NP: The Pretender by Foo Fighters

Amyr and I just made it past the borders into the labyrinth when I heard footsteps approaching. Carefully, I set Amyr behind a large tree and held onto the Helcium shard tight. As I saw it, no help was coming for us. Not from Vincent at least.

My hands shook as the footsteps became louder. I pressed my back on the trunk and peered behind it.

A cloaked figure came running. It was Sharifa.

She caught her breath, placing her hand over her mouth to keep the whimpers from coming out. Tears lined her face and she looked scared witless.

I stepped out from my hiding place.

"Sharifa," I hissed.

Hurriedly, she ran to me. "What are you doing here? It's very... dangerous."

"Cairo did it."

Her steel-gray eyes widened, her lips parting before she frantically shook her head. "N-no..."

"I wasn't asking. I know he let the monster out."

"You should not have come here, Aramis. Irvine is trying to stop him, but he will not stop until he finds me. And if he sees you..." She retreated, tears welling from her eyes.

"I know you're scared, Sharifa. But you don't have to cover up for him anymore."

Her eyes went blank as she looked behind me. "He's coming. Hide."

I ran back to Amyr and found him a spot in between the tortuous roots that protruded out of the ground. For some reason, my touch wasn't poisoning him.

Sitting on my heels, I waited.

Sharifa still hadn't gone far enough when Cairo showed up. In no time, he got to her and barred her way out of the woods.

"I've been right all along, haven't I, Sharifa?" Cairo said, his face void of emotions. He stepped towards his sister. "You never learn. Always the meddler."

"P-please..." she cried, eyes frantically searching for an escape. "I will not tell Father that this is your doing. I swear."

"Of course you won't, you traitor," Cairo nodded. "You won't tell anyone anything anymore. Because you died in the hands of the abyss monster immediately after you have reversed the barrier enchantment. That is how everybody will remember you."

Sharifa stepped back, whimpering. "No... please."

Cairo reached out for her face. He thumbed on the tears rolling down her cheek, allowing himself a fleeting moment of sadness.

"You'll always be our precious little sister, Sharifa," he whispered affectionately. "I've seen these tears a million times before and I don't think I'll ever be less pained seeing you shed them again. But you have done many things; so many unforgivable things. This time, I simply cannot let them pass."

"Help!" Sharifa begged, looking at me from the side of her eyes. "Help me, please..."

The boy coolly shook his head, a single tear falling making its way down his cheek. "I am help, Sharifa. I'm trying to help you. You've done enough. Now you must rest."

He summoned a scythe as tall as his shoulder. It had five pointed fingers, each a foot long.

I draughted behind him. Before he could strike, I thrust the Helcium shard into the small of his back.

Yelling in pain, he reeled towards me while trying to yank the shard out. He began hacking blindly. And though he was being reckless, it was hard dodging a five-bladed weapon.

All I could do was jump out of the way and I wasn't counting on it forever. One hit and I would be ripped to shreds. All my luck must have run out when I tripped over a protruding root and fell on my back.

In a blink, he was on me.

Seeing my predicament, Sharifa went behind Cairo and shoved the shard deeper into him. The boy cried out, arching his back.

Before he could recover, I swung at him. Every bone in my body shuddered as my knuckles collided with the side of his head.

He hit the ground groaning.

"Run," I told Sharifa.

She hesitated. "What about you?"

I glanced at Amyr. "I can't leave him here. Go!"

"N-no," said she, gulping. "I... will help."

She produced two small vials from her pocket. One had pink swirling liquid in it.

"Is that-"

"SirenSoul." She nodded to me and went to Cairo. "C-can you restrain him?"

I followed her and pushed the boy down by his shoulders. When that proved to be impossible with him thrashing and fighting back, I hit him square on the face.

Sharifa knelt across, wincing.

"Whatever you're going to do, do it quick," I said, literally sitting on Cairo's stomach to keep him from bucking. I gave him another whack on the head. "No offense, but your brother's Jerk of the Century."

"An underestimation," she said, removing the stopper of the other vial-the one with the clear liquid in it. "This one contains Ethereal water from the labyrinth stream."

"Wouldn't that... make you crazy?"

She mixed it with SirenSoul before tilting the contents into his brother's mouth. "Apart from the usual, yes... I can't fight," she murmured, her tears falling on Cairo's face. "And... I can't-won't hurt him. But I can at least do this."

Cairo tried to spit it out but I pressed a hand over his mouth to keep him from doing so. Soon, he stopped squirming. He was even smiling a little. Then he was laughing... and crying at the same time.

I let him go as he began clawing on the ground. I realized he was digging.

"Yeah... I think we just made a complete nutcase of him," I breathed out.

After wiping her tears, she pulled out the shard from Cairo's back.

The boy hardly even flinched. He just kept digging while muttering something incomprehensible under his breath. Then, he scooped the dirt and poured it over his head before bursting out in laughter with tears welling nonstop from his eyes.

"The end..." he kept mumbling. "I'm so... exhausted. Finally. It begins."

I never thought I would feel sorry for him in a million years. But I did.

"Forgive me, Cai..." Sharifa croaked.

"It's all your fault!" Cairo roared, feral eyes blazing as he momentarily lifted his gaze towards his sister, only to begin clawing on the ground again. "All your fault."

Sharifa got up to face me. "We have to find the abyss monster, Aramis."

My mouth closed and opened. "W-what-Are you out of your mind?"

"No." She thought for a second. "I am not. We have to find and destroy it, before it finds my father."

"Of course," I groaned. "Let's just waltz into the monster's lair so it can tear us to pieces. Let's go find it. How hard can it be? I mean, it's huge. I'm sure we'll bump into one of its tentacles sooner than later."

Her forehead crumpled in confusion. "It is not huge. It is in fact, a girl."

"A girl?" My thoughts raced miles away. "I've seen this thing before, Sharifa. And I'm pretty sure it's big. A monster. How can it be a girl?"

Her lips quivered, her eyes shifting from one direction to another. Then, she went back to her brother and lifted his cloak. Protruding from his pocket was a book. But not just any book. It was no bigger than my hand, leather-bound with golden trimmings and a crimson gem emblazoned at the middle.

"The Grimoire..." I muttered.

"To reverse the barrier enchantment, one must offer a sacrifice: a soul," she explained, gingerly letting Cairo's cloak back into place without touching the book itself. "However, one cannot use just any soul. The enchantment needed a powerful one."

"Powerful like..." I swallowed hard. "Like a Swarth?"

"Precisely! And it just so happened that there was a Swarth here. A Swarth... in Halo. Even now, I could not even begin to understand how it had crossed over from earthrealm. The Swarth was meant to be destroyed during the ritual. Strangely, it was not. Those tainted souls trapped in the abyss, they..."-her brows knitted-"went inside it."

"What do you mean went inside it?"

"T-they entered through the mouth of the Swarth... All of them." Her brows furrowed. "Even now, it puzzles me how a creature could contain millions of souls."

A gasp escaped my mouth. "Oh, no... No. God, no."

"What is wrong?" She tilted her head.

"Everything!" I retorted out of panic, catching my head. "I... I didn't mean to leave him. B-but the Swarth; it's with Vincent and... and they're heading to your dad."

The look on her face terrified me.

"Then we make haste," she said.

"We can't take it on with just us. I can't use my scythe and you can't fight." I racked my brains for any possible hope. All I found was a stupid idea. "You take Amyr. Find Vlad and get back-up."

As I was leaving, she said, "You cannot face it alone. Don't be reckless, Aramis."

"Actually, I don't have a choice," I heaved a sigh. "My airhead master's in there and if I have to raise hell just to get him out, I wouldn't even have to think twice. Sucks ass. But it's kind of my job."

"Then, take this." She handed me the Helcium shard.

I took it and left without looking back.

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So it's been a busy week. I'm hoping you're all still there. Oh, and thanks to everyone who got a copy of REAPERS Thirteen Brothers. For those outside the Philippines, it's available via the BUQO app!

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