Bounty

Iono looked around the room in stupor. He was inside that absolute darkness for close to 60 days.

How much time had passed in the outside world?

He lifted himself up and walked to the bathroom. He grabbed the sink and looked in the mirror that was directly above it.

He looked deeply into his own eyes, while inside his head, the scripture of the monoliths replayed over and over.

He stood there suspended for a moment, as the characters of the two monoliths replayed in his mind, over and over. 

A buzzing noise reverberated. It started low in volume but escalated as the amount of characters swirling in his head increased. At some point it became so loud, it overshadowed his thoughts and then-

*Splash*

Iono splashed some water on his face. 

He quickly left the bathroom, after wiping it.

As he entered the room he saw the rabbit he had brought home, still soundly asleep and restrained as he left it.

He looked outside the window and saw the dark veil of night covering Yotum's night sky.

"It can't be...", he thought.

He hurriedly went down the stairs and burst into the living room, only to see his father , heavily snoring inside his mother's arms.

The fireplace was lit, burning some quality firewood, that was popping and hissing, disturbing the otherwise absolute silence. 

His mother, turned her head around to look at him. 

In a soothing, sweet, low-toned voice,

"Iono? I thought you went to sleep already!", she whispered.

"Yes, I was abou-", before he could finish his not-so-quiet sentence, his mother put her index finger on her mouth, 

"SHHHH!", she said. 

"Your father is asleep. You wanna see his face? He looks adorable!".

A genuine and playful smile appeared on her face as she turned her head once again to look at Yusef.

Iono smiled at the scene.

"No, it's okay. I'm going to sleep too. Goodnight mom.", he said.

"Night, honey!", she whispered.

Iono turned around, and returned to his room.

"It seems that the time I spent in that God forsaken place was non-existent in this world. That's a relief.", he thought.

"I should get some rest. I haven't slept in 60 days...", he joked to himself.

He laid on his bed, closed his eyes and got some well-deserved sleep...

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*Somewhere in Argento*

The mask of the night is the perfect cover for any unlawful acts. Under the guide of the dark sky, ten to fifteen men, moved boxes from a small brigantine to a couple of horse-drawn carriages. 

One would assume they were transferring cargo.

As to what that cargo was, no one could know.

One of them was not carrying any boxes. He was simply making sure that the cargo was transferred safely.

His flaming, red hair and rough face weren't exactly visible in the darkness. 

His was built tall, and thin, but his muscles were hidden under the guise of his height.

There was a scar on his face that ran across his nose bridge. A sheathed sword, hanging from his waist.

After making sure all the merchandise was moved, he boarded the brigantine.

A rough-looking sailor man, was smoking his pipe and looking at the sky.

"For your woes, cap'n...", the red-headed man said, as he handed a few silver coins to the man with the pipe.

"Where is Troban? I thought he dealt with the shipments.", the man asked as he pocketed his coins.

"Dead.", the red-headed man replied, with absolute calmness.

The apparent owner of the small ship was shocked.

"Which poor bastard had the b*lls to touch one of your guys?", he asked.

"Dunno.", the red-headed man replied while shrugging his shoulders, uncaring of his comrade's death.

"But the boss is pissed. He sent out a manhunt. Twenty-gold bounty on an invisible head.

The whole underworld is swarming with leeches, looking for the ghost that killed White Day's second lieutenant."

The rough looking man sighed.

"It's going to get hectic around here.", he said.

"Someone's dying, that's for sure.", the red-headed man said calmly, and as he did, he turned around to leave.

But he stopped on his tracks after a few steps.

"Oh... I forgot to ask.

How many units was the shipment in total?", he asked without turning his head.

"300; As always.", the rough looking man replied.

"Really...?", the red-headed man exclaimed.

Suddenly-

*Slash*

"Then, why did I count 280...?", he said, a wicked grin on his face.

The rough-looking man wanted to reply, but his words got caught on his throat.

Somehow the world had turned upside down!

Only when his head hit the floor, did he realise what just happened.

The red-headed man had barely unsheathed the sword that was hanging from his waist, and the rough-looking man's head got separated from his body.

The man took a match box out of his pocket.

He slowly opened it and took out a match.

He slowly scraped it on the side; the match lit.

The flame reflected on the irises of his eyes.

He stared at it for a moment.

He then threw it inside a bottle of rum that was sitting on a table.

He disembarked while the brigantine started to burn.

He calmly climbed on the first of the horse-drawn carriages that contained the cargo.

With a swift flick of the reins, the horses hastily galloped, and carriages disappeared into the night...

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*Next morning*

The morning sun had just woken up from its slumber.

Its glorious rays embracing the grass-filled valley of the village.

The cold, northern wind scraped the grassland, contradicting the image of the red giant.

Winter was nigh and the temperature had severely dropped.

The Eastern kingdom usually had mild winters other than the northern parts of it, but lately the temperature changes have been rather abstract.

Snowy winters and boiling summers reigned all across the kingdom.

If one paid attention to this newly-formed, small village at the southern borders of the kingdom, one would see a bustling air, one unsuitable for its small population.

People would straddle into the woods to gather firewood and hunt, preparing themselves for a long winter.

The blacksmith had just opened his shop, the sound of metal clashing resounded in the village square.

The tailor was swiftly putting his newly-made garments on display.

The smell of fresh bread had encompassed the whole village, seeing as it was small in size. The bakery had just finished today's batch.

Inside this bustling activity, two children stood out, as they were outside of the village.

One of them had a peculiar skin colour, unusual, to say the least, for humans.

Other than that, he looked like a regular 12-year-old boy. Only more muscular and graceful.

The other one was a little girl. Her cheeks were red and puffy and her eyes were closed, seemingly in deep concentration. Her brunette hair fell on your shoulders as a waterfall, seemingly never cut since birth.

"Alright, Clarissa. Now, guide the energy to your stomach. Imagine it as a river, flowing towards the sea.", the boy said.

"I'm trying! But it just disappears after a while!", the girl replied in frustration.

"That's your damn channels that keep absorbing the energy like gluttonous b*stards! Just try harder!", the boy yelled, also in frustration.

"Language!!", the girl reprimanded him.

"STOP ACTING LIKE MY MOTHER, AND CIRCULATE YOUR ENERGY!", the boy angrily yelled.

"AND I SAID, I'M TRYING!", the girl talked back with a glare.

*Sigh*

"Alright, that's enough for today. Core refinement takes time. It's not a matter of weeks.", the boy said, exhausted by the exchange.

The girl relaxed her tense body.

*Sigh*

"This is harder than I thought...", she said, looking down.

"What did you expect, you dumbass, that controlling energy is easy? There are people who never manage to do it their entire lives!", the boy said condescendingly.

The girl appeared to become even more upset after hearing the boy reprimand her.

"Oh, come on. I'm the one teaching you. So, don't worry. You'll be fine...", the boy said with a gentle and confident tone.

The girl smiled at his words.

"Come on, let's go hom-"

Iono's words got caught on his throat.

He sensed something.

More precisely, someone.

A presence, not far from here.

Watching from the shadows.

Clarissa noticed Iono tense up.

"What's wrong?", she asked.

"Go home. Now.", he said in a hurried manner.

"What do you mean? What's wro-"

"Just go home! QUICKLY!", he yelled.

Clarissa, afraid of the unknown, had enough trust in Iono to obey him without talking back.

She run away, heading towards Iono's house. She wanted to alert Yusef.

This whole time the presence never made a move.

He saw the girl leave and didn't react at all.

"So I'm the target...", Iono thought.

Silence.

The wind blew.

"Alright, you can come out now.", he said.

The presence disappeared.

Suddenly-

*Clash*

Two daggers clashed.

A purple and a bronze one.

Sparks appeared.

"You're fast", Iono said to the hooded man that just appeared.

His body and face were covered by a dark cloak.

Only his muscular arm was visible, holding the dagger.

"That dagger appeared out of think air.", the man said in a crisp voice.

"I got more tricks to show you, if you're interested", Iono taunted.

"Maybe some other time. For now, I need to talk you", the man replied.

"Who are you?", Iono curiously asked, lowering his dagger.

The man did the same.

He pulled his hood down.

"It's you!?", Iono replied, startled.