“Stop your shivering. Your damn noises would alert the whole city as to where we are” Mr. Cobalt said while peeking through a corner.

“I-I-I ca-can’t help it… It’s t-t-too c-c-c-cold” I said while I stopped my chattering teeth from making more any noise. It was just raining thirty minutes ago when we left the mansion, but right now, it was snowing very hard. I don’t know why it’s like this, but it’s currently in the last week of May, and there’s snow falling from the sky. Makes you think that it’s in the middle of winter or we were somewhere in the far north.

“Bah, you’ll get used to it. Look at those two” He said while pointing his chin at Fredrick and Felicia.

Looking at them both, they were doing good under this weather, heck, ‘good’ doesn’t even compare to how they’re doing from my perspective. Felicia was even having some fun of her own by making a small snowball and throwing it at Mr. Cobalt’s face. The man didn’t mind it at all and just shakes his head to get rid of the ice crystals.

“?” I questioningly looked at the both of them.

Fredrick just shrugged his shoulders. “I and the others trained in the main house every day when it was the holidays back when we were kids. It was on top of a mountain, so we had to adapt or else we won’t get any presents from Mister ‘Santa Claus’ over there” He said while looking at Mr. Cobalt. “This is just a refreshing breeze to me right now”

Mr. Cobalt laughed as quietly as possible, which is still loud enough to hear from a block away. He tells me to be quiet, but he makes that kind of laugh? Unfair.

“I did it because of love, of course. Can’t let you boys be under my care without teaching you how to fend for yourselves”

“Yeah, ‘Love’” Fredrick rolled his eyes, while Felicia threw another snowball at the man’s face.

“Okay-okay, enough playing around” Mr. Cobalt said, as he wipes his face to get rid of the snow. “Here, this should keep you warm in the meantime”

He pointed his right hand at my direction and suddenly, the air began to heat up around me and melted the snow. The icy breeze wasn’t penetrating my skin anymore and my body stopped shivering alongside it. It now felt like how it should be at this time of the year, a slightly warm temperature that would make you drowsy.

“Haaa...” I breathed a sigh of relief and asked Mr. Cobalt as to why it was snowing right now.

“It’s because of the Well” He answered. “Once the Well dries up, it would just naturally gather again to fill it up, but he might have done something to the core that attracts the Souls to cause something such as this to happen. Something not good, I’d guess”

“Oh, is it… going to be fine?” I asked.

“Definitely not” He replied.

We then ran through the snowy city road and made our way to the nearest intersection a few blocks away. Taking cover under a waiting shed when there wasn’t any giant men roaming around. Mr. Cobalt then told us what to do when we got to where we’re supposed to go.

“Kid, you’re with me” He said. “And the two of you should go and meet up with the boys’ and help them out if they need it, if you’re done with whatever it is your doing, take them along and follow us inside. Got it?” He questioned, and all three of us nodded.

“Good, now we just need to go through there and then enter that alleyway” He pointed towards somewhere, but the continuous fall of snow was dampening my vision and I can only see a few blocks ahead of me.

I followed behind Mr. Cobalt towards where he pointed at, but Fredrick and Felicia split up with us and went straight forward when we made it into the alley. The snow was only a half feet deep, but it was already quite hard traversing the empty streets. I wonder why it wasn’t melting whenever I step over on it like it did when Mr. Cobalt did something to me a while ago.

I lift my hand and open my palm, catching some snowflakes all over my hand and arm. There wasn’t any coldness that seeped through my skin, but it didn’t melt or anything either. Even after I waited for ten whole seconds, nothing happened to it. Maybe it wore off or something, but that still doesn’t explain why I wasn’t feeling cold or the sort.

“Stop dallying around, kid” Mr. Cobalt said, motioning for me to come follow him inside the alleyway. “Stay close to me when we get inside and just walk straight. You might get lost inside, and if your attention wanders, it could get worse” He cautioned.

“Uh, okay?” I said, but I didn’t think I’d be too distracted by something that I’d get lost, and also, I’m old enough not wander off on my own when I’m sure that there are things here that I wouldn’t want to bump into. I feel as if he’s treating me like an elementary school kid that’s out on his first field trip.

“Let’s go” He then takes the cigar that he was smoking and points it towards the wall. A few seconds later, the surface of the wall begins to rattle and move. It created a large enough hole that a single man of average height could enter.

He ducks low enough just to fit his huge body inside the hole, and went inside. I soon followed behind him and tried to see through the darkness that was masking the inside of wherever it was we’re going. But I couldn’t. It was pitch black inside.

“Uhmm, I really can’t see anything in this darkness. Is it just a straight way ahead?” I asked, kind of worried that I might really get lost.

“Just walk straight” He replied.

And there it was, after a minute of walking later, I finally saw something up ahead. It was a broken glass bottle that was suspended in the air, and it was emanating a strange oppressive aura. Making my breathing to become heavy and taxed. I couldn’t even stare away from it, as my neck was having a hard time moving at all.

But, Mr. Cobalt doesn’t seem to be affected by it at all, and just casually walks towards the thing and grabs it with his hand. The moment that he did so, the oppressive aura disappeared and everything returned to normal.

“Ah!” The air in front of Mr. Cobalt ignited, and fire soon appeared. It grew from the one-foot flame that it was, and turned into a five-meter blazing inferno in just a couple of seconds. It was dazzling and fear inducing at the same time. It felt like you’d be swallowed up and burnt because of how big it was getting.

“Goddamn it, he even broke the breath’s container and even putting it in plain sight like this. The bastard’s taunting us” Mr. Cobalt said aloud. “Go in, kid. We better hurry up and find the others” He hurriedly beckoned me to go into the fire.

“Uh... is it sa-“ I couldn’t even finish what I was trying to say, as he grabbed my hand and threw me in to the blazing inferno. “WAAAHHH!” I screamed, but after a few seconds of rolling on the ground, I realized that I wasn’t being burnt alive.

“Relax, it’s fine” He said, as he entered too. “It’ll just take a few minutes, but just to be safe, put your eyes on my back and don’t look away or just shut your eyes completely tight and don’t open them until I say so. Got it?”

“… Ah! Okay” I just replied on reflex, since my attention was on the flame and I was preoccupied by waving my hands up and down, trying to make the flame move to where I’d like it that I didn’t even know what he just said.

The flame then began to move in an erratic way. Twisting and turning, from one side to the other, and increasing and decreasing in height. There was flashing images, objects, and a brief view of landscapes that were appearing outside of the fire. There was also something else outside, correction; it was a ‘someone’. A child.

I couldn’t really tell if it was a boy or a girl since he or she was too far away from the light of the fire, and I can only tell that it was a person by their silhouette. He or she was just standing there and looking straight at me with their eyes that reflect the light coming from the fire. I don’t know why, but it’s creeping me out.

“…” We stared at each other for an uncomfortable amount of time before he or she finally waved at me with his or her hand and smiled. The smile was visible because his or her teeth reflected the light from the fire, too, and showed the outline of the lips. I don’t know why it was so visible that I saw it quite clearly, but it was extremely…

Dreadful

“What are you staring at, Rei?” Al asked, but I couldn’t respond because I couldn’t take my concentration away from the thing outside because it felt like that I shouldn’t. It’s the feeling when, if I look away, something bad might happen. To me, of course.

“…!” It was a smile that made every hair in my body to stand on end. Teeth bared, corner of the lips curving up to where it was anatomically impossible, and the eyes were closing and opening one after another in a non-synchronized way. I suddenly had the urge to forcefully close my eyes right this instant and forget everything that ever happened in the past... I don’t even know how long we were staring at each other, but it definitely felt like more than a minute.

The flame’s dance began to intensify for one last flashy show, and then it died down and disappeared a few moments later. When it was finally gone, it revealed a cavern filled with tunnels, which I assumed lead to different parts of the place, puddles that vary in size, and glowing white rocks that illuminated the whole area. In the center of the cavern, there was a circle made out of a giant puddle and eight glowing green rocks that were surrounding it.

“We’re here” He said.

“Where are we?” I asked, still disturbed by what I just saw.

“We’re at the entrance of the Well”

“Oh, okay” I said. “So, uhmm, where to, next?”

“We’re going to follow the first group that went in and check what’s going on” He replied. He then grinned and patted my shoulder “You ever watched spy movies, kid?”

“Uh, yes?”

“Good. Just think of what those spies did, but without the flashy entrances and silly mishaps plotted by the directors” He said. “Walk slowly, don’t make a sound, and don’t say anything unless you need to. Caution and Silence is the key to victory and survival. Got it?”

“Got it” I can do that. I’ve watched some action movies with spies as the main protagonist in the past. I just need to shut my mouth and don’t make any unnecessary sounds or noises. I don’t really need to do any complicated spy stuff, so this is going to be a piece of cake.

We then traversed the cavern tunnel that was to the most right, and walked as quietly as possible. Watching my every step and looking ahead and to my back every so often. To be honest, this felt rather exciting for me. I know it was dangerous and the sort, but still, if something is as blood pumping like this, then you can’t help yourself being thrilled. Although, that uncomfortable feeling in my stomach was dampening the whole experience.

And when we were almost at the other side, Mr. Cobalt put out his hand to stop me from moving forward. I threw in a questioning look, but he just put his index finger on his lips, indicating that I should keep quiet. He then puts up his open right hand in front of me and I quickly understood that it meant I should wait here.

I nod my head in confirmation that I understood what his hand signals meant, and he nodded too. He then went ahead of me, peeked through the other side, and made his way out. With nothing else to do, I thought that I should conserve my energy, so I sat down on the ground in wait for his return.

“So, now we wait” Al said.

This waiting was also causing my stomach to feel uncomfortable, and I want it to stop. It’s getting unbearable, but I’m just using my will to push those feelings down and concentrate on something else, which is… nothing in particular. I don’t have anything else to keep me preoccupied while Mr. Cobalt went ahead.

“Why are you fidgeting like that?” Al asked, as he noticed my body turning from one side to the other.

“Can’t help it… I’m getting nervous” I replied in a hushed voice.

“Hmm…” Al went into deep thought for a minute, and then came back with a suggestion. “Try to think of something else besides what’s happening right now. It might help you to stop fidgeting”

“I can’t think of anything, if I did, then I wouldn’t be fidgeting like this”

“Well… how about something related to school or at home?” He added. “Maybe there’s something there that you forgot to do or something”

I thought for a good few minutes if there really was, but… “I forgot nothing” I said. “This isn’t helping me Al” I fidgeted some more and grabbed my stomach just to ease the uncomfortable feeling. This was a mental thing, right? Maybe I can get rid of it with a slight stimulation, like laughing or something of the sort. So, I tried to do so.

“Hahahah…” I thought of something funny and laughed for half a minute, but the sensation in my stomach didn’t fade away. I think it just made it worse.

“Uh… are you okay? Is there something else wrong?” Al asked.

I didn’t get to answer him, though, as there was someone who entered from the other side of the tunnel. He’s upper body was covered in blood, and there was a wound on his left arm. The wound wasn’t dripping any blood, but the flesh was ripped open, as if someone stuck a hook in it and forcefully yanked it away.

“Come on” He said.

“Ar-… are you okay?” I asked a little bit disturbed that Mr. Cobalt wasn’t treating the wound on his arm.

“Oh, this? It’s just a little flesh wound. I’ll fix it up later” He replied, patting the wound on his arm.

From what I was seeing, it looked like it hurt a lot. However, the man in front of me was just nonchalant about it, so maybe it wasn’t that big of a deal. I hope.

“Stop your fussing. There’s other people waiting for us up ahead”

“…” I just nodded my head and went out of the tunnel along with him.

When I made it out of the tunnel, I stopped walking. “W-what… happened?” I asked, as I try to push down the contents of my stomach that was trying its hardest to come up.

The other side was… death. That was the first thing that came into mind, and it would probably be stuck to that thought regardless of whatever else I try to replace it. It was just that. Death.

“It is what it is” He said, as he strode through the dead bodies of people that were scattered in the cavern. “A fight occurred and people died”

“But… this much?” I could estimate that there were more than fifty dead bodies all over the place. There were also a lot of broken and torn parts from what appears to be the giant men from a while back. Destroyed and torn into pieces, they litter the cavern in huge chunks.

“It’s only natural, since he’s using those pesky dolls made by Ryggid” He said, not the least bit sympathetic with the dead. “I don’t even know where he got them from, because as far as I’m aware, the only one’s remaining from that guy’s collection should be under the care of Lunenfol’s Royal family. Unless, they willingly gave it to him, which I doubt they would”

“…” I listened to his explanation, but the whole time that I did, I was looking down at his feet and following behind him. I didn’t want to look anywhere else but down, so that I could avoid seeing anything else that might make me queasy.

We went on towards another set of tunnels, but this time, we took the left most one. It lead to another cavern where a group of people were sitting idly by. Some of them were tending to their wounds, while the others were chatting and doing something else. The atmosphere didn’t look too good, as most of them have worn out faces and their movements were haggard.

“It’s been a long time, you big fool” Someone said. “Oh, looks like they got to you, huh?”

A handsome young man wearing a tropical t-shirt and jeans came walking towards us. He had hair that was styled unusually, where his hair rose to one side and stayed like that. He must have used a lot of hair gel to get it up like that. He was of average height and normal body weight for someone of his size. But there was this smug look that he had, that made it seem that he was being condescending.

“Just caught me off guard is all. And by the way, you left one that's still running back there” Mr. Cobalt said.

“Hah! ‘Caught off guard’. You should just say you’re old and confused” The man replied. “Just retire and hole yourself in a secluded mountain somewhere faraway. Maybe you’d find enlightenment there along with that stupid facial hair of yours”

“Look who’s talking you shitty geezer. We’re almost the same age, hell, you’re even older than I am, and look at you” He pointed towards his hair and getup. “You teenage popstar wannabe. Your 'pupils' would be ashamed if they saw you now” He retorted while laughing aloud.

“…” It must have hit a nerve, as the man’s expression soured and he clenched his fist tightly into a ball.

Seeing that the person in front of him wasn’t talking anymore, Mr. Cobalt patted his back and tried to console him, but that only made the man fall forward and go on his knees. I think what Mr. Cobalt did only made the man sulk more.

“Now now, stop moping around. You can tell me all your worldly problems after this is over” He grabs hold of the young (?) man’s arm and pulls him up. The difference in height is noticeable as they were almost two feet apart.

“…” He didn’t even glance at Mr. Cobalt. He just ignored him like some stranger handing out flyers in the street.

Seeing his reaction, the hulking man laughed for a few more seconds before he apologized. “Don’t be like that. I’m sorry, I didn’t mean what I said earlier. You aren’t a teenage popstar wannabe. You’re…” The man left his sentence hanging and went into thought for quite some time. He must have been thinking of a way to cheer up his conversation partner, but he couldn’t think of anything as he just stayed silent.

At this time, the right thing to do to change the atmosphere is to turn the other people’s attention to something or somewhere else, but how… Ah!

“*Cough*…” I tried to grab their attention with a loud cough, and I succeeded, as both of them turned their heads towards me. I might have coughed too loud, though, as I also gathered the attention of the other people in the cavern.

“Uhmm, s-s-so…. Uh” I was suddenly bombarded by the stares of almost forty people, and my instincts to run away and hide from them were kicking in. My right foot was already itching to turn heel and escape. I was just forcing it to stay in place, but it won’t last for long if this keeps on.

“Uh… ” My brain was in scramble, as the things that I planned to say next were forgotten and replaced by the sheer amount of embarrassment that was arising.

…

“What do we do now?” Al came to my rescue, which was a good thing, as I honestly thought that it would end up with me running away to somewhere inside this place and getting lost. That would cause all sorts of problems again. Mostly for me, though.

“Who’s he?” The young man wearing a tropical shirt asked Mr. Cobalt.

“Ay, this right here is our volunteer” He said, as he clamped his right hand on my shoulder. It made a *pop* sound, to which I would assume my shoulder joint was dislocated. And it was, as I couldn’t even lift my right arm anymore.

I look at him in horror with my face scrunching up, and he reacts by apologizing. “Ah, sorry about that. Let me fix it for you” He then pulled my arm, pushed something on my shoulder, and then another popping sound. “There, all fixed”

I lifted my arm up and wiggled it, trying to see if everything was okay now, and it was. Although, there was still a slight pang that I felt whenever I tried to move it. But, other than that, it was fine.

“…” I wish he didn’t do that thing again on me, though. Who knows what other things could get displaced or dislocated, or maybe even worse.

“Uhmm… Hi” I slightly put my other hand that didn’t get dislocated up at shoulder level, and waved at him. The man in front of me inspects me from head to toe, and shakes his head after he did so.

“This here’s the one we’re going to risk our lives for?” He points at me while he directed a flabbergasted expression towards Mr. Cobalt and yelled at him. “He looks like he just came out of his mother’s womb. Are you fucking with us!?”

“Hold on, hold on, calm yourself and let me explain before you go on another tirade” He then gestures for the man to come follow him towards the tunnel where we just came from, leaving me behind with a gathering of individuals who just heard the man’s yell.

They’re stares turned into daggers that pierced my being, as they all tried to scrutinize me. Their looks were sending signals of fatigue, despair, and the ‘all is lost’ one. I wanted to say ‘don’t judge a book by it’s cover’, but in my case, the book doesn’t have a cover, heck, it doesn’t even have any words written on it. It’s just a bunch of clustered paper, waiting to be thrown out into the garbage bin or in the fire place.

“… Huh?” Al seemed to have noticed something, but I couldn’t ask him what it was. The flock of people that were surrounding me where inspecting my every move. I couldn’t even flinch, as one sudden small move would garner their attention once again.

I stood there like a statue for a while until Mr. Cobalt and the other person returned from the tunnel. One of them was all smiles, while the other was glaring at my direction. Not a good sign I guess.

“You” He pointed at me. “Listen to what I say and don’t do anything else. You hear?” He said, to which I vigorously nod my head in response. Mr. Cobalt laughs at our short exchange and claps his hands loud enough to gather everyone else’s attention.

“Okay, boys. Listen up” He said. “This kid here is our care package. Don’t let anything happen to him, unless, if you want to take his place, that is”

Everyone gave a response of affirmation by nodding their head or eliciting a small grunt. Some even stood up and saluted when Mr. Cobalt gave his instructions. Some kind of military training kicking in, I guess.

“Okay, good” He then waved his right hand and gestured for them to sit down. “We’ll start the operation when the scouts return. For the meantime, conserve your strength and patch yourself up”

Everyone did as instructed and continued doing the things that they were doing a while ago, which was chatting and covering their bodies with bandages. Doing what the others were doing, Mr. Cobalt also sat down and started patching his wounded left arm. Patching wasn’t the right term, as he took his right hand, putting it on fire, and placing it on top of the wound. When he lifted it, the wound is gone. The ripped flesh was back together, but it now had a reddish skin that looked like it was sore.

“Handy, right?” He said with a grin. “Shame I can’t do this to other people, though. I would be like a saint to the people right here. Maybe I could also s-”

“Enough of that” The man next to us cut in. “Did you at least teach him the basics?” He asked.

“I thought the kid ‘some’ stuff. You know… the very basics, like what Souls are and what not” The hulking man replied as he went into a more comfortable position while putting both his hands behind him and leaned back.

“You’re so incompetent at teaching…” He sighs as he said that.

“Hey hey hey, I just met the kid a few hours ago. What do you expect would happen? Make him some kind of super human in that short amount of time? Hah!”

“The hand book, you fool. You could’ve at least gave him the hand book so he could read it!”

“Ah… about that. I kind of lost it back when I was being chased a few years ago”

He stood in disbelief when he heard the man’s words. “YOU WHAT!”

“Bah! It’s just a small book with some ‘useful’ information in it. You can always just right a new one”

“That’s where Helene wrote where she left her stuff!”

“Oh…” He suddenly looked worried. “You didn’t memorize it?”

“How could I even memorize it when you held on to it for a whole decade, you fucking shit for brains!”

“… It’s all water under the bridge now. We could always try to ask her grandson if she left anything on him”

“You…” He didn’t finish what he was saying, as he grabs his hair and tried to pull some of them out. But it must have been resilient, as not even a strand was giving way. After a couple more of futile tries, nothing happened, and the supposedly messy hair magically went back to how it looked before he started pulling it. When I say ‘magically’, I meant it moved on its own. Hair that grooms itself. Fancy.

“Do you hear that ‘thumping’?” Al suddenly asked.

Hear what? I tried hard to listen to whatever Al was talking about, but I couldn’t hear any ‘thumping at all. The only sounds I could hear were from the people that were inside the cavern. I tried to zone out the other noises again, but I really just couldn’t hear it.

“Uhmm… i-“ I got cut short because Al interrupted me by shouting.

“Rei, something’s coming!” Was the only thing I could hear before something blew up and I went flying towards a wall.