Clemency

chapter twenty-five | beholder

Kaito's eyes brightened and sat up as if a bolt of lightning had hit him. "Really?! Where?"

"Come. I'll show you," Reaper stood up. Seeing my eager expression, he continued, "Waterfall, you can come too."

A part of me cheered while the other sensed anticipation. "Okay, sure." I cast a Core lengthening spell so that I wouldn't get a headache when I got too far from Akuma.

I stood up and walked towards the door. Opening it, a grinning face with shining eyes met mine just a hair's breath away from me. Startled, I stepped backward, accidentally letting out a small yelp. "Lana! You scared me."

"Yeah, yeah, sorry. But I may or may not have heard your entire conversation..." Lana half-heartedly apologised. "And I was wondering if I could come as well."

"You heard everything?" Reaper demanded, his eyes glinting with a slight hint of anger. He let out a loud sigh before pushing past her. "Whatever, just don't drag us down."

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After what felt like hours, the four of us finally reached our destination. Putting out his right arm before us, Reaper warned us to stay back to check if anyone was there. Kaito, Lana and I stopped and took a look around the place. We seemed to have made it to some sort of abandoned village. The houses were made out of normal concrete, which seemed to have turned old, due to the visible large cracks. 

In the center of where the houses were built was a huge architecture where its multiple roofs were similar to domes. Four narrow towers were stationed around it, surrounding the building, giving it quite an intimidating look. The mist around us barely allowed me to get a good look at it.

The place was oddly quiet. It was a big adjustment compared to the constant chatter back in town.

"...You led us to the outskirts of Nightingale? What is this place?" I asked, a hint of worry apparent in my tone of voice. The paranoia of the unusual silence was getting to me.

"The Silent Citadel. It used to be a part of Nightingale, but now..." Reaper drifted off. "Nevermind. Just follow me and don't make any unnecessary noise."

The four of us continued walking towards the prominent structure. Using both hands, the lightning mage forcefully opened the heavy doors. Stepping into what seemed to be a temple, our footsteps echoed across the ceramic walls and stained glasses. 

Looking up at the ceiling directly above us, my eyes met the sight of another set of stained glass which seemed to depict a pair of hands stretching outwards with the light of the sun within both palms. Purple, blue, orange, yellow and red lights shone down to the center of the hall we were in as we continued to wander into the temple.

"Jeremy, you here?" Reaper called out.

"Jeremy?" Kaito scrunched his face in confusion.

"He's one of the few people who live here, which are called Beholders. They give information in exchange for a favour. Don't freak out when you all see him. He has... a much different appearance compared to us if you get what I'm saying."

"How's he going to get Kaito's memories, though?" Lana cocked her head.

"No one knows, but I suspect they use black or dark magic to carry these activities out."