Two hearts beating against each other, drumming against their own rhythm as if transferring warmth against once another. A bridge between their souls, formed, connecting the two.
DUN
Lise fell to her feet, quickly captured by Helios using his arms. She held on for support, shaking. Looking up at the tender silver eyes and the worried face, dimly illuminated by the shades of orange under the market's lamps, so close to her own now, she laughed a little. "Sorry this is the second time, I just got a heart attack, I think."
Helios digs his heels firmer to the ground, "You keep having heart attack. Are you sure you're okay?"
Seas of crowds walk past them without noticing, the two young teens are insignificant. Lise smiled, a sheepish crooked smile, "Yeah. Maybe I'm just too happy whenever I'm with you. Or maybe you're too pretty I'm having a heart attack each time."
Helios bites his lips, either in embarrassment or annoyance. Either way, his pale fingers pinched Liselotte's cheeks. "Look I don't know who taught you to say these things but... But, please don't take it lightly."
"I won't I promise." Lise covers his hand with hers, smiling, and the two felt their chest warmer and their stomach fluttering.
They broke away, with a little reluctance, and approach Cyril who had been waiting patiently for the two. They're done with their culinary adventure and now Helios lead the search party towards a national monument, a statue of Genos made from green stone that change colour on specific days of the month. The statue isn't far from the night market, just around 100 meters from the bustling festivities. Yet, no other living person is around, making the surrounding an ideal place for their search.
"Maybe there's a hidden hole somewhere?"
Helios circled the statue around, while Cyril stood as if deep in thought. Rats scurried from one gutter to the other, the moon is shining brighter.
It's a full moon tonight.
Lise followed Helios around, trying to observe the statue. Kids in the village sometimes like to store things in secret, usually they do it to old posts that's abandoned since last wars. Maybe whoever hid the treasure Helios looking for could also use similar tricks?
She walked towards the anterior aspect of the statue, the face of Genos sitting with one legs raised up to rest his head. He looked big, domineering, majestic, and powerful. The direct vessel of God, the strongest man in the history of this world.
'When was this made? Was Genos alive when this statue is created?'
"The statue is crafted when Genos was alive." Surprisingly, Cyril broke the silence between their search efforts. "It's a very old statue, and very valuable to our Empire."
There's a red glint on the sword that was also sculpted alongside Genos. Lise is short so she tried her best to stand on her tippy toes to observe, her sandal's soles breaking apart a little as she does.
"That's a gemstone. A real gemstone, and it's Genos's favourite." Again, Cyril explained. The soft wind of the night, a cool breeze accompanying them. Lise could feel her eyes drawn to the gem stone, her breaths formed a small cloud from the cold air.
"I can't find it." Helios appeared from one of the shadows of the statue, looking dejected. Lise's attention shifted, "Do you know what we are looking for exactly? Like is it a paper? Is it something else?"
"That... I don't know," He sighs, "Sorry we came here only for me to not know how the treasure looked like."
"What if its this red gemstone?"
Helios firmly shook his head, "That's impossible."
"What? Why?" It looked cool enough to her, like an actual treasure.
"You can't move or take the gemstone. It's been sitting there for tens and thousands of years. And legend says it wasn't a gemstone."
"What?"
"It was an eye."
Lise took a step back, feeling chills in her body.
Helios's voice dropped, taking on the legend of a story told in hushed tones. "After the Empire's foundation, one of Genos's own students, a Grand-Wizard of immense power, grew arrogant. She thought she could stage a coup and take the throne for herself."
Cyril stood motionless, listening to a solemn history he clearly knew by heart.
"She failed, of course," Helios continued, his gaze fixed on the blood-red gem. "As punishment, and as a warning to all who would ever consider betrayal, Genos did not just execute her. He took her eye. The Grand-Wizard's eye. He had it preserved through his divine power and set it right here, for all to see. A trophy. A reminder of the price of defiance."
A cold knot tightened in Liselotte's stomach, far colder than the night air. The majestic statue now felt menacing, the glinting red stone no longer beautiful but grotesque. It was a piece of a person, a monument to a teacher's cruel justice.
"But…" she began, her voice small. "Wouldn't that make it an even greater treasure? A relic of Genos himself? Maybe that's what the 'X' marks."
"No," Helios said, his refusal firm and immediate. "It's impossible. Remember when I told you I found it between pages of a book in my library? It hinted at something else. Besides," he added, a superstitious dread creeping into his tone, "They say it's cursed. That anyone who tries to take it will be struck with the same blindness and betrayal that claimed the Grand-Wizard. The gem hasn't moved in all this time for a reason."
Dejected, he leaned against the stone plinth, the map hanging limply from his hand. The initial excitement of their nighttime adventure had evaporated, leaving behind the chill of failure. The bustling noise of the market felt a world away, and the silence around the statue was now heavy, almost accusing.
More importantly, Genos's cold marble eyes now seemed a lot more alive, as if its scrutinising Liselotte herself.
Liselotte hugged herself, her eyes drifting from the dejected boy to the imposing statue. Her gaze traveled over the powerful lines of the carved muscle, down the leg that was raised, past the knee…
She blinked.
There, nestled in the shadowed space where the statue's bent leg met the rough-hewn rock it sat upon, was a deep, narrow crevice. It wasn't a hole dug into the ground, but a gap in the stonework itself, hidden from most angles. It was exactly the sort of place a village kid would use to hide a secret.
"Helios," she whispered, pointing a tentative finger. "What about there?"
"Where?"
"This small crevice here."
Helios approached the hidden space, extending his hand carefully. His skeptic expression suddenly changed when his hand felt like it touched something.
"I found something."
His fingers traced a silhouette of something long, planted inside. It felt like a lever, because it can't be pulled. He carefully try to see if there's anything else hidden, but much to his dismay it was just that small hidden lever, covered in dust.
"There's like a small lever."
"Will you switch it?"
Helios hesitated, Cyril stepped forward in an air of defensiveness. "Your M- Helios, I feel like this is too hasty." The big stocky man plead gently, almost a whisper. "We don't know what might happen."
"..."
Helios grits his teeth, as if in frustration. "Damn it." He fumed, taking a step back. There's anger and dejection in his voice, a colour of orange seeps out from him like a desperation trying to get ahold. Lise has never seen him like this, he always has an aura of calm blue, or steady pure white.
"Helios, it's okay." Lise takes a step forward and cups his cheeks, bringing him back to the present. "Listen, we still have other days. It's alright at least we found something."
"No," Helios stares at her eyes filled with fear and dejection. "You don't understand. I need to find it. I have to. Now." He exasperated, "I don't know if I can go out again for another night. I don't even know if I can see you again."
"What?"
"It's been harder to try to go out for me now," His voice cracks, and the glint of his silver eyes made him look like he's about to cry. "Lise, my family is strict. I've been sneaking out for the past weeks to meet you. 21 days. Uncaught. Just how long do you think I can do this?"
Lise's eyes widened, she felt her heart skips a beat.
╔═·༻𐫱༺·═════════════════════╗
Just how long do you think I can do this?
╚═════════════════════·༻𐫱༺·═╝
A hazy blur, a pained voice, a pair of desperate silver eyes, cracking flames, and blood.
Lise's head felt a sharp pain, something made her ears feels like its vibrating. She blinked, furrowing her eyebrows. Like a fleeting vision, it appeared briefly, uninvited. As if this conversation is rehearsed. But there was something different from her deja vu: there's a vision. She's sure of it.
"Agh," She clenched her jaw, covering her ears.
"I... I'm sorry Lise," The boy misunderstood her, thinking something happened due to his actions. This time he inches closer carefully, "I got too emotional, I... I didn't mean-"
"No, it's not you. I just got a vision."
"What?"
"I got a vision. I saw something."
SHWING
A sharp sound like metal appeared inside of her, like a sudden crashing wave. Merciless, it made her dropped to the ground. The pain, the sudden intense pain is unbearable, as if her brain is going to get torn apart. Helios quickly kneeled to the ground, trying to help her. Her trembling body is leaned against his steady one and it frustrates Helios that he couldn't do anything.
"There's fire. And there's blood. And I hear a sharp metal sound."
Helios's breath hitched. The frustration and fear in his eyes were instantly eclipsed by a staggering, chilling recognition. "Fire... and blood... and metal?" he whispered, his voice barely audible. "Lise... I... I see it too. You're not alone. Me too."
The confession hung in the air, a shared secret more binding than any map. Without another word, he pulled her tighter against his chest, his fine cloak soft against her cheek. For a moment, the only sound was her ragged breathing and the frantic beat of his heart. In his embrace, the sharp edges of the pain began to recede, leaving behind a throbbing ache and a terrifying clarity.
"I don't know when my head will stop hurting," she mumbled into his shoulder, her voice thick with unshed tears. "But I think our best chance is the lever. What does the book hint at, the one where you found the paper?"
Helios went still, his mind racing, grasping at the memory like a lifeline. "The book... it was about foundations. About things built upon other, older things. It talked about secrets hidden... beneath the layers."
Beneath the layers.
His head snapped up, his silver eyes wide. He released her gently, his movements suddenly charged with a new, desperate energy. "Cyril, hold her."
Before the guardian could protest, Helios was on his feet. He strode back to the crevice, his earlier hesitation burned away by Lise's vision and his own haunting dreams. He wrapped his hand around the cold, dusty lever.
"Helios, wait—!" Cyril's warning was cut off.
With a grunt of effort, Helios threw his weight into it. The lever resisted for a moment, centuries of grime and disuse holding it fast, then gave way with a deep, grinding THUNK that seemed to travel up through the soles of their feet.
For a heartbeat, nothing happened. The night was silent again, the statue of Genos as impassive as ever.
Then, as Helios turned back to help Lise stand, a faint tremor vibrated through the ground. It was subtle, a deep, groaning shift of ancient stone.
The earth beneath them was moving.