Edward, a little injured, was running across the village. The sun was setting, it was getting colder and colder. He managed to defeat two, the third one was barely hurt by him. Fortunately, he managed to escape. When he was at his village, Rebellar, he started laughing.

“WHAT ARE YOU LAUGHING AT?” Kasei was screaming, and she had turned from a spear into a human being. “DO YOU SEE HOW BEATEN UP I AM? YOU COULD’VE FOUGHT BETTER!”

“I laugh because we beat two of them... Maybe they'll stop torturing Peter eventually.”

“Or they will start to do it more, because you know how they work.” She sighed. “Can we go home now? Peter may need our care.”

“No. We have to do one more thing.”

“What is it now?”

“Mateo. He promised to protect Peter from these bastards, so I want to know where the hell he was. He even told you that he would try to come today.”

“Oh... Well... But I don't know if that's the best idea... Maybe he was somewhere far away, he didn't notice...”

“But Mateo always looked after Peter when he was going to the clinic in the mornings. So I just want to make sure... because maybe something happened to him too. So let's go.”

They were walking through the forest, heading for the Jenkins' house. It took a few minutes, it was already dark, but they knew that they were not far away. However, what they saw exceeded their wildest expectations. The house’s front wall was destroyed, and large cracks were visible on the rest of it.

“Ian apparently played with some magic...” The redhead said. But just like Edward, she wasn't laughing. They were really scared.

“I have a strange feeling, that what happened to Peter today is not an accident...”

Ed and Kasei came closer. They gently opened the door, as they were afraid that the wall might collapse. They entered the house carefully, inside it was a total chaos. The house, which was always clean, now looked like a battlefield; papers were lying on the ground, one of the doors leading to a room was wrenched. The whole house was drowning in darkness. Suddenly, Ed got a strange, piercing feeling that made him bend slightly.

“What’s wrong?” Kasei asked.

“Nothing, I just feel some... strange magic.” The golden–haired approached a room which doors were wrenched. Kasei walked in slowly after him. They didn't see much, it was too dark in there.

“Eh, Ed, make some light with a spell…” Then Kasei felt that she had stepped on puddle. “Ew, I stepped into something...”

“Wait…” Ed focused, and then a golden spark came out of his hand. It fell to the ground and created a small flame, which illuminated the room. Then Edward saw that this room was in the worst condition. All the walls were cracked, the debris was lying on the ground, the furniture was shattered, and the books were scattered all over the place.

“Holy shit... What happened here?” he asked himself. “Kasei, we should go find...” He looked at her. Kasei’s shoes were dirty from blood, she was looking at one point. Her whole body was trembling, her eye pupils were visibly reduced. Edward shifted his gaze at what she was looking at, and then he experienced an unimaginable shock himself. They saw Ian, dead and massacred. His body was torn apart. The golden–haired put his hand to his mouth and bent in half. Willing not to, but still seeing it, he threw up. Kasei, on the other hand, started screaming in horror and stepped backwards until she leaned against the wall.

“ED, WHAT IS THIS?!” She was screaming and crying at the same time. The golden–haired tried to regain control of himself, but he could not.

“Kasei, please don't cry...” He said quietly. He held his hand on his stomach and straightened slightly. „What... What have you done... Ian...?”

“What has he done?” They heard a voice, and saw Mateo, with a hood on his head, bloodshot eyes, and a big wound going though half of his face, that stretched all the way to his neck. He spoke without any emotion. “You should not be here.”

“Mateo...” Kasei said quietly, and hid behind Ed.

“I don't think you want to tell me...” the golden–haired said. “That he... used the magic of blood... And it was so strong that…”

“Ha...” Mateo smiled slightly. “Yes, he did. That's exactly what he did. For your little brother. This is all your fault. Your brother took care of something he shouldn't have, and dragged my brother into it...” The black–haired man started to walk slowly towards them.

“Mateo... S–Stop it... Y–You know very well, that Peter would never allow the taboos to be broken...” Ed and Kasei were carefully moving away.

“Oh, yeah? And what do you see here...? I told you, I told you to get it out of Peter's head, god damn it... I knew that in the end there would be a catastrophe... And what's the funniest, IT IS RIGHT NOW, WHEN I STARTED TO THINK YOU WERE DOING THE RIGHT THING. BUT I WAS JUST STUPID!” He shouted, and then threw a beam of magical energy at Ed and Kasei. The gold–haired covered the girl with his body, but they both flew out through the back wall.

“Kasei... Get out of here...” Ed said, as he got up. “It's Jenkins, I can't win with him…”

“NO! I'll never leave you, you idiot!” The redhead screamed. “Mateo! Stop it! We are your friends!”

The black-haired came out through a hole in the wall. He smiled coldly, but after a while he started laughing disgustingly.

“Friends. It’s really wonderful. Just as Ian considered Peter a friend... AND NOW HE IS DEAD!” He shouted, but then he got hit in the face. Ed just walked up and hit him with all his might. Mateo hesitated after this blow, but returned the favour, after which he grabbed Ed by the neck with both hands.

“Look at me... I have defended you and Peter for so many years... And you... and you killed my brother in the name of science...”

“We didn't kill anyone...” Edward said. Mateo twisted his face. “Ian decided for himself. Ian decided to take the risk. Ian agreed to this. Ian wanted it. Ian was happy to be able to treat people.”

“Happy?!” The black–haired man hit Ed’s forehead with his own. “Do you think someone who had to cut other people's throats could have been happy? Someone who couldn't heal them, so he had to kill them?!”

“Ian did not slit throats. Peter did it all...” Ed spoke with difficulty. “Peter did it, so that Ian wouldn't have to… They were friends... They risked it together... So why now...”

“Oh, this barking of yours. I've always hated it. The fact that you always have such thoughts on everything, that you think so deeply about the meaning of everything. Are you happy now... It's thanks to you that he's dead. You fed him with a vision of healing something that the greatest scientists and magicians have not been able to for centuries. You brainwashed him, you made him love this sick dream so much that he went as far as using blood magic for it. But you know what? It's nothing. IT'S COMPLETELY NOTHING. BECAUSE I'M GOING TO FUCK YOU UP, I'M GOING TO FUCKING KILL YOU AND YOUR BROTHER FOR LYING TO HIM, CHEATING ON HIM, AND FOR MURDERING HIM!” He threw the gold–haired on the ground, and then tried to cast another spell on him. But then, Kasei turned into her form of a weapon and stabbed him in the back. Mateo coughed out from pain. The redhead tried to hit him again in her human form, but then he grabbed her by the hair and threw her away.

“Stupid bitch...” he growled.

“We cheated...? We lied...?” asked Ed, who slowly started to lose consciousness. “How naive you are. You can't understand that your brother wanted to fight for it... That he fought for it to the very end... Although at the end he committed this stupidity, that we always forbade him from doing... You attacked Peter, didn't you?” “And you keep talking shit about the same thing. ‘Ah, Ian wanted Peter to be happy’, ‘Ah, Ian certainly wouldn't want you to beat him’. It's just proof for me how you brainwashed him. You made a puppet out of him on your orders. But right now... I… I'll kill you... I'll kill him... for Ian...” Mateo burst out again with manic laughter, and started approaching Ed. Kasei, who tried to stand up, started crying again.

“Edward... Please... RUN AWAY!” she screamed. Mateo stepped on his head and laughed at him by pushing him to the ground. The redhead could not watch it.

“Don't you have anything else to say to me, fucker?” Mateo asked, taking his foot off his head.

“Just one thing.” Ed said. „You're pathetic. Pathetic. You couldn't stop Ian, so you blame us... for your weaknesses. For your mistakes. For not keeping an eye on him. You are a coward....”

“You... little...” Mateo went furious. He picked up Edward by his hair. Kasei was sure that they’re finished.

But she was, luckily, wrong.

“STOP, MATEVIGO SIVIO JENKINS!” One of the soldiers shouted out. There were several of them, headed by Emerald Sand. They were sitting on horses, but not on ordinary ones, since they had wings. “You are suspected of practicing magic of blood, a forbidden taboo!”

“What the fucking fuck... Hah, the army. That's what I needed today. Unfortunately, I don't have any time for you.” Mateo let Edward go, and then... used a teleportation spell and vanished.

“LOOK FOR HIS MAGIC TRAIL, DON’T LET HIM ESCAPE!” Emerald gave a loud order.

“UNDERSTOOD!” Most of the soldiers flew away on the winged horses, and the rest of them went deeper into the broken-down house. Kasei started crawling to Ed.

“Ed, Ed...? Are you alright? Ed... say something...!” She begged him with a weak voice, and poked him. Emerald came closer and put her hand to his neck.

“There is a pulse. He is alive.” She answered. “I think Peter will have to explain himself to you later.”

End of Chapter 1