Light bled through Hezekiah's eyelids. He squinted until a white scene came into view.

  He yawned; clinks of metal echoed when he moved his arms. Handcuffs? He was in a white, empty room; metal bars sealed him inside.

  Dammit, Irva—you just had to fall asleep. You're supposed to wake me up when the time is right. Fortunately I still obtained information through your senses before you passed out.

  The pill he gave her granted a few abilities. One was to link her visual and audio senses to him, and another was to put a target to sleep with a thought.

  He sighed as he rose to his feet, noticing a figure on the other side. Her mask was pitch black, creating a metallic-void effect.

  It's her again. So the organization really do possess their own Abnas.

  —Facial scan failed. Cannot identify individual. Automatically performing External Analysis—

  —Type: Human—

  —Physical Conditions: Alive, healthy—

  —Mental Conditions: Distressed, Enraged—

  Shit.

  "Aren't you going to explain what's going on?" Hezekiah spoke first, wrists rubbing against the cuffs. The flames should take care of them without any issue, but rushing in blind would lead to nowhere.

  She clasped one of the bars; black smoke slithered from her skin. Her form hazed, phasing through the cage until she appeared inside. "You aren't... surprised?" she inquired after seeing no change in his expression.

  "Believe me, I am."

  Her head tilted as if she wasn't convinced. "Either way, you committed a grave sin... the price will not be light." She made her way toward him as black trails of smoke encircled her, twisting at sharp angles like sea serpents.

  I just f*cking woke up, dammit!

  "It's only fair you tell me what that is. Why am I in one of Sunset Garden's prison cells?!" His tone heightened, playing up his desperation.

  "There's no forgiveness for whoever hurts my sister."

  Hezekiah took a step back. "How am I supposed to know who that is!?"

  "Of course... you don't know our relationship. The one who led you to defeat—Irva was her name."

  Seems they haven't caught on yet. I'm already aware of all this. But fighting her here with my flames could be dangerous for everyone in the tower. There are still ordinary civilians on the public floor, and I have to think about Falina too who might be nearby. I'm not out of options.

  "You care for her? That's admirable—looks like we agree on something."

  Her pace slowed. "Liar. You ruined her arm!"

  "It's called self-defense. You think I enjoyed doing that to her? It's pitiful that she's forced to follow that man, who cares very little about empathy. Aren't you sick of them too?"

  "What...? No—your deception won't work on me!"

  The black trail spiked toward Hezekiah; already anticipating the attack, he narrowly dodged it, the strike hitting the ground behind him.

  The impacted area blackened and withered, as if it had aged several decades.

  "If you're sorry, offer your life and cease resisting."

  "Very fitting after everything I did working with them—few understand that. But if you kill me, what do you think will happen to Irva? Would Urimah be happy with the result? I thought you would be more considerate with her situation."

  "But she awakened... he will now accept her no matter what."

  "Sure, as long as the puppet does what it's told. But as soon as she develops an attachment worth more than the organization, you may be the one who has to send her off."

  The snake-like trails briefly stuttered. She didn't turn toward him; her mask only looked ahead.

  "You're just trying... to distract me."

  "That's how you see it? Can't blame you. I comforted myself the same way when I wavered about saving my sister from them. And in the end, I still lost someone I deeply cared for."

  Morianna perked her head up. "You mean that girlfriend of yours—weren't you the one who killed her?"

  The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.

  "That's how we looked? Maybe that's not far off." He weakly smiled, keeping distance from any surprise attacks. "It still sucks to think about—just had to remind me, didn't you?"

  She finally faced him again; however, the distance was maintained.

  Hinges of a door could be heard opening, followed by a woman who rapidly came into view outside the cell.

  It's about time. Any longer and this could've been messy for everyone.

  "I knew you'd be here! Get out of there, Mori!" Irva demanded. She no longer wore the clothes from previously and was now wearing a cast.

  Hezekiah saw Morianna tense, stiffening her fingers as she walked past him. "This isn't... over," she whispered. The black smoke trails vanished into the air.

  "We were, um... chatting."

  Irva shook her head in disbelief, stealing a glance at Hezekiah who shared the same look. "He's dangerous—what if you got hurt!?" She held her arm like a concerned mother.

  Morianna faded into smoke as she passed through the cage and quickly reverted to her original form. "You mean... you mean you were worried?" she asked hopefully.

  "Don't change the dang subject. What in the flames were you doing in there? And I swear—you better not say it was all for my sake."

  "Ah—umm. Well... you see, it wasn't like that."

  Irva pinched her nose with a fatigued breath. "Yeah, yeah—so believable! Forget I asked. Please carry your obsession somewhere else; it's embarrassing, ya know."

  Having another servant would prove quite useful. Should I guide Irva into giving her up? No... I should hold off in the meantime.

  Hezekiah studied the interaction between the two. If for whatever reason he gets separated from Irva again, manipulating Morianna could be a viable option—either by force or by taking advantage of her concern for Irva.

  Morianna's shoulders sagged. "That hurts—you didn't have to say that."

  "You'll get over it," she playfully responded, waving her off.

  Morianna gave one final look to Hezekiah—and for a moment Hezekiah could've sworn he felt a change in her demeanor—before proceeding out of his sight.

  Right... these are Abnas, not normal people. Anything could be unpredictable with them.

  After hearing the door close and seeing Irva's confirmation, he made his way to the gate of the cell. "You should know I'm not in the greatest mood right now."

  Irva gripped her arms tightly. "She's a bit... overprotective—but not a threat!"

  "You misunderstand. I wasn't referring to her." He then pointed toward Irva. "You falling asleep could've gotten me killed. Expect to meet your three friends again when this is all over."

  A surge of heat erupted inside her throat, forcing back the tsunami of profanity that almost spilled out.

  "Look. I'm sorry. I'm still recuperating from what felt like weeks in there. Even now my brain is fuming to just shut off."

  Hezekiah detected the shakiness in her voice. "The next time you fall asleep, expect to see them when you wake up."

  She honestly wanted to rebuttal. But that would only guarantee one outcome. Although she wasn't expecting to be treated nicely after being defeated, this was all too unreasonable.

  "Alright." Her fists clenched. "You don't have to threaten me."

  Hezekiah lightly laughed. "Oh, I know—I was simply kidding. But it's amusing to see what kind of response you would try to come up with. It makes it a little bit fun."

  Vile psychopath, she thought, before briefing him on what was to come next.

  "Dynas and Kiann will be at the tower any minute; all the Directors will be present to verify your identity. But I doubt you plan on dying alongside those two."

  "There's likely people like Ghiza and Morianna among their midst; don't expect me to pick a fight blind."

  The handcuffs snapped apart suddenly as soon as Irva focused on them . The gate opened, Hezekiah stepped out flexing his wrists. "At least you catch on quick. You know what to do next, right?"

  "It's already done. I've located her in the lower levels—basement level 13, to be exact. You're welcome, by the way."

  The last ability the pill granted her was to locate anyone he wanted to find. Initially he considered using the rules to fulfill this role, but the risk of killing his sister and everyone present was certainly there, considering he would have to reach 100% satisfaction.

  "I should be saying that." He reached into his pockets for his deck of cards, discovering them to be empty.

  "Looking for something?" She withdrew the deck from one of her jacket pockets. "I confiscated them before they found us; however, one of the cards was already missing."

  Hezekiah smiled. "How thoughtful—I didn't know you were so kind." After taking the deck, he split it in half and placed the halves in his pockets.

  Frowning at his sarcastic remark, the door Irva came in from shot open, firing streams of electricity.

  "Gnats!!" Irva froze the incoming attack with her telekinesis.

  "Irva, you cunning girl—I had a slight hunch something was off." Ghiza stepped through the door; sparks coalesced on his skin.

  They caught on!? Did they let her meet me on purpose? Hezekiah pondered where he could've made a mistake.

  Irva gritted her teeth, kicking herself for being too careless. "Where's Mori?"

  "Who cares about her? Turns out your abilities were more powerful than anticipated."

  "Irreverent!" She fired the electricity back at him, striking his chest. Yet he appeared unharmed.

  "Hasn't been a day yet and you're this proficient?" He glanced over toward Hezekiah. "And you're quite a mystery yourself—let me guess, you seduced her?"

  "Something like that, but revealing yourself was an unfortunate mistake." Dark flames ignited his hand, convulsing until a pen took its place.

  He's going to do it here!? Irva edged slightly behind him, afraid to get caught up in whatever abomination he was about to create.

  Ghiza's facial muscles twitched, narrowing his focus. "Well now, and here I thought I had this Black Flower figured out."

  Immediately he could tell he was just like Irva. He couldn't detect Abna energy coming from either of them.

  "What really happened on the day of your death?" This matter was further complicated than what they prepared for. Initially he wanted to expose whatever secret Irva was hiding, a curiosity waiting to be scratched. I should've let the others know what I was planning—just great.

  Hezekiah ignored his question; instead a more pressing concern burdened him. "And I want to know my sister's condition—she's under your care, right?"

  How did he figure that out? Did Irva tell him before we reached her? Electricity quickly began circulating around his body, along with laser-like needles protruding from his skin. "You're curious? Hate to break it to you, but you might be a little late."