House of Amarin

Using the remaining pills was a great success amongst the Misfits, and everyone was excited by the news that they would soon have consumable fire seeds to exchange for. Additionally, Opparu was putting up newly crafted basic artifacts into their treasury, little holding bags, and accessories, helping recover mana in a much faster way, putting them next to one-time-use talismans for battles, and so on. Being a Misfit was getting increasingly enticing, and it made the members accept more tasks, earning CP for their organization.

"Okay, this may turn out… dangerously, so everyone pays attention and be ready!" Lia said, holding the black fire seed in her hand, visibly and audibly gulping as she started walking towards the tub of lava.

The garden of the Misfits was fully emptied; Raufon, Sion, and Koadriana were erecting a shield around the whole garden, while many misfits were looking on from the outside, curious as to what would happen next. Standing beside the tub, Lia took a deep breath before turning her hand over and letting the black pill fall into it. She hurriedly stepped back, her hands burning in blue flames, ready for an explosion… but it didn't come. The pill just floated there before slowly sinking and dissolving without any reaction.

"What is going on?" Lia murmured, leaning closer, watching the bright, orange-colored lava. "Hm?" She focused her eyes, seeing as its color slowly changed, turning darker and darker until it was pitch black. "What is happening?" She asked, just like many others.

Their answer came in the form of a strange and surreal experience as the lava started to harden and morph. A few moments later, a miniature black dragon climbed out of the bathtub, blinking its red, glowing eyes, yawning, and looking around.

"Where is this…?" It asked, its voice young and cute, hard to tell if it was a boy or a girl.

"Um… The Institute of the Eight Elements…" Lia answered, completely stunned, standing there with a wide open mouth, watching the dragon. Its scales were still strangely flowy, clearly made out of the lava, as every step it took had left burning patches on the ground.

"Oh!" It blinked its ruby-like eyes, looking around, seeing the many young faces, "Good, good! Learning is important! Is Erias in? Has he taught you how to resist the aura of high-level Undead?"

"Um…" Lia gulped, suddenly guessing who was standing before her, or at least whose, strange clone or apparition. Looking back, she nodded towards the others to come close. The trio lowered the shield, curiously walking forward, followed by the rest of the Misfits. "Erias is dead… 4000 years have already passed!"

"Bullshit!" The miniature dragon snorted, black flames spewing out from its nose. "Since becoming an Ascendri, he would only die if his soul was devoured or destroyed! In other words, only an Undead would be able to kill him, and he is not stupid to let that happen!"

"Huh?" Lia tilted her head, confused, "Well… he died… well… I don't know how… but sixty years after Victory Day! I know! I had to visit his grave every year, paying my respects!"

"Lies!" The dragon stomped in place, looking angrily at Lia, but then it frowned and started sniffing at her. "Girl… you smell like Erias… who are you?"

"Lia. Lia Amarin." She answered honestly, and the frown slowly disappeared from the dragon's face.

"I see, I see. You are Erias's girl! Then you should know that he could not be killed by conventional means! After experiencing the last tribulation, he surpassed the laws of this realm, ready to travel into the Cosmos! He was simply stuck in here because the Gate was shut close, and the Key to it had been hidden! Those bastards took it…."

"What Gate? What Key? Who are you?" Koa asked, confused and looking at the dragon, then at Lia, trying to get a grip on what was happening.

"Me?" The miniature dragon chuckled, "I am Arcus, Bane of the Dead!" It proclaimed proudly, "Or… well, a wisp of him. A clone, mind you!"

"Awesome…" Keily murmured, looking at him from behind Lia, measuring the dragon with awe.

"So…" Aurora wrote, before the conversation would be derailed, "What is a Gate? What Key are you on about?"

"What? Erias never taught you?" He frowned. "I don't know if I should tell you this then…."

"He never left anything in his memoirs about any gate or keys…." Aurora wrote again, but then Lia suddenly flinched, remembering something.

"Wait!" She spoke loudly, "There was a sentence in his diary once; We are locked in. As by who, I don't know. The one standing guard at our door? Or the ones who hide behind the veil? I don't know… But I found where the Key is… the Key to our salvation. And freedom." Lia quoted slowly as Arcus's eyes flashed, "I thought he was talking metaphorically!"

"He hates metaphors!" Arcus snorted, "He likes to tell as it is! Then he did tell you all; you just didn't listen… geez… I need to talk to him about this when we meet again!"

"But he is dead!" Sion blurted out, "We had four eras pass since the Dark Ages!"

"Four whole eras…?" Arcus asked, looking confused, "Time in there could flow differently… more slowly… it is a possibility…." He murmured, debating with himself.

"He truly is nuts…." Koa whispered to Aurora, who nodded, agreeing with her.

"Mr. Arcus…" Ceiline spoke up, and when the dragon looked at her, sniffing, his expression turned surprisingly gentle.

"Ah… daughter of Nerifit… your claws are beautiful. Same color as your progenitor's! Good, good!"

"Um…" She blushed, "What is that Key… thing? And what Gate are you talking about?"

"The Realm Gate! That is what it was called in the ancient days! We found it out when we were stuck in that old sub-realm with Erias! Damn… they erased our past so they could hide away! Damn, cowards! All of them!"

"Who?" They asked in synch.

"The Undead, who else?" Arcus snorted, blowing out black flames that were so hot it made them jump away with a shriek, dodging it at the last moment. "Those green-eyed bastards!"

"The Undead are hiding…?" Lia asked, frowning; this was making less and less sense for them.

"Well, they do hide underground." Raufon murmured, "And beyond No-Space, are they not?"

"Yeah." Arcus agreed, "Slippery bastards, working from the shadows where nobody can reach them! They are too afraid to come to the surface! Using puppets to do their dirty harvests!"

"Harvest… What harvest?" Sion asked, and Arcus flinched, looking at them.

"It is Erias's job to tell you all that you need to know. If he doesn't wish to inform you, he has a good reason. Those bastards have ears everywhere! If you know too much and die… then they can learn about his plans! Too much risk, too much risk! Don't ask me anymore about it!" Arcus said, shaking his head and walking in circles. "Erias… Four eras passed… did he run into trouble? I should have gone with him… tsk… this is not good. Too much time has passed. Too much!"

"He is completely gone. The others were right…." Ceiline sighed, looking sympathetically at Arcus, "He experienced too much and can't escape the past."

"Yeah…" Koa and Sion agreed simultaneously.

Watching the anxious and constantly murmuring, grumbling apparition of the black dragon, soon everyone was on the same page as them, except Lia, who was watching him, her mismatched eyes focused on one place while hundreds of thoughts were swirling in her head.

"Arcus…" She spoke up, her voice stopping the dragon, making him look into her eyes. "Did Erias tell you his plans?"

"Parts of it. He couldn't divulge all of it as he had to travel to the source to see it for himself. But he did say that he won't be coming back. Once stepping over the threshold, he would be stuck there until he either wins or dies. But I know him! Dying? Hah! No chance!" He laughed viciously, "He is my brother from a different mother! And he will be victorious!" He added, continuing to laugh as he slowly dissolved into already cooled-down lava, falling apart into big chunks, leaving a confused group behind.

"I don't want to live that long if this is what becomes of you!" Raufon moaned, rubbing his forehead, "The poor old man is clearly ill!"

"Um… he wasn't looking healthy!" Keily agreed, watching the deep footprints left behind burnt into the ground.

While they were discussing the unexpected and wild experience, Lia was standing there, too many thoughts zooming in and out of her head. None of it was making sense yet, but she strangely felt that what happened was not a coincidence… and if it wasn't, then the hand of the Headmaster had to be in it.

…
….
…..

"Hmmm…" Lucian hummed, leaning back in his huge chair and tapping on its armrest. He observed the whole event through the connection of their bracelets on their hands, intently listening to what Arcus had to say. A few moments later, he felt the space tremble before his desk as a slightly transparent image of Albert's humanoid form came to view.

"That was dirty. Giving her that pill... Summoning Arcus from his sleep so you may get some information ahead of time." He said coolly. "You ain't playing fair, boy. We don't wake up Arcus, only if it is a MUST."

"I hate being left in the dark." Lucian countered, unafraid of the dragon. "And he wouldn't wake up from something like this."

"You-" Albert opened his mouth, but then a third voice interjected, surprising both of them but more so Lucian.

"You can tell him. He is the most talented Headmaster in the past thousand years."

"..."

"..."

None of them spoke momentarily, hearing the new yet familiar voice. Albert was watching Lucian, who was displaying multiple expressions, sometimes right at once, before his red eyes flashed.

"Somia Marduk!"

"Mhm." She materialized, looking like a naked ghost of herself, not bothering to cover her body. "Quick mind is what you have. I can respect that. Well... it is necessary to walk No-Space and be ready for its violent changes."

"So the rumors were true… you did not die but… transformed!" Lucian whispered, biting his lip and looking at his own bracelet. "Now, many things start to make sense. Do the House of Marduk know about you?"

"No." She shook her head, "And keep it that way. Besides Albert, everyone else who knew is already dead."

"Charming… I won't take it as a threat…." Lucian smiled that was not entirely honest.

"I guess we can tell him then?" Albert sighed and let Somia tell him that the Undead are coming. As to where they knew that from? It was left out entirely, making Albert nod, knowing some information was best not to divulge.

"Are you sure?" Lucian asked, but he had already believed everything. No wonder The Six were unavailable. He tried contacting all of them, but they had yet to respond.

"100%," Somia replied.

"Shit…" He fell back into his chair, biting his nail, looking grievous. He couldn't help but remember that fateful day when he descended into that accursed sub-realm… having nightmares for years to come.

"We have time. Somewhat." Albert said, breaking the heavy silence.

"Your job is to raise the upcoming youngsters well. Leave the outside troubles for The Six." Somia said firmly. "Focus on the Island and its growing plants. Nurture them well. Even if a storm comes to the outside world, it won't disturb the peace here."

"Understood." Lucian nodded, looking at Somia with a determined expression as if he had just received an order from his superior.

…
….
……

Somewhere in the Realm of Meriath, somewhere that was real yet not, where physical material was unable to enter, a glowing, spiritual figure of Erias was standing on a mountaintop. Looking closely, one could see that it was not truly a mountain, but only a mountain-shaped mass of energy, glowing and pulsating. The sky above him was unnatural, pinkish in color, filled with swirling clouds of pure mana. He was naked, his body only covered by a golden hue radiating from his insides. The wind that caught his loose, long blonde hair was different from what blew on the surface of Meriath as it was not real, but the Element of Wind going past him.

"They are gone…." He murmured, looking grim, watching a 'valley' down below that was made out of the mana of the earth and metal mixing together.

"They are masters of this place." Somia's voice echoed in his mind.

"No matter…" He murmured, turning into a bright beam soaring through the 'sky.' Nobody could tell where he was heading as north or south; nothing made sense in this weird, subliminal space. "I will be victorious in the end… and make sure your Sect falls… once and for all…."