Thud!
The rapid flipping of the pages came to a halt. Leaving a ringing quietness linger in the room.
Walker scrambled the cloth and tucked it inside his pocket and steadily stood up while pointing his dagger forward again.
One, two, three, Walker counted his steps while stabilizing his breathing approaching the desk with the book placed on it.
He stood by the desk and exhaled a sigh of relief. However, what was strange was that the book no longer had the text on it and the pages had turned pitch black.
Suddenly a speck of glow appeared on the left corner of the first page. Words began to appear in a stylish and almost royal font, glowing glamorously on the blackness that now veiled the pages.
It started forming into a sentence, or rather poetry. "A flower to a grave,
Kindness to the heart,
Life in the palm of death,
The art of a start."
Walker narrowed his brow and right as he touched the book, it slammed shut. Afterwards, all his attempts resulted in failure as the book did not budge no matter the gravity of the force.
He finally gave in and walked backwards until he could let his behind fall on his bed. He drew heavy breaths until he calmed down.
Realizing his priorities, he looked towards the window and saw the sunlight brightening the inside of his room, the room which had not seen the sun in months.
"When will I gain the right to live normally…?" Walker muttered in melancholy, feeling depressed about the way he had lived as far as he could remember.
In fact, he had no memories of his past longer than the 4 years he had lived in the Wainwright Settlement. He could vaguely remember the man who brought him to his mentor and what he had said to him.
The memory had become foggy as time passed but he remembered exactly what was said to him. "Seek Alan Starborne."
Alan Starborne… is he even real?
Walker closed his eyes and turned his head up then opened them, staring at the bells on his ceiling and their soft ringing that gave him peace of mind.
A few seconds later, he rose from his bed and headed to the kitchen. Near his cabinet of spices, he kneeled down and opened the one on the side of the cabinet. It was one of a smaller size and inside were a bunch of boxes carrying different tools.
Leaning on its wall was a hammer and beside a box of nails. The incident earlier alerted him about regular nails so he began boiling water then added minced garlic and salt before stirring them until they were boiled.
He looked at the nails he had taken out, all long and made of pure iron. But a whole pot of sanctified water would be wasted if he had used them just for the nails so Walker opened his ingredient cabinet and took out a bottle with silver powder inside it—minerals of the corresponding components.
Once he opened the lid, a strong smell of sulfur entered his nose. Raising his consciousness further.
He hurriedly moved his hand and quickly sprinkled it into the pot then closed it and stashed it back into his cabinet.
Finally, the water had been sanctified. Walker made sure to only take out a necessary amount inside a bowl to use it for the nails and poured the rest into different bottles as he let the nails rest in the sanctified water.
The nails made sizzling sounds. Not because the the water was hot, but the remaining impurity of the nails were being cleansed from it.
Walker took out the nails and splashed the water inside the bowl to the different nails that pinned the planks to the windows.
He finally returned to his room with the nails and the hammer and placed them on the desk where the book was as he went to get the plank.
While placing the plank on the window, Walker noticed a strange man wearing a dark coat standing and staring into his window, his face was veiled by the sunlight and his hat.
He blinked and the man disappeared. Walker brushed it off as a part of his imagination and continued nailing the plank on the window.
A few minutes passed and he was done. Returning his room to the usual darkness that kept the room company.
While caught his breath he heard three consecutive knocks on his door.
As he was nearing the door, he heard a voice. "Walker!!! Got something for ya." The young voice with the mischievous tone. Walker knew who it was… it was Sidric of the Blazehearts.
…
An hour ago in the Serina Hospital.
Sidric, a boy of a tall figure and black hair was given the order to escort Lucille from the hospital to the Blazehearts office. Sephro had personally asked the police not to get involved and to leave it to them.
As a person with a lot of hobbies, the current task was being done forcefully to get it over with.
He was awaiting Lucille with a carriage that belonged to the Blazehearts.
All of the current feelings vanished as the hospital gates opened to the beautiful presence of the girl before him. Lucille was slightly shorter than he was and also slightly younger.
She was being brought to by one of the senior nurses, a woman praised by all—Revenant Olivers.
Revenant carefully sat Lucille down inside the carriage and decided to alert Sidric before he departed.
"She's fine for now and will recover soon but remember to treat her with care. Tell that to your boss as well."
Revenant was a close ally of the Blazehearts and an old friend of Sephro's.
"As for Walker-"
Sidric interrupted and said, "I know."
Revenant's lips sealed and she nodded before returning to the hospital.
Sidric respectfully nodded and boarded the carriage and informed the carriage driver—one of the Blazehearts to head straight to the headquarters.
Whip!
The carriage driver raised his whip and carefully lashed the horses without making it too painful.
Soon, their ears only heard the clopping sound of the horses moving with sufficient speed.
Bored but also interested, Sidric tried making small talk not only to pass time but also to get acquainted with the girl before him.
"Greetings, good lady. I am Sidric Sault, glad to make your acquaintance!" He made sure to remain polite and manly with his tone.
From her unfocused gaze, Lucille awakened and looked towards Sidric and gracefully replied, "I am Lucille, and same goes here."
They both nodded simultaneously and relaxed on each end.
Lucille turned her head to peek through the horizontal crack that revealed the outside. Everything seemed foreign to her, the carriages, the fashion and even the buildings and structures.
Father expects me to succeed… I hope the opposite doesn't occur. Her expression remained melancholic, she couldn't properly express her emotions—not in front of strangers.
Further than a greeting, Sidric had no clue on what to talk about. He was pretty certain that if he began speaking of his hobbies, the girl in front of him would find him uninteresting and a dork so he remained silent.
But he did notice the girl looking pretty ravished, he understood how the hospital's diet worked. She probably had fruits only.
His confidence rising, he pumped up his chest and offered. "Miss, would you accept it if I treated you to lunch?"
She was taken aback from the offer but eventually, her hunger won over his overthinking and she accepted.
Reacting to her acceptance, Sidric turned around and requested the carriage be stopped at the nearest restaurant.
The driver however, argued against it and how he was there only to get them to the Headquarters but with a bribe, he accepted.
The carriage stopped near a restaurant, it looked quite lavish. The exterior was made mostly of glass, showcasing the inside of the restaurant to the passers.
The driver, Wince Langé didn't turn his head but Sidric could clearly feel his mischievous smirk leading him to a restaurant that would siphon his wallet.
But having come this far, Sidric was not about to lose face and make his first impression embarrassing so he led her inside.
He opened the door and waited for her to enter before following along.
They sat at one of the many circular tables and called for a waiter.
When the waiter arrived, she wore a white scarf that covered most of her hair and like a male, wore a grey vest over a white shirt and wore a darker grey coat.
She smiled politely before realizing who it was before her.
Surprised to see Sidric but even more surprised at who he had brought.
"Cloe?" Asked Sidric in surprise. "I'm surprised anyone would hire you… Congratulations though."
"Yeah well, if you got employed then mine is no surprise." Cloe sneered.
She then turned her head to Lucille and asked what she wanted, "It's on his tab so order whatever." She waited with a smile.
"I'll… I'll have whatever then." Lucille was clearly embarrassed and did not dare selfishly order anything. That was also done in her royalty discipline courses.
The smile on Cloe's face slowly decreased into a barely recognizable curve of her lips.
"Understood!" She wrote down something on her notes but Sidric found it hard to make a guess as neither of them ordered anything in specific.
Several minutes passed and the food finally arrived. Sidric was only served coffee and bread, Cloe understood his situation well.
Lucille on the other hand was served seafood, an extravagant one at that as Cloe explained. "This right here is fried flamefish found only at the boiling river of the Ignis Settlement, our close ties with them allows us to trade such delicacies."
"Ignis? As in Noah Ignis…?" Lucille was amused as she found a name that was so familiar to her being mentioned in a foreign land.
"Indeed." Added Sidric while taking a sip of his black coffee which he did not like but he had to pretend he did so.
"Then you must know about-" Lucille had almost revealed the name of her family but she stopped herself at the right time. "Pardon me."
Cloe and Sidric were confused but they became couped up with their own problems, leaving Lucille to enjoy the soft and naturally spicy fish that was perhaps too much for her spice tolerance but enjoyable regardless and it wasn't nothing a glass of water couldn't fix, thanks to the chef.
Finishing up with their lunch, Sidric led Lucille back to the carriage. Wince Langé had fallen asleep, Sidric had to tap physically to awaken him.
After half an hour, Lucille and Sidric arrived at their destination and had to get off the carriage.
During Lucille's descent, the carriage suddenly shook, ruining her balance. Sidric had to support her as she almost fell.
After helping her up on her feet. Sidric one last time, led her inside as politely and professionally as he could and bade farewell, telling her and the others that he had something to take care of.
One of the female Blazehearts, Irine. A woman of smaller frame and curly brown hair escorted Lucille as she still struggled to keep it together on her own.
Out of a sudden, a painful throb came to her head. She continuously rubbed her forehead while trying her best to mask it.
Irine stopped before a surprisingly bright door of white color. A circle was carved on the door, with another circle inside it indicating the moon and below it ignited a fire that represented warmth and perseverance against the moon's coldness and collectivity.
That was a symbol only given to the bravest in the Settlement.
They had arrived at the office of the Blazehearts leader, Sephroteus Blazeheart.