Back in the carriage on its way to Aneara Empire, and Kailu suddenly wakes up next to Seira.
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(Kailu's Pov)
Uh… huh. W-Where are we? I was just in the flower fields back in our village, playing with Seira. What happened? How did we end up here?
Ugh, the well…
Wait, tears? What is going on? Ohh… I remember everything so clearly. But wait, how can I remember all that happened in the village when I was unconscious? What are these strange visions?
The town—it's burning. Smoke is everywhere, choking the air. I feel so scared… and it's like I can feel the fear from everyone running frantically through the village. Some people… they're lying in the dirt, not moving.
Huh? Wait! Mama? Papa? I'm right here! Why are you running away from me? Please, don't leave! They looked right at me, but then—they just kept running. Why? Why are they leaving me behind? Did they… did they not want me anymore?
And then I hear it. A voice—deep and dark, like something crawling out from the shadows. It suddenly spoke.
"It's the things I saw through your closed eyes."
That voice! It's the same one I heard at the well, right before I blacked out.
"W-Who said that?!" I shout in my mind, my thoughts spinning with fear, confusion, and sadness, all swirling together in a chaotic mess.
"Your parents abandoned you. You are not wanted," the voice said again, so cold and cruel it made my stomach twist.
Not wanted? No. That can't be true. Why? Why would they leave me? But these visions—they aren't over. I see it now. We're at Seira's house. My heart screams, No, no! Seira, don't go inside! Something terrible is going to happen—I can feel it! But the visions won't stop. They're showing me everything, everything that happened to the village… and at Seira's home.
"There's nothing you can do, Kailu. This is but only a vision, showing you what has already happened."
No! No, no, no! Arun is there—he's going to save us! I know he will!
But wait! Arun, behind you! Look out!
Oh no. Arun's been knocked out! This can't be happening. I... I can't believe it. Seira, I'm so sorry. I wish so badly that it could have been different. But Seira's parents—they fought for her. They gave everything to protect her. Why didn't my parents care for me like that? Why didn't they fight for me?
"That's right, Kailu. They never cared for you."
That voice. That awful voice. Why won't it just stop? Why won't it leave me alone?
No! Seira needs me!
I turn to her, my voice trembling with worry. "Seira, are you okay?" I whisper, desperately hoping she'll hear me. She's sitting right there next to me, but she looks so empty, so lost. She's not even crying—her eyes just stare, like she doesn't understand what I'm saying.
"Seira, I'm sorry… I'm so sorry…" I say again, my voice breaking. I just want to comfort her. But she doesn't answer me. She just turns away, her eyes distant, like she's looking at something far, far away. As if she no longer even sees me.
"Please… Seira, look at me," I beg, my voice shaking. "I'm scared too… Please, just look at me."
But she doesn't move. There's no reaction at all.
For what seems like ages, we sit in silence, only to hear our own hearts pounding. And yet, that voice, that terrible voice, it keeps coming back. It's always there, haunting me, whispering things I don't want to hear.
"You are all alone now, little Kailu. Seira is completely broken. You couldn't help her. You were helpless to protect her."
"No… don't say that!" I cry out in my mind. "Who are you? What do you want from me?"
"I'm your polar opposite. Your other half. I've always been with you, and soon, I will reveal myself. My resurrection is already set in motion."
Resurrection? What does that even mean?
I don't know how long we've been in this carriage now. Days? Weeks? Time feels so strange in this dark space. At least a few days, maybe more. I don't know. Should I try to talk to Seira again?
"No, you should leave her be. There is nothing you can do to comfort her. She is but an empty shell of who she once was," the voice cuts in again, cold and cruel as always.
"I didn't talk to you!" I shout back in my mind. "So shut up!"
"You did speak to me. I'm inside your head. I can hear your thoughts."
Why won't it leave me alone? I'd rather be lost in the empty void of my thoughts than keep hearing this monster.
"Seira… Do you want a hug?" I say softly to her blank, emotionless face. She doesn't answer me. She just looks at me, as if I've said something terribly wrong again. But I don't care. I reach out and pull her close into a tight embrace. She feels so still—like a doll, like a lifeless teddy bear with no limbs. She's limp, boneless, as if she has no control over her body anymore.
"It's useless, Kailu. She's beyond broken."
Why won't you just be quiet?! The voice—its presence in my mind is starting to hurt. I think I have a headache. "Please, Seira… you have to be okay!" I scream in my head, as my heart shatters into pieces. I hold her close, and her helpless, limp body dangles in my arms like a lifeless shell.
A few more days have passed, though it feels like an eternity as we remain trapped in silence. I think we've finally arrived at the place where these terrible men are taking us. Just moments ago, they said it's been two weeks. I've tried to get Seira's attention a few times since I hugged her, but she's still the same—completely unresponsive. She doesn't move, speak, or even look at me. It's like she's gone somewhere far away, even though she's right here.
The bandits fling open the carriage door, hauling us out one after the other like we're nothing but sacks of grain. Their faces are twisted in anger. "Here, take this one. She's special, so don't damage the goods too much," one of them snarls, handing Seira over to another man. What do they mean? What makes her special? What do they want with her?
As the man carrying Seira disappears from sight, the rest of the bandits grab me and the other children, dragging us to a different place. Seira must be so scared, so confused. I feel the same—why was she the only one taken somewhere else? What could they possibly want with her? We talk through a long corridor, its walls shadowed and cold, leading to a series of huge cells. It looks like a dungeon—like the prisons from stories the elders used to tell.
The bandits hurl us into the cells without care, like we're less than nothing, like we don't deserve any rights at all. I land hard on the filthy ground, my body aching. The cells are cold, damp, and rusty, reeking of decay. For a moment, I just lie there, staring at the grime, before slowly sitting up. My mind races with questions I can't answer. How did this happen to us? What did we ever do to deserve this? Most of all, I can't stop thinking about Seira. She's all alone. I have to save her—but how? What can I possibly do? I'm just a kid. I'm only seven years old.
"You want to rescue her, don't you? I can help with that."
That voice—it's back. The eerie, chilling voice echoes through my head. "What do you mean? You can save her?" I ask, my voice trembling as I speak out loud. The other children in the cell glance at me, their faces filled with confusion.
"If you just lend me your body."
Those words send a deeper fear through me than anything I've felt so far. My whole body shakes as I sense the monster inside me stirring, trying to take over. I feel it clawing at my mind, but even though I'm already exhausted, I fight it back with everything I have. It takes everything in me, but I manage to suppress the voice. For now, there's silence. For now, I can breathe.
I lean against the cold, damp wall, too drained to think straight. Hunger gnaws at my stomach, but I'm too tired to care. Minutes stretch into what feels like hours. At some point, I hear footsteps echoing down the corridor. Are the bandits coming back? A group of men walks past the cells, muttering to each other, but I'm too far away and too weak to make out what they're saying.
I'm so tired. My body feels heavy, and I can't keep my eyes open anymore. Lying down on the dirty ground, I stare at the ceiling and wonder, Is Seira able to sleep too? That's my last thought before my eyes close and everything fades to black.
When I open my eyes, everything is different. My body is moving on its own. "What's happening?!" I shout, panic rising in my chest. "Why can't I control my body? What's going on?"
A strange red aura surrounds me, glowing ominously. I struggle to understand what's happening, but before I can, I see myself doing something unthinkable. My hands—my own hands—are mercilessly killing everyone in the cells. I see myself destroying everything, tearing through walls, leaving no one alive. All the children from my village—they're screaming, begging for mercy. Some even whisper thank you as their lives end in this awful place. "No! Stop! Please!" I cry out, but it's no use. No one can hear me. My body isn't mine anymore.
Then, everything goes blurry and dark again. It feels like falling asleep, but this time, I don't want to.
"Huh!" I gasp as I jolt upright, nearly hyperventilating. Was it just a dream? A horrible, awful nightmare?
I don't have time to think. Footsteps echo again, coming closer. One of the bandits stops at my cell. I hear the clinking of keys as he unlocks the door. "Hey, kid. On your feet. There's a big auction happening right now. Your buyers are waiting," he says, yanking me up so hard it feels like my arm might rip off.
Auction? Buyers? Are they going to sell me? Why would they do that?
"Little Kailu. Your arm is hurting."
The voice. It's back. I thought I pushed it away. "What do you want now?!" I scream in my head at the thing inside me, the monster that won't leave me alone.
Before the voice could answer my outburst, I felt something strange happening inside me. My whole body started loosening up, like some kind of powerful magic was rushing through me—every part of me—even down to my toes. A surge of ancient, dark energy suddenly pulsed out from deep within, powerful and evil. The man gripping my arm was flung across the room in a fast and unstoppable shockwave, crashing into the wall. It was as if something inside me refused to let him hurt me.
"What just happened?" I whispered, barely able to form the words aloud. Then, in my thoughts, I asked the voice: Was that you?
The monster didn't respond directly, but I could feel it—the ancient magic pulsing in me was from him.
The man who had grabbed me was knocked out cold, crumpled against the wall. I could hear footsteps thundering from nearby—others were coming, probably drawn by the sound of the pulse and the crash. Panic crept in. Did I kill him? The thought made my stomach churn. If he's dead… well, maybe he deserved it.
"That's right, Kailu," the voice spoke at last, its tone calm yet unsettling. "That man was evil."
The words sounded strange coming from him, of all beings. Like he could talk about evil as if he wasn't the very definition of it. But… no. No! What was I even thinking? Nobody deserves to have their life taken away—no matter how cruel or despicable they are. Not unless they're a monster or someone who has taken countless lives.
"You should run while you still can, little Kailu."
He didn't need to tell me twice. My feet moved on their own, sprinting instinctively. A group of bandits burst into the room, their faces frozen in shock. They stared at their friend, unconscious beneath the crumbled wall, crushed by the same pulse that had saved me.
But then they saw me. Just a kid running for his life. I could feel their eyes lock onto me, and without a word, they gave chase. My heart pounded as I bolted down the corridor, heading toward the stairs. The sound of their footsteps filled the air, but I forced myself to keep running. My lungs burned as I gasped for breath.
I was almost at the stairs to freedom when it happened—I tripped. My foot caught on a step, and I fell hard, landing with a thud. My whole body felt heavy, so heavy I could barely lift myself. I was exhausted, drained.
The bandits caught up to me, their laughter echoing through the corridor as they surrounded me. They mocked me, watching as I struggled to stand but couldn't. I felt utterly defeated. Hopeless. My body had failed me, and now Seira—Seira, who needed me more than ever—was still trapped, probably already at the auction. And what could a kid like me even do to save her in the first place?
One of the bandits stepped forward, grabbed me roughly, and slapped me hard across the face. The impact sent me sprawling back onto the dirty, wet floor. My cheek stung, but worse than that, I felt the weight of total failure.
"Finally! Now then, now that you've experienced complete despair," the voice spoke again, this time with a cruel satisfaction. "Let me borrow your helpless and pathetic body."
The realization hit me like a lightning bolt. The dream I'd had earlier—it wasn't a dream at all. It was a vision of this exact moment.
Before I could even process it, my body began to glow. A dark, red aura seeped out of me, swirling ominously.
"No, no, no! Please don't do this!" I screamed, my voice raw with desperation. I begged him to stop, to at least spare the children. But he didn't listen.
The bandits faces full with fear while their bodies froze. As the evil aura became thicker and stronger, they gazed at me, a little child. I could hear their thoughts, a mix of fear and sorrow. "No! What have we done?"
That's when the pulses started. The same dark energy surged out from me again and again, slicing through the bandits as if they were nothing but paper. They screamed and fell one by one, unable to escape. I couldn't look. I couldn't watch my own body slaughtering people like they were insects. And yet… somewhere deep down, a small part of me felt satisfied.
They deserved it. They deserved to feel even a little portion of what they had done to Seira, me, and so many other children.
But most of all, I was scared. Terrified. I wanted to cry, but the tears wouldn't come. They couldn't, because I wasn't in control anymore.
The voice—the monster—killed every single person in that dungeon using my body. Nobody got away. Not a single one. He didn't even break a sweat. It was so easy for him, as if they were ants beneath his power.
Then I saw them—my friends. The children from the village, kids I knew from my lessons with Arun. They stood there, looking at me with wide, confused eyes, begging for mercy. They didn't understand. None of them did. They called out my name, asking why I was doing this.
I shut my eyes as tightly as I could, trying to block out the sight. But I couldn't escape the sound. Their screams pierced me, each one like a dagger in my heart. Those screams would haunt me for the rest of my life.
"It was all necessary, little Kailu," the voice said, its tone oddly calm. "I ended their suffering. I didn't want them to feel the pain I once felt—the isolation. This will send a message to the gods."
I struggled to understand the thing he meant, but it cut me. Not fully. I just felt... lost. Helpless.
When it was all over, the monster still had control of my body. He walked us through the carnage—through the blood and the broken bodies—and led me to the stairs. Up, out of the dungeon, and toward the moonlight.
Finally, as we stepped outside, the moonlight hit my face. And in that moment, control returned to me.