This particular man sat calmly at a café in Arkef, alone at a table for two.

Despite the horrible slashing scars that had made him lost his left eye, he didn’t strike as scary to anyone. His expression was soft and gentle; if anything, he looked easy to approach and to be acquainted with.

His partner, wearing a black cloak, soon arrived at the table. The moment she was comfortably seated, she pulled her hood back and revealed her pitch-black eyes and elegant jet-black hair.

‘How did it go, Laguna?’ The man said with a smile.

‘William’s death will enter the newspaper soon enough,’ she replied with a calm tone.

‘Good. The man deserved it. I had lent him the Cerberus, only to hear that it was killed and that nothing was achieved. Once his death is confirmed, you’re without a doubt qualified to join us.’

‘…’

He had ordered a cup of tea for Laguna and gestured for her to drink it, but she didn’t touch the cup at all. She was a quiet and cautious one.

‘I heard… Cerberus was defeated by the Child of Light. Your previous master.’

‘…’

‘What if—I order you to kill her?’

‘… It doesn’t matter,’ she simply replied. ‘She’s going to die anyway.’

***

‘I want to be a King.’ Ray raised a mug over the campfire. ‘A King who could carry the weight of a country.’

As the moon appeared on the black sky, the carriage had to stop its journey. Whilst sitting near the campfire, Kuiper had asked each and everyone of them as to why they were going on their journey. Freya didn’t like where the conversation was going, but she was overwhelmed by majority vote.

‘I want to unravel mysteries,’ Elaine answered. ‘Magic related… and non-magic related.’ She was looking at Freya when she said that. Freya took a sip from her glass of hot milk to lessen the stare.

Dunnford was next; he answered Kuiper’s question with the briefest answer possible: ‘Duty.’ He raised his mug and toasted with Ray.

‘What about you, Miss Freya?’ Kuiper asked.

All eyes were on her during her turn. Everyone seemed most eager to hear Freya’s reason as to why she was on that journey.

‘It’s…’

***

‘A curse,’ Freya had explained to the elder fairy. ‘I’m cursed. There’s a curse written on my chest, but it’s only visible to me.’

‘Goodness… what kind of curse is it?’ The elder had asked.

‘A curse that’ll kill me once the time limit is up.’

‘This is serious.’

‘It is.’

‘You should tell this to your allies! Why are you keeping this a secret? Surely they could help?’

‘Perhaps.’ Freya shrugged. ‘One day I would tell them… When the time is right.’

***

‘It’s… nothing important,’ Freya lied with a smile. She received some protests since she didn’t reveal her reasoning, but she remained quiet about her reason, about her curse.

3 months…

Laguna’s voice echoed in her head.