Rai and Sin had already separated from their friends as they left the Academy. They felt a wave of shared relief as they split away from everyone.

“I really can’t stay around a lot of people for a long time.” Rai said.

“I feel you. It’s always so draining even though it’s fun. I love being with them, but I also like just being alone sometimes.”

“Same. It’s fun but exhausting... anyway, should we go back? I don’t want to leave Kallad waiting for me.”

“First...” She turned to face Rai.

Sin tiptoed as she kissed him.

She savoured the moment as she pushed her lips up against Rai’s.

“Mhmm. That’s better. Okay, now we can go.”

Rai smiled softly at her. They walked back to Devil’s Secret together.

A short while after leaving the Academy, Rai and Sin reached the entrance to the Secret. Sin blushed as she looked down the street and saw some of the buildings that Naam told her about.

“You okay?” Rai asked as he noticed Sin’s weird look.

“Huh? I’m... fine. It’s fine.” She put on a wide smile, “We should explore this street sometime soon. There’s a lot of... interesting stuff...” Her face got hotter and hotter, “A FIGHT CLUB! There’s a fight club! We should go and watch the fights!”

“Ah was that what you were looking at? It sounds fun! We’ll go together soon!”

Sin smiled to herself.

Mr. Guard noticed them. They probably know the drill by now. He opened the door.

“Follow me, d-”

“Don’t defer from your path.” They both spoke at the same time.

Mr. Guard stared at them. He grunted as he turned around and walked.

Rai and Sin giggled to each other.

The atmosphere inside the Secret attacked Rai and Sin’s senses like an arrow piercing their bodies. Members of the Songstress’s clan almost plagued the Secret’s attractions. Groups and bunches of them mingled amongst the regular patrons, and many of them could be seen at the bars.

What took Rai and Sin by storm was the incredibly varied mix of scents. Just like the last time they came back to Devil’s Secret they smelled a number of sweet and musky scents that were far stronger than any of the smells they were used to.

Upon reaching the VIP reception room, Rai and Sin felt a lot calmer. The room itself was mostly empty.

Naam sat at the desk, and the only other people in the room were two women from the clan of Songs. They sat on the waiting seats in the middle of the room chatting away. It didn’t seem like they were actually waiting for anything though.

Naam turned to the room’s entrance as Mr. Guard walked in with Rai and Sin behind him. Mr. Guard walked into the back, signalling Rai and Sin that they were free to do as they wished now.

“How was school?” Naam said from the desk.

“It was great! I had such a good nap in our history lesson.” Sin said with a smug smile.

“Eh? You’re napping in lessons? Isn’t that the opposite of what you should be doing?”

Sin didn’t quite get it. She found herself feeling sad on hearing Naam’s tone of voice, even though she didn’t know what she’d done wrong.

“It’s just a nap, right? I didn’t hurt anyone...”

Naam shook her head as she walked around the desk towards Sin. She gently held Sin’s hands in her own.

“No, you didn’t hurt anyone. But you made things harder for yourself. Try not to nap in your lessons, and focus on them instead, no matter how boring they are, alright?”

“Okay... I’ll do my best. Sorry.”

“It’s fine, just don’t waste your time when you’re at school!”

Sin nodded. She didn’t get exactly where Naam’s advice came from, but she felt like it would be a good idea to listen to her. Sin wasn’t often confronted by her mistakes, so it was refreshing that Naam was open to talking to her like this.

Naam tilted her head and looked at Sin. Her amber eyes held a hint of softness about them as she smiled a warm smile.

Rai popped around Sin’s side and waved at Naam.

“Hey!”

“Hey handsome! How was your day?”

“It was...” His smile slowly turned into something that wasn’t quite a frown, but carried the weight of his sadness regardless, “not great.”

“You wanna talk about it?”

“I think... I might come back down and talk about it later, if that’s okay?”

“Of course it’s okay! Come down and talk to me whenever you want! I’ll always listen.”

“Thank you.”

Sin pointed at the lift.

“Rai, we should probably go and get ready before dad wonders where you are.”

“Good idea. See you later Naam.” He waved the lightly pink skinned lady goodbye.

Sin hugged Naam, which surprised her.

“See you later Naam.”

“See you guys later!”

After they got into the lift, Naam breathed a sigh of relief.

So very badly, she wanted to tell Sin that she was her sister. But Kallad had a point... it wasn’t fair for Naam to do that just yet. Sin needed to have less on her plate, or she’d be far too overwhelmed.

The two women from the clan of Songs were talking as Rai and Sin entered the lift. After a moment, their voices reached Naam’s ears.

One of them stretched as she looked at the lift with envious eyes.

“Oh how blessed we are to be part of the Lady’s envoy.”

“Why don’t we let off some steam together...” Her partner replied. Naam noticed that her voice held nothing but desire.

“You read my mind!”

They kissed. And continued kissing. They started moaning together.

“Go to a private room please!” Naam yelled.

They jumped. The first stood up and bowed.

“Sorry! We will.” The other bowed in apology as well.

They held hands as they left the reception area.

“How are they worse than succubi? Those Song clan members would fuck literally anywhere if no one stopped them.” She facepalmed as she sank back in her seat behind the desk, “This is gonna be a long month.”

Rai and Sin got ready quickly. They dressed in the same loose fitting clothes that they’d typically wear when sparring. Both of them expected Kallad to have some kind of training regime for Rai to figure out what to do to fix his techniques.

Together, they went down the lift to the sparring area underground.

Ding.

The door opened.

Way into the room sat Kallad, on the ground. His attire was unlike anything Rai’d seen him wear previously. It was a simple black and red outfit that fit the red-haired man well.

Rai and Sin walked towards him together.

“Good timing. You’re not late.” Kallad said with an echo throughout the chamber.

Sin noticed that Kallad was doing the same thing he’d do when she was a kid. Whenever Kallad saw a strong fighter, he always wanted to test them for himself. She took a step back.

Rai felt like something was off.

An instant.

Kallad’s fist flew towards Rai’s head.

Instinctively, Rai parried Kallad’s fist and redirected him to fly past.

Kallad didn’t let up. He flew towards Rai again, but this time his fist... wasn’t holding back.

Rai had no choice. A flash of lightning revealed Ghost, suspended in the air. Rai grabbed it and readied himself to defend.

Kallad smirked. He imbued his fist with... some kind of ominously powerful red mana.

Ghost collided with Kallad’s fist. Rai felt the reverberation throughout his body as Kallad punched Ghost upwards. Sin was beginning to lose the ability to control her mouth as she became more and more immersed in the battle. She stood towards the edge of the room as she watched.

Kallad eyed Rai as he reoriented himself. His problem has to do with that forbidden spell... Guess we’ll have to force it out!

Rai felt a shiver down his spine.

Kallad unleashed sharp blood-red bolts of mana in his direction.

The cracks in Ghost’s blade glowed a minty green as Rai imbued the blade with wind mana. He held his defensive stance as he deflected the red bolts with Ghost.

Kallad flew towards Rai again.

“Not enough!” He yelled.

An onslaught of fists flew at Rai from every which way.

He found it difficult to keep up, and with every few blocks he was forced to take another step back.

The offensive barrage of attacks didn’t stop. Kallad was a master of physical combat, and he imbued his body with an array of different attributes of mana as the onslaught continued.

A flaming fist flew at Rai. He dodged it.

Kallad’s knee quickly became clad in ice as he aimed to kick Rai in his ribs.

Rai managed to deflect it with Ghost’s blade as he spun away from Kallad. He couldn’t regain his bearings in time. Kallad’s foot planted itself firmly in Rai’s back.

The impact was so powerful that Rai made a guttural sound in reaction as he flew through the air. On landing, Rai pushed past the pain and forced himself to stand up.

Kallad was already in front of him. He grabbed Rai’s hakama tight around his chest and held him in the air.

Rai stared back at him with nothing but determination. Through his eyes, Kallad could feel the boy’s desire to not only survive... but to win.

Good. He’s ready.

Kallad’s right eye glowed with the fiery fury of a Phoenix.

Rai looked directly at it.

“Releasing your mana won’t get you out of this one. Good luck.” Kallad whispered.

Rai’s eyes widened as the realisation hit.

Kallad knew... How does he know?

However, there was no time to worry about that. Rai’s consciousness was failing. Soon, he fell limp in Kallad’s grip.

Rai looked like he was asleep.

“What did you do?” Sin asked. She sounded worried.

“He’s in a meditative state. Don’t look into my eye or you will be too.”

“Right...”

Sin shuffled around nervously.

“I put Rai under an illusion. If he doesn’t break free with his own ability, then he’ll probably die.”

Sin’s heart sank.

“Huh?”

At first, she was worried about Rai’s survival... her worry slowly turned into terror. She couldn’t handle living in a world without Rai in it... her terror quickly turned into anger.

“GET HIM OUT! WHY WOULD YOU DO THAT?!” She started hitting her father as tears involuntarily streamed down her face,

Kallad simply stood, allowing his daughter to tire herself out. I... probably should’ve explained it properly to her to begin with...

Sin screamed and punched Kallad as hard as she could, she yelled at him to let Rai out. She screamed and screamed and punched until she could no longer do so.

Sin slumped to the floor. She cried.

“... why... why are you d-doing this? D-did I do s-something wrong? P-please dad... I’ll d-do whatever it takes, j-just let him out... please.” She pleaded as much as she could.

“You’re not understanding me Sindyl. Let me explain properly.” Why didn’t I just explain properly in the first place... Fuck, Kallad you really need to sort yourself out!

She sat on her knees, practically limp. “please...”

“I’m not saying he’ll die from this. I’m saying that if I personally let him free, then he’ll die because of his own techniques.”

Sin watched with blank eyes as Kallad sat Rai down in a comfortable position. She noticed the flames sputtering off of her father’s right eye, but she dared not look into the eye itself.

Sin’s voice cracked, “h-... how... what d-do you m-mean?”

Kallad sat opposite Rai. He maintained Rai’s sitting position using summoned blocks of raw mana.

“TELL ME!” Fresh tears rolled down Sin’s cheeks, “tell me... please...”

Kallad didn’t look at his daughter but he replied nonetheless.

“Stormflow and Antithesis. They must have merged somehow. Or... what would be even more terrifying... If what Rai mentioned about forbidden spells was true... Antithesis could somehow have caused Stormflow to evolve or get trapped. He needs to internalise how they work now, or he will die in a fight without knowing how to use them.”

“your s-spell, how d-does it help him?”

“It’s a legendary illusion. I’ve sent Rai into a series of situations that... draw from history, in a sense. They will feel altogether impossible. If he dies, he will simply start again from the beginning. Once he’s gone through all of the scenarios, he’ll break free of the illusion himself. I can maintain it for as long as I wish, so long as my eye never closes. He just has to win.”

Sin audibly gulped. Her throat was dry, and her hands were sweaty.

“how... how long w-will it t-take? C-can you see him?”

“I will maintain the spell for 3 hours, but for him it will feel a lot longer than that. If he cannot break free with those techniques in that time... then he will have to live without ever being able to use them again.”

“I... I know... it’s f-for Rai... but it’s not fair. You didn’t ask m-me...”

“I shouldn’t have to ask you Sin.”

Sin felt a pang of pain in her heart as Kallad spoke those words.

“You aren’t Rai’s mother. You’re his closest friend, but you don’t get to decide whether something is right for him or not. Understand that.”

Sin heaved dry tears. She didn’t want to admit that Kallad was right.

“You’re right about one thing though... I didn’t explain it properly at the start because I needed him to be motivated. But I should’ve told you. I’m sorry. I promise I won’t do anything to hurt Rai. But... it’s on him now.” He sighed, “Go to Naam. Spend some time with her, and come back before 3 hours are up.”

Sin slowly forced herself to stand up. Weakness plagued her legs as she stumbled. Still, Sin managed it. She couldn’t stay here any longer knowing what she knew. Her eyes couldn’t bear any more tears, so all she felt was a dry pain coming from them as she slowly trudged her way to the lift. Sin turned around and looked towards her father and Rai. Her heart ached, “he... he’ll be f-fine right?”

“Only time will tell.” Kallad’s voice boomed throughout the room.

Sin choked back her desire to scream and cry, and entered the lift. She went to the lobby to see Naam.

Kallad stared at Rai. This won’t be easy, kid. You’ll have to draw from everything you know, and some stuff that you don’t know.

Kallad maintained the Phoenix’s Eye...

It was all up to Rai now.

Sin entered the lobby.

It was empty.

Except for Naam.

Naam looked over at the door that opened. She saw Sin crying. Immediately, Naam stood up and ran over to Sin.

“Hey. What’s wrong?!” She held Sin’s hand and gently held the side of her face with her other hand.

Sin’s eyes were puffy. They refused to leak any more. Her lips trembled.

She hugged Naam. She hugged her so tight that Naam could tell that something was incredibly wrong.

Naam simply held her. Sin sobbed into Naam’s shoulder as Naam rubbed the back of Sin’s head. After one overwhelming day, she was met by another.

After a few moments of Sin sobbing, they sat down together on the seats behind the desk.

“It’s... Dad... he’s helping Rai... but I don’t like it. I just... don’t like it.”

Sin leaned her head on Naam’s shoulder and closed her eyes.

Naam gently rubbed the side of Sin’s head.

“Rai will be fine. Dad’s methods are... harsh... but he normally succeeds.”

“Yeah... hopefully... I’ll have to have faith in Rai.” Sin sounded like she was feeling just a little better. Naam was glad that Sin wasn’t feeling as broken as she looked when she first came down.

Sin took a breath, then her mind subconsciously took a step back and reminded her of what Naam just said, “Wait. Naam?”

Naam hummed, “Mhmm?”

Sin got off Naam’s shoulder and stared at her through strained eyes, “Did you... just say dad?”

Naam stared back at her. “Uh.” She panicked, “Uhm. No no, you must’ve misheard me! Hahaha, silly Sin. There’s no way I’d call that old crone my dad.” She awkwardly laughed and smiled at Sin.

Sin stared at her.

She held her arm, “Naam... please... just tell me the truth... I can’t take any lies right now.”

Naam stared back at her sister... She leaned back in her chair, “You... you’re not alone okay? And it wasn’t fair of him... I didn’t want to hide it. Sin I promise I’m not lying, I wanted to be your sister so badly, but I had to stay away to keep you safe... but now I’m not dangerous anymore... please...” Tears were streaming down Naam’s face as she covered her eyes, “Don’t hate me... plea-”

Sin hugged her. Or perhaps it would be more apt to say that Sin tackled her, forcing both of them to fall to the ground.

Sin giggled as she rolled off of Naam.

Naam groaned as she giggled alongside Sin.

Sin laid beside her on the ground. They laid in silence, barring the sounds of their breathing, for long minutes before either of them spoke.

Sin broke the silence with a soft sigh.

“Do you know?”

“... What?”

“How long I’ve wanted a sister?” Sin said. She was surprisingly calm. In fact, she was so calm that she’d surprised herself.

Naam choked back tears. She’d been absent from Sin’s entire life and now she’d just blurted it out.

“I think back on all of the times I was alone in the Castle. When I was alone at those stupid events that I had to attend for dad. I’d always think to myself, ‘it’ll be fine. I won’t always be alone’. But... what I wanted during those times was more than just hope... I wanted someone. Anyone.”

Sin turned her head to look at Naam. Naam’s bright pink skin was shining in the light of the room.

“Why weren’t you there? I was alone that whole time.” Sin’s voice was straining now. Her sadness from her childhood was resurfacing. “I... I was alone... and you w-weren’t there! Why? Why weren’t y-you t-there for me?”

Sin stared into Naam’s eyes through her fresh tears.

Naam was scared. She was unbelievably terrified. The one thing that she didn’t want was for Sin to hate her.

“I...”

“My dad is your d-dad. My m-mum is your mum, right?”

Naam was paused for a moment, then she nodded softly.

“I didn’t have a choice Sin. I was cursed and dangerous, and I could’ve hurt you without meaning to... Please understand t-that I wanted to be there. You’re my sister! I wanted to... I really... r-really...” Naam choked back her words.

Sin could tell that she wasn’t lying. Naam genuinely had no choice, and Sin sympathised with that. If her situation in the Castle meant anything, it was that whoever Sin’s sibling was would have just as hard a time.

“... You’ll have to tell me all about it at some point, you know?”

“I know... I know... you d-don’t hate me?”

“I c-couldn’t hate you... I don’t fully understand, and I won’t push it right now. But I would never hate you. Also... I don’t know if I mentioned but...” She sat up and helped Naam sit up. Sin tilted her head a touch and smiled at Naam.

“I’ve always wanted a sister.”

Naam stared wide-eyed at her sister. Neither her nor Kallad thought about what Sin wanted when they refrained from telling her.

She wanted to be strong. She didn’t want to cry again. But her body afforded her no choice.

Naam covered her mouth as she broke down. She heavily cried and sobbed.

Sin hugged her with a caring warmth and tightness until she calmed down.

After a few minutes, Naam rubbed her eyes and sniffled. She looked at Sin, who was looking at her. They both laughed.

They both got up and sat on the seats again.

Sin practically melted into the chair. It wasn’t the most comfortable, but it wasn’t uncomfortable either. For a long while, the two of them sat there, getting used to each other’s presence.

Then, Sin held Naam’s hand.

“You think Rai will be okay? I could use a sister’s comfort.” She asked.

“Haha! I think he’ll be just fine. Dad’s an idiot, but he’s... mostly right when it comes to magic.”

“Mostly? He’s an Aspect, so how can he be wrong?”

“Anyone can be wrong Sin... and... I think that’s a story for another time. You’ll have to ask him directly, since it’s his story to tell.”

Sin stared at Naam. She was starting to put the picture together now.

“... You weren’t allowed...”

Sin’s eyes widened.

Naam placed a finger against her lips.

“Not my story to tell.” Naam said.

“Anyway, Rai will be fine.”

Sin felt a lot of relief upon hearing Naam’s words.

“Thank you...” Sin managed. Her eyes were forcing themselves shut, “can you wake me up...” Sin couldn’t hold them open much longer, “in 3 hours...” Her voice started slurring, “... please?”

She fell asleep.

Naam stopped Sin from falling over, and picked her up. She gently sat Sin in the bigger chair that was more comfortable.

“I will. Rest well Sin. You deserve it.” She smiled warmly at her sister.

Sin snored.

Her mind drifted into nothingness. An endless abyss. Then formed a single image inside the abyss.

Rai.

In the eye of the Phoenix.