Chapter 70 – The Cracks Between Us
Brook didn't sleep.
He sat on the floor outside Elias's room until sunrise.
For hours, nothing happened.
No strange energy.
No voices.
No movement.
Just silence.
Eventually, the door opened.
Elias stepped out.
He stopped when he saw Brook.
"Morning."
Brook looked up.
"You okay?"
Elias frowned.
"Yeah."
"You sure?"
"Why?"
Brook stood.
"Last night."
Elias's expression changed for less than a second.
Brook caught it.
"What happened last night?"
Elias smiled.
"Nothing."
Brook stared at him.
Elias walked past.
"You're becoming paranoid."
"Probably."
Brook followed him downstairs.
"But I felt something."
Elias stopped.
"What?"
"All three Sources reacted."
Elias slowly turned.
"To me?"
Brook nodded.
Silence.
Then Elias laughed.
"Maybe I'm secretly terrifying."
Brook didn't laugh.
Elias's smile faded.
"Brook."
"Yeah?"
"I'm fine."
Brook studied him.
He wanted to push.
Instead—
"Okay."
Elias nodded.
He continued downstairs.
Brook remained where he was.
Something was wrong.
But Brook was beginning to learn something.
People talked when they wanted to.
Forcing them rarely helped.
So he let Elias go.
For now.
Breakfast was chaos.
Henry had apparently decided that returning home meant he could eat everything in sight.
Sera slapped his hand away from the last piece of bread.
"That's mine."
Henry looked offended.
"You already ate."
"So did you."
"I'm recovering."
"From what?"
Henry thought about it.
"Trauma."
Crowley walked past.
"You're about to experience more."
Henry slowly removed his hand.
Kael laughed.
Brook entered.
Kael looked at him.
"You look terrible."
"Thank you."
"Didn't sleep?"
"No."
Henry pointed at him.
"See? Trauma."
Sera threw the bread at Henry's face.
Brook laughed.
For a few minutes, everything felt normal.
Then Brook noticed Elias.
He wasn't eating.
He was staring at the table.
Kael nudged him.
"You good?"
Elias blinked.
"Yeah."
"You sure?"
"Everyone keeps asking me that."
Kael smiled.
"Maybe because you look like you're dying."
Elias looked at him.
Something passed through his expression.
Sadness.
Guilt.
Brook noticed.
Then it disappeared.
Elias grabbed some food.
"I'm fine."
Brook said nothing.
The knock came shortly after breakfast.
Crowley opened the door.
Two royal guards stood outside.
One held a sealed letter.
"For Brook."
Brook frowned.
"Again?"
Henry smiled.
"You're popular."
"I hate being popular."
The guard handed him the letter.
Brook opened it.
King Aldric's handwriting.
Come alone.
Brook looked at Henry.
"Your father."
Henry stood.
"What does he want?"
Brook showed him.
Henry read it.
"Come alone."
Brook nodded.
Henry grabbed his coat.
Brook stared.
"What are you doing?"
"Coming."
"It literally says alone."
"I can't read."
Sera laughed.
Brook shook his head.
"I'll be fine."
Henry's expression became more serious.
"You sure?"
Brook nodded.
"Yeah."
Crowley looked at him.
"If you're not back by midday, I'm coming."
Brook smiled.
"That's strangely comforting."
"It wasn't meant to be."
Brook left.
Shinokuni-01 looked different during the day.
Brook walked through crowded streets.
People stared.
Not everyone.
But enough.
Some whispered.
Three Sources.
Anomaly.
Brook.
He ignored them.
A young boy recognized him.
"Are you really Xcution?"
Brook stopped.
The boy's mother immediately pulled him back.
"I'm sorry."
Brook smiled.
"It's fine."
The boy looked at Brook's sword.
"Did you kill an Abomination?"
Brook crouched.
"A few."
The boy's eyes widened.
"How many?"
Brook thought about it.
"I stopped counting."
The boy smiled.
"Are you the strongest person alive?"
Brook laughed.
"Absolutely not."
"Who is?"
Brook immediately thought of Crowley.
Then Michael.
Then whatever else existed beyond the Walls.
"I don't know."
The boy looked disappointed.
Brook smiled.
"But being strongest isn't that important."
The boy frowned.
"Then what is?"
Brook thought about Michael's test.
"Knowing when not to fight."
The boy clearly hated that answer.
"That's boring."
Brook laughed.
"Yeah."
He stood.
"That's what I thought too."
Aldric wasn't in the throne room.
The guard led Brook beneath the palace.
Down several staircases.
Past locked doors.
Into an underground archive.
Brook stopped.
Shelves stretched through the enormous chamber.
Thousands of books.
Records.
Maps.
Objects sealed behind glass.
Aldric stood beside a table.
Brook approached.
"You wanted me?"
Aldric nodded.
"I found something."
Brook sighed.
"Is it going to ruin my day?"
"Probably."
"Wonderful."
Aldric placed the ancient book from yesterday on the table.
Brook recognized it immediately.
"The vessel book."
"That's what I've started calling it."
"Very creative."
Aldric almost smiled.
Then opened it.
Several loose pages were spread across the table.
Brook frowned.
"Those weren't there yesterday."
"No."
"Where were they?"
"Hidden behind the binding."
Brook stepped closer.
One page showed several human silhouettes.
Most had been crossed out.
One remained.
B-00.
Brook stared at it.
"Elias."
Aldric looked at him.
"You recognize the designation."
Brook nodded.
"I heard something last night."
Aldric's expression changed.
"What?"
"I felt my Sources react."
"To what?"
Brook hesitated.
"Elias."
Aldric became very still.
Brook noticed.
"You know something."
Aldric didn't deny it.
"I know what the book says."
"And?"
Aldric pointed to the page.
Brook read.
B-00: MEMORY SUPPRESSION SUCCESSFUL.
Another line.
SOURCE COMPATIBILITY: UNSTABLE.
Another.
SUBJECT DISPOSITION: UNKNOWN.
Brook looked at Aldric.
"What does that mean?"
"I don't know."
Brook gave him a look.
Aldric sighed.
"Truly."
Brook continued reading.
The bottom of the page had been damaged.
Only a few words remained.
…subject removed from facility…
…identity reconstruction…
…observation recommended…
Brook frowned.
"Someone erased his memories."
"It appears so."
"And gave him another life?"
"Possibly."
Brook stared at the page.
"Does Elias know?"
Aldric looked at him.
"That's what concerns me."
Brook walked around the table.
"Where did you get this book?"
Aldric hesitated.
Brook noticed.
"Here we go."
Aldric smiled faintly.
"You've become impatient."
"I've spent weeks asking questions."
Brook looked at the shelves.
"And everyone answers like they're trying to win a mystery competition."
Aldric actually laughed.
Brook stared.
"Was that funny?"
"A little."
"Good."
Aldric's expression became serious again.
"This archive existed before my father was born."
Brook waited.
"Most rulers of Shinokuni-01 don't even know this section exists."
"But you do."
"Because my father showed me."
Brook looked around.
"What are you hiding down here?"
Aldric answered simply.
"History."
Brook frowned.
"That's dramatic."
"It's accurate."
Aldric walked toward one of the shelves.
"Most people believe the Shinokunis were built to protect humanity from what lives outside."
Brook nodded.
"They weren't?"
Aldric looked back at him.
"Not entirely."
Brook waited.
Aldric pulled out an old map.
Twelve circles.
Twelve Shinokunis.
Each connected by lines.
Brook stared.
"What is that?"
"The oldest map I've ever found."
Brook looked closer.
The Walls weren't drawn like fortifications.
They looked like—
"Seals."
Aldric nodded.
Brook looked at him.
"You already told Henry about this."
"Years ago."
"And nobody thought that was important enough to mention?"
Aldric smiled.
"Henry has selective memory."
Brook sighed.
"Of course he does."
Aldric pointed toward the center of the map.
There was a blank region.
No name.
No Wall.
Nothing.
Brook touched it.
"What was here?"
"We don't know."
"Nothing?"
"Whatever was there was erased."
Brook looked at him.
"By who?"
Aldric shook his head.
Brook laughed.
"Had to try."
Aldric rolled the map closed.
"Brook."
Brook looked at him.
"The more you learn, the more dangerous this becomes."
"For me?"
"For everyone."
Brook's smile disappeared.
Aldric continued.
"Someone removed Elias from wherever these experiments occurred."
Brook looked at the B-00 page.
"Someone also erased his memories."
"Yes."
"And now they're coming back."
"Possibly."
Brook thought about Elias that morning.
The guilt in his eyes.
"Should I tell him?"
Aldric didn't answer immediately.
Brook looked at him.
"He's family."
"Then you already know the answer."
Brook nodded.
"Yeah."
He picked up the B-00 page.
Aldric stopped him.
"Brook."
"What?"
"Don't assume the man you know as Elias is the same person described on that page."
Brook stared at him.
"I don't care."
Aldric frowned.
Brook continued.
"I don't care who he was."
He placed the page inside his coat.
"I care who he is."
Aldric studied him.
Then nodded.
"Henry chose his family well."
Brook smiled.
"Don't tell him that."
"I wouldn't."
When Brook returned to headquarters, something was wrong.
The front door was open.
Brook immediately drew his sword.
He entered.
"Henry?"
No answer.
"Sera?"
Nothing.
Brook moved through the building.
Then—
"BOO!"
Henry jumped from behind the wall.
Brook punched him.
Henry hit the floor.
"AH!"
Brook stared.
Henry held his face.
"What the hell?!"
Brook lowered his sword.
"You scared me!"
"That was the point!"
Sera appeared from the kitchen laughing.
Kael nearly collapsed against the wall.
Even Crowley was smiling.
Brook stared at all of them.
"I hate every single one of you."
Henry sat up.
"You hit hard."
"You deserved it."
Kael laughed.
Elias entered from outside.
He stopped.
"What happened?"
Henry pointed at Brook.
"He assaulted royalty."
Brook looked at Elias.
For a moment, the humor disappeared.
He remembered the page.
B-00.
Elias noticed.
"What?"
Brook hesitated.
"Nothing."
Elias stared at him.
Brook forced a smile.
"Henry's an idiot."
"That's not new."
Henry looked offended.
Brook laughed.
But the page inside his coat suddenly felt heavier.
That evening, Brook decided he would tell Elias.
Not tomorrow.
Not later.
Tonight.
He walked upstairs.
Elias's door was open.
Empty.
Brook frowned.
"Elias?"
No answer.
He checked downstairs.
Nothing.
He went outside.
No Elias.
Brook found Kael near the training yard.
"You seen Elias?"
Kael nodded.
"He left about twenty minutes ago."
"Where?"
"Didn't say."
Brook's expression changed.
Kael frowned.
"Something wrong?"
Brook looked toward the city.
"No."
Another lie.
Brook was starting to hate how easily they came.
Elias moved through the lower district alone.
He kept his hood raised.
He turned down an alley.
Then another.
Then descended an old staircase beneath an abandoned building.
At the bottom stood a door.
Elias stopped.
His breathing was heavy.
He almost turned around.
Then the voice returned.
Come inside.
Elias clenched his jaw.
"No."
You wanted answers.
Elias looked at the door.
"Who are you?"
Someone who remembers you.
Elias's hand trembled.
He opened the door.
Darkness.
A single person sat inside.
Face hidden.
Elias entered.
The door closed behind him.
"Who are you?"
The figure didn't answer.
Instead, something slid across the table.
A photograph.
Elias picked it up.
His blood ran cold.
It showed him.
Younger.
Standing inside a white room.
A number written beneath him.
B-00.
Elias stared.
"Where did you get this?"
The figure finally spoke.
"From the people who made you."
Elias looked up.
"Made me?"
The figure leaned forward.
"You think Brook is the only one whose life was stolen?"
Elias couldn't speak.
The figure continued.
"They erased you."
Elias's hands tightened around the photograph.
"They gave you a name."
Another photograph slid across the table.
Brook.
B-01.
"They replaced you."
Elias stared at Brook's picture.
"No."
The figure smiled beneath the darkness.
"That's what they want you to believe."
Elias stood.
"Brook didn't do anything to me."
"Correct."
Elias stopped.
The figure continued.
"Brook isn't your enemy."
Elias slowly turned.
"Then who is?"
The figure pushed another object across the table.
A black metal emblem.
A horned knight kneeling before a burning throne.
Elias stared at it.
"What is this?"
The figure answered:
"Your beginning."
Elias looked up.
"And if you want the rest…"
The figure pointed toward the emblem.
"…you'll have to go where they buried it."
Elias picked it up.
The metal was warm.
Too warm.
Then something whispered inside his mind.
Not the mysterious voice.
Something else.
Something ancient.
Something waiting far below the world.
Come home.
Elias dropped the emblem.
The figure laughed.
Elias stared at it.
"Where?"
The answer came softly.
Hell.
Back at Xcution headquarters, Brook stood beside the window.
He watched the streets.
Elias still hadn't returned.
Crowley entered.
"You're worried."
Brook didn't look at him.
"Maybe."
Crowley stood beside him.
"About Elias?"
Brook finally looked over.
"How did you know?"
"You've checked the street nine times."
Brook sighed.
Crowley looked outside.
"People keep secrets."
Brook thought about himself.
Michael.
The memories he was losing.
The things he hadn't told Henry.
"Yeah."
Crowley continued.
"That doesn't always mean betrayal."
Brook looked at him.
"Did I say betrayal?"
Crowley smiled faintly.
"No."
Brook stared at him.
Crowley walked away.
"Get some sleep."
Brook looked outside again.
Then he saw Elias.
Walking toward headquarters.
Alone.
Brook relaxed slightly.
Elias entered a few minutes later.
Brook waited downstairs.
Elias stopped when he saw him.
"You're still awake?"
Brook nodded.
"Where were you?"
Elias hesitated.
That hesitation was all Brook needed to notice.
"Walking."
Brook stared at him.
"At midnight?"
"Couldn't sleep."
Brook nodded slowly.
Elias walked toward the stairs.
Brook reached into his coat.
His fingers touched the B-00 page.
He almost called Elias back.
Almost told him everything.
Instead—
"Goodnight."
Elias stopped.
For a second, he didn't turn around.
Then:
"Goodnight, Brook."
He went upstairs.
Brook remained alone.
Neither knew the other was carrying proof of the same past.
Brook had the document marked:
B-00.
Elias had the photograph.
And hidden inside Elias's coat…
was the emblem of the Knight of Hell.
The first crack had formed.
Neither of them understood how wide it would eventually become.
End of Chapter 70