Turmoil

"What are you waiting for, Brissie?"

Harris asked Brissia while smiling wryly. "If you want to leave, leave. Should you sacrifice your resolve for this cowardly soldier?"

Brissia froze. Her eyes pierced Harris's face. However, she was the one who felt her heart being torn apart when Harris looked away.

How could you, Harris?

She bit her lips as disappointment welled up in her heart. Among the faces that faded in her memory, Harris was her only hope of surviving in Archtier. Neither because he's the best agent nor the sweetest man that ever existed. But because of the fate that shackled them in between a sense of belonging and unbearable longing.

As Brissia walked away, Harris glanced at her slowly. It ignited an unsettling heat inside him, which was only worsened by Benjamin's grip on his collar.

"You better tell me you were joking, Harris." Benjamin gulped as he paused between sentences. "Although I'm sure it was too much for her to bear, I'll let you off and pretend you were babbling."

Harris slapped Benjamin's hand away. He spoke with his icy glare on the street, "Why did you think I was babbling when I said it hurts to soon be forgotten by our dearest?"

"Because love and fondness are a matter of how far you're willing to go into a difficult maze with her."

One step that Benjamin took to face Harris turned Harris's gaze toward him.

"And whatever happens, you will be by her side until the end of it," Benjamin once again said.

Benjamin's turning away left Harris alone in the silence. The darkness covering Archtier did not hinder him or Brissia, whose path was the opposite of his. The wind fluttered the cloaks on their shoulders, as if to expose an invisible burden that was heavier than their steps and gazes. Until suddenly, cracks spread across the cobblestone road beneath their feet.

Thud!

Harris groaned in pain when Benjamin pushed him until he landed on his back on the road. However, when he saw not only a pit forming near his feet, but also Benjamin hanging there, he was completely stunned.

"Save her first, Harris!"

Benjamin's shout turned Harris toward the Flower Bridge.

Oh, no. As Harris's mind continued to echo in disbelief, he quickened his pace.

"Brissie!" he shouted, but found no one under the pit that had formed in the middle of the bridge.

Meanwhile, Brissia took a stance in front of a man who was standing calmly in front of her. The two stood on the side of the river, far from Harris's visibility.

"You think jumping into the water will help you escape?"

The man's question was followed by him taking steps, slowly but surely. Brissia, who became where he walked to, retreated alertly.

"You'll pay your liabilities, Niverte," he hissed.

"I don't know."

The man furrowed his brows when Brissia grinned. She then said again, "I don't remember receiving an invoice."

In an instant, the man was thrown into the river and covered in neon blue. It was Brissia's doing. Her smile vanished as she lowered her hands toward him then she climbed over the river barrier, up the street until she met Harris.

"Are you okay, Brissie?"

She ignored Harris' question and hurried to help Benjamin up from the pit. However, as she rescued him and turned to look at Harris, the man was lying helpless on the ground.

"Harris!" Brissia slides on both feet at Harris. "What happened?"

A triumphant laugh turned Brissia and Benjamin's faces as Harris didn't respond. The man in drenched black clothes walked towards them, glaring with a grin.

"You crazy b*stard," Brissia hissed as she rose from her position.

"Why? Can't stand the resemblance of your dead friend?" the man smirked.

Brissia's hands clenched into fists. A bluish light slowly leaked from between her fingers as she sharpened her gaze on Tyler's doppelganger. Her power later made a massive crack on one of the buildings' walls that sparked his sinister chuckle, rather a shudder or bewilderment.

"What's the use of your power?" said the fake Tyler. "Be it past or present, you would always strike."

"Looks like you're missing out on something," Brissia said as she stretched her fist. "That was my warning sign."

The smirk on Tyler's lips vanished. He darted at Brissia, who didn't budge an inch and just waited for his attack to arrive.

As Tyler and Brissia were fighting, someone in a black robe approached them. The two, who did not hesitate to show their ability to overthrow one of them, seemed unaware of its existence. Harris' fingers moved and his closed eyes twitched. However, it was all too late.

Brissia froze at Benjamin who was blown away after the purple light hit his back. She quickly turned to the side, dodging as the purple light shot toward her and Tyler. But what then knocked her down until her legs couldn't support her body mass was Tyler's standing position which was covered in black dust.

"Oh my gosh. Look who's so adamant that sacrifices are made," Madame Ouden spoke with a soft chuckle. She pointed his hand at the tall building behind Brissia. In an instant, chunks and ruins of buildings followed the gravity that had tied Brissia in place.

Benjamin's muttering lowered Brissia's face for a moment. As she lowered herself to shield him from the rubble, Fayrl suddenly lowered down beside her and raised her wrist upwards.

A neon blue semi-transparent dome held the chunks half a meter above their heads. Brissia, with wide golden eyes, stared unblinkingly at Fayrl whose face was covered in pain.

"Focus, Brissia!"

Her gaze shifted when the blue light from the side repeatedly failed to break Madame Ouden's stance. Harris tried to distract Madame Ouden, despite being cut open in the arm.

"I can't help you both at once," Brissia muttered.

"Worry not," Fayrl answered right away, "Who do you most want to help? I'll take care of the rest."

Brissia's turn to Harris gave Fayrl the answer. She pushed Brissia's shoulders hard until she was thrown out of the semi-transparent dome. After that, she and Benjamin vanished and caused ruins to hit the ground.

"Gosh," Fayrl muttered while supporting herself with her shaking hands. Her dim gaze occasionally turned to Brissia and then to Hansen who was running toward Benjamin and her.

As Fayrl slumped next to Benjamin, and Hansen sped up with wide eyes, so did Brissia. However, once Harris pulled the trigger…

Bang!

It was the beginning of the emergence of someone they never expected to be involved in the turmoil.