—Night’s Residence, Nyctoph Clan—

“This page will go where? Maybe here…and this one’s done.”

“My lord! The cuffs, let me do the cuffs!”

Bloom’s eyes followed Night, who had been scuffling around the room for an hour. Behind him, his maid was fighting her own battle. She wanted to do his cuffs, but the cuffs rested on his wrists; his wrists were busy manoeuvring his fingers, and the fingers were busy with the documents. In the end, she gave up with a sigh and opted to select his jewellery instead.

“He won’t need earrings for today. I have got these for him.” Bloom stepped forward and opened her palm to reveal a pair of shiny obsidian studs. Night did a double check on the studs and furrowed his eyebrows in confusion.

“This is a communication device.” She pointed at him and then at herself. “For us to communicate.”

Night took them and wore one each on his earlobes. “Are we good?”

Bloom glanced at him from head to toe. In her opinion, dressing up for occasions held importance, more so in politics, where attire won half the battle. To avoid suspicion, Night pretended to be a relaxed lord, enjoying the best life in captivity. Here stood a stylish and elegant adonis, adorned in black with hints of silver, never too ostentatious. He had his lips painted a soft red, contrasting with his ashen skin, adding vulnerability. Night’s maid was professional for sure. “Yes, this lamb could harm no one.”

“Oh, shut it. You remember the plan well, right? Then just stick to that.” He jabbed a finger at her arm. “I don’t have time to play along with your jokes. If one of us gets caught, it’s over. It’s over for us all.”

Dragneel narrowed her eyes, glowing. “I know what I need to do. I hope you remember yours as well.”

Night rolled his eyes. “I do this every month. What do you expect?”

Bloom smiled with convincing confidence. “It’s never too late for a surprise.”

A soft knock rapped on the door. Bloom quickly stepped behind and hid in the dark. The door opened with a creak, revealing the head butler’s stature to Night. “We are expecting them in three-quarters of an hour,” he said and walked away.

Night glanced at Bloom with an unreadable expression. “Good luck,” he said.

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Bloom stared outside the window, through the small parting in between the curtains, facing the main entrance of Night’s humble abode. In the middle of the stone pavement, Night stood while the servants and maid lined up on both sides near the Estate Gates. Now they patiently waited for King Rael’s lapdogs.

The mansion was so muted, she could even hear the haunting sounds of the pendulum clock, two stories below. She took a deep breath and closed her eyes.

A sudden gust of wind howled through the gaps of the window, and at a distance, Bloom could hear the flapping of wings. The trunks of the trees swayed as if caught up in a storm. The grass parted, painfully receding away from the soil, as two lizard-like feet crushed them. Black scaled, adorned with white at the tips of the tail, limbs and lower belly, a fifteen feet tall dragon landed in front of Night.

It blasted a roar into the sky, accompanied by a set of growls. As it roared, three other not-so-eye-catchy dark dragons landed behind it. They were a foot or two shorter than the chief attraction, who stood in front and looked around with its stone-grey eyes.

The larger dragon’s limbs shrank. Its long claws retracted, and the scales disappeared one after the other, with the tail nowhere in sight. A pretty male stood in front with an evil smile on his face. He was slimmer than Night and wore a silver-embroidered dark cloth till the waist, drawn tight by cords. A full leg portion tied at each ankle, and a broad sash encircled the waist on top of the chalvar.

“We’re meeting for the first time, Lord Night. I am the captain of Border Forces Rais, Heirut.” He extended his hand for a shake.

Bloom felt the apparent apathy in his voice. Hell, she could even imagine him wickedly smiling at Night’s deposition.

“Pleasure meeting you.” Night raised his hand and shook Heirut’s. “I hope you enjoy your time thoroughly.”

And here was Night. Bloom shook her head and sighed. Well, he wasn’t at fault asserting himself.

She listened through the device as the butler stepped up and offered to guide them around the mansion, to which Night asked to do it himself. She watched them all head towards the door and Night stealing a glance at his window.

“Bloom.” He scratched at the back of his neck. “Your prediction is correct. Rael Ozmer indeed changed the officials.”

Bloom, on the other end, listened to him without bothering to answer. She had doubts that the malfunctioning Teleportation Gate would go noticed. And since the trace ended in Nyctoph, King Real wouldn’t take the chance to let Night and his Prince contact an outsider. Tracking her exact location wouldn’t be easy, but sending people to sniff out her existence in the name of inspection was viable. And that was why The Border Forces Rais came. To prevent Night getting chummy with the previous officials and to find the person who got missing after the faulty teleportation.

She flexed her arms and twisted her neck to loosen the tense muscles. Bloom left Night’s room and went out into the hallways. She scampered downstairs, soundless with her steps.

Night's training taught her a trick or two and one of them was the Soundless Footsteps, the basic footwork of Silent Footsteps. Despite her first time putting it in use, she was doing better than expected.

As Night had briefed, there wouldn’t be any servants or maids in the mansion, as they had gone to do the greetings. She sprinted through the second floor hallways, held onto the railings above the courtyard, and effortlessly jumped down two stories.

The maid had fixed her clothes for her to wear on her journey back. The cloak fluttered and her locks and bangs swept behind her forehead in response to the to the fall. She landed on all fours and the search for the passage to the Telegate began.

She could pick up Night and Heirut conversing. They were nearby.

“What about this door?”

“Check out this one first…”

“But this one…”

Dragneel held her breath as she could see their shadows behind the door. In a single breath she said, “Where’s the passage to the Teleportation Gate?”

“Esteemed guests,” he said. “Down this hall, on the left, there’s the weaponry.”

Bloom heard him. Down that hall, on the left, that was the passage. She ran towards the small space between the walls and on the left side; she found an old passage. The door to the central courtyard creaked open and she could hear Night and then Heirut afterwards.

She slipped into the passage, which was deemed as if time had stopped. The passage was cramped, half-filled with old furniture caked with a thick layer of dust. In the soft light filtering through the broken windows, she envisioned a woman sitting on an olive worn-out chair, desolate, bound to the material world. It was the same black gown she had been wearing for two days, but on some new shoulders. The woman stole a glance and double checked when she found Bloom staring at her. Her calm, dejected eyes sprang into action.

Bloom deactivated her communication device. “You’re Night’s mother, right?”

The middle-aged humanoid opened her mouth, but no words came out. She shook her head for ‘yes’.

“It’s okay, no need to speak if you can’t. I can help you regardless.”

She pushed herself off the chair and walked up to Bloom. Her eyes brimmed with tears while she ever so slightly tried to touch Bloom. Bloom looked at her hesitant face and interlocked their fingers. The poor woman trembled as tears trickled down her stone-grey eyes. She closed them, her lips quivering, savouring the moment of contact.

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She had been starving for company.

Bloom pulled the ghost into her arms and the lady broke down in tears. She clung onto every fibre of Bloom’s soul and Bloom let her.

“It’s lonely, isn’t it? Don’t worry, I’ll free you of your bounds.” She held the lady by her shoulders and kissed her forehead. “But right now, I need to go or else your son will get into trouble.”

The lady turned her face away, but she didn’t leave the hem of Bloom’s cloak.

“I’ve marked your soul, so that I don't forget. Now your soul is mine to help. I might take a few years, but I’ll return, I promise. Now please, my lady.”

The lady stepped back and pointed towards the end of the passage. She nodded her head once and became one with the air.

Bloom avoided the old, unchecked trash and stayed away from the broken furniture with sharp edges.

At the end of the passage was a primitive double door, behind which the Telegate was located. The only problem was, how was she supposed to enter a locked room without breaking its lock?

She looked around. Anything on the wall, or the door, anything that could help. If at this point she uses magic, they would be caught for sure. Then she laid her eyes on the broken ventilator above the door. She took a few steps back, and with a small run, jumped on the door. Then, along with the same momentum, she leapt to catch hold of the sill of the ventilator with her dominant left hand. She scrambled, and with a little effort, climbed the ventilator.

“The inspection is in three steps, and the first step is a radiation check.”

Dragneel landed on her feet and dusted her cloak. The room didn’t have too much. Some boxes, a broken table, a set of chairs, a mattress and a seven by three gate under a white shroud.

“The Teleportation Gate will be leaking radiation as it will prepare for activation. Remove the shroud and assimilate your energy with the Telegate.”

She pulled off the shroud, dust puffing into the stagnant air, fine particles speckled under the filtered sunlight. She stared at the Telegate and placed her hands against the closed door. The radiation pulsed through the wood to the skin of her palms as she read the pulse per minute.

Heirut commanded his minions. “Activate the orb.”

“See, they have a big ball like device, what’s that called…Ah! An orb. Yeah. They’ll activate the orb and it will release a radiation of its own throughout the Mansion premises. Thrice okay, thrice. Remember that.”

Bloom released her aura, and it clashed against the Telegate’s radiation. She sighed. Could there be anything so simple?

Bloom contracted the muscles in her arms, her biceps rose in response to the concentric muscle contraction. A small stream of her aura pierced through the flow of ions. Now, with eccentric contractions, she navigated a larger amount into the radiation.

The first wave vibrated through the walls of the mansion. She heard Night hold his breath and honestly; she did too. Soon after, two more followed. No drama, no shouting, all normal.

“What's this?” After a pregnant pause, Heirut continued. “There's something here.”

Night cleared his throat as if he had expected the question. “It’s the old Telegate of this residence. It activates itself once a week, that is today to keep itself functional.”

Heirut’s menacing tone echoed in the courtyard. “Then shall we check it out? Let me also see how ancient it is?”

“…ancient it is…it is…is.” And its reverb persisted in Bloom’s ears.

She felt an urge to punch something. Where would she hide? In a box? And if her body left its contact with the Telegate, her aura would be exposed!

Suddenly, a cupboard crashed at the passage’s end, causing a cacophony of falling utensils. One such utensil had the worst fall. The first drop bellowed through the passage, the echo chasing after it, the second drop milder with a singing vibrato that travelled up Bloom’s body. Imagine the sensory overload! Then it rolled towards the room, with footsteps rushing behind it. Who could it be?

“This damn pot! Stop!”

Not Night or Heirut, of course.

“Hey Bloom, Heirut sent one of his minions to check out the Telegate. Stay sharp.” Night’s whispers came from the other end of the device.

Well, he was quite clumsy for a soldier. An ‘oof’ here and an ‘ouch’ there. At last, she heard him stop in front of the door and drag his shoes as if contemplating over a decision. Bloom held her breath.

“Sir Heirut, there’s a lock on the door. Quite rusty, but isn’t broken!” Bloom heard him shouting at the top of his lungs.

“Bloom, you okay? The soldier came back. He didn’t see you, right?”

Bloom released a breath of relief. “He didn’t. He thought that there was no one inside. What’s happening there?”

“Heirut has brought his own device for a third check. Haven’t heard of something like this. He says it’s an amplifier.”

“Amplifier? It’s an artificial way of expanding an ability evenly over an area. What’s his ability?”

“Not sure, but he’s asking everyone to leave the mansion, out of the gates. Just wait a second…he said something along the lines of detecting intelligent consciousness. How does one even do that?”

Bloom racked her brain, and the conclusion she reached felt terrifying. There were techniques to disperse one's body throughout a place, but could disperse a person's consciousness over an area so that it would get unnoticed? “Night, crush this device. I’ll do what I can.”

A long pause ensued on the other end. Maybe he felt hopeless yet again. But without further explanation, Bloom crushed the device. It was time for her to take the matters into her own hands.

Dragneel raised her hand and summoned Dragon Blade. A sleek, beautiful sword in an ivory scabbard appeared on her palm. She unsheathed the sword to reveal its single sharp edge gleaming under the light. She rotated the sword along her wrist and grasped it vertically along her stature. She closed her eyes and swung the sword to her chest.

“Stop!”

Her arm froze in midair, the sword an inch before her chest, a slimy black hand coiled around her arm, restraining her further efforts.

Paranoia clutched Bloom’s senses in a mess. Her senses heightened. Her chest heaved as if on her last breath. She reached for the ground, sliding against the Telegate. Her body jerked, the midnight blues turning red and her canines longer than ever. She began showing signs of ‘bloodlust’.

Dragneel swatted away the black arm. “Stop trying to take over me. I’m not trading places with you. I just need your help.”

A muted guffaw played under the breath. Bloom felt the stiff lips on the base of her neck stretching into a crooked smile. The snicker intensified, blossoming into a wicked screech. Frosty breaths spread on her back as two chilly hands embraced her by her shoulders, nails digging into the skin.

In a rigged, broken voice, she snickered. “Dragneel…”

“Paranoidiesis.”

The silhouette of Paranoidiesis dispersed and appeared right at her face. Her burning coal eyes gazing straight into her midnight blue ones.

“I don’t see with my eyes, Para.”

“Khekhe…Right. But why should I help you? What's in there for me?”

Dragneel smirked and said, "So you would rather watch me die, yet want to possess my body. Quite the irony, I must say. State what you want this time."

“I want to run amok wild! My fingers are itching for blood!” She bent her neck for her nose to touch Dragneel’s. “Because someone doesn't fulfil their bloodlust often! So if I want to bully you, I will!”

Dragneel matched her ferocity. “Then I’ll let you. That's the debt I would owe to you. But, I will decide when.”

Then, shadows coiled up Dragneel’s legs while Paranoidiesis contemplating the offer. “Fine. But remember, I am the curse you’ll have to put up with for eternity. I am your anger, hatred, the second you. Feel free to knock on my door when you're done with playing nice.”

Dragneel stared into her eyes, a smirk on her face that time. “I have fought wars to get Dragneel for my name. If there's no Dragonix, there's no Dragneel. I won't have that, even if I have to take the timelines in my hands again.”

A sick smile danced upon Paranoidiesis’ lips. She smacked them close with content. “That's the craziness that gets me going!”

The shadows had swallowed Dragneel and built a cocoon that stretched from the high arch roof to the dusty, cemented floor. Bloom’s head pounded as her consciousness started slippy away and her blood rushed to her brain. Her body tingled and the dual-energy in her blood shone so much that she could identify her veins and arteries.

"Dragneel," Paranoidiesis called her in a sing-song manner. "Focus on gravity."

Bloom did as instructed. Starting by concentrating under her abdomen, her head felt heavy and her body sank as if stuck in a bog. Her fingertips disappeared and formed blackish-golden particles. Then followed her scarlet hair, her cheeks which cracked and became particles and finally there remained nothing.

No Bloom, no Paranoidiesis, no cocoon; all were gone. The room was left empty. A tremendous wave of energy dispersed around the entire estate.

A bird chirped.

Bloom slowly opened her eyes and indeed, it was a bird chirping on a leafless branch in Night's garden. She got up and observed the surroundings and herself. It was dark, pitch black.

"You are standing inside your shadow." Paranoidiesis' voice echoed.

"Then the bird..." Bloom trailed off.

How could there be a bird in the vast shadows of the estate which were then interconnected with each other because of Para?

The wind blew as if someone was whispering chants near her ears. A bunch of fallen leaves flew in the breeze right in front of her eyes. A little later, they passed through her. Bloom observed with curiosity. What was happening there?

She now saw the walls of the kitchen, the ladle, cutlery set and then the next moment she was in Night's mother's room where she could see the black gown folded to safety.

In the silence, she pieced the events in her mind that her consciousness was all over the stage. She could see whatever she wanted, do whatever she wished and hear, taste and smell whatever she liked.

She wished to go where Night was.

And soon she was standing upside down in the shadows of Heirut, who was standing upright.

He had released three waves to detect anything, but he found no results. Night's face slightly lit up with happiness and his heart jumped up and down, drowning himself in the sweet nectar of victory.

Bloom watched Night in his fiesta with a smirk. Those tests were over, and now Night would stop having nightmares for real.

Now all they had to do was wait. Wait for the snitches to leave. And then, it would be time for Bloom to continue with her journey.