Waking up slowly, Shizu opens his eyes and looks at the ceiling, he puts his hand on his head while complaining about pain, sitting on the bed, the boy puts his right hand over his face while looking at the floor with a sad and angry look while asking himself at the moment that the memories that he was going to attack Anin appear in his mind:
— Agh.... what were you doing?... Shizu..
A light knock on the door is heard, Shizu raises his head and there she was, leaning on the door with her arms behind her back and her hair falling over her shoulders, Anin asks:
— So.. Do you feel better already?
He lowers his gaze and soon gets out of bed, walking slowly he approaches Anin and kneels with his eyes to the floor:
— Forgive me, Anin...
She sighs, and gets closer to the boy, gets on her knees and asks:
— Shizu! raise your head for a second.
Shizu raises his face and suddenly she gives him a flick on his forehead, he stoops down with his hands on the painful spot while groaning in pain. Anin with a serious expression unclenching her fists:
— Don't apologize to me, right now shouldn't you tell me something else?
Shizu remembers earlier, every moment he spent on Anin's lap, and raises his head replying:
— Thank you so much, Anin... you saved me.
— Thank you...
She gives him a smile showing how comforting she was with that boy while saying with her blue hair glowing brighter than the sunlight coming through the window:
— You're welcome, Shizu, whenever you need.
— I will be here.
Shizu sees that smile, and something lights up inside him, placing his hand on his chest while watching that smile penetrate all the deepest darkness of his heart while thinking, looking at that image that looked more like an angel:
— " This..., this smile..."
— " is it really something I should let disappear?.... would I really try to harm such an incredible person?.."
As he squeezed his chest tighter, he feels it at once, and remembers a sentence from a woman telling him something he remembers clearly in his memories:
— "Shizu... If someday you meet someone with whom you can admire a big, beautiful smile, protect it... protect with all your heart the smile of everyone who is important to you..."
— "just like mom does with you... my son"
Suddenly a tear falls from his eye, Anin sees that tear stream down his face, she gets closer, then he stands up with a serious look, he crosses his arms and strikes a pose while promising, looking at her with a smile:
— Anin, I swear!, I will protect everyone until the end. Everyone I love, that's why I won't bow my head anymore! I will do this using all my strength, or if I don't...
He squeezes his arms even tighter with a firm look and a blue aura explodes from him out of pure confidence, while a necromantic shadow comes out from behind him. Anin sees that and her eyes shine, she sees there, the look she loves the most in that person.
— OR MY NAME ISN'T...
— SHIZU MARK!
Far away on top of a roof, crouching with the chains passing over his neck and a relaxed pose, the man with the hood smiles, while licking the chains:
— What an Aura... I even...
— GOT SHIVERS ALL OVER, SHIZU MARK!
Sterfen and Detrin, who were sitting behind the door, feel that aura and start to cold sweat while looking into each other's eyes. Detrin asks Sterfen:
— Hey... Since when does Shizu have all this pure energy?...
Sterfen answers with a serious look, not sparing words and with a firm voice:
— He always had... all this pure energy with him, and it was for that exact reason that I was sent here...
Detrin doesn't understand for a few seconds, but suddenly he gets up, takes a step back, holding a stone in his pocket, and asks seriously:
— What do you mean by that?! Sterfen!
— What is your plan?!
Sterfen gets up quickly and, with fear, tells Detrin while waving his arms and taking a vulnerable pose:
— Calm down, Detrin! That's not the way I meant it! I'll explain everything, calm down!
Suddenly, silence takes over the place and a voice is heard from behind the bedroom door:
— Reserve.
Sterfen realizes, but it was already too late. A necromantic shadow appears behind him and holds the hand that was going to draw the sword from the scabbard. Shizu opens the bedroom door with a neutral expression, stands face to face with his companion and, after that, asks only once:
— Sterfen... What did you really come here to do?...
Anin comes out right after, desperate about a possible fight there and worried, asks Shizu to let Sterfen go. Detrin goes a little further back, in fear, because he feared what could happen there. Shizu asks one more question and then points his index finger at Sterfen:
— You are here because of me, aren't you, Sterfen... If you don't answer...
— Things might get ugly...
Sterfen sees no way out and soon says while lowering his head, with a face of anguish and defeat:
— The reason I was sent here... was to kill a possible threat to the West....
Anin and Detrin are in shock and cannot believe what they just heard. Anin, with a shocked face, looks at Sterfen and asks:
— You mean...
Sterfen lowers his head even more, squeezing his eyes with anguish, and speaks with a trembling voice:
— Yes... I was sent to kill... the person responsible for eliminating Ana Izius Babadar...
He raises his head with a look of fear and a calm voice, stating right after while looking into his companion's eyes in front of him:
— They sent me here to kill you, Shizu Mark!
Both stare at each other for a long moment. Shizu loses his neutral expression and asks while scratching his head, making a face of relief:
— Ahhh... So that was it? You should have been clear from the start, man!
Anin, Sterfen and Detrin look at him without understanding what he just said and just scream in sync:
— WHATTTTT??!
Seated at the inn table, Shizu was with his arms crossed looking at Sterfen, who with his head down looked to the sides, uncomfortable, because Anin and Detrin were also staring at him. Then, after some time, he turns his gaze to that dark wooden table and asks with a low voice:
— So... What do you want to know first?...
Anin wastes no time and, with a loud voice, she gets up from the chair and asks Sterfen while using a look of disgust:
— ISN'T IT OBVIOUS?
— We want to know who you really are and also who sent you here!
She clenches her hands and looks at him with more anger, while he just looked at that table. Detrin and Shizu remain in absolute silence, as they also wanted to know all of that. Sterfen finally decides, takes a deep breath, looks at Shizu and tells the truth with a serious and sincere look:
— Alright, I'm done. Now I'm going to tell the truth, so listen, because... depending on the way you interpret my motives...
— We might be enemies in a few hours...
Shizu approaches the table and places his elbow on the table while supporting his head, and then, with an unconcerned look, answers:
— Don't worry, even before having this conversation I already have my decision.
— Just like you, don't you? Sterfen.
Detrin and Anin turn abruptly to Shizu, worried about the possible decision he had made, but accept and Anin returns to her chair. Sterfen looks into that boy's eyes and tells all his sincerity and truth about his plans and motives:
— My name is Sterfen Hermes Diones.
— I am an apprentice to the Master of the Sword of Light, Miopo Zanios, and I am here on a mission for him.
— 7 years ago, when I was found by him, who saw in me what was necessary to be his apprentice, he taught me several things about everything in this world besides the swordsmanship of light.
Sterfen gets more apprehensive with the words and starts sweating while seeing those looks on him, and even so continues:
— Right after my master taught me so much about everything he had knowledge of, he told me that I needed to go out on my own and discover how horrible the world we are surrounded by is... and it was at that moment that he told me about you, Shizu.
Shizu stares with more precision and asks with disdain and doubt:
— What do you mean?
Sterfen presses his hands together and, right after, answers looking at the table with an apprehensive look:
— 1 month ago, after my master told me that, a letter arrived for my master from the Council of World Assassins and another from the 15 Supreme Powers.
— That 2 months ago Empress Ana Izius was killed by a rebellion formed by a human leader and that, obviously, he is seen as a dangerous person to the West.
Sterfen looks at the boy in front of him and speaks seriously:
— They treated you as one of the extremely dangerous inexplicable beings after defeating the tyrant who kept the Western Pillar quiet. Shizu Mark, the False Prophet!
Shizu stands still for a few moments and soon snaps back to reality, standing up quickly from the table claiming without hiding his indignation:
— WHATTT??? FALSE PROPHET?!
Detrin jumps from the chair and starts to despair while walking backwards, pointing at Shizu while asking screaming:
— SO YOU'RE A FALSE PROPHET, SHIZU??!!
Shizu turns to him indignant and points his finger at him too while shouting hysterically, justifying himself:
— OF COURSE NOT! WHY DO YOU THINK THAT, YOU INSANE FREAK??!
Both keep shouting at each other while walking in circles in the room, pointing at each other in idiotic poses, while Anin and Sterfen watch that hilarious scene:
— AH, ARE YOU GONNA TELL ME YOU DON'T SEE THE FUTURE NOW? FROM THE BEGINNING I KNEW THERE WAS SOMETHING STRANGE!
— CAN YOU READ MINDS?? TELL ME, CAN YOU READ MINDS!
Shizu shouts louder while pointing his finger wildly:
— STOP BEING AN IDIOT! IF I COULD READ MINDS, I WOULDN'T GET INTO THESE MESSES!!
— Ahem...
The mood breaks with Anin's calculated cough. She looks at Sterfen and asks one last question with a serious look and hands on the table:
— Sterfen, you mean you're not part of the Global Assassins and you're not part of the 15 Supreme Powers either... Why exactly did your master send you here? I don't think that's something a master asks such a young apprentice...
Sterfen faces Anin and answers without hiding words or hesitating:
— You might think so, but the problem goes much deeper.
— My master is an extremely demanding and righteous person and, as soon as he found out that Shizu could become a threat to the West, he made sure to prevent that threat from taking a bad turn.
He stands up, looks at Shizu and continues speaking with that serious and confident look:
— I was sent not necessarily to kill you, it's more of an observation. Killing would be a last resort if necessary and I'm sorry for what I'm about to say now, but...
Sterfen gets more serious and looks deep into his eyes:
— If at any point you proved to be a threat to innocent people and were an evil person... I wouldn't hesitate to kill you.
Detrin turns his head to the side and Anin lowers her head, but Shizu just sighs and right after pulls a chair and sits down. Doing so, he speaks normally with Sterfen standing in front of him:
— Eh... I already knew your mindset would be like that and you know, I don't judge and I don't think it's wrong.
The three, who were in a completely different mood from Shizu, look at him confused with that way of speaking from their companion, and right after this sentence Sterfen asks:
— Aren't you angry or totally disgusted to know that I betrayed you guys?...
Sterfen looks at the floor. Shizu laughs at that sentence, a relaxed and light laugh. He looks at Sterfen and speaks:
— No, you didn't betray us. Actually...
— You were the most sensible one here. You didn't think of yourself for a single moment, you thought about what would happen to these innocent people and, you know... I think that's incredible.
Sterfen suddenly feels something. He looks up again and sees that boy's face: totally normal. There wasn't a single trace or affection of anger or grudge about what he just heard, as if Shizu understood his principles and, like everything else, understands that Sterfen didn't want to hurt him. Shizu gets up from the chair and asks:
— Sterfen, I said I had already made my decision even before the conversation started, right?
Sterfen looks to the side with sadness and answers downcast:
— Yes... You said, and I don't care if you really want to be my ene—
Suddenly, a hard slap is felt on Sterfen's back, which right after is received by the sentence that made him immediately look at Shizu, who had a smile bigger than his face:
— Then why do you have that sad dog face? Aren't we partners? Partner.
Seeing that made something light up inside Sterfen. He saw that face right there and soon thinks to himself that it wasn't the first time he saw that on that boy, that expression that everything was fine and that marked in his mind that that person wasn't all those bad things they said about him. Right there was just a child who, despite everything, was just fighting to survive in that world.
Closing his eyes, Sterfen covers his face with his hands and soon asks Shizu:
— Do you... forgive me for lying like this to you guys?... Even after everything?...
Shizu turns his back and soon asserts, with a smile on his face and striking a pose:
— No, Sterfen, it's not just to me that you need to apologize.
Sterfen opens his eyes, and Anin and Detrin are standing right there in front of both of them, with their arms crossed and looking to opposite sides. Then Sterfen understands, looks at them both and, with a serious look, speaks with a full voice:
— Anin! Detrin! Please, forgive me for lying for so long!
Anin looks at him and answers:
— I have nothing against you. If Shizu thinks you are a trustworthy companion, I understand and support him, but...
She gets a murderous look and stares at him with her arms crossed:
— If you try anything against him, I'm going to slice you up and feed your balls to the pigs...
Sterfen gets a look of despair and Detrin and Shizu cling to the nearest wall. Anin turns her back and sits in a chair. Sterfen looks at Detrin and asks:
— And you?... Would you forgive me?
Detrin sighs and answers without looking at him:
— Honestly, whether to forgive or not doesn't matter anymore. What matters is trust. If you want that, you must prove you're worthy of it.
— So instead of asking for forgiveness, ask for a chance to show you can be worthy of it.
Shizu makes a thumbs-up gesture with his hands while praising the comment:
— Wowww... Dropped some wisdom!
Detrin turns to the wall blushing while forcing his smile not to show:
— Heh... Heheheh... I know... So cool...
Shizu looks at Sterfen, walks up to him and right after extends his hand and asks:
— So, Sterfen Hermes Diones... Are you really going to be part of this crazy group and venture into an even crazier world?
At that moment he saw a light, and right after his right hand shone in an intense gold. Sterfen makes a serious face, but laughs, and right after shakes Shizu's hand and speaks firmly:
— I'm in, friend!
Suddenly Shizu feels a sharp pain in his head and a voice echoes in his mind:
— "Can you stop with all this cheesiness??! It's making my stomach turn in here, how disgusting!"
Shizu gets surprised on the spot and immediately shouts in his thoughts:
— "PHAUL! YOU'RE ALIVE!"
Phaul, inside Shizu's mind, sitting on a throne of skulls watching a red puddle, claims in a sarcastic tone:
— "To say I'm alive is stretching it too."
— "What do you want, you wretch? Did you miss me? Get a cat."
Shizu makes an expression of anger and melancholy, responding to the usual cold comments:
— "Ah right, you're a pain in the ass to talk to..."
— "But that doesn't matter! Phaul, I need to ask you: can you suffer some kind of outside interference in terms of communication with me?"
Phaul stays silent for a few moments and answers right after with a dry sentence:
— "Yes. And it's very likely that in a while I won't talk to you."
— "I assume you already know the reason, so I'm not going to waste my time explaining anything to you, you technique thief."
Shizu can't believe that annoying way Phaul treats him and asks:
— "Man, how long are you going to bug me saying I stole your technique?..."
— "But even so, I need an important favor, so you're going to do something..."
— "I KNOW EXACTLY THAT YOU'RE THINKING OF REFUSING! BUTTT..."
— "If you refuse... you might lose an opportunity like the one I'm going to offer... Would your pride let that chance pass?..."
Phaul stays in absolute silence, and suddenly gets down from his throne and starts stomping endlessly on the red puddle with anger written all over his face:
— "AHHH, YOU WRETCHHH!!!"
— "SAY WHAT IT IS ALREADY!!!"
Shizu jumps on the spot and shouts with the greatest happiness in the world:
— I WONNNNNNNNN!!!
Anin, Detrin and Sterfen look at him, and Shizu right after freezes on the spot, runs out of the room and slams the door. Detrin turns to the two of them and speaks:
— I'm almost sure he's not right in the head...
Somewhere else, in a mansion, a Feral Fox with a long, night-blue cloak walks through his room observing an hourglass. When a lightning bolt strikes and the glow reveals someone at the window, he asks:
— Fontaine... When are you going to start working for real?!
The hooded man smiles and, with the chains clanking around his neck, answers:
— I'll make him and everyone suffer everything necessary, so be calm... Everyone will be crushed one by one, so...
— Wait eagerly for your moment...
— Maaprisius...