A sudden gust of the wind forced Sef's eyes to open. At the first blink alone, it was familiar blue skies that welcomed him back, accompanied by a pair of round blue eyes blinking down at him. They belonged to a girl with a large forhead, puffy cheeks and golden hair that rested on each shoulder as thick braids.

“papa, look!”

She dangled a bloody snake at his face and laughed as he scrambled up to his feet. This was not the first dangerous nonsense she pulled in her five years of existence, but no matter how infuriating she may be, Sef could not find it in him to be angry. After all, how could he? This girl was the last connection he had with Cesla, the woman he loved more than any wealth or status.

“can I take it home papa?” the girl asked.

Sef ripped the dead snake off the child's grip and wiped her hands with a napkin. “Celena, how many times do I have to tell you. Don't touch bloody things”

“but the red lady looked so pretty in book. I want to be her!”

“what?! Who told you about her?!”

Celena pulled away and hugged her knees. “grandmother...”

Sef sighed. “come here"

The girl gazed up with shiny eyes. “you're not angry?”

A gentle smile emerged in Sef’s face. He sat next to his daughter, wrapped an arm around her and opened a locket that housed an adult version of her in a white wedding dress.

“tell me" he said. “who's prettier, the red lady or her?”

Celena took the picture and gasped. “who's this? She's so pretty, prettier than the red lady!”

Sef masked the pain in his chest with a laugh. “she's uh... the star lady”

“can we meet her? I want to meet her papa!”

“I'm... I'm sorry, we can't do that"

The girl frowned. “is her home far away? We can borrow Morris and Maura and go there"

Sef pointed to the sky. “do you think those horses can go there?”

“the star lady lives in the sky?!”

“she can't be a star lady if she's not up there honey”

“why is she there? Is she shy?”

“no. She's uh, she's there because of her duty”

Celena rested her head on his lap. “what is her duty? Does she play with a king like you do?”

Sef poked her forehead. “she watches obedient little girls and rewards them with gifts. So if you obey papa, one day she'll come down and give you a present"

“really?! I can't wait!”

“me too honey... me too"

A wave of darkness swept across Sef's eyes and hid Celena from his gaze. When it subsided, everything has changed. The blue sky became a glass ceiling, the grass became a carpet of fur and the child who once looked at him with admiration now glared at him across a table, wearing the filthy tunic of a peasant, and the face of the woman she loved.

“this is my last warning Celena" he said, sorrow and anger mixed on his face. “leave that dog now, or you'll truly wear that attire for the rest of your life!”

Celena folded her arms. “last warning? I’m the one who's supposed to say that. Mark my words father, if one of your men touches Zenon again, then you can forget about me being your daughter"

Sef slammed his fists against the table. “what did you see in that man?! What did you see in him that made you leave this place?! To leave me?!”

“with Zenon, I'm free. Unlike here, where everything I do is for that arrogant man"

“he's the minister's son! If you marry him, food will always be at your table! Servants will always be by your side!”

“the only one I wanted by my side was you!”

“I can not do that forever!” Sef pulled aside the hem of his robe and revealled the wound eating away at the left side of his chest. “I don't have much time left honey. Once I leave, all of my influence in this place will come with me, and you'll be nothing more than a slave"

With tears in her eyes, Celena bowed and went to the door. After it closed behind her, the darkness returned and changed Sef's vision once again. This time, into a small dark room lighted by a single lamp dangling from the ceiling. He was seated on a glass chair, surrounded by men in black suits and masks.

“please...” Sef said with a strained voice. “if you can’t bring me to my daughter, atleast tell me what happened to her. Tell me what she did to deserve your punishment"

One of the men broke away from the circle and stood before him. With a snap of his fingers, a glass table appeared in the air and landed softly between them.

“your daughter committed a grave crime against our king mister Nightcount. We can not simply relay it to you as if it's a free gift"

Sef slammed his forhead against the table. “please! I'll do anything!”

“anything?”

“yes, I'll give you what remains of my wealth and even my life, just tell me what happened to my daughter”

“very well"

A metallic thud made Sef raise his gaze. It was a silver goblet laced with a golden rim, filled to the brim with black rubbery fluid that hissed and swirled like a living being.

Sef swallowed. “what's this?”

The masked man pushed the goblet towards him, making it's alcoholic aroma and unusual beauty entice his senses. “this mixture contains the memories extracted from your daughter. If you drink it, nothing about her will be hidden from you anymore"

“is that all it will do?”

Laughter bursted out of the masked man's mouth and was echoed by his colleagues. All of a sudden, the silent room occupied by unaffectionate statues became a cage of crazed beasts that took joy in his predicament.

“don't play the fool mister Nightcount. I'm sure you know what this elixir does to you. It's your very household that invented it!”

Large dots of swear sprouted on Sef's forehead. “where... how did you...”

The masked man sat on the table and sniffed the goblet. “enough questions old man. I'm giving you three seconds to decide"

“wait!”

“one...”

“atleast tell m---"

“two!”

In a rush of desperation, Sef grabbed the goblet and gulped it to the last drop. It was exactly what its appearance promised. A liquid that felt like phlegm passing through his throat, but at the same time fire burning the walls of his stomach. He fell to the ground and gritted his teeth, unwilling to let out the screams his body begged him to release. He did not want to show weakness, he did not want to fuel his mockers even more.

“he drank it! What a crazy old man!”

“he's a Nightcount, of course he’s crazy!”

“goodness, look at those veins!”

“right, it's like they're going to explode!”

Insults rained down on Sef as he writhed like a worm. He did not mind the words, he was not even sure if he still understood them.His brain was too busy processing the pain growing inside him, and the darkness that slowly invaded his vision.

“Zenon, please...”

When Sef came to, or atleast when he thought he did, the weight of two muscular arms burdened on his throat. Unlike the wrinkled skin of an old man, his hands were now slender and smooth, spotted with bruises from the back of the hand to the forearms. This was not him anymore, but Celena's memories being played in his head.

“'I'm sorry love, but I need more!”

The fingers around her neck dug deeper, and her lungs were squeezed dry. It would only be a matter of seconds now before death arrives to claim its undeserved prize.

“stop it young man" a gentle voice said, and the pressure around Celena's neck vanished at once. Air returned to her lungs and clarity blew the haze from her eyes, enabling her to gaze at man who saved her life.

He was neither tall nor short, neither thin nor bulky. A white haired figure in a hallower's suit, standing outside the entrance of their prison with the face of a man and the fiery eyes of a demon.

“I see, so I'm already a little too late"

He approached Zenon and patted his bald, blood-soaked head. “poor thing, even the servants of the self-proclaimed king has abandoned you"

“I want more!”

Zenon grabbed the man's wrists and chewed away at his hand. Celena begged him to stop, but her please bounced back to her empty. Whatever it was that drove their fellow prisoner's to insanity, whatever it was that drew the blood spilled around them now, has already turned the man she loved into a thing she dreaded.

“I've seen enough” the man raised his other hand in the air and suddenly, the tables of fate turned. Instead of another person's hand, Zenon bit his fingers, and instead of being the cannibal's meal, the man appeared beside Celena, inspecting her as if she was a mythical creature in the flesh.

“hm, not a single sign of corruption huh? Impressive, you're indeed a Nightcount"

“you know me?” Celena asked.

“Celena Nightcount, only daughter of Vanaker the thirteenth, I'm honored to finally meet you"

“um, I don't wish to be rude, but may I ask who you are?”

The man bowed. “I'm Parvanos. I'm here to help you find your way back to your father”

Celena shot a pained smile at Zenon. “I don't have the right to return to him anymore. I chose to listen to my heart and it lied to me"

“you misheard me miss Nightcount"

“did I?”

“yes" Parvanos raised his hand again, this time turning the prison into a platform surrounded by stars. “I didn't say I'd bring you to him. I said I'd help you be worthy to go back to him"

Celena stared at her bare feet. “how? I have no money, status, nothing to be worthy of his love"

“I'll help you gain power, lots of power"

“how? By teaching me swordplay?”

Parvanos took Celena's hand and placed a familiar picture on her palm. Time has faded its original appearance, and molds have already started to it away at it's edges, but the woman it portrayed remained as beautiful as the first time she saw it.

“if you're willing Celena, even this lie can become truth"

“After another flash of darkness, everything changed for the worst. My daughter's senses weakened. Her eyes visualized me through blurred lenses, her ears picked up my words as if they were spoken underwater, and her thoughts, they were sealed away for another person's will. A person that looked like her on the outside, but was a mere machine on the inside”

Sef opened his eyes and found himself surrounded by circular walls decorated with a starry night's sky. His hands were on his back and his feet hovered inches above the stone floor, held up by numerous chains that connected him to the walls like an insect cocooned in spider webs.