Illusion

…What?

Karlos looked back in disbelief.

"...What do you mean? They're behind me…"

"Karlos." Lysandra interjected again. "It hasn't been more than five seconds since you entered the manor, and I can't sense anybody around us."

His blood chilled.

Who was he to believe?

Less than five seconds? I'd been speaking with people this entire time, not to mention how I slept for a short while after I arrived… Does she mean the moment I stepped inside, time had…

'SLASH'

His thoughts were interrupted.

'Thud'

Lysandra was lying in a pool of crimson.

On her stomach, a deep wound had formed that resembled that of a sword's strike. Her breathing was unstable as the snakes on her head drooped onto the doorstep.

Goosebumps erupted all over Karlos's back.

Instantly, his mind cleared and he realized how strange everything had been. The plot to dismantle Egris, the behaviour of his servants, his lack of perception and confusion... It was all abnormal.

He felt his nerves forcibly control his body as he stumbled backward, his entire upper torso gone numb.

'SWISH'

Karlos narrowly dodged a sword swing from… Alphonse?

The old man held a shining sword that was stained with glistening red, the intricate designs on the hilt of the blade accentuated its status as a weapon from Egris.

"What are..."

He had no time to make sense of anything. Sêlafrien took out several blades from her pocket and threw them at his face.

'THK' 'THK' 'THK'

Three small knives embedded into Karlos's broken arm. He tried to run, but crumpled under the pain.

The situation was absurd. Not only had his servants attacked Lysandra, Sêlafrien had attacked him with weapons of her own. Just what was happening? 

Karlos clenched his teeth as hard as he could and quickly removed the blades from his arm. Blood splattered all over the floor, but he was more concerned for his life.

He clumsily threw the knives back in the direction of his 'servants' and sprinted in the opposite direction, quickly running up the stairs of the manor.

Alphonse glared Sêlafrien for a brief moment before giving chase.

Sêlafrien herself stayed behind with the other servants, calmly stroking her hazelnut hair.

She bent down and collected Karlos's spilled blood within a small vial, safely storing it within her pocket.

Gisthûs nudged his glasses and took out a green sphere. "Why did you let him escape? It's not like the Gardener is going to do the same...?"

The dignified woman with piercing eyes turned to Gisthûs.

"...I thought you were done with the Mental Manipulation?"

"I'm sorry, there's some... Interference with the boy. I can't seem to control his mind." 'Gisthûs tinkered with a green orb in his hands. Around it, he swirled the pools of energy inside the sphere.

She raised an eyebrow. "Even after the poison?"

"Not even that. I don't know how, but he seems to have implemented a barrier that exceeds the Heart Chakra..."

Exceeds the Heart Chakra? Absurd. How could a mere child have so much concentrated Psyche? Besides, no books in existence teach powers of that calibre... Unless...

Sêlafrien pondered for a moment, fondling with the small blade in her hands.

"...Right before Silver Rabbit had died, she informed us of a supposed 'mark' on his back..."

Ailean felt a candle light inside his mind. "Do you mean he received his Psychic energy from a third party?"

"We can't be sure, we'll just have to take our little Rabbit's words to heart... It's a shame, though. I told her countless times to inform us of any abnormalities, yet she went and fought a gorgon alone. 'Ha...' That one was full of potential." She sighed and tossed a key ring to him.

"Search the manor." Sêlafrien sternly commanded, in a tone almost unrecognizable.

"Should we follow the Gardener?" Ailean asked while holding a yellow umbrella in his other hand.

"No need, he should be enough to handle the boy." Sêlafrien emotionlessly brushed back her hazelnut hair.

"What about the gorgon?"

Looking down at the struggling Lysandra, who had been desperately trying to breath the entire time, Sêlafrien turned and walked back into the manor.

"Leave her. That slash was lethal, she'll likely die from blood loss..." Taking out a few candles, she handed one to each servant.

"...You all know what to look for. Find anything that befits the Soaring Reigaro"

"As you wish, Caretaker."

...

'Ha...' 'Ha...'

Karlos ran through the left hallway of the manor.

He could hear the slamming of footsteps directly behind him. He didn't dare turn around.

'THUD' 'THUD' 'THUD' 

Eventually, he reached an branched path.

That hallway should lead to-

'SLAM' 

Karlos turned around and saw a sword aimed directly for his heart.

Thinking fast, he reached for the nearby shelf.

'POF'

Just in time, Karlos managed to block the blade with a thick book, but he couldn't deflect the full weight of the thrust with only one arm.

He stumbled backward down the short wooden steps, tumbling onto the floor of their small library.

"..." Alphonse looked down at the young man as he calmly walked down the steps, sword in hand.

Karlos barely opened his eyes, watching Alphonse grow closer.

He still had that same distinct mustache, the thinning gray hair on his head. It seemed silly how such a frail-looking old man that only tended to flowers could wield such a blade stained with blood.

"Please... Stop..." Karlos felt his vision becoming blurrier by the second, coughing between each word as he struggled to catch his breath.

Alphonse didn't respond. Looming over the young man, he positioned to plunge into Karlos's heart.

Feeling around for something, anything to defend himself with, Karlos suddenly felt an ice cold object hidden on his hip.

'WOOSH'

'KLANG'

Alphonse jumped several steps backward, his heels touching the wooden steps.

His sword was only barely deflected, trembling from the clash of metal to metal.

Karlos himself was bewildered. in his hands was Kassel's dagger. It too vibrated in his hand, nearly falling out of his grip from the force, but he refused to let go.

Alphonse opened his mouth slightly, as if to silently say "Where did you get that?"

Or "Who did you take it from?"

He wasted no time. As soon as he saw Alphonse motionless, stunned, Karlos mustered the remaining stength in his legs and began running once more, this time weaving inbetween the bookcases of the library. He also stuffed the blade back into his clothes, not caring if it caught on the fibers.

Alphonse snapped out of his reverie and chased after Karlos, clutching his sword harder than before.

Karlos knew he wouldn't be able to maintain the chase for much longer. He barely had any strength left in his body, after all.

He had to deal with Alphonse in this very room.

Circling around a bookshelf, Karlos began throwing books all over the floor, deliberately ripping pages and scattering them behind himself.

Alphonse, being only a few steps away from Karlos, didn't have time to react. He managed to dodge a book thrown at his face, but he slipped on a fallen book and crashed into the pile of papers.

'POMPF'

Now's my chance...!

Karlos quickly went to a bookshelf opposite to Alphonse.

The old man propped himself up with his sword and angrily tossed the books out of the way.

Suddenly, he stopped.

'CRASH'

Karlos pushed with his good arm and used all of his effort to knock down the heavy wooden shelf directly on Alphonse's back.

Like a chain reaction, one became two, and two became six. Eventually, the entire library was clouded with dust and ripped pages.

The old man wasn't significantly injured, but he was pinned under the heavy shelves and thick books. His sword was nowhere to be seen, likely to be somewhere within the pile of pages.

Karlos had long backed away, anxiously watching the final bookshelf collapse to the floor.

After waiting for the dust to settle, Karlos trudged over to Alphonse and crouched down, clutching his wounded arm.

'POF'

He sat on a pile of dusty books and pages, observing the old man.

"...Why?"

"...What do you mean, 'why'?" Alphonse spoke for the first time since the start of their entire chase, his voice just as Karlos had remembered.

Karlos looked down at the torn pages of books he had read since childhood, some of which he had even read with Alphonse. He shuddered.

"...What compelled you to do any of this? I don't even know what to ask you. I'm just so... Confused."

Did he betray me too?

Like Kassel?

Alphonse blankly stared at Karlos, his lips quivering slightly.

Eventually, he spoke.

"...[Growth] "

Wha-...!

Karlos stumbled in shock as several large vines sprouted from the floor and lifted the bookshelves, toppling them away from Alphonse.

He barely avoided a bookshelf that toppled in his direction, crushing the books around his feet.

Alphonse was quickly let down from the vines. The large, fiborous green plants had found his sword and enveloped themselves around it, creating an exquisite blade that resembled the weapon of the Goddess of Nature herself.

His eyes trembled as he spoke.

"...Your life shall return to nature, for it is the beauty of the Great Mother that you were spawned into this world."

Alphonse slowly approached the exhausted Karlos, sword in hand.

The young man repeatedly stumbled and collapsed onto the pile of torn papers and books, desperately attempting to escape. It was no use, however. He had no energy to run.

"If you must know, however..." Alphonse closed his eyes, his grip tightening on the green vines around the handle of the blade.

"...I am not truly this 'Alphonse' you speak of."

Karlos hesitated for a moment, his eyes intensely focused on the old man in front of him as he stopped struggling. He tried to speak, but the old man raised one hand to stop him.

"...That is none of your concern. My identity is unimportant." 'Alphonse' postured himself to strike at Karlos once more, the green vines on his sword wriggling with delight. His stance was like an executioner about to behead a death row inmate. Cold, ruthless, and sinister.

"I only hope that this verity would serve you well...

...In the afterlife."

'KLANG'

There was nothing to stop him this time.

The sword was not disrupted mid-air.

There was nobody to interrupt his attack.

Karlos was completely helpless. He could only watch in shock as the blade sunk deeper into his chest. Cold metal and squirming vines plunging into his heart.

And yet.

...No blood? Alphonse wore an expression of confusion as he lifted the sword and saw a perfectly unharmed Karlos, with no new wounds on his chest besides the ones he already had.

Karlos was similarily bewildered. He felt for the wound with his good arm but found himself relatively fine.

What was more shocking, however, was what was happening to his attacker.

Alphonse had become translucent, his body exposing the background behind him.

The large vines and elegant blade in his hand had also dulled in colour, slowly mixing with his clear arm as they disappeared into nothingness.

Karlos was confused, but Alphonse realized what was happening.

He had run out of Psyche.

"...Alphonse Löcher."

"What?"

The old man suddenly wore an uncharacteristic grin, his eyes reminiscent of the manic ferocity Karlos had seen from Kassel.

He felt his spine shiver.

"This man who you cherish so dearly... His last name is Löcher..."

His face suddenly became blurry, his form almost unrecognizable.

"Remember it."

Without waiting for a response, 'Alphonse' smudged away like water on an oil painting, his body melting into the ground.

"..."

Silence befell the manor.

Karlos sat at the same spot for several minutes, his eyes unwaveringly staring at the pile of books where the old man stood moments ago.

After some time, he muttered to himself.

"...verdammt..."