Barcello POV

  Barcello's breath snagged, a sudden, tight knot forming in his throat, choking back the words he desperately wanted to say.

  "Your affection for your spouse is evident," Lucian observed, offering no pause for a response. "Regrettably, my schedule is constrained. I am required to proceed with a purification assignment and you will also be apprehended for tampering with government property."

  Before Barcello could fully process Lucian's words, Cassia launched herself from her husband, a blur of motion, and slammed into the guards. A feral growl tore from her throat as they wrestled her to the ground.

  Barcello, his vision blurred by unshed tears. He stumbled to his feet, a desperate surge propelling him toward the exit. He glanced at Lucian, expecting some resistance but Lucian remained motionless, a chilling indifference in his eyes, as Barcello fled.

  A sharp, clipped "Get him" shattered the silence, and Barcello knew he had mere seconds.

  He lunged for the stairs, a desperate scramble, leaping over risers, his feet barely touching the steps. A guard tailing him and a barrage of crimson light followed. The crimson light zipped past his ear, each near miss a chilling reminder of his pursuer. He misjudged a step, his ankle twisting with a sickening crack, but the pain was a distant echo compared to the fear driving him. He staggered, but pressed on, bursting into the streets.

  He ran as fast as his legs could carry, shoving people out of his way as people stared at the commotion with confusion. His breath hitched, a ragged, burning rasp in the evening air. The cobblestones, slick with a recent drizzle, offered treacherous footing. The distant running of the pursuing guard could be heard. He risked a glance over his shoulder, the guard was still chasing him but his movements were slowed due to the crowd.

  He slammed around the corner, the skeletal frame of a bridge looming ahead. Hope surged, a desperate, fragile thing. Without pause, he sprinted, his boots hammering the cobblestones. A searing lance of crimson light ripped through the air, biting deep into his shoulder blade. A strangled gasp tore from his throat, but he didn't falter. The bridge, his sanctuary, was agonizingly close. He launched himself over the railing, a desperate leap into the abyss.

  The icy water swallowed him whole, a brutal shock. It clawed at his lungs, a burning, suffocating pressure. Panic seized him, a wild, thrashing struggle against the drowning darkness. He fought, limbs flailing, trying to find purchase in the churning depths.

  Above, the guard reached the bridge, his menacing figure and concealed face behind the armored mask but his body language showed his irritation. Gunfire erupted, shattering the silence. Beams of crimson light ripped into the water, churning the surface into a deadly froth. Barcello, his vision blurring, forced himself to find his bearings. He kicked, a powerful, desperate stroke, propelling himself deeper. He held his breath, the burning in his lungs a counterpoint to the searing pain in his shoulder, and swam. He swam as if his life depended on it, because it did.

  He spotted a tunnel and immediately dived towards it. He gripped the rusted iron grate, the sea-slick metal cold against his calloused palms. The churning water vanished into the gaping maw of the city's submerged waste-channel, a relic of a forgotten age when the city's lower wards were still above the tide. He slipped beneath the surface, the dim light from the surface world faded, replaced by the eerie, phosphorescent glow of unseen organisms clinging to the sewer's rough, algae-coated walls.

  He swam, his strokes slow and deliberate, the current tugging at him. The tunnel was a claustrophobic passage, the air above the waterline thick and stagnant. He imagined the unseen things that lurked in the murk, the blind, pallid fish with teeth like shards of obsidian, the bloated, worm-ridden carcasses of rats, perhaps something far worse. The air grew thicker, the stench more potent. He could feel the slick, viscous residue clinging to his skin, a testament to the city's refuse. The glow of the phosphorescence intensified, revealing a network of branching tunnels, each a dark, unknown path. He navigated by feel, his fingers tracing the rough, barnacle-encrusted walls.

  He swam, the current tugged him towards another path and forced him through a tunnel. He was soon pushed out by the force of the water out of the tunnel onto another wet freezing land. He coughed and groaned as he sat up in the dirty water around him. He weakly got up to his feet and looked around, there were various trees and all the leaves had turned blue, a blanket of snow on abandoned buildings and large edifices. The sight made him realize that he had ended up in the Ruins. Far away from the safety of the Flow Society and now in the claws of monsters.

  He tried to walk forward but limped through the forest, his body freezing as the cold air bit into his wet skin. He tried not to make much noise out of fear of a monster attack. He reached the Ruins and looked around, his teeth chattering because of the cold. He saw a group of people huddled up against each other, dragging a big bag in the snow.

  "H..Help.." Barcello weakly called out to them, his hand stretching out as he tried to reach them.

  "Ah? What are you? Magic user or beast man?" Eskel asked with skepticism. She has long brown hair and brown eyes.

  "None..." Barcello shook his head weakly.

  Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

  "A fellow human, come on. We are heading to the traders market, the Ruins isn't safe for weak people like us." Chausse walked towards him and wrapped a blanket on his shoulder. He had bright purple hair in a wolf cut with black roots and green eyes. "Also you smell like raphat piss."

  Barcello didn't reply as he stared at the man blankly, his body appreciating the warmth of the blanket. He glanced at the bag that they were dragging.

  "That? It's the remains of monsters, we lurk around in the Ruins and wait for the strong people to attack the monsters. Then we steal the remains and sell it for money or other stuff. I will fill you in on the rest but first, tell me your name." Chausse patted his back as the group continued their journey and dragged the bag along with it.

  "Barcello..."

  "Nice to meet ya!" Chausse grinned and pulled Barcello along with the group."My name is Chausse."

  Acacia POV

  It's been a week since Acacia got the poison balls from Tosic's shop, the others got some interesting weaponry along with it. Was she scared to use it? A little but most of all is how to use it without prying eyes especially in a busy household.

  Bella hasn't said anything about what happened and she was thankful for that for now. She also noticed Elric's face has become more scarce within the household, since the others said nothing she thought it was a normal occurrence for the quiet individual.

  Habit took over, a familiar rhythm of frustration and release.The leather of the punching bag thundered under her relentless assault. Beneath the worn bandages, now a sickly dull white, her knuckles burned, raw and throbbing, but she didn't stop, the pain a welcome distraction from the turmoil inside. Beads of sweat trailing down her face and arms despite the cold surroundings, as she released multiple punches against the punching bag. She took a step back once satisfied with her progress.

  She picked up the bottle of water on the floor and took a big gulp of water. The snow barely registered in her mind and body.

  'I guess I can take the poison now.' She glanced at the house and knew everyone was going to be busy for a bit. She walked away towards the forest. Not too far but not too close that she would be seen.

  She stopped in her tracks, hand darting into her hoodie. Two poison balls appeared in her palm. A nervous twitch played at the corner of her mouth as she toyed with them. Then, without hesitation, she crushed one between her teeth. The poison erupted, a fiery bloom in her chest, a choking burn in her throat. She swayed, bracing herself against a tree, and swallowed the second. Her body convulsed, a battleground of conflicting sensations: the saccharine sweetness clinging to her palate, the searing, visceral burn that consumed her from the inside.

  Acacia closed her eyes, taking deep breaths to calm down. She removed her pocket knife from her boot and thrust the blade against her palm. Her blood dripped down, a contrast against the white snow. Waving her hand until her blood formed in thin air and she started to mold it, creating six butterflies on the snow in total.

  "Hello little guys," Acacia spoke to the butterflies, waiting for a response. Slowly they started to twitch to life, their wings fluttered and they flew up to her face, landing on her hair and face as they roamed about on her skin.

  "Adorable." Acacia felt relieved that it worked but she could also feel her mana weaken. She decided to remove two butterflies, leaving four and her mana stopped weakening as expected.

  "The poison helped but I still need strength to maintain these little guys." She murmured and rubbed a butterfly's head as it crawled on her cheek. "Now let's test you out."

  "You, fly up." She gestured to a butterfly and it immediately flew up in the air.

  'Excellent, now connect your mind to it.'

  Acacia nodded and focused her mana on the butterfly until their minds linked up. Her breath hitched at the feeling of being in the air in such an abrupt manner. She could see everything the butterfly saw through its eyes.

  "Let's explore a bit." She directed the butterfly in the air, overlooking everything from above until she reached the traders market and moved the butterfly past the barrier and towards Tosic's shop. She saw Henry and Poppy cleaning the shop as always. "Let's test how long you last. You are going to protect Poppy for as long as you can handle."

  She pointed towards Poppy and the butterfly flew over to her in a quiet manner and stayed on her neck disappearing into her skin, she couldn't see anything but the connection was still there.

  'Your little minion will protect her based on the level of your strength and they feed on human and monster flesh.'

  'So I need extra monitoring to make sure it doesn't feed on just anyone. Now for the rest.' Acacia thought to herself and sent another butterfly to protect Henry, she had two left and thought about what to do with them. She sent another one to the air, watching the Ruins until she noticed a group of people dragging a bag towards the traders market.

  'Strangers but maybe I could get insight and information from them about the traders market.' She thought to herself and sent one butterfly to a man with black eyes, he seemed pale and looked lost. 'He must've had an encounter with a monster.'

  Acacia sent a butterfly to him and it instantly latched on his skin. She sighed in relief at the distributed insects and now she only needed to wait and see the progress. She sent the last butterfly away and smiled at herself. 'I am starting to get the hang of this.'

  'Feeling cocky are we?'

  'I have every right to feel that way.' Acacia defended herself and thought back to the other poison balls. She would need to eat those ones when she has built up her strength. She left the forest and walked back inside the house.

  She made a beeline to the couch and rested on the soft material, she instantly fell asleep on the couch without a care in the world. Her nosey twitched at the smell of ink, her eyes fluttered open, she saw Kel's face. His curly orange hair bouncing as he smirked down at her.

  "What are you doing?"

  Kel giggled and didn't reply as he moved away from her, she noticed a black marker on his hand. Her heart skipped a beat, she raised her hands to her face and rubbed her skin with her fingers. She noticed some black substance staining her fingers.

  "Kel!" Acacia got off the couch and Kel laughed at her reaction as he ran out of the house with Acacia chasing him until she reached outside. He threw some snowballs at her to defend himself and she dodged the first few as she threw her own set at him.

  "What's with the noise—?" Edwin came out with Maximus. His face scrunched up in annoyance until he saw Acacia's face and bursted out laughing.

  "Hey! This is not funny, this is completely childish." Acacia felt her cheeks burn from embarrassment.

  "It's cute." Kel spoke out loud which earned a glare from her. She chased him on the snow, throwing series of snowballs at him while he retaliated. It was a lively afternoon, a peace that would soon be disturbed.