“do you need to be alone?” Knox whispered with his eyes locked on to Marcellus. Sef nodded at Erze, and she walked beside Knox with Bel tailing her like a lost kitten. All three of them looked at Sef one last time before vanishing out of thin air, leaving him alone with his work cut out before him.

He sat beside Marcellus and kept his eyes forward. A part of it was to keep the boy at ease, while the other was to delay the pain that will come once he stared at his face.

“I couldn’t save him”

The words reached Sef like a punch to the gut. They knocked the air out of his lungs and forced his jaw to drop, sending his brain to panic as he scrambled for the right words to say.

“go on” he blurted. “let me share your pain”

An eternity of silence swept through them in the span of five seconds. Broken only by Marcellus’ deep intake of breath, followed by a hushed sobs that marked the start of a gut wrenching account.

“Everything was normal when I got back. I greeted the maids, Eliot, even Mrs. Dunya. I didn’t waste a second, I went straight to his room, and when I entered...”

The sobs grew into trembling, and the face crumpled with grief became petrified in fear. There was no denying it, he saw what Sef wished he would not. The man who made him what he was now.

“kid” Sef said almost in a whisper. “tell me what you saw, I need to know what happened”

Marcellus covered his mouth as if he was about to vomit. He looked to be at his breaking point, a second away from passing out, but when Sef reached his hand to grab his shoulder, he took a deep breath and resumed his story.

“he was hanged in the wall like meat for sale. Every limb was cut to three, and his head was severed from his neck. That man held it like a ball, like it was nothing more than a toy! And I just stood there watching him speak!”

“what did he say?” Sef asked.

“you will suffer the punishment you forced on me. Be courageous till the end. I will not accept apologies”

Sef flashed an irritated grin. “yes, that’s him alright”

Marcellus glared at him. “is this just a joke to you?”

“of course not”

A heavy hand grabbed Sef’s neck. “then act like it”

Sef rolled his eyes. “I don’t remember performing for you kid. Get your hands off me while you still can”

Marcellus gritted his teeth. “you’re supposed to be his friend! You’re supposed to be crying! You’re supposed to be suffering!”

Despite of his still incomplete strength, Sef peeled away the boy’s grip and clenched it hard enough to hear a pop. He understood his anger, and agreed to his complaint, but he already had his chance to be weak. Now was his turn to be strong, in his own uncomfortable way.

“you’re being soft, kid” he said coldly. “this isn’t what your grandfather would want to see”

“I don’t care! I’ll avenge him! I’ll punish anyone who insults his name!”

Sef flashed a mocking grin. “oh yeah? Then go ahead and punish me, I’m sure your pathetic old man would be proud”

Marcellus screamed and swung his other arm, but Sef was ready, missing the blow by a hair’s length and answering with a slap of his own. “oh look, I just slapped you. I guess I’m in deep trouble now huh?”

The boy thrashed even more, and Sef made him pay everytime. Controlled punched, knees to gut, kicks to the thighs, he carved his pain on the child’s body and delivered the wisdom he wanted to impart.

“if you want revenge, lashing out like a brat is not the way to do it. Imprison your anger so your mind will be free. That way you could plan your next move properly, and accomplish the goal, just like how Aurelius would”

One blink after another, Marcellus’ enraged face reverted back to the calm and collected mask Sef was used to see. Sadness was still etched on it, but the effects of Sef’s words were evident.

“I’m sorry... I lost control”

Sef gave two quick head pats. “it’s okay kid, me and your gramps used to do this to each other... alot"

“and his gone now”

“well he’s not gone gone. He just went home to the king through a pretty messy exit”

Marcellus let out an exhausted laugh. “that’s a very optimistic way of looking at it”

Sef pulled him up. “try having some, you’re going to need it now that Parvanos is back”

“I still don’t know what’s going on here”

“he hasn’t told you yet?”

“no”

“I see, so talkative ones do have silent nights too”

“well...” Marcellus leered at the inscription on his chest. “mine wasn’t as silent”

“right” Sef scratched his chin. “how did you get that?”

“after his message, he said a word I didn’t understand and vanished together with the old man’s corpse. I used the sentries to alert the manor and opened the door. That’s when guards from the glasstower came in and arrested me”

“for what?”

Marcellus balled his hands to fists. “they accused me of killing him. I did my best to prove them wrong, but not even my own household took my side. As if they all saw me do it with their own eyes”

“ugh, that’s Parvanos for you”

“so it’s him? He’s the one who controlled them?”

“it’s not really control, more like hypnotism”

“huh?”

Sef sat down and cleared his throat. “once upon a time, there was a young man who wanted to be rich. He’s reason was simple. He didn’t want to be hungry anymore, and scrounging for scraps was not doing a good job of solving that. So he offered himself as a slave and from then on, worked his way up to the ladder of society. Fifteen years later, he became the one of the richest man in his kingdom. Seems like a happy ending right?”

“um, I guess?”

“wrong. Through the years, as he grew in wealth, the lad encountered a question that haunted him for the rest of his life. What value does money have if its owner will die anyway? He pondered night and day until his obsession changed without him noticing. From craving riches, he became fixated on prolonging his life. He ate the most nutritious fruits and took care of his body as if it was made of gold. Until one day, he fell sick and came on the verge of death. Desperate for life, he delved into all kinds of forbidden things. From drinking the blood of children, to journeying down a passage way that was said to lead the traveller to god himslelf”

“did he succeed?”

“when he came back, non of his slaves recognized him anymore. Sure, he still wore the same face, but his demeanor has changed. No longer in fear, he was now as confident as a king. Preaching to anyone who’ll listen the secret he disovered”

“the knowledge of caves?”

Sef beamed at Marcellus. “the knowledge of souls and voids”

Marcellus stepped back. “you mean to tell me...”

“yes. That man met the king of this world and gained the knowledge to release his soul and mix it with a void. It was because of it that he’s still alive today”

“that’s interesting and all, but how does all of that give him the ability to brainwash people so easily?”

“it’s his soul. He uses it to show people whatever he wishes them to see”

Amazement and disbelief battled on Marcellus’ face. “where did you get all of this?”

“from his own lips”

“you’re one of his former servants?”

“no” Sef drew the cube from his pocket. “I was in a dark season of my life when I met him. I wanted to do something my weak body wouldn’t allow, so I volunteered as the first test subject to his earlier experiments”

“I see, so that’s the reason for your immortality”

“not quite”

“what do you mean?”

“a finished product of that experiment is not exactly what you see now. It’s supposed to be a soul turned into a weapon, without a will of its own”

“then what happened? How did you become you?”

Sef beamed at the cube. “someone sacrificed for my sake”

The conversation hit a sudden pause as Marcellus failed to provide another question. Sef waited patiently for him to iniate again, but as the unease grew between them, he took it upon himself to shatter the ice.

“so what’s your plan now?” he asked.

Marcellus frowned. “aren’t you the one who’s supposed to answer that?”

“you’re the one who got attacked, not me”

“but you’re the one with knowledge about the enemy, not me”

Sef opened his mouth to refuse, but found the boy’s words impossible to counter. He was right. Aside from being one of the few who knew about Parvanos, he also owe everyone alive today the responsibility of finishing what he and Aurelius failed to do last time.

“hm” he stroked his beardless chin and gave Marcellus a measuring stare. “let’s start with our objectives”

Marcellus raised three fingers. “first, I need to clear my name. Second, I need to retrieve gramp’s remains and third, I need to beat the lunatic with my own hands before turning him to the glass tower”

Sef massaged his temples. “I have a plan. I just doubt you’ll like it”

“just say it!”

“our main goal now is to reach the other glass towers. If word about your fake crime reaches them before we do, then consider yourself dead”

“the portal below your wall is probably guarded by hallowers now, so that plan is easier said than done”

“I never said it’s easy” Sef pointed to the east. “we’ll go to the east wall, travel up north, then use the portal there”

“why not just use the eastern portal?”

“my last connection to the living world lives in the north. We’ll have a better chance of clearing your name with her help”

Marcellus did not look sold at first. But as Sef’s expectant stare became more and more intense, he forced out a smile and asked the question Sef yearned to hear since the start of their conversation. “when do we start?”