The Seeker | Volume 2

Dexter backed up a few steps and ducked for cover just in time for the next bullet to collide with the wall again, this time closer to my current location. Outside the house I saw a figure on the rooftops. They didn't bother to conceal their identity. They had short brown hair and freckles on their face. Their green eyes flickered with a sense of anticipation and cation. 

"Who are you?" I muttered under my breath as I gripped the sun-charm tighter in my hand. The teenage boy leaped from the roof and jumped through the now broken window, he tackled me to the floor and began punching. I managed to defend myself from the flurry of attacks, and I was able to land a crucial hit right into his groin, causing him to stammer back and clutch his area in pain.

I leapt up and kicked them in the chest, my vision and equilibrium slightly distorted from the flurry of attacks. Blood ran down my nose as I approached the boy and grabbed him by the hair, looking at him with a menacing gaze. "You the hell are you, and who the hell sent you?" I asked, my face inches from his. 

The boy's eyes widened as he caught sight of the sigil on my forehead, and he looked back at me in shock. "Y-you're.." I immediately covered his mouth with my hand. "Don't say it." I warned him firmly. The boy's racing heart calmed down slightly and his shaky breaths eventually came to a halt. 

"I -I was sent by The Sleepless Foundation..." he said in a shaky voice, almost a shaky whisper. I let go of him and stepped back a few feet, looking at the boy who was now hurled in the corner, still gripping his handgun. "Did they send you to kill me, or maybe Dexter?" I asked.

The boy didn't reply for a few moments, as if saying anything would leak dangerous information. After a few moments he replied. "I was sent here to assassinate those who are aware of Ian Vinigrad's death. No one was supposed to know such a thing." 

I raised an eyebrow. "May I know why? Why isn't anyone supposed to know about his death?" I asked. The boy didn't say anything. His brows furrowed as he stuffed his handgun back into the hollister under his armpit. "No ones supposed to know such a thing. Ian Vinigrad's pursuit of the Cards of Replication was supposed to be kept secret, but now that you guys know, I'll probably have to take you to our boss myself." 

"So the Sleepless Foundation is still in operation? I thought it went into hiding near the end of the last epoch." Dexter said as he stood up. The boy looked towards him with his lips still closed, not speaking a word. Then, he finally spoke.

"That's what "he" wanted you to believe." The boy suddenly walked towards the door and opened it, walking out into the streets of the famished part of town. "If we don't get there before dark we'll be wrecked over. So I recommend we all begin moving." He said in a firm voice as he began heading down the street.

Me and Dexter followed him closely. The boy led us down the major parts of town, the rundown and underdeveloped areas; and towards the very edge of the kingdom where a portion of the large stone wall had the most vines creeping over it. He looked back at us with caution as he pressed his hand against the stone wall. 

Suddenly illusory tentacles began to rise from the ground, circling around his hand and forming a tightly knit circle. The back of his palm grew a mouth; inlaid with sharp, glistening white teeth. The mouth growled as its tongue swirled around in its mouth. Suddenly the tentacles shrank back and an illusory door composed of darkness opened up from the stone entrance. 

He entered the door without saying a word, getting eaten by the inscrutable darkness. Me and Dexter followed him inside. Within the door of darkness seemed to be a tall yet lanky figure. Outside of the door, numerous spherical lights collapsed and converged on their own, as if to form their own body and shape. 

When the surroundings of darkness materialized we ended up inside a massive throne room with tall pillars and a throne at the end of it. On the throne was a figure made of stone. The stone was cracked and old, it seemed new, but smelled everlasting and fresh. The stone was a figure of a lean build. 

The top half of the figure was a torso without a head, seemingly withered away by the force of time. Its chest was lean and muscular, and its fingernails were long and sharp like eagle talons. The bottom half of the statue wasn't filled with human features, but rather a scorpion's abdomen, with a 5 meter stinger on the back of the statue sitting on the throne. 

The boy said nothing as he approached the throne, a tiny smoke forming on his face. He looked towards the statue and said with a smile. "Great master of death; the sanction of oblivion, I have bought those who you have requested." The boy's voice was lowered and illusory as if it was not his own. Suddenly, he began changing. 

The boy fell to his knees without saying a word. His eyes became an ink black color as his smile grew. His short brown hair grew longer, edging towards iron black with pale white streaks melded with them. There was a faint root of red at the roots of his hair. His legs popped off like toys as numerous new ones grew over, and a large scorpion tail with a stinger the size of a spear formed at the bottom of his body. 

He grew about 5 feet taller, now rising to about 10 feet tall. The newly transformed boy looked back at us. "His" face wasn't "his" own, instead being replete with De-Taylel's carved and ancient features. He had a striking jawline and crimson eyes that emitted fire and blood into those who he looked at. 

"So, I presume you're the insects who are now aware of Ian Vinigrad?" De-Taylel asked, his voice ringing in our ears, causing us to shiver. The Apocalypse sigil in my forehead began to glow dimly as if warning me of a new danger. De-Taylel looked towards the sigil with interest. 

"Apocalypse...I thought you wouldn't emerge for another thousand years."

...

Inside of his bedroom, Mr. Debois was at his desk staring down at the paper that he was ready to write to me in regards to our exchange. His mustache ruffled as he muttered to himself instinctively. Suddenly the door opened and a woman walked in about his age. "Mr. Debois, the historical society, is holding a meeting today. Although it's heavily recommended you attend, it's optional." she left without saying a word, only cleaning up the cutlery he left out from his previous meal. 

"I would go, except I have a business letter to write to that kid..." he mumbled to himself as he picked up the ink pen and began writing. The letter was mainly focused in regards to the object or information that he had to give in return for his journey to get the cards. When he finished he headed downstairs and put on his raincoat before departing from the manor. 

He walked into the post office and set down the letter in the pile of many letters that are destined to be sent to their given recipients. In Seraphis Kingdom it was considered rude to leave a letter on someone's doorstep unless you were a noble. He'd previously received a letter to Madame Fitzgerold's party about a month but he thought nothing of it, choosing to discard it into the trash. 

After leaving the post office he headed back to his manor, where he could now hear the sounds of his wife coughing loudly upstairs in her bedroom. He quickly prepared some mutton and pea stew before walking upstairs and giving it to his wife.

"I promise you I'll get those cards, your heart depends on it."

...

Inside the headquarters Shinso looked up from his book in puzzlement as a sudden cold rush overcame his body. His eyebrows furrowed as he immediately looked towards Aizawa, who seemed to have encountered the same predicament. 

"Do you feel that?" He asked in concern. Aizawa nodded slowly and sighed. "I do, but I don't know why I'm feeling this way." He stood up and looked outside the window, only to see the pouring rain and the people in the market rushing back to their houses.

"Isaac left this morning to retrieve information, but I'm getting a little worried considering it's been about 4 hours." Aizawa mumbled.

"He did actually come back this morning, and he had a discussion with a man inside Aaron's house." Cattleya said as she walked in, wrapped in a bathrobe. "A man? Do you know who he was or what they were talking about?" Aizawa asked as he looked towards Cattleya.

Cattleya's brows furrowed. The identity of the man wasn't important information at the moment. She too had felt the terrifying rush, and she needed to figure out what it was. "That's not important, I can always ask him when he returns. That rush was unlike anything I've ever felt...

"That's not important...I feel like something utterly terrifying has just awoken."