Sunlight filtered through the sweeping windows of the large study, its rounded shape just shy of becoming a complete dome. The west wall was crafted entirely of paneled glass fitted neatly together in a decorative lotus pattern, but kept clear in colour so as to overlook the vast countryside beyond without interference.

Inside, the remaining walls were lined with cupboards and shelves, diagrams, scrolls, and display boards meant for both chalk and pins. Bookcases lined the floor in neatly arranged rows, filling the majority of the room’s center, while at the head of the room nearest the entryway an expansive workstation took up the remaining space.

Every inch of the space was dedicated to alchemy. The books, the notes, the formulae pinned to the walls. Amidst this space, Argent sat at the workstation with an array of precision instruments spread out before him; But his focus was not on his equipment. Instead his eyes were fixed on a tall man standing near the lotus window, the evening light shifting off his dark chocolate hair cut neat and worn in a high ponytail.

“So you’re just going to leave me here alone?”

“Of course not. Zain will be here with you, like always.”

Argent felt his fists clench, though he was not voluntarily aware of forcing them to do so.

“You know what I mean.”

“Master Zain has cared for our family since before you were born, his presence is not worth so little as to be disregarded.”

“You’re my Father!”

“Yes. And I will continue to be so, no-matter my location.”

“Your ‘location’ has been ‘not here’ for six years!”

The man at the window shifted his weight slightly, raising a hand and running it awkwardly through his hair. Argent watched from the back angle as his fingers stopped at his ponytail, tracing it upwards for a moment before falling back into place at his side.

“Don’t be unnecessary. You know my reasons for that.”

Something burned inside Argent. His better judgment seethed against the words that wanted to come bursting from his mouth, but it was too late. The heat in his cheeks was too fresh, the wetness in his eyes beginning to drip.

“All I know is that mother is dead! Dead! And you weren’t even here with me to bury her!”

His heart stung as soon as he said it. A pain in his chest which deepened at the way his father flinched, though his eyes remained fixed on the horizon beyond the lotus glass. Silence filled the air with an oppressive weight as Argent’s muted sniffling hung in the balance, repressed sobs choked back in his throat. The man at the window raised his hands together in front of himself and sighed heavily. It was a painful, bitter sound.. Yet resolute. Unbroken.

“..Yes. Lilliana is dead…”

He paused, and his voice softened.

“..But that is why I have to continue.”

“What?”

“I'm sorry I couldn't save her, Argent.. I never learned how… But I will. I must. The cure I could not give her will become her lasting legacy, her final gift to the world.”

“Her legacy?! Do you think mom cared about any of that?!”

“Argent.”

“What about her lineage? Her son?! YOUR SON!”

“..Argent-”

“If you think she’d want you to run off again and abandon our family in the wake of her death, then maybe you should have spent some time at home speaking to her in her final days!”

“ARGENT!”

The man at the window turned sharply, his voice raised for the first time. But Argent could not recall his face. A blank, lifeless void of flesh filled the structure of his head, a horrific distortion strung between his hair and jawline like a warbling mass of tearing skin.

Argent’s head burst with pain, a sensation of vibrating pressure welling behind his eyes. Suddenly the world seemed to swim, becoming black as the last thing pinpointed in his vision was the misshapen void of his father’s empty face. The sensation of falling overtook his senses as a single thought fixed itself in his mind, the whole of his reality shaking from the inside.

Something is wrong. This isn’t right. Something is wrong… This isn't real... Something is wrong.

Starlight moved around him like specks, singular dots of white against an infinite dark. They faded and blurred with movement as that singular thought replayed in his own voice, seeping through the expanse like an endless echo. Then the lights went out; And all at once returned. The flash overtook him and life flooded through his mind in a wave of cognizance.

Argent awoke with a sputtering cough, his lungs burned and his body ached. He rolled onto his stomach instinctively as his senses swam, gradually taking in the details of his surroundings; It was cold, it was dark, and it was wet. The smell of earth filled his nostrils as he tried to push himself up on his hands, feeling tightly packed dirt beneath his fingers. In a panic, he tried to remember the last moments before he had blacked out. Was he still somewhere in the witch’s lair? What had happened to the others? Was everyone alright?

Lifting himself to a kneeling position he strained his eyes against the dark, attempting to still his breathing in order to better listen to his surroundings.. At first there was no sound other than his own lungs and heartbeat, but gradually as he squared his breaths and slowed his pulse, he caught something faintly in the shadows. A sniffling sound. Like someone crying.

“..Hello?”

He grit his teeth, hoping he wasn’t making a mistake by calling out to the darkness.

“..H-hello? Alchemist boy, is that.. Is that you?”

Argent immediately breathed easier, relief washing over him at the response even though he wasn’t sure how to take being called ‘alchemist boy’. At the very least it seemed that the situation was free of immediate threat, enough that he felt comfortable rising to his feet and stumbling through the shadows towards the other voice.

“Yeah.. It’s me, Argent.. Who are you? Where are we?”

He spoke into the dark, walking with his hands held forward until he passed what felt like a shelf to his left. As the solid object cleared from his view it revealed the smallest sliver of light leaking from a hatch in a ceiling above, one which looked to be made of typical wooden floor planks. It was high up, perhaps a full ten feet, and there was no ladder to be seen. There, in the dull square of illumination sat the huddled form of a little girl. Argent recognized her as Julie.

“Oh, you’re.. From the apothecary shop.. Eophi’s sister.”

Julie nodded her head, wiping her red and puffy eyes.

“Where are we?”

Argent pressed the question again, kneeling down close to Julie.

“I-I.. I don’t know.. I was helping treat you at our shop, and then I.. Woke up here.”

“..Oh..”

That didn’t sound good. It also made Argent aware of the sudden chill he experienced from the draft which moved through the underground space, as the dim light from above revealed him to be dressed only in his pants and several swaths of bandages wrapped around his body. His belts, equipment, weaponry– even his boots– all of it was missing from his person. Presumably removed when he was being treated. His mind slowly came back to him as the moments passed in the dark. The thoughts and concerns he had lost upon blacking out.

“Julie.. Has your sister been acting weird, recently?”

“..Huh?”

“Has Eophi been.. I don’t know, strange, lately? Have you noticed anything different?”

He struggled to word the question in a way that didn’t cast an accusation outright, given that the only reasoning for his suspicion was a single bad reaction from Gauge. The rogue’s aversion had struck Argent as needless and somewhat harsh at the time, but now seemed very justifiable given what they had learned in the forest depths that night.

“No? No, I don’t think so.. She’s been fine.”

“Nothing? No strange behaviour or mood changes? Going out at unusual times, maybe?”

“No, really. Nothing like that.”

Argent was visibly displeased by the information, his soured expression enough to spur a follow up from the younger girl.

“Why? Is something wrong with her? Did something happen? Why would she be different?”

***

Kotomi let out a panicked gasp as hands closed around her from behind– The sound caused purely from being startled, however, as she quickly locked the offender's arms in a hold and torqued her hips to throw it over her shoulder. A half dressed villager tumbled to the ground in front of her, thrown like a ragdoll by her well practiced technique. Looking at him, her eyes ignited with colour, her right iris rotating as it so often did.

“Iza, this is bad..”

“...Hm.”

Townsfolk came shambling from throughout the village, emerging from in between houses and along the streets. Men, women, and even a few younger. All of them dressed as they were when they had bedded down for the night. None of them fully aware of themselves.

“It would seem that we miscalculated.”

Izadura spoke plainly, his voice calm even as his weapon hand flexed.

“It wasn’t the Elder.”

“The townspeople are under the effects of a control art.. They’re being used like puppets.”

“Mm.”

“Something doesn’t add up.. It reads like [Dominate], but it’s far too powerful.. I don’t understand what’s going on. I don’t think I can break it, either.”

“Prioritize their safety, but do as you must.”

Kotomi glanced back at her companion, her expression fixed in a neutral stare.

“I am to consider them collateral?”

“If they can be spared, spare them. If some must be struck down… So be it.”

“...Very well.”

A roar pierced the night and the pair split apart rapidly, dodging to either direction as the deformed Elder golem came smashing down where they had stood. The mutation clearly did not share their qualms about the villagers, crushing the man Kotomi had thrown with a sickening squelch as the area around its landing point was obliterated.

Izadura sucked his teeth in disapproval, clearly ill at ease with the idea of local casualties despite his pragmatic instructions concerning the matter. Kotomi seemed equally distraught, turning her head away from the sound of the man’s ribcage being popped underfoot by the Elder’s killing force.

“Kotomi.”

Kotomi nodded as the swordsman held out his hand. If this was the level of destruction and violence the situation had elevated itself to, they could no longer afford to play evasively. Her form shimmered and faded, materializing as a blade in Izadura’s hand just as the Elder lowered his shoulder for a rush.

There was a flash of light as Izadura struck and stepped in the same motion, repositioning to the side as his weapon cut through the attacker’s flesh. Gore spurted in foul puddles as the wound sank deep, only to begin re-knitting flesh and veins in a matter of moments. Pressing the moment of advantage, Izadura struck and struck again, a clean series of slashes aimed for the Elder’s forearm and tricep.

The Elder bellowed as the weapon lacerated his muscle and cut to the bone. Reaching out with the arm not being targeted, the creature quickly grabbed something and swung it around at Izadura. The swordsman moved immediately to parry, blade catching the moonlight as it rose.

…!!!

Rich, red blood splattered acrost Izadura’s eyes. His shoulders tensed as the realization struck him far too late, that the object which had been wielded against him in that moment had not been a board or a stone; But a dominated villager. His parry split the woman in two at the torso, her upper body rolling wildly into the distance as she was slashed like paper against the blade of his weapon by the tremendous force of the Elder’s swing.

Izadura’s jaw clenched. His hands felt cold… But he returned to a ready stance. Forcing his eyes not to follow as the Elder tossed the severed legs of its human club aside, he ignored the clammy, unsettling sweat that clung to his neck. Steeling his resolve to fight, he readied his blade and rushed the enemy.

***

“Did anyone tell you how I ended up wounded?”

Argent asked, evading Julie’s own line of questions for a little bit longer.

“They said you were cursed by a witch.”

“That’s right. A Faewitch.”

“What does that have to do with my sister?”

Emerald eyes turned away, looking into the dark as Argent avoided Julie’s gaze. He knew it was too late to stop the topic cold, but found it difficult to face the girl as he spoke.

“Have you heard of a bloodlink?”

“Bloodlink? What does that mean?”

“A Faewitch is a cursed creature. Unnatural to this world. It is a twisted manifestation of ill will, that is only brought into being by the call of another.”

Argent slowly found the strength to push his gaze back towards Julie, and the two of them stared at one another.

“Something like that doesn’t just appear on its own.. It isn’t by chance, or even chaos. It requires the deliberate, malicious intent of an occult pact… A bloodlink.”

“You mean.. Someone in the village..?”

“Yes.”

“And you think my sister–”

“Maybe.”

“No!”

Julie sat forward and shoved against Argent’s chest, causing him to shift back slightly. He couldn’t say anything in response, keeping quiet as he let his eyes turn back towards the darkness once again.

“No! You’re wrong! My sister hasn’t done anything like that!”

Crashing sounds shook the earth from somewhere far outside. The impact was greatly reduced by whatever distance lay between the source and the basement, but it could still be felt through the soil as the boards above them creaked. Argent stood up in alarm, covering his eyes as dust and dirt fell down from above. He had no idea what was going on, but there was one certainty to their position.

“We have to get out of here.”

The falling grime stuck to the sweat on his forehead and arms, bringing a sudden awareness to how hot he felt. Even in the coolness of the cellar there was an uncomfortable heat churning inside his body, causing him to become dizzy after standing. Unsteadily he lowered himself back to a knee, remembering the hex venom inside his veins.

“Argent?”

Julie moved to support him with concern in her voice, any frustration from the subject of her sister’s potential involvement set aside. She helped the alchemist move back to lean against a shelf, resting him against the aged wood as she touched his forehead with the back of her hand.

“It’s the medicine we gave you.. You’re running a high fever.”

She informed him. Argent understood immediately what she meant. They had dosed him with the resistance tincture, and now his body was attempting to reintegrate a charge of world energy into his being, sending his physiology into overdrive. Looking down to his leg, he began to unwrap the bandaging.

“Hey! Don’t!”

“I need to see it.”

“You’ll get it infected!”

Argent continued to remove the gauze and cotton, even as Julie fussed. Beneath it his leg had regained its natural colouration, save for a large festering sore the rough size of a grapefruit. He grimaced as the cold air touched the wound, realizing that the bandages had been steeped in a numbing agent which helped dull the pain. Pain which now came surging back in slow, ever increasing throbs.

He could feel the energy moving through his body, manifesting at his core and spreading outwards. Focusing, he could tell where it stopped at his leg, devoured by the curse still rotting in his thigh. The tincture prevented the hex from consuming everything he had, but it was still swallowing up all the world energy that came into direct contact with it, preventing a full recovery.

He tried to press at the edges of the wound with his fingertips spread and was immediately stopped by sharp pain. His hands began to tremble as he leaned forward, colour draining from his face as he vomited onto the earthy floor.

Julie let out a surprised noise and moved to pat him on the back as the convulsions in his diaphragm came and went, ending with a series of painful dry heaves as the only substance left in his stomach was several bites of stew. Staying on his knees until his breathing normalized, Argent slowly wiped the edges of his mouth and flicked the residual bile away as best he could.

"Are you alright..?"

"Yeah.. I'm alright. I'm good."

Argent moved back to a sitting position, staring up at the square of light above their heads as his mind worked for solutions. The hex venom needed to be dealt with. There was no getting around it. Even if its chances of killing him were significantly low given the treatment he had received, it was limiting him from effectively using most of his arts.. And without arts, escape would be difficult. If not impossible.

“Julie, can you use any arts?”

“I.. I can’t. Eophi and I were never taught or tested. I don’t even know what my aspects are.”

Argent couldn’t help but frown, though he quickly tried to wipe the expression from his face as Julie hung her head in shame. He didn’t mean to belittle her. The change in his expression was due to the reminder of how common it truly was for people to not be skilled in their aspects, not out of any disappointment or judgment towards her.

“Have you ever tried trancing? Touched the aether plane?”

Julie shook her head sadly, still not looking at him.

“..Alright, don’t sweat it.. When we get out of here, I’ll try and teach you.”

“Huh? Really??”

“Sure. I can’t promise i’ll be any good as a teacher, though, but I'm happy to try.”

“Eophi too?”

Argent laughed a bit, patting Julie on the head.

“Why not. Eophi too.”

Even in the dark, it was easy to see the way Julie’s eyes sparkled. Her joy was infectious, just the sort of morale boost the alchemist needed. He couldn’t contain his smile despite their predicament.

“I guess that means figuring this out rests entirely on me… But don’t you worry. I’ll get us out of here one way or another.”

Looking down at his leg again, he flexed his hands open and shut a few times. Tracing the veins around his legs where discolouration was slowly beginning to spread outwards once again, he gripped his thigh on either side of the cursed wound. He had an idea fixed in his mind.. Untested, unsure.. But the only option he could conclude. It would have to be field tested, and the due date was now.

“..Time to get to work.”