Starlight (III)

"You've had quite the eventful day, young miss." Yelena muttered the words without much thought; her eyes firmly locked on the dazzling lights reflecting off the road.

Unlike Ravenspurn, which held the city's largest student body and was subject to a perpetually appointed curfew time, Dunwich had no official regulations restricting the districts activity. The passersby visible through the vehicle's tinted windows were clearly adults—a distinction that alone set this place apart from the more youthful atmosphere of Ravenspurn. The district was built for commerce above all else, with most businesses catering to working professionals.

Even though it was conventional, at some point Dunwich had earned itself the moniker of 'the district that never sleeps'.

"Ah, well, some things happened, you see. Yes, some very unfortunate things." Angelica shifted in the back seat, her face showing a light tinge of red as she stared out the window. It was normal for her to ride there for security reasons, but now, her position at the back was wholeheartedly being taken advantage of.

"The lieutenant contacted me earlier, a little before I arrived." Yelena said, her voice remaining level against the gentle sounds of the cars deceleration as it came to rest at a stoplight. "To think you'd get caught up in a scuffle with members of Cocytus, of all things. Depending on how this plays out, young miss, I might need to take a more vigilant approach from now on. And on that note, Cyril Severin—"

"Um Yelena!" Angelica piped up reflexively, her gaze unintentionally straying on Cyril in the seat beside her. "This isn't Cyril's fault; he really was just showing me around." She took a deep breath, as though she were preparing to continue, but Cyril stopped her.

"It's fine Angelica. You don't have to go that far."

"But..."

"He is correct, young miss. I never had any intention of blaming either of you in the first place." Yelena didn't turn around, her eyes remained locked on the path ahead, and yet the reverberations from her voice were clear and distinct, as though the soundwaves were bending backwards.

The car moved off slowly, keeping itself firmly within the thinning lines of traffic that branched out of the district. "That's nice to hear and all Yelena, but I do think I should have warned her about her carrying around such a powerful artifact."

"If that's your position you're taking then I should bear some of the blame as well. I am her retainer after all, regardless of how small the circumstances, it is still my duty to prevent her from getting caught up in such encounters."

There was no point in disputing the issue any longer, Yelena's tone made it clear that she was fully intent on holding true to every word. Taking note, Cyril promptly announced his resignation.

"...Can't say I'm surprised to see a noble have that much dignity. I should have expected as much from you." He said, chuckling to himself.

"Allow me to thank you, Cyril. You protected the young miss in my stead, and for that, I am truly grateful."

"O-Oh, mhm, right. It was nothing, really..." Cyril hadn't meant for his response to sound so robotic, but there was little he could do to prevent it. Yelena's sudden show of gratitude had completely caught him off guard.

"Hee hee, good for you, Cyril. Getting all that praise..." Angelica leaned in closer with a teasing smile, her expression mischievous, though the intent behind it was clear—she was more than ready to shower him with even more appreciation.

"Oh, allow me to congratulate you too, young miss."

"Hm? Congratulate me?" Intrigued, Angelica suspended her teasing and cocked her head in thought.

"Yes," Yelena placed a great amount of emphasis on her intonation. "You've found yourself a remarkable ally."

The girl's face flush over, her voice plummeting an octave as she sheepishly nodded her head and replied "I-I suppose so."

Apparently, she hadn't been expecting that either. It was silent for a few minutes until Angelica seized the opportunity to sate her curiosity.

"Cyril, about what the lieutenant said earlier—about you needing protection because 'a certain someone' from Cocytus has some kind of vendetta against you... Is that really true?" she asked, turning toward him with a hesitant expression.

"Yeah, its the truth." The words rolled off his tongue seamlessly, as though he were expecting the question. Her lips moved, trying to convey something but no words came out.

Having taken note of her response—or lack thereof—Cyril tore his gaze away from the tinted window and turned to face her. Angelica's gaze faltered as she scanned his face. His features remained calm, retaining their innate childlike innocence, but his eyes, which usually seemed too flighty for their own good, now appeared a little strained—perhaps even detached.

"It's a long way back to Ravenspurn so we might as well use this to kill some time. I'm sure your retainer wants to hear this too."

This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

Angelica took a sharp breath and nodded intently, but unlike her honest display of intrigue, no response came from her retainer. Cyril didn't mind. Ever since Angelica broached the topic, he had caught a few glimpses of Yelena's steel-grey pupils scanning him through the rearview mirror. Even if she hadn't spoken, her interest was clear.

Taking that as his cue, he straightened in the comfy leather seat and began.

"You've probably heard about what happened in Wharram last June—the incursion incident, right?"

"Of course. It was big enough to make the news across the country. If I'm remembering this correctly, some group masquerading as Longinus hijacked one of the association's convoys and made off with dungeon supplies before escaping the city through one of the port canals over there."

Cyril let out a quiet chuckle and shook his head. "So that's the version they went with, huh?"

"Sorry?" Angelica blinked.

"I hate to break it to you, Angelica, but most of what makes it to the news is... filtered. That convoy wasn't 'hauling dungeon loot'. It was carrying the corpse of something called a 'Nephilim,' a brand-new type of monster that was defeated in the dungeon not long before the incident."

Her eyes widened. "Are you serious?"

He nodded, unfazed by her reaction. "Dead serious. The Administrative board buried the truth fast. From what I've been told, Cocytus hit one of Longinus' armories in Wharram the night before—they stole gear, uniforms, the usual. The next day, they ambushed the transport convoy disguised in their stolen gear and started wreaking havoc all over sector four to drum up confusion and chaos. Eventually, they made off with the pod carrying the Nephilim."

The vehicles pace slowed considerably in the midst Cyril's revelation. Instead of comfortably shooting down the near empty highway connecting Dunwich to Ravenspurn, it rolled along at a quiet, almost leisurely pace.

"As for my involvement in the incident," Cyril began again, "Well, it just so happens Cocytus was one step ahead of law enforcement. To aid their diversion, they took over a factory in Wharram and made use of the autonomous vehicles there. They loaded them with troops and sent them out to slow down the authorities. The convoy itself was a sham, meant to draw attention. The real cargo was moving in a separate military vehicle, disguised to look like an ordinary passenger bus."

He paused, a heavy smile tugging at the corners of his lips. "And, luckily for me… I ran into that disguised vehicle right before they commandeered it. I followed them all the way to Wharram —district thirteen to be exact, and that's where I ended up running into someone —a man by the name of Victor Hodge. At the time, I didn't know who he was, but it turns out he was actually Cocytus's second-in-command."

Angelica looked like she wanted to gasp but held it in. "Then… if that's the case, I'm assuming you confronted him, right?" she pressed, her eyes narrowing.

"Yeah. We fought for a bit, and I managed to damage— uh, impair him during the scuffle. That's where the whole vendetta thing started."

"My word… that was certainly… quite the story," Angelica said, clearly unsure how to process it all.

"I got a lot of that back then," Cyril said with a shrug. "Coincidentally, that was also the same day I got my scar from Marcel."

"Huh? Marcel was involved as well?"

"Mhm, he's actually the reason that Victor guy got away." His tone was doused in something powerful; an emotion Angelica had never seen him express before. Visually, nothing had changed about Cyril, but for a fraction of a second, his intonation sent a vague feeling of uncertainty through her heart.

"Marcel was an official hunter at the time. Because of the mix-up with members of Cocytus parading around in Longinus gear, the city dispatched hunters as a temporary counterforce. Longinus' communication lines were compromised, so they were having a hard time keeping track of the situation. When Marcel arrived in district thirteen, he didn't waste any time figuring out who was friend or foe—he just started burning everyone wearing Longinus gear. We argued back and forth for a bit before he finally came at me with his flames, and... well, you know how that went."

The vehicle ramped up its acceleration, speeding up as if to leave the boys recollection behind. "T-that's...." Angelica stuttered, her words falling flat once again.

"I know it's a lot to take in, but I figured it would be best to share since we are teammates now after all. That being said though, everything came to a close soon after—Marcel was stripped of his rank, and I walked away with scars from a third degree burns that stuck with me for a little over a year."

"You've had it rough. I'm amazed you can act so flippant about it."

"Hmm, well, it was a long time ago."

Angelica curled a few fingers under her chin, tilting her head to one side as she sifted through the barrage of speculations clouding her mind. Her intentions were as clear as day, betrayed by her habit of searching for the perfect words to express them.

"Just ask already," Cyril cut in with a guileful grin. His preemptive response derailed her train of thought, signaling the end of the young noble's desperate attempt at playing nice.

"Ah, well, um... I was just a little curious about something—"

"Yes, Angelica?" Cyril replied playfully, drawing out her name with a teasing lilt that, for some reason, made her eye twitch.

"Are you trying to make light of this?" she asked, one brow arched as she fixed him with a sharp glare.

"No, I'm being serious," Cyril said, brushing off her question. "Go on—ask."

"I was simply curious about that scar you had before. I wanted to ask if you couldn't simply have an enchanter heal you to get it removed."

"Well, etheric deviants are rare to come by overall because of their high-end Indexes, but I did manage to try your suggestion, several times in fact." He finished and turned away from Angelica to focus on the shifting nighttime scenery once more.

"And?"

"It didn't work—just as I expected."

Without even turning around, Cyril could sense Angelica's eyes going wide again.

She's certainly easy to surprise...he thought to himself.

"For as long as I can remember, any ability that targeted my body directly has never worked, even if I wanted them to—most healing spells, potions, buffs, you name it. I know most enchanters can practically perform miracles with their magic, but no matter how good they were, their powers had no effect on me."

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.