"Bran!"
I yelled out, running into the forest.
I don't know what's pushing me to look for him here...
My body felt heavy, chest heaving with every breath..
Everything felt wrong, from the sounds of the wind to the shadows behind trees.
The scenes from my dreams flashed in my mind.
I hadn't noticed that I was already deep into the forest, my feet bringing me to the middle of a crossroad.
In front of me towered a gigantic tree, its branches twisting and turning in bizarre ways, its leaves of verdant green, only noticeable under the moonlight.
Yet my eyes refused to leave the tree bark, scenes of splattered blood, tattered clothes on a broken body...
I felt the world go silent, my body frozen in place as I felt not a wisp of air around me.
Shadows slowly filled my vision reminiscent of the visions in my dreams, with an image of the tree remaining in front of me.
A body lay slumped against the tree trunk.
A young boy with ash-silver hair, barely reaching his shoulders, his face bloodied and his chest torn to show pieces of bitten-off flesh and broken bones.
There lay my body, my skin as pale as snow, eyelids closed before the image started to distort.
The gong of a clock tower, an unexplainable ticking, with the slow slither of scaled
"I-I...".
The ticking seems to be getting louder, closer, and more ominous. Yet, my eyes remained locked as my corpse began to change shape, slowly morphing into features resembling Bran more and more.
"B-Bran...!"
I lunged to help only for a large serpent's tail whipped out from the shadows, landing straight on my stomach and sending me back.
"Ugh!"
Groaning, I slumped onto the cold dark floor, the hissing in this dark place echoing more frequently, as if laughing at my predicament.
No... This can't be...
My thoughts spiraled, uncontrollable. Twisting. Corrupting.
The darkness didn't crawl.
It slithered.
'Die.'
'Your weakness killed your friend.'
'Take your place you failure!'
"NO! GET OUT!"
My body shook, barely holding together.
The sounds around me became unbearable, as if piercing my skull with waves that shouldn't exist.
"B-bran... Bran..."
I tried calling out for him; my eyes felt burnt, ready to explode, as I could feel wetness dripping out of them.
And then, silence filled my mind.
'What's happening...? '
'What attacked me...? '
'Is this my body...? '
I felt my thoughts linger; every limb in my body felt beyond my control.
The hisses and sounds of slithering scales grew jumbled, mixing together to try and pour unintelligible words or sentences into my brain yet failing to pierce through as another deafening gong rang out.
A palace filled my vision.
Frozen in time.
Then it crumbled to dust.
In its place stood a colossal serpent, devouring its own tail.
Every sense of hope in my body seemed to pour out and seep onto the dark shadowed surface before finally losing my consciousness.
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"...lys! Achlys!"
Everything shook.
"...on! H-hold on! Mister Vel!"
My body felt weak, everything felt dark...
It feels so cold.
"Bran...?"
I mumbled weakly as I tried to open my eyes.
"Can't see..."
Darkness swallowed my field of view, and my ears filled with an unending ringing.
Before I could process anything, I felt my back land gently on a soft mattress.
Gentle and soft hands filled with maternal care held me gently as a warm cloth wiped against my skin.
"S-sister Lucia...?"
I called out, a hand gently clasping mine.
"Achlys, dear... You don't have to say anything, okay?"
Her voice carried with it a calming sensation, spreading itself through my body.
Coaxing me to leave all of my worries in her hands before I felt my consciousness drift away.
__________________________
"Achlys..."
I sat upright in bed, my eyes covered by a white blindfold. A smile tugged at my lips as I turned toward where my door should be.
"Bran, I thought you'd be gone again..."
I say with a sigh.
"Achlys... I'm so sorry."
I could hear the guilt in his voice and sense the shakiness in its tone, the hesitance... and the change.
Everything feels different. I can't see anything even with my blindfold off.
Sister Lucia told me not to worry.
Mr. Vel also told me that it was temporary, nothing to worry about, leaving me with a cryptic message before going away to distribute gifts to the children from his travels.
'Sometimes, for a person to see, one must peer into the depths of the dark.'
I could still hear their laughter and the way some of them ran along the hall.
"You don't have to apologize, Bran... It's not your fault."
I say before taking a deep breath.
"Achlys... What did you see in the forest...?"
He questioned, and I could hear him stepping closer.
I froze at his question, feeling a strange tingle appear in my eyes, an itch I can't wait to scratch and make disappear.
"I... I don't remember—"
His hand closed over mine, stopping me from reaching for the blindfold.
"No... That's for the best."
He whispered, his voice solemn yet relieved.
"Bran... What's wrong?"
I continued to face him as he gripped my hand tightly, feeling a slight tremble in his hold.
After a long silence, he spoke.
"Achlys, things are changing..."
He tapped the back of my hand gently.
"When I choose to change it myself… I want you to let go."
"Bran, what are you-"
"Promise me."
"…I promise."
He exhaled slowly and released my hand.
Bran has really changed...
Even the way he acts around me has changed.
"You should rest. Don't force yourself to remember."
"Will you stay…?"
"I will."
I could hear him move before the sound of a chair being placed near my bed, something he wasn't one to do before.
The Bran I grew up with always dragged his chair against the floor, even after being punished by Sister Lucia.
I let out a sigh before slowly drifting off to sleep.
As sleep claimed me, a final whisper chilled my bones.
"Keep your distance from Sister Lucia…"
_____________________________________________
A young woman with light-blonde hair grinned as the carriage rolled into a town far in the borders of the Serviere Kingdom.
"Ah... Finally, what was the name of the village again...? Sel... Sol...?"
The young man sitting in front of her sighs before responding while flipping a page from the book he was reading.
"Soleil, Soleil Village."
"Hmm... They worship the Sun God, I suppose? This should be easy for us, Asch."
She grins, her gold bracelet glinting under the sun as she opens the carriage window, wisps of wind slowly and gently flowing into the carriage as if coming to her favor.
"Euria, close that window. If we get dung thrown here, you will be dealing with it."
Asch says in a stern tone before closing his book as their carriage stopped at the village's entrance.
His deep red eyes trained on the view outside, people going on with their daily lives. Some children are playing around with their toys. A typical local village far from the effects of the kingdom's capital.
As they both stepped outside, bystanders had already begun to stare and whisper amongst themselves, some scowling in envy, some in awe, and some deciding to go about their day.
"Here we are. Let's begin our search for the fugitive as fast as we can..."
Asch whispers under his breath, unheard by the others, yet the wind seems to have brought the message over to their mistress instantly as Euria grinned.
On their chests was the emblem of a shield, a man with straight hair and closed eyes sculpted on the surface, and five miniature diamonds were stuck on the bottom, ensuring that their elite status was shown to the public.
Elite Students from the Prestigious Magic Institute of Lazarus Academy.
As they made their way to the village's inn, they both passed by the people, silent and keeping to themselves as they passed by a church and an orphanage, a nun silently standing at its entrance.
Yet the establishment and the nun remained unnoticed to the two, as if nothing was ever there in the first place.
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End of Chapter 2