The four Faceless walked along the path in utter silence, mainly because of Elisabeth's previous comment on the mysterious voice. Lucy, in particular, felt her chest burning with impatience. She was curious - not only about the identity of the disembodied voice but also about his connection to Elisabeth. Judging from her friend's somber expression, Lucy deduced that whoever was waiting for them may be someone of great importance.
"We're here," Elisabeth exhaled as she stopped in front of a blue steel door.
One could tell that the structure was well maintained by the Disciples as there was barely a spot of rust on its smooth, metallic surface. Their serpentine emblem was also engraved in the middle, but the four Accursed noticed something else alongside the symbol. On the goblet was another sign: a hexagonal spider web - a shape all of them knew too well.
It was the Spider Core - the primary ingredient used to create every Accursed's weapons ever since the formation of the Order a thousand years ago. Being the rarest metal on the face of the Earth, it was mined from the meteor that caused the Cataclysm. The same meteor where the Four Royal Jewels were also obtained.
Nevertheless, the four Accursed found it jarring for such a sought-after resource to appear inside the Disciples of Vidia's Lair. They were aware that the only people capable of manipulating the metal were the blacksmith of the Order.
'AH, YOU'RE FINALLY HERE!'
'GREAT, I'LL BE THERE IN A JIFFY!'
As soon as the microphone was turned off, Rupert let out a short burst of laughter, "In a jiffy? How old is he? 80?"
"I think there are far more important questions than the one you just asked," Sam wryly commented.
Elisabeth turned around to face her friends, who in turn saw the distress written across her face.
"When we go inside, do not believe anything that comes out of his mouth," Elisabeth's breathy warning was simple, but it was enough to explain the kind of person they'll be meeting.
“So, he’s that persuasive?” said Sam.
“You’ll find out soon enough.”
Then, the door parted way, and the first thing four Faceless saw was a spacious, canary yellow room with a spiraling staircase carpeted in a dark shade of red. Near its base was a tanned, average-looking man who had an eerie smile across his face. He was clad in an immaculate black tuxedo paired with a white loafer - overall, a bizarre outfit to be worn in the middle of the desert. After the creepy-looking man fixed the red dahlia perched on his chest pocket, his dark grey eyes peered through his curtained brown hair, actively scrutinizing the approaching four Accursed.
"Welcome, ladies and gentlemen, to our humble dwelling," said the man, bowing down to his guests. "I'm your host for today. You can call me Silva," the man paused after noticing Elisabeth scowling at him. "Hm, you look kinda familiar. Have we met before?" he asked, eyes narrowed.
Elisabeth bit down on her lower lips, contemplating whether or not she should answer him. In the end, she responded with a solid, "No," before averting her gaze from the man.
"But, we sure as hell knew everything you guys have done," Lucy jumped in, causing the grin on Silva's face to slowly disappear.
All of sudden, the man in the tuxedo fell to his knees, his head hung low.
"Please – I beg you, forgive us for our past transgressions. We are fully aware of our crimes and the pain we caused you," Silva calmly stated, startling the four people standing in front of him. “I don’t know how, but me and my subordinates should be dead and yet, here we are walking in the realm of the living. Perhaps it is the will of the Envious One – perhaps she brought us back to rectify our mistakes – to atone for our sins. So once again, forgive us for everything that happened.”
"The Envious One?" murmured Rupert. He nudged his sister on the shoulder, asking her softly, "Psst, who is this...Envious One?"
Lucy looked at her brother with utter disbelief as the term was taught to them during their first year in the Academy. "The Envious One is another name for Vidia, a divine being worshipped by the Disciples. They considered her the Goddess of Knowledge and Progress," she reluctantly whispered back.
"Ooooh...I see," replied Rupert unenthusiastically, "Well, it sounds cool but isn't that a bit mouthful?"
"Hush, you two!" Sam chided the siblings before gesturing at Elisabeth, whose face was already twisted into a furious scowl.
Despite the brief interruption by the Nightingales, the amber-eyed woman continued to glower at the kneeling man. Her mouth was slightly open as if she was about to say something but immediately changed her mind after remembering Silva's deceptive nature. Instead, she grabbed the man by the collar and lifted him off the floor - much to her companions' amazement.
If you stumble upon this tale on Amazon, it's taken without the author's consent. Report it.
"Forgive you? What makes you think all of your past sins will simply be absolved with forgiveness? You abducted children from their homes – tortured and cut them open like guinea pigs. And when you are done with them, you burnt their remains and buried their ashes in unnamed graves.”
Even after being chastised by Elisabeth, Silva showed no signs of anger or regret. The man was surprisingly quiet as he listened to every word spouted by the furious woman.
"I know what we did was wrong," Silva calmly responded, "But it was necessary. The Distorted has terrorized us ever since the dawn of the Cataclysm, and let’s face it – even the Faceless Order can’t protect everyone. So, we opted for the better solution – to give people the ability to fight back against those monsters."
"Bestowing the Accursed abilities to the Reprieved does sound like a great plan - in an ideal world, that is," said Sam while adjusting his sling. "Introducing such power on those born without it will cause a tremendous strain to their mind and body - that is why not a single soul got through your experiment. I thought you as a scientist are aware of the harmful effects of your research."
"We are aware of the risk, but the benefits outweighed the risks,” Silva retorted, "Every calculation – every sacrifice was made for the sake of humanity itself. In other words, those children’s deaths were not in vain; they were martyrs to a noble cause.”
“Martyrs?!” Lucy snapped at the man. “They are children, you prick! CHILDREN!”
“We know!” Silva cried out in return. “But we have no other choice. Our research required them due to their faster rate of cell proliferation. My colleagues and I initially tried searching for alternative methods – but alas, there were none. However, we have tried to minimize their suffering as best as we could.”
“And is that reason good enough to justify your actions?” Elisabeth scoffed.
“We do not seek justification. In case you haven’t noticed, we seek the same thing – the salvation of the entire human race,” Silva sternly corrected the woman. “Also, your claim that no one survived our procedure is false. There was proof of our treatment's success: a little girl called Rosa. She was taken by one of you when…when we were attacked.”
As soon as she heard the name, Elisabeth shoved Silva to the floor and rebuked, "We are not the same, and the girl you spoke of: she's dead. After the Faceless took her back to the Tower, her body began to reject your treatment and she died in a tremendous amount of pain.”
Silva's face turned pale in an instant - as if the entire world was going to end. "No. No, that's impossible," the man blurted out, his face slowly turning pale. "The integration was a success. We have the data to support it-!"
"To hell with the data! Face it, Silva! Your experiment was a failure! It was always doomed to fail!" Elisabeth cut the man short with her outburst. “No matter how hard you try and how much you sacrificed, a Reprieved will never become an Accursed. The girl…Rosa’s death proved it.”
“No…I refused to believe that,” Silva vigorously shook his head in denial.
“I don’t give a damn about what you believe. All that matters now is for you to stop what you’re doing; shut down your whole operation,” Elisabeth then took a hurried look at Sam before continuing, “And atone for your sins. Isn’t that the reason why your goddess brought you back to life?”
Silva dropped his gaze, his mouth quivering with frustration.
"Lady Vidia has guided us all these years – she granted us forbidden knowledge of the past so we could make a difference. To abandon our research now,” the man in the tuxedo paused to take a deep long breath. “That will be blasphemy.”
“Uh, guys? I have a bad feeling about this,” Rupert anxiously interjected.
“You dare trespass into our home and demanded us to cease our entire operation?” Silva began to snarl as he slowly rose to his feet. “While you cowered in your Tower, coddled by an extraordinary gift you called a curse – we on the Mortal Realm are forced to face the threat of uncertainty daily – unsure whether tomorrow or the day after it will be our last.”
Elisabeth frowned; both of her fists are clenched as the man in the tuxedo glowered at her. “Whatever it is you’re planning to do: don’t. It will not end well for you and your subordinates,” warned the amber-eyed woman.
“Your words of caution might mean something ten years ago. But no longer will we be afraid of you – afraid of the Faceless Order.”
Elisabeth shook her head in disagreement and began to exclaim, "Listen to me, Silva! Do not throw away your second chance like this! We could still walk out of this like civilized people. This place has no need for more pointless deaths. If you won’t do it for yourself, then do it for your colleagues.”
Silva darted his eyes upward after hearing the woman's earnest request; a pained expression appeared on his face as he struggled to process the situation. On the other hand, the four Accursed could only stare at him, nervously waiting for his response.
Finally, after a brief moment of silence, Silva let out a heavy sigh - a clear sign that he has reached a decision. "My colleagues," Silva replied with a brittle voice. “They are my friends – my families. I could still hear them screaming as your Order slaughtered them one by one without mercy – watched as their mangled bodies drowned in the pool of their own blood.”
Slowly, he raised his head and started muttering a few ominous words, "But mark my words, things will be different from now on. I’ll make sure of it." The man snapped his fingers which, for an unknown reason, induced a wave of nausea that swiftly engulfed the four Accursed simultaneously.
"You...bastard...! What did you...do to us?" Lucy moaned while clutching her throbbing head.
"It is a true pity that the Faceless Order is still plagued by their own short-sightedness and archaic moral codes,” Silva exhaled. “We could have built a better world together, but that offer is gone the moment you butchered us like pigs. For that, you’ll feel everything – every cut and every jolt of electricity. There won’t be a day where I will not be hearing your screams echoing throughout this place.”
BANG!
Elisabeth slammed her fists against the ground, causing the room to quake. Silva, who nearly lost his balance, was completely in awe - not by the sheer strength of the amber-eyed woman - but by the type of ability, she possessed. "This is…Terrakinesis. Could it be…?" uttered the man in the black suit, smiling from ear to ear - until he heard a series of loud cracking noises from beneath his feet. "ROSA!" was the only word that escaped Silva's mouth before he dashed toward the spiral staircase.
"Hold on...to something," said Elisabeth to her friends. Seconds later, the whole floor disintegrated, and the four Accursed fell into the dark abyss.