The moment of greeting was short-lived. They were all exhausted, having been awake since midnight to continue the mission, Lucid naturally dismissed the hug from Alice. Lucid stood some distance away from Yannick in the lobby, he had wanted to talk to him. He looked at Yannick, his expression unclear. Always unclear to others. Lucid was never visibly content or upset; it was his voice and body language that were the clear signs of how he felt.
Alice was no different from the rest, she couldn't quite tell what he felt or how he felt—but she was oddly good at it.
However, to someone like Yannick, whom he had spent a couple of weeks with, Lucid might as well have looked distant to him almost like a stranger, despite the time and sparring they had shared.
Lucid approached Yannick, stopping just a few inches away from the chair where he was lying.
Yannick looked away, probably out of shame.
"Hey," his voice was firm, but still gentle.
Yannick didn't reply. He sluggishly moved his head to the right side, almost brushing Lucid off.
By this time, Lucid had already picked up that something was seriously wrong. He frantically searched for something to say, some good news, an opening sentence, a question–but in Lucid's head, Yannick didn't seem like he was in the mood to talk.
So he asked a question he knew he would eventually have to ask, just to get it over with.
"Did you find them?.. I mean... your—"
"DON'T ASK—" Yannick cut him off
It shocked everyone in the room, including the three other victims. Alice, who was close to Lucid this time, didn't want to intervene.
Shion had an irritated look. It seemed like she was about to say something before Lucid raised his hand, gesturing for her to stop.
He looked at Yannick.
"Yannick, we... we came down from Sector 9. It took us a full day to travel down here and rescue you. I know things were hard on you, but please, at least tell us why you're like this."
Lucid placed a hand on Yannick's shoulder.
"I'll understand—or at least try to."
"They're all dead," Yannick spat.
"Every single one of the first years. Maya, Luca, and Tre—"
He couldn't finish the rest of their names. His voice cracked as he broke into a sob.
"I was rushing to one of the central areas of the town to question people, after finding out that sector 12 had completely fallen. I found that he wasn't there... That is, until I heard a distant commotion."
He looked away, as if remembering something painful.
"there I saw three young Kids, who looked painfully familiar, and I realised it was them"
"what Was happening I asked myself"
"They were being arrested... by an individual, none other than an Archmage. What was an Archmage doing arresting young teens? I thought. But as I looked closer at him... he was someone I'd only heard about in rumours. Them—Themenos, I believe."
Shion grimaced.
"What is he even—" she mumbled, the rest of her sentence incoherent as she murmured under her breath.
Lucid removed his hand from Yannick's shoulder.
"An Archmage... no. His white hair, and the blue cape with the crest in the middle—"
Yannick continued.
"He... he had to be someone high ranked, even for an Archmage."
'Not him…' Lucid thought.
"Don't tell me... he killed them," said Lucid.
Yannick looked Lucid in the eyes or rather, at the mask where his eyes should've been.
"He told me 'tell your friend Lucid—an eye for an eye, if you manage to see another day.'"
Lucid's heart dropped.
'An eye for an eye… no, it couldn't have been…'
Lucid glanced at Shion, he flashed back to the incident at sector 8 where Shion had brutally killed nobles in cold blood. She noticed.
"What is it?"
Lucid shook his head.
"Nothing."
Yannick continued
"But it was like... like he was causing a commotion on purpose. Waiting for someone. Almost like he was waiting for me. His eyes shot up with intrigue, excitement—when he saw me."
"I told him that I was responsible for them, that they didn't have anything to do with the fall of sector 12. But Themenos insisted they were some cursed individuals from sector 12 that brought their unluck and curse to sector 11. The bystanders seemed to be almost persuaded by his words. He wanted to send them there. I protested, tried to argue against his backwards logic."
"He had me detained for speaking against the Order, and—"
"And the kids got sent back to Sector 12... supposedly," Shion cut in.
"I saw it with my own two eyes," she said. "Sector 12 has completely fallen. So I doubt he really sent them there."
"But they're dead."
"Well, we don't—" Shion started to argue.
"Just tell me this, Lucid," Yannick cut in, voice low.
"Why… why did he know your name?"
Lucid froze. An unnatural silence hung over him. There was nothing he could say to ease the tension. Quite frankly, he didn't even know if he could say anything himself.
Was it because they had crossed paths in Sector 5? Or because of the aftermath following the deaths of those two nobles? Even so... nothing tied him directly to that crime scene.
Lucid stayed quiet.
Shion, noticing his silence, tried to speak up on his behalf—but it didn't seem like Yannick was willing to listen to anyone other than Lucid at that moment.
"You don't know, do you?" Yannick whispered.
"So... it's your fault then?"
Alice rushed in, frustration painted across her face.
"Yannick, I get that you're angry at my brother, but ever since we came here, he's been nothing but kind and understanding," Alice said firmly. "He was sent on a vague mission, with no leads and no support, in search of someone. And this Themenos guy, Lucid doesn't have any ties to him, scratch that I actually don't know what he did to grab his twisted attention."
"Alice..." Shion said, trying to interrupt.
"No!" Alice snapped, her voice echoing through the hall. "My brother has shown nothing but compassion, and yet you look down on him, as if he's the one who caused all of this!"
She stepped forward, trembling but firm.
"He fought an Archmage to save you, don't you see that?"
"So what?" Yannick growled. "At least if he failed, I would've joined them in the afterlife."
Alice clenched her fists. "But you don't know that! What makes you so sure they're dead? What if they're being held captive instead?"
Her voice cracked, the strain finally showing. "I know it's tragic. I do. But can we really blame one person, when all of us tried our best to be there for each other?"
Silence fell.
Then, one of the rescued victims, a middle-aged man with sunken cheeks and eyes hollowed by trauma–stepped forward hesitantly. He looked as if he had been holding something in for a while.
"Excuse me… Sir, are you Yannick?"
Yannick turned his head slightly, eyeing the man with suspicion, weighing whether it was worth even acknowledging him.
"What?" he asked coldly, his tone sharp, yet steady.
"Before my arrest, I saw a group of young individuals being escorted by guards," the man said. "They didn't seem like death row inmates, more like prisoners. I thought maybe… they could be the people you're looking for."
Lucid, who had remained quietly attentive, now leaned in slightly, focusing intently on the man's words.
"Are you sure?" Yannick asked, a sudden flicker of hope igniting in his eyes.
The man hesitated, lowering his gaze. "I'm not completely sure. I didn't get a good look at them. I just… had a feeling. They looked scared and confused."
Yannick stepped forward. "Tell me everything you remember. Anything."
The man shook his head. "I wish I could. That's all I saw, really. I didn't pay much attention. I was terrified myself."
Lucid placed a gentle hand on the man's shoulder.
"No," he said softly, "what you gave us… it was valuable. Thank you."
The man nodded slowly, stepping back.
Just then, Shion approached Lucid, touching his arm lightly. Her expression was serious.
She gave a small nod and gestured for him to follow her to the side.
"We need to talk," she said under her breath.