Stage 11: The town that never sleeps.

Swinging her feet on the seat in front of me, Sandra looked like a simple girl who had already gotten bored by the monotonous ride. Crammed in with the company of two women who had boarded the carriage at the last stop just two days ago.

Much like the public transportation of my old world, the service provided by the nobles within the intercontinental roads was cheap for the common people. But full of shortcomings and drawbacks when it came to trips as long as ours.

I wanted to be able to laugh at the face of that girl who did not hide her annoyance among the accidental blows that the ladies gave her when trying to accommodate each jump of the carriage. But my situation was not unlike hers, being practically squashed against the carriage window by a burly man carrying his laden chickens.

Who the hell carries chickens on public transport? Those animals did not stop pecking me before the complacent look of that subject, who only specified that they seemed to have liked me.

With my hair disheveled and my cloak reeking of the stench of chickens, I took Sandra's hand and we started walking to the last stop of the carriage. Four days away on horseback, we found ourselves in the town of Horfelia. A small rural community that was located between the city of Mireya and our destination in the town of Crom.

With no inns or taverns, this town was far from an appropriate destination for travelers, save for the hospitality often shown by the locals. Those who ran to meet the walkers to offer their products to sell at prices that I could not afford due to our lack of money.

- "Buy me something to eat. I'll pay you when I get there" – A growl coming from Sandra's small stomach made mine react as I became aware that our last bite had been just a few pieces of hard rye bread soaked in goat's milk.

At the insistence of the girl who did not stop complaining, I decided to take her along one of the alternative paths that communicated with the wooded area of the town.

- "Oracle, give me the location of every creature in the forest that can be edible" - In my status window, a small map with our location showed me a series of luminous points that moved oscillating within the limits of the wooded area.

Running between the branches and the greenish foliage, he shot small bursts of mana at the bodies of some hares and squirrels that were in the treetops. Continuing my search collecting some nuts and aromatic herbs to prepare the meat of my prey.

- "Luminare Ignem" – Making Sandra collect some water from a nearby stream and some dry branches, I built a fire to cook our food. At first the tadpole showed a bit of displeasure when the roast hare happened to it. Well, just like on earth, that animal usually has a horrible smell when its meat is put into the fire. But with a bit of herbs that flavor was attenuated allowing it to be edible.

As we munched our food, I would ask Sandra about her town and she seemed excited as she told me every detail with her light-up eyes. Describing it as a town surrounded by mountains in the middle of a valley, the morning mist used to look like a wave that descended from the icy tips of the mountain ranges to the slopes where the vegetation flourished.

With every detail that came from her lips, her small hands and her face showed me a purity that contrasted with the firm character that she showed me in the room at the inn in Mireya. Everything about that girl filled me with curiosity, as if for a moment I felt overwhelmed by old memories of my sister Akemi.

Finishing eating, we started our journey again avoiding the main roads while I used my wind magic to move carrying the girl on my back. Without money to rent a couple of horses, if we traveled on foot those four days would have turned into two weeks.

When night fell, supported by the darkness of the shadows of cloudy nights, I used my dragon wings to fly through the skies, avoiding the glances of the shepherds who guarded their flocks from the wolves.

At dawn on the fourth day, little Sandra opened her eyes feeling a slight cold breeze that hit her cheeks. When I saw the expression on her face marveling at the scenery offered by the aerial view, I couldn't help but smile at her as she made a pouting face.

- "Amelia, look there!" – Pointing her finger at me in the direction of a small hut, Sandra kept pulling the fold of the collar of my cape indicating that I should descend to the ground.

As soon as I put a foot on the ground, the girl let go of my lap and ran to the battered door of that old house separated from the rest of the town.

- "Mom, I'm back! I brought someone with me, hurry up and come see her" – When I entered the house, a slight aroma of spices bathed the walls and objects inside the room. The warmth of the fire in the hearth made a cozy welcome in contrast to the cool feeling of the morning mist outside.

- "Welcome traveler, I hope my little Sandra did not cause you problems"

- "Don't worry, she behaved very well on the way" – Leaving aside the fact that she was a powerful alchemist, the mother's behavior seemed strange to me the moment I saw her.

In this world or in my past life, usually the children I get to see on the streets were always accompanied by their mother or father. But, even so, Sandra's mother did not show concern on her face for the visit of a stranger who had just traveled with her daughter.

Quite the contrary, that hospitality was highly suspicious to me, keeping me alert for any trap that might be hidden.

- "User I perceive an irregular flow of mana in the environment. Do you want me to activate the firewall?"

- "Do it, all this seems strange to me too"

Sitting down at the table to receive a bowl of beef stew, I waited for a while to see both mother and daughter take their first bite. But even so, I asked the oracle to examine the content of that food as soon as I put it on my palate.

- "If the brat wanted to hurt you, she would have taken you from the inn, Amelia. You don't need to be so meticulous with her."

- "I have my reasons to be cautious Fausto. I think you've already seen the memories of my past life when we made the contract." – Remaining silent, Fausto could not refute my point given the trauma caused by the assault that led to my death at the hands of Richard.

I must admit that that dish, despite being simple, had a captivating flavor that pleased my palate. Perhaps because of the acid touch of the cream dissolved in the broth that was mixed with a sweet tone from the fried tomatoes with which he made the sauce, but he couldn't stop taking bites as he sank small pieces of bread hoping it wouldn't run out.

- "It seems that you like the stew. In fact, this dish is Sandra's favorite, so much so that I usually prepare it morning, afternoon and night" - Looking at the woman's face for a moment more carefully, I saw that the expression on her face, despite looking natural, had slight monotonous aspects when raising the arc of his smile. As if it were a patient who had suffered a stroke.

- "Mom is enough!" – Slamming the palms of her hands on the table, Sandra got up from her place with her face lowered, her hair bangs covering her eyes. The girl's attitude startled me a bit, but it was even more strange for me that I didn't see a reaction from the mother for that outburst.

No matter how permissive a father can be with his son, it was impossible not to have a consequence from an adult. But far from getting angry or reacting in response to that outburst, the mother just silently picked up the plates and walked back to the kitchen.

- "Come, come with me to town" - Taking my arm pulling insistently, we left the hut and began to walk along the sidewalk in complete silence. For a moment I felt the urge to ask about that incident, but the alchemist's small hand was firmly squeezing my wrist. Not with the intention of injuring me, but letting a feeling of discomfort flow as he brought his right hand to his chest.

In the middle of the grasslands, the people who were working on the job raised their faces in the direction of the little girl, greeting her from a distance while she maintained an air of indifference for those displays of affection.

When we arrived at the town square, the shops and small market stalls were already set up, with slight signs of accumulated dust giving the impression that they were never dismantled by the bidders.

- "Look there, there are some street artists gathered at the fountain. Come on, hurry up" - Changing the expression on her face with a cheerful look again, Sandra got excited while she took me without resisting.

Musicians and harlequins put on a show in the presence of the children who were gathered together, giving applause every time they finished their performance.

- "Don't you think they are amazing?"

- "Sandra, you promised that you would tell me about my condition if I brought you to town. I already fulfilled my part of the bargain. It's time for you to fulfill yours too" - Speaking to her with a severe tone, I tried to get the little girl to respond to her constant evasions. But the only thing I got with it was that the brat ran away from me while insulting me.

Waiting for her for a few hours in that square, she saw how people came and went between the business stalls in an ordinary way. But every time I focused on their faces, I felt that same strange feeling that I experienced when I met Sandra's mother.

Getting up from the edge of the fountain, I tried to return to the hut to wait there for the little alchemist. At the same time, a little boy collided with me, falling face down on the ground of the square.

When I tried to help him up, I noticed that the boy was not crying despite having scraped knees. Not the slightest sign of pain or discomfort was reflected on his face; instead, she just looked me in the eye and gave me a smile that made my blood run cold as I reconnected her with the alchemist's mother.

- "Oracle! What is happening here?"

- "User, the flow of mana in the boy's body is similar to that of the lady of the hut. After performing my analysis, I have found slight variations in the rest of the life forms around. But they are all similar" – Fearing the worst, I ran again in the direction of the hut, stumbling through the sea of people who gathered in the town's commercial plaza.

Like an ominous premonition that drilled into my chest, the images of the faces of the people of that town made my skin crawl as if the air of death was hovering in all directions.

The people who were at work that morning were still in the same place, instinctively reacting to anyone who passed by. Even when the sun's rays began to wane on the horizon of the mountains.

- "Sandra, get out of there right now!" – Opening the door of the alchemist's house, the smell of the stews remained in the air as if time had stopped in that place. With the little light from the fire that was snatched in the fireplace by the cold air that entered, the shadows of the furniture were projected on the walls giving a gloomy atmosphere in the midst of the silence of that place.

It was then that the sound of an object falling into one of the rooms made me react and I went to see what it was about.

Sitting by a sewing table, Sandra's mother moved her hands with a needle and thread over a piece of cloth that already looked old and worn by time.

- "Ma'am where is Sandra!" - Moving her shoulder with force, the woman did not react to my words, staying in that task as if it were an automaton. With the expression on his face illuminated sinisterly by the dim light of a candle.

As soon as I took a few steps back to leave the hut, I felt how an object hit me on the back of the neck, making me lose my balance while one of my temples hit the edge of a nightstand. While I was losing consciousness, in the middle of the darkness that prevailed in the room, I saw some small feet that were approaching me at the moment that everything went black.

- "And a beast came out of the abyss, pouring out his chalice of corruption on the world. Neither man or woman, old man or baby in arms resisted him, nor the other beasts that ruled over the underworld could oppose him. Blaspheming against the goddess, he cut the threads of life and instead replaced the breath of men with the stench of the sepulchre" – As if it were a dream that remained buried in the memories of the mind of the original owner of this body, images of the doctrine classes that I took in his childhood hit my subconscious.

A man with a serene countenance was holding a book that seemed to be the divine scriptures of that world. With his head already devoid of hair and the cloth of age over his wrinkled face, the deacon Gastón was exalted when pronouncing that part of the scriptures.

In the golden age of heroes, when the five great draconian nations were up in arms against each other, alchemists were the bargaining chip that tipped the scales for one side in particular.

With the church's monopoly on the faith waning because of them, the high priest, using his position as saint of the deity Artemis, announced an oracle from the goddess stating that the alchemists had committed an act against the goddess, which they called taboo.

At the request of the royal houses, the alchemists tried by all means to find a way to make up for the lack of soldiers in the face of the constant bloodshed at the front. After many experiments following the line of the golems, those men and women versed in primordial magic created the first homunculi.

When a person's soul leaves its receptacle, that body of blood and flesh was devoid of energy in its mana core. Causing that body to follow its natural process of putrefaction.

But the alchemists found that even if the soul was ripped from the body, the memories residing in its brain could function as a catalyst to keep moving, using extra mana energy like battery dummies.

Even when thanks to this the casualties of the front were reduced and with this the citizens calmed their anger against the monarchs, the league of nations turned its back on it as soon as the church pronounced itself branding them as heretics.

- "Amelia, wake up girl. Stop staying unconscious and awake. This doesn't look good at all" – Still aching from the stabbing pain in my neck, the wobble of my body made me wake up to realize that I was tied hand and foot, being carried by two of the villagers.

- "Sandra, where are you taking me?"

- "It is not time for you to wake up yet. Stay still and don't do anything stupid, the ropes that imprison your body are imbued with my mana and block the circuits of your body." – Continuing with that gloomy procession, he contemplated the villagers in the middle of the silent night that covered the town with rays of moonlight.

As if they were living dead, the people who in the afternoon were still moving with a certain freedom, now revealed that deplorable state in which they found themselves.

Halting our march in front of a church, Sandra's men pushed open the massive wooden doors to the atrium, their hinges creaking as if they had long been covered in rust.

- "Tie her on the altar" - Hitting my body hard on the cold stone altar in front of the decapitated statue of the goddess, Sandra projected balls of fire on the chandeliers to turn on the lighting of that cold room.

- "Get off me now, dammit! What the hell have I done to you to make you do this to me?"

- "It's not you Amelia, or should I say Hitomi. What name do you prefer? Honestly, I don't care, since I'm not talking to a human being but to an advanced homunculus"- With the impact of that revelation, my body felt heavy while Sandra began to cut my clothes with her dagger to leave my skin exposed to the inclement cold wind that brought the mist that filtered through the windows of the temple.

Taking a chalice in which she spilled her own blood by cutting a vein, the little alchemist soaked her index finger in the blood, drawing a series of symbolic patterns on my skin. Making the chills take over me, my body trembling with each brush that left with that bright blood.

- "User, the firewall defense is being violated by a language not recognized by the system. It is impossible to access the main command functions"

- "Amelia, I can't inject my power into your mana lines. The spell of the ropes is stopping me"

- "Damn!" – At the moment the dagger was raised on my chest, with Sandra's eyes fixed on mine. Time began to stop and for a brief moment, like a beast pounding on the door struggling to enter, the oracle of the end appeared.

- "Master, use me."

- "I don't want to, I shouldn't."

- " Master, you know you want it. With your mouth you say no, but your blood throbs excited to use me once more. That suffocating power, the power to reign, over everything." – As if it were the product of a hallucination, a female silhouette that overflowed with darkness took my face looking at me with its deep eye sockets as bright as lava.

With that smile that oscillated between the candid and seductive, that entity placed its lips on mine biting them lightly.

- "Just say it, my teacher. Say the phrase I want to hear, the one that ignites my insides wanting to merge with you.

- "I... release you" - With a laugh that echoed in my ears, the sinister silhouette disappeared, leaving the status window with that intense red that gave me the title of apostle of the shadows.

With an explosion that shook the foundations of that building, the walls began to collapse before Sandra's astonished gaze. Who released a magical barrier protecting her while the heavy rocks crushed the bodies of her minions.

Reflected in her pupils, my near-demonic appearance seemed more imposing than the first time I released her in the Medea forest. Being able to maintain my sanity for brief periods of time.

- "I knew it, you are not something that is tied to the rules of this world. I need you, I want your mana core to complete it. You are the key to my dream!" – Sticking the dagger into her throat, Sandra let her blood flow as she dropped her panting body on the ground. At the same time that he was enveloped by that sea of crimson red until he acquired a draconic form very similar to that of the sorcerer Asmodeus.

- "Amelia, human, answer me." – Fausto's desperate voice was barely recognizable by my senses, while my body was governed by that thirst for blood as I launched myself squarely against the enemy in front of me.

The flames of the candles that had fallen on the church carpet began to burn more intensely as the wind fanned that fire around us. Like two fallen angels fighting for the crown of hell, Sandra and I engaged in a battle over the night sky while the homunculi in the town began to move more and more torpidly.

- "Nope! I have to keep them working" – Lowering her guard for a brief moment, I took my staff and giving it the shape of a spear, I threw it towards the alchemist's chest. Who, a few seconds after the tip penetrated it, held my weapon with his hands, throwing it to the ground.

The look of surprise in his eyes touched me, it was like seeing a lamb that was realizing that it had fallen into a wolf's den. And I thirsted for his blood. I wanted to sink my teeth into that little neck and rip out its jugular.

- "Hitomi!" – Shouting once more, but with greater intensity, Fausto shook my mind making me lose concentration on my transformation. Moment in which the alchemist took the opportunity to conjure dark chains that came from the floor of the square, which crossed my body in different parts while dragging me like a fighting bull that has lost its temper.

- "Leave me Faust? I want to have fun! Let me have my feast"

- "Human, do not let the power of the shadows consume you. Didn't you wish to free yourself from the curse and vanquish the goddesses?"

- "I am going to die in nine months, Fausto! She has the only clue to free me from this curse and she won't tell me unless I defeat her."

- "Yes, you said it! Defeat her, not kill her as you have in mind because of that sinister oracle" – Shaking between the chains giving violent spasms, Sandra approached me brandishing a dagger with the firm intention of completing the church ritual.

- "Look at her! That little bastard is about to kill me and you want her to control me?"

- "Do it for Akemi and Edith" - When Fausto mentioned those names, I gave a scream that reverberated throughout the valley until it shook the trees where the birds were resting, making them flee in terror. Throwing Sandra off balance, she dropped the dagger while covering her ears from the intense pain.

The reanimated bodies of the inhabitants began to fall and one by one they gave signs of the putrefaction that had been stopped by the product of alchemy.

- "No, no, noooo! Stop don't go. Don't leave me alone" – The expression on the alchemist's face changed from the sinister chimera she had become, giving way again to the face of an innocent girl who shed tears, extending her hands towards the corpses.

- "Regaining control of the main system, starting the world's oracle program" - Losing my shadow transformation, my body began to smoke and the chains that imprisoned me dissolved like dust that was lost in the wind.

- "Mommy, daddy, don't leave me"

- "What's wrong with this brat?"

- "Amelia, put your hand on her head and repeat after me" - Fulfilling Fausto's wishes, I placed my hand on the girl and recited an incantation that allowed me to explore the memories that remained in the depths of her mind. Letting see before me the scene of a not too distant past.

Not more than twenty years ago, a traveler arrived at Crom's town, staying for a while. That appearance with yellow eyes was bitterly familiar. In his endless search for knowledge, Asmodeus had chosen this town as his base of operations to unleash his experiments with magical creatures.

Having heard the rumors that an old alchemist from the court of the kingdom of Siegfried resided in that villa, who escaped the purge that the church directed against them, Asmodeus began to interrogate the locals until he arrived at Sandra's house.

Víctor Balderas, a retired royal alchemist, had settled in the town of Crom under a false identity in the company of his wife Rebeca and their daughter Sandra. During that time, he set up a medical office to attend to the residents using his alchemy, taking care not to reveal his arts to the public.

Even though in the eyes of the common people he could hide his magic, for the sorcerer Asmodeus the smell of the manna of that man attracted him like a bee to honey.

Posing as a fellow alchemist by manipulating the memories in his mind with magic, Asmodeus dragged Victor to the point where he no longer spent time in his clinic and for a few hours at night he would return home.

At that time, Sandra was barely five years old. Inheriting the ability for alchemy like her father, the girl spent her days reading in her room the books that her father hid under lock and key.

Listening to the stories of his exploits at night like children's tales, Victor had not realized that within his daughter's heart he sowed the seed of a hunger for knowledge.

One afternoon, while secretly following her father to Asmodeus's workshop, the little girl saw how that man and her father successfully manifested an alchemical beast through a transmutation circle. But just in an oversight due to the emotion of her innocence, the little girl made a jar fall to the ground, making them lose concentration.

It was at that moment that the beast got out of control and wounded Victor with its claws, while Asmodeus with his visibly upset face took his staff and struck down the chimera by conjuring elemental magic of lightning.

- "Daddy, forgive me. You got hurt because of me" – Hugging his daughter who was crying inconsolably, Victor told Asmodeus that he would no longer participate in his experiments. Leaving the mysterious subject behind them with an expression of indifference that stuck to the girl.

As the days passed, Victor began to feel sick, coughing uncontrollably as his fever gradually rose until he was delirious.

Trying by all means to help her father, Sandra used every acquired knowledge of alchemy to find a cure to alleviate the symptoms that man had in his body. But one by one, each attempt despite showing improvement, there came a point where it failed completely.

Desperate not knowing what else to do, Sandra left her hut leaving her mother in the care of her father. Going directly to Asmodeus's workshop, the girl fell on her knees before that man, begging him to help her save her father.

Seeing that the girl had potential as an alchemist, the evil dragon deceived her by giving her an elixir that according to her words could reverse her father's symptoms. But in return, he must allow her to inject his blood into him to serve as a test subject for his latest experiment.

Without being aware of the scope of that request, Sandra gladly agreed to later receive the bottle with which she ran to her house and with her hopes pinned on it, she poured every last drop on her father's lips.

After the first night, Víctor got up in the morning as if he had never been sick, living with his family and going to his office every day. But that beautiful illusion changed to a nightmare after five nights, when Victor began to feel that his body was burning like a blazing fire.

Leaving his clinic seized with a feeling of inexplicable anger, that gentle man gradually lost his humanity while his body transformed into a beast similar to the one that had been conjured in the alchemy circle.

The inhabitants of the town, upon seeing that monster, ran in terror, being intercepted by its claws, falling dead as soon as they received the fateful blow of the chimera.

Once again trusting in the sinister Asmodeus, Sandra went looking for him to help reverse her father's condition. To which the evil dragon nodded smiling as he was escorted by the girl to the town square.

- "Please save him"

- "Me? Little girl, you are a great alchemist. You have the power to save your father, don't doubt it. Just manifest the power that I give you through my blood" – Feeling a strong pang in her heart, Sandra collapsed while spitting blood on the ground. Which was taking shape to give it its incomplete draconic appearance.

Without being able to control herself, the little girl launched herself against every living being that passed in front of her, mortally wounding them regardless of whether they were men, women or infants.

- "Sandra, stop" - Desperately interposing herself between the chimera and the draconic beast that her daughter had become, Sandra pierced her mother's chest and the chimera's forehead in her impetuous flight.

By the time the little girl was able to regain consciousness, her eyes widened and she gazed in horror at the chaotic scene that the town had become. Losing his reason when he realized that in front of his naked body, the corpse of his mother and the charred remains of a chimera lay on the ground.

With the guilt of all the lives she had taken that night, little Sandra used her life force to create homunculi with the bodies of her mother and the rest of the villagers. Crying silently while simulating a normal life surrounded by corpses that could only respond as imperfect soulless machines.

- "So this is your secret" - Getting on my knees in front of the girl, I hugged her tightly until her body, which remained motionless, began to tremble, letting out a deep cry that pierced my being.

Living all those years in solitude, searching for an answer to bring them back, the girl had met me in Mireya and thought that due to my nature it was possible to return to her mother along with the rest.

But with each tear that welled up in her eyes, as the bodies began to degrade to dust, Sandra understood that the souls that have left can never return. And that town that for years remained awake in the midst of an ephemeral dream, was preparing to sleep the eternal dream.