Sometimes one begins to wonder if life is worth all that pain. The blood spill, the endless battles, and the anguish experienced by those left behind, was it necessary?

Survival instinct, they call it. But, through decades, the observation changed. Many of those holding the swords had lost that instinct, they only fought because they were told to. Many of them were desensitized to the horror of the Mooncallers, some rationalized suicide and believed nothing in this world is worth being slashed for.

There was a thick, huge and wide barricade built between the two sides. Behind it was something humans could only guess. Some believed it was like a nest, a chaotic resting haven for the ghouls and their pets. Others speculated that after all those years, it only made sense that those savages were able to build a completely different city from scratch, a civilization that suited their kind, one human could never imagine. And as time progressed and human technology advanced, that wall remained fortified, hiding their arch-nemesis and their bloody schemes.

I. Beyond the walls.

Two steps closer to that thick huge wall was all that boy needed to satisfy his deadly urge. With his small body wrapped in a black cloak twice his size, he eyed the legions as they cleaned the aftermath and guarded the gate-less wall. He breathed heavily as he held something heavy on his waist belt that slowed him down, but he didn't bother.

It was true that the scene in front of him was a nightmare to any child, but he didn't budge. That was a thirteen years old boy born few years before warfare, one that hardly tasted peace or felt the sunlight on his pale dry skin in his youth. That darkness didn't scare him for that he doesn't remember its distinct.

"Move!" Muttered the boy as he kept watching the soldier resting on the wall, yawning as if he was about to fall asleep.

Although there was no visible entrance, the boy knew how to slip in. Underneath that sick snow, he knew there was a portal. It was common knowledge that many Mooncallers came through it, but the wall was there to hide their city. The soldier, who was called to drag the cart alongside his subordinates, stretched his arms and yawned once again as he joined them, giving the boy a period of seconds to crawl with his black cloak and dig through the snow and open the portal.

The portal couldn't be opened by humans no matter what strength they have. They've used machines, decoders and even tried to create another portal and dig to their tunnel but it didn't work. That boy thought he outsmarted both humans and Mooncallers as he dug through the snow with his wounded hand as quickly as he can.

"I know it will work!" He grinned, fully trusting his scheme. "I've seen them do it." He finished digging and observed the silver portal he was not sitting on. The boy's left hand was strangely wrapped in plastic. It was dripping blood through that plastic, he slowly unfolded it revealing a peculiar sight.

It was the hand of a Mooncaller, one whose skin was still intact with their symbol on it. The boy wore it like a glove, gutting its insides like a fish, but this wasn't just it. He had sawed the hand on his wrist to make sure it doesn't fall nor move although it was quite huge to fit his young hand.

To what extent did this boy plan to risk his life just to fulfill his revenge?

"Don't fail me." He hoped as he looked left and right, quite shaken by the sight of the huge wall beside him. He placed his hand in the center of the engraved star on the silver portal, perfectly aligning the star on the hand to the center of the portal. He hoped that they'd interact as if his hand was that of a living Mooncaller, he thought that maybe after all these years the key to solving that mystery was to delude the portal's code into recognizing the hand as a living one. But didn't humans think of that already?

It turned out.. They didn't.

There was a loud thud followed by the opening of the portal leaving the boy with his eyes wide opened, amazed by his achievement. But as he was about to slip in without any hesitation, with a plan to infiltrate the society behind the walls, his arm was pulled by a strong grip, throwing him away from the portal.

"Unbelievable.." Gasped the soldier as he stared at the opened portal, the boy was enraged. "Let me in!" He shouted, struggling in the hands of the other soldier who held him. It wasn't a minute later that the crowds had gathered in front of the portal, watching it and eyeing the boy in amazement. He truly opened the portal by himself.

"I need to go in!" He cried. The soldier ordered reinforcements as he ran towards the now hand-cuffed boy, "How did you do it?" He asked, everyone was silently observing, awaiting the answer.

"All of you are idiots." He scoffed. "For years, you tried using the symbol hollow, or by getting a dead hand, all the portal needed was a confirmation that the symbol was carried by someone with a blood flow!" He explained. The crowds had thickened, and everyone was watching that small boy with a sword and a bag, ready to go on his way to the other side.

The legions were speechless except for one young soldier, one that slowly approached him with a warm smile as she felt the boy's frozen tears blinding him.

"I'll take him to the station." She said, taking his hand from the soldier restraining him. "He's not an enemy. He's a stupid young kid with a death wish." She eyed him as a warning to not try and flee her grip. The boy became silent as he watched the soldiers circle around the portal while he was dragged away to the legions car for interrogation. And although his blood was boiling due to his failure to leave, there was a sense of satisfaction inside of him as these amused eyes observed him as if he was a hero, and at that moment, it did feel like it.

Inside the car, the boy still held his tears back. The soldier turned around from the front seat and gently smiled once again. "I must say I'm impressed." She said. "It doesn't happen a lot that a child is smart enough to beat the city's big minds." She continued, looking him in the eye. "Actually, it doesn't happen at all." She continued. The boy's ego was boosted yet he remained silent. "I know my rights. I will wait for my lawyer." He confidently spoke, making the three soldiers in the car laugh.

"Alright. Alright. Name's Anysa, introduce yourself." The soldier extended her hand to the cuffed boy, in a peaceful gesture she introduced herself.

"It's Carvo. Carvo Walker."

It was when the genius boy met the young soldier, soon to be a politician that changed the city's tactics to an entirely different approach, one that saved many lives.

Carvo's determination to have his revenge was unrivaled, and after all those decades, it still remained inside of him even though his sister was right next to him. His approach may change, but the motive never.

II. Anysa, the chairwoman of the council.

Onboard the fancy carriage led by the rare horses around the city, Clyde awkwardly sat facing Anysa while she proceeded to give orders to her assistant. He couldn't believe she knew his name, let alone inviting him to her carriage. Clyde was still visibly wounded, but he did his best to cope. He knew he wouldn't settle until he had seen Carvo and made sure Abigail is fine.

"Tell me, Clyde, who discharged you from the hospital?" Anysa inspected Clyde's miserable state as he gulped in stress. "Oh, well, I-" He stuttered, "I left on my own." He continued, shying away from Anysa's eyes. " This isn't good." She sighed. "I have heard about your story, you're truly lucky." Anysa commented. "Yeah, I must be.." Clyde shrugged. The carriage was slow as the cleaning had started already. The tension between the two was unbearable to Clyde, who felt embarrassed by running away but he wouldn't back down yet.

The thirty minutes had passed as slow as they could. Anysa hadn't tried to interrogate Clyde more as he looked very weary and pale. Once Clyde spotted Carvo's house, he rushed out of the carriage. "I'll inform him of your arrival!" He spoke as he knocked on the door, sweating profoundly.

The door slowly opened, and through that narrow opening, Carvo stuck out his face. "Who's it?" He asked. "Open up, it's me! Clyde!" Clyde cried in relief, almost forcing the door open while Anysa waited in the carriage, Carvo then held Clyde's arm and dragged him inside, closing the door immediately.

Clyde gasped once he set foot inside.

"Oh, lord..Oh god.." He gulped. "Another ..TWO?" He looked around watching Lalo and Luther cleaning the house. "Calm down, boy!" Carvo ordered him. "What the hell are we going to do?!" He cried.

"About?" Carvo raised an eyebrow.

"Anysa! She's outside, she is here to meet you." Clyde revealed and the rest of the room went into shock.

"The god damn timing!" Carvo muttered, "Quick, Luther! Take Lalo and go to the basement-"

"Where's Abigail?" Clyde fearfully asked.

"She's sleeping, upstairs." Carvo hurried to remove the tools they were cleaning the ground with and left the carcass as it is. "Go to her and tell her to stay still and put her makeup on." Carvo ordered Clyde as Luther and Lalo were out of sight, "I'll go inform her you're ready." Clyde was shaken as he ran to let Anysa in into this bloody mess while three mooncallers hid within the walls of this old house.

But Clyde's heart was suddenly at ease.

Anysa got out of the carriage, and with her bodyguards, she was led into the house where she stared at the carcass laying on the floor. The bodyguards were carrying a box which was laid beside her as she sat, Clyde was already upstairs.

"Lady Anysa! Welcome. Not the ideal place- you caught me during my clean-up!" Carvo forced a laugh as she smiled and sat down on the chair leaving her two bodyguards by the door. "I see you had your own battle here." Anysa observed the bloody living room. "Ah yes, not a nice one." Carvo left the broom, dragged a chair, and sat facing her. "Not even a scratch on you." Anysa inspected Carvo's face. "I was lucky." Carvo said, "The twilight reverie came right on time. It wasn't much of a fight, but I am quite old for it anyway." Carvo laughed.

After looking around the place without moving an inch, Anysa's wrinkled faced turned more serious, gesturing her bodyguards to leave.

"Since we are all busy, I'll get straight to the point." Anysa spoke, focusing her brown eyes on Carvo. "I need you to do me a favor." She calmly asked, Carvo was interested as he leaned closer.

"Whatever you need." Carvo spoke.

"I need you to dissect a very special specimen." She proposed, looking at the box beside her.

"What kind of specimen exactly?" Carvo asked.

"See for yourself."

Carvo proceeded to open the box slowly, without any anticipation for anything. Anysa had sent him a dozen samples and specimens to dissect ever since he was in the legions, it wasn't a strange request but something seemed different this time.

As Carvo had a clear view of what was inside that refrigerated box, he gulped. "Impossible.." He stared at it, Anysa remained calm.

"Look at how far these bastards had come." She sighed, "It's a very priceless piece, I want every single bit of information about it written into a nice report, one I can understand, alright?" She ordered Carvo as she got up and left him stunned. "Sure- just give me time." He replied, carefully closing the box.

As Anysa had her hand on the door handle, she turned around and looked back at Carvo. "Aren't you curious about how it was caught?" She asked him. "I suppose that's your department, not mine." Carvo replied, uncaring to the process of catching that beast.

While the door was shut, Carvo held the box dearly in his hands. "Anysa's clone..Right between my own hands!" He grinned.