The fiendish nightmare never left.

All night, the frost monster— someone who kept calling himself the Truth of Meynte —sat on her bed, continuing to talk to Tanya as she remained petrified in fear.

He spoke of his dastardly plans to end the reign of the Asukan Empire. He spoke of strange new truths, about herself, about what she was, about what she was born to be. He spoke of whispers and hopes and dreams, pouring sweet, poisonous words into her ears.

And when morning came, when her father found her awake and trembling in bed, she told him the Truth about Meynte, about the Frost. Her father merely brushed it off, asking her to forget it ever happened.

Not a soul noticed her empty smile.

“You will destroy Asuka. Your presence will herald devastation, and you will bathe in the blood of your own kin. Harbinger. Hopeslayer. That is what you are. That is what you will be.”

“Leave me alone…” she whispered to nobody.

“But I can see it so clearly, Tanya. Oh so clearly. Everything will perish at the touch of your Frost. Together, you and I will shred this universe down to its last atom. And then, standing atop the corpses of the butchers you call Gods, we will create a new one. A better universe, one with no Asukans in it.”

“No, no-nono-NO! You’re wrong!” Tanya spat, drawing her knees close to her chest. “I’m not a monster! I’m not you! Just— just go away!”

No matter how much she wished otherwise, she knew his words were not lies.

It happened when he spoke. When he described the destruction she’d cause, something primal inside of her swelled with vigor, with excitement. A jolt ran down her spine, and she felt the edges of thrill as the Truth of Meynte viciously described the unspeakable horrors she’d unleash on her own kin.

She hated herself for it.

But his words were not lies.

Bremetans were beings of lifeforce. Creatures of flesh and blood. They bound foreign elemental creatures to themselves through the Shikigami ritual to use mana.

But not her.

She had mana. Natural mana, coming from her own body.

It allowed her to drag Winter out of her soul and unleash it upon the world. Cold, frosty, dreary, dark, serene, Winter. Snow that hurt. Snow that burnt. Snow that consumed until there was nothing but Frost left. And when her powers were unleashed with no limits, the world around her became a pure, unending white.

Everfrost.

“Let me show you…” the Frost coaxed. “Let me teach you about your origins. Your powers. And then, you and I shall march towards your bloodsoaked destiny.”

“No, I won’t do—”

“Tani?”

Tanya froze. The voice belonged to her nephew, a mischievous little tyke who was barely five and absolutely taken with her. He must’ve snuck into her room to play with her again. But why now? Of all times, why NOW—

“Tani, where are you?”

A cold shiver ran down her spine. He didn’t know yet. He had no idea she was a monster in hiding.

“Kenta, don’t—” she began, but the rest of her words died in her throat as she spied her little nephew sauntering in. The boy’s face was shrouded with concern for a moment, before he met her eyes and grinned, oblivious to her growing horror.

“Tani! Tani! TANI!”

He dashed towards her like a blond missile—

“DON’T COME NEAR ME!” she screamed, the utter terror in her voice causing the child to flinch. He immediately froze, barely a foot away, before extending hand towards her face.

“Tani,” he spoke again, his voice wobbling with fear and confusion. “You okay?”

She stared at the offered hand with something akin to disbelief. It was a simple thing. An offer of warmth. Of care. Of concern. Of affection.

Of food.

Of hunger.

Of lifeforce.

“Of course.” There was a slight inflection in her voice, one that little Kenta was too young to decipher. To him, he was too happy to spend time with his Tani. It was enough just to be in her presence.

Slowly, her lips twisted into a small smile.

“Everything is perfect.”

Unbeknownst to herself, her eyes flickered a terrible, bright white.

An Eztli Contract.

It was a popular means of establishing contractual agreements between parties when it came to freelancing. The contracts were agreed upon, supported, and enforced by the lifeforce of both parties. Because of the rigid way they were often structured, they were absolute, unbreakable pacts.

It was also why they’d slowly lost relevance over the centuries, especially after the Adventurer’s Guild took over.

But inside the depths of the anomaly, an Eztli contract was their best option, one that would ensure they could freely discuss everything without the suspicion of others divulging secrets they’d learned to a third party.

“Binding Spell,” Tanya heard Zuken intone. “Affected party, Olfric Bergott. The Bergott Clan, on its name, orders the following actions. The pledge is to be obeyed by the affected party upon fulfillment of the terms herein.”

The contract, a glowing series of sigils floating in the air, glowed with power.

“Pledge,” Tanya spoke, her voice void of any hesitation. “Olfric, son of Thaddeus, thirteenth heir to the Bergott Clan, will forever hold his silence over his knowledge of freelancer Tanya’s secrets, classified as all that is discussed during the formation of this spell. Olfric Bergott furthermore shall not attempt, by his hand or another’s, to reveal such secrets to any third party without her express permission.”

“Terms,” Olfric began, scowling at her choice of words. “Tanya, currently of the Meewich Gate, shall swear to hold her silence over any and all information about Olfric Bergott’s dealings with the insurgent Yokai factions of the Namzuuhuu Desert.”

He glanced towards Zuken. “I’m trusting you as a fellow Asukan to keep your word without a contract.”

“No,” the Earth-spiritist smirked, “you’re panicking that you have nothing to hold over me.”

Olfric grit his teeth, but said nothing.

“Don’t worry,” Zuken went on, an easygoing smile on his face. “All I care about is my teammate’s safety. Your secret’s safe with me so long as hers are safe with you.”

“ I have your word on that?”

“You do.”

“And what about her?” Olfric pointed towards Elena.

“She’s with me.”

Tanya raised both eyebrows, impressed. The casual yet firm manner with which he said it spoke volumes about their relationship. The fact that the changeling’s face didn’t so much as twitch the entire time, instead just observing the conversation like it was entertainment, only cemented the notion further.

“Will that be enough?” Zuken drawled.

“For now.”

As the sigils pulsated with power, Tanya extended her hand. After a brief moment of consideration, Olfric shook it.

The sigils flashed a brilliant white, and disappeared.

The contract was now forged.

She would be forced to speak the truth, and nothing but the truth. All under the promise of silence from the Bergott heir.

“Alright, you’ve got your safety net,” Olfric snarked. “Now out with it.”

Tanya felt small from the gazes levied on her. Seriously, what was she doing handing out her deepest secrets like this? The only reason she was alive and free was because she’d managed to bury it all for so long. When the Blues had found out, Tanya— still under the Frost’s influence —had frozen them all and shattered them to bits.

She hoped she didn’t have to go through that twice.

“Tanya…” Elena whispered.

“I…” Tanya looked up, meeting their apprehensive gazes. “I should just kill you all. It would be so much easier than all this…” her lips twisted, “nonsense.”

She tracked the not-so-subtle shift in Olfric. Lifeforce surged within him. Mana too. Fight or flight. She suppressed the urge to laugh at his complete lack of subtlety.

“But I don’t want to lose another team.” She paused again, realizing this was harder to admit than she’d expected. “I… don’t have people I can call friends. I’d like this to stay.” Her eyes darted towards Elena and then Zuken. “Whatever we have, whatever we share, it’s good.”

Elena chuckled.

“I also want to let you know I absolutely loathe all of you for making me do this.” Her flinty gaze shifted towards Olfric. “The contract is a lifesaver for you, more than you’ll ever know.”

Seeing his reflexive gulp made her feel a little vindicated. She liked it when others were wary of her.

“Before I came to Haviskali, or even became an adventurer, I had a different name. A different title. A different identity.”

“An Asukan lineage, I’d bet,” Zuken surmised. “It would explain your strangely powerful kami, not to mention your familiarity with Asukan protocols.”

Tanya’s lips twitched. Classic Zuken Banksi. For all his skill with Earth manipulation, his mind was still the sharpest and most dangerous tool in his arsenal.

“So who are you?” Olfric demanded. “I mean, who are you really?”

“My name has always been Tanya,” she declared, before taking a deep breath. “I am the last heir to the new deceased Shimizu clan.”

The Bergott heir gaped. “You’re— you’re Tanya Shimizu. The one they called the Snow-Vampire.”

“One of my many names,” she mirthlessly chuckled. The Bergott Clan was originally from the Eaborid Kingdom, so it was only natural they’d have heard of the tragedy that struck the notorious Shimizu clan.

“You’re a kinslayer,” Olfric spat, his fists clenched as he abruptly stood up. “You betrayed Eaborid! You’re—”

“Harbinger. Betrayer. Ruthless killer of kin. I’ve heard them all,” Tanya replied, her tone dead. “I killed my little nephew with my own hands. I was hunted by my clan, and in turn, I hunted them all until their deaths. I killed the man I once called Father and laughed at his—”

“TANYA!”

She froze, only to realize that her hands were trembling. Her body was covered in a sheen of sweat. Her neck began to turn red from embarrassment, guilt, and anger. Micro-thin layers of frost rose up from her like a second skin. Ruthlessly pushing her emotions away, Tanya let out a soft smile. She glanced towards Zuken, whose stance betrayed his wariness. Elena sat next to him, but her eyes shone with something akin to… pity?

Not that Tanya cared. She had already come to terms with the magnitude of her sins. She had no need to justify herself further, especially to people who could never understand.

“This was a mistake,” she sighed. “I should have just killed you all.”

“Like the Blues, you mean?” Olfric sneered. “Wouldn’t surprise me if they discovered your truth too.”

There was something strange about his stance. Something she couldn’t quite put a finger on.

Odd.

“I hope you’re not trying to extract an admission of guilt, Olfric Bergott,” she thinly smiled. “It would be terribly unprofessional if next you asked whether I’m capable of the mysterious phenomenon that killed the Blues.”

As far as threats went, that one had all the subtlety of a mountain. An ironclad warning, one that promised grave danger should he cross certain lines. Yet, for some reason, it didn’t have the desired effect, as Olfric’s lips twisted into a mockery of a smile.

“So, the betrayer of Shimizu,” his voice lowered to a deathly whisper. “That kami of yours, it’s the almighty Ezzeron, isn’t it? The Wind King’s Wrath?”

“And what of it?”

“Oh, nothing. Nothing at all.”

Tanya narrowed her eyes.

Really odd.

“The Snow-Vampire,” Zuken murmured. “At least I can see the reason behind the name now. You were throwing around frost earlier. I imagine that’s what your other kami can do?”

Tanya stilled, but remained silent. She couldn’t be blamed if they came to the wrong conclusions on their own. Right?

“Two kami at the same time,” Elena gasped. “Is that even possible?”

“I’m… different,” Tanya revealed, choosing her words carefully. “Always have been.”

Zuken narrowed his eyes, but said nothing.

“So you have a Wind-type and an Ice-type kami?” Elena gushed.

Tanya grimaced. Blunt, straightforward questions like there were nearly impossible to get around, especially when you needed to say nothing but the truth.

Luckily, Olfric came to her rescue.

“That’s bullshit,” he snapped. “I’ve never even heard of an Ice-type kami before.”

“You also thought that yokai didn’t exist. But now, you carry a curse from one of them,” Elena shot back.

The two glared heatedly at one another.

“It’s certainly not conventional,” Tanya slowly replied. “I’ll give you that much.”

“Ezzeron…” Olfric muttered. “That’s a mithril-class kami. My father searched all of Eaborid in hopes of capturing it after Entheran Shimizu’s death. And to think you had it with you this entire time.”

“A mithril-class?” Zuken wheezed. It was odd to see a composed man like him look so taken aback all of a sudden. “Is that true?”

Again, Tanya remained silent. Why bother answering when silence was enough?

“Well, I suppose that makes sense,” he said, running his fingers through his hair. “I imagine that’s why you hold back in battles.”

She froze.

Zuken smirked.

“…Noticed that, have you?”

“You’d be surprised by the number of things I notice,” he airily replied. “But back to the point, if you defeated your clan the way you did, your own kami must be comparable to Ezzeron in power.”

Tanya withheld a smirk at the gross understatement. “Something like that.”

Aside from the kami part, it was true. While Everfrost wasn’t capable of causing the devastation that Ezzeron could unleash, it was the more lethal of the two. Ezzeron could bring down a cyclone from the heavens, but Everfrost could kill anyone.

Even Demigods.

There were no two ways about it.

“I assume you want to keep your identity hidden for the rest of your stay in Haviskali?” Zuken deduced.

“That’s the idea,” she affirmed. “And now you know my secret. I’d have no qualms over continuing being a part of Team Archleone, if you’ll still have me.”

“Provided you manage to fulfill the terms of our contract.”

Tanya smirked. “I… may have some good news on that front.”

“Which is?” Zuken raised an eyebrow.

“The genius-loci of this anomaly is dead. This place is now ours to rob.”

“Wait a second,” Olfric interrupted. “You managed to kill the genius-loci by yourself?”

“No.”

“…No?”

“No,” Tanya repeated, “it wasn’t me.” She gestured towards her unconscious acquaintance, who was still trapped within multiple layers of rock. “It was him.”