Ch 27: Nightmare.

The Phoenix Cradle – Central

Only a few more tasks and then it’s finally time. Hang in there!

Siren wails were blaring from the blue sky. Ace glanced upward, peeking through the colourful decorated banners and fabrics that gapped the alleyway. Silver birds flocked, festering in the air, though no one else batted an eye. Ace shrugged, proceeding to brush shoulders to get to the next stall.

Scents came in waves as he walked, herbs, spices, and the alluring pull of overpriced street food. Taking a small, ruffled piece of paper from his pocket, he squinted at Oden’s messy writing. Nodding in relief that this side quest was almost over, he recounted the items in his bag; he was certain that this was everything, and he had finally finished his errands in the markets.

Wiping the sticky sweat from his forehead, a familiar cheeky smile rose from his memory, causing his eyebrows to furrow.

That damn slimy b*stard can talk his way out of anything.

Ace and Hiro had been let off the hook for now, under the conditions that they were monitored until Hellia’s return, which was supposedly in three days. But, until then, they were burdened with something worse than death—chores. So, why was it that Ace was doing everything by himself?

He scanned the perimeter, raising his head and pushing from his toes to peek above the walls of heads and faces, and there, there it was —a stall that glittered like stars sewn into the night sky.

“Cheapest one you have, please?”

“Cheapest?” The shopkeeper scratched his thick beard, pursing his lips together. “Ah, Tungsten. I normally sell them for 1000 Zen, but I’ll offer a special deal just for you. 200 Zen, how does that sound?”

200? This guy’s pulling numbers out of his ass. I bought it for ten the last time.

“200? For this? Are you sure?”

Synthetic, the tacky ring had a glassy surface, a poor attempt at mimicking its more lustrous counterparts.

“Ah, for you, because you're my friend, I’ll do a hundred!”

“Fifty.”

“Fifty it is!” The shopkeeper puffed his chest out, his stern face becoming a hearty, suspiciously broad grin.

Opening his leather wallet to see a few silver and copper coins and a single crinkled note, Ace breathed a soft sigh that mourned with the wind, followed by an empty smile.
Today alone, he had poured out half of his life’s worth. While it didn’t seem like a lot to most, to Ace, every dime was spent and worked for in blood. Since coming to this world, scrambling to find his footing and struggling day in and day out to survive every gram of Zen took on a new, profound meaning. As he handed over the scrunched note, he could feel a slight pain in his chest.

Well, at least I’m supporting the local businesses, right?

The thought of lending or asking to borrow had crossed his mind, but he couldn’t bring himself to do it. When Oden had given him the grocery list, the words from his mouth were, “You can cover a few groceries, right?”. To speak up against his confident and gentle smile was harder than defying the laws of physics themselves, so naturally, the words were stuck in his throat. Mira? Ace didn’t need to ask to know it would’ve been a straight no. Shell? Can you imagine asking a kid to borrow some of his pocket money? Ace cringed at the thought. Snow? Nothing needs to be said about this one. And you’re probably thinking that there’s one more person Ace hasn’t considered, and you’d be exactly right. It was out of the question. He could see that condescending grin and hear the heckled laughter from a mile away.

“Do you happen to know where the mage’s guild is?”

“I'll tell you if you add a tip! Knowledge is power, as they say!”

This guy is really, really pushing his luck!

Ace rubbed his temples, his fingers glistening with sweat as he tried to think over the bustling clamour of the Cradle’s markets. The shopkeeper’s stubborn smile, wafting a fan to his face, was enough to tip him over the edge.

“Fine, whatever, keep the change.”

“Just up the road from the East Lake, pass it, and you’ll see it on the right side! Come again next time!”

                                                                            ***

Scaria was beginning to enter the Spring season, but the wilted leaves crinkling beneath Ace’s steps said otherwise. A mesmerising marbling of petals and flowers bordered the lake, and tall grey trunks hung their purple and yellow limbs just above the water’s surface. It was a parallax of growth and decay, large blooming buds standing proudly while odd branches warped and rotted. Ace attributed it to the natural phenomenon known as The Scourge. It was more of a disaster and a plague than a phenomenon, carrying with it the supposed end to life itself. Both mysterious and unyielding, no one alive could decipher its science, or Scourgenesis, the fatal illness that came with it.

Ace could see the decay, like small cracks at the edges of a mosaic window; you could still appreciate its beauty, but the underlying rot was slowly creeping in. It was unsettling to think that such an art piece could be spoiled by a completely unstoppable force.

Approaching a gated area, Ace reminded himself of the sole reason he’d been looking forward to this moment. Magic. The staple of any fantasy adventure, today, alongside his other chores, he was going to have an elemental affinity test to find out what kind of elements he was more attuned to. Was it going to be blazing fire magic like Hellia? Or maybe something like lightning or wind. Ace could feel his heart warming, not from fear but from excitement—a very welcome change.

After having his credentials checked, Ace was guided to a dimly lit room with glowing runes and tapestries covering the walls, and in the centre sat one woman with a veil hiding the top half of her face, dressed in pastel-coloured, flowing robes.

Ace sat down opposite her at the table that had nothing but a crystal ball. Transparent and suffused with aether, it had a halo of light around it.

“Is this your first time having your affinity checked?” The manner in which she spoke was melodic, like velvet; her voice was smooth but tender.

“Uh, Yes. Yes, it is.”

“It only takes a moment,” Her gold bracelets rustled lightly as she embellished the crystal ball. “Simply place down your hands and channel your aether.”

Pressing his palms to the cold glass, he couldn’t help but have a smile on his face.

Fire magic would be so cool, but water is so versatile. Lightning might be too flashy. Please be water or fire!

A cloud of colours formed in the crystal ball. Flowing, twisting, and undulating, the different hues were like threads interweaving and knotting with each other. Charmed by the lightshow, Ace held his breath in anticipation.

Then, his smile quickly gave way to surprise and confusion.

A pitch black. Darker than any night sky he had ever seen, it was vast and hollow like the empty space that fabricated the universe. An abyss so dark it seemed to feed on the light around it.

Huh? Black?

“I-I think there’s been a mistake, please try once more.”

Ace pressed onto the glass, but the same methods always led to the same outcomes.

Flinching back, her chair legs screeched against the floor. “I-Impossible.” She scrambled towards the exit.

Click.

Everything other than the cloud of darkness stood still. Somehow, his hands had moved faster than he could think. She saw her life reflected in the silver, trembling in her pastel robes. At this point, he had no choice but to follow up.

“Stay right there.” Ace breathed in deeply, making a conscious effort to exhale slowly. “Tell me, what it means.”

Palms in the air, her face creased into distress. “I-I don’t know, please, I’ve- I’ve never seen anything like it. I don’t know, really. I don’t know.”

Seeing a dark void, one name came to mind—Lazeroth. And with it, his ominous warning.

“Do not tell anyone. Not a single person. Are we clear?”

“y-yeah.”

“ARE WE CLEAR?”

“Y-YES CERTAINLY!”

Ace slowly lowered his weapon as he backed up towards the door.

Was that warning too harsh? Or not harsh enough?

If word got round that he had put a working mage at gunpoint, he would surely be in trouble. But for some reason, the thought of crossing Lazeroth’s warning was a far more terrifying ordeal. It echoed in his head on the whole way back home, even as he twisted and turned that night, layering his sheets in cold sweat. It was one of those nights where you couldn’t get any rest, and when you did, the only thing awaiting you was a haunting nightmare that you shot up from. The feeling of running from a terror you couldn’t escape was a familiar nightmare, but luckily, it was someone else who was running.

She ran. She screamed. She cried. But she was too slow. Waking up, the daze from blurring between conscious and unconscious lingered, fogging your brain. Today was different. The metallic smell was sharp, pulling him out of the haze like whiplash. Ace gently touched the puddle, feeling the warm liquid between his fingers. Rubbing his eyes, a dark alleyway stretched out before him, carrying a soft breeze. Then he looked down—shreds of pastel colours, a torn veil, gold bracelets, and the lower half of somebody’s face.

Ace screamed, or at least he tried to. No sound left his throat, realising that this nightmare was one that would never end.

What have I done? The words clattered around his skull, repeatedly ringing in his ears.
What have I done? What have I done? What have I done? What have I done? What have I done? What have I done?

They’ll kill me if they find out.

If they find out. If they find out. If they find out. If they find out.

How? How can I hide a body?
Ace frantically scanned the dark alleyway, this… It's near the clock tower. He clenched his fingers.

No. Not again.

Orange was brooding on the horizon—he was running out of time. Ace desperately grasped his shaking fingers at the body parts and fabrics, clutching as much of the scene to his chest as he could. He staggered and fumbled, chunks of flesh falling out of his hold. He turned to pick the scraps up, seeing the trail of blood tracing his shadow. It was hopeless.

After the last incident, The Spearhead had him on close watch; they knew he would have his affinity test today. And now the woman was suddenly missing? No matter what he did, they could always trace it back to him. Ace shrivelled as he pictured his own execution, beheaded by Oden’s axe, a symbol of the Syndicate’s authority. But, as with every system, there were always cracks and subtleties between the lines. If there’s anything Ace had learned since coming to the Cradle, it was that the Syndicate was strict but erratic, bending to the words of those with influence. In other words, it was corrupt. That’s right. He needed someone powerful and influential to sweep this incident under the rug—someone who needs him alive.

Ace took his phone out of his pocket, staring wide-eyed at the empty alleyway. It was the look of realising his only option, even if it caused his blood to curdle, his insides to spill out, or his eyes to be gouged out.

BZZZ.BZZZ.BZZZ.

“It’s Ace.”

“…”

“I need you to help me…dispose of a body.”