3 Chapter 1 (3/3) - Dawn, Alkmard, the Little Girl and the Ghost

By the time this happened the sun was just about to set, the big round blue sphere was just starting to disappear, a part of it was already gone. Now there was a dark-blue glow covering the square, the lamp posts were starting to light up.

It was already this late, the exhaustion was creeping up on me again.

"Okay then, how about we meet here tomorrow? I'll show you around then you can begin your job... I mean you can start taking care of me" A little girl was all smiles as she said that to me.

Honestly, I wouldn't have accepted what she said if it weren't for that old hag. But I had a hunch that this Mother Franklin had something to do with that old hag, so this might prove to be a suitable excuse.

"Okay then tomorrow's fine, the sooner the better, just don't be late. Now off you go."

She seemed like she had something to say as she stayed for a moment but then left off humming a tune like she had just won the lottery. And I would have to say she did.

Now I was alone in the square, the sun had now set and the square was illuminated by the light of the lamp posts, bright enough that it might as well have been day instead. Now that I was finally alone my body started to relax and it healed at an even faster rate, but I would have to do with this for now. I couldn't wait for it to fully heal because I had something to do.

"Come out, you're there aren't you?" I stood up while saying this.

*Heh*Heh*Heh*Heh*Heh*Heh*Heh*

And with that shadow figures emerged from the shadows of the lamp-posts. There were now six shadows that stood in front of me. They seemed to be the shadows of humans as they stood there. If it weren't for the lights then they would have blended with the darkness of the night.

"Tch! To think even when you're dead you'd still be causing trouble."

"My my if it isn't the little cripple, its no wonder how you were able to find us, but really, that's all you can do." the one in front spoke out.

"Well, you want to try?"

"Oh my! I'm so scared I think I might just have a heart attack and die. Oh, wait! I'm already dead. Face it little Ashwaal, we all know that you aren't able to deal with us dead people like a real Murk Veil should, it's such a waste of that blood flowing in you. That blood to us was a blessing but to cripples such as, you, it's only a shackle that will bind you for life. Now, don't you wish you were dead too?" Dead people really did love to talk, but he was darn right, I wasn't able to 'manipulate' the dead like they could, like I was supposed to, and I have never regretted that,

"Cripple? At least I'm alive and you're dead, and this hasn't changed since before. I have never once regretted not being like you all even if it meant being an outcast from the family, and you're right this blood is a shackle, but it's also a resolve, to never be like you all."

"Now now little Ashwaal, you can't deny blood even if you're a cripple. After all, you know you did things like this.."

"You know very well that I couldn't, and that's one of the reasons why I was outcast." It was because I was different from the rest of them that I couldn't do it. The only thing I could was 'Dead Detection'.

They were people sharing the same blood as me, the same ancestor. They were also of the MurkVeil household. Even in this world, the concept of commoners and nobility still existed. This time the nobles were those that were blessed with talent in magic. Old man MurkVeil was one of those that was blessed with that talent and we were his descendants, thus being one of the 'nobles' of the world.

But to me, these descendants of his were not human. they were only night creatures. I don't know about the old man himself, but the rest of the family, in the right sense couldn't be considered living. They had bodies, were human even, but you wouldn't be able to feel the life coming from them at all. Instead, it was more like they supplemented life with mana, like they lived through mana. It was amazing how they were able to live without 'life', without 'blood, that I had to accept. Even more so was that the old man blood was actually passed down to these post-human descendants. But since they were 'dead' in the right sense, their moral sense also died with them.

Some of them would suck the blood of other people, some would go to graveyards and raise the dead, some even moved their souls from flesh to bones. It wasn't surprising for them to just go to the forests or mountains and slaughter because they felt like it. With the huge mana they were born with, they were only constrained by the rules of the world, and could literally do anything if they weren't.

Overall everyone with MurkVeil blood in them had an affinity for the night, that meant darkness and evil here.

I had that affinity too, had even more than the rest even, but this was the point where I was different. Even with all my affinity, I wouldn't even be able to match one of them when it came to our so-called, ancestral magic or in this case, 'MurkVeil' magic. As for why, it was because I was born 'alive', like a normal human being. I had 'life' in me, blood in me, like everyone else, except maybe them, my 'family' of post-humans. Thus I could not succeed in learning their magic and thus earned the right to be called a cripple, to be disdained. This started when I was four. Nobles grew faster than normal people because they had the blood of really strong people in them. For example, me and also that little girl.

But still, I was happy. To fail in learning their magic, was to fail to be a MurkVeil, and that meant to be 'alive'. I was happy, that my moral sense hadn't died, that I could be considered a living person and could mingle with other humans. I could live like a normal human.

I left the castle when I was 6 and I hadn't turned back even once. Then I met Father Koft and he took me in. Then suddenly news came one day that the MurkVeil household, along with the city it was in, was destroyed and that there were no survivors. it was two years after I left that we received the news. I was 8 that year.

Was I shocked by the news? Not in the slightest, with their evil ways it was only a matter of time before something like this happened to them. But the thing that troubled me most to this day was that even though I was the odd one out, the 'cripple', I couldn't deny that we shared half of the same blood at least and that this someone or something that killed them would also come for me. But now if they weren't at the level of the old hag I would be able to defend myself, that I was sure.

So little spectres, or ghosts, or shadows like this who couldn't even form more corporeal bodies and thus forced to stay in these states to me were just... small fries.

And now here they were before me, the people I previously hated most in the world. The hate was gone when they really 'died'. They were not even worthy of my hate.

"Why are you haunting Eville?"

"My my straight to the point eh? You're no fun at all. Don't you already know the answer to that question? Such a talented and strong young girl, think about it. If we could make her cower in fear, someone who would soon be one of the strongest in all of Omera, if we could manipulate her, just think about what we could do. World domination? Pft! Where's the fun in that? Think more on the lines of destruction, despair, plunging the world into chaos! Heh heh heh heh heh heh heh.." its high pitched laughs rang throughout the square, strong enough to even make the surroundings vibrate.

"And now that you're here," its 'pupils' or white round dots, went sharply for a moment, "You might as well help with our plan, after all, our glory is also your glory. No one would be willing to harm a cripple if he had the protection of the king. After all, aren't we family?" Now there was a wide grin on the shadows face.

I wasn't a hot-headed person and definitely not the type to go around picking fights because I felt like it, nor was I the type to lash out so easily, but now 'it' went too far.

Maybe my fury was apparent on my face, though I didn't feel like I showed any emotion, there was a mocking grin on the shadows face, I'm sure I would be seeing it's white teeth if it had any, but it was just 'empty'.

"Well it seems persuasion didn't work, I didn't want to do this but you forced me to little Ashwaal, a little cripple like you should really know your place."

*Swoosh* The shadows suddenly moved and

*Flop* I was instantly pinned down, my chest against the ground, my face had dust on it. Two shadows were on top of me, the rest three enclosed where I was in a triangle, and the one who spoke, the 'leader' was right in front of me.

"Hah! I knew it, you're still weak like before, easily bullied, forced to do everything for us, just like the family's personal worker. And this time it'll be the same, so you're in for a long ride and you won't be able to do anything about it. In fact, you should remember this spell quite clearly, it 'was' used on you before wasn't it?" then the fingers on its right hand started to glow violet, the three shadows in the triangle position were also now connected with a violet line, enclosing us in a triangle. And slowly but surely, its' hands were coming closer, it would be over once it touched my head.

This spell, of course, I would remember it, this darn spell was the main thing that gave me the idea of running away, that lighted the spark, it made me start to think more about ways to run away. I was 5 that year when they used it on me. They toyed with me like a bird. It was an ancestral spell, it granted complete control over undead, even over strong ones like 'liches' and 'corpse lords'.

To dispell it, you needed to..... drink the blood of the caster. But not like literally drinking it, but more like taking a sip, even a drop of blood was fine. The catch was that the caster had to die first. It would be really hard to kill the caster when he could manipulate you as he wanted. You would more or less have to kill him unseen by even the caster.

I still remember that day, the day I first killed someone, the caster's death marked the start of my great escape.

Now seeing that same spell being used on me, it did bring back unpleasant memories, but not the fear I felt the first time. No, no that. 'It' was really underestimating me if 'it' really thought I was still the same as before.

"Eh? That's odd, aren't you scared? You're going to be a puppet again for the rest of your life, and this time no blood to release you. Aren't you going to grovel and beg for mercy like before?"

"Beg? Heh, that's what you'd be doing soon, but I'm not even going to give you the chance for that."

The temperate of the surroundings suddenly dropped, there seemed to be a suffocation pressure on the square. Even the wind stopped blowing, everything was still quiet. Even the shadows were appalled by this change.

"It's surprising that you still think of me as that little kid from before who couldn't even fend for himself. Even a 'cripple' has a solution, if there weren't then why would there be problems in the first place? Well, why don't you take a look at mine."

*Swoosh* A black shockwave spread throughout the square with me as the origin, knocking the shadows away. In their confusion, they all backed away again and took stances behind the leader in front of me.

As I got up, there seemed to be a transparent dark shadow covering me, different from the rest of those 'shadows. This one could only be described to be the 'black' of darkness itself, yet being transparent at the same time. Giving me a more sinister aura. My pupils, originally brown, were now one part black or 'light-less'. The sinister aura was spreading to the atmosphere, like a dark miasma covering everywhere.

"It's been a long ten years since we last saw each other and I learned a lot more than you dead people ever will. Like the fact that my soul was split when I was born."

"And to my luck, I found one of those pieces in the last five years. I call it the 'dark' piece."

"You know what? I'm sick of speaking to you all, even seeing you hurts my eyes. But I won't kill you now, no, more like I won't wipe away your existence for now. Instead, go and tell the others that I know that they are alive, and I'll be coming to find them one day. And when I do, I will wipe you all from the face of Omera."

I raised my right hand, my index finger, glowing violet, pointed at the shadows. Violet thunder was also roaring in the sky, that was now full of dark clouds. Then as the glow illuminated the square,

"Begone! And may your souls be bound with chains for a millennium!"

As the glow reached its max, it disappeared taking with it the shadows. The clouds also cleared up, showing the night sky. The square returned to its former state. A cool breeze was blowing through the square, like nothing all that didn't really happen.

This was one of the necromancer's spells, 'Necromancer's authority'. The stronger the caster, the stronger the authority. And this 'dark' piece of mine was definitely strong, at least at the level of taking a hit from that Old Hag.

And with that, I also slowly returned to normal. Even though it was a piece of my soul, it seems that they wouldn't be able to permanently fuse until all the pieces were gathered together. Right now I could only forcefully fuse them, and this could last at minimum four days. That was how long I lasted before and might even be able to last for much longer. But the consequences were immense. Like, after I returned to normal after transforming, a wave of weakness would assault me and this stemmed from the soul, so it wasn't something that could easily be healed by a day. In fact, it was amazing enough that my soul could actually heal itself, after all, most damages to the soul, even the slightest damage, would be permanent under normal conditions.

The rate my soul healed depended on how long I stayed transformed. Other side effects would be the really dark thoughts I got while I was transformed but that was just about it.

Now that one of my problems were solved, I could keep the matter about those remnants at the back of my head, for now. After all, I still had things to do here, a lot of things.

And where was here anyway? I thought this was Alkmard but it doesn't seem like it. I didn't speak to anyone on my way here, except maybe Eville if she counted. But I did hear them speak, like other travellers at the outskirts of the city, asking about the city, and none of them said that it was Alkmard at all. But I was sure that this was the place, I guess I would have to ask Eville about it next time.

The square was getting brighter and brighter, it seems dawn was near. I wonder when that little girl would get here, I was really running late. Now I was a month and a day late. But now at least I had something or an excuse I could make. Just thinking about that Old Hag and what she did back then, was enough to make me break out in cold sweat.

I just wished Eville would get here sooner so I could get to Alkmard soon, my life depended on it.