SK stood over the table with both palms pressed into the wood, shoulders rising and falling as he breathed through his teeth. The air in the shack still felt disturbed, as though reality itself had only just been persuaded to settle back into place.
"You two," he began, voice low and dangerous, "have absolutely no bloody idea what you almost caused."
Jamie stood in the corner, unusually quiet, hands clasped behind her back like a child caught stealing sweets.
Elias did not look away from SK's glare.
"That mask," SK continued, pointing at the sealed box, "isn't some trinket you fiddle with because you're curious or ecause it looks good. Things could have gone wrong in ways you don't even have the imagination to picture."
Elias's jaw tightened.
"I wouldn't have picked it up," he said calmly, "if you had just told me what it was."
SK blinked.
"What?"
"You kept ignoring me whenever I asked about it."
A vein pulsed at SK's temple.
Jamie slowly shrank further into the corner as SK's eyes drifted toward her.
"And you," he said, stepping forward dangerously, "what the bloody hell were you doing snooping through my stuff—"
Elias moved instantly, stepping in front of Jamie.
"I wore the mask," he said firmly. "Leave her out of it."
SK stopped.
He looked between them, jaw clenched.
A long groan escaped him.
"This is why I fucking can't with kids," he muttered, rubbing his face.
"Get out. Both of you. Out."
Elias didn't move.
"No."
SK slowly turned to stare at him.
"I'm sorry, what?"
"I'm not leaving."
SK's brow furrowed in genuine bewilderment.
"What do you bloody mean you're not leaving?"
Elias closed his eyes and exhaled slowly.
"The mask left something in me. A creature. In my Spirit Domain."
Jamie's head snapped up.
"Is that why you've been so obsessed with arrays and writing things down lately?"
Elias glanced back at her, offering a small reassuring look.
"I'm fine. No shadow fox is going to corrupt me."
SK froze.
"Shadow fox?" he repeated.
He leaned forward. "What did you see?"
Elias described it calmly. "A large canine with four tails. It seemed to be made of shadow."
SK tilted his head.
"Why aren't you corrupted?"
He muttered more to himself than to Elias. "That thing could corrupt a Saint… even a Praetorian…"
Elias shrugged lightly. "I fought it off."
SK scoffed. "You fought it off? How?"
"My Spirit Domain is my innate Dominion," Elias replied. "It's an extension of my soul so I willed it out."
SK stared at him.
He could not hide the flicker of surprise in his eyes.
A seven-year-old understanding Dominion without ever being taught about Flowstate. About the Zone.
"It's not enough," SK muttered.
Elias frowned slightly. "There was a flash of red before I woke up. It pushed the creature back."
SK's gaze dropped slowly to Elias's wrist.
"The dagger."
Jamie nodded quickly. "Yeah! Black veins were growing on him and he grabbed it. Then there was a red flash."
SK exhaled sharply.
"That explains it."
He looked back at Elias. "Do you remember fighting the Sapphire Salamander months ago?"
Elias nodded.
"Think back to when you got impaled."
Elias frowned and shook his head.
Jamie blinked. "Wait, how do you know that?"
"I happened to be in town," SK said flatly.
He pulled a chair and sat heavily.
"At some point as you Ascend," he began, calmer now, "you'll gain the ability to manifest your Spirit Domains into reality."
He pointed at the Jade Dagger.
"That dagger doesn't just cut flesh. It cuts the soul. The energy it absorbs isn't Flow equal to the wound. It's a fragment of the soul proportional to the cut."
He tapped the table.
"And before you ask, I know because I made them."
He picked up the Obsidian Dagger.
"I won't bore you with a history lesson, but this one holds the fragment of a Domain from a very powerful being. A being that nearly destroyed the whole continent."
Jamie leaned forward slightly, interested.
"It has a mental effect," SK continued, "breaks the psyche, distorts perception, dyes the world red."
He paused.
"It's Domain is called… Bloody Wonderland."
Silence.
Jamie's lips twitched.
Then she burst into laughter.
"Bloody Wonderland?! That's so corny!"
Even Elias struggled to maintain his composure.
SK's ears turned red.
"When you two manifest your own Domains you can give them cooler names. Right now, that's the bloody name it has."
SK saying the word 'bloody' warranted even more laughter. At this point even Elias chuckled.
He cleared his throat.
"You must have unconsciously expanded that Domain. It's now merely a fragment of the original, weak.As the owner, you have the ability to activate it. Your own innate Domain amplified it's effects. Thats why she couldn't take a hold of you."
Elias looked down at the ruby embedded in the Jade Dagger.
Jamie blinked. "You said 'she'…"
Elias looked back up. "You still haven't answered my question about the mask."
SK sighed.
"That mask," he said quietly, "is an ancient Soulbound Artifact. A Forbidden Relic from a bygone Era. A Vestige containing the soul of a Divine Beast."