Sometimes, at night, it whispers to me, goading me, beckoning me. Trying to seduce me with promises of power, the words that spill from its invisible mouth irritates me. It's seen a lot, it know so much. It wants me to let myself loose, let it loose. But I won't.

My master, my master worked very hard to seal it, to stop it from completely destroying me, consuming me, replacing me. I don't know why it's inside of me, there's no real reason I can think of. Why? Why did it choose to take over me when there are hundreds of other people around? Was it because I was the closest?

When did it take over? I can't quite recall the memory. I know, I know that it had to do with what happened two years ago. That's when I can first recall its voice, its voice that irritates me, its voice that pulls at me yet, at the same time, so... soothing. Maybe it took over at that time... when I was alone.

I wish it would shut up. It was so quiet that night, when my most hated season began to show itself, when the snow first fell. Wouldn't that have been its time to strike? I don't know how I was feeling back then, I longed for some respite, some relief. I wonder if it could've given it to me.

Sometimes, sometimes I hear another voice, a much darker one. Where does it come from? It may be the thing residing inside of me, I can't really tell. It's just that, the voice seems so much more hateful. At times I take out Alastar, just so that I get my mind away from its voice.

Know what? He's pretty interesting himself. I often found myself, in the last two weeks, staring into his eyes. Two big black marbles on the side of his head. Whenever I see a doll, one meant for children, I'm unsettled by their glassy fake eyes, but Alastar's is calming.

I hardly ever find myself to be staring at them for more than a few seconds at a time though. Through his window's, I sense an innocence.

Whenever I summon him, sometimes he flies away, around the room, sometimes he lets himself sit in my hand. Over the multiple days since Winter that I've summoned him out into the material plain, there's a pattern with his movements. He tends to circle around when in flight, and, even while flying, when he lands, he tends to stay closer to the window, away from the closet and door.

At first I assumed he wanted to be by me, but his hesitance to return to me while I'm leaning against the closet shattered that assumption. My master had always taught me, "Never assume. If you do, you'll find yourself making more mistakes."

Of course, that hasn't stopped me multiple times, but it has increased my caution.

There's hardly anything in my closet that it should fear, only a few uniforms, other clothing, and my night gear are in there. Ah, there is one more thing, the black katana like sword which my master gave to me. I've been told of its powers before, I've seen it in action myself, I've seen the horrors of it. Maybe that's why Alastar runs from it.

Though, there are times when he doesn't seem so eager to return to me as well. I wonder if he's had any contact with it, inside of me. Certainly, if I could escape, I wouldn't be so keen to come back. If only there were a simpler method to escape its grasp, to escape some of the pain I feel. Only here, in the middle of all these stronger people, am I able to have a moment of respite at night.

If only there were such a simple method to where I could escape this pain I feel as I stare out into the blanketed city... I would gladly wish for it.

"Thirteenth." Walking up to me, Hannah grins. "I uh, noticed that you were staring at me over there. Anything you might want to say right up front? If you want to compliment, please go right ahead.

I get a break from the demon, no worries needed there, but now I have to deal with Hannah. It's a throw up on what's worse. Haha, if only that were also true. I'm glad that she's still herself despite the recent events. But sometimes, I'd prefer to not have to talk to anyone.

Anne walks over to us, "Yes yes, you look very nice all covered up like that. I really like the hood, hides your face very nicely."

"Anne, don't ruin my fun." Hannah says. "I'm just teasing him, he's been staring at me for the past few days."

I'm not staring at Hannah for any particular reason, it's just that my eyes seem to wander over to where she is, by the boxes where someone else once sat.

Pressing her lips into a frown, Anne ushers Hannah away. "Let's go over here Hannah. We might need to have a short talk."

"Huh? Wait, what are you going to do Anne? I'd rather stay somewhere where everyone can see us. Hey! Wait!" Dragging the dark haired beauty with her, Anne disappears behind the crates.

"Thirteenth." Garret makes his way up to me now. I guess he thought this was a good chance to finally speak to me. "You don't need to come everyday you know? We can handle it." he says.

"I know, I just like the atmosphere here." I say while looking around.

"Really?" he also darts his eyes back and forth. "I can't tell you not to come, but don't be forcing yourself."

Unlike Anne, Hannah, and... a former member, I don't interact with anyone else here much. I don't know if Garret is saying this because he's grateful that I helped out Anne a bit, but I'd prefer if I was also left alone for a bit.

"I understand. I'm here because it's important that everyone is. If something like it were to happen again, better that everyone is ready." I answer.

"Sorry." he says.

I immediately go to scratch my head, "It's not your fault." It's mine. "You guys had your mission, and also had no clue that it was happening." at least, that it was going to happen so early.

Studying me for a moment, he hesitates to say anything. I wish they'd stop looking at me like this. My master does this often enough... ever since two years ago. When I say that I'm fine, I mean it. I wonder if the concern he has for me is real. I wonder if this was how I looked like when I went to visit Blue Hair after her incident.

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"Everyone! Gather up!" Saving me from having to speak to Garret, Carlyle enters the room. Following from behind him are Allan, Francis, Adrian, and someone I don't know.

Clad in a brown cloak, the man wears a white, porcelain, mask with an eerie smile etched onto it and little slits for the eyes. It's a wonder how he can see through the mask. I'm unsure whether or not he's a member of the Twelve, I suppose it wouldn't make sense for him to be here otherwise though.

I wonder how Carlyle feels about Henry's passing. They trained together after all. He looks unaffected. He's probably gone through this before, this job isn't a kind one. He's like me in a way, we have to move on, we have to continue, no stopping.

With all of us gathered, there's nine if I include myself. The new member is out patrolling. Carlyle didn't want someone so new to catch wind of the information.

"All right. So here's what we found after the search through the water system." Allan booms.

The water system. Anne, after that night, told me that she was saved by someone who had affinity with lightning. He came at the perfect time, just moments before she would've died and killed the two. I owe him a bit. If he wasn't there then two members would've been put to rest that night.

Extending his arms, Allan shows off the green cloak. "Anne, is this it?"

"Yeah." she nods. "That's the one. It even has some hair on it, probably the gorilla man's." Using two fingers, she delicately picks off a few furs.

"Do we know who this guy is?" Hannah asks. "Is there any info on him? Is he on our side."

Everyone seems to be ignoring the man with the mask.

"Adrian." Carlyle calls. "Tell us what you found out."

"Right. After investigating around the barracks and having a chat with the guards, some interesting information came up. Turns out that one of the outer city patrols found a horse near an entrance to the system. One ran back to the city to report it but as they soon found out, the city was under attack."

"That's it?" Anne asks.

"No." Adrian says. "There's more. The horse that was tied up there was reported stolen. Technically the horse was paid for but the man who owns it says that he was threatened."

"What does this mean?" Garret asks. "He has to have a reason. Do we have any clues?"

Adrian shakes his head.

Garret continues, "It doesn't make much sense anyways. Why would a stranger, who stole a horse, go underground through a city's water system and decide to save Anne?"

"Even stranger that he was able to take both of them down." Hannah adds. "Think it was a rival group?"

Carlyle shakes his head. "If it were a rival group then they would've killed Anne as well. Seeing as how reckless this person is, they're either desperate, or very much on a clock... maybe even both. Anne, what else do you remember about him?"

She shakes her head, "Not much. I told you all I knew. He just showed up, took both of them down, and left as soon as the Thirteenth made it there."

Carlyle and the man in the mask turn to me.

"He left as soon as you got there?" Carlyle asks.

"I didn't see him so I take that as you will." I say.

"Leaving right after saving someone." Carlyle mutters to himself. "It's strange really."

"I see what you're getting at." Francis says. "He left Anne by herself, whom he saved, as soon as he heard some noise from upstairs. His decisions are very... erratic."

That's true. From what Anne said, the man checked her to see if she was okay afterwards.

"I can do it. He said." Anne says for everyone to hear. "We'll most likely be seeing more of him in the future."

"Right." Carlyle says. "We should be prepared for the event that we encounter him. He sounds like a powerful opponent."

"Are you done?" the man in the mask asks. Carlyle nods. "We'll be taking in the two that were able to be caught with us to the capital for interrogation." The man reaches into his back pocket and pulls out a scroll. "Another thing. You, the Twelve, will be unable to operate on any missions without direct confirmation from higher ups until this notice is withdrawn."

"Why is that?" Carlyle's calm. I'd expected him to be snarkier. Boss or not, Carlyle doesn't seem like the kind of person who'll take orders from just anyone.

"It's been meaning to get implemented for a while, ever since a certain kidnapping incident in the Green City happened. This is also for the protection of the city as we're preparing for any attacks that my happen again."

Carlyle answers for us. "We'll be on standby."

"Also," the man turns his head. "who is that one? I don't believe that I've met him yet."

"Ah." Allan introduces me. "He  was our newest member. The Thirteenth."

The man's head rises. I can't tell if he's surprised since he's hiding behind that mask, like I am. Carlyle told me that he had made it official.

"Carlyle." the man says.

"He was an interesting person. I deemed him worthy of joining." Carlyle holds his chin up high, refusing to let himself be intimidated. Instead, Carlyle seems to be issuing the masked man a challenge. I knew that he wouldn't be one to bow down.

The masked person walks closer to me, the slightest glint of light shines out from the slits in the mask. In an instant, he pulls away. Seemingly satisfied, he begins leaving the room, "Fine. But I'll be telling the higher ups about him." Just before he exits, turning around as if he forgot something he mentions, "Another thing. Leave someone to guard the Academy."

"Understood." Carlyle responds.