"Brissia."
A calm, clear voice caught the attention of the girl with golden-brown eyes. One of her eyes reflected golden light coming from the window next to her.
The birds away from the window chirped softly, breaking the silence between her and the turquoise-eyed man in front of her.
"Ah... right. Which other documents should we check?" said Brissia, sorting through various papers in front of her while sitting cross-legged.
Meanwhile, the turquoise-eyed man sitting in front of her couldn't hold back his concern for her. They had been sitting surrounded by paper instead of flowers for a long time. Gierra, Nicholas, and Neya going missing was the reason for it. Brissia was nonetheless permitted to leave SURVIVE in order to search for Neya, as Davina requested her.
"There must be a way to bring them back."
"Brissia."
"Even if it means I have to face her ..."
"Brissia, look at me, please."
Brissia froze briefly when a hand held her jaw carefully. With papers in both hands, she turned to the man and asked, "What is it, Ben?"
"Would you consider taking a nap? You've been awake for two nights."
When he saw that the girl didn't open her mouth, the man withdrew his hand. "Besides, what makes you think looking for all these documents is our way out?" he spoke again.
Brissia turned with a surprised look at him for a moment.
"Why are you so pessimistic? Remember how you once saved me from the effects of Noir Dust thanks to these journals?"
"But all these papers don't necessarily have the answers to various problems," Benjamin replied while raising his index, middle and ring fingers. "Why and how they vanished in Madame Ouden's hands is one of them."
"So what are the other two?"
Benjamin stared at his two fingers for a moment. He lowered his hand and said, "Those... I keep 'em for myself."
Brissia stared at Benjamin for a moment. The turquoise eyes of the black-haired man flashed a stern and worried look. However, every time she saw them, it only reminded her of the worried look in Harris's eyes when he should be worrying about himself.
"I'm sorry, Ben. I just... don't wanna lose them forever."
The bitterness in the girl's voice turned into sobs. Before the girl hid her face in her arms on her knees, Benjamin saw tears streaming down her cheeks. Carefully, he asked, "May I hug you?"
Those were the words he had wanted to say for a long time. Their 'departure' from his memories had numbed his empathy, leaving him naked in his battle with loneliness. Until the girl came into his world, offering him a thick blanket over the thin clothes called courtesy, the big rock that blocked the light from his heart was broken apart.
"Sorry."
Benjamin's brows furrowed. Even if it was just one word, his heart shattered into a thousand pieces in an instant.
"It's alright. I get you, Brissia."
He gave Brissia small pats on the shoulder. "I'm with you here, right now."
"What about then?"
The question silenced Benjamin. He was lost in thought for long enough that Brissia's shoulders gradually stopped shaking and her breathing became calmer.
Benjamin peeked at her face, only to find the girl resting her head on his chest with her eyes closed. The heavenly warmth from the window invited his prayer that he and Brissia would be eternal in the moment. Nevertheless, he knew how tired the girl in his arms was.
As soon as he put Brissia on the bed, he saw the sky behind the window suddenly become cloudy. His eyes caught the presence of a group of people in black robes outside. Next, his gaze fell on Brissia.
"I will not forget you, Brissia."
Despite his muffled voice, he walked out of the room with firm steps.
"I promise."
A group of people in black robes faced him under the shade of a suddenly darkening sky. Benjamin took off his cardigan, rolled his arms up to his elbows. His gaze focused on the woman in a black dress who walked gracefully to the forefront of them all.
"I finally remember who you are."
The woman in the black dress opened the hood of her robe, revealing her purplish-black hair.
"And who am I to you?"
Benjamin gritted his teeth when he saw the woman smile crookedly. "I beg you, Mother, let Brissia out of the game you've created."
The woman was silent when she saw the flash of determination in her son's eyes. Those turquoise eyes never left her in his blind spot, even though one by one people in black robes headed toward him and only to be quickly dodged by Benjamin as they threw fists and bright lights at him.
"I prepared the best troops not to make you a protector, my son."
One swing of the woman's hand and all the black-robed people around Benjamin were blown away.
"But to train you to be a merciless ruler."
"Don't be ridiculous."
The distance between the two was getting smaller, but Benjamin did not move an inch from his position. "I don't want to be you, even if I have to lose everything in my life."
"Even that girl?"
"I said leave her alone!"
Benjamin groaned in pain as he was suddenly knocked to the ground by a mysterious pressure. The woman looked at him expressionlessly. "So foolish, yet so generous."
Benjamin struggled to move his head to to the door of his house as the woman walked closer.
"Do you realize protecting one will put your life and many more in danger?"
He glanced at her as she stopped right in front of him.
In a suppressed voice, he said, "Rather than losing someone..."
His eyes reflected the purplish glow from Madame Ouden's palm.
"...I'd better lose myself."
"Then so long, my son."
A bright purple light engulfed them and everything around them for several radius. From a distance, it appeared as though the vast ancient town had experienced a burst of purple light, bright enough to chase away the darkness.
Brissia opened her eyes and let out a small gasp. She hurriedly sat up, looked out the window next to the bed. However, nothing but blue sky greeted her.
With one hand clutching her head, she walked to a place where she and Benjamin were looking for information about missing people. But when she arrived, all she found was a red-carpeted library bathed in a gentle golden light.
The papers strewn across the floor went unnoticed as she walked deeper into the light. She stopped in front of the window, looking down for a moment. Until suddenly, someone's voice came from behind her.
"Looking for a way home, Brissia?"
She quickly turned around with her eyes filled with vigilance.
"I don't need your help."
"Well, we'll see," said Madame Ouden.
Brissia's eyes widened as the floor she was standing on and the window behind her collapsed. As she fell, she immediately held on to the remaining edge of the floor with one hand.
"Power is created to be used, Brissia," said Madame Ouden with a cold gaze. "If not, then the person carrying it will be used. Hence, give it to me if you dislike both."
Brissia's firm shake of the head tightened Madame Ouden's fist. She swung her hand swiftly in the air, causing Brissia to fall from the high. However, someone later caught her, inviting Madame Ouden to click her tongue, especially after she saw who immediately teleported to land after catching Brissia.
"What a troublesome Reister," she muttered as the sharp gaze of those dark blue eyes landed on her.
As the woman turned around, two people down on the street ran away from the building where Brissia fell. And at the given opportunity, Brissia asked him, "How did you catch me from up there?"
Veron stared flatly at Brissia who was preparing her handgun.
"Someone must've forgotten to tell you that I was SURVIVE's top agent," he commented. "Anyway, did you find Harris?"
Brissia shook her head. However, her brows furrowed as she realized something about him.
"You've been worried about him since the two of you met in Bouville. Are you perhaps… the missing member of the Reister family that Harris had been looking for?"
Veron's silence made Brisia blink in disbelief. Even without words, she understood what was hiding behind the complexity on the man's face: the real answer Harris would never hear.
"How could you..."
Those blue eyes shifted from in front of him to his side. "I can explain that someday. We have to—"
Thud!
A flash of purple light passed over Brissia's shoulder, sending Veron crashing onto the asphalt. Apart from stopping Brissia, it also made her quickly look back in a stance. She loaded her handgun as she saw a group of people in black robes came from all directions, painting darkness in the sky.
"You're not on the right side, young lady," said one.
"Tell me one more nonsense and I'll pull the trigger."
Madame Ouden stepped forward, throwing a cardigan onto the asphalt between them and Brissia. The girl's eyes widened as she remembered who it belonged to.
"Perhaps it's because you haven't realized why they chose people with exceptional brainpower. Don't you think so, Alveron?" asked Madame Ouden with a gentle smile.
The dark blue-eyed man clenched his jaw as he struggled to his feet. However, his gaze from Madame Ouden shifted to Brissia when he saw her kneeling in front of the cardigan.
As tight as her grip was, Brissia stared intently at Benjamin's blue cardigan in her hands. Her teeth gritted as their first encounter replayed in her head. Her brow furrowed as deep as her regret.
"You heartless witch..."
Brisia got up with a glare after putting down the cardigan. Her knuckles turned white as they radiated neon-blue light. But as she began to move her hands and feet toward Madame Ouden, a woman with dark orange hair appeared out of nowhere.
"Watch out!" Veron shouted, eyes widened.
Madame Ouden quickly aimed the purple light in her hand at them, just before they completely gone from her sight. The purple light scattered into a light mist as it struck nothing but air, making her glance at all sides.
Meanwhile at somewhere quieter and secluded, Brissia sat speechless on the ground, staring at an open wound on the shoulder of the woman sitting in front of her.
"You can't be mad when one or two of your loved ones leave you, Brissia," the woman said while wiping Brissia's tears. "Love should make you stronger, not reckless."
When she lowered her hand, Brissia looked at her in despair. "You two shouldn't be here, especially you, Miss Savior."
The woman with dark orange hair showed her a gentle smile. "You're the one who should have gone home. Come, I'll show you how to run away from here and—"
Her words were interrupted by a sudden strong force that pulled them out of the place, throwing them onto the road.
While they were grimacing in pain, a woman with purplish black hair approached them.
"I'm amazed that you never tire of playing hide and seek, Miss Savior. However, hiding won't save anyone."
Brissia turned her head as a group of black-robed troops ran toward them from beside her. Without hesitation, she unleashed her power toward them. However, their transformation into literal black crows leaving her jaw dropped.
"Ah, that reminds me of my past desire to put my ravens in combat with SURVIVE's."
Brissia's attention was drawn to Madame Ouden by her serene but ominous tone.
"It's a shame that those crows don't even remember their names now."
Her words made Brissia, Alessia, Veron, and even a gray-eyed man who had just arrived there flinch. His feet no longer moved as the purple-haired woman noticed his presence and turned to him with a crooked smile.
"What... did you say?" he asked with suppressed anger.