A Story of Evil

"My liege, what happened while I was asleep?"

"Well what happened is that, I did the honors of unlocking her powers for you."

King Jubilee and Solomon stood within the same room where Sol was brought after awakening his powers. Lying on the same bed as the boy did was Alice; sleeping soundly while Pan enveloped the girl with her shadows.

"You mean she really unlocked it?"

"Yup. With the continuous fighting against the direwolves and, her performance which tops it all off, it was only a matter of time before she unlocked David's seed. I just watched her out of curiosity to be honest. But, as she continued training nonstop for the whole day, I finally understood that she only needed a bit more of a push to make her unlock her powers."

"But how did you know that it would work?"

"Ahh you don't have [Analyze] yet so you won't understand. Basically, I saw an indicator on top of her head with the words [Seed Awakening]. It was shocking really. But I couldn't let her get killed anymore because of that."

"Did you see the same thing on my head then?"

"Nah. Your indicator only appeared after I placed you all inside the maze. Also, yours only showed up on the last level of the maze. That means, there's another factor that makes it possible for someone to awaken the seed."

"What is it?"

"A life-or-death situation and, a situation where you need to throw away your morals." Sol looked back on what happened in the last level as King Jubilee said this.

"I know it sounds a bit crazy but think back on the last level of the maze. You needed to discard one of your teammates despite knowing that he was a good person. Since you were a genius from the get go, that little act was enough for your seed to begin awakening and, by fighting the wolves all by yourself, you went into a life-or-death situation."

"Is that why you made Alice kill Ethan and Jake?"

"Yes. But I did an experiment and placed the requirements in a reversed order. She was first placed through countless life or death situations. You should've seen her go. She got electrocuted more than my fingers could count and, her flesh burned over and over again. She was really aiming to kill you Sol. And judging by how much progress she made, she would've succeeded that even if you had [S.W.]. That's why I needed to step in and rearrange our agreement."

"So the reason why she killed Ethan in such a cruel way was for her to fully awaken her seed?"

"Right you are again. I wasn't sure of the variables before because, I was the only awakened person within the Void for a long time. But with this, with two of you successfully awakening, we have a way to navigate and unlock the miracles on our other citizens."

It must've been Sol's imagination but, King Jubilee was slowly becoming more and more groomed into a proper king with each passing day. His aura also shifted on a daily basis and, at that moment, there was no evil king. Only a ruler who was hopeful for a better future for his nation.

"Sol, as soon as Alice wakes up, make sure to comfort her and explain every detail she asks. At the moment, Pandora is already talking to her while entering her body so, it may take some time."

"Understood my liege."

"Good. I need to make some internal arrangements on the inner walls. I've been absent for a couple of days and you cannot imagine the amount of paperwork that entails." Sol simply nodded and, with that, the king gave his final reminder before walking through the door.

"Sol, wear the circlet at all times while I'm out. Continue training and, we'll discuss the tactics as soon as I return. Understood?"

"Yes and, my liege, thank you for sparing her." Sol bowed his head down, saying the words in a genuine tone.

"Yeah. Yeah. Don't get too emotional Sol." With that the king finally went, leaving Sol and Alice to themselves.

As soon as it quieted down, Sol looked at the peacefully slumbering Alice. He saw the corpses of both Jake and Ethan of course. King Jubilee made sure of that. The gut twisting sight was too much for Sol that, he was amazed that Alice was able to do it.

He was about to say some cheesy lines but, Sol noticed Alice's eyes moving a bit. He made a devilish grin, knowing that Alice was awake and also waiting for the same thing. So instead of apologizing, Sol decided to test how long the girl could last.

"Hey Alice, I bet you haven't eaten anything yet right? You did train non stop and now you're just lying there."

"What the hell are you saying Sol? Where's my apology?" Alice thought to herself, with her eyes still closed.

"You know with both Ethan and Jake gone; the good news is that we'd also get their portions. But the bad news is that, the canteen is stricter now. If you don't get your food on time, they won't serve you anything."

"Wait? Is that true?"

"If you don't wake up, you're gonna miss the golden quail eggs that King Jubilee prepared in order to celebrate. I mean, that's fine with me because I'm also gonna eat your part."

"Is he being serious right now?" Alice was almost tempted to open her eyes.

"I bet those yolks would melt as soon as you open the egg. Golden yellow and almost shinning in texture. It'd be perfect with the grinded cow meat." It was the breaking point, Alice's stomach let out a loud grumbling sound that filled the whole room.

"HAHAHAHAHA!" Sol began laughing out loud, knowing that he had won.

"You planned all of this didn't you!" Alice rose from bed immediately, throwing a pillow at Sol who evaded easily.

"You misse – " Alice threw the other pillow, hitting Sol in the head.

"Ha! Serves you right!" Alice mentioned, satisfied with her revenge and calming down immediately.

"I heard everything from King Jubilee." Sol threw the pillow back at Alice who was able to catch it.

"Yeah? What about it?" Alice was actually afraid. She wasn't the most delicate of girls. In fact, she could easily skin a human alive without hesitation and, that side of her was the reason why the other young thieves didn't like being around her. She was only ever with the company of the older thieves and because of this, she was able to bear witness to the countless torture done to the members of the group that didn't perform well.

"Are you scared of me now?" She was beginning to like Sol and, wanted them to get closer. But now that he has seen what she is capable of, she wondered if it was still possible.

"Of course I'd be scared, who wouldn't be right?" Alice began shaking. It was as she expected; Sol was just like any other kid.

"But that's only if you're my enemy. As an ally, I could think of no other person more capable and trustworthy as you Alice."

"I-Idiot." Alice said, getting all red.

"Bruh, are you blushing?"

"STOP TEASING ME!"

The two were finally done with the stage that they needed to hold back with their emotions. With King Jubilee's announcement, they were finally going to be partners without fear of getting killed by each other. It was refreshing, as if a heavy weight was lifted on their shoulders. This much is understandable. After all, they are both orphans who have a very few friends especially in the case of Alice.

"So, I met Pandora already."

"Oh yeah?"

"Yup. And all I can say is, do you want to start explaining?" Alice still hasn't forgiven Sol for what he said in the cafeteria. She knew that it was necessary. In fact, Pandora even told her all about Sol's plan. But that doesn't mean she'd forgive him right away.

"Shouldn't you be asking that from the king though?" Sol said, making Alice release her bloodlust.

"Okay! Okay! I'm sorry Alice, I won't say things like that again."

"It's not that which you should be sorry about."

"Huh?"

"Say it."

"Say what exactly?"

"That you need me! Say that you need me by your side and that I'll be your friend!" Alice face was completely flushed red; she gave an angry look at Sol with her eyes welling up tears.

It was the first time Sol saw that expression. It made him smile and, after scratching the back of his head and letting out a sigh of defeat, he moved close to Alice and wrapped his arms around her.

"H-Hey you pervert w-what do you think you're doing?"

"Relax will you. This is just a friendly hug."

"Friendly hug my ass! Get off me!" Alice began pounding Sol's back making the boy let go immediately.

"You know, for a woman of your stature, you sure have the strength of a gorilla."

"Huh?" Alice was back to an annoyed state. Impressing Sol who thought of how easy it was for Alice to transition between emotions.

"You better start apologizing chump." Alice furthered. Of course Sol intended to do so, it was just that he didn't know where to start.

"Alice, I'm really glad that we can avoid killing each other now." Sol's tone was genuine and apologetic.

"See? You can actually say it if you try." Alice said, having a short pause and cooling her temper before continuing to speak.

"The feeling's mutual. Somehow I know that I won't be able to do kill you when push came to shove."

"Same here. So…friends?" Sol said reaching out for Alice's hand. It was the first time Alice ever heard someone ask that of her. This made her all warm and fuzzy, giving a childlike smile, as she reached for Sol's hand and said:

"Friends!"