The stars shining above Trinsa’s night sky were beautiful, or it should be. Now, it was eclipsed by the hazy orange that danced in the city and eerie green lights that dominated the sky. The view could be breathtaking, surreal, that is, if you had the acquired taste of loving the sight of burning cities to the ground, is masochistic to death, or, if you weren’t one of the remaining surviving people in the capital and is watching perfectly from a safe distance. I, unfortunately, am not of anything mentioned prior.

After hiding for a bit, I went outside and continued my search. The burning pains in my legs and my shallow breathing earlier were both alleviated during the short time I rested. If you were in my place, as someone who just seemed to pop right out of existence, the first thing you’d want is to relax and take everything in stride, right? Sadly, I don’t have the leisure nor the time for that. My meeting with the girl that has yet to prove her worth remains incomplete and so I move again.

Or that’s what I’d like to do but,

‘I think I’m lost.’

I really should have thought of a better alternative than running out like that earlier. Or maybe, I could have plotted and remembered the way and the roads I passed by. But who am I kidding? Every single part of this district looks exactly the same. What’s worse is that the blinding flames earlier appears to have dimmed down.

Whatever small part I saw earlier that could’ve been familiar would be harder to find now. Especially so, considering that the blaze around this area seemed to have burned a significant amount of the city’s decoration to oblivion.

The only thing I remember is that we were hiding in a place filled with warehouses that were yet to be lit.

No time to waste. I need to get a move on.

Staying low and crouching where light couldn’t reach, I walked away from the building.

For the first few minutes it was aimless, I had to prioritize moving away from the street the knights entered when I ran out. I went on like this until I felt comfortable enough that we won’t cross paths anymore. Thinking so, I headed towards the direction I felt was the way I came from earlier. Naturally, I didn’t let my guard down for a bit and kept my eyes and ears vigilant.

I passed through narrow alleys, crawled under rubble, brushed against burning pieces of wood, and slipped through every traversable path - regardless of what would happen to me.

The black vest that I was wearing were in tatters. The white shirt underneath now had a different color and had a moderate amount of holes. I had to tear off half of my silken pants to help ease movement. In other words, the me earlier, who I think looked decent enough, is now looking like a homeless pleb. The purple crested brooch that was on my chest stood out further due to the distinct contrast in my getup.

My sneaking adventures through the burning destruction went on and on until I arrived at an alley that leads towards what I believe was a major avenue of this city. The passage was narrow and filled with all sorts of scraps and rubbish. It was between two stone walls - the buildings of which I wasn’t sure if they were burning or not. The time when I reached the fringes of the alley and almost stepped into the avenue was the moment I noticed something across the road.

There was movement on the alley directly opposite of mine across the road.

A pair of people.

From here, I could see their armored getups and the weapons they wielded. It wasn’t that difficult to notice their presence due to the scattered tongues of fire that brightened the surroundings.

I couldn’t discern whether they belonged to the ones chasing me but I couldn’t be careless.

Despite their armors not having those spikes, I didn’t think that getting their attention would be safe, considering that they both had their swords unsheathed. Thinking like this, I crouched behind one of the boxes, keeping my sights on the both of them, then stilled myself before peeking carefully at their direction.

I thought myself safe. However, I may have been too optimistic regarding that point.

When I could see them almost clearly even though they were across the street, the same should be same for them as well, apparently. I saw them face each other for a moment. From that distance, I naturally could not hear and therefore could not know what they were talking about, but at that point, I immediately raised my caution. My feeling was right.

The moment they took their eyes off of each other and faced my direction, I saw lights coming off of the hands of one of them. It wasn’t anything like the dark, ominous green lights glittering above the city and instead shone vibrantly like the sun’s rays.

The instant the lights from the person’s hand disappeared, strands of silver encircled the both of them, spiraling from their feet then upwards to their upper bodies before ultimately scattering into the wind. The next instant, they ran straight - directly towards the alley where I was hiding.

I became desperately worried the moment they displayed their speed.

Theirs wasn’t like what the spiky four guys from before had. They were moving fast. Too fast for a human. It only took them a second before they were out of the alley.

In a panic, I immediately scrambled away from them, trying to widen the distance between me and their blades, hurried to the point that I almost came stumbling downwards after the first few steps. I even had to use my hands to hit the ground to prevent myself from falling down, certain that I looked like a desperate animal wanting to live.

The road was wide, so given its width, I assumed that I could at least exit the other end of the alley before they could get across. During that time, I could hide in... somewhere. Hide in whatever could be a convenient enough place. Just like what I did earlier.

But naturally, things got worse.

As I made the first step out of the alley, I heard the cold voice of a woman behind me.

And as I did, I stiffened up.

[Halt!]

I tried to turn around but was immediately petrified the moment I once again heard her voice,

[Move and you’re dead.]

The biting kiss of a cold blade grazed my neck. I was certain that some skin was cut due to the stinging sensation and the warm, wet feeling that slid downwards.

‘Tch!’

“Wh-”

I tried to say something but was immediately sent crashing down. They kicked my knees from the back, sending me downwards to a kneeling position.

But before the pain even registered, another blow landed. This time, it was on my stomach. I did not notice nor did I care how one of them suddenly appeared in front of me.

“Gah-!”

I felt all the air rush out my body that even the resulting scream I did in reflex was cut short.

I wanted to breathe but the pain kept me from doing so. The impact forced me to collapse on the ground. I almost landed, but not before being hit once again, this time, on the neck, throwing me completely into a nice, folded pattern. What followed after was both my arms forcibly dragged and pinned to my back.

‘It fucking hurts!’

I wanted to scream and move away but the hands that held me locked destroyed any hopes of escape.

[Who are you? Who did you take that from? Speak!]

I once again heard the woman’s cold voice.

Feeling the force pinning me down slightly weaken, I did what I wanted to do. I struggled.

I tried to wriggle away from their hold, but the futility of that move was answered by five resounding kicks on the side of my stomach.

Every time those steel sabatons made their hit, I could feel my strength slowly being sapped away. The kicks weren’t rushed either, like one would expect. They were slowly and carefully done, full of the intent of dealing as much pain as possible.

When the third kick landed, the urge to vomit showed itself. But that last one broke every bit of resistance against the rising impulse of my stomach.

I retched.

What went out was a watery, bitter, yellow bile. Contrary to my expectations, I couldn’t even taste what I ate earlier, just the acrid taste of stomach juices. I puked continuously until nothing would come out. My stomach contracted painfully but I only gagged on empty air.

Before I could even curse this bitch in my mind and before I could even look at what came out of my stomach, I felt my face ramming down towards the freshly spewed puddle. Steel gauntlets gripped the back of my head, guiding it towards the warm soaked earth. And like last time, every blow that was done felt deliberate. The impacts were calculated and forcefully done in order to shake my brain to the fullest.

The brief intervals of rest between my head rising up and smashing to the ground did not help ease the pain in the slightest.

I couldn’t even breathe.

Once.

Twice.

Thrice.

Four times.

Five.

It was only until the sixth that my vision crashed unto the ground.

My face was drenched and both my eyes were washed with my own vomit. My body was numbed by the sudden outbursts of pain.

[Who are you and why do you have that? Answer me, thief!]

The woman’s cold voice once again passed through my ears. It sounded to me like it was mocking, like it was proud of trampling down this fifteen year old body. I felt faint and too weak to continue. But that feeling dwarfed to the emotion slowly burning inside.

But despite of all that, due to the fatigue, I absentmindedly answered. Uttering the name repeatedly mentioned to me by the girl that was with me an hour ago.

“Ys.. Ysil.”

The silence that came after those words left my mouth only lasted for a heartbeat.

The cold gauntlets gripping my hair intensely shook briefly before they were suddenly pulled back, dragging my body along with it. The force was so sudden and so extreme that my eyes swam around. My neck twisted in pain that I almost felt it snap. The sudden arching movement made my body feel like it would burst. I felt dizzy.

When my body reached a posture where I was leaning and kneeling at the same time, I felt my eyes burn from the searing brightness that suddenly appeared before them. Two silhouettes of faces were eclipsed by the blinding light which appeared to be coming from a hand. We stayed in that position for while before the hands clutching my head loosened it’s grip and consequently made me fall to the ground listlessly.

All the storming emotions in my heart proved useless against the encroaching darkness, and then,

an indiscernible murmur passed reached my ears before I blanked out.

♦♦♦♦♦♦♦

— ‘And it so shall be on the day when the cradle’s will is defied, the frozen gears of herald shall once again turn. ’

— The First Inauguration of Truths, from the Divinations of the Saintess Ul. The First Saint of the Church of Xielia.