Aria paced in frantic circles near the teleportation site, her breath coming in short, uneven bursts, her hands clenching and unclenching at her sides. The city’s silver glow bathed the stone streets in a warm light, but it felt cold and distant, completely disconnected from the storm raging inside her chest. Kaiser was gone, and the weight of that fact pressed down on her like a mountain.

  Seris watched her in silence at first, arms folded, her crimson eyes tracking Aria’s movements with the precision of a predator observing its prey. Finally, she sighed, her voice cutting through the tension like a knife through butter. "You think wearing down the pavement is going to bring him back?"

  Aria spun her head toward Seris, blue eyes blazing. "And standing still will?"

  Seris's eyebrow went up, unfazed. "No, but thinking might."

  Aria groaned, rubbing her temples as if she were trying to physically push her frustration away. "I can't just sit here. I have to do something."

  Seris chuckled quietly, leaning against a nearby post with her arms still folded. "You're really bad at waiting, huh?"

  Aria shot her a sharp look. "What kind of person would just sit around when their friend disappears?"

  The white haired girl raised an eyebrow, her tone humorous. "Friend?"

  Aria hesitated for a fraction of a second, then nodded firmly. "Yeah. Kaiser's my friend."

  Seris hummed under her breath, drumming her fingers against her own arm as she examined Aria. "Is he aware of that?"

  Aria scowled, knitting her eyebrows. "What sort of question is that?"

  Seris smiled lazily at her, her red eyes shining with something unreadable. "I mean, he looks like he is not the type to get close to people,"

  Aria let out a breath in a puff, looking away as her fists tightened. "Yeah, well. That's his problem."

  Seris tilted her head, her face softening a little. "You care about him more than he likely realizes."

  Aria's shoulders tensed, her voice lowering to a whisper. "Yes, I do. He's... I don't know how to describe it. He's just someone you can't ignore. He acts like he doesn’t need anyone, but that just makes you want to stay. To prove him wrong.”

  Seris was quiet for a moment, her red eyes unreadable as she studied Aria. Then, her voice softened, carrying a weight that hadn’t been there before. “You’re a good person, Aria.” Aria's eyes widened in surprise at the abrupt change in mood. "Uh. Thanks?"

  Seris laughed, though there was little humor in it. "Not a compliment. An observation."

  Aria snorted, folding her arms across her chest. "Well, if you're going to get all profound about it, what about you? You don't exactly seem like the follow-along-for-the-ride type, why are you here?"

  Seris faltered, her gaze drifting to the rock beneath their feet. "I suppose. I wanted to see what type of person you were."

  Aria raised her eyebrows, interested. "And?"

  Seris grinned, "I like what I see."

  Aria rubbed her arm, squirming uncomfortably from the strange compliment. "You're being weird again." Seris shrugged her impassive face once again. "Perhaps. Or perhaps I'm thinking too hard."

  Aria rolled her eyes, but some of the stiffness in her shoulders relaxed. "Well, stop. We've got bigger issues." Seris breathed out slowly, nodding in agreement as her eyes focused back on Aria. "Yeah. We do."

  For a moment, it seemed Seris was going to say something, something significant, something that would have changed everything. Instead, though, she merely gazed at Aria a bit longer, red eyes studying as if memorizing her every feature.

  Then, in a voice so quiet it was almost lost in the night air, she whispered, “I’m sorry.”

  And Arias world went dark.

  Aria’s body slumped against Seris, her breath slow and even, her arms limp at her sides. In sleep, she looked peaceful and completely unaware of the betrayal that just happened. Seris just stood there, holding her for a moment longer than she had to, her hands clenched in the material of Aria's garments as though she struggled to maintain her grip.

  “Why’d you have to make this so damn hard?” Seris muttered under her breath, her voice barely audible.

  She shifted her hold slightly, hoisting Aria higher into her arms. A few strands of pink hair tickled Seris’ forearm, catching the dim glow of the street lanterns. A weight settled in her chest, a heavy, unrelenting feeling that she immediately pushed down, burying it deep where it couldn’t interfere.

  She had to move.

  With careful, steady steps, she carried Aria away from the teleportation circle, her heart hammering despite the silent night around her. But just as she reached the edge of the platform, she paused, her gaze lingering on Aria’s peaceful face.

  “I’m sorry,” Seris whispered again, the words dry and bitter on her tongue. They didn’t make it right. They didn’t make it better. But she had to say them, even if no one was there to hear. She adjusted her grip, securing Aria over her shoulder, before turning on her heel and walking toward the city.

  Seris started walking with measured steps, keeping her breathing steady as she carried Aria’s unconscious body towards the dimly lit streets. The warmth of the girl in her arms, the softness of her weight, felt strangely grounding. The city was quieter now, only a few distant murmurs of people talking in inns and the occasional clatter of hooves against stone breaking the stillness.

  She should have been relieved that no one was around to ask questions.

  But she wasn’t.

  Because one person was.

  "Hey!"

  The voice came from behind, sharp and firm, cutting through the silence like a blade. Seris didn’t flinch, but she did slow her steps.

  Footsteps echoed closer, accompanied by the unmistakable clink of a sword shifting. She tilted her head slightly, her expression calm and unreadable, as she locked gazes with the oncoming guard.

  It was the same one Aria had talked to previously, and he was now standing upright at the gateway to the teleportation zone, observing them with narrowed eyes. His eyebrows creased as his eyes darted from Seris to the lifeless girl in her arms.

  "You," he said, a warning in his voice. "Who are you?"

  Seris chuckled softly, shifting Aria's weight in her arms. "Just a friend," she answered casually. "She had a bit too much fun and played a bit more than she could handle, then dozed off. I was just taking her back to the inn."

  The guard did not respond right away. His eyes remained fixed on Aria's face, watching her slow, steady breaths. His lips tightened. "You weren't with her before," he stated factually.

  Seris cocked her head to one side, grin still plastered on her face. "No, but I found her before she could do something stupid. I figured I’d do a good deed and get her somewhere safe."

  The guard did not seem convinced. His gaze swept across Seris, examining her in the way that only a trained soldier would, taking in information that ordinary individuals would miss.

  "You don’t look like a local," he said after a pause.

  Seris smiled once more, shifting Aria in her grasp. "I get that often."

  The guard didn’t return the expression. Instead, his eyes locked onto hers, sharper this time. "She left with a dark-haired man earlier," he told her, his voice even but trimmed with skepticism. "Where is he?"

  Seris’ fingers unconsciously tightened around Aria’s clothes. For a moment, she considered lying outright. But she knew better. A clean lie would raise more alarms than a believable one.

  She exhaled slowly through her nose, keeping her voice casual. "He's coming. Said he needed to do something first."

  The guard’s expression remained expressionless. "Then we’ll wait for him to get back."

  Seris stilled, her jaw tightening just slightly.

  ‘This was getting annoying.’

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  shifting Aria's weight again as though it were no more than an inconvenience. "You don't have to do that," she said, her voice relaxed, almost amused. "I mean, come on, she's out cold. What's the problem?"

  The guard didn’t budge. "I don't believe in coincidences," he said flatly.

  Seris's eyebrow went up. "Coincidences?"

  The guard’s fingers tapped once against the hilt of his sword. "A young girl suddenly falls unconscious, then some stranger, who wasn’t with her earlier, just happens to show up carrying her body through the streets?" His gaze hardened. "That’s not a coincidence. That’s suspicious."

  Seris theatrically sighed. "You're going to make this hard, aren't you?"

  "It’s my job," he said bluntly.

  She wanted to curse. She could feel the shift in his stance now, the slight change in his breathing. He wasn’t just suspicious anymore. He was certain something was wrong.

  Seris’ fingers twitched. She had one last chance to end this without things getting messy.

  Seris let out a weak, strained laugh, shaking her head as if all of this was just a minor inconvenience. "Okay, okay. I get it. You're just doing your job, huh?" The guard didn’t move. Didn’t blink. His expression remained stone-cold, his grip on his sword unwavering.

  Seris exhaled sharply, meeting his gaze head-on. “Look. She’s safe. No harm done. I just didn’t want her passed out on the field.” She nodded toward the path behind him, her tone calm, almost dismissive. “You can go check outside the city if you don’t believe me. She was playing hard… Probably too hard for her own good. That’s all this is.”

  The guard didn’t react immediately. For a moment, Seris hoped he might let it go. Then his hand tightened around the hilt of his sword, his knuckles whitening. “Maybe,” he said, his voice low and dangerous. “But I think I’ll check with her when she wakes up.”

  Seris’ smile vanished.

  She stared at him, her body completely still, the air around her growing heavier with every passing second. The street was unusually quiet now, the kind of silence that presses against your ears. She heard the faintest wind curling through the side streets, the faint sound of laughter from a distance from people who had no idea what was going to occur.

  Her fingers twitched. The guard shifted his stance, his muscles coiling like a spring ready to snap. And Seris sighed. She lowered her gaze for just a moment, shaking her head as if disappointed. “I gave you enough chances,” she muttered under her breath.

  The guard frowned, his brow furrowing. “What—?”

  Seris sighed, rolling her shoulders as if shaking off a minor inconvenience. Then, the air rippled.

  Flesh swelled. Bones groaned and cracked like snapping branches. Her arm twisted, grotesque and wrong, swelling into a monstrous shape that had no place on a human body. Her once-human limb transformed into a thick, sinewy appendage, far too large and menacing to belong to her slender frame. Her skin discolored and hardened into something monsterous, as her fingers deformed into huge claw-like nails.

  The guard barely had time to process what was happening as his body tensed instantly, his instincts screaming for him to act. But Seris moved faster than he could even hope to rect.

  Her freshly altered arm shot through the air like a battering ram, hitting him square in the chest, and the force was catastrophic.

  When her palm made contact, the guard's entire body was thrown backward. He was pulled from the ground, his armor distorting from the sheer force of the collision. A deep, echoing boom cracked through the empty street as his back slammed into the stone wall behind him.

  Dust exploded from the impact site, cascading over the cobbled street in a choking cloud. The sheer force of the hit left an indent in the stone, spiderweb cracks spreading outward from where his body had met the surface. Chunks of debris fell to the ground, rolling across the dirt as the air thickened with dust and silence.

  Seris stood still, her monstrous arm flexing, fingers twitching from the recoil. For a second, she thought that was it, that a hit like that would put him out completely.

  Then, the rubble shifted. A deep, metallic clank echoed through the street as a chunk of stone rolled away, revealing movement within the dust cloud. Seris exhaled sharply, her irritation mingling with a reluctant flicker of respect.

  The guard stood up. His clothes were roughed up, a smear of blood trickling down his lip, and his posture was slightly stiff, but he managed to stand up. Most people wouldn’t have survived a hit like that, and yet he barely looked fazed.

  His head tilted slightly, cracking his neck with a low, dull pop. His shoulders jerked, flicking the dust from them like an animal shedding dirt. His keen gaze clashed with hers, and the confusion in his eyes vanished, replaced by a far more formidable emotion. Cold and unforgiving, rage took its place.

  Seris clicked her tongue, her bloodshot eyes hardening. "Well, crap."

  The guard's stance shifted in a split second. No thought. No question. His body coiled tight like a killer stalking prey, his boots snapping on the cobblestones as he lowered himself into fighting form. His voice dropped. "Who the hell are you?"

  Seris said nothing. She didn't need to. Things had already careened past words, and there was no talking out of this one now. Her monstrous fingers flexed, curling into a loose fist as she exhaled sharply through her nose.

  Then, she ran.

  The guard lunged forward at the same instant, his blade whipping from its sheath in a blur of steel. But Seris was already gone. She didn’t run like a normal person. She burst forward, her feet slamming against the cobblestone with enough force to crack the street beneath her. Aria’s limp body was slung over her shoulder, but Seris carried her with ease, her inhuman strength making the added weight feel like nothing.

  Behind her, she heard the guard give chase. He was fast, far faster than she expected. His boots barely made a sound as he moved, his agility surprising for a man of his size and build. But Seris was faster.

  She made a turn, another turn, dodging into tight alleys and racing down the winding streets of the city. The buildings fell behind her as she went, her breathing fast, but her steps faster. The guard was still behind, but she heard the gap between their footsteps widening. He was falling behind.

  She pushed harder, her monstrous arm propelling her forward with every stride. A low rooftop came into view ahead, and without hesitation, Seris leapt. Her monstrous hand grabbed the edge of the roof, her fingers digging into the stone. With a powerful pull, she swung herself and Aria up onto the rooftop in one fluid motion.

  She landed hard, her feet skidding for a brief moment before she bolted forward again.

  Seris’ breath came hard and fast, the cold night air biting at her skin as she tore across the rooftops, as Aria’s limp form was still slung over her shoulder. The sounds of pursuit still lingered behind her—thudding boots on stone, the ringing clink of armor as the guard was not willing to concede. He was fast, but she was faster. Each turn, each alley, each leap over piled crates and abandoned carts grew more ground between them.

  Her gnarled, giant fingers curled in, her deformed arm recoiling as she looked around for a means of escape. Her gaze darted to a tiny, rickety house up ahead—its wooden doors slightly open, a faint, dancing candlelight emanating from within. Without a moment's hesitation, she charged towards it.

  CRASH!

  The doors shattered open as Seris crashed through them, causing her to slide into the middle of the dark room. Wood splinters and dust went flying everywhere, the wooden floor creaking beneath the force of her fall.

  The first thing anyone would have noticed was that the air inside was heavy with smoke and the acrid scent of ale and sweat. The candlelight created sharp shadows on the walls, illuminating a group of men sitting around a large table covered with half-full bottles and discarded playing cards.

  At the head of the table sat Ollo.

  His fat figure leaned lazily against the chair, one boot propped up against the table’s edge, his massive arms folded across his chest. His bald, wet head gleamed in the dim light, and his expression was one of smug amusement as he turned his gaze toward Seris.

  Around him sat three other men, their eyes narrowing as they took in the scene. Aria’s unconscious body hung from Seris’ shoulder, sweat and blood streaked her face, and the ruined doors swung weakly on their broken hinges.

  “Well, well.” Ollo exhaled, a slow, deliberate grin spreading across his face. His voice was smooth, almost mocking. “Didn’t think you’d be making such a grand entrance, Seris. What, decided to bring me a gift personally?”

  One of the men beside him, a broad-shouldered brute with a jagged scar across his nose, chuckled. “She looks like she ran through a goddamn battlefield. Maybe she got attached to the little thing.” His gaze drifted over Aria, lingering too long. His grin widened. “Shame. Could’ve kept her for yourself, sweetheart. Pretty little thing like that, I bet she’d—”

  Seris cut him off with a glare so sharp it could have slit his throat. “Finish that sentence,” she said, her voice low, shaking with barely restrained fury. “And I’ll make sure you never speak again.”

  The man held up his hands in mock surrender, smirking. “Touchy.”

  Ollo only chuckled, reaching down beside his chair. “No need for all that.” His hand emerged with a heavy leather pouch, the sound of gold coins shifting inside unmistakable. He tossed it toward Seris.

  She caught it, as a long silence stretched between them.

  Seris stood still, her grip tightening around the pouch of gold. It felt heavy, like it was pressing down on her chest, suffocating her. She didn’t open it, she didn’t want to. The weight alone told her that this was more than enough for a life. More than enough to betray someone who had trusted her.

  Ollo bent his head over in his chair, propping it on his knuckles and eyeing her up. The self-satisfaction in his eyes gave her a sudden desire to rip his head from his shoulders. “You’re awful quiet, Seris,” he murmured. “You having second thoughts?”

  One of the men at his side snorted, a big burly bastard with a crooked nose and yellowing teeth that flashed when he grinned. “Of course she’s not. She’s just takin’ it in. Ain’t every day you get paid this much for handing over a helpless little thing, huh?” His gaze trailed to Aria, his lips curling in amusement. “She doesn’t look so dangerous to me.”

  “Maybe that’s why she’s worth more,” another sneered, this one lean and rat-faced, his voice like rusted nails. “Looks untouched, too. A real pretty one.” His eyes flicked toward Seris, his smirk widening. “Bet you were tempted to keep her, huh? Would’ve been nice havin’ a little toy of your own.”

  Seris’ jaw clenched. Her fingers curled into the leather of the pouch, the nails digging in so hard she felt the texture strain under the pressure. She wanted to break them. All of them.

  Ollo hummed, feigning curiosity. “That true, Seris? You were alone with her for a while, weren’t you? Maybe you got a little soft?” He tilted his head, his grin widening. “That’s unlike you.” Seris forced herself to breathe. She forced herself not to react, not to let them see how every single word made her stomach churn. She had always hated this. The way these kinds of men talked, the way they looked at people as if they were things to be bought, sold, and used. It made her feel sick, but she had no choice except to obey.

  One of the men, the burly one, chuckled darkly. “Hell, if you’re feelin’ guilty, you could always make up for it.” His eyes raked over her, and his smirk turned filthy. “You already look like you’re a screamer, and I’m into that.”

  Seris turned her head, slowly, deliberately, and looked at him, and in an instant, he stopped laughing. There was nothing in her expression: no anger, no amusement, no warmth. Just cold, dead silence.

  The kind of silence that usually came before someone died.

  Ollo watched the exchange, raising an eyebrow before exhaling through his nose. “Alright, enough of that,” he said lazily. “Seris isn’t here to play games, and neither are we.” He gestured toward Aria’s unconscious body with a wave of his hand. “She’s done her part. She’s got her gold.”

  Seris didn’t move. She couldn’t.

  Because the second she did, if she so much as twitched… She wasn’t sure if she’d be able to stop herself from tearing out their throats. This was the kind of world she had lived in for years. The kind of men she had worked for. And yet, somehow, this still disgusted her. Maybe because for once, just for a moment… She had seen something different.

  A girl who had smiled at her. Laughed with her. Treated her like a person. And now that same girl was slung over her shoulder, limp and unconscious, sold off like she was nothing more than a prize.

  Ollo flicked his fingers toward the door. “You can go now.” Seris finally moved. She turned on her heel, walking out without a word, without looking back.

  Because if she did—if she even glanced at them one more time—

  She might just kill them all.