A man who you have been seeing smiling, and laughing most of the time is the one who secretly holds grudges the most, and knows the harsher, and more painful truth than you will ever know.

- Garett Rowe

It was a calm and lovely night. With only a few clouds appearing, the crescent moon and the stars that shine high above were visible. It would have been a lovely night to walk in a field under the bask of the moonlight, or sleep in a warm bed and begin dreaming of wonderful things. But instead, I and many others, including Lady Lucerne and King Taro himself, were all wide awake, cautious, and prepared with our own weapons in our hands, with our minds and souls ready for what’s about to happen tonight. Looking at the hands that ticks on my pocket watch, I know that it wouldn’t be long before the big imminent battle breaks out. Soon closing my pocket watch, I looked at the spy who was pinned down on the floor by some of my men who caught him earlier for the attempt of assassination.

"This will be the last time I’m asking you this, who sent you all here?" I asked.

The spy let out a weak chuckle before smirking.

"And did you truly expect that I would answer to a Bloody Traitor such as yourself?... Unlike you, our loyalty to Her Highness cannot be swayed that easily. Her wish is the wish of her people, and it is the noblest of them all…"

He coughed a bit between his sentences. "You couldn’t hope to understand, because you left everything behind. Truly, you’re nothing more than a—"

Before he was able to finish his sentence, Klein quickly threw a small needle in the man’s neck, immediately making him unconscious. It seemed that the needle had anesthetic in it, but it is quite impressive how it affected him quickly after one shot.

"It seems that we won’t be getting any good answers from this one. Take him to the dungeon." I ordered, and my two men quickly took the spy away with them. "I never thought that they would be that obsessed with the Queen or her ambitions that much."

"Neither do I. But I am also doubtful as you are that she herself was the one who sent them all here. It is an impressive plan to ambush from the inside, but attacking at night time— when their enemies are much stronger, that seemed too risky." Klein said.

"Well, you know how the people from Helio Vermillion can be at desperate times. Such a thing as risk no longer exists in their minds, and as long as they will be able to do whatever it takes to win in every battle they fought in, that’s what matters to them in the end…" My gaze quickly turned as my ear flinched, hearing the slight sound of breaking clay tiles from the roofs, and seeing shadows jumping away in the night sky.

And so it began. I sighed then looked at Klein. "You know what you had to do…"

He quietly nodded at me before he nocked an arrow with blue flames on the tip of it into his bow, maintained the draw, then began to aim it at the night sky before letting the arrow fly. Soon after, walls of water began to rise high until the whole castle was fully caged by it, locking everyone here inside, including our enemies.

Risky as it may be, it was the orders of Queen Guinevere, and not mine. Anything and everything that will happen tonight will only stay in this place, and no words must come outside.

"I never thought that the former Queen would even help us with this, or at least, I hope that she wasn’t drunk when she gave you those orders." Klein chuckled as he grabbed another arrow from his quiver. "With the Queen, and the advantage we have tonight— or most of our comrades at least, I highly doubt that we’ll be defeated easily."

"I wouldn’t be too cocky. If they get to the king first, then it’s over for us." I said.

"If they could get to him first. But you wouldn’t let that happen now, would you?"

Slowly drawing my sword, I looked at the enemies who soon arrived at the scene, no longer wearing the same attire as my men, revealing themselves truly that they are men of Helio Vermillion. "Hmph. Of course not. Though, I would like to see them try…"

Our cold hands gripped our gelid swords. Their eyes blazed at me and began to surge forward, screaming loudly in anger before soon after our blades began clashing a couple of times. The loud sound of our weapons clanging and clangorous were echoing and became louder in all sorts of directions as the battlefield down below the arch hallway shortly began. There’s now static in the air as a storm of arrows whizzed and fizzed into the night sky before hitting their targets, their loud screeches then followed as their blood splattered in the cold, once unsoiled ground and unstained floors.

I need to head to the Library now. I’m not sure how long the king can keep himself hidden there or if he’s already found by the enemy. I thought as I began to walk down the bloodied hallway where I saw corpses at every corner, except for one who was still somewhat alive and grabbed my leg, stopping me for a moment. After letting out a weak chuckle, he then said this, "Y-You… You’re already… too late to save him now…"

I stared at the dying man, noticing the left sclera on his eye was black, there were visible purple and black-colored veins as well underneath the skin of his hand that soon slowly let go of my leg as he drew his final breath and his eyes lost their light. Not noticing the state of his body sooner, I just realized that it wasn’t normal. Perhaps this is what Lady Lucerne told me before about one’s hatred that if bottled up inside for too long, it could one day take control, or worse, it could even kill you.

But this man, he couldn’t be referring to who I think he is, is he?… Shaking my head on the thought, I continued walking away and headed to my next destination. But there was that lingering and eerie feeling that something worse is about to occur soon, and what I was trying to avoid would happen would come crashing down to me tonight…

The cold hallways were calm, the furniture, the paintings, even the small objects such as the white lilies in their small vases remained untouched, and the carpets had not been stained by anyone’s blood, or not yet at least. The battle has just began afterall, and with the loud noise coming from the continuous battle outside echoes and rings in my ears, it keeps me cautious than ever. Even such a small suspicion, a small action…

…!

… it was enough for me to be prepared for any battle.

Immediately drawing my sword out, I deflected and avoided the sudden crystal feathers that were thrown at me for a short while, until a woman walked out of the darkness. Revealing herself to be the maid in disguise with conspicuous long rosy-colored hair from before. Seeing her face now, there when I first noticed the small feathers that were on each side of her cheeks and shoulders, and the teal-colored and very feminine eyes that glowed a bit in the dark. In her hand there she waves a couple of new crystal feather like daggers as she said, "... It seems that he was right about you. So cautious indeed… Truly, a huge problem if he wants the plan to be successful tonight."

"And I must say, I never thought that the people of your kind, or the leader of the Invincible Wing Tribe herself would bow down to such a kingdom like Helio Vermillion."

She suddenly broke one of the crystal feathers as her teal eyes narrowed at me.

"Hmph. Big words coming from someone who ran away from their problems, and served the very ruler who took everything from him. Humans like you truly disgust me."

"Oh? Then you’re no different from me afterall." I said with a straight face, which irritated her even more and responded with throwing her crystal feathers at me.

Soon after, I was able to deflect them but she began rushing towards me with her sharp claws. It screeched loudly as they ran against the blade of my sword with her burning gaze and gritting teeth almost closely at my face. Before she made her next move, I immediately kicked her in the stomach, set fire to the blade of my sword and casted Blazing Wave at her while she was still in midair. Cruel as it may be, the things that they will do to you would be merciless. I never underestimate my enemy in battle, and of course, I always and already knew that things were not going to be that easy.

Despite the huge fire already on the floor, suddenly a strong gust of wind appeared, quickly ending it and even made me move back a bit from where I stand. The Avian woman was surprised, then she looked at the tall Avian man, with long turquoise-colored hair, beard, and eyes who soon stood beside her. In a surprised and a bit of displeased tone, she then shouted at him, "K-Kareem? What are you doing here?! I already told you that I could handle this myself! You didn’t have to come for me at a—"

Not even letting her finish her sentence, he swiftly grabbed the large bow from his back and fired a crystal arrow at me. This time, I wasn’t able to dodge it, though it flew inches away from my cheek, the wind that came along with it still left a small cut.

As he was about to fire another arrow, he stopped as he seemed to realize something. Slowly lowered his bow as he looked at the woman and asked in such a surprisingly calm tone, "You were not hurt or got burned anywhere, were you, Adira?"

"W-What no— of course not…" she responded, dusting off her clothes as she stood up then looked at me as the Avian man did as well. And as they both about to make their next move as I did the same, unexpectedly a wave of sharp and quick ice suddenly emerged from the floor, immediately freezing their legs then soon creating tall and very thick walls of ice between us. The once cold hallway became icy-cold…

"Well… I never thought that you could attract enemies much easier." said by a familiar old woman while hearing her footsteps getting louder as she comes closer. I could already smell the reek of alcohol from her, it was strong. She was drunk, again…

I gave a quiet sigh before turning to face her. "Yes. Thank you, Queen Guinevere."

She gave me a stern look before slowly looking at the huge wall of ice that she made, then suddenly taking a long drink from her wine bottle. Seriously, drinking again? Even at a time as terrible as this? was what I would have said if she wasn’t here, so I left it nothing more than a thought for now and kept myself quiet. Though, I was surprised to hear her say it to the Queen, "Your Highness, please, this is not the time for that..."

"L-Lady Lucerne?" I said in shock as she soon walked into view with a worried expression on her face. "I… I thought you were with the King right now in the Library."

She shook her head. "I was with the King, but Her Highness asked me to meet her, then we heard the battle had begun from the outside. And the twin Avians came…"

"But both of them cowered away after knowing what we ladies are capable of!" the Queen continued on her behalf, and in a sassy and boastful tone even. "We thought that they already knew where my son was, but it seems they ran on to you instead…"

The Lady then looked at me and asked, "Are you alright? Are you hurt?"

"I-It’s nothing. It’s just a scratch. Don’t worry." I said in a reassuring tone.

But despite my response, she gently placed her hand on my cheek, on where the small cut is specifically. I felt a tiny bit of sting before feeling it was quickly healed. As she removed her hand, she then smiled at me a bit and said, "There… much better..."

"I-I…" After blinking twice, I looked away quickly. "T-Thank you, Lady Lucerne…"

"Are you two done yet?" the Queen asked in a sassy tone once more, now with her arms crossed while still holding her bottle of wine. "I already understand now why my son wants you two to be together, and one day rule this kingdom… but now is not the right time either to be talking about things like that. Don’t you two think?..."

Not waiting for any response from us, and not seeming to be out of anger, she suddenly hit her empty bottle of wine against the table nearby then looked at me, "Lady Lucerne and I can take care of the twins by ourselves. And it is best that you should head to my son now. Though, I fear that someone else is waiting out there for you…"

Someone else? Did something happen to the king again or was she referring to… I thought as I unintentionally stared at her for a moment, which made her annoyed.

"What?... Are you underestimating me because I’m drunk?! I’m too old to fight?!"

"N-No— Of course not ma’am— I mean, No, of course not, Your Highness." I said.

"Then get your bum going and stop wasting more time!" she shouted loudly.

I nodded at her then immediately bowed, "Of course, Your Highness," before I began to run. Though, in a glimpse of Lady Lucerne’s eyes met mine, I whispered to her, "Please, be careful…" as she nodded and responded with, "Be careful as well… Alessio."

After several minutes of taking the long way to get to the Library, where the King was said to be hiding, I soon arrived at the place quietly. It was dark, the lights from the candelabra and torches around the walls were unlit, with only the source of light coming from the window outside. Carefully and quietly, I began to walk around with my hand gripped tightly on to my sword, and my eyes sharp to look for anything suspicious or for sudden attacks. Afterall, it’s highly doubtful if the King is still the only one here.

There’s this incredibly strong yet negative aura somewhere, coming from someone… It’s not the same as when the King lost control of the Stone of Void. This one is different, it’s new— and yet still familiar to me. Could this be— my train of thoughts suddenly came to a halt as I felt a strong force pull me down, and dragged me behind one of the tables. When I turned around to look at the person, he suddenly shut my mouth with his hand and hushed me. He then looked left and right before asking me in a whisper, "I’m glad that you’re here now, but I need to ask if… you were you alone when you came here?"

I quietly nodded to him and he let out a sigh of relief. "Ah, that’s good…" He then removed his hand from my mouth as he lowered his head, "Despite how I may need the others' help instead of yours, it would be foolish of me if I wouldn’t come to you first when it comes to this kind of situation, and especially… with that certain person even."

"I’m glad that you are unharmed. But who are you referring to?" I asked.

His mouth came to a thin line as he kept himself quiet. Instead of hearing his response, both of our eyes widened in surprise and fear, hearing someone else’s— a familiar man’s voice began calling my name over and over again, as if he was looking for me yet it was haunting, "Alessio… Hey, Alessio… Are you here now as well, Alessio?..."

"G-Garett? What is he doing here?" I asked myself as I was about to slowly stand up to see him myself until the King suddenly grabbed my arm, making me look at him and seeing him with a worried expression on his face before shaking his head quickly.

"No— Please, don’t go. It’s not him— Garett, He’s— He’s not himself right now!"

As I was about to say something, immediately our ears twitched from the loud screeching sound of something sharp being scratched around the walls. "Oh? Why are you hesitating right now, Alessio?... Are you truly going to believe him more than me?"

Once the loud and painful sound stopped, he seemed to have stopped from walking for a moment as well, only to suddenly cast huge bodies of fire from the upper walkway. It quickly spread, and as it gave out a much brighter light in this dim Library, from there I finally saw him. He, Garett, was sitting on the upper walkway's railings, waiting for me. Even though he was wearing a mask that's covering half his face, I was still able to recognize him. He was now also wearing that velvet uniform, with the Helio Vermillion emblem on it. And the incredibly strong and negative aura that I sensed earlier, it was all coming from him. I was surprised to see him the way he is now, at the same time I wasn’t. I wasn’t fazed that much by him since it felt like this wasn’t the first time this happened before. This unfortunate event was truly bound to happen, but still there’s this lingering feeling of fear of something that I may not be aware of.

As I squinted my eyes, gripped tightly on my sword, and watched him soon slowly stand up, and took out his halberd from his back, he said in a very serious tone, "I have no intention to get you involved in this, Alessio… It would be much easier for all of us if you just put down that sword of yours and surrender yourself and the King…"

I took a deep breath before responding with, "Unfortunately, I can't do that. Not with the King's life on the line," as the King hid behind me with his hand grabbing tightly on my arm, making Garett’s face look more displeased than ever.

He then sighed and removed his mask as he tried to keep his composure for a moment, before he tried to convince me by saying, "Alessio, we can both leave this place unscathed. If you just try to listen to me for once and surrender yourself, then we all can go back home together. As long as you come with me, Queen Minerva Anemone isn't going to execute you or humiliate you in front of her people, they promised me that they'll keep you safe. And if they ever back down on their word, then I will do whatever it takes to make sure that you'll be safe, brother..." as he holds out his free hand to me.

"Minerva…" I heard the King whisper to himself under his breath, making me look back at him as I could feel his grip on me slightly become tighter.

Though he was avoiding eye contact with me, I could already tell that he was hesitating to tell me that he would respect my decision, whatever it may be, and even if it meant that I would surrender myself and him to the enemy. Or perhaps he just doesn’t want to get involved in this, so instead, he chose to keep himself quiet for now.

"Your Highness, if you’re listening…" I whispered to him. "... I am very highly aware of how strong Garett is, and with that negative unknown power he has right now, I don’t think I’ll be able to defeat him, but it would be enough time for you to escape from here. Once the fight between us starts, I’m going to need you to run as fast as you can, don’t look back, and don’t come back for me no matter what. Do you understand?"

He still remained silent but his grip softened until he slowly finally let me go.

I then sighed in relief then looked back at Garett, giving him the response, "I'm sorry, Garrett. But I can't go back with you… I've made my decision already that I'm going to stay here, and defend this kingdom, the King, and even his people. I can't leave them all behind, not because I was ordered to— or even threatened by him or anyone else. This decision was made on my own volition, and I'm going to stand by my word…"

His hand flinched a little before taking it back and chuckled a little. "Of course, what was I thinking…" he said as he gripped tightly on his halberd, igniting flames on its blade but with a strange black and purple aura that surrounded it. "If I can't truly convince you, then I suppose we’re doing this the hard way. C’mere and let me stick this into your thick stubborn skull!" he shouted the last words in a threatening tone. He then suddenly jumped from the railings and towards me with his halberd, but I was able to quickly push the King away from me and block the attack.

The two of us began clashing our flaming weapons at one another. Every hit he does against my sword gets stronger each time, making me barely block most of them and avoid it as much as I possibly could. Even if I already used the power of my stone to increase my flow of time, still none of us were able to land any hits to one another. I then even tried to reason with him as we continued on.

"I-Is there truly no way for me to convince you to step down? Your men are being defeated one by one, your plan is already falling apart!" but he wouldn’t listen.

"Using words and reason in a battle? Ha! You’re getting soft, Alessio!" he said as he went for another swing with his halberd at me, but I was able to dodge it just in time. "You and I know how we people of Helio Vermillion are when it comes to these things. Strength against strength. Use words and you’ll wind up dead!" he shouted as he tried slamming his weapon at me but failed to hit me and destroyed the floor instead.

Even with every miss attack he does it slowly increases his strength and temper. Just one misstep and I'll be sent off flying or worse… But I don’t think that’s the only one that is empowering him right now. I thought as I immediately hid behind one of the bookshelves once I had the chance to get away from him. I leaned on against the bookshelf as my breathing was already heavy and my heart was beating uncontrollably fast. I know that resting or hiding right now is not ideal, but I wasn’t sure of what I was supposed to do.

"Is this who you are now, Alessio? A coward?!" he shouted as his voice changed slowly to a frightening tone. "I’ve never thought that letting you stay here would make you like this. If I knew sooner, I would have taken you with me and left, even by force!"

As he shouted those words, I noticed that the books behind me began to fall as he slowly pushed the bookshelf behind me, making me immediately leave my spot before it completely fell loudly on the floor and caused a thick fog of dust for a short moment. And from that short period of time, I didn’t realize that I let my guard down not until Garett rushed towards me with his flaming halberd, and was able to pin me down on the floor. With his foot on my chestplate and the blade of his halberd against my sword. I held tightly both the grip and the blade of my sword, sweating and struggling on holding off his hot halberd from my neck.

Seeing his face closely now, his teeth were gritting in anger, but what surprised me was noticing the sclera of his eyes as it slowly began to be consumed little by little by something black. And looking from both sides of his cheeks, there were purple and black veins that began to increase and crawl as well. It's as I feared would happen to him, he was slowly being consumed by… Odium… It was Hatred… Pure Hatred…