'Why?'
This question echoed in my whole being. In the endless darkness, unable to understand anything... it suddenly appeared.
But... it was not directed at . It was also a strangely familiar voice.
'Why...?'
I heard the sa voice once more. It reached through the darkness, this ti much more emphatically. Not just in my presence... this ti echoing everywhere.
Then, another voice answered it. A voice much deeper, much more ancient.
'You already know the answer.'
It had the sound of tens or hundreds of different people speaking at the sa ti. But the questioner did not find it strange in any way.
'Just because I know doesn't an I understand. Just... why?'
'You have no choice but to understand.'
I didn't hear another voice, no one spoke. And I, again, fell silent for a long ti.
The darkness seed to fluctuate again from ti to ti, even trying to get closer to , sotis... but at the sa ti it seed to be afraid. As if sothing was holding it back, as if it was just waiting, seeking the right mont.
I don't know why, I swallowed. The pressure of the darkness was so heavy that it forced , maybe that was why. But... as I swallowed, I realized sothing else. I realized that I really 'existed' in this... strange place where I could only see the darkness wherever I turned my head.
With the fact that I could swallow, I realized that I could try sothing that for so reason I had never tried before.
I tried to speak. I called out to the infinite darkness that surrounded , all too aware that there was nothing else but it...
"Where... where am I?"
But as soon as those words were out of my mouth... the infinite darkness surged more violently than ever as if it had been waiting for this mont all along. Before I could understand what was happening, the darkness that had avoided as if it was afraid of until now... suddenly descended upon .
Everything fell into an eternal silence again. Everything... disappeared into the darkness, taking with it. Countless hands enveloped my whole body so fast that I found myself disappearing into them.
It was like I was being dragged toward the end...
However... I did not 'disappear' into the darkness with it. Instead, an emotionless voice echoed again from nothingness, as if breaking through the silence. Soone... sighed as if annoyed.
The whole darkness, my body, everything... suddenly trembled with fear. Ti seed to stop, and a feeling of heaviness ca over that was even more breathtaking than before.
The countless dark hands wrapped around my body shook madly as they fled backward, releasing , literally disappearing in an instant. They took with them not only themselves but also the endless darkness from which they had erged in the first place.
Just a few seconds ago I was in a darkness where I couldn't feel anything... but the next second, I found myself lying on my back, looking up at the blue sky that suddenly appeared, unable to move a muscle.
At least... I couldn't until soone's shadow fell on .
*******
My eyes flew open, I saved my head from falling down at the last mont.
When the tiredness of lack of sleep hit once more... I realized that I had almost fallen asleep. My eyes had closed on their own, and the support I had been trying to keep upright had disappeared.
I squinted. First I sat up in my chair again, then I wiped the burrs from my eyes with my hands. The darkness of my room encouraged to sleep even more, so I turned on the lights and looked at the table I had just sat at.
Several holographic screens floated above it. So had my research on them, so had Adrian on them, so had a few notes I had taken.
My eyes fixed on the screen with Adrian's photo for a mont. The shine of his silver hair caught my attention, followed by his green eyes that sparkled like eralds. The only contrast to the idea in my mind was the slight smile on his face.
I rembered the mont I saw his necklace. How he had turned into an elf... or rather a half-elf, right before my eyes, when I was so close to killing him.
He was the sa as . He was a hybrid. He had the blood of an elf and the blood of a human. He had the sa hair as .
But... although he was the sa as , he was also very different. It was impossible to tell that he was a half-breed, except that his ears were slightly different from a normal elf's. If he had blended in with the elves, unlike ... he wouldn't have even been recognized as a half-breed for a long ti.
He didn't have my disease. In fact... he was strong. Too strong. He didn't have black eyes like mine, he had one of the signature looks of elves, light-colored eyes. He was making his own path rather than being used as a... tool like .
I clenched my fist as my eyes twitched. I hated him again and again and again as my face grew ugly and I realized again how... unfair the world had been.
Why did I get all the bad parts of being a hybrid and he got all the good parts? Why am I so weak when I try so hard and he is so... strong? Why am I being used as a slave and he is free?
I don't care what happened in his past. I... why is he at least in charge of his own life while I... didn't have the slightest freedom from the very beginning? What have I... done...? What was my cri that he lived a different life while I was abandoned among demons with the family na Laute...?
My eye twitched even more, my face beca even uglier.
I paused for a mont, not thinking about anything. I closed my eyes, trying to calm myself, but I didn't give myself over to sleep.
I'm stupid... why am I thinking about empty things? The past is the past, what has happened has happened. Why am I doing this when I have nothing to gain by standing where I am and complaining?
I went to my kitchen, took a pill for my illness, and made a hot coffee. As I sat back down at my desk, I thought about the things I should be doing instead of thinking about nonsense.
For example... I've been idle lately since no one from Laute has given any orders, and I've been making the most of it in my own way, of course.
Finding a cure for my weakness and illness was foremost among them. But... I also had to find a way to break the chains that bound to my family.
I turned my gaze to one of the screens on my desk, a photograph of a huge bird with red-colored feathers...
It was a phoenix. These ancient creatures were sothing that could fix the chaotic system in my body, sothing that could remove the obstacle to getting stronger.
Or rather... sothing that these ancient creatures left behind with each rebirth.
I brought the screen in front of , all the recent news about 'phoenixes'. But... at this very mont, sothing different happened.
Sothing small on the other edge of the table, a dot almost the size of my fingernail, suddenly began to flash with a blue light.
I paused for a mont, trying to stop my hands from shaking, then I took a deep breath. First, I turned off all the screens on the table, then calmly clicked on the little blinking light.
Because... I had been waiting for this for a long ti.
The next second, all the screens on the table that had just been turned off were replaced by another one. The person on the screen, clearly an elf by the ears, looked at with glazed eyes.
His face twitched for a mont, but it was so fleeting that I might have seen it wrong, but... I had no doubt it was right. Because all elves loathed . Without exception, every one of them found my presence... unnecessary.
Even the servants. But... as so often, I ignored it this ti, focusing only on what he was going to say to .
"Alysia Laute, yes?"
"Alysia, you have a new task."
I couldn't help squinting my eyes slightly when I heard what I was expecting, but I didn't do anything else, not even sigh.
"Adrian Caleo's identity has been confird. Your new mission is not to kill him but to help us get to him. Two months from now, in late August, we will carry out an operation to bring Adrian Caleo to the manor. In the anti, you'll be updated and your goal will be to get close to him and build a bond of trust between the two of you. Learn as much as you can about him, research all his habits, and more. Beco his... friend. You have no further duties until further notice."
He said exactly what I expected to hear. I didn't want to hear those words... but he said exactly what was on my mind.
He confird what I had no doubt was true.
"Understood..."
The elf on the screen sighed lightly as he grimaced again and ended the call without saying anything else.
As a deep silence descended into my room like never before, all I could do was let out the deep breath I had been holding inside .
At the sa ti... I couldn't help a smile forming on my face.
Identity confird, huh? It's... clear what that ans.
I knew it.
Hahahah...
I knew it that day, from the mont his elven appearance was revealed.
As different as you are from ... you really are the sa as , Adrian Caleo.
We both carry the blood of the dirtiest, most disgusting family on this planet.
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