Kaiser's Perspective:
11:41 AM - 1/1/2018
The moment our fingers touched the hovering Cursed construct, the tent vanished. The rays vanished. The concept of 'morning' vanished.
We were falling.
But it wasn't down. It was through.
We tumbled into a void that wasn't black, but a swirling, violent tapestry of starlight and nebula dust.
The Milky Way—the galaxy I had once explained to her—stretched out around us, not as a distant strip of light, but as a roaring river of diamonds and gravity. We were weightless, our bodies glowing with the raw colors of our souls.
Celia was a brilliant, burning crimson, a star on the verge of going supernova. I was a deep, calm cobalt blue, a nebula of cold gas and potential energy.
As we fell through the cosmic stream, the fabric of our memories ripped open, projecting jagged, cinematic glimpses of the past onto the darkness.
I saw her.
A young Celia, her face hidden behind a porcelain mask of perfection, surrounded by a village of adoring, faceless people. They clapped, they cheered, they loved the lie. Then, the mask cracked and fell. The adoration instantly twisted into jagged mouths of ridicule and hatred. She stood alone, shrinking.
Then, a red silhouette—her true self—emerged from the crying girl. And reaching through the darkness, a blue silhouette extended a hand, unlocking the cage of her heart with a simple touch.
Then, the scene shifted.
I saw myself. Or rather, a black silhouette of a boy.
I was standing in a sterile, black facility, surrounded by a hundred other faceless children. They were laughing, pointing, mocking the boy who stood still. The years flashed by in a strobe-light horror show—five years compressed into a second.
The laughter stopped. The black room turned grey.
One by one, the other ninety-nine silhouettes appeared, hanging limply from ropes in the background. Silence.
The black silhouette boy didn't cry. He didn't look away. He walked forward and sat on a throne built not of gold, but of their piled, silent corpses. He sat alone, the emperor of a dead room.
We watched these horrors, these foundational traumas, spinning in the void. Neither of us understood the full weight of the other's pain, but we felt the resonance.
We reached out, our hands clawing through the stardust, desperate to hold on.
"Grab me."
Our fingers interlocked.
BOOM.
The connection hit me like a physical blow. It wasn't just magic; it was a rewriting of reality.
This shouldn't be happening.I have a Soulpack with Elfie. The ancient laws say this is impossible. Two active Soulpacks should tear my spirit apart. It should be a cascade failure.
But it wasn't failing. It was singing.
The visions shifted forward, showing us a terrifying, grandiose future.
I saw a towering Red Silhouette—standing atop a mountain, billions of followers kneeling in the valley below, an army preparing for a war that would scorch the earth.
Then, I saw a Black Silhouette—sitting alone in a void of total, absolute emptiness. A ruler of nothing.
Then, the visions shattered into light.
We stopped falling. We were floating in the center of the universe, suspended in a silence so profound it felt holy.
And then, we heard it. Not a voice, but a vibration in our very atoms. The whispers of our souls, finally speaking the same language.
"I accept your chaos."
"I accept your void."
The Universe itself seemed to lean in, a resonant, genderless voice echoing from every star.
[ THE RESONANCE IS ABSOLUTE. ]
[ THE SOULS RECOGNIZE THE ANOMALY. ]
[ THE FALSEHOOD IS REJECTED. THE TRUTH IS BOUND. ]
The stars swirled, condensing into text. We were about to see the gifts—the power we now shared.
But first, the timeline.
A massive, golden clock face appeared in the nebula.
Celia looked at it, her eyes wide and excited. She saw the second hand tick forward. 00:00:01. The beginning of our pact for her. The start of forever. She smiled, radiant and victorious.
But I saw something else.
I looked at the counter, and my blood froze.
Soulpack Duration: 7,117 Years.
What?
My mind reeled, trying to apply logic to insanity.
Seven thousand years? That's impossible. I am seventeen. The facility records... My memories... none of it goes back that far. Is this reincarnation? A glitch in the universe? Did we exist before? Or is this... the future bleeding backward?
The contradiction was extreme. It made no sense.
Before I could process the horror of that number, the Milky Way dissolved into pure information. The text of our Binding Gift seared itself into my retinas.
[ SOULPACK ESTABLISHED ]
[ GIFT UNLOCKED: THE BLACK HEART ]
The Black Heart?
The light vanished.
My eyes snapped open.
We were back in the tent. The air was stale and cold. The Soulpack parchment had turned to ash between us.
We were both gasping for air, our chests heaving, staring at each other in utter, terrified disbelief. The connection was there—a hum in the back of my mind, a second heartbeat syncing with my own.
It worked. Against all odds, against all logic, against the existence of my past soulpack with Elfie... it worked.
And it had existed for seven thousand years…?
We were back.
The cosmic river was gone, replaced by the mundane, slightly dusty air of the tent. I was still trying to restart my heart after seeing that impossible number—7,117 years—but Celia was already recovering, her energy rebounding like a rubber band snapping back into place.
She looked at me, her face glowing with a euphoric, uncontained joy.
"I knew it!" she squealed, throwing her hands up, nearly hitting the tent roof. "I told you, Kai! I told you my love was pure! It worked! It actually worked!"
She scrambled over the blankets, grabbing my shoulders and shaking me slightly.
"Did you hear the universe? It said 'Absolute Resonance'! We are perfect for each other! Even the stars agree!"
I blinked, forcing my brain to shelf the existential crisis for a later date. I managed a weak, impressed smile. "Yeah. You were right, Princess. You beat the odds."
"I beat the universe!" she corrected, beaming. "Because I knew. I just knew you were the one."
I rubbed my temple, grounding myself. "Right. The one. Okay, before you float away... what was the gift? The voice flashed by fast for you."
Celia paused, her eyes unfocusing as she looked inward, sensing the new weight in her soul.
"It was called..." she murmured, testing the words on her tongue. "Blood Sovereignty."
Blood Sovereignty?
Sovereignty implies absolute control or rule. Blood is the medium. In theoretical arcane studies, the manipulation of vital fluid—both one's own and others'—is classified as High-Tier Hemomancy.
It makes sense. She already instinctively healed me using her blood and saliva. This gift likely systematizes that instinct. It probably grants her the ability to manipulate the viscosity, toxicity, and shape of her blood without the usual mana cost or physical drain that kills lesser blood mages. It fits her Cursed alignment perfectly—regenerative and offensive.
"It's so cool, Kai!" she exclaimed, her eyes snapping back to mine, wide with discovery. "I can feel it... I can use my blood to heal myself instantly, like it's reversing time! And... I think I can even pull it out and harden it into weapons if I need to!"
"Yeah," I said, a genuine note of pride entering my voice. "That sounds incredibly dangerous. Perfect for you."
Suddenly, a soft chime—like a crystal bell—echoed in the space between us.
We both looked up. From the lingering magical residue of the Soulpack ritual, a spark of light condensed. It wasn't ink or paper this time. It was physical matter being forged from pure mana.
Slowly, spinning in the air, a ring descended.
The Ring of Empty Chaos.
It was forged from a dark, nebulous metal that looked like a solidified shadow. But the gemstone set into it was a masterpiece. It wasn't a single color.
It was a swirling, living fusion of Violent Crimson Chaos and Deep Cobalt Void. The colors didn't mix to make purple; they existed distinct yet intertwined, like two galaxies crashing into each other and refusing to break.
Celia gasped, cupping her hands as the ring gently dropped into her palms.
"Oh my gosh..." she breathed, bringing it closer to her face. The light of the gem reflected in her red eyes.
"Look at it, Kai! It's beautiful!" She turned the ring, watching the blue swirl chase the red. "It has your color! Look at the blue... it's deep and calm, just like your eyes!"
She didn't even mention red, her own color. She was fixated entirely on the blue, tracing the cobalt facet with a trembling finger.
"It's like I'm carrying a piece of your eyes with me," she whispered, her voice thick with happiness. She looked like she was blooming—radiant, validated, and utterly hopeful for a future she was now powerful enough to seize.
I watched her, the darkness of the 7,000-year mystery pushed to the back of my mind.
I smiled.
It's the best I can do now.
I shifted closer to her.
"Can I see the ring?" I asked softly, extending my palm.
Celia didn't hesitate. She placed the swirling band of shadow and light into my hand, her trust absolute.
I took a breath, holding the weight of our souls between my fingers. Then, I shifted my weight and dropped to one knee on the tent floor.
Celia gasped, her hands flying to her mouth. Her eyes went wide, shimmering with sudden, wet tears of shock. Her hand, which I was still holding, shook violently in mine.
"K-Kai...?" she breathed, her voice trembling.
I didn't speak yet. I gently pulled her hand closer, bowing my head until my lips brushed against her knuckles—right over the spot where I had kissed her earlier, but with infinitely more reverence this time.
She let out a tiny, strangled squeak, her face exploding in a blush so fierce I could feel the heat from where I knelt. She tried to cover her mouth with her free hand to hide her reaction, but the redness spread to her ears, her neck, everywhere. It didn't stop.
I looked up, meeting her gaze.
"You said you wanted to stand by my side forever," I murmured. "Let's make sure everyone knows where you belong."
I took the ring—the fusion of her Crimson Chaos and my Empty Void—and slid it slowly onto her ring finger. It glided over her knuckle as if it had been forged on her skin, settling perfectly at the base.
Celia froze. She stared at her hand, lifting it up slowly to catch the dim light. The blue and red gem swirled alive, a heartbeat on her finger. It was the prettiest thing she had ever seen—not because of the magic, but because I put it there.
She let out a breath that sounded like a sob of pure, unadulterated happiness.
"I..."
She didn't finish the sentence. She launched herself at me.
"I love you!"
I barely had time to stand up before she collided with my chest, wrapping her arms around my neck and burying her face in my shoulder.
"I love you, I love you, I love you, I love you!" she chanted, her voice muffled but vibrating with joy. "I love you so much, Kai! You're mine! You're really mine!"
I laughed—a loud, genuine sound that surprised even me. "I get it, I get it! Calm down, you crazy woman."
I wrapped my arms around her waist and lifted her effortlessly off the ground.
"Eeep!" she squealed, her legs kicking instinctively.
I spun her around, the small space of the tent turning into a blur.
"Kaiii!~ Ah!~ I'm flying!" she giggled, holding on for dear life. "Kyaaa! Put me down! No, don't! Spin me more!"
"You're a handful, you know that?" I teased, spinning her once more just to hear that happy, high-pitched noise.
"Ehehehe~!" She laughed, a bubbly, infectious sound. "I'm your handful! Mmnn~!"
I finally slowed down, lowering her until her feet touched the blankets, but I didn't let go of her waist. We stood there, chests heaving slightly from the exertion and the laughter, grinning at each other like idiots.
The heavy, dark atmosphere of the Soulpack ritual was gone. The tension of the backstory trauma was washed away. There was just us.
"Ready to face the world, Celia?" I asked, brushing a stray hair from her forehead.
She looked at the ring on her finger, then up at me, her smile blinding.
"Ready, Kai."
We turned together, and for the first time in days, we stepped out of the tent and into the light.
Blinking against the gentle, diffused light of the late morning. The canvas door flapped shut behind us, closing off the secret, impossible world we had just created. The air was cold, clean, and still—the blizzard had subsided long ago, leaving behind a pristine, white blanket over the camp.
I checked my watch again. 12:05 PM. Half the day was gone, consumed by the longest, deepest sleep of my life and the most intense spiritual link in history.
"It's already noon," I noted, inhaling deeply. "Feels like we slept a week."
"It feels like we started forever," Celia corrected, twirling her hand so the Chaos & Void ring caught the light. The fused gem flashed blue and red. She was still humming with happiness, her movements light and buoyant.
We spent the next ten minutes gathering snow to wash up and securing our gear. I retrieved a canned MRE from my bag—some kind of beef stew and grabbed a seat at the makeshift table we'd constructed beneath the awning.
Celia, equally practical, opened a can of spiced beans and sat opposite me.
I scanned the empty perimeter.
"Lucas has been gone the entire night," I commented, chewing slowly. "He probably got lost using his mental GPS and is trying to find his way back."
Celia didn't look up from her beans. "He can take care of himself."
"Oh?" I raised an eyebrow, taking a drink of cold water. "You sure do trust him, Lia. You know exactly where he is and what he's doing, don't you?"
She looked up then, meeting my gaze with a proud, confident tilt of her chin. "Of course. He's my brother."
I nearly choked on my beef stew. I thumped my chest. "Your what? Since when did Lucas get promoted to 'brother'? Did I miss a meeting?"
Celia giggled, a bright, carefree sound. "Since yesterday. When he gave me the advice."
I swallowed, wiping my mouth. "The advice of kissing me fifty times to ensure marriage?"
Her face immediately flushed crimson. She snatched a pillow from a nearby stack and threw it at me, forgetting we were trying to be mature adults for five seconds.
"Be quiet, Kaiser! That's not what he said! That was a joke!"
"How cute," I teased, deflecting the pillow. "A supportive brotherly joke. I'm touched by your sudden, wholesome family values."
"Shut up!"
Just as she was about to launch into another flustered defense, a shadow fell over the clearing.
We both looked up.
Lucas sauntered into the camp, looking annoyingly refreshed and smug. He was wiping something metallic and complicated-looking with a strip of cloth, a casual air of having just saved the world radiating from him.
She bolted upright and sprinted toward him.
I stared, dumbfounded, as she embraced Lucas, who received the enthusiastic hug with the practiced ease of someone who often gets harshly tackled.
"Brother!" Celia squealed, pulling back but holding his arm tightly.
Lucas grinned, his eyes twinkling. "Sister! Glad to see you're still alive."
Then, they did something truly bizarre: they performed a complicated, synchronized high-five followed by a brother-sister hand-clapping routine that involved finger snaps and side steps, all while I sat there eating canned beef.
"So, how'd it go last night?" Lucas asked, leaning in conspiratorially.
Celia didn't bother speaking. She simply thrust her left hand forward, palm up, presenting the Chaos & Void ring. The gemstone, swirling with red and blue, caught the sun and glittered.
Lucas stopped mid-sentence. His eyes, initially focused on the complex patterns of the gem, slowly widened until they were comically large.
"Wait a minute," he started, squinting. "Is that—"
"I'm engaged!" Celia announced, practically bouncing on the balls of her feet. "It worked, Brother! Your advice worked!"
I threw my hands up, yelling over the sudden celebratory chaos. "No, she is not! It was a Soulpack! Not an engagement! There's a difference!"
Lucas completely ignored me, stepping forward and clapping Celia heartily on the back. "Congratulations, sister! That's awesome! See? I told you persistence pays off!"
Celia high-fived him again. "Thanks, brother! It was all your strategy!"
Strategy? Both brother and sister conned me. Scammed.
"I don't think he heard you, honey," Celia chirped sweetly, leaning toward me and patting my arm patronizingly.
Honey?
I sank back into my seat, utterly bewildered.
My Soulpack with Elfie was something vastly different. This monstrosity involves cosmic travel, a seven-thousand-year history, a terrifying new power, and now a celebratory high-five with my bestfriend who now believes he is my fiancée's brother.
Wait no what do I mean by fiancée??? Nah man I am getting too dumb lately.
Lucas finally took the chair across from me, his expression shifting from celebratory to casually smug. He took a bottle of water from his own pack.
"Tough night, buddy?" he asked, taking a long drink.
"I faced the concept of linear time dissolving, the possibility of my soul being ripped to shreds, and then I was forced into an engagement bond with a woman who calls me 'Daddy'," I deadpanned. "So, yes, a tough night."
Celia settled into her seat next to us,. "He's just being dramatic, brother. He loved it."
Lucas winked at me, his smile wide. "Sure he did. Welcome to the family, Kaiser. Now, about these primordial beasts..."
Lucas finished his water and folded up his small reconnaissance map, his easy smile tightening slightly—a signal that the conversation was shifting back to business.
"So, the Leviathan," Lucas began, his voice dropping to a more serious register. "I spent the night tracking the signs. Mana disturbance, migratory patterns of the local wildlife... everything points to the fact that it's moved further west. My best guess? It's resting somewhere near the border of the Celestine Lands."
I nodded. "West of Celestine, at best? That's concerning. If it's pushing toward the Great West, we start running into real trouble."
"What kind of trouble?" Celia asked.
"The political kind," I explained. "We're entering the high-risk zones. The Demon Realm and the Elvian Realm are both situated there. If that beast causes trouble near their borders, complete lockdowns can be caused."
Celia scoffed, shaking her head. "Most likely not. I've read in those dreary books—sorry, Kai—that elves and demons have powerful ancient barriers around their realms. Leviathan can't enter from the ground without activating serious alarms. It would be a suicide mission for the beast."
Lucas confirmed with a nod. "She's right. The barriers are ancient and powerful. But the biggest issue is access. To reach the deepest parts of the West, we'll need official, high-ranking paperwork."
I smirked, pushing my empty can away. "Paperwork? That's easy. We can just form a gang."
Celia and Lucas both gave me the exact same look—a deadpan expression of disappointment that was almost artistic in its synchronization.
"A gang?" Lucas sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose.
"No, honey," Celia said, rolling her eyes. She clapped her hands together brightly. "We can form a mob! That sounds much more organized and profitable."
Lucas shook his head, striking a thoughtful pose with one hand on his hip. "Nah. The mob is too weird. We're an elite unit. I think squad sounds better. It implies tactical competence."
I leaned back, throwing my hands up in exasperation. "They're all the same! You two just rephrased what I said! We are three people—an E-Rank, a weirdo, and the Queen of Curses. We are not a squad."
Celia poked my arm with her twig. "But we're a strong squad, husband. That's different."
I decided to ignore that. "Back to the plan," I insisted, forcing a serious tone. "Lucas, where does your map take us?"
Lucas immediately refocused, spreading the map on the table. "We follow this path. We should reach Sylvaris—by tomorrow morning if we push. Once we're there, we can talk to Sylvia, the Guild Mistress. Maybe she can help us create an official 'Adventuring Party' so we can enter those high-ranking zones without getting hit by ludicrous taxes."
Celia frowned. "Why not just pay the taxes and enter? We don't have time for bureaucracy."
I stared at her, genuinely surprised by the naive question. "Celia, where do you think I get my money? I'm operating on a shoestring budget here."
"I can barely afford this canned bread, and the average tax just to cross an internal border zone is about 120 Gold. To get to the Leviathan's projected location, we'd cross four zones."
"One hundred twenty gold?" Celia blinked. "That's insane."
I shook my head, my face grim. "That's cheap. The Demon and Elvian Kingdoms take 500 Gold just for foreigners to cross their entrance border. And Lucas can attest to this."
Lucas erupted in laughter, leaning back and covering his face. "The Asura Empire, takes 1,200 Gold for anyone with Celestine paperwork to even look at their territory!"
"So," I concluded, folding the map back up firmly. "We form a party to avoid tax."
The seriousness lasted all of three minutes.
"I still think we should just pay the tax," Celia muttered, stirring her beans. "It's insulting to wait for paperwork when we could be fighting the Leviathan right now."
"It's insulting to be broke," I countered. "And look, Princess, we are going to be interacting with the public. I need you to understand that in public, you call me Kaiser. Just Kaiser."
She paused, narrowing her red eyes. "But I want to call you Kai."
"I know you do," I said patiently.
"But 'Kai' is for when we're away from public eyes. 'Kaiser' is when we are presenting a unified, professional front to Miss Sylvia who is going to determine if we are competent enough to hold a Party Charter."
"No, I disagree," Celia argued, puffing out her cheeks slightly. "If they know how much I adore you—how perfectly bonded we are—it makes us more trustworthy. If I call you Kai, it shows the sincerity of our deep, abiding love."
"It shows them you're an unhinged girl who uses pet names in official documents," I sighed, running a hand through my hair. "And you know what they'll ask next? 'What's your identity?' And then we have to explain why the Queen of Curses is camping in a snowfield with two humans."
Lucas, who had been silently watching our domestic squabble, suddenly grinned. The air above our heads crackled with a low, ambient thrum.
"I think," Lucas said, standing up casually, "they're going to ask why your party leader is about to get soaking wet."
"Wait, Lucas, what—?"
A sudden sheet of cold, clean water—summoned with pure Celestial elemental magic—dumped directly onto Celia and me.
"GAAAAH!" Celia shrieked, jumping up, drenched from the shoulders down.
"You absolute jackass!" I roared, wiping the water from my eyes.
Lucas laughed—a full, hearty, boisterous sound—and grabbed his backpack. He pulled it onto his shoulders and, with a quick, complex hand sign, his own tent, our communal awning, and the folding table and chairs vanished into a shimmer of green light.
"See you in Sylvaris, slowpokes!" he yelled, already sprinting downhill, dodging the snowdrifts like an Olympic sprinter.
Celia was absolutely furious. The water steamed off her white hair and ribbon, and the new ring flashed dangerously on her finger.
"You will pay!" she shrieked, grabbing her own bag and hoisting it.
I sighed, grabbing my bag, already sprinting after her and Lucas.
This is my life now.
Celia instantly broke away from my side, making a tiny, nearly invisible cut on her index finger. A whip-thin, crimson strand of hardened blood shot out, aimed directly at Lucas's ankles.
"Cheating!" Lucas cried out, jumping over the blood-whip with the agility of an experienced Elemental mage.
"It's Soulpack Synergy, brother!" Celia yelled back, manipulating the blood-strand to snake around a nearby boulder, trying to create tension to trip him.
Lucas dodged left, then right, using gusts of wind elemental magic to propel himself forward and disrupt the blood whip. He glanced over his shoulder, still grinning.
"And I'm using air conditioning! Get faster, Sister!"
Celia finally closed the gap, tackling Lucas hard into a snowbank. They went down in a flurry of white powder and Cursed mana. I kept running, but slowed to watch the spectacle.
Celia straddled him, holding him down. "Got you! You absolute jerk! You ruined my hair! My ribbon!"
"It was just a prank!" Lucas wheezed, trying to wiggle free. "I apologize! Sister, I apologize!"
Celia leaned down and, using both hands, grabbed Lucas's cheeks and pinched them hard. "Say you'll never do it again!"
"Ow! Ow! I'll never do it again! You're crushing my face!"
It was exactly the kind of ridiculous sibling fight I had seen in small towns, only this involved two people that became siblings in 1 day.
I reached for the bottle of water in my hand—the one I had saved from lunch.
"Too late, slowpokes," I said, tilting the bottle and dousing both their faces with the remainder of the freezing water.
They both stared up at me, soaked and shocked, their fighting momentarily suspended.
"What—!?" Celia began, sputtering.
I threw the empty bottle at Lucas's head, gave them a brief, condescending salute, and took off running.
"Later, slowpokes!"
"KAISER!"
"YOU WILL PAY!"
Both their voices echoed, filled with outrage, and the sound of frantic scrambling followed me.
I heard the hiss of Elemental magic behind me as Lucas summoned a large wave of rushing wind to accelerate, and the sharp snap of Celia's blood-whip again.
"You can't outrun both of us, Kai!" Celia screamed.
"Watch me!" I yelled back, expertly slipping between two boulders just as the blood-whip impacted the stone.
"It's over!" Lucas promised, adjusting his aim.
"Try it! I've heard that many times!" I countered, swerving unexpectedly to the right, causing his powerful wind blast to narrowly miss me and hit Celia instead.
"LUCAS, YOU IDIOT! That hit me!" Celia shrieked.
"Sorry, sis! He's dodging! He's too fast!" Lucas defended, cursing under his breath.
I glanced back, grinning like a madman. I reached for my pack and pulled out a second empty water bottle.
"Here's a tip!" I shouted, tossing the empty bottle straight back at Celia's head. "Stay hydrated!"
Lucas batted it away with a focused blast of wind.
Celia, however, was done with finesse. Her blood-whip coiled, thick and sharp, ready to pierce my jacket. I pivoted just in time, allowing the razor-sharp blood to slice harmlessly into the earth.
"If you cut my jacket, I'm putting mud in your hair!" I threatened.
"I'll sew it immediately! You can't wash my muddy hair!" she retorted, her voice wild with the competitive thrill of the chase.
"Then good thing I'm faster than you two!"
I accelerated, enjoying the chase.
This was my squad. My team. My crazy, chaotic party.
The Last Step
(Third Person Omniscient) - 12:48 PM
The noon light of the late afternoon fell over Sylvaris. The city was a glorious, impossible blend of ancient stone and shimmering, perpetually clean Celestial magic.
The main market street was a riot of color and noise. Vendors hawked their wares from temporary stalls draped in luminous silks: plump Celestine grapes, jars of preserved Elemental honey, and shimmering vials of pure mana essence. The air smelled of roasting spiced meats, freshly cut timber, and the sweet, cloying scent of magical confections.
Eve walked with a hurried, bouncy step, the crowds parting just enough to let her through. Her eyes, bright with the innocence of the Celestial Realm, took in the sights.
In her hand, she clutched a small, elegant box containing a slice of her latest acquisition, but she was currently munching on a creamy, ring-shaped donut dusted with cinnamon.
Mmm.
Eve's inner voice was a soft, delighted hum.
This is why Celestine is the best. This creamy filling is soooo tasteyyyyyy! Seriously, I should have opened a bakery instead of chasing after my pasttttt.
She took another large bite, her cheeks puffing out adorably as she walked toward the city's central square, seeking the famed Crystal Fountain.
As she rounded a stall selling polished geodes, her attention was snagged by a commotion.
A slender, sharp-featured young man was mid-argument with a portly shopkeeper. The man had rough, dark clothing and carried an air of aggressive, desperate competence.
"Are you fucking kidding me?" the man snarled, gesturing wildly at a small, dark vial in the shopkeeper's hand. "Two hundred gold for one Cursed Mana Potion? That's atrocious! Are you trying to steal on my measly pocket change?"
The shopkeeper, a man whose face was set in a permanent scowl, slammed his hands onto the counter. "My price is my price! Does everything that comes out of your mouth have to be a curse word, boy? We are in Sylvaris, not the slums!"
"My life, my choice," the man, Kiel, retorted, leaning in. "And my choice is to tell you that your price is a goddamn insult! How about fifty gold? Take it or leave it, you bloated Celestial thief!"
Eve giggled behind her hand, her eyes crinkling. The man was rough, but funny. She shook her head, took another bite of her donut, and continued past them.
Kiel was swearing at the shopkeeper, who was turning progressively redder.
Then, the atmosphere changed. The market noise didn't stop, but it seemed to flatten, becoming a dull, background hum. People suddenly began to press themselves against the walls of the stalls, heads bowed, an instinctual fear radiating from the crowd.
Eve looked up.
A man was moving through the street, and he commanded silence without saying a word. He was tall, strikingly handsome, with hair the color of fresh snow and eyes the color of old, aged wine—a deep, luminous red.
He was dressed in a pristine, long coat of midnight velvet, embroidered with platinum thread that shifted like liquid shadow. It was the color of royalty, and the magic—thick, heavy, and ancient—spoke of pure Cursed power.
He was a Demon, and a high-ranking one.
Trailing behind him was an imposing retinue of personal guards, each one crackling with oppressive dark energy. One of the demons, a hulking brute with horns, slammed his shoulder into a bystander who hadn't moved fast enough, sending the poor man sprawling.
"Watch it," the guard snarled, his voice a low growl. "The Demon Lord is moving past here. Pay respect."
Eve, still munching on her donut, hadn't quite registered the danger until the giant demon guard turned its intimidating gaze on her.
She was directly in their path.
The guard took a step toward her, hand raised to shove the "normal civilian" out of the way. Eve braced for the impact, a little bubble of fear catching in her throat, her cutesy demeanor dissolving into genuine panic.
But before the guard could touch her, a slender hand shot out and clamped around his arm.
The Demon Lord.
The tall man stopped. The royal guard looked down at his own arm, surprised, then up at his master. "Your Highness?"
The Demon Lord, Lucifer, turned his red eyes—eyes that held the weight of a kingdom—onto Eve. His expression was cool, regal, and unsettlingly eloquent.
"Apologies from my guard, miss," he said, his voice smooth and deep, carrying a faint, resonating echo. "He may have perceived you as a normal civilian in his haste to clear the path. Please do not pay him any heed."
Eve, flustered and scared, brought her hand to her mouth, the sticky sweetness of the donut suddenly forgotten.
"It's... it's okieee," she mumbled, stuttering a response that felt utterly inadequate.
Lucifer gave a slight, almost imperceptible nod. He released his guard's arm, and the retinue swept past her.
Eve watched them go, the heavy silence of the crowd following the Demon Lord's passage. Once they were gone, she let out a long, shaky sigh.
I'm still shaking a bit...
Eve watched the Demon Lord's procession vanish into the crowded market street, a small, involuntary shudder running through her. She hugged the cake box tightly to her chest and sighed in enormous relief.
Whew. That was terrifying.
She slowed her pace, her heart still beating a nervous rhythm against her ribs.
Demons are always so scawy. They didn't just walk; they occupied space with a physical menace that made the air heavy.
They could have seriously hurt me, or worse, ruined my pretty dress!
She breathed out slowly.
But the Demon Lord was so kind! An unexpected softness filled her.
He apologized for his guard! He's a good person, deep down. Maybe all those stories about demons being wicked are just propaganda.
He spared me.
:)
A few steps back, the Demon Lord, Lucifer, continued his stately, unhurried walk through the market. His right-hand guard, a hulking demon named Malak, looked down at his arm with an expression of confused respect.
"Your Highness," Malak rumbled, his voice rough. "Forgive my forwardness, but why did you stop me? She was merely a civilian, easily moved."
Lucifer didn't break stride, his red eyes fixed on a distant point. His voice was cold, sharp as a blade of ice. "To save your life, Malak."
Malak stopped dead, stunned. "Your... Your Highness?"
"You would have been instantly erased," Lucifer stated flatly. "Or perhaps consumed into the void she holds. You would not have even had time to realize you made a mistake."
Malak quickly caught up, moving to his lord's side with a newfound, respectful trepidation. "Understood, Your Highness. I thank you for your grace. I was clearly mistaken; she was something special."
Lucifer gave a slight, dismissive wave of his hand. His inner thoughts, however, were meticulous and chillingly precise.
She stood there with her ridiculous, sweet pastry, completely unguarded.
He recalled Eve's body language—open, bubbly, exposed from all angles.
Her expression was fear, not defiance, yet the space around her was subtly distorting. An infinite distance opened between us and her. I felt the raw pressure of suppressed power, not Cursed, but a purity of Celestial might that was utterly terrifying.
Many may not be able to tell, but she is suppressing her mana by at least a thousand times her actual capability. She is similar to me, a being of absolute, unbridled power.
But who is she?
And why is she eating a donut in the middle of a market while holding that energy in check?
Eve finally reached the edge of the large Crystal Fountain, which shimmered gently in the afternoon sun. She sat on the cool marble rim, kicking her legs back and forth excitedly.
Okay! Time for the real treat!
She carefully opened the box and took out the piece of creamy Celestial Dream Cake. The first bite was everything she dreamed of: light, sweet, and bursting with mana.
Oh my goodness, this is so good! she thought, her eyes closing in bliss.
I'm going to buy ten more slices before dinner!
But as the creamy sweetness hit her tongue, the feeling of joy slowly began to die.
The excitement drained out of her, replaced by a cold, leaden weight.
Her heart rate, which had been racing from the fear of the Demon Lord, suddenly increased further, but not from fear—from pain. Her breathing became shallow, and a wave of acute nausea washed over her.
She felt cold, sick, and a sharp, throbbing ache settled deep in her chest.
What is this?
Her pink eyes opened, clouded with confusion and misery.
My chest hurts so much… and I feel so cold.
She looked down at the cake, her gaze turning cold and detached, utterly unlike her bubbly self.
I lost my appetite.
She gently placed the unfinished cake back in the box, sealing it with agonizing care. She sat there, a beautiful girl on the edge of a crystal fountain, overcome by a heavy, invisible dread.
The fountain water, sensing the Celestial distress, rippled unnaturally and moved toward her, carefully washing the sticky cream from her fingers.
Eve reached into the small pouch at her waist, her fingers trembling. She pulled out a ring.
It was exquisite. The band was a shimmering, light gold, delicate and forged with the subtle radiance of the Celestial Realm.
The centerpiece was a breathtaking gemstone: a perfect, shimmering Pink Heart nestled in the center, and around it, a turbulent, living halo of Deep Cobalt Blue swirled and flowed. The colors moved, one encapsulating the other, the blue protecting the heart, the pink fueling the blue.
She slowly muttered, her voice colder than the fountain water.
"I'm jealous. I want to kill her."
Her soul was talking.
She slowly put the ring onto her ring finger, the cold metal a perfect fit.
"It takes sadness of life to appreciate the beauty of life," she whispered, her eyes dark and heavy with unexpected emotion. As the ring settled, the pink heart in the gem began to glow softly, a subtle, desperate light.
"This tragedy of existence was caused by someone."
Her eyes hardened, the pink turning almost metallic.
"They will pay."
Maybe some promises are forgotten, but their souls remember them.
One thing the world didn't know—not only do Soulpacks alarm each other when they are hurt, they also alarm each other when they are being stolen by the heart.