With ragged breaths, Claire made a sharp turn towards the right, heading into a narrow alley. Fear gripped her as the silver lights of the moon started to wane and fade, turning the road she took into a dark prison she could see nothing in, yet the fear of the unknown shone pale next to the threat for her life nipping behind her heels.

“Get her!” one of them said, a prompt for her to run faster, faster, like her life depended on it.

“At this point, they should sell her in the black market already, how many times did they send people to collect from that bitch, anyway?”

Perhaps, her life really depended on it.

Under her feet, wet slaps and crunches could be heard, and her thoughts immediately darted for the worst. An awful smell filled the area, and she damn near jolted. Just what was it?

At least, that was what she was thinking for but a fraction of a second.

Her legs started to ache, just like the previous days, yet she kept on running, even as her breaths became gasps and her lungs started to threaten to collapse on itself.

Run, run, and run.

Light started to seep into the dark alley, bringing her focus into overdrive. As if someone had poured gasoline into the fire of her own desperation, she ran even faster, ignoring her own body’s protests and the torrent of sweat that were raining down her body.

What started as a distant light has turned into a tangible place, as now she could make out what seemed to be trees standing on the sidewalk. She noticed that the footsteps have faded away, and all that remains were her own panicked breaths and her own shoes hitting the pavement.

It was then that she decided to allow herself a breather. Just a few more steps and she would be out of here.

It would be nonsensical to expect such a small thing to solve her problem. Yet, she would welcome any relief.

“A pillar of the realm calls for you…”

The outside was within reach, and Claire could see it warp and twist in front of her eyes as the mysterious voice spoke. The voice was soothing, a captivating melody in harmony with the wind echoing in her ears. As she tried to stop her panicked run, she ended up skidding, and a jagged hole in reality tore itself open in front of her eyes, a dark, torn hole leading to depths unknown. She saw no light from the hole, but her skin prickled from heat.

“… and you will witness her justice.”

She fell into the hole face first-

-and landed with an ungraceful thud onto a stone road. If her reflexes weren’t fast enough, probably the rocks below would have gotten the chance to know her better.

The first thing she noticed was heat. Though the heat from the hole felt like the one directional heat from a standard machine, it was much worse here, as the heat came from all directions, much like an endless wave in the seas. As she looked around, orange lights filled her vision, alongside the suffocating, acrid smell of smoke.

Claire realized, in her panic, that nothing was visible except an all-encompassing fire, and a set of wire tangled together to resemble dried trees standing on the sides of a cobblestone road. Sweat started to drip down her body, while her eyes watered. Behind her, noises that have faded were starting to come closer and closer, along with some footsteps.

“She’s here!”

With that voice, Claire pushed herself to stand up and run again. The cobblestone road seemed to lead to a blackened, charred tower, with chains running all around it like they were the only things holding the dilapidated building together.

The heat, the smoke, the pursuers-

Run.

She dragged her aching feet and bolted as quick as she could, right as the two pursuers emerged from the tear in space she came from. As she ran, the pursuers’ footsteps sounded closer and closer, and they reached for her.

“Got you-“

The man’s voice was cut short, as a pillar of fire shot out from the burning surroundings, taking the form of a storm of sudden heat. As the scent of cooked meat filled her lungs, Claire could only turn around and stare, transfixed at the magnificent, reddish-gold column.

Moments after, the pillar retreated itself, revealing a pair of humans devoid of their skin, while their flesh darkened with heat and blood.

The hostility in their eyes were gone, replaced by fear for a moment, and the light left their eyes before Claire could get her body to do as much as twitch. As the endless field of fire started to move and churn again, Claire turned around and continued running.

There was nothing she could do.

Embers threatened to nip at her back, skin, and exposed hair, and all she could do was flee. With the thump of her footsteps, the charred tower seemed closer and closer, a small bit of reward for her struggle. As the flames were about to reach her, the door at the base of the tower swung open,

With a force strong enough to shake the dust away from the ceilings, the door slammed shut, right as the flames were about to chase her into the chamber.

As the smoke cleared, the first thing Claire noticed was the sharp smell of acid.

She turned around to look at the room, and saw that it was a circular room with bookshelves that spanned half of the circumference, filled with thin books. The spines of the books were blurry, torn, and cracked, while pools of mysterious liquid could be seen around the shelves, on the floor, and even on the walls. Claire instinctively looked down and backed away as her feet were particularly close to an oddly-colored puddle.

However, her attention was shortly redirected towards the magnificent statue at the center of the room.

The statue was made of gold, depicting a blindfolded woman carrying a greatsword with one hand. On her other hand, there was a balanced scale, its golden chains gently swaying. On the center of its plates, cracks could be seen, a mark where spear-tipped silver chains gripped on for dear life.

The silver chains were tied up around a tall, lanky girl with gray hair extending down to the small of her back. From her appearance, she seemed to be no more than eighteen years of age, while her pale skin would seem sickly for an average person. She seemed to be sleeping with a serene expression, and her long eyelashes fluttered with her calm breath.

The ashen-haired girl reminded Claire of a porcelain doll, a beautiful sight to behold yet a marred with a trace of falsehood that she couldn’t quite place.

“H-hello?”

Unsure of what to do, Claire decided to call for the girl, though without truly expecting anything. Contrary to her thoughts, the bound girl’s eyes fluttered open. The more Claire looked at the girl’s gray eyes, the more the color started to look like ash, and the more Claire realizes her eyes looked empty, like every other color it ever had was consumed by despair. A twinge of familiarity accompanied that gaze.

“Ah, you are…”

Before Claire could make sense of it, the girl spoke. Her voice was soft, with an emotionless tone Claire would expect more from a machine. With a quick glance, the girl looked at the silver chains and took a deep breath. Flames started to ignite the chain links, and she freed both of her hands before falling down to Claire.

She wore a white dress extending down to her knees, its bottom ends frayed, torn, dirty with mud and grime.

“Welcome, so I was not mistaken. You are…” the girl approached Claire and looked down at her from top to bottom, her distance close enough for Claire to feel the warmth of her breath tickling her ears. Near her long, slender legs, pieces of silver chain could be seen scattered, some of its ends still burning away into blackened dust.

“Make a contract with me, and I promise it will be worth your while,” the girl offered, and she bent down to grab one of the longer strands of still-burning silver chains. With two fingers, she pressed on the flame, leaving only a trail of quickly fading smoke that followed as she offered the chain. “Take this, and I will aid you.”

“Wait!” Claire took a step back, wary of the other girl, “Who are you? Are you an Incarnation?”

Just as the other girl found her familiar, Claire could feel there was something else with the other girl, yet she couldn’t quite place the feeling.

“Incarnation… What is that?” the girl blinked and asked, “If you ask for my name, I have none, you may call me with any word that strikes your fancy after we establish our contract.”

Claire took a brief glance at the door. From what she has known, the girl was indeed an Incarnation, and she had heard before that those who were lucky enough to be offered a contract would offer to let their partner give them a name. She was unable to shake the feeling of familiarity from seeing the other girl, yet her unease showed as she gripped the edge of her clothes.

“Ease your worry,” the other girl said, “I would never dream to hurt you, for I sense you are worthy of trust,”

Claire hesitated, and she took a deep breath. It would be a foolish move to reject, and the girl would be a ticket to attain the life she wanted.

“I accept,” Claire took the offered hand.

The other girl smiled and shook Claire’s hand. Then, she handed the chain to Claire.

It was a cue for the entire tower to shake, and she kept her smile even as she started to levitate. As she released Claire’s hand, heat started to seep in from the walls, setting the wooden bookshelves on fire as she flew higher up onto the face of the statue.

With one touch, the statue glowed in molten red and shattered, throwing dust and rock fragments that had Claire scrambling to dodge. As if responding to her, a clear, reddish barrier appeared around her body, glowing and incinerating the fragments that came close into piles of relatively harmless ash before it could cause any damage.

Yet, though the heat was enough to destroy stone, Claire felt nothing from inside.

As the statue’s molten remains fell apart, a massive greatsword with a ruby blade, bigger than the ashen girl, emerged from the rubble. She raised her hand and caught the blade.

A brilliant silver armor covered her shoulders and waist, leaving her navel exposed while a pair of gauntlets, tipped with brilliant, sharp ruby claws, appeared on both of her hands. The clack of her medium-heeled silver boots could be heard as she landed, along with the clinking of chains emerging from her gauntlets.

The silver chains from her gauntlets were not unlike the ones binding her before, Claire noticed.

A crystalline halo made of jagged spikes floated on her head, the inside of each burning with their own inner light.

Then, she flashed a serene smile and snapped her fingers, letting the barrier around Claire turn into motes of orange light and disperse away. One of the silver chains slithered in the air and landed on Claire’s right shoulder, and then it passed at the nape of her neck. The cold of the silver metal made her shudder, yet the ashen girl was as serene as ever. As she placed the greatsword on her back, the tip of the chain emerged on Claire’s left side, and it rested on her shoulder like a docile snake.

Then, she looked down. Her eyes were now the color of amber, with flickers of stormy flame following her emotionless gaze.

From this close, she felt imposing, and Claire found herself taking a step back as she came closer.

If she noticed, she gave no indication of it, as she just took one step closer in exchange.

“I am the Pillar of Justice, one of the revered pillars of the realm. Claire Saphira, our contract has been established. What name would you bestow upon me?”