"You've got to be fucking kidding me!"
Egan was furious. With a shout, he kicked the side of the wall, shattering its structure. Ser looked down, his hands covering his eyes, trying to look away from the gruesome scene before him. The Fire Emblem's face was covered in blood, like all the life had been drained out of him by force. The floor was lined with his crimson, now soaking into it.
"God, dude, this can't be happening!" Egan continued, now grabbing the man by the collar, "Why would you die now, huh? We needed you!
He began to shake him as though in an effort to wake up the corpse. Becoming more and more violent with each jolt, Ser grabs Egan's shoulder to stop him.
"Egan, that's enough! Leave the poor soul to rest, as retched as he was." Ser demanded, still looking down, rubbing his temples.
"No, he doesn't get to rest! He tried to hurt innocent people, and now he gets to escape from divine retribution. This monster doesn't deserve to be free!
"I understand your anger, but please, fighting over the dead will only anger the living. For the dead can no longer fight back."
Egan paused, his eyes shadowed by his hair. He stopped his bombardment of insults to the Fire Emblem's unlistening ears, turning around. He began to lean on the doorway leading to the main room, also rubbing his temples in frustration.
"We need to do something about this, Ser."
"I know, Egan, trust me, I'm thinking."
The pair is both leaning on something. Egan the doorway, and Ser the wall inside the closet. All the commotion prompted Liz to come check out what was happening. For she had returned from the apothecary with the knife in hand, ready to reveal crucial information. After peering her head past Egan, she views the unsettling scene of the hemorrhaged man. With a shriek, she launches back, her hands covering her mouth in shock. Her eyes went pinpoint, for the sunken face of a man drained of his life is not an easy thing to gaze at.
"W-What… Happened…" Liz said, looking up at Egan, who was still staring at the ground, eyes still shrouded by his hair.
"We don't know, Elizabeth." Ser said from inside the room, "But we do know one thing. Looking at this logically, the man was hysterical as soon as he came to consciousness. Maybe his hysterics had some truth behind them."
"Well, obviously! The guy's dead!" Egan said, looking up and shouting in Ser's direction.
"No need to take your anger out on me, boy!" Ser yelled back, demanding respect.
"Whatever…"
Ser continued-
"The way he reacted could have two meanings. One meaning could be that he was in fear of what we might do to him, and what would happen if he were to return to his base without his prey.
And two, something like this has happened before. And he had witnessed it."
Egan and Liz look up at Ser, faces of confusion washing over them.
"W-What do you mean?" Liz asked Ser, looking up, face still pale.
"It is too convenient for him to be hysterical about 'Dying' and then winding up dead, not even two minutes after. There has to be some reasonable explanation behind it."
"…"
The room fell silent. Nobody said a word.
The eerie humming of crickets lined the outside of the walls, filling the room with a chilling ambiance.
***
"W-What if… It was a kill switch?"
Everybody looked up at Olivia, who was clutching one of the scrolls in her basket. She was shivering; the sight of the gruesome man was not an easy one. With trembling hands, she places them on her chest, taking a deep breath.
She continues.
"Or some kind of failsafe. Maybe because he didn't return on schedule, or didn't give regular input, it activated some kind of spell that would kill the target it's attached to."
They look at her, now everyone is facing towards the young girl.
"What makes you say that, Olivia?" Ser said, walking out from the closet to face her.
"W-Well… I've read something similar to this in a book at the library where I work at. It was a common tactic used back during the Two-Hundred Year Conquest."
"Isn't that when the age of the gods began? Wasn't that like, a thousand years ago or something?" Liz responded, confused about how such ancient tactics are still prevalent.
"Yeah… But the similarities are functionally equivalent. It is almost identical to the process described in the book I read." Olivia continued, adding to her point.
"Is there at all a chance you could have misinterpreted something? I mean, how long ago did you read this book?" Egan said, hesitant to believe her.
"Once I read something, I can never forget it. I have an 'Innate talent' of Memory Enhancement, meaning any sort of written application I read, I can memorize and re-read in my head perfectly at any point in time."
"It would explain why he was so hysterical just moments before his death. Maybe he knew this would happen to him." Ser said, looking back at the disfigured face of the Fire Emblem.
"But it still wouldn't explain why he said, 'We're all going to die," Egan remarked, stating the facts.
"True, but what other explanation do we have, Egan?" Ser said, looking over at Olivia, who was still trembling.
Ser begins to walk over to the young librarian, each footstep shattering the quiet of the night. He soon places his hand on her head, a smile coming from his stoic face.
"You did well. Thank you, Olivia. But there is one thing I would like to ask you."
"S-Sure!"
"Is there any reason you can think of as to why this man would be hunting you in particular?"
The room fell silent again. The crickets are returning to play their symphony once again. Olivia looks down at the ground, her eyes becoming saddened, as though being reminded of a past she wishes she could forget.
"I-"
She begins to open her mouth but doesn't utter a word.
"It's okay, all of us have stories we would rather keep untold. Not every moment in one's life is spoken of fondly. But it is the ones that are most difficult to speak of that are the most freeing when finally spoken."
Olivia begins to cry. Her tears were painfully silent, as though being held back by a dam that had finally begun to overflow.
***
"I thought he was a member of the royal guard trying to kidnap me for my abilities..."
"Why would that be the case, Olivia?" Ser added, questioning the relation.
Her face became red, overflowing with tears, as her cries now became audible.
"I-I used to be an adventurer… Iron rank… Our party and I were confident, all of us equipped with the best equipment we could afford. Most of us were of Iron rank, but our leader was Tungsten. She was brave and so very strong… after we challenged a dungeon north of the Sanguine Dunes, she was the first one to lead us into the dungeon we had been tasked with exploring. I-It was already thoroughly investigated before then, but a new path had been blown open a few days prior, so someone needed to explore what was new. It wasn't a hard dungeon, its essence concentration was fairly low, so it was a hotspot for newbie adventurers to make some cash…But this part was different…
She began to cry more, falling to the ground, covering her eyes with her hands.
"I lied to them about my talents; I told them I only had two. The truth is… I have three 'Innate talents'. People with three 'Innate Talents' are immediately recruited into the royal guard, no questions asked. I didn't want to, so I kept it a secret. I didn't want to leave my brother. One being the 'Memory Enhancement' I told you about. Second, being 'Excel Fire', being a mage meant having an affinity for a certain type of magic, which was perfect for me. But...the third was... 'Enhanced Perception'… I knew that the passageway was dangerous, I could tell… And yet…
I didn't say a thing…
I killed them… I killed them all…"
She wept; her tears were filled with the sorrow of years of resentment.
It was heartbreaking.
Truly tragic.
***
"So you thought that the man chasing you was coming after you for your Innate Talents, am I correct?
After calming down a few, Ser, holding her in his arms to comfort her, she finally looks up, her eyes red a puffy from the excessive waterworks. Ser, letting go of her, looks back at Egan, who was standing there looking down at the young librarian.
"I'm sorry, Olivia," Egan said, looking down, feeling some sort of connection towards this girl.
For in some ways, he felt the same. Dooming people by being around them is a feeling he knows all too well.
"Please… Continue." Olivia said, wiping her tears with a handkerchief Liz gave her.
"What I'm confused about, though, is how he could have known about her talents if she had never told anybody?" Egan asked the room, wondering if anyone could answer his question.
Nobody could.
[A shining flash from his pocket blinds Egan for but a moment]
Looking down at his cloak's pocket, he notices something he had picked up earlier in the alleyway. It was the device that the Fire Emblem was holding while he was in pursuit.
'Maybe'
***
"I have something important to share! It isn't about how the guy knew about her talents, but I did find out what the poison-like substance was on the knife." Liz shared, eager for listeners.
The crowd looks towards her as she pulls the blade from her back and sets it on the desk.
"Apparently, it's a strong muscle relaxant. One prick from this blade and you would be completely out of it. It was also filled with a paralyzing agent, meaning that once they awoke from the first effect of the poison, they wouldn't be able to move again." Liz stated, a horrible expression plastered on her face, one of disgust.
Just the thought of what this man was going to do to this woman had Egan furious. It boiled his blood even more than it already was. He wanted to destroy this group more than anything. Not just his personal reasons, but to prevent others from falling victim to this terrible fate.
"I also have something I would like to get checked out." Egan said, walking up to the table and placing down a small object upon it.
It was round and circular, like a mini telescope. Its rims were lined with a black and silver coating, with silver markings etched into it. It was marvelous craftsmanship. But it was old and worn down. Egan could tell that it had been in use for a long time, which even further disgusted him.
The shiny yet tattered device captivated the others as they looked in to get a better view.
"Let's have a look here." Ser said, picking it up and holding a monocle up to it, "It seems like some sort of catalyst. If so, I am able to tell its use. I am very skilled at making them you see."
Egan, Olivia, and Liz all look up at Ser in anticipation, eager to find out what this mystery device is capable of.
[A blinding light shines from Ser's monocle]
[A shocked expression is seen layering his face]
A silence radiated throughout the quiet room.
Ser began to open his mouth, a look of shock still covering his face.
***
"This catalyst…
"Can be used to see someone's talents!"