Center Borough.
Skyler sat in the carriage, looking at the terraced buildings bathed in crimson.
To her right, was Sebastian Blackwood who was pulling the horses. He had a calm expression, and Skyler stared at him like she was enchanted. It was the second time she was alone with him. Her first meeting with Sebastian had left a strong impression on her, especially his last words before she returned home.
"Thank the Son nothing happened to you, Madam Hall. We would look very bad if people found out that we involved an innocent person in this matter." Sebastian expressed sincerely.
Skyler nervously waved her hands. "Erm, mm, you don't have to worry about me. It's simply my fault for going into the shed on my own."
Looking away, she felt an unidentified sense of dread that was growing within her. She didn't know if she was nervous or not, but this was definitely the first time she felt that way.
"At least, we managed to neutralize the zombie and purify it with the help of the Hermit Exorcist before it was too late." Sebastian said.
He was unaware of how grateful Skyler was to him. She didn't even dare imagine what would have happened to her if Sebastian and Cleo hadn't come to her rescue. Skyler slowly turned her gaze at Sebastian's, who in the meantime, was clutching the harness in his hands.
Sebastian frowned and muttered heavily. "People are really crazy. Why are they willing to take such a risk just to have powers? It is true that thanks to them we can protect ourselves from curses or paranormal entities, but it is not worth taking the risk for something useless like this."
"So, Mr. Blackwood, d-do you hate divinations and mysticism?" Skyler asked softly.
While the air around them grew tense, Sebastian turned his head towards Skyler, eyes narrowed and lips slightly pursed.
Skyler looked at him in amazement, mesmerized by his gaze. Her cheeks blushed and a light gust of wind made her hair sway. His gaze was sweet and soothing, yet it also hid much else unknown to her. Sebastian reached out with his right hand, gently lifting Skyler's necklace.
"I want you to do me a favor and not tell anyone about what happened today." He mumbled, voice soft.
"I-I-I'll take this secret to the grave! I promise!" Skyler exclaimed nervously.
After saying those words, she quickly looked away, gripping the fabric of her dress tightly. Sebastian then gently let the necklace slide, causing it to dangle a few times.
"I thank you for your cooperation, Madam Hall." Sebastian gave a small laugh.
"He's really a very charming and gallant person as they say." Skyler eyed Sebastian curiously.
As the horses raced toward the Ancient Path Bridge, Skyler let her thoughts envelop her all the way.
※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※
North Borough, at 15 Angel Lane Street.
After returning home from West Borough, Skyler sat at the desk in her bedroom. She lit the candle holder, illuminating the molted desk. With a frown she looked at the window, but there was something blocking her view of the moon.
"My master who wants to become a Daredevil, eh..." Klein muttered, his voice was growing deep.
He was leaning on the edge of the open window looking at Skyler, his cold gaze was heavy.
"Listen to me Klein, I have a question for you." Skyler finally spoke, placing her fingers on her chest. "Tell me about the world of Daredevil's and the requirements to be part of it."
Klein frowned. His gray eyes looked pitifully at Skyler, like someone who didn't care about the person in front of him.
The atmosphere was stagnant and tense, prickly like a needle. Silence continued to reign in the dim room, and the only sound they heard was the 8:00 pm bells of the North Borough clock tower which sounded melodiously. Despite his intimidating gaze, Skyler didn't look away, continuing to stare at Klein, curiosity had taken over her fears.
"I want to be frank, your question is just stupid." Klein looked at the moon, turning his back on Skyler.
Whoosh! Whilst a breeze blew, Skyler clenched her fists, looking at her feet helplessly. Her body trembled as she was feeling the heat of the candle on her neck.
"I just want to understand more, also because…" The image of Evelyn appeared in Skyler's mind.
She bit her lower lip, feeling a little pain in her temples. She felt helpless for not having perceived Evelyn's suffering much earlier.
"Because what? Because ya find out your precious friend almost risked her life? How stupid, too saccharine for my taste buds." Klein couldn't help but laugh.
Skyler rose abruptly from her chair. "I don't allow you to frolic about something serious, especially if it concerns her!"
Clenching her fist tightly, feeling her palms pricking her palms, she frowned at Klein who was sitting on the edge of the window. Her chest tightened in a mixture of wrath and helplessness.
Her pointed gaze conveyed anger as if rejecting his statement, while Klein was looking at her, playing a smile on his lips.
He was making fun of Evelyn's suffering, taking pleasure in it. Even if she considers herself inferior, even if she allows Klein to tease her, she would never allow neither Klein nor anyone else to make fun of someone she cares about very much.
"What, ya want to punch me for expressin' my opinion? Even if ya are good at boxin', ya have no chance against me," Klein stood up, placing his arms behind him as he looked at her. "Besides, ya can't fight here. Your uncle is downstairs, 'n your attempts to hide my presence would go up in smoke."
"Sometimes when you do that I just can't understand you." Skyler grinned her teeth.
After all, Klein was an enigmatic person who she could not understand. Although they coexisted for a long time without Benson's knowledge, she still struggled to fully understand his behavior.
"Your altruism really disgusts me, my master," Klein sat on the bed and whispered. "I'll tell ya what ya want to know, but on one condition."
Hearing his words, inside herself, Skyler rejoiced while still keeping her frown on her face and her fists clenched.
She still didn't know what Klein's condition was, but if it was in her power, she would do anything to get information.
Skyler looked straight into Klein's eyes, her tone turning serious. "Let's see, what's the condition?"
"I want us to go to that palace with the moonflowers. That place intrigues me a lot, and who knows… maybe we can discover somethin'." Klein twisted a smile.
Skyler's heart skipped a beat. Her mind was adrift like a ship at sea in a strong storm. A shiver ran down her spine as she heard those words.
Turning her head over the desk, she saw the necklace illuminated by the candle holder.
The mysterious place with moonflowers, the ancient palace connected to the Unknown were still vivid in her mind. Although a few days had passed since she entered that place, for her it was like it had happened just now.
"Why do… we have to go to that… place?" Skyler murmured, stiffening her cheeks.
The bells stopped ringing, and the whistling of the wind became strong. The wind blew the window, obscuring the view between them.
"If ya don't want to go, go ahead," Klein narrowed his eyes. "But know that ya won't receive any information from me."
Skyler looked at Klein's figure sitting on her bed, his face was half covered by the curtain.
"But… do I really have to go back there? Do I have to?" Skyler laughed wryly.
The image of her hand being sucked into the mirror, along with her face and the rest of her body arose in her mind. The wind stopped blowing, causing the curtains to stop fluttering in mid-air, Skyler shuddered at the idea of having to relive that experience.
Klein got up from the bed, and walking towards Skyler, he touched the braided part of her hair.
Then, he brought his lips close to her ear. "Of course ya owe me, since thanks to ya, I'm bound to your soul for eternity. Mm, what's the matter, are ya afraid?"
"Huh, I'm not afraid, it's just that… that place has, how can I say… something odd, and then the Princess of the Unknown and the sovereigns…" Skyler babbled desperately as she kept laughing.
She felt like the place had something sinister hiding. Although she knew that the necklace came from the Aetheria Kingdom, she didn't even know who gave it to her father, nor the meaning behind the place itself. Skyler wanted to refuse Klein's proposal, but was unable to argue, since, years earlier, she saved him against his will.
"What the hell are ya babblin' about? Come on, let's go."
"N-no wait, at least let me think for a moment."
"Yes, yeah, sure. Whatever. Stop makin' excuses 'n let's go. The sooner we get this over with 'n the sooner we are done."
Skyler nodded as she swallowed hard. She didn't want to go to the place, yet a sense of curiosity arose in her heart. Resigned from everything, she took the necklace from the desk and put it on, approaching the ornate mirror beside the closet.
Even though she trembled, even though she was afraid, Skyler touched the mirror, squeezing Klein's hand.
Her hand, her arm, her face, her whole body was sucked into the mirror, she felt as if a dark and unseen force was dragging her inside, denying her any way out. The sensation was both disturbing and beyond her imagination, like when she ended up in that infinite void while she was sleeping.
"Well, I hope at least to get out of this alive." Skyler closed her eyes, holding Klein's hand, she hoped nothing bad would happen to her.
※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※
Skyler slowly opened her eyes, finding herself in the endless space with moonflowers.
"It really worked. So I can only enter this place if I have the necklace on." She walked towards the palace before her.
Her bare feet touched the soft flowers with each step, holding Klein's hand. His rough, warm hand was the only warmth that warmed her cold body. Klein looked at his surroundings, a smile forming on his lips, but it wasn't a soft, genuine smile. It was like a sinister smile.
Skyler stared at him silently like a spectator. She wondered why he, a person who wanted nothing to do with her, brought her here in the middle of the night. Could it be out of curiosity? Could it be because he really wanted to see the palace?
As she was in a turmoil of thoughts, Klein looked straight over the end of the dark sky.
"Who knows what the buildin' is like. No, I must correct myself. Who knows what the 'inside of the palace' will be like, surrounded even with statues of my master." Klein glanced at Skyler. "Come on, don't be afraid."
"You're not amusing at all when you're being sarcastic." Skyler peered nervously at Klein, approaching the palace.
While they stood in front of the palace, the ethereal vision behind them transformed into an eerie and surreal landscape. The moonflowers scattered endlessly, their thin and delicate petals blooming in the starry sky as they floated like magic.
"I was hoping I'd never have to come here. Curse my curiosity." Skyler sighed deeply, laughing self-deprecatingly.
As she entered the palace covered by twigs along with Klein, she saw that the place hadn't changed much since she last came. In front of her was the stone throne, the statues in her image were aligned symmetrically next to the white pillars.
Walking towards the throne, they'd see that the wall behind was covered in wild twigs and moonflowers. Reaching the hermetic wall, Skyler looked at it intently and was shocked.
"Why?" Her eyes shot open as she instinctively embraced Klein.
"Unbelievable, 'n so it finally appeared, huh…" Klein murmured softly.
In the innocuous stone wall, half covered by twigs, wooden double-doors formed before them. The doors were about twice as high as both Skyler and Klein, on the woody part there was an embroidery of a woman very familiar to Skyler, an embroidery that made her blood run cold.
Skyler gawked at that thing in disbelief. Her teeth trembling, she glared at Klein who was looking contentedly at the door. She then stared again at the door, swallowing hard like she wanted to swallow her fears.
The embroidery of her completely naked holding a cross with both hands were engraved on the double-doors with seven jewels set between them. One. One of the seven jewels was illuminated.
"Er, ugh, wha-what is a door with my embroidery doing here?" Skyler asked Klein.
In this endless space, not only were there statues representing her, but now a door, which had been non-existent since the last time she came, appeared like magic on the wall with her embroidery.
"Don't ask me, it's my first time here. 'N then, ya're who should know, my master." Klein backed away, reaching for the throne. "Well, now the time has come when ya ask me your foolish questions that I don't care about."
"What were those words you said earlier?" Skyler frowned, her gaze was cautious
Just now, she heard Klein mutter something she hadn't expected to hear, something that made her completely doubt him.
She kept staring at him, her gaze growing serious with each passing second as Klein leaned against the throne with both hands in his pockets, looking at her with a smile.
"Calm down, ya shouldn't look at me like that. My desire to come here satisfies yours too. Now that ya're here, ya can study its functions 'n origins, 'n also, ya can use it to your advantage in some way." Klein tilted his head down. "Startin' with that door with the jewels."
"Actually, you're not wrong, I can't leave this thing unnoticed after I'm in it, but… how can I use it to my advantage, and why did you bring me here?" Skyler asked, constantly wondering what it all meant.
What Klein said made sense. If she understood all the functions of the place, she could use it to her advantage in the future. The problem was, she didn't know how. First of all, she didn't know the origins of the necklace, nor the purpose of the palace. Not to mention the fact that one of the seven jewels had just lit up.
"What if it was the necklace that caused one of the jewels to light up?" Skyler thought deeply.
"I don't know that yet, but luckily for me ya are not a daft 'n I'm sure ya'll understand." Klein walked towards Skyler, checking his surroundings.
"When he does that I really can't stand it." Skyler gritted her teeth in response.
If she dared, she wanted to slap his face hard until she got tired.
"Just to be clear, I'm way too lazy to waste my precious energy givin' ya some long speech about it. I'll simply just tell ya the basics…" Klein closed the gap with Skyler, raising the index finger of his right hand. "So let's get to us. As ya well know, the Daredevils are individuals with powers 'n abilities that even go so far as to challenge reality and nature."
"Reality… so that eye I saw at that time wasn't a fruit of my imagination, but it was someone who was watching me…" Skyler shivered, hugging her shoulders.
She thought back of the giant eye with the golden iris that appeared not only in the crimson sky, but even in her nightmare in the guise of the black figure. The experience was intense and eerie for her. She felt that what she saw was just her imagination, but the theory became tenuous after what Klein said.
If that eye she saw was real, whose eye was it? Why was it staring at her? What did it want from her?
Skyler shook her head, trying to momentarily forget about that, and said. "Uh, since you have the ability to create potions and drugs, you must be like an alchemist if I'm not mistaken."
"Nature Path, remember this, my master." Klein nodded, the smile still on his face. "I'm Core 2, 'n therefore, I'm an Angel."
"Huh, an A-angel? S-so your powers are t-the same as a real Angel? Really?" Skyler muttered in shock at Klein's statement, her eyes sparkled. "It's incredible, I can hardly believe it. So Evelyn aspired to have Angel-like powers. What kind of powers does she want to have?"
She took a breath to steady herself and asked. "Besides alchemy, do you have any other powers?"
"Well, generally speakin', besides alchemy, Daredevils who take this path gain abilities tied to nature, brewin' potions, creatin' Chimeras and Familiars, mutation, and healin'." Klein placed both hands behind his back. "But well, if ya have some kind of biological uniqueness, ya can twist those abilities to your likin'."
Whilst listening to him explain his abilities, Skyler's cheekbones eased a bit. After all, Klein had maintained silence for a long time, ignoring her for many years, but a few days ago, after she returned from the palace, he suddenly spoke to her. She hoped to establish a good relationship with him once again.
Skyler smiled and asked without any hesitation. "Klein, er, do you know if there are any abilities to communicate with dead people?"
"I think so, but who knows if I'm certain or not…" Klein looked around, avoiding eye contact with Skyler.
"Blimey… he's unbearable." As her mind was filled with thoughts, Skyler crunched her teeth.
She hoped to understand what abilities allowed a person to communicate with the dead and its functions, she wanted not to talk to Evelyn about the matter as she didn't want to hurt her after the funeral, but everything was shattered like glass, leaving her disappointed. The frustration became so strong that she bit her lip.
Klein's sarcasm broke through her thoughts, his voice became hoarse. "What? Are ya considerin' me useless because I couldn't answer your snotty question? I can very well stay quiet if ya want."
The stagnant tension between them became palpable, a hidden knowledge of barriers rising in her way hindering her.
"I-I didn't mean that, though… can you at least tell me what are the requirements to become a Daredevil?" Skyler muttered, giving in to the fact that Klein wouldn't tell her anything about the dead.
Although she was still frustrated, she couldn't afford to make Klein angry. Above all, she wanted to know the requirements at any cost. Frowning, she peered at Klein seriously as the tension between them grew increasingly tense.
"To be honest, sometimes ya really piss me off with your selfishness. Hah, there are two requirements." Klein raised the index finger of his right hand. "The first, which is the most important, is to get baptized by the Churches before readin' the grimoire. Ya can even not perform it, but by doin' so, your chances of gettin' possessed are much higher." He then raised his middle finger. "The second is to read the grimoire containing an ability 'n fulfill its requirements."
"The grimoire… now that I think about it, this afternoon, when I saw that corpse, I remembered that there was a book on the ground. Mr. Blackwood said that the man shot himself for reading the grimoire without being baptized. So that means that books of that color are actually grimoires!' Skyler's mind was flooded with thoughts as she tilted her head downwards.
"If ya want to get a grimoire easily ya can join one of the Holy Saint Organization," Klein lowered his right hand and continued. "Ya can also use your luck 'n explore the various continents of the world to look for them, participate in auctions, or go to clandestine and secret meetin's. In short, there are many ways to obtain the grimoires."
"There's no need, thanks." Skyler raised her arm to Klein, though to stop him from saying anything else.
"Look at how much my master she's already gettin' an advantage." Klein expression darkened.
"If that's what you say, then I've a chance to become a Daredevil too." Skyler massaged her temples. "But tell me… what requirements do I have to fulfill if I want to gain powers?"
"Don't'cha think ya are exaggeratin' with all these questions? Honestly, ya are too repetitive for my tastes." Klein huffed, annoyed by Skyler's questions as he closed his eyes. "Alas! Just to clarify once 'n for all, the requirement is to complete the Trials!"
"Trials?..." Skyler was aghast by the information.
The world of Daredevil was surely an unexplored world that was beginning to fascinate but at the same time fear her. She wondered what kind of challenges she'd face to gain such powers, and whether or not she would emerge victorious.
"Enough with the questions, I'm too tired now." Klein raised his hand to Skyler's face, blowing on it.
The magenta powder entered Skyler's nostrils as she breathed it in, blurring her vision. Her mind was collapsing, her body was stopping moving and becoming heavier, the view was gradually fading away.
She felt someone carrying her in its arms. Eyelids growing heavy, she struggled to see Klein's face with an eerie smile as he walked towards the exit.
"So, what was written in the Book of Destiny was actually true, huh… just like the Divine Keeper said. If that's the case, then I really want to see if my master will be able to defeat the Trials in the Doom World." Klein said, laughing mischievously.
"Klein…" Skyler murmured in a small voice.
Her mind completely lost clarity, and after failed attempts to stay awake. Then her consciousness sank into the river of unconsciousness.