So this was a world crack. It was nothing like what it had shown on the other side. It made Seth wonder from whence what they had seen had come. Where was all the luscious green? Where was the grass and the trees?

Seth took in a tentative breath and almost choked on it. It was heavier than the path Gregory had led them on through the mountain. And the world around him tried to weigh him down, pressing him and forcing the hair on his arms to stand on end. The ground beneath his feet was firm and gave him solid footing. Here [Quick Step] would shine in all its glory.

He was still taking stock of his environment, considering survivability when his mind drew his attention to a mountain too far into the distance.

Is that what we think it is? It asked.

Seth peered at it as if he would somehow see farther, see clearer. He saw nothing different. Whatever his minds were seeing, he wasn’t seeing it.

“What exactly am I looking at?” he asked, turning away from the sight.

That mountain, his mind thought. It’s smoke’s red.

“And the sky is red, big whoop.”

“Be quiet, boy,” one of the priests hushed him. “You might have problems but you don’t have to telegraph it in front of our enemies. Hold your tongue.”

Before he even had the time to look at who had spoken, Timi snarled at the priest. His size oppressed the man and he towered over him. With the look they exchanged when it happened, anyone would’ve thought two golds were about to face off. But Timi was no gold.

Yet, there was a way Forlorn looked at him now, as if some kind of fight was actually going to happen. Seth had heard the rumors, too, but did Forlorn really believe Timi was going to face off against a gold in the presence of other golds?

Timi was close to him but he doubted the boy was stupid. But, just in case, he placed a calming hand on Timi’s shoulder, holding back his brother.

“Leave it,” he said. “There’s no point in making the others believe we’re not a united front.”

But they were not. Not really. He saw the way Timi watched the priest as another priest pulled him away from the confrontation. Judging by how young the priests were, they were new to the priesthood. Which meant the priest that had hushed him knew enough of the rumors about him in the seminary. The man knew he had a reputation for talking to himself.

Was this what he had to deal with? He wondered.

When Gregory made a sign only Seth’s minds noted from all the way at the lead of the group, the priests began moving to the side. It wasn’t in the shuffling of steps crowds usually employed. It was in an organized fashion. Like old veteran warriors who still knew what composure looked like; men who knew how to step in a crowd without making a scene.

Without question or thought, Seth and his brothers followed quietly.

They walked on for about a mile before coming to a stop under Gregory’s command. Here they dispersed into cliques, huddling in miniature groups like the others already in the crack.

Seth listened to the calm of the place. Its silence was eerily dead, unnatural. And all attempts of the priests’ slowly beginning chatterings did nothing to truly pierce it. Oddly enough, it was almost as if the sounds they were making were actually trying to fail.

Now, a mind drew Seth’s attention to it, we didn’t want to alarm you, considering we saw it and knew you didn’t see it, so promise us you won’t be alarmed when you hear this.

Seth turned his head from side to side, searching for the priest that had hushed him. Certain he wasn’t within reach, he nodded. “I won’t.”

We saw familiar colors.

“What do you mean familiar colors?”

The blue of the Baron of the Deep.

“And?”

And more.

Fin tapped his shoulder and he turned to his brother.

“I think it would be best to keep your voice as nonexistent as possible if you aren’t speaking to any of us,” Fin suggested.

Timi turned an angry look on their brother and Fin added: “He’s making us look bad. They already think of us as children. There’s no point in looking childish too.”

Timi took a step forward and the most surprising thing happened.

Forlorn stepped in between the both of them. He spared Timi the shortest look before placing a hand against Fin’s chest.

“No,” he said.

Fin cocked a brow at him. “No?”

“Yes, no. You don’t want this.”

“Calm yourself, Forlorn. I’m not going to fight our brother in a world crack.”

“Agreed.” Forlorn nodded. “But I’m not doing this to save face. You don’t want this.”

Fin stared at him in surprise, then looked at Timi. He swiveled his attention between the both of them once more before turning away.

As he walked away, Forlorn turned to Seth. “Control him,” he said, pointing a finger Seth found was trembling at Timi. “He listens to you so keep him on a leash.”

His gaze glanced over Timi as he turned away to meet Barnabas.

Seth turned to Timi in mild confusion. What was that about? He signed.

Timi shrugged. Mercy? He signed, equally confused.

Seth shook his head. Something told him he wasn’t going to get much of an answer out of his brother. He only spoke in many sentences when he had a rumor he wanted to share.

Instead, he turned to his minds. “What were you saying about colors?” he asked.

Just that we saw someone that might, and we can’t emphasize the word ‘might’ enough…

“What did we see?” he asked, growing tired of his own minds stalling.

His minds sighed in resignation. It’s been years so we might not be sure, but we think we saw Natalie.

Seth’s existence seemed to stop. It was an old name now. One so old in his mind he’d spent a year in West Blue and hadn’t really thought about it. A name so old it wasn’t supposed to evoke anything in him. Yet, the pause in his world at the name was a stark contrast to it.

“Are we sure?” he mumbled, uncertain.

It had been years.

It’s been a while so—

“Are. We. Sure?” he repeated harshly.

His minds eased into a somber solemnity. Yes, completely.

The knowledge ensured Seth’s silence until deep into the night.

Night time within the crack was a strange experience. The red sky grew a darker red enough to darken the world but the sun didn’t change. Its black still stared down at them as if it didn’t see them.

Seth was lying on his back, staring at the bloody sky, Timi breathing quietly in sleep, when Gregory roused them from their slumber. As much as he would’ve enjoyed a slumber of his own, Seth didn’t want it. His mind was plagued with thoughts of Natalie. Actually, it wasn’t Natalie that held his thoughts, it was what her presence insinuated.

She was from the family of a Lord. If she was here, flanked by men who wore the color of the Baron of the Deep, it meant she’d returned from the convent. It also meant the subjects of the Baron were within the crack.

If that was true, it meant something else. House Darnesh would be here too. His mother, his father, Jonathan, and Derek. Jeremy would be too young to be here, most likely left behind. He would be a part of the academy by now.

He wondered how powerful Derek was now. He knew Jonathan would be at the peak of gold, if not already Baron. The rate at which the boy was growing was unprecedented. Gold in four years was amazing. Now would make it eight years as a soul mage. At his speed, eight years was enough to become a Baron.

Still, a part of him doubted it. He thought of his brothers and knew gold at four years wasn’t a real achievement. Gold in four years was the outcome of every seminarian. In two years his brothers were already silver. If he was to judge by what he knew, some of them would be gold before their ordination.

Gold in four years was the norm in the seminary. Yet there were priests who were growing old and were still not Barons. Barony seemed to desire more to stand upon than the other authorities

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The thoughts of his family flooded him and he realized he hadnt thought much of them over the years since he’d been taken by Jabari. He’d been too busy struggling to survive and attain power. He wasn’t sure if it spoke poorly of him and couldn’t bring himself to care.

Gone were the years when he had a female best friend he had a crush on. Gone was the boy who always looked forward to the time he spent with her. Gone was the boy that spent time in her family home with her whenever they came into his father’s territory for one reason or the other.

And gone was the boy who looked on Jonathan with awe and Derek with disdain. Gone was the boy who knew he would stand beside Jeremy no matter what, despite how spoiled and disrespectful the boy was.

He sighed as his minds pointed out Gregory as he gathered the priests to him. He had truly accepted the façade Jabari had placed on him; accepted the lie.

He sighed again, and his minds grumbled.

Gone was Seth Oden Darnesh. He was Seth Oden Al Jabari.

He’d been Seth Oden Al Jabari for a long time now.

New Quest: [Survive the Crack]

Your world is wounded, torn along the membranes of existence. For reasons you suspect but do not know or understand, you have been tossed into it. As an Iron you have no reason to survive. As an observer you thrive in its existence. This is why you are here. To witness, to learn, to observe. Observe the crack and come out alive.

Observer Objective: [Learn three new species] 0/3

Title Objective: [Kill a Silver] 0/1

Quest Objective: [Come out Alive]

Observer Reward: Void Tongue.

Title Reward: Possible Unique Skill.

Quest Reward: Appraisal.

Consequence: Death.

Seth read through it, getting up with the other priests. He nudged Timi with a foot when he found the boy still lying down and the boy got up begrudgingly.

That’s a lot of rewards, one of his minds pointed out. One for each objective.

And one for the entire quest, another finished.

“What does it mean; learn four new beasts?” he asked, dismissing the notification.

Find four new beasts?

Seth shook his head. “It would’ve just said ‘find’ if that’s what it meant.”

Fin stepped up on his side and glared at him. However, with Timi on his other side it was short lived. He ignored it as Gregory began making an announcement.

He ignored Gregory too.

“Coming out alive will be easy,” he continued, speaking softly. “I just have to stall long enough.”

In a crack rumored to have silver, gold and baron beasts? A mind cackled. Not likely as easy as you’d think.

What of killing a silver?

“I have a gun. Worse case scenario I’ll have to slug it out with one. Best case, I can just steal a kill.”

What about the rewards?

“Yea.” Seth scratched the back of his head. “What’s ‘void tongue’?”

No idea, a mind answered.

Sounds like a skill, another thought.

“Any idea what it could be?”

Fin jostled him lightly.

Seth looked at his brother who signaled him forward with a nod. He followed its direction and found Gregory looking at him as he spoke. Whatever the priest was saying, Seth was confident he wasn’t speaking to him. He was simply looking at him.

Seth held the man’s gaze in feigned attention as he listened to his minds.

Well, it’s clearly language based, his mind explained. But void means nothingness. Sooo… an empty language?

Retard, another mind snorted.

Seth kept his sigh internal. “What of the possible unique skill?”

Could be anything, but we have a unique skill already.

Two, actually, another mind corrected.

Seth remembered them clearly. They were skills he hadn’t been able to use or figure out. [Carnivore] and [Carnage].

Was it going to be another skill he wouldn’t know how to use?

He cast his thought from it. Whatever it would end up being, he would deal with it when he got it. He turned his mind to the final reward.

“Appraisal.”

An act of assessing something or someone, his mind thought as if reading from a book.

“What the hell kind of skill is that?” he asked. “Will I be able to differentiate between authorities?”

He kept his voice low but people kept giving him glances. In a gathering of silvers and golds he doubted it was possible to keep anything that came out of his mouth away from them. And if they could hear him, then Gregory could too. But the man’s eyes on him never wavered, never shifted or narrowed. If his words annoyed the man, he didn’t show it.

The moment Gregory’s speech came to an end, Fin rounded on him and snatched him by the arm, standing so close he towered over him. With his silver strength Seth felt every bit of pain. Timi stepped forward with a scowl and Seth halted him with a raised hand.

“Were you even listening to a thing he said?” Fin hissed. “Did you hear a single word?”

Seth kept his other hand raised, held Timi in place.

Gregory’s still looking, one of his minds informed him, and he thanked it mentally.

“Is it control you’re looking for, brother?” he asked, wondering if that was the reason he’d been finicky with him.

Fin’s hooded eyes narrowed further. “Control?”

“Yes. Control. You’ve been acting up since we left the seminary. Always nitpicking. Are you trying to show the priests that you can lead us; that you’re not just a silver?”

“Seth,” Jason warned, stepping forward.

Behind him Forlorn seemed to cower very slightly. It would have gone unnoticed if Seth’s minds were not watching everything. Barnabas noticed it too and looked from Forlorn to him.

Go forward.

Seth started, surprised by the words. “What?”

He doesn’t get to boss you around. No one does… except maybe a gold or a baron.

Seth was confused. Sometimes his minds would warn him away from things. Sometimes it wouldn’t. It was a new development since his return from pastoral year. It sought out survival now. But here it was, advising him to go against someone who wasn’t only twice his size, quite literally, but an authority higher.

“Maybe he’s right,” Jason said, and Seth wasn’t sure what his brother was talking about.

It must’ve shown on his face because Jason added: “You should’ve been listening.”

He’s still watching, a mind reminded Seth.

Again, he thanked it.

“And who says I wasn’t listening?” he asked.

Fin’s grip tightened and Seth winced. “If you were listening,” Fin said. “What did he say?”

Seth mustered up his strength as he felt his reia trickle to were Fin held him. He wondered if his brother had broken something. “You forget something, brother,” he said.

“And what’s that?” Fin’s voice deepened ominously.

“I don’t answer to you.”

Is there a reason we’re not stopping him? a panicked mind asked.

Wait for it, another answered, giddy.

By the way Fin’s grip tightened again, Seth was certain if they weren’t already so close, his brother would’ve dragged him closer.

“Those aren’t words an Iron should use,” Fin answered.

“Brother,” Jason said, placing a hand on his shoulder. “That was going a bit too far. He should’ve listened but there’s no reason to bring up his authority.”

Fin shrugged off Jason’s hand with a grunt. “In this group, he answers to all of us, whether he likes it or not.” He bent his head low so that he stared into Seth’s silver eyes. “Do you understand.”

Head tilted back, Seth stared back, unfazed. He’d stood before monsters already. Fin was no monster. Simply a big mage.

Still, he watched his brother now. Truly watched him.

As if pulled by some will, his minds ignored his surroundings and did something they hadn’t done in so long. They watched his brother, too. Focused on a single target as a single mind.

His minds broke apart everything they could of the boy before him. They picked him apart like an animal being prepared for the pot. They studied his eyes, hooded as they were. Watched every fidget and twitch, every blemish in its royal purple. Then they moved on to his face. There was no wrinkle that escaped their attention. It noted every sign of strain or stress. Every concealed intention that was there to see was seen. Every minute microexpression. It catalogued him as effectively as it could.

In the end, it presented an answer.

Behind all his bluster there was a very small taint of fear. It was so small it was inconsequential. Still, it was there. Its very presence was proof that his brother was no fool. But he was more than prepared for violence, and he was confident he would be the victor in its outcome.

Seth disagreed. He disagreed strongly enough to want to save his brother from the violence by simply answering to him. Unfortunately, the boy had interrupted his planning process towards passing his quest and getting his rewards.

He sighed at the conclusion of it all and his minds moved away from their focus on his brother. Their sudden displacement left him with a touch of vertigo. The feeling was weird. Having them stand by him, focus with him without asking, was new, and oddly nice. He wasn’t sure he liked it. Shaking of the feeling to be explored another time, he spoke.

“You seem to forget, brother,” he said finally, staring at purple eyes.

Fin’s frown turned into a scowl. “Forget what?”

“Who answers to me.”

Fin’s eyes shifted to his raised hand softly, then behind him to a livid Timi, barely restrained, shoulders heaving like a beast for war.

When his eyes shifted back to Seth’s, Seth saw consequence in what had once been an inconsequential fear. Given time, anything could blossom to import.

“Now, tell me,” he went on, “is this a fight you want? I may answer to all of you because I’m still Iron, but I have a silver who answers to me. So tell me, is a fight worth the possible attention you are trying to get? Is the consequence worth the possible reward?”

“I can take—”

“You really can’t,” Forlorn interrupted Fin. “I told you before, and I’ll tell you again. You do not want this fight.” He stepped forward so that he stood beside them. “You do not want it because you cannot win it. You don’t want Timi for an enemy. Trust me.”

Ooh, that’s creepy, one of Seth’s minds thought.

Rather than ask it what it meant, he reached out in his senses towards what took its attention. The air around was too distorted to sense much, but it was enough to see what it was. Behind him Timi remained livid, prepared to draw blood, but his oddity was his eyes. Their inky blacks were spreading. Black veins reaching out of them beneath his skin.

It was certainly creepy.

“Say the word, brother,” he told Fin, attention returned to their conversation. “Say the word.”

Fin looked at Timi once more before releasing Seth and stepping back. Seth nodded once and kept his hand raised. He turned to look at Timi behind him and smiled at his friend.

“I’m good now,” he said softly. “I’m good.”

At his words his brothers heaving slowed. The black veins around his eyes retracted, leaving Seth wondering if it was a skill. Though the land of voiceless activations lay in the realm of Barony. In a few moments, Timi was as calm as he’d once been, but his eyes never left Fin.

“An impressive display,” someone said.

Seth recognized the voice, and judging by how quickly his brothers straightened around him, he was right. He turned slowly to meet Gregory’s attention.

“Are you going to tell me what I said?” the priest continued. “Or am I going to have to face your brother over there first.”

Seth straightened his stance, only then did Timi do so. He met Gregory’s eyes as respectfully as he could and hoped it was enough.

“No, Reverend,” he said.

“Then what did I say?”

“In two hours we will go east, towards the mountain of smoke and fire.” Seth rattled out the words promptly and precisely, pulling the information from a memory that was not entirely his. “We will eliminate any beast that we come across. Then, after eight miles, we will head north, converging on where the other teams will most likely be. During our advance, my brothers and I will stay at the center of the priests. We will remain here until reinforcements come through the crack and find us. Only then will we be free of your command and handed over to Reverend Dozie.”

“Impressive,” Gregory mused. “I could’ve sworn you weren’t listening.”

“You had my complete attention, Reverend.”

“It wasn’t complete,” Gregory said casually. “But it was enough.” Then he turned to Fin and his next words came with a touch of annoyance. “None is in command here. You are not the leader of your team and you do not answer to anyone but me. So the next time I find someone executing an order or provocation I did not sanction, someone will have to pay. Is that understood, Fin Naberal?”

Fin straightened, standing taller. Despite all the height he had on Gregory, he seemed smaller than the man. “Yes, Reverend!” he barked.

“Good. We march in two hours.”

With that, Gregory turned and left them.

And that, one of his minds thought, laughing, is why we didn’t stop him.