Lucien sat opposite of a trembling man sitting at a table. Lucien's amusement sharpened as he set his revolver on the table, the cylinder clicking faintly as it settled.
"Revolver Roulette," Lucien said like he was introducing a party game. "Simple rules. One bullet. Spin. Pull. Try not to paint the table with your gush."
The man's face was drenched in sweat. His knee bounced so hard the spoons on the table rattled. "I–I don't wanna play—!"
Lucien shrugged. "Well I wanna play. There's this annoying pale girl who thinks I'm just some murder hobo. I gotta show her I can make friends."
"That's…th-that isn't really the best way—!" the man whispered, voice cracking.
Lucien grabbed the revolver, spun the chamber with one flick, and pressed the cold steel to his own temple. "I'll go first."
Before he could even exhale, arms wrapped around his neck from behind, it was Sephyr yanking him into a chokehold.
"ARE YOU A MADMAN?!" Sephyr blurted out.
Lucien choked dramatically, flailing. "LET GO OF ME, OAF!"
In the chaos, the terrified man bolted and sprinted down the street.
Lucien pointed at the fleeing figure as Sephyr released him. "H-Hey! My prey is getting away! It's your fault!"
"He's not your prey!" Sephyr snapped with her arms folded. "You can't treat regular people like contracts.
Lucien grabbed her wrist and swung her off him, launching her across the table. She twisted midair like a feral cat and landed perfectly on her feet.
"Okay," Lucien said, straightening his coat, "I'll admit it. I suck at starting conversations unless they're about royals and rewards. That's all I know. I don't bother making connections with people because it's pointless. I'm good at responding to stuff, like if someone came up to me and started a conversation. But I can't for the sake of it."
He shoved his hands in his pockets and started down the cobblestone street. Sephyr followed, boots tapping beside him.
"Relationships and friends aren't important to me," he muttered. "People always screw you over. Take us for example. As for me and you, you're using me for my occupation and power, and I'm using you to get more royals efficiently. I might even sell your body—"
Sephyr scoffed. "Stop playing around." Then her voice softened slightly. "But… yeah. I know how that feels."
She looked ahead, eyes distant. "I told you I remember little, but I remember some. But my father kept me locked away. Always. I was part of some powerful vampire family who called me their 'Chalice.' Their prized thing. Never let me leave the estate. So when I had my chance, when the Blood Realm formed a tear, I ran and I didn't look back, but it cost half of my memories. I made a vow to myself, to care about myself only. I'm a vampire in a world of other species and humans. Relationships…friends…love….I see those all as chains to hold me down, the freedom that I yearned for as a kid would be put in jeopardy if I surrender to the aspects of a bond with someone. Fuck that. I wanna enjoy my freedom. Too many years trapped in that stupid place. I'll die before I let anything cage me again."
Lucien asked, "What about being my assistant? That won't get in the way right?"
Sephyr looked at him, "You're not keeping me on a leash are you?"
Lucien shook his head, "Heh? No. You're an adult vampire. And you came to me for help. You can go anywhere you want or do anything, just don't get yourself killed before I can fully put your servant abilities to full use. And be ready to fight with me when I call you."
"I'm not your servant! And I really can't enjoy this so-called freedom when I want to remember everything. That empty feeling hurts."
They passed through the street, seeing knights of the Empire in clockwork-plated armor standing at corners, their rifles humming with mana-tubes and glowing safeties. They peered over at Sephyr's form, cautious of all those with hoods on.
Steam hissed from copper vents along the brick walls, with Automaton pigeons perched on lampposts. Brass carriages rumbled past, powered by rune-reactors. Sephyr noticed everything with her heightened senses, trying to keep her mind off her own thoughts of her family.
She turned to Lucien. "Where are we headed?"
Lucien pulled out a coal-stained card. "What my servant Gustef gave me this morning. Someone mysterious wants to see someone as badass as me. I'm moving up in the world. I'm gonna be famous one day!"
"Yeah… Gustef," Sephyr said, eyeing him. "What's he to you?"
Lucien's gaze stayed forward. "…Just a guy that helped me when I needed it I guess. That's it."
She noticed immediately that he didn't want to go further on that, like he didn't wanna reminisce on his own past either, so she dropped it.
They turned into a dark alley, shadows swallowing the sound of the city. At the far end, a brick wall shimmered with stones rippling like water under a spell. But it only was visible when Lucien held the card to the wall, as the back of the card told him to.
Sephyr gasped. "Ooooh! A magic door!"
Lucien's thoughts sharpened.
'A secret entrance… and magic? Not alchemy. Whoever wants to see me… this isn't a regular person. Who is it?'
They stepped through, and the world blinked, cobblestone replaced by a floor swirling like a living galaxy, cold light shifting under their boots.
Sephyr instantly shrieked, leaping onto Lucien like a terrified cat. "AGHHHH! IT WAS A TRAP!"
Lucien staggered and wrestled, trying to pry her off. "GET OFF ME—!"
Up ahead, as they were wrestling, a colossal door was towering over them and forming slowly, black marble threaded with drifting white cracks like constellations.
Enormous pale hands protruded from it, each hand larger than a man, each palm marked with blinking eyes that rolled independently. The fingers were set in different frozen gestures, interlocking like sigils; Spiraling runes circled the door as well detailed symbols shifting like clockwork.
Lucien and Sephyr walked toward it slowly, staring upward.
"This is insane…" Lucien breathed.
Sephyr's voice wavered. "These entrances… I've seen them before… something terrible is behind those doors. We need to be careful—."
"Huh?" Lucien scoffed, already grinning. "Screw that. You know how weak we look trying to be all careful? We just go."
He kicked the door and it was Instant regret.
He collapsed instantly, grabbing his foot and rolling on the galaxy floor. "SHIT! SHIT! ABORT!"
"Told you," Sephyr said, arms crossed.
She approached the door, tracing the spiraling runes with her finger, her pupils dilating in recognition.
"Vaults…that's what these doors are. Like..like locks on a safe, they can hold anything. They were used heavily in the Blood Realm. They could hold almost any creature, divine being, power itself, and even boring ass treasure. My family trapped me in one…" Sephyr looked at Lucien, saying, "We… we need to solve the riddles to open it. Three tries, or we're dead."
Lucien stood up straight, expression shifting from amused to serious in an instant.
Sephyr began reading the first riddle aloud, and Lucien walked past her, wound his fist back, and punched the door.
The blast shook the whole chamber.
The hands recoiled and the runes flared like a gunshot, and the doors blew open with a shockwave of harsh wind that ripped Sephyr and Lucien's hair upward and sent dust spiraling.
Lucien's fist dripped blood, his faint black flame alchemy flickering across his knuckles like a dying ember.
"I didn't get invited here to play any damn games," he said. "I'm not having my time wasted. I'm gonna be taken seriously."
Sephyr's jaw dropped. 'He….broke that door?! A Vault?! Impossible! It wasn't just strength either, it can't be opened with strength. What is up with him?'
The galaxy floor trembled under their boots, dust shaking loose from the galaxy-patterned floor as a low groan rolled through the chamber.
The disembodied hands on the door twitched like startled insects, and began pointing at Lucien and Sephyr.
Sephyr's eyes widened. "Ohhhh, you did it now, Lucien!"
Lucien flashed a feral grin. "Haha! Hell yeah! No riddles for us! Take me seriously!"
Beyond the shattered doorway was only blinding white, just an empty radiant void humming with contained power. No chamber or hallways or staircases, just a threshold that felt like a god was exhaling.
Lucien cupped his hands to his mouth, slightly joyous that he blasted the doors open, thinking he'll be taken seriously, thinking whoever is inside can see him as dangerous. "CAN WE COME IN?! I solved the riddles!"
Sephyr snorted a light smirk despite herself. "Good one."
Lucien turned his head slightly. "I saw how you reacted when we got close to the door. You said something about Vaults? I wasn't really listening to everything you said. My bad."
Sephyr exhaled slowly, fingers brushing her amulet. "Yeah. These doors in the Blood Realm were used as vaults. I was locked in one by my family."
"Locked in one? That sucks. Do you not remember why they locked you away?"
"No. Not at all. But I feel like I did know. I was known as their Chalice, that's it. I wanna know what that really means when I remember more."
From the door, a shadow formed in the white light, growing sharp and more defined, until metal combined with flesh in a highly strange hybrid silhouette.
The figure stepped through with a measured clang, and the light behind her recoiled like it feared touching her armor.
It was an automaton but far too human-looking. A warrior forged in the image of a Valkyrie, but given really strange noble grace.
Her body was carved of pale celestial alloy, almost sculpted like marble, with seams of warm golden light pulsing faintly beneath. Her wings were massive golden constructs of plate feathers that shifted independently, humming with ancient magic unfamiliar to alchemy. Her face was serene and emotionless, a perfect mask with eyes that glowed like dawn.
Her name came with her layered and echoed voice:
"Lancer and the Sphinx do not adore your actions of violence. So I shall return the favor, for I am their Sentinel."
Sephyr's expression twitched. "The Sphinx…?" she whispered, a memory scratching somewhere deep and unwelcome.
Lucien cracked his neck. "Hmmm. Sephyr. I haven't seen you really fight before." He gave her a sideways nudge. "You're up."
"Ugh. Fine," Sephyr muttered, stepping forward. Her finger slowly lengthened into a needle sharp talon—
And in the same instant, Sentinel vanished.
A streak of gold and metal zipped by, her spear tore through Sephyr's torso with a brutal clap, splitting her in half like paper. Blood sprayed across the galaxy floor in a heavy red spray, her top half collapsing forward, lower half crumpling behind. Sephyr gagged blood, hand twitching, before her eyes dimmed.
Sentinel withdrew her spear with force. "There. Chaos for chaos, shatter for shatter. The debt is paid."
Lucien stared for two heartbeats.
Then he started laughing.
A short snort first, then a breathy chuckle followed. Then full hysterical laughter, doubling over with his hand on his stomach.
'Once they see what Sephyr can do, whoever is behind that door will really take me serious now!'
"That was fucking pitiful," he wheezed. He straightened, cleared his throat, then mimicked her voice perfectly: "'Chaos for chaos, shatter for shatter—' really? I'd come up with something way more menacing. Y'know. Like the menacing warrior that I am."
"Menacing…warrior?" Sentinel said with confusion.
Lucien pointed at the corpse casually. "Also, Sephyr's too annoying to die to a robot. You can't kill her."
Sentinel's eyes widened and an almost human gasp followed.
Because Sephyr's pieces twitched with her body writhing. Vertebrae snapping back in alignment, muscle weaving itself like red thread. Her heart reformed with a wet thump, veins spreading outward like roots. Skin sealed over muscle. Red hair stitching into her scalp again.
She rose with a violent twist.
One hand shot out, gripping the spear shaft still slick with her blood. She yanked it hard, pulling Sentinel off balance. Sephyr's foot slammed across Sentinel's face, once, twice, the impact ringing like struck brass. Sephyr flipped backwards like an animal, landing gracefully as she hurled the spear like a javelin.
It pierced Sentinel's chest, and the automaton flew back, skidding across the ground and rolling end over end before halting upright in a kneel.
"It lives…!" Sentinel cried, sounding unsettled for the first time.
Sephyr wiped blood from her lips, then without hesitation, she sliced her own palm. Her blood spilled upward, defying gravity, forming a spiraling whip before solidifying into a weapon that resembled a bladed crescent fused to a long serpentine handle.
The metal was pure red with pulsing veins stretching on the blade like fissures, and wreathed in flickering blood-flame that hissed like boiling iron.
Her pupils thinned into slits as she smirked at Lucien. "Aww, look at you cheering me on. Making me feel badass."
Lucien scoffed loudly. "No no no. I'M the badass here. And she—" he jerked his thumb at Sentinel "—better cherish this moment. She's going against Sephyr the Vampire. My bloodthirsty assistant. Please win so we can look menacing. I talked all that crap we have to back it up or it'll be embarrassing."
Sephyr tilted her head back and grinned with all her sharpened teeth. "With pleasure…"
The air shimmered as Sentinel's golden wings beat heavily, her spear slicing through the light with a hum of energy, each thrust calculated to smite Sephyr.
Sephyr leaned back, serpentine blood blade coiling in her hands like a living weapon, her pupils thinning as she blasted forward, her movements impossibly quick, weaving between the metallic strikes easily.
One of Sentinel's thrusts came down like a hammer, bright alloy light scorching the ground where it would have landed, and Sephyr folded her body backward, knees tucking into a perfect somersault, her blood blade snapping upward to carve a shallow gouge along the spear shaft. Sparks hissed as the red-bladed crescent scraped against the golden alloy, the sound echoing like steel tearing steel, and Sephyr landed lightly on her toes, spinning and striking at the exposed flank, forcing Sentinel to brace and pivot, her wings rattling under the pressure.
Lucien cheered Sephyr on, "GO! KICK HER ASS! DON'T LOSE! MY PRIDE IS ON THE LINE!"
Sephyr yelled back, "SHUT UP! I'M NOT!"
Sephyr attacked again, her weapon whipping in a curve, slicing past Sentinel's shoulder with such force that the golden spears' embedded magic flared, sending a wave of scorching brilliance outward.
Sentinel countered with a spinning thrust, attempting to impale Sephyr through the chest, but Sephyr twisted mid-somersault, her body almost liquid in motion, reforming into a volley of crows for a fraction of a second to avoid the spear's tip.
She solidified in a perfect crouch behind Sentinel, sweeping the blade in a low swing that shattered the spear's balance, sending the automaton staggering backward. Sephyr's speed was a storm of madness, Lucien noticed how her every strike carved, how her every dodge was meticulous yet chaotic, Sephyr's blood weapon burning like iron, eyes tracking Sentinel's mechanical movements with deadly intent.
'She has heightened senses too, it seems. She reacts fast, and she's agile. She's moved in impossible positions, she's been force breaking her own bones to avoid attacks and land unordinary blows, as she knows she'll heal again.' Lucienthoughts.
Sentinel recovered instantly, spinning with her spear in a brutal overhead strike, weapon glowing with an almost divine radiance, aimed to crush Sephyr to death.
Sephyr sprang ahead, kicking off the ground with a torque that sent her spinning over the strike, the blade snapping up behind her to pierce Sentinel's torso, drawing a hiss of alloy magic as it grazed her armor.
Sentinel staggered, wings flaring, then leapt, propelling herself skyward to crash down with a spear-point strike aimed like a meteor. Sephyr twisted midair, the blood blade slicing across Sentinel's exposed side, tearing through reinforced plating with a whispered hiss of boiling blood, before reforming into a handful of crows, reassembling just as her feet hit the ground, landing behind the automaton, and slashed her back seven times fast, making Sentinel retreat.
"I'm losing." Sentinel said. "This is unexpected."
Lucien yelled to Sentinel, "Damn right it is! We're dangerous! Ruthless! Merciless!"
Finally, Sephyr shot through the air, leaping across Sentinel, spinning over her suspended form, her blood blade slicing continuously, crafting razor-sharp slashes from the pulsing veins, each strike wounding and burning, forcing the automaton into defensive spirals.
Sentinel's golden spear was lifted, thrust, and swung in desperate measures, each move deflected or shattered. Sephyr twisted one last time, blade plunging directly into Sentinel's face, and with a violent twist of her body, sent the automaton spinning across the chamber, crashing toward Lucien.
"Catch, Lucien!" Sephyr smiled.
Lucien corkscrewed through Sentinel with his black and gold scythe, black flames licking the blade, ripping the automaton apart in fragments.
Sephyr landed peacefully beside Lucien, hair flicking as she did a curtsy, blood flame of her blade dying down. Then her sword melted into a blood puddle, slithering its way into her hand.
Sephyr slightly punched Lucien in the arm, "Happy?"
Lucien responded, "You're the best assistant ever. Making us look like the real deal in front of strangers is always a good thing."
"You're so strange."
"…Still not stronger than me though."
"Yeah right."
Lucien looked over at Sentinel, saying, "And this thing…filled with some power. I can feel it."
"Yeah, that."
From deep within the swirling white light of the doorway, a voice echoed, a male voice that was deep and carried weight and a threatening tone. "Come in. I've been waiting for you."
Lucien exchanged a glance with Sephyr, eyebrows raised, and they stepped forward together. The white light shifted to reveal a vast, mythic interior.
Books hovered in midair, drifting lazily as if the air itself was infused with magic.
Bookshelves extended higher than eyes could follow, spiraling into darkness overhead, while the walls sparkled with glyphs that pumped like a heartbeat.
Perched on an impossibly tall stack of books was a man lounging casually, his posture lazy and fit for the setting they were in.
Behind him, perched upon a jagged stone dais, was the Sphinx: Ocelos. Its body was a blend of smooth obsidian and muted gold, sleek and terrifying, with four muscular tails coiling like serpents. Across its broad torso was a grotesque yet majestic face, eyes spoke with wisdom and intelligence, staring at Sephyr as if peering into her past. Hovering above the Sphinx's head, a perfectly stationary black orb pulsed, casting fragmented shadows across the room.
The man on the books wore an elaborate noble robe, mostly deep blue accented with sharp white and a streak of red along the folds, and fancy trousers that stopped short of his bare feet. His messy but wet looking black hair fell to his shoulders, a single dark blue streak slicing through it. One earring glinted in the soft light. He rested his head against his palm, expression bored yet distinctly threatening. He was Lancer.
Sephyr's eyes widened as she scanned the room. "Oooh! It's got a bunch of magic books in here! Lucien, wanna see who can catch the most books?" she exclaimed, trying to lighten the tension.
Lucien rubbed the back of his neck, a flicker of disbelief crossing his face. "I told you I've seen crazy things… but every time I see something new, it scrambles my damn head."
'I thought I was gonna be able to keep my cool here…look serious and not shaken by anything. But here I am again, betraying my own self.' Lucien thought.
Then Sephyr's gaze fell on the Sphinx, and her heart hammered violently in her chest, sharp teeth showing slightly, fingers flexing.
Memories from the Blood Realm flickered in her mind, images of the Sphinx watching as horrific creatures and species tore through the small rip in the realm's domain.
The legends were true. Ocelos was here. Always watching, always calculating. She remembered whispers from her family: the Sphinx's only price for wisdom was solving its riddles, the cost often fatal. Her legs weakened slightly, knees threatening to buckle. Though Sephyr was remembering a little more, she was scared of this thing. Who wouldn't be? An omnipotent Sphinx who has been watching everything from the beginning.
'Stand up…Sephyr!'
Her legs still shook.
'I won't let my emotions cage me. Nothing will…it's just a damn mythic bird.'
Sephyr stood all the way up, her fists clenched, looking the Sphinx straight in the eyes.
Lucien's gaze stayed locked on the Sphinx for a long moment too, then he shifted his attention to Lancer. "You wanted to see me… I'm here. What is it?" His tone was calm but every inch of his posture expressed readiness.
Lancer's dark blue eyes swept over Lucien, a lazy and but amused expression on his face. "Ocelos hasn't been surprised in the thousands of years it's been alive. A mere human… able to break through a Vault, the same divine doors that cage royal treasures and even imprison divine beings…smashed open by a human?" He paused, studying him carefully. "Never mind. You're no normal human. Altered, yeah…"
Sephyr blinked rapidly at Lucien.
'Altered…? What did he mean by that?'
Lancer shifted his gaze to Sephyr, a smirk tugging at his lips. "The Sphinx remembers you too, as it remembers everything it has spectated in the history of the worlds. Since the beginning."
Sephyr's chest tightened. "Then it's true… it's really Ocelos."
Lucien's eyebrow twitched. "Memories again?"
Sephyr nodded grimly. "Yeah. Ocelos, the Sphinx who watches but does not interfere. It sees all and knows all, but does not willingly give its wisdom or knowledge to anyone. Probably not even to that guy."
Lancer's gaze hardened slightly. "True. It requires almost an entire soul to sacrifice and extreme wisdom just to get an answer. But it stuck with me…because I made a difficult and fatal contract with it. It is the most mysterious being I've ever encountered."
Sephyr's eyes narrowed, recalling the horrors of the Blood Realm. "It's mysterious here…and even there."
Lucien stepped forward, voice even. "I'm getting annoyed now. Why did you call me here?"
Lancer leaned back against the stacked books, expression bored, but his eyes were sharp and curious, tracking every twitch and reaction. Silence hung in the air heavy enough to make the floating books sway.
"It's all a lie."