Clarisse took a step forward, eyes widened and breath held. She fiddled with the back of the helmet a bit before finally getting it off. Its suppressive effect ended immediately as she did, leaving her body to tremble in the wake of PH:OV’s presence.

  PH:OV rubbed his thumb over the face of the mask, choosing to ignore the terror her body language gave away. With a heavy heart and disdain, he pushed his hair back and slipped on the helmet. As the suppression kicked in, PH:OV slid back into the shadows, leaving Nikolas in the spotlight once more. “Clarisse…” He began, blinking a few times to acclimatize himself.

  “I– I need to go,” Clarisse stammered, feeling the rush of suppressed emotions rise up her throat, as if they were choking her. “Don’t follow–” she stumbled, almost losing her balance as she fled for higher ground.

  “... Right,” Nikolas let out a sigh, watching as Clarisse ran for what she thought was cover. He could still see her soul when he closed one eye. With another cursory glance at the clouds building up above, he retreated into the tunnel and slid down against the wall, attending to the numerous minor injuries he had accrued while holding back.

  Opening his bag revealed a messy scene inside, so much so that he simply turned it to the side and let the contents spill out. Wrinkled attire, pouches filled with ingredients, an assortment of knives and empty vials, and most prominent out of them, an inanimate doll. At least, inanimate for now. Nikolas let out another sigh, ruminating on how he was going to explain all this to Seraphim.

  The sudden inversion of the helmet’s effects left Clarisse in a miserable state, more uncharacteristically so, like metaphorical crutches snatched from under her arms. She kept running until her lungs demanded rest, which was when she first turned back to see how much distance she had put between herself and PH:OV. She could still see the entrance to that mineshaft if she stood on her toes, but it inspired no valor in the redhead. She had seen the monster close that distance before she could even register it not too long ago, but the thought of not being able to watch the shaft for any movement left her too uneasy to try it.

  The thought that she had walked by him just fine with the helmet on wasn’t any consolation either, merely a reaffirmation of how far Nikolas kept himself suppressed. The scary part was how easy it was to take off. On a whim, he could slip the helmet off and sink into another slaughter. She could still remember the boiling anger and blind rage within him from before, subtle semblances shared through their soul bond. Slowly, Clarisse descended with her knees tucked to her chest, trying to make sense of what she was doing.

  Meticulously, in the same manner that he sharpened his knives after the first altercation with Kaara, Nikolas repacked his bag. His movements were paced monotonically, each calculated step after the other more akin to a ritual than a mere cleanup. However, there was one article among the rest which wouldn’t stay at rest, floating with a confused expression as she comprehended their surroundings.

  “Nikolas… what happened here?” Sera asked slowly, concern oozing from her voice upon noting the absence of Clarisse and his particularly robotic cleanup.

  “Nothing a swig of toxicity can’t fix…” Nikolas shrugged disdainfully, sorting through scratched and cracked vials. “I might have to rebrew these, though.”

  “Where’s Clarisse?”

  “A couple hundred feet up the quarry,” He looked back at Sera with deadpan eyes. “Careful though, PH:OV really spooked her.”

  “PH:OV? You lost control?!” Sera exclaimed, floating up to his face and grabbing him by the edges of his mask. “Are you okay? Is she okay? Did anyone die?”

  “No, hopefully and yes,” Nikolas answered the volley of questions in turn, gracing the doll with a momentary glance before returning to sorting his potion ingredients. “Is it a bad time?”

  “Geez– yes!” Wooden eyebrows furled on Sera’s forehead. She turned about and shot out of the mine, making a beeline for Clarisse.

  “You’ll manage… you always do,” Nikolas muttered to himself, directing his attention to sharpening the razor edges of his wired daggers. It wasn’t necessary or even a priority, considering their perfectly sharp blades. It was simply a matter of principle to the hollow, just as he had done after the skirmish with Kaara. “Atraxia would’ve fallen long ago if you didn’t.”

  Confused would be an understatement to describe Clarisse’s mood, huddled by herself in the corner of the path. Mixed emotions churned within her like an undulating whirlpool. There was nowhere for her to pour the stark feeling of betrayal, of being lied to, of thinking that she could’ve gone along with it and Nikolas wouldn’t have ever shown her the reality of what he was. And more perplexing than that was the urge to let it go, to excuse her ignorance since he had saved her from the mine’s collapse. Delving into her backpack with trembling fingers, she fished out her diary and flipped open her first impressions of Nikolas.

  Nickolas is a pretty weird guy. Kind of a shady character, but he helped me so I can’t complain. No clue why he’s always wearing that mask, but it sounds like his friend Seraphim could help me with magic training!!

  Everything save for Nikolas being a shady character was wrong there, down to the way she had spelled his name. She rubbed out the misspelled part with her thumb, begrudgingly making the correction in its place.

  Next came her sketches and doodles, most of them made after days of tiring training. She clutched the pencil tightly, fighting off the urge to slash over her work in a fit of frustration. Before she could deface works of art made with an innocent mind and kind heart, the other person she had misjudged interrupted her.

  “Clarisse! Are you hurt?” Sera questioned with the cadence of a stern yet overly protective mother as she swooped in, orbiting the redhead and occasionally levitating closer to inspect her. “Are you alright? What even happened down there? Did PH:OV threaten you?!”

  Clarisse immediately shied away from the doll, snapping her diary shut and backing away from Sera’s advances as much as she could. “N-no, wait I mean yes– What are you… Get away from me!” Her tone shifted from general responsiveness to shrill accusations as she recalled who Seraphim really was, and scampered as far back as space would allow.

  Sera was undeterred by her rejection, and tried once more to check the girl for any visible injuries. “I’m only trying to help, Clarisse. I understand that PH–”

  “WHY!?” Clarisse shouted in an apprehensive tone. “Why are you looking out for me!? You’re the Queen of Atraxia! You’re waging a war in the east with an army of demons, so why? Why are you so nice to me?”

  “Clarisse, I…” Sera was at a loss for words, unprepared for the confrontation.

  “What’s so special about me, that both of you decided you could string me along with your lies!?” Clarisse balled her fists and pushed herself up to her feet. “I’ve heard about the things you do to people out there, with horrible creatures of the night at your command!”

  You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version.

  “It’s not so simple…” Sera attempted once more, raising both her hands slightly and gesturing for the redhead to calm down. An unsuccessful attempt.

  “I should’ve known, ever since that night in the sewers!” Clarisse exclaimed, reminded of the giant skeletal arm Sera had summoned to melt the final water sprite. “Even before that, you almost mentioned that this was the overworld. I should’ve known since back then!”

  “. . .” Sera’s wooden lips parted ever so slightly, but Clarisse’s expression made it clear she was in no mood to listen. The doll instead descended to the ground and dusted her dress before taking a seat and waiting patiently.

  “It makes no sense! Why would you be nice to some random adventurers!? Or even care about what my life was like?” Clarisse continued on her rant, seeming on the verge of pulling her hair out. “And most of all, why would you let Nikolas and PH:OV roam up top here? If they’re your right-hand man, shouldn’t they be down there with you!... Shouldn’t they!?”

  Sera quietly nodded, something which finally seemed to reach the redhead.

  “Why… why aren’t they?” Clarisse asked, her tone gradually lowering to a simmer of the blaze it had been before. With the initial outburst out of her system and seeing as the Atraxian wasn’t putting up any kind of resistance, most of her steam simply dissipated in place of a miserable, confused girl. “What’s even going on… I have no clue.”

  Sera waited another few seconds just to make sure Clarisse had nothing more to say. “Nikolas, and by extension, PH:OV, don’t answer to me. I cannot control them, and even if I could, it’s better for them to stay up here, for all of us.”

  Clarisse only seemed more confused by that answer. “But aren’t they…”

  “Part of my court? Yes. The jesters,” Sera sighed, “It was an intentional role. The only beings down there capable of questioning and criticizing me without consequence.”

  Clarisse’s shoulders drooped, her expression softened. It still seemed wrong, it sounded the other way from how she expected it to be. She couldn’t understand why Sera would accommodate people like them if she didn’t have to.

  Sera caught the lack of understanding on the young girl’s face, and decided to use a simpler approach. “We’re equals in a sense, we both answer to the same god. Our positions are quite different, though. I’m meant to keep Atraxia under control. He’s… much more free. You’ve heard stories of me… Nikolas is…”

  Clarisse’s eyes widened, and she shook her head ever so slightly. “Don’t say that…”

  “Nikolas is different. He’s not tied down by responsibilities or a people, or a home to come back to.” Sera chose her words carefully, trying to ease Clarisse’s racing emotions. “It makes him much more dangerous, and that’s why I’m here… to check on him and keep him company.”

  “I– I guess that makes sense…” Clarisse replied, yet the squeamish feeling of butterflies in her stomach didn’t let up in the slightest. “So when you told me you took him under your wing…?”

  “I became a glorified children’s plaything,” Sera nodded, although with a slight smile curling on the edges on her face. “I am forbidden from leaving Atraxia, so this is the only way I can come up here. Ever since Nik died in the war, we’ve been like this.”

  “This is… a lot to take in,” Clarisse felt just as miserable as when they had begun. “I still don’t get why he’s up here, or why you’re nice to me… but thanks.”

  “I may have a responsibility to my people, dear…” Sera reaffirmed, floating closer and taking Clarisse’s hands within hers. “But that doesn’t stop me from being myself when I can. The me I want to be. Nikolas is no different in that regard… if you can see past what he’s forced to do.”

  “I… but I don’t know who he is,” Clarisse mumbled, accepting Sera’s hands and clutching them tightly. It was the most human connection she had at the moment, something which she needed desperately. “Tell me more… please.”

  “Ah…” Sera averted her gaze for a moment, and when it met the redhead’s eyes again, it was filled with regret and pain. “I wish I could. Nikolas refuses to let me know, however. Beneath the mask, all I know of PH:OV are his destructive tendencies. But you… you’ve seen dreams of his past. I suspect you already know him more than I do.”

  “The dreams… they don’t make much sense. They’re all over the place–” Clarisse gushed out, finally finding an outlet for all the investigation she had been doing in secret. “Nikolas could be the son of this Advisor from Aniera, but he was also raised by criminals who later sold him to someone else–”

  Sera remained quiet, trying to piece together all the random bits of information Clarisse was spewing.

  “I don’t even know the order in which they all happened, and the last time I asked Nik about it he was all on edge about it…” Clarisse’s tone grew worried and choked, recalling the dream where he had been tied up, abused and trafficked. “Every time I close my eyes to dream, it’s just these nightmares and I don’t know what to even do–”

  Sera rubbed the top of her hand with a wooden palm, trying to console the panicking girl. “I’m sorry you have to go through this. It’s probably because of your soul bond…”

  Then came a much needed-pause, mere silence filling the moments as Clarisse accepted the Atraxian demon’s kind words. The atmosphere took over vacancy, soft patters of a drizzle moistening the abandoned earth.

  “You shouldn’t have to go through this,” Sera reiterated, this time with loaded intent. “The bond only works if you’re close to each other… you should go back; Junnhaven, home, wherever you want.”

  “Wha– No, I can’t do that!” Clarisse exclaimed, strange desperation dripping from the way her fingers clenched Sera’s hand. “I can’t go home. Please, I have to become an adventurer!”

  “Then anywhere away from Nikolas,” Sera suggested, consoling and encouraging the child. “It’ll be safer for you. You’ll make it as an adventurer just as well with anyone else guiding you.”

  Clarisse looked up at Sera with a cacophony of mixed emotions; fear, disappointment, desperation and hope all bundled into one strange voice. “I know I’m not on his level right now, but that’s why I need to be with him! He’s done so much for me already and– and this soul bond thing, it’s supposed to help me grow faster, right? I need it! I have to grow stronger as fast as I can, and, and–!” She almost choked on her own words, speaking much faster than she was comfortable with. “I know it sounds wrong, but I really do think Nikolas needs a friend! I can’t just leave in good conscience knowing what he’s been through. I don’t know all of it, but I know he can be a better person!”

  Sera was confuddled to say the least, having only a simple question to quantify all of it. “Why do you need this so desperately? There must be some other way we can help you.”

  It was Clarisse’s turn to break eye contact. “I… I can’t say. I just need to… I’m sorry.”

  As if in response to the sheer ridiculousness of her contradiction, the light drizzle broke into a full-on outburst of rain. Or perhaps it was always going to break out, and it was merely coincidence. It sure didn’t seem that way to the redhead and doll, both seated outside where they faced its full brunt. The figure approaching them through the flurry of water, however, suggested otherwise.

  Nikolas wasn’t wearing his cloak, instead choosing to get drenched and rather keep it tucked under his arm. The pair of glowing, mismatched eyes paced through the puddles without the least concern, only stopping once he was within arm’s reach from Clarisse.

  “You’ll get sick if you stay out here,” He unwrapped the cloak and held it over her like a tarp. “Wanna head back?”

  It was the voice she had grown used to so quickly. The intonation, the way he tilted his head slightly to one side. The way he stood there, emanating casual confidence despite only smiling with his eyes, it just didn’t make any sense. Not for who he was supposed to be. It might’ve all been an act, but she loved it all the same.

  Clarisse jumped up and rushed forward, hugging Nikolas. It was a tight, messy hug with tears streaming down her face and into his shoulder. But she didn’t care, the rain washed it all away. “I’m sorry! I was just… so scared. I didn’t stop to think about you before I ran…”

  Even when he saw it coming, intimacy was still so alien to Nikolas. He reciprocated the hug in a much looser fashion, awkwardly holding up the cloak in one hand to keep it from dragging against the puddles forming in the ground.

  “I’ve got it…” Sera floated up from behind her, spreading the cloak over Clarisse’s shoulders and pulling the hood over her head. “Now off you go, both of you. Back to shelter for the night. There’s a lot you need to fill me in on.”

  Thank you for reading!

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