.’’See anything?’’

‘’Fog’’ She answered, finishing sterilizing both medical tools and wounds. She took the sterilized flask and pressured it on Pete’s opened wound. Then, a towel and a needle.

‘’Just a thick fog with a…’’She frowned. ‘’Too much noise.’’

Was the Wendigo that the calls were talking about? It did not matter enough as the part where members of the Garden worked for the person on the opposite line. Did Lilith know? Maybe she was the one who was calling. Mammon knew nothing. Or she made another member talk…My head was aching.

I nodded. ‘’I will tell Minerva to make you earplugs from candle wax’’I suggested with a smile and sat on my bed once more.

She laughed harshly. It was probably the few times I heard her laughing.

‘’I should have come with you.’’ Her voice kept steady as she scratched her heavy scar. Deep, bleeding.

‘’Spectres are Spectres’’I reminded her. And yet, I felt something on my chest aching more than my head.

‘’It was not your fault’’ She whispered, her fingers tracing around her collar.’’You know that, right?’’

My fingers curled to the bed sheets. ‘’I could have helped more.’’

‘’Stolas is behind it’’She said after.

‘’That’s a …harsh accusation.’’ The last thing we needed was fighting against a king.

‘’He has army weapons, his men are trying to kill you and back on the PIT…’’She made a long pause.

Then, I remembered a few of his men watching Typhon’s and Mara’s match. Typhon taking something, making his own blood stop…

She kept her gaze far from mine as she tried to work on Pete’s wound. My eyes returned fast on his upper body thinking of what I saw before.

‘’Did you know?’’ I asked her.

She sterilized the wound once more. ‘’When I first saw her-’’

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‘’Spirits’ sake Mara’’I groaned,moving my hands on my face.’’You should have told me.’’

‘’It was not my secret to tell’’She sighed after.

‘’Does Mammon know?’’

She bit her already swollen lips.

‘’Mara, if anyone else finds out.’’

‘’And this is why I did not say anything’’She gritted her teeth like a wild animal and turned back on the wound.

‘’Your stitches are bad’’ I commented.

Her fingers kept moving at the flesh as if it was nothing. No disgust or fear that she might hurt her. No, she probably did not even care.

‘’So’’I looked up, turning to her with a smile. ‘’Would you like to tear off a king?’’

She arched her brow. ‘’Not interested’’

‘’Come on we will be all rich if we do.’’

Two million Eke’e.l. Maybe.

I could steal Stolas under his nose and I would be far away for Mammon or Lilith to hurt me. Maybe I could find more money to take everyone with me.

That made Mara’s eyes to look up.’’What is there to lose right?’’

Walking down the basement I could smell the mane being a stronger scent, unlike the ones in the brothels. But that was only because there were no windows.

‘’Minerva’’I shoutes, watching chemicals boiling in jars and fire. Books scraped to the table while Spider webs filled the ceiling and corners of the room.

And then I saw her lying her head on the table, groaning from the pain with a pocket watch in her hand.

‘’Minerva?’’ asked again.

Her eyes opened vividly and looked at the watch. ‘’Twenty minutes of pain, fifteen of sleep’’ She said. ‘’That is how much it should have been and the men stood up in ten minutes.’’She frowned, standing up and watching me with her brilliant eyes.

I pout.’’Well, they were probably ten times bigger than you so the dose might be…’’

She looked at her books with a septic gaze. ‘’It might.’’She muttered and returned to the chemicals, putting silver powder in a bottle with red liquid.

‘’IStupid Ghost, did not tell me about the drugging monster’’She rasped,hiding her face with her trembling hands.’’And my drug was…’’

‘’You know, we have lots of rats’’’I put my hands inside my pockets. ‘’You do not need to drug yourself with spider poison.’’

She rolled her eyes and took one of the spiders from the webs and killed it with her bare hands before putting it inside the powders.’’

‘’I need to know how it will feel. To make sure that the target won’t think it before it’s too late’’

I nodded playing smart as if I didn't understand any of the things she was using or was so obsessed with.

‘’What are your thoughts about the mysterious monster of Ghost?’’ I asked her, moving my fingertips all over the air.

‘’Not something that I have smelled or felt before.’’She explained. ‘’It took less than a minute to work when I breathed it. And there was no change of the air, no particular smell as if…’’

My eyes rose.

‘’And yet it is about…’’She took out her glasses and tried to clean them. ‘’Mara.’’

‘’Listen, I know you do not like your roommate but…’’

‘’Mara was not affected by it. ‘’She interrupted me fast, getting tired of her usual headaches.

‘’What?’’ I panicked.

‘’I have tested myself a million times’’She explained. ‘’In most of the drugs, I am now immune to them.’’Her eyes shifted left and right. ‘’Before the sound began Mara was ready to fight/ I was fighting to stay awake.’’

I shrunk my body and tried to look away. I hated lying to her face but if Mara knew that I told her…

‘’It was almost unnatural’’

‘’Spectres are Spectres’’I reminded her.

Her brow twitched and moved her glasses back to her eyes. ‘’It is true’’’She admitted. ‘’I do not like her. She never pays attention, she is rude’’She started counting the things she despised.

‘’And steals my share without me even noticing’’She kept talking. ‘’And not a team person. Not like me and you or Ao Bing and the twins’’ She immediately caught her words and looked away.

‘’Go on..’’I waited.

‘’But I know what I saw, what if she is not…’’She started tapping her fingers on the table.’’The men woke up sooner and she..’’She took one more deep breath and clapped her fingers together.’’She was violent. far too violent what if she is not…’’

‘’Not like us at all?’’I finally finished her sentence.

I did not answer quickly and looked around at her chemicals. Mammon had given this to her especially after she almost exploded his room by showing him a failed drug.

When I first met her she had a jar full of spiders. Venomous she said they were. She had pigtails and glasses ten times bigger than her eyes. She looked far from naive, holding a jar of danger like a teddy bear. I didn’t believe her until I found one of Mammon’s giants dead with spider bites on his thumb.

‘’What would happen?’’I asked, returning to the present. ‘’If she was not like us? Would you hate her more?’’

Minerva's eyes opened even more wide like an actual owl.

Her fingers shrunk to the paper and took the bottle, moving another serum inside the spider.

‘’I think that we need to ask questions about the Garden.’’She changed the subject.

I wanted to disagree so much with her but I knew that she was right. Before actually asking questions to the king about a monster lurking within fogs and strange sounds abducting people…We had to find more answers.

‘’I’ll go.’’ I volunteer with no hesitation. Even though I could feel my heartbeat turning faster, I still volunteered.

‘’No’’Minerva stopped me.

‘’You are not my boss, "I reminded her.

‘’Mara can go.’’Her brow seemed rough and tired.’’ And with Pete’’

‘’He is..’’I faced away, trying to avoid telling her the truth. Did it matter on that point?.’’ new to all of that?’’ I exhaled harshly.

Minerva’s eyes twitched.

‘’Well, time for him to know’’