'A convenient dream is simply a gift. Nothing truly earned is convenient for anybody. Help gained from man is worth nothing. -Swift D. Hallis.'
...
"Sigh, she doesn't even let me touch this brew. Who does that brat think he is?" Olivia shifted her bangs to the side.
'Such a huge kitchen and only one person to manage it.' It wasn't like there weren't other chefs but for food concerning the Madam, she was the only one allowed to take care of it.
Olivia could only shake her head at the Madam's weird antiques. But in actuality, the Madam had always been an inspiration for her.
Sometimes she almost wished she could forget that wretched woman who called herself her mother and take the Madam as her mother.
But she would never forget. She couldn't. The screams and tears and hatred of those times, she would always remember...
"It's about time I brought back the tea."
...
Or at least that's what she hoped. But she didn't expect to walk in on a teary-eyed Lilia crying her bawls out as Tristan did his best to soothe her.
She felt her eyelids twitch. Was this still the woman she respected? So what the hell was she doing crying on the shoulder of a kid less than half her age? Wait! Is that snot?
"...Madam." Olivia paled, barely managing to squeeze out the word. Whatever semblance of composure she had before was completely gone.
"Oh Olivia, you're here. Come meet your future husband." Lilia said with an almost childish grin.
But the reactions of the two parties were anything but, with one having fainted dropping the tray of tea on the carpet and the other having turned pale, the ever-shining glean of his skin fading.
...
"What do you think is the value of life Janna'n*?" A teenage-looking girl asked her companion as she picked a tiny centipede that seemed to be native to the desert.
"Hailey, are you sure you know where we are going..." The youth whose name had to be Janna'n, rolled his eyes before ignoring the question directly.
He already knew the answer to his question and was much too fatigued to humor this idiot.
'Sigh why does she always do this.' He looked down at her crouched figure. He didn't know why but strangling her felt like the right course of action to take.
From his tanned skin, he looked like someone of Middle Eastern descent. Of course, no such separations existed in this world. What was peculiar were his golden eyes, reminiscent of The Buddha.
He had a certain calming effect, and his smiling face would make any man worth his salt throw him to the pits...
If he heard this though he would only sigh in helplessness. His only crime was having been born handsome.
The little girl however seemed no different from a clutz. The classic brunette with rounded glasses and green eyes. Nothing else of note.
Of course, this was not to say she wasn't pretty, she was. But she gave off no notable aura, being the truth of it.
Aura was a strange phenomenon that had yet to be properly explained. It was just that some people had it and others didn't. For instance, Janna'n's calming effect could be considered one.
"One would think that a species that had lived for countless millennia would be able to answer this seemingly simple question," Hailey continued, taking an obvious dodge to the question.
She seemed to be playing with something in her hand.
"Why do you always do this? You always insist you lead the way when you know for a fact you suck at directions."
"Sigh, without me you are clueless. Period." Janna'n clicked his tongue, before looking away. Who knew what he would do if he continued looking?
But the scorching desert around them didn't 'exactly' make it a pleasant sight.
'Mirage huh? No wonder.' Janna'n concluded after a brief scan. The runes that had lit up in his eyes at some point faded.
Diagram was a chaotic world. More often than not, the various 'Sections' had no reason or rhyme to them. One could go from an Icy Peak to a Lush Forest or a Desert to a Frosty Lake.
But this was one of the reasons the world was named as such. Like a complex artwork or a forgotten hieroglyphic language, it seemed to have no rhyme or reason.
Its beauty and complexity are seen but have also been lost in time.
One would think that people trapped in a desert would have some on a clock or special clothes but Janna'n and Hailey were dressed normally.
Well as normal as an eastern jacket and lab coat could be.
Janna'n wore a Middle Eastern-style jacket on his upper half, which didn't cover much of anything, to be honest. Hailey on the other hand wore a white coat on top of her regular clothes.
Arc was an all-encompassing energy. Everything that came 'alive' had Arc within in some form or another. But when objects were imbued with this Arc they assumed the identity of a Construct.
Construct had its tiering system, but even the most basic clothes embued with Arc could handle drastic weather changes.
"What worth is a centipede to a human? What worth is man to a god." She continued with her questions, but at some point, they had turned from question to conviction.
Finally, she stood up to reveal the disgusting sight of the huge maggot-like centipede she was dissecting. The smaller sections somehow still moving, indicating the creature had been tortured alive.
There were no stains on her hands or clothes, just a beautiful smile on her face.
Janna'n face twisted and distorted before quickly into a smile. He knew she saw it. She saw it.
"Let's go."
Hailey dropped the last piece of the centipede she had dismantled, collecting its bodily fluids in a small vial. "Janna'n you wont lie to me, right? You enjoy our adventures right?"
When she was done she looked towards Janna'n awaiting his response.
"Of course!" Janna'n had the most beautiful smile on his face. It was almost as if all his worries had been washed away. Almost.
...
"Sigh, Olivia why are you following me?" Tristan sighed as he stepped off a hoverboard-like device, he had been using to navigate the hallways.
'Sigh don't tell me she's been charmed by my looks?' Tristan looked at her with pity. He could only blame God for having been born this handsome. He hadn't even wooed her yet!
Cough cough... not that he planned to... yet.
He picked his nose conveniently forgetting how he embarrassed her earlier.
It wasn't that he didn't consider Lilia's words but he would know her when he saw her and Olivia... wasn't her.
He had already memorized the layout of this place before entering. It wasn't that he didn't trust Lilia but any number of situations were possible.
He would never step into a situation without understanding it first even if that situation was meeting his aunt.
"That thing in your hand. It's an interesting construct." Olivia quickly stated her reason as she could no longer hold her curiosity.
"...It helps with my Pri-" Tristan could only answer in the end, when he saw she had no ulterior motives.
But before the words even left his mouth she had already stepped forward to cover it. Scanning the surroundings before breathing in relief.
She looked at Tristan once again but this time with a newfound respect and fear. A member of his family had reached that mythical level?