----------------------------------------
----------------------------------------
JULES
----------------------------------------
----------------------------------------
A stream of green flames erupted from Jules’ palms and scorched the Warg’s face and antlers. It recoiled and swung about. It stopped, dropped, and rolled on the ground and then leapt into the water to put itself out.
“Came from over there,” one of the Hydromage Soldiers shouted, far off in the distance.
Jules sighed with relief, despite all his pain, and looked at Cyrus. His friend stared back, wide eyed, confused. Jules instinctively reached for a vial of medicine, but let it be. Too late for that. The show's already over. “Can you get up?”
“Jules… What was that?”
“Please, Cy. Don't.”
Cyrus didn’t respond. Regeneration’s not working fast enough. Jules reached into his pack for his purple Ryoku crystal, and consumed the entire cache, everything he'd earned that day. So long, savings. His rib repaired itself immediately. He got to his feet and stumbled over to Cyrus, who’d been tossed around the bend.
“Jules,” Cyrus groaned. He caressed his own ribs. “What was that?”
Jules took one step toward him, then another step, and another—and then he saw it, a short distance behind Cyrus.
The red torii gate towered above the ravine's bank, among the trees. Two massive, round columns held up two arched lintels. A translucent veil shimmered across the inside of the gate.
> [The Haunting of Coralhaven — Quest Objective COMPLETED: Investigate the Warg]
>
>
>
> [New Quest Available: The Shrine of Coralhaven]
>
> [New Reward Available for The Shrine of Coralhaven: Unknown Vessel]
>
> [The Shrine of Coralhaven — Quest Objective ADDED: Capture the Shrine.]
But some type of magic shoved both the Shrine and Cyrus to either side of Jules' periphery. He no longer heard Cyrus’ questioning. He no longer saw the veil sway.
Before Jules now stood a massive black door, conjured from thin air. Its ethereal edges wavered like black flames. Jules reached his hand up slightly, slowly, towards its doorknob. Heat resonated from it. His hand trembled, but he grabbed it. The skin on his hand scalded and bubbled away. The pain was immense, but he couldn’t turn away now.
> DO NOT OPEN THAT DOOR.
The ominous warning shocked Jules back to his senses. He looked down at his hand. Bone, sinew, muscle—all exposed through his eviscerated hand. He gasped and jumped back reflexively. Jules' hand returned to normal, and he looked back up at the black door. But it was gone. Only the Shrine, and Cyrus on the ground before it, remained.
“Fire's over there. Hurry it up, lads!” a Soldier shouted.
“Jules—Pay attention! They’re closing in.”
Jules snapped out of his daydream. He hoisted Cyrus to his feet with his left hand—afraid to use his right, though it appeared normal now—wrapped an arm around his shoulder, and dragged him off through the forest. After a few steps, he turned back to face the Shrine’s gate. He was confused about the door, but also filled with dread. I’ve led them straight to it. He invoked another Rune.
> « Muffle » [₹2,200 // ₹10,000]
Jules fled the Shrine. He didn't even bother to utilize his Stealth Skill—he'd spent long enough hiding from others. Besides, no one would hear them now.
> [New Quest Available: Shut the Damn Door]
>
> [New Reward Available for Shut the Damn Door: ???]
>
> [Shut the Damn Door— Quest Objective ADDED: Do not open the door.]
----------------------------------------
----------------------------------------
Jules finally stopped at the edge of the forest, where they’d started the night’s journey. Despite their condition, it only took Jules half the time to get back. He lowered his injured friend—his best friend, his only friend, really—to the ground and leaned him up against a tree. Jules didn't know what to say. It's my fault he's hurt. Him and that fox.
The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation.
“Well, Jules, I don't know what you were so nervous about.” Cyrus coughed and hacked. “Seems you know some Scripts after all.”
“Why don’t you seem surprised?”
“Did you forget about our agreement?”
Jules felt the gash on his face for the first time. It steamed slightly as it healed. He turned that cheek away from his friend. Warg’s antlers must have gotten me. Still, Cyrus doesn’t seem to suspect anything concrete. Yet. “No,” Jules said. “I haven’t.”
“What, you just don’t feel like sharing? You know I’ve been working on the Fire Rune for months. Why keep it a secret?” Cyrus straightened himself.
Jules’ internals were completely healed now, which on one hand was nice, but on the other, his facial wound Regeneration picked up steam. Literally. Not gonna be easy to hide this. “The truth is,” Jules said, “I can’t control it." Again, technically the truth.
“Show me the Rune.”
“No.”
Cyrus sighed, then struggled to his feet. “Show me.” He shoved Jules.
Jules shoved him back. “I said no.”
Cyrus tackled Jules to the ground. As gently as he could, Jules pushed his friend off and got to his feet. He looked down at Cyrus.
“Getting up fast for the beating you took, Jules. Show me.” Again, Cyrus rose to his feet.
That damn look of determination. A flurry of punches and kicks later, they were back on the ground. They wrestled and threw dirt in each other’s eyes, and got back to their feet. Cyrus lit up.
> « Water » « Freeze »
Cyrus brandished a shield of ice. Adrenaline flooded Jules. He felt betrayed, threatened, cornered. Jules took his kickboxing stance. No way in hell I end up like Sloth.
“Cy. Leave it alone.”
“Show me your fucking Seal!”
It was the last word that ignited Jules’ rage, his fight or flight. Fight. Jules lunged at his best friend. Fury had him gripped. He beat the ice shield with bare knuckles and shin kicks, over, and over, and over, until it cracked, and again, and again, until it shattered, and drove Cyrus backward with a kick to the chest. Jules went to throw a finishing punch—
A loose array of ice shards, much smaller this time, floated above Cyrus’ head. “Don’t make me find out this way,” Cyrus said.
Jules snapped. He unleashed a primal battle cry and, in a Ryoku-powered flash, tackled Cyrus to the ground. The shards of ice fell listlessly from the surrounding air. Jules pinned him down, knee on belly, and looked at him with murderous intent. His eyes were on fire with red flames; his Seal burned crimson even through his shirt. Cyrus just lied there, and Jules couldn’t detect a hint of judgment in his demeanor, just focus. Jules drew his hunting knife, and the blade ignited as well.
“You wanna see so badly?” Jules ripped his shirt open to expose his emblem, his Seal, the mark of all Arcanics—both Sins and Virtues. His took the shape of the numeral 7.
"Jules—" The first traces of fear crept across Cyrus' face.
You would have found out, eventually. Jules flipped the knife around in his hand and plunged it into the Seal. Cyrus grabbed Jules’ wrist just in time, before the blade pierced past his muscle and into his ribcage. Jules froze, wide-eyed, and the flames of his eyes faded away. Quickly, he got off Cyrus and stepped back. Cyrus inhaled sharply, his diaphragm finally free again. He took a few breaths and then cracked up laughing. What the Hell is going on? Jules sheathed his knife and helped Cyrus to his feet.
“How long?” Jules demanded.
Cyrus wiped tears away from laughing so hard. “Ten years. We’ve been friends for ten years. It was impossible to hide it.”
“Be serious. This is my life. Who else knows?” Again, a demand.
“Nobody knows but me. At least I think so.” Cyrus hunched over and grabbed his sides.
Jules collapsed on the ground. Then he started laughing, too. “Yeah, that was pretty dramatic."
“You have no idea. That’s hilarious. Gotta admit, though, I wanted to see what happened next, with the knife. Morbid curiosity and all. But I didn’t want your blood all over me.”
“Yeah, like that wolf on me this morning. So, how? And how long?”
Cyrus sighed. “First off, I’ve always been suspicious of Evelyn. She's so mean to you, dismissive. Meanwhile, Liam takes you so seriously.” It was the first time Jules had ever heard Cyrus say Liam. “Never saw how they meshed, why he would stay with her.”
“Yeah, she probably wants to keep it hidden more than I do.” Jules gazed off toward Aquilantis.
“One time, I came over and heard her slip. Regeneration. I just…went home. Confused, but I stayed silent, kept it to myself. None of you knew I was there that day. That’s when I started suspecting, for obvious reasons. Probably three years ago.”
“Salvos, three years. And still, you never said a word.” Jules pulled out Liam’s Ryoku crystal and tossed it to Cyrus, who was still clearly in pain. “What else? Lay it all out.”
“Speak of the devil—er, sorry—but the medicine.” Cyrus activated the crystal to heal himself. Though slower and less efficient than the medicinal route, it was still effective. “All that medicine, man. I thought it odd she’d pay so much for you to use it when she…" Hates me. "So yeah, I might have…inspected it once, and saw that it was empty. A few hours later, you pretended to use it.”
Jules laughed. “Ironic, the one who wants to keep it hidden the most is also the worst at hiding.”
“And then today, after you left the orphanage. You forgot that satchel Isolda gave you. I chased you down, but then I saw you using Runes.” Ah, shit.
“Yep. In broad daylight. Stupid. I figured everyone was distracted by the Shrine.” Jules put his hands behind his head and laid back to look at the stars.
“That was stupid. Really stupid. One of Isolda's books mentioned Seals can absorb Scripts, but still, I took a gamble tonight. I didn’t know for sure.”
They sat in silence. Cyrus healed himself as best he could, and Jules tried to read the constellations.
“Who are you?”
Jules felt the first tinge of judgment from his friend. He lifted himself up on an elbow and looked him straight in the eyes. “My name is Jules.”
“Oh. Right. Sorry.” Cyrus averted his gaze. Jules laid back down.
“But I don’t know. They won’t tell me. Probably on purpose, to prevent it from taking form, but I have a few guesses. Hell, they may not even know.”
“If he hadn’t already been caught, I would've bet you’re Sloth, you lazy fuck.”
They laughed it off, finally relieved of all the night’s tension. Cyrus dug into his backpack and pulled out a satchel. He threw it at Jules. “By the way, here’s the book that turned your life upside down.”
“Thanks. Let’s see how much my secret identity is worth.” Jules opened the satchel and pulled it out. The lump returned to his throat. Fear paralyzed him. "Why would she…"
“Oh Salvos, what?” Cyrus asked.
“Cy—I don’t think you’re the only one who knows.”
Jules held up a copy of The Sins of Our Fathers, the definitive book regarding the Seven Deadly Sins.
******* ****** ***** **** *** ** * ** *** **** ***** ****** *******
12
BONUS CONTENT BELOW
******* ****** ***** **** *** ** * ** *** **** ***** ****** *******