The fireplace crackled, filling the eerie silence.

Florence sank her palm into her right thigh at the spot where it burned the most. Her palm sweated as the injuries on her neck, chest, back, and shoulder blades stung. The bruises swelled on her face. Her fingertips stopped inches away from the handle of a poker. Above the sofa, the array of portraits on the shelf glared at her. She pushed her weight down on Renee, staring at Feno with Reese’s face as she stood in the middle of the room.

Aisling rested in the pile of fragmented bricks.

“How?” Florence asked.

Feno shrugged, planting the lily into the strands of her hair. “Exactly.”

“Pardon?”

“You’ve just heard me correctly.”

Feno stomped towards Florence, kicking the poker under the sofa. Then Feno clenched Florence on the collar of her dress, lifting her up.

“So… it was you… all along,” Florence said.

“Took you long enough.” Feno smiled without wrinkling the corner of her eyes. She slammed Florence into the wall. “It’s me you’re looking for… Not her. And you’ve got a lot of explaining to do.”

“This should be my line. Not yours.”

“Explain yourself.”

“Pardon me… why do I…have to?”

A screech rang in the air.

The scratching of nails across the walls echoed throughout the room.

“Or else… you know what would happen,” Feno said.

“What is this… supposed to mean?” Florence asked. She urged her hands to grab Feno’s wrists. But Florence’s muscles didn’t listen to her commands. “What am I… supposed… to explain here? Was it not clear what was happening here?”

“It was clear. I know everything.”

“Look, I can explain myself… Wait… you saw everything?”

Florence bit her lips. She pieced together everything that had happened up until now. Her eyes widened. She opened her jaws, gazing at the lily on the strands of Feno’s hair.

“You were trying to kill her, weren’t you?” Feno furrowed her brow, baring her teeth. “I gave you a chance, letting you see what the Wellor System does to us NPCs. But you just have to go after her just like the Wellor System’s lapdog.”

“Absolutely not… it is not… what… you think… it is,” Florence said.

“Don’t you dare lie to me.”

“Pardon me… why would… I lied to… you?”

“Of course you would.”

“Look, I did not agree with the Wellor System on working for them—”

“Lies.”

Florence urged herself to raise her hand, but her muscles did not move an inch.

“I’m the one you’re looking for… not her,” Feno said. She reached into her hair, pulling out the USB drive. Then she dropped Florence with a thud.

The floor creaked.

Feno stomped her way towards the sofa. She crouched, reached under it, and pulled out the poker. She spun around, slapping her feet across the floor to Aisling.

Florence groaned. Her nerves commanded her limbs to move. But again, she could not budge an inch. She gritted her teeth as she watched Feno.

Feno raised the poker above her head, halting in front of Aisling.

A rumble shook the room.

The shelf above the sofa shook, vibrating the array of portraits.

The flames busted out of the fireplace, snapping at Feno.

A screech rang.

The wind howled, dissipating the flames. The humanoid silhouette clad in armor swirled into existence at its place, standing on top of the embers.

The humanoid silhouette clad in armor cracked its knuckles. “Why are you with her?”

“Don’t you take a step closer,” Feno said. She swung the poker, stopping its tip inches away from Aisling’s neck.

A harsh orange glow intensified and shone out of the gap between the metal plates. An inferno erupted through it, diving toward Feno.

Feno clicked her tongue, glaring at the incoming barrage of fire.

A shriek reverberated.

But… in the blink of an eye, the flames that zoomed towards her dispersed into nothingness. The humanoid silhouette clad in armor flew backward, crashing through the wall.

The dust kicked up.

The rubbles scattered across the floor.

“Don’t get in my way,” Feno said.

The humanoid clad in armor stood up. The metal clashed against each other. It heaved, pressing its palm on its knees.

Feno crossed her arms. “Listen to my command.”

“Pardon me… what… commands?” Florence asked.

The wind whispered next to her ears, rustling her hair. A transparent hook secured her dress, lifting her and leaving her feet dangling inches above the surface.

The humanoid silhouette clad in armor stepped through the hole in the wall. It waved the dust off its face. “Do you seriously think I’m one of them, you ghost? Like those NPCs and the ones that consumed the blue crystal you control.”

Feno smacked the poker on her shoulders, closing her eyes but immediately opening it again.

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The humanoid silhouette clad in armor clutched its fist. Flames swirled into existence beneath its feet, engulfing it.

“Come on, please don’t do it here,” Feno said.

Renee slapped her face. “Mom, don’t do it.”

“Seriously, out of all the time, you decide to speak up now.”

“Don’t hurt them.”

“Do you know how hard it is to control and oversee every single one of you?”

“Sorry, what did you say to me?”

The fire snapped, speeding towards all of them.

A screech rang.

The wind howled, rustling her hair. The invisible force unhooked from her dress, dropping her on the floor with a thud.

The flames split up like they had hit a barrier at the last second, going over and around them.

“Mom, seriously, stop this right now,” Renee said.

“You do know what would happen if I don’t do anything now,” Feno said. “When all those NPCs are peacefully harvested… they’ll come for you next.”

“Who cares about it? Because I clearly sorta don’t.”

“Sorta don’t? Are you insane?”

Another barrage of inferno slammed into a transparent hurdle, flying over and around them.

A shriek reverberated, shaking Florence’s spine.

This unseen blockage collapsed, letting the inferno through.

Feno sidestepped, dodging the flames that scorched where she last stood. A strand of her hair lit up on fire. She patted at it, stumbling away, falling onto the sofa.

The springs in it squeaked.

The plank burned, filling up the room with smoke.

The sting on Florence’s right thigh evaporated. Her muscles contracted and relaxed, and she was able to move again. She gasped, pulling the collar of her dress to cover her nose. She rolled towards Aisling’s side with the floor creaking them.

Florence released her grip on her collar, pushing the debris off of Aisling.

“I told you already.” Feno extinguished the flames on her hair, leaving a smolder behind. “You’re going to have to pay for the property damage.”

“Sure thing,” the humanoid silhouette clad in armor said. A leash made out of fire appeared out of thin air in its hand.

Florence wrapped her free arm around Aisling. Then Florence used her shoulder as a cushion for Aisling’s head.

“Hey, don’t you dare touch her,” the humanoid silhouette clad in armor said.

Feno pointed the poker at herself. “What’re you blind? Do I look like I’m touching anyone?”

“Pardon me… I think… it is talking about me,” Florence said.

“She knows,” the humanoid silhouette clad in armor said. “It is quite obvious.”

“Yes, I do.” Feno clicked her tongue. “And you don’t have to say it for me.”

Florence raised her eyebrows. “You do not have to state the obvious.”

The humanoid clad in armor swung its whip. The tip cracked across the shelf, knocking the array of portraits off.

The frames were set up in ablaze.

The glass shattered.

Florence dropped flat onto the floor, pushing Aisling down.

Feno ducked, covering her as the flaming rope lashed over her head. The wall behind her smashed into pieces from the force of the whip.

The fragments of bricks scattered across the room.

Florence coughed, cupping her mouth. The fumes filled her lungs, stinging the gash on her throat.

She clenched her fist, whitening her fingers. Pressing her knuckles on the floor, she pushed herself up.

The ceiling creaked, collapsing inwards.

Florence wrapped her arms around Aisling, rolling away from the plummeting debris. One of which crashed into her legs, cracking her bones.

A blaze erupted on the skirt of her dress. Her skin hissed. She sank her teeth into her lips, holding her scream in. She ripped the burning part of her clothing, tossing it away.

A chill ran down her spine, shaking her to the core. Her eyebrows raised.

On the skin of her right thigh… a red eye tattoo that had never been there before now stared at her.

The floor squeaked, crumbling beneath her.

She, Aisling, Renee, and Feno fell through.

Florence smashed into the floor below with a thud. The flaming rubbles crushed her beneath its weight.

The sweat secreted from her pores evaporated off her skin. Her nerves and muscles shrieked as the fire seared her body. She stretched her hand out for Aisling, buried under a wreckage.

A clanking of metal rang.

The sofa from upstairs plunged Renee. Feno leaped off from her seat, pushing Renee aside. The full force of the sofa rammed into Feno with a thump. Only her hand with her fingers twitching stuck out under it.

Suddenly, the flames that enveloped the building retreated back into the humanoid silhouette clad in armor.

The humanoid silhouette clad in armor jumped down, landing on the broken fragments. It stomped towards Aisling, towering over her.

“Do… not,” Florence said.

The humanoid silhouette clad in armor pulled Aisling out of the pile. It hurled her onto its back, giving her a piggyback.

The pebbles scattered across the room.

A screech echoed.

The wind howled.

The wreckage shook, clattering against each other.

The sofa flew off Feno, zooming towards the humanoid silhouette clad in armor.

The humanoid silhouette clad in armor ducked as a blurring leather mass soared over its and Aisling’s heads.

The sofa thudded onto the wall.

“Give her to me,” Feno massaged her back. “Right… now.”

The humanoid silhouette clad in armor clutched its fist. The flames ignited on its palm, crackling on its fingertips.

It swung its arms, unleashing an inferno towards Renee.

Renee blinked, groaning. She rubbed her temple.

Feno wheeled around, smacking her feet across the broken pieces of bricks. She jumped, kicking Renee out of the way.

Renee gagged, rolling on her sides and bumping into the wall.

The fire split inches away from Feno as if it hit a barrier. But… slowly, the flames twirled around her, consuming her whole.

A scream pierced Florence’s eardrums.

Feno stretched her arms out of the fireball, stepping out of its center. But… the blazes engulfed her whole body from head to toe. A charcoal-like and sulfurous stench wafted from her scorched skin, muscles, and hair. Her legs wobbled side to side.

She dropped to her knees, rolling down the rubble.

Florence sank her nails into the floor, clawing at it. She covered her mouth with her forearm, coughing out loud. The nerves under her skin screamed at her. The weight on her back pushed her down, preventing her from getting an inch closer to… that body. Her chest stung as if a knife stabbed through her heart.

Renee widened her eyes, gaping at the body set ablaze in front of her. Her shoulders slumped. Her face flushed. She clenched the skirt of her sailor uniform, wrinkling the clothing fiber and pulling at it.

The humanoid clad in armor spun around with Aisling on its back. Then it crouched down, jumping through the hole in the ceiling, landing upstairs, disappearing from Florence’s sight. Its metal armor plating clinked together.

“Feno… mom?” Renee stretched her shivering hand out to the flames consuming the body. A nasal mucus slithered out of her nostrils. She sniffed, wiping it with her sleeve.

“Better luck next time,” someone with a familiar voice said next to Florence.

Florence turned her head towards it. Beside her, Martine sat on a mountain of debris. She kicked broken pieces of bricks down the slope.

Florence blinked. “How?”

“I guess everything is done and dusted here.”

“When… were you… here?”

Martine reached into her apron pocket, taking out a crystal with a green glow.

Florence smiled as the corner of her eyes wrinkled. “Glad to see you again.”

“You are not ready yet.”

“Pardon?”

“You should let it go.”

“Apologies… but… I… what do you mean by that?”

Martine wrapped her fingers around the crystal with a green glow, pushing it on her chest. She stood up. The debris tumbled down. She downturned the corner of her mouth, drifting away from Florence.

“Where… are you going?” Florence asked. She extended her hand out towards Martine. “Everything… The investigation… is done now… we can go home, and I can go back to my sister. But… Aisling… she is the one… can… help us with that.”

“I am… sorry,” Martine said.

Florence’s eyelids grew heavier, closing shut. The surroundings around her shook, collapsing within itself. The rubbles clattered.

Everything became darker… and… darker…