Grant! Long time no talk, my friend. I am sorry to say, but no. I haven't sent out any order within my territory to any chaser. You're saying every chaser that resided within Tenna just… up and vanished? I will begin looking into this matter, I'm sure they just up and ran out of town, but I will have my forces investigate, nonetheless. Stay safe, stay cautious, old friend.
-Duke Lynel, of Xyren Domain
…
No one asked me to leave with them. Not even once. I doubt they even thought to ask me, and just went straight to Hale or Kain. Though, a couple of the others come talk to me every now and again, like Lily and Garret.
I guess I didn't mind it too much, but I still have feelings, too, y'know.
Only three days have passed since we were told to stay indoors.
I'm sitting by the kitchen window, my elbow propped up on the table, my chin resting on my open palm.
I soon hear the bell clang softly as the door opens behind me, I resist the urge to retreat back upstairs.
But I don't, I just reach across and fill myself a cup of water.
A rush of footsteps from behind me head upstairs, but I do hear someone walk up behind me.
I turn slowly after hearing the steps, and it's Hale, he looks at me with a bit of an apprehensive expression.
"Something wrong…?" I ask, raising my eyebrow.
He freezes for a brief moment, but slowly shakes his head, "Nah, not too much…"
I only stare at him, raising my eyebrow further. He notices my staring and sighs, "Have you noticed that it's been like… really dark outside lately?"
I turn to the window at his question, and he's right, outside it looks like it's late into the evening, but it should be a little into the afternoon…
"Yeah, you're right… is it the rain clouds?"
He shrugs and sits next to me, leaning his head down on the table, "Seems so."
I glance around behind us for a moment and turn back to Hale, "Where's Kain? Have you seen him today?"
He looks at me for a moment, seemingly thinking, "Uhm… don't believe so, no? Old man's probably still asleep in his room, or taking one of his hundred daily naps."
Hale smiles and lets out a breath of a laugh, causing me to do the same.
*****
Horrible.
That's all Kain could think, see, hear, feel, taste, smell.
Just… horrible.
He had gone to leave his room earlier in the day, sometime after waking up, until something had grabbed him and pulled him into nothing…
At least he thought it was nothing, until there was something on the other side of the darkness. Something that immediately made him try his best not to vomit.
Pieces of corpses, blood everywhere. Chains hang low from the ceiling, hooking at nothing but the dust in the air.
It was hard to breathe, much less open his mouth. It smelled rancid.
As his eyes adjusted to the darkness, he could begin to make out multiple details he couldn't see before. Details that he couldn't stop himself from…
"Blergh…"
Kain doubles over to his side, more blood soaking into his clothes as he pukes.
So much blood, so many scattered body parts. At least twenty is what he could count before he stopped himself.
'A-are these what were once the chasers?'
His breathing picks up as the realization crosses his mind.
He turns around to leave-
There it is.
A monster.
Kain's eyes blur just trying to look at it, his eyes immediately watering as if begging him to stop. To tear his gaze away, and close them.
But he can't, Kain knows that if he tears his focus away for even a fraction of a moment…
…he would be killed.
…
Cronus stares down at the old man.
'The root's grandfather, yes…?'
Its maw opens, "Spare information, perhaps live."
Kain's eyes widen, he scrambles backward half a step before stopping. His breathing has sped up to the level of hyperventilating. His right hand creeps up to his shirt, gripping the cloth over his rapidly beating heart.
"H-haah… hah… w-what kind of… information…?" He pants out, his mouth and lips turning drier than before by the moment.
Cronus crouches down to the elderly man, but still towering above him. The transmission eye flicks up and twitches, soon showing an image of a boy with short, golden blonde hair.
Kain swallows hard at the sight.
'H-Hale…'
His grandson. His pride. His joy. The boy he raised since his idiot son ran.
"Hale…" His eyes water further at the sight of his grandson within the eye. Kain's mind races at a million thoughts a minute.
'Why him? What does this monster want with my grandson? Why? Why Hale?'
His throat burns and his nostrils flare, the tears building in his elderly eyes breaking through and streaking down his aged cheeks.
"W-what do you want with… with him…?"
Kain slowly begins to piece himself back together.
Cronus tilts its head, "What else? Eat."
Kain pauses. His head loses strength to continue looking up at it, and he droops down. His vision still blurred as tears drip beneath him.
The infusion on Kain's hand pulses softly, located just between his thumb and index finger, it's a dark orange color, nearly a sort of brown. A hand-held hammer makes up the shape of it.
His infusion allowed him to easily be a carpenter. Sure, it had other uses, but that's what he decided on.
He built two buildings within Tenna. A tavern that was meant to be a lodge, and a hollow place that was meant to be a home.
"Well?" The beast rumbles above, growing slightly impatient.
Kain grips his pants, slowly coming to the terms laid out before him.
'Either tell him about Hale with no idea why he needs the information… or die.'
Kain's hitching breaths and shaky panting slowly calm down, his nerves steeling evermore.
"Sniffle. My Hale… he…" The mark pulses brighter, a brilliant light shining from the side of his hand.
Kain had never seen a kid as bright as Hale… literally and figuratively. The kid had a positive radiance about him, it made it seem like he was gonna go places, be somebody.
Kain grits his teeth, the mark on his hand pulsing faster, mana building up within it.
"He's a kind boy, a bit naive, too. He doesn't speak too much when he's away from people, but that's okay." Kain speaks, his stutter and nervousness slowly fading away.
He points his right hand at Cronus, tilting his head back up. The mark starts to reach a plateau in brightness, shining into the dark cellar.
Kain begins to smile, "I'm aware this won't hurt you, but…"
A grin forms across the old man's face, "...maybe you'll go to hell one day."
Cronus frowns at the old man's attempt at a detonation…
…however.
SWISH
Kain's face pales further than it already was.
'M-my hand…'
It was torn off in an instant, the jagged muscle and bone being ripped from his wrist.
"K-kh…! A-AH-!"
SLAM
A wet squelch rings through the cellar, cutting off the pained scream that almost rang out. Cronus had slammed the old man's head into the floor. Gore splattered across the beast and the floor beneath.
A low sigh escapes through its teeth.
'Brave attempt, but dumb and useless.'
Cronus stands back up and steps over to pick up Kain's severed hand. It then tosses it into the pile of other infusions behind the old man's corpse.
"Gh…" Cronus snarls a tiny bit.
'Almost caught if the detonation finished…'
If Kain's detonation had gone off, the entire town would've been alerted to Cronus, and he would've failed his part of the game.
Cronus cranes its head toward the pile of discarded infusions. What seems to be a sigh escapes its maw and it turns back toward the eye.
It changes the vision from the blonde-haired boy, to the boy with ash-like, longer hair than the one previously.
His light green eyes have small bags under them, his skin is a shade paler than the other residents from the tavern. The varying shades of white, grey, and black make his messy hair stand out.
Cronus shows its teeth with a low chuckle.
'Might as well torture the next closest person to the root.'
With a sigh, Cronus sits down next to Kain's corpse.
Four days until it can begin, and its game would have been won. So, it closes its eyes to rest until its time to enact what it had in mind for the boy next to the root.