"Hmm..."
A low humming sound echoed through the quiet room, soft yet tired. Leo stood at the doorway, his eyes lingering on Raphael and her friend, Azrael, who were sleeping soundly on the bed, their breaths steady but their faces marked with exhaustion.
Especially Azrael, who rested against Raphael, her head buried in Raphael’s shoulder. Raphael seed to be frowning even in her sleep, as if weighed down by Azrael’s presence both physically and.... emotionally?
Leo’s lips curved into a faint chuckle. It was gentle, almost fond, though quickly swallowed by silence. With careful steps, he pulled the door closed, not letting the hinges groan, and turned away, leaving the house behind.
He slid his hand into his pocket as his feet carried him down the dimly lit street.
The sky above glowed a deep orange, painted brighter at the edges as the sun descended slowly into the horizon. People hurried past him, their faces tired, their steps brisk, rushing toward the safety of ho. Today’s incident had shaken them to their core.
Schools had already dismissed, and children were being guided ho with anxious voices urging them along.
Leo ignored the restless crowd, walking quietly... his eyes never lifting from the path beneath his feet.
Ti blurred, and at last, he found himself standing before an old temple.
His gaze was fixed on the rusted gates. Slowly, he pushed them open, the dry creak breaking the stillness. He walked along the cracked and dried path, the dust rising faintly around his boots, until he stood before the temple’s heavy wooden door.
He reached for it, about to step inside, when a shadow slipped into his vision. A cloaked figure erged at his side.
"What are you doing here?" Essa’s voice cut through the silence, a faint frown creasing her lips beneath the hood.
Leo let out a weary sigh. "Are you going to follow every single ti?"
No matter where he went, she always followed him.
Essa gave no reply.
Leo sighed again, heavier this ti. "I ca here to get so information."
"Information?" She tilted her head slightly, leaning toward him, her eyes narrowing. "Which kind?"
Leo’s shoulders slumped a little. "Follow ," he said with quiet resignation. There was no point arguing with her. With a dejected tone, he pushed the temple door open.
Inside, the air was still, dust curling in the shafts of fading sunlight.
Old tables and chairs lay scattered, dust all over as if nothing moved her for a few days, except one figure sat alone at the table, her gaze locked on a circular stone.
The stone rotated gently in the air before her, suspended unnaturally, glowing faintly as if it breathed on its own.
"Ms. Jing?" Leo’s voice echoed softly.
The woman turned slowly, her face utterly blank. Expressionless eyes t his, unblinking and cold.
Leo flinched ever so slightly; no matter how many tis he had seen it, he could never grow used to that emptiness.
Her face was like that of a porcelain doll, smooth, perfect, and lifeless.
Jing rose from the table with deliberate calm, her gaze still fixed on Leo.
"What a sudden surprise. I did not expect you to co here... let alone et again after that day." Her tone was flat.
Her eyes shifted, landing on Essa for the briefest of monts. For a flicker of a second, her frown betrayed sothing human, but it vanished, swallowed by her mask of indifference.
Leo thought to himself, ’At least show so surprise.’ His lips curved in frustration as he shook his head inwardly. Then, aloud, he asked,
"If you don’t mind, can I ask you about the next appearance of the Arcanum Eidolon?"
Essa’s face tightened beneath her hood. She shook her head in disappointnt.
Jing, however, didn’t move. She spoke evenly, almost too calm. "I am sorry... I cannot reveal such knowledge to a failed one."
Leo’s lips twitched, torn between annoyance and mockery. "Oh? Co now, Ms. Jing... I wouldn’t call myself failed. My Champion is still alive, and—"
Before he could finish, she interjected with an indifferent tone, "The mont you lost your Champion was the mont you failed the war."
Leo bit his lip hard, "Still... can you... please?" he asked, his voice trembling slightly.
Jing’s blank stare pierced him for several seconds before she turned away. "If nothing else, leave this place at once," she said like a final judgnt.
"Wait!" Leo shouted, his voice echoing through the hollow temple, but she didn’t turn back. She walked calmly toward her chamber and closed the door with a sound that seed far louder than it should have been.
Leo gritted his teeth until his jaw ached. He pounded the wooden door with his fist, again and again, desperate to make her answer, desperate to break the silence—but she remained silent.
Essa, who had been watching with sharp eyes from the shadows, finally stepped forward. Her cloak brushed against the temple’s dust as she approached him.
"What are you trying to do here?"
Leo clenched his fists, "I... I need to know."
"Why?" she pressed, her tone harsher this ti.
Leo didn’t answer. He only shook his head, eyes dropping to the floor. "I just need to know—"
Thud!
Essa’s hand shot out, seizing his collar in a flash. She slamd him against the door so hard that the old wood groaned. Her eyes, burning beneath the hood, locked onto his.
"Have you lost your mind?
Even after everything?
Even after what you’ve already gone through?
You still want that? You’re still chasing after it? Are you that blinded by the damn wish?"
Leo stared blankly at her.
Her voice rose even more,
"Just today... Just freaking today! Everyone almost died! Valra was hanging on the edge of death, and yet... here you are... hunting for that cursed thing again?
Didn’t you swear you were done with it? Didn’t you say you wanted to live a normal life? "
Her grip tightened, her anger trembling in her voice. "I thought you were searching for that woman... still believing she lingered in the darkness.
But now I see it.
You... you wanted the Relic all along, didn’t you?"
Her words dripped with bitter realization, her face twisting in disgust.
Now everything makes sense why he was adamant! All this ti, he wanted a relic... For the first ti, she looked at Leo as though he were a stranger.
Leo bit down on his lip, averting his gaze, "So what?" he muttered.
Essa’s eyes widened in disbelief before narrowing in contempt.
"Even after knowing that thing is not a wish but a curse... you... You dare... fuck!!" She let out a sharp, forced laugh that echoed like a knife scraping stone. "Tsk. Selfish bastard!" she spat, releasing his collar with a shove.
With a bitter snort, she turned on her heel and stord away, her cloak dragging across the temple floor.
She couldn’t bear to face him, not when the truth burned so clearly before her—that he was no different from the selfish n she despised.
Sure, he had saved the family... but at what cost? He had put everyone’s lives on the line.
It was a miracle they had escaped from the hell they’d been thrown into, and now this fool wanted to dive back into it?
What the hell did he want?!
Leo straightened slowly, patting his collar back into place, though his hands trembled. He watched Essa’s back retreat into the distance, her silhouette shrinking as she left the temple.
Turning back to the closed door, he lifted his hand once more and knocked.
"Ms. Jing... I really need your help. Give the details."
His forehead leaned against the wood, eyes shut tight.
"If you want money, I have it. Please..."
As he kept banging on the door, but it never opened, Leo gritted his teeth before sighing, his breath shaky, and muttering under his breath,
"I will do anything for you in exchange."
Thud!
The instant those words left his mouth, a soft click echoed through the temple. The door creaked open, slow and deliberate, as if it had been waiting for him to say that.
Leo pushed it and stepped inside. His eyes darted to the far corner of the room, where she sat in silence. Jing was perched elegantly on a study chair, her hands folded neatly over the desk, her blank, doll-like eyes locking onto him with chilling calm.
"Anything?" she asked at last, her voice indifferent and cold.
Leo swallowed hard, "As long as it’s not killing others... and hurting my family."
Jing’s unblinking gaze lingered on him for several seconds. Finally, she spoke, "Very well. Then co—sit here." She motioned lazily to the chair across from her.
Leo nodded as he moved and sat down in the chair before her.
Jing’s hand lifted slightly, her fingers moving with a subtle grace. The door slamd shut behind him without a sound of touch, and imdiately the walls of the chamber began to glow faintly. Strange runes, lines of pale silver light, spread across the stone.
Leo flinched back, his brows furrowing.
"No need to tense," Jing said calmly, crossing one leg over the other with deliberate poise. "I rely sealed the room. I don’t want anyone eavesdropping on us."
Her eyes never left him.
Leo blinked, shifting uneasily in his seat. She wasn’t speaking further, wasn’t explaining. The silence stretched unnaturally long.
His eyes wandered around the chamber, searching for sothing—anything—to focus on. The room seed ordinary enough, bare stone, woods and a table with scattered papers, but there was a faint fragrance in the air.
A subtle, almost sweet odour. It drifted into his lungs with every breath, sinking into his mind. His shoulders relaxed without aning to.
His heartbeat slowed.
The tension he carried began to calm down... piece by piece, until it felt like he was floating—weightless.
Too calm... Far too calm!!
It was like drifting in deep water, where pain, fear, and worry could no longer reach.
Leo’s eyes widened. He shook his head violently, trying to break free of the haze, and called out, "Ms. Jing?"
She didn’t answer imdiately. She only stared at him, her eyes unreadable. Five long seconds passed before she finally spoke.
"Just to confirm," she said flatly, "in exchange for information about the Arcanum Eidolon... you would do anything for , aside from killing or harming your family. Correct?"
Leo nodded quickly.
"I cannot hear you," she pressed.
"Yes... I am!" he said out loud.
The mont those words escaped him, his wrist seared with sudden agony.
"Ouch!" Leo flinched violently, grabbing at his arm. His eyes shot down in shock. A black mark was spreading across his skin, dark as ink and alive as fla.
It coiled around his wrist in a perfect circle, twisting and tightening until it beca the shape of a bracelet... no, a shackle?
Deep black ink burned itself into his flesh, glowing faintly before sinking into his skin, binding him.
"What in the—Argh!" Leo cried out, pain lancing through his veins. His breath hitched as he stared at it with horror. His wide eyes snapped up to Jing, trembling.
"What have you done to ?!"
Jing didn’t flinch.
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