It was a small space, an alcove added to the building for this specific purpose. From the wall where you enter, there was 4ft of floor space before the iron bars, making up the dungeon, cemented into the floor and roof. The floor passed the bars was 2 feet till you hit the back wall, and 10 feet wide. The floor crunched beneath the thin sole of my moccasins, every protruding pebble poking at the sole of my feet.

A cold shiver ran down my bare arms as I stepped into the closed room, the sulking prisoner uncomfortably leaned against the left jagged stone wall. Our eyes met, he tried shifting to change the odd points where the wall poked into his back, his face scrunched up the instant he moved. My vision switched from his face to his swollen wrists, to the feet laying on the gravel toes pointing towards each other. I had to fight back a smile, in my old world, I would be behind bars, but this world was different, it was better.

“Yo.”

“Yo? What is that?” While looking confused, he gave a small chuckle.

I mirrored his chuckle. “It’s a greeting from my city. My name is Bona Gallio, they really got you in piss poor conditions. I’ll see about getting you a seat for the bucket.” I pointed to the right back corner at a stained clay pot.

“Bona? You were there, stepped in to save that girl. Apologies didn’t know she was yours. Ya had two others? Living the life.” His brows raised and dropped quickly.

“Two others?” I gave a look of comedic surprise. “They ever hear that I’d be wearing a slave collar.”

A tooth flashing smile, a boisterous laugh bouncing off the stone walls that the prisoner couldn’t stop. “You mean to tell me they own ya? Oh ho, ya must be lovestruck. Listen, don’t ever let the ladies push ya, ya hear? No joy in it. When the ladies are in control it ain’t good for us. Those girls were beauties, they probably make good in the sheets.”

His efforts to control his laughing stopped his speech for a few seconds. “And-and there no slave collars here, no no no, been banned since I was a boy.”

I didn’t know what was so funny but decided to feign a laugh for the sake of the mood. After a few seconds of our mighty guffaw, I walked up to the bars and sat at the wall to the right of him. I shifted my sitting position, dusted at the floor scraping my hand bare, and decided to just accept the conditions.

“What’s your name?”

“Erebus Menken… I remember, calling yaself the King’s warrior? Strong title?”

“Apparently. Standing does not mean much to me. Last thing I need is people picking fights.”

“I hear ya. Same happen to me because of my brother.” His face gave way to a gentle reminiscent smile. “Remus, how is he?”

“Who?”

“Buff guy, brown hair to the shoulders, tad taller than the both of us combined.”

“That the guy you’re talking about. One of those girls you were poking fun at knocked him out. I saw a bit of it. Remus rushed, dagger poised for a slash, Maggie steps forward, holds her sword out of the way, bends and sends a kick right for his stomach. Then she grabbed his dagger arm, pulled him in front of her and whacks him in the head with her sword hilt so hard his head bounced. It knocked him out instantly. She’s got skill and a… ha, a cool head on her shoulders… Sometimes at least.”

“What, Remus lost!” His eyes widened, then a snicker slipped out. “Wait till the boys at home hear about that.” Snickering turned into laughter. “By the gods, I want that women, but Remus might beat the shit out of me for her.” He shook his head with a big smile on his face.

“Yeah, don’t worry about that. Hey, if you can win Maggie’s heart, have at her, I can’t stand between two star crossed lovers.” We both sat quiet after Erebus calmed himself.

“Hurts like hell.” He shifted his back around. “Ya know, whoever designed this place is a real devil. Back home these things weren’t so bad.” He said looking around the cell. “I remember Remus knocking some flashy sobby idiot out. Always a joy watching my brother work.”

“Oh Victor. He’s fine. And Brother? Remus related to you?”

“Your words can’t be true. Victor, that the knight’s name, no way he fine, Remus was using mana, got the dickward good.” Warren’s brows were lowered, and his eyes narrowed, mouth hanging open.

“I hear ya… you, he was in bad waters, but our healer, Freya, she’s a god send. You’ll never find another like her. Remus related to Warren too?”

“Hmm. Fuck no! Warren wanted nothing to do with me, I had to find my own family. Don’t matter he different now.” Erebus was animate, his face grimaced bracing himself towards the pain he felt.

“Find your own family? Usually when someone says that… a gang, criminals?” I asked, starting to feel a dull pain on my back and seat, shivering from an unexplained cold.

“Call em what you want. They were family.”

“Oh, I basically killed your brother then. Victor killed three of them.” I wanted to say sucks for you, or that family is getting a lot smaller ain’t it. “I’m sorry. If I knew, I would have saved him.” When he turned to me his eyes glistened in the warm light of the small room, his lips raised to his noise.

“Remus died? How could ya? Ya already won… ain’t that right?” I nodded.

“Re-Remus…” There was a constant small movement in his head as his eyes darted around. “I…, mean ya won, we would have…” His facial features relaxed. “Remus, without him I wouldn’t have gotten where I am in the family. Knowing he’s gone, if the time comes, you will pay. But it hurts knowing he died like that, ya said he was unconscious?”

“Yeah, that’s right.”

“I guess this how I made them feel. Wonder if they blame me. Damn it, again, losing family…” Awkwardly his head leaned back against the wall, staring at the ceiling, a lump traveling down the length of his dirty neck, disappearing into the dirty white shirt he wore. “How’s my boy? Kato. Ya didn’t…?” His eyes closed, a tear rolled down the right side of his face, his right arm moved then tense up and stopped, relaxing and returning to its original position slowly.

“I had hoped I did.”

“Ya hoped you killed my boy? What you mean by that?” His voice was low, almost a whisper.

I signed deeply, “These walls are horrible,” I said while getting up. “Listen, you want us to heal your hands? Maybe your ankles?” Erebus opened his eyes and turned his head staring at the wooden wall behind me. After a few seconds I went to lean on the wall and joyfully exhaled. “Maybe we can get you something to make you more comfortable, a chair, a bench, a pillow to lean against. All I ask is for information. I don’t need your background, or Warren’s. I want to know how to rid him of his position peacefully.”

“He’d never leave ya know. His family livin there, no no no, he won’t leave.”

“Where is his influence coming from? Some noble have the hots for him? Corruption from high up?”

I got another chuckle out of him. “Ya a joker aren’t ya?” His head lowered, his back shifted, the tear trailed its way down to his collar. “My boy loved his uncle after he changed. Warren tried hard for us. Bastard. I know what he wanted. But I put up with it for my boy. Kato he what I lived for. I ask in sincerity. My boy…, is he okay?” His head rosed and stared me dead in the eyes.

I squinted fixated that a man who didn’t think twice about hurting Emily was playing the sympathy card. I relaxed my face and faked a compassionate smile nodding at him.

“Healing him comes under one condition.”

“I hear ya dumbass. Ya get him in good condition, and I’ll rat my brother out. Not like I care much for the bastard.”

“First, let’s heal you.”

“What is his condition?”

“Hmm, we can show you. It’d be better than explaining. Explaining it may make it sound worse.”

“Can I see him?”

“In a way.” I walked up to the cell and leaned against it with my forearm.

“I want proof when ya heal him. Bring him here.”

It was my turn to chuckle. “You want me to cave in to all your demands before I get what I want? Who you calling a dumbass?” I shook my head. The thought that maybe I shouldn’t have killed Kato kept a weight pressed on my chest.

“Fine…, HEAL MY BOY YA HEAR!” He leaned towards me, almost as if forgoing the pain for anger.

“Whoa, calm yourself. I only broke a bone.” Erebus leaned back against the wall, examining his wrist and ankles before his gaze gently fell to the left.

“He is the only thing I got left. Ya killed Remus, ya killed the boys. I need gravestones here and for home.” A small laugh escaped his chest, sounding more like a quick sign. “Kato’s gonna cry his eyes out again.”

“I hear you. I’m sorry for everything man. Can you answer me one thing? Why are you doing favors for Warren? Like dealing with Em.”

“Warren is up to something, promised to spare us. All I saying… Can you bring a pillow, large one? Maybe a mattress.” His head raised, my eyes met his, in this moment, all I saw was a hurting man. There was none of what a criminal looked like written on his face. “How long ya planning to keep me?”

“Oh, an ephemeral amount of time.” I said with a sardonic smile.

“Oh ho, fancy word ani’t it. What it mean?”

“Don’t worry about it. Let me arrange things.” He nodded and drifted his gaze to the ground between his broken ankles. His countenance reminded me of what I felt when I made the decision that my last unanswered text to Maggie was the last time I would have that connection to her. It was an uncertain loss, a pain caused by losing something you know was completely tangent.

When the dungeon door closed, I turned and headed towards the muffled voices coming from the entrance, adjusting my baseball cap. What can I do to prove Kato’s “okay” condition?

“Truly troublesome.”

“High Mage Knight Freya, I am unable to comprehend the meaning of your current objective, but I will help in any way I can.” There was a stern and feminine voice answering Freya’s clear, exuberate voice. I planned to stand by the door a little while longer to eavesdrop, but Freya picked up on my mana, most likely.

“Bona, step out where we can see you, I have news you need to know of.”

“I have a complexity about being seen, Knight Freya. Can’t we continue like this?” Freya quickly pushed the door open, shoving me back. “Ahh, jeez you scared me.”

“Listen, the three that attacked Victor, and Kato and Remus, we can’t find their bodies.”

My brows furrowed. “Okay? What does that matter?”

“Huh? Figure it out youngling.”

Listening to my teacher’s words, I pondered the matter. Without the bodies, there would be no confirmation of their deaths. Maybe proof that guards working for Erebus/Warren are present in the city. But there was proof enough of that in Erebus’s words. Let’s see, what else…, wait Erebus’s proof. “Freya, could you have healed Kato’s jaw even if he was a corpse?”

“What? Of course. Is that all you acquired about this predicament?” Okay, Freya thinks I’m stupid.

“I surrender all mighty knower of things. Enlighten me.”

Freya shook her head and let out an exasperated sign. “Tell me, is Warren still housing Emily’s family in the worker’s quarters, at the palace?”

I nodded, “As of this moment, I believe so.”

“If my knights, if the city guards can’t hide the bodies, or their identities because a third party found them, what then? Come now, you need to think, consider this part of your training. A warrior can not only be a fighter, but he must also be a strategist, a thinker.”

“Fine. Based off what you have said…” Again my brows furrowed…, after realizing it I shut my eyes and pursed my lips, tilting my head down and to the right. “Mmmm, Warren…, he may know about Kato, Remus, those three goons. It will shorten our timespan, most likely leading to Em’s family… being killed as collateral, or threatened, putting us at an impasse.” I started nibbling my tongue.

“Listen, you are not alone, but I cannot interfere, my knights cannot force Emily’s family out, or undermine the authority of the head of the house without good reason. It puts me and my knights at risk of incurring the anger of the people. Warren is under Reverend Mirth…” Freya swiftly turned towards the women knight that was patiently standing by in the hallway. “Knight Viviana, I need you to get him here, the reverend, and gather the two other warriors here as well, spilt the task if you must. I do not know of their location.”

Knight Viviana nodded, turned and mumbled something under her breath, the blue mana trail showed itself, leading down the long hall, and to the right, and in an instant her corporal form vanished with the sound of the wind and crackling fire.

“Wow, how far can you go with that spell? Actually, what is it…? Ah, now’s not the time, we need to come up with a game plan.” I sat down on a bench in the middle of the room, Freya sat next to me.

“I truly wish we could rush over there and save them. I don’t know Warren’s motives, but he always seemed like a good man… Ha, your right.” She shook her head. “Everybody is a good person. I suppose on the surface we are. Damn it all.”

“You know, the most honest person is someone that is not kind at the start. People just hate people.”

Freya swiped her purple hair back behind her ear, then scratched the side of her neck. “I’m still exhausted, but even I can think of better responses for my claims. Bona, in your world, what is the survival rate? How long do most people live?”

“Is this important right now?”

“No, you are correct, it is not. A person who does not value his own life will force others to hate, an honest person will tell others things they hate to better them... Now, we do need to come up with a strategy, do you believe you can reconcile with Warrior Maggie… I’m sorry, with Maggie. I must familiarize myself with dropping the titles with you three.” Freya gave a smile that took years off her age.

I sat soaking in her words, does everybody think I hate myself, or find no worth in my own life.

“I have no quarrel with Maggie. And I value my life, my character towards others are my honest feelings…” I jitterily looked at the wooden, long, and thin cabinets sitting against the walls in front and behind me, unsure of our course.

Freya stood and lent a hand my way. “In the counsel of many, there is safety. Something I gathered in the city where I studied.” Grabbing her hand to stand, we started walking out of the room. “Come, we will all meet at the training grounds.”

“How…, ah, probably a protocol. Okay, let’s go.” I walked beside Freya through her large home, wondering about her, and about that spell I’ve seen twice in the span of a few hours. We walked through the amber lit hallways at a quick pace.

“It is late, I wish we could postpone. But the urgency is something we can’t ignore, huh?” My eyes were heavy, my thoughts unorganized.

“It is my fault. If I was clearer headed, I would’ve sent someone out sooner, the thought only came to me when you were washing. Careless, too casual. The battlefield is simpler. Politics, the courts, they are too complicated. I truly wish we could just put the man down and appoint a new master of the house.”

“Though I agree, blame falls to me too, kinda. Now we must solve the problem we created. Back in my world, working on cars, sometimes you make a mistake, thoughts flood your mind over what you did wrong, how not to repeat it. But in the end, you have a job to do, fix the stupid car. And unfortunately, to fix the stupid car, you fix your stupid problem, and right now, we have to save Em’s family by fixing our problem.” I took a second to think about where I was going with this before continuing.

“In other words. We know the end goal, but our focus is no longer the steps in how to get to the end goal. Our focus right now is in how to fix this problem so we can get to the next step. I’m not worried about how to prove to Erebus we fixed his dead son, nor am I worried about the information we need to tackle Warren. Unless they help solve the problem, they are on the backburner, or on hold for now.”

“Hmm, I wish I comprehended your metaphor in its entirety, but I understand. Let us hurry. This house is too large.”

I couldn’t help but give a short laugh at her statement. “That’s a good problem to have.” We picked up the pace.

The main training grounds was poorly lit, lights bouncing off the walls from the separate training chambers surrounding the main training square only covered a small amount of the 30 feet by 45 feet square. We stood in the middle by a 10-foot fountain with fire flowing down like water, a bonfire fountain. About three minutes of silence passed.

“That spell your knight used…, what was it?”

“Mana movement, there are spells everyone can use, mana movement being one. Then there is mana storage, mana strengthening, mana sensing, mana elements, and mana shielding. I’m in the process of figuring a regime to train you three in how they work. It is required that the three of you to produce your own results once you learn the basics.”

“Do we seem weaker to you?”

“Not in the slightest. My duty to my king, to my kingdom is nourishing your strengths. It may sound harsh, but I was thrilled hearing our king’s decision to summon you three. I lost good men when we raided those portals, the King was devasted and held a nation-wide ceremony to honor the fallen. I believed the God that shared his power would have given us great warriors, not ordinary people from a peaceful world.” She looked at the purple moon and signed with a grunt.

“Are you religious?” Her attention returned to me.

“I am, and I am not. Religion is worship, I have built a friendship with the mana and the God that shared it. But worship it?” Her gaze rose to the stars. “Even though you have lost your ability to control mana with your mind, there is no difference in your connection to the mana. God’s hands have not strayed from either of you, but I cannot comprehend your value to him. Honestly, I hope you are returned to your world. But, my duty is to train the three of you, and I will. If it will save lives, you three will be the finest warriors this world will have ever had the displeasure to know. Though those two girls may just be kind enough to outweigh your monstrous way of thinking.”

“All I want is for your stupid kidnapping god to send those two girls back.” Freya continue gazing at the stars, she was to my right, I was to her left looking at the bonfire fountain behind her.

“And you? Do you not wish to return?”

“This world is much better for someone like me.”

“I shudder in the fact that I may know your intent in those words.”

“Don’t, your safe, just train me so I can protect you.”

I heard her stifling a laugh, watched as her head lowered. “I am training you so you can protect all of Astrum.”

“Yeah, not happening.”

“Understood.”

“Say, how do you judge someone’s strength? In fiction from my world, strength was always based on the amount of mana someone possessed, and how they used it in their own unique way. Mana was inherent, internal, specific amount based on the person.”

“Hmm. Did your world have mana as well?”

“Not in any usable form. Our advancements, and war were fought with what we could make and build out of the materials around us. Steel, minerals, atoms. But no magic, only science.”

“Science? There is a city that studies science of other worlds. Legacy City Scientia.”

“Huh. Care to explain how strength is judged?” Freya chuckled.

“How is it judged? Even the weakest mage, even a man who have never used mana could find strength that rivals mine. There is no set limit to a person’s strength, only that borrowing, or using too much of God’s power will debilitate you. In my case, I cannot think of anyone other than the king and his family who can use more of God’s power than me.

“There is no way to truly determine another’s strength in using mana. I’m sorry if this leaves you with even more questions, but our God works in mysterious ways.”

We stood there for a few moments, my mind was on constant alert thinking about our situation, I sensed something warm coming from behind me and turned away from the light. A trail of blue mana ended in a silhouette of a robed man. I walked up to just a few feet in front of the silhouette. The sound of crackling fire and a loud snap like a whip smacking the air suddenly came.

“Ahh! Warrior Bona. Bless the Mana, you nearly killed me…. No, I nearly harmed you, my apologies. I thought you’d be a few inches that way.” Reverend Mirth clasped his hands, his body emanating heat, his skin was tight from the gravitational force of the mana he’s borrowed to get here.

“Mirk.”

“Ha, still doing that I see.” He languidly made his way to the ground by the bonfire fountain. “I came as soon as I could. Curse that Warren, I should have taken more drastic measures.” His breathing was slow.

I saw Freya looking at me with her eyes narrowed. “What’s up?”

Mirth quickly gasped catching both of our attention. “Oh, Warrior Iliana and Maggie will be here soon, they were right behind me. Knight Viviana is accompanying them.”

Freya’s attention turned back towards me. “Surprises, seems to be the theme of today. Warren’s contumely of his employees, missing bodies, and now I learn you have the sight.”

“What sight?” Mirth continued to calm himself as I walked over to sit to his right.

“Simple terms. You saw the reverend’s mana trail and where the mana would bring him. Am I correct?”

“Couldn’t you see it.”

Mirth started laughing and gasping. “Warrior Bona, I am pleased to see your strength is growing. Mana is not something you can see. Often times, all one can make out is the mana moving in the atmosphere, as if… well…” Mirth stopped, closed his eyes and slowed his breathing even more. “Excuse me.” I shifted slightly farther away from him as my right arm began getting uncomfortably warm.

“I know what you mean. I could only describe it as refracting light, you see movement as if the light is trying to shine through an object but refracts or breaks into multiple colors making the air look wobbly.”

“Hmm, quite a description youngling.”

“Oh my, she’s training you? You are too mean to your recruits Knight Freya.” Mirth chuckled.

“Reverend Mirth, keep that to yourself, you have only saved one city, I have saved a city and a half…” Freya responded jokingly. “Bona, the sight is a rare, but not unique talent, the first adventurer had it, and I have met two others as well. It is a matter of having a mind that wants to understand something and breaks it down to its simplest components. The two I met were craftsmen, Alan being one, and I fail to believe the first adventurer lacked anything. It can come in handy, knowing opponents’ positions, what weapons they are pulling out of mana storage, elementals they are forming with exact size and position. I lack the sight because I have knowledge, rather than insight, I know how things work rather than understanding how they work.”

“I see, so you know what you know by studying it. I know what I know because in my mind, I’m thinking how something is put together, this bolt came from here, that piece needs this piece to be stationary in order to tighten. Or how as a child I took apart my toys to see why they moved, or what there made of. My mind has a sense about how the mana is moving and so the mana decides to show me because I am focused on it completely in a sense.”

“Hmm, you two have really gotten closer.” Mirth chided.

“I think there coming, but I can’t see anything right now.” I sensed that same warmth, mana sensing was something I tried to do all the time, it didn’t take much and was useful, but unless I focus really hard, it really only activated when someone was using mana. Most of the time I couldn’t sense someone unless I tried to.

“Hmm, I feel three mana spells as well.” Freya replied turning into the direction I was staring at, where Mirth was a few moments ago.

Crackling flames and sounds of the wind snapping then Viviana, Iliana, and Maggie popped into view. My eyebrows lowered and my lips raised to my nose seeing them using mana movement, but I was happy to get to see them at all. My time with them has seemed rare today, and I know it will only be more so in times to come.

“Welcome, let us start. Bona, we can continue our conversation during training.” Freya exclaimed.

“Hey-yo Mirth, it feels like a while since we saw each other.” Iliana waved at the Reverend.

“Warrior Iliana, Warrior Maggie, Knight Viviana, I am pleased you’ve made it.” The Reverend greeted.

“Hi. Now, what’s happened? What did the idiot do? Is Emily safe? Her Family? And…” Maggie questioned eagerly, having only glanced at me. I wonder what happened after she stormed out of Freya’s house.

“Please Warrior, in order to properly move things forward, refrain from stacking questions.” Viviana’s stern and feminine voice smuggled Maggie’s beautiful and hasty voice.

“S-sorry.”

“We must remain calm. Knight Viviana, thank you for your diligence. You have stated clearly that you do not understand my decision to involve myself in the affair of the house owned by the Reverend. But understand, these three are housed there. And we need to prove to them…” She looked at me and shook her head. “That this world has good and justice in it. I cannot idly let Warren disgrace Astrum, and harm his own countrymen for the sake of riches.” Knight Viviana proudly smiled and saluted her commander.

If you discover this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.

“Okay, Freya, what’s up? What’s going on, we had no details.” Iliana asked.

“I had Viviana ask the city guards to hide the bodies of the men that attacked Emily. Those bodies have not been recovered by the city guards. We believe that Warren may have been informed of the death of these men by his people here in the city. This…”

“Oh no!” Maggie said with a hand to her mouth. “Emily’s family, if Warren hears that we killed his men…”

“Maggie, please let Freya finish.” I said looking at her. While her eyes didn’t move from Freya, she nodded.

“Right, sorry Bona.”

“Curse that Warren.” Mirth stood up as quickly as he could. “I will ensure the safety of Emily’s family and ask he leave the premises. As master of the land, he has to obey.”

“Understood Reverend Mirth. But first, do you know where Emily’s family is housed.”

“No, but…”

“Then relax, you have overexerted yourself.”

“My prayers have been long.” Mirth said looking between the girls and me.

“I see. But we must assume the worst. If word has gotten out of the death that occurred yesterday, you have no combat ability, our three warriors are still younglings, and I assume my other knights are at leisure unknowing of our troubles. Warren may have more men at his disposal, he may be upset. Enough to cause bloodshed.” She looked at Viviana with a vibrant smile. “Viviana will be our only back up. Bona, do you believe you can get information from Emily.”

“Yeah, I’ll make her talk.”

“O-kay.”

“Doofus, don’t say it like that.” A pair of glaring eyes reflected the warm flowing fire like the lights of a ship shining on the ocean surface.

“Now is not the time Iliana.” I glared back at her.

“Come up with a plan. What will happen after you have gathered your intel?” Freya’s eyes were on me.

“Jeez, what a pain in the balls.”

“Bona! La-Language!” Maggie yelled, eyes reflecting the bonfire and the ground.

I gave out a weary sign. “We get the information, we rescue the family, I expect you and Viviana aren’t coming, Mirth, you speak with and immure Warren. How’s that sound?”

Freya tensed her mouth and looked up, the purple moon reflecting off her black pupils, for a moment, her eyes and her hair shone along with one of the moons. “Damn it all. Viviana and I cannot go. Damn it all. I want to help, but you have reminded me I am unable to.”

“He is right ma’am, seeing your desires, I too wish I could assist. But our reputation could be tar…”

“Shut up Vivan.” Viviana stood firm and emotionless. “My plan is us three secure the family, and I’ll stay to help them while you guys go to help Mirth-Mirk secure the evil guy. Then we work on getting information from Erebus, the prisoner, to bring Warren down legally. Dang it, Freya, guard that man, make sure no news can be delivered to him, we can’t let him hear about them. Also get him a pillow.”

“How is he, the prisoner? Illy said you really twisted his wrist and ankles badly.”

“Uncomfortable, probably miserable. And irrelevant.” My reply was stoic, her reaction was poignant.

“Bona remember, worst case scenario. Warren was a soldier, and he may have men at the palace.” Freya interjected.

“Ugg. Mirth, you may not be able to hold him, worst you could be endangered in your state. It might be best if you stayed here.” My mind wandered for another plan.

“Yes, I, Mirth will stay here.” He said smugly. “But what will happen to your plan?”

“Bona?” Iliana interrupted my train of thought.

“Hmm?”

“Why do the three of us have to go together?” She had an innocent look on her face as she asked.

“Well…, I’ll catch up to the two of you then.” I stared a thousand miles away into the darkness, shaking my head.

“Yeah.” Iliana replied apologetically.

“Thank you Bona. For doing this for Emily. Please, please try not to kill anyone this time.” Maggie begged.

“Maggie, you don’t ever have to beg me. Just ask…. I’ll try my hardest.” Maggie gave me a quick look and smile before averting her eyes to the bonfire fountain behind me.

“We are unaware of our timeframe currently. Can we confirm Warren has endangered Emily’s family?” Viviana asked.

“Hmm?” Freya started rubbing her head. “I… suppose, Iliana, Maggie, you two should head over now. I know Warren is on the top floor of the building, secure him. Bona, get the information from Emily then head over to her family’s room.” She pointed at the two girls. “You two, do not use Mana movement. Conserve what spells you use. And congrats for picking up on it so quickly, I’ll let the trainer’s disobedience slide for now. Head out. Keep your minds focused, remember that fights are more than just physical.” The two girls nodded, waved at me and the Reverend and headed towards the exit.

I stood up and started towards the house.

“Bona! Consider the words of your comrade! Be a man whose words are trustworthy!” Freya yelled at my back as I jogged away.

“Knight Freya, what of me?” Mirth’s voice asked as it faded into the distance.

I ran into the house, through the hall, into the living room, up the stairs into the hallway, and to the door of my room.

“Em, it’s Bona.” I opened the door quickly, Emily sat at the desk resting her head on her hand and tapping her fingers on the wooden surface. Emily was now wearing a black and white skirt, along with my buckskin t-shirt. Her blonde hair was tied in a ponytail.

“Bona. Jeez, I’ve been waiting for a long time you know.” A pout came over her lovable face as she stood, trying to hide the shock that overcame her a second ago.

“Em, plans have gone astray. What is the layout of the worker’s house? Which room is your family in?” I took a step into the room.

“Uhh, I…” Her gaze drifted towards the floor. “You know, it… would be… faster if I just go with you.” A nervous smile overtook her countenance as she spoke slowly and sped up at the finish of her sentence.

“What? Just tell me.” I took another step towards her.

“Bona I… No! I hate this!” She sat back down on the wooden chair, elbows on the desk, hands grabbing her head. “Bona, I hate this. I want to get out of here, I want to go, to help my family. I miss my mother, my brothers, my sister, my family.” As she suddenly stood, the chair fell back, and her right fist slammed into the desk. “I don’t want this to be my new life! I’m going even if I have to fol-follow you.” Her voice broke, her breathing intensified.

“Is everything okay?” Julie’s emotionless voice came from the stairs. I walked out and saw her heading towards the room. Her face was pale, and sweaty. Her steps were unsure, and unsteady.

“Jewelery, you look like shit. You Okay?”

“I haven’t had Warren’s drug for a few days.”

“Uh-huh. Everything is fine in here. Em, why you get off so easy with the drug.”

“Does that matter right now?!” She walked to the door frame, I stood outside of it a few feet away. Emily took a deep breath and closed her eyes, a foot inching closer into the hall. “Ugg, Come on! Shut UP!” She jumped out, opened her eyes, and began breathing intensely again.

“Okay, let’s go. Jewelery, rest up, don’t bother watching the house.”

“Umm, yes sir.”

The long run began towards the workers house at the palace. It was 3 or more miles away from the city gate, the time it would take us to get there was around 40 minutes if we kept the current pace. Emily ran with me pulling her arm, her eyes shut.

At the city gate a guard stopped us.

“Halt, are you the Warrior Bona?”

“Shut it bubba, I need to get going.”

“I understand, the stables are this way, borrow a horse.” He took off back into the city and led us to a large building surrounded by hay. Inside he led a beast out of a stall, the beast’s belly was as at my chest height, estimating it compared to horses I worked with in the past, it had to be 18.5 horse hands in length. The biggest horses on Earth were at 18 horse hands, at 8 feet long, a horse hand is 4 inches, height measured from hooves to top of withers, or where top of neck meets body in simple terms. The animal called a horse in this world was nearly 13 feet long, it could easily fit 3 riders. In fact, it’s saddle was fit for two, with what looked like a flat spot with tie down hooks for luggage right behind the second rider, it extended for about 8 feet.

“This is Zeus. He is an easy mount, now hurry, Iliana informed me of the haste you are in.” His eyes landed on Emily. “What is wrong with the lady? Is she alright?” I nodded while examining the large horse.

“What say ye? How do I mount such a beast?” For some reason I spoke in a medieval manner.

“Ah yes, my apologies, for now use my back.” He knelt beside the horse on all fours. What in the world did Iliana do to this man, what dirt did she have on him? I just chuckled and was about to let go of Emily’s hand when I realized how sweaty and terrified she was.

“Em, we are mounting a horse. Please open your eyes and get on the second seat.” She squeezed my hand tight before letting go. Her eyes opened quickly and cautiously she stepped up to the horse, made a symbol with her hands and stepped on something that extended from the saddle that lifted her far up enough to throw her leg over and mount the horse. I shook my head and pursed my lips, Emily had her eyes shut, biting her lower lip, holding on to the handle in front of her.

“Okay, I really suck.” I let out another chuckle, this time a chuckle of defeat and stepped on the man’s back and threw my legs over to saddle the horse in the driver’s seat. I took my hat off and adjusted the tightness so it wouldn’t fall off during the ride. Grabbing the reins western style, I shouted at the horse and it took off, going from zero to sixty in under 5 seconds, knocking the wind out of me. I used all my focus to guide the horse, gladly it knew how to exit the city so after changing into a European style grip, we headed north dodging the tents and refugees camped outside of the city gates.

There was another horse roaming around the worker’s house heading in our direction as I stopped Zeus.

Turning my head as far back as I can to talk, “Ready?”

Emily once again drew a symbol with her hands, I watched her. It was practically a ladder symbol, a H with two horizontal lines. I copied her and felt the warmth of mana by my feet, saw what looked like a floating bar by my left feet. Throwing my right feet over the horse’s back, I stepped on the bar and it moved down further to the ground, setting my feet down a second after Emily.

“B-Bona, come…” She began shivering, “We need to go, I don’t sense them. They may be in trouble.”

I tried using mana sense, I felt Maggie and Iliana’s presence, they were agitated. I felt two presences that were scared, and one that was alert and fighting. “Yeah, let’s head in. Can you lead the way?” I tried adjusting my baseball cap but realized it was too tight, removing it to readjust the tightness, I gestured towards the door.

“YES!” She rushed pass me, on the verge of tears. The double doors were already open leading into a large room, it easily could’ve been used for a royal party. Down the middle was a staircase, the lounging room to the left, an open kitchen to the right. The stairs were wide, leading to a platform which had a staircase leading left and one leading right. Emily ran up the stairs and headed right, I followed, we ran through the door, down the warmly lit hallway and stopped in at the 5th door down. Further down the hall was a staircase that twisted upwards to the floor above us.

But what stopped Emily in her tracks was the fact that the door to her family’s home was open, and it wasn’t empty.

“AHHH!... Stop, I won’t let…, ugh.” A young male voice came from the room, slowly Emily walked towards the sound of battle.

“I am doing this under orders. Understand, it is not personal.” A women’s voice spoke softly, as if she was consoling.

I grunted and pushed Emily against the wall. “Stay.” A few steps into the house, there was a pool of blood. The living room looked untouched otherwise, pictures of smiling kids hang on the wall, more like paintings, maybe Emily’s mother was a painter. Further in, there was another doorway without a door, it led to an empty room, two doors at the back wall, a door at the left, and a door to my right. The right door at the back wall was open, a trail of blood leading to it, some footprints in the trail. I tried to take in more information but there were two combatants fighting in the empty room distracting me.

Their battle left many signs, splats of blood on the wall like a work of art, dents here and there, and the gaps between the wooden planks flowed with bright red blood reflecting the warm light of the sconces on the walls. One of the combatants wore a maid outfit, she looked familiar to me, but I couldn’t pinpoint where I had seen her. The young man had a white-knuckle grasp on the maid’s dagger hand, holding her wrist, his body leaning into his dagger held against her’s. The maid’s dagger was dripping thick droplets of blood like old oil from a barrel. The young man, possibly 18 years old hemorrhaged blood from his cheek and arms. He stared at me, eyes wide, teeth clenched in a show of effort, nearly out of breath, the women kicked Paul in the groin, and it caused him to keel over and yell, but he didn’t let her dagger go.

Note to self, update armor with Alvin for one more addition.

“Warren ordered me to kill all who resided here. I must do it. Please stop interfering in my duties.” She pouted.

I took a deep breath and walked over to them.

“Please stay back. I will inform you once I am done cleaning.” Her gaze turned towards me. “Oh Warrior Bona. Welcome back.” She gave a beautiful, but empty smile.

Paul took the opportunity to let go of her dagger hand and punch her in the stomach. “Ugh.” She grunted and stumbled towards me.

Paul stood posed to fight, facing the maid. “My…, sister, prot...” His eyes began to roll back, his footing became unsure, as he tried to regain his form, he slipped on the wet floor landing on his knee before falling over. As he laid there, his breathing became more labored, he tried to get up by leaning on his left hand, but it slid back, slamming him into the ground.

“I’ve never had such a troublesome task. Once I receive my pay, I’ll indulge myself.” The maid said shaking her head, as she walked up to the boy and knelt beside him, ready to plunge the dagger in for the killing blow. Her face indecipherable.

It was already too late to save her family, I probably should just drag Emily away. But a part of me wouldn’t allow it, a part that was flustered, that remembered how much she loved her family.

As the maid knelt in the blood, dagger above her head aimed for the young man’s head, I clapped my hands on her ears, discombobulating her, and grabbed the dagger before it fell. She rolled on the ground, holding her ears, blinking hard. I threw the dagger away and stepped on the maid’s throat, she started pounding on my left leg before gripping my foot.

My moccasins were soaked all the way through, I watched as the pressure of me stepping on her throat and her attempt to pull me off wringed out the leather. Well at least we were close to the palace, I can change socks and hopefully shoes. Oh snap, I quickly pulled my foot off, her face turned purple, she was unconscious. I didn’t mean to kill her. Quickly I checked her carotid pulse on her stained neck. It was weak, but it was there, that sent a wave of relief through me as I was able to keep my promise to Maggie.

My eyes shot to the open door, the room was dark, as the time was late, I assume that room was a bedroom, and the residents were sleeping. I walked in and made the symbol to turn on the lights.

There were two twin size beds close together in the middle of the room along the back wall, a twin sized bed up against the wall in the far-right back corner, and a crib to my right. The room smelled of iron, looking at the two bodies by the crib, I realized why. A woman, on her knees, bent over, face on the ground, and a teenage girl lying on her stomach just at the feet of the woman, most likely corpses, were bleeding out. The woman’s back…, I couldn’t determine the amount of stab wounds, the teenage girl, Priscilla, looked unwounded, her hands at her stomach, wouldn’t take a Sherlock Holmes to figure out what happened to her. Emily won’t be able to handle this.

I walked out back into the empty room; Emily stood at the doorless doorway staring at her unconscious brother. Her eyes were blood red, matching the color of her face. Whatever walls I built around my heart broke, I ran to her and grabbed her by the shoulders.

“Em, we have to go.” She shoved me with all her strength, and anger, I landed on my bottom, her feet splattered through the blood, leading into the room.

“AHHHHH, OHH GOD! MAMA, PRISICILLA! AHHHHHHHH!”

…What do I do? Entering the room, Emily knelt beside her mother, arms wrapped around her, pulling her mother’s wounded back against herself. It shifted her body enough that I saw cradled in her arms, a baby. It looked as if the mother attempted to guard the baby with the bone that guarded her heart. I couldn’t help but think about the wasted sentimentality, the sternum was one of the weakest bones, if she truly wanted to protect the baby using her body, she should’ve used her thighs.

Emily’s wailing shook me from my thoughts. I walked up to her and began pulling her away, but she fought. Her strength was immeasurable, she wasn’t leaving her mother’s side.

“MAMA! I’m sorry!”

“Wah-Wahhhhhhh!” The baby was alive, somehow it had fallen asleep in it’s mother’s embrace.

Walking towards the baby made me realize how weak I felt, the sight of Emily breaking stirred something in me. Virgil had no blood on him. Maybe the mother’s sentimentality had some value. I cradled the crying baby in my arms, “Shhhhh.” I began rocking my arms like I would with my nephews, and cousins when they were little. I was worried about the girls. When I attempted to sense their manas, I instead picked up on Viviana’s and Mirth’s, they were on this floor, on this side of the building, trying to rush to me as fast as they could. I wanted to run out to them and drag them here, but Emily…

“Em, Mirth will be here soon. I’ll stay with you till then okay.”

She only responded by shedding more tears. How many tears must she cry today?

A few minutes later I heard Mirth’s voice outside the door.

“This boy is still alive, Knight Viviana do you know any healing spells.”

“Yes, I am Knight Freya’s apprentice, leave the boy to me.”

There was a squelch sound as Mirth peeked into the room, I sat on the bed, Virgil was beginning to fall asleep. Emily had her face buried in her mother’s chest quietly sobbing, with her mother now resting in her laps. Mirth’s first action was checking the pulses on the bodies, his next was hiding his face as he witnessed a broken soul. He went back to the doorway, leaning against the frame, his hand on his chest.

“Cursed, CURSED!” Mirth slammed the wall with his fists.

“Reverend?” Knight Viviana called out to him.

“They…, have passed on to be with the mana.” Mirth’s voice was broken.

“...” Though we had no eyes on Viviana, her voice was all that was needed for us to know, that soldier’s anger was kindled. “Innocent blood has been spilled; we no longer need Erebus’s information. This…, this is proof enough.”

“Bona, that child, I’ll take him, hu-hurry on up, the girls are confronting Warren.”

“NO! Don’t leave me!” Emily yelled slightly raising her head from her mother’s chest.

“I…” My voice caught in my throat. “I’ll be back, Em. Mirth, the maid was the culprit, restrain her.”

Mirth sniffled. “Yes, Warrior Bona.” He turned as I walked up behind him reaching out for the child.

“NO! Please!” I walked out of the room as Mirth went to console Emily. I heard her pleading getting louder.

“Wahhhhhh, wahhhh.” Virgil’s cries reached me as I stepped out the apartment and turned towards the stairs leading up to Warren.

My heart pounded in my chest, my foot stomping on the stairs as I skipped steps, my shoulder numbs as I rammed the door open. The room was as large as the first floor, halfway in were two steps leading to a raised part of the room where Warren’s large L shaped desk sat in the middle. There were two large windows at the back wall, slightly larger than the ones in front of our rooms in the palace, one was broken with Maggie standing in front of it, ready to jump out.

“Maggie, what are you doing?!” I rushed towards her. She looked back, hands holding the side of the windows.

“Bona? Hurry, we need to get down. Warren attacked us, when we nearly had him, he jumped out and landed on all fours like an animal. Illy jumped after him, I saw her using mana movement to get down safely. I have to go.” She leaped, her hair fluttering in the wind as I ran to the window ledge. There was a blue trail of mana leading her to the ground, her hands clasped, her eyes closed, head bowed, back straight. As her form disappeared, she landed in the grassy hills 34 feet down and took off in a southeast direction towards the distant forest.

“Damn it. I need to learn that.” I turned and sprinted out the door I came in, ran past Emily’s room, down the stairs and out the front door. “Hey! Zeus! Here boy.” The pounding of the large beast sounded to my right; I ran over to the large beast as it rounded the corner of the building. Standing beside it I made the H symbol with an extra horizontal line, then I took off towards the girls and Warren.

Using Mana sense, I ignored the ones I knew were Mirth and the others and chased after Iliana’s and Maggie’s. I couldn’t sense Warren, it’s possible he knew how to hide his mana presence. The horse ran at nearly 60 mph through the hills, I ran pass Maggie, continued down the path, saw Iliana sprinting, ran pass her, and saw Warren running on all fours. His arms, and his legs were not human, they were a dark grey, almost one tint away from black, I tried ramming him with the horse, but he leapt far above me grabbing my shoulders and pulling me off the horse. Zeus ran pass me, his thundering footsteps sounded slower, his movements like a slideshow, then suddenly my back slammed into the grassy hill.

His claws ripped into my shoulders before I could react. I grabbed both of his arms and shivered at the bumpy, cobweb slimly texture of his form. Using his arms, I bent my core and wrapped his head between my right shin and left calf, squeezing his neck. Using the muscles in my back I pulled his head over me, his arms landed flat as he rolled. Splitting my legs, my knees pinned his arms, using my arms, I pummeled his chest and stomach.

I wanted it to be my imagination, but what was hard and sturdy bone, became soft compacted dirt, his body changed. He tried scratching at me with his legs, throwing the weight of my body towards the ground to the right, I grabbed his kicking limb, trapping it in between my thighs. Twisting my body, and pinning his leg still, I was able to dislocate it from the hip. Rolling away, I was ready to catch him if he pounced, instead he twisted in pain. “Garrrr, bast…, bast…, BASTARD!” His arms and legs pulsated as it shifted from that dark grey to light tan and gained muscle mass to look more human. But he didn’t look human, his chest was still disproportionate to his body mass, as thin as paper.

My shoulders burned but thankfully there were no serious lacerations. I could move my arms freely with little discomfort as I adjusted my baseball cap. But the blood was enough to soak my shirt. Cautiously I sat, and searched for Iliana’s mana, she was not far, how would she react?

“YOU! YOU KILLED MY NEPHEW!” He got on his stomach and tried crawling towards me. “KATO IS DEAD BECAUSE OF YOU!” I lost track of Iliana’s mana as something eerie overpowered it, I suppose Warren, or rather the creature in front of me, could no longer hide it. His mana felt cold, not emotion wise, but power wise, all the mana I’ve felt so far from everyone was warm.

I saw Iliana running over, Maggie not too far behind. Warren yelled and started clawing at the ground with his fingers. “My nephew was a good kid.”

“Yeah, everybody is a good person. I get it.” Warren looked like a veteran soldier, he was well built, probably more refined and bulkier than me. He had copper hair combed to the side, and a chiseled face. With a suit, he could’ve portrayed a CEO of a big company.

“Bona! Your bleeding, oh my goodness, seriously?” Iliana came running over to me, keeping a good distance between her and Warren, eyeing him as she ran closer. Kneeling in front of me, her gaze looked at my soaked shoulders. An instant later she pulled my cap off, and her hands shot to the bottom hem of my shirt trying to pull it over my head.

“Hey, stop would you.” Her skin was sticky as my hands grabbed her arms, but as the adrenaline had started to wear off, I realized how sore my body felt from where it impacted the ground and where it bled from Warren’s claws.

“Jeez, I’ve already seen you shirtless, and my dad’s not here to chastise you or me. Just let me see your wounds.” Obliging her, my arms slowly but gallantly made their way up. Iliana carefully guided my arms till she could remove the shirt.

“Why? Why did you all have to ruin everything?” Warren vehemently said.

“Okay, first, your airway is clear, your breathing seems fine, your condition isn’t horrible, other than your social skills.” Iliana examined me, her eyes and hands focused on my wounds. “Darn it, I really wish I knew some healing magic. But… I’m glad you’re okay.” Her head tilted up and we were locking eyes.

The night wasn’t as dark here as in our old world, with two moons in the sky, the grassy, hilly fields shone in a mixed array of deep purple. I couldn’t help but think about how beautiful this world was.

“This world is sweet. The nights here are freaking romantic.” Iliana chuckled.

“More like wicked. If this is romantic to you, then I can see why we never hit it off, Doofus. But I don’t know, I had a whole heck of a lot of fun with you.” She gently smacked me on the forehead with the back of her hand. “Seriously, I’m happy your okay, and that you’re here. Also, nice hat.” She picked it up and placed it back where it belonged. I adjusted it afterwards.

“I can die with no regrets now.” Warren now laid on his back, Maggie was only 12 feet away jogging towards us.

“Is…, Is he… okay?” Maggie asked between rasping breaths. Without my shirt, the blood freely dripped off my fingertips, and began soaking my buckskin pants.

“He’s quite durable Aggie.” She turned to smile at her sister. “Bona is gonna be fine.” Her attention turned to Warren. “Back to where we were. Warren, what did you tell Camilla to do?”

Without moving he responded. “I’m sorry, I lost myself after hearing of my nephew’s passing. How he passed. I’m sorry.”

“Bona, what did Camilla do when you were at Emily’s?” Iliana started pulling on her brunette hair, staring at the ground. I couldn’t help but think about the time when she stopped talking to me. Back then I walked up to her to say hello, and she turned her head, rubbing her hair and blocking me from her vision. My emotions vanished, and I felt nothing but annoyed.

“Oh, was Camilla your maid. Probably explains the outfit. Hey, Maggie you’d be proud of me, I didn’t kill her, only knocked her out.” My tone was mocking, my smile fake.

“You…, had to knock her out. BONA! What was she doing?” Iliana leaned in closer to me.

Warren began chuckling, as our attention turned to him, his flat chest puffed back into normal. I saw Iliana in my peripheral twitch in reaction. “I sent her to kill all of them. Kato was following Emily, and I guess Emily had competent protectors as one of you…,” His voice broke. “One of you cracked half of his skull, he laid choking on his own blood, and teeth. YOU FUCKING BASTARDS!”

“Whoa, hey buddy, watch your language okay.”

“Camilla couldn’t. She…, no.” Iliana began shaking.

“Illy, I’m sure she didn’t do it.”

“Ha, then why did your friend have to subdue her?” Warren mocked as he sat up to face us.

“Maggie, can we kill him?” Maggie quickly looked at me with narrowed eyes before shaking her head and turning away.

“Bona, don’t let this world change you further.” She bit her lips. “Just wait, okay, I really want to talk with you, about everything… Just, alone.”

The annoyed feeling I felt vanished, why was I so annoyed? Why did I want to antagonize Iliana and Maggie over something they seem to regret?

“Yeah, we can talk Maggie. Don’t burden yourself, I’m right here whenever you need me.”

Iliana sat on the ground hugging her knees, eyes darting all over. “Hey Iliana, don’t let him rile you.”

“…Why would you care? You, Bona you make it so easy to hate you. Why? Why couldn’t you just tell me Camilla didn’t have a choice, or... Why didn’t you just say it differently?” Monotony wasn’t natural to her voice. Iliana was a soprano in our church, it was a rare week when that voice couldn’t be heard hitting the high notes that sent goosebumps throughout your body.

“Little Goose…, I’m sorry.”

Warren gave a hearty laugh. “This is what I want to destroy. Humanity’s emotions are painful. They are useless, hinderances. How do we expect to grow, to work together when all we do is fight and bicker over hurt feelings? Humanity can never strive…”

“Shut up!” Maggie yelled. “Are you even human? What happened to your chest? Why…, How were you running on all fours like an animal?! You can never understand how strong emotions make us. Without them we would only be existing. Life, that is what emotions give us, you aim to take our fucking life! Life is what existence longs for, without it we only crave food, survival, water, and shelter. That is not life.”

My eyes shot wide open, did…, did Maggie just curse. “Ummm.”

“AGGIE!”

“Oh, I…, I’m sorry.” She turned her back to us covering her face with her hands.

“Ha, Maggie, you sure changed. And watch your language.” My gaze drifted back to Warren, his leg was detached, he poked at it with a grimace looking in the direction that he was running.

“What did happen to your chest? And… your limbs? What…” Iliana’s voice caught in her throat.

“I’m not of this world. But I am human. My species… It doesn’t matter.”

There was an extremely nervous laugh from Iliana. “I don’t understand. This world just gets more and more despondent.”

Though my arms were sore, they weren’t impossible to move as I placed a hand on the ground and stood. Maggie walked over and sat next to her sister, as my steps led me to Warren. Every step wrung out more of the cold blood from my moccasins, how hasn’t it dried yet?

“Say, Warren, was Camilla an experiment?” Warren wiped the blood that fell on his lap, before glaring at me.

“They all were. We need to grow as a race. When I became Warren, he was torn over losing his family. My parents were whores and practically abandoned us. My brother’s second, maybe his only true family suffered because of some stupid love affair. I wanted to fix things, Warren…, I, loved Erebus, and when I found out he had a son, I loved him too. Erebus wanted nothing to do with me, said I was the cause of his problems.

“But Kato looked up to me, Erebus put up with me because of Kato. And…, you bastards killed him. His birthday was coming up, he was going to turn 18 soon. Damn it. I hate… these emotions.” The tapping of his hand on the dirt played a cacophony of hatred.

“I hear you. Honestly, I don’t think your wrong. Your family could’ve stayed together if all of humanity was emotionless and strived for nothing but survival. It doesn’t sound bad.” Maggie’s broken voice broke my train of thought.

“B-Bona, what did you just say?”

“Hmm? I said I agree. Emotions suck.”

“What?”

“Why can’t you look at me? Wouldn’t Emily… wouldn’t she be better off not having to deal with the pain she’s feeling right now?”

“I know nearly getting raped is traumatizing, I know not being able to have the courage to save our friendship sucks. But Bona…, what…, what about back then?” She rubbed her eyes. “Oh God. This world… this f… freaking world. Has it made you forgotten how happy you were?”

“I’m not talking about the attempted rape.”

Maggie dropped her hands, then her eyes widened a little before she shut them tight. “Oh God, Emily. We were too…” Maggie scrunched her face.

“Rape, did my brother do such a terrible thing?”

“Kato tried to get off with Emily. Guess you can say your brother wanted his son to grow. Warren, for all your high talk. Why were you selling the drugs? And for that matter, why go through such lengths to keep Emily.”

“I’m sorry about the rape, I only told him to keep an eye on her, try to slip her a dosage. Erebus needed money, I lied to him that I had a family here so he wouldn’t move in, I… I didn’t want them to find out about me, but I know that meant I needed to support them. Emily, she was such a sad soul when I met her. I needed to know how the drug would affect her, but she rarely bought the drug, even refused when I offered to pay for her. Of course, when you three came she…” Warren closed his eyes for a second before continuing. “Understand, what I’m trying to do is make humanity grow closer.”

“Humanity is already amazing. It’s because we know how special each one of us is to each other that we can adapt, improve, and better ourselves. Warren, what do you feel towards your brother, towards Kato? Do you know what emotion that is?” Iliana asked, trying to keep her cool. I don’t think she wanted us to see her breaking down, she looked confrontational rather than despondent.

“Shut up! You will never understand because you will always be caught up in what you believe is right. Even if it isn’t logical, or reasonable. You hate others because of emotions, you are saddened by… pointless deaths, because of emotions. Because of these stupid emotions I had 4 of our kind slaughtered. Don’t you get it?” Warren had a vein ready to pop on his temple.

“You keep saying your human. Are you?” I asked coldly.

That vein had most likely popped. “YES! I am more human than you. I want us to succeed, to get closer as a race, to become one. I am not alone, even you agree, without these chemicals running through our brains telling us to cry, to overreact, to fall apart, to just go and kill ourselves, abandon our family, without these thoughts, would we not be better off?!”

I looked around for a bug, for something to force feed him to change his form. I don’t know how it worked, or if he could even shrink his body enough to become one. But the atmosphere was dead quiet save for the unrhythmic breathing, there was no chirping, no song, only us.

“It is because of those thoughts that we better ourselves. When we feel like we are worthless, that’s when we go and find worth. When we are sad, that’s when we learn we are loved. When we overreact, cry, fall apart, when we are abandoned, that’s when we pick up the broken pieces and build something new. Something stronger. What your doing is running away. You want to kill your life, to… like Aggie said, to just exist.”

“SHUT UP! SHUT UP! Your way of thinking is killing life just as mine. Because you are sad, you refuse to help, because you are falling apart, you want others to fa…”

I grabbed his lower jaw in my left arm, glaring at him. He turned his head eyes wide and tensing his jaw. The muscles underneath his fake skin shifted, curling his tensed lips into a smile. I heard bones cracking and transforming, smelled a chemical I didn’t know, and felt a sharp pain run through my bloody forearm. Warren’s smile widened; my face relaxed as I calmly looked into his eyes. His other arm shot up and stabbed me with it’s claws right in the pit of my elbow and biceps. I loosened my grip, still holding onto his jaw, looking at him with a smile on my face. He pulled both of his transformed, cobweb silky smooth claws out of me and aimed for my stomach, his eyes wide, mouth hanging open on its own. I saw Iliana’s mana trail and silhouette just as she appeared behind him in a sound of crackling fire and whipping air, holding his arms behind him with a shiver as she touched his true form.

“Bo-Bona, what was that?” Iliana asked through gritted teeth. I let go of him and backed off, letting my arm hang, feeling the blood warm my hand.

“Him transforming. It’s disgusting.”

“You-you call me a monster, that I’m not human. ATLEAST I CARE ABOUT MY LIFE! You wanted death, no craved it, like the demons from my world. All they wanted was a world where they could die, we… would keep at it, they stood there smiling in joy… like you. What are you? What world did you come from?” Warren looked at me in disbelief.

“Whoa, calm down buddy. To correctly inform you, I am human. And I do care about my life.”

“No, you don’t Bona! I saw you; you were… ready. God, what happened to you?!” Iliana snapped.

I turned to face Maggie, she had stood and attempted to pull me away. Her gaze stuck to me, but it was as if she was looking through me, lost in thought.

“Bona, I’m so sorry. It’s because of me. Because I…, I’m a fu… freaking coward.” Her gaze dropped to my chest. The blue moon was hanging in the sky behind me, in it’s illuminating glow, I saw Maggie’s eyes gloss over.

“This world’s religion states that devils exist. It states that this world became more religious in the day that God came down and gave his power to all, but the devils wanted to cause chaos. Please listen to me. We can work together, create a world that worships the good, a world where people won’t want to die. The experiments here proved it can work, I didn’t want to kill Emily’s family, but Camilla is proof, the drug works, we can be humans that only strive for better. Unhindered by emotions. I don’t want what Bona wants, I don’t want to create emotionless monsters. I’m sorry about Camilla, about Emily, but my damned emotions.”

“No human wants to be like him. Warren, he’ll be living proof in how great humanity is. You watch, someday he’ll be someone everyone can look up to.” Iliana said through her erratic breathing.

“I cannot see it. I cannot see how you can.”

“His face, the heart of a man I used to love took shape. He still has a chance. He’ll show you that humanity is amazing just as we are.”

I took multiple shallow deep breaths, my body felt light, the world turned around me as I stood on a stable axis. What did Iliana just say, I can’t make sense of it. Why is it so cold suddenly, I was just smiling, my heart was just pounding at Maggie’s words. Huh, my legs feel wobbly. Last thing I remember seeing was Maggie, then Iliana behind Warren, then Maggie and Iliana again, after that the world flipped and turned black.