"Genesis..." He heard a familiar voice. "It's happening William. It's about to begin."

It was the same place which he used to see in all his dreams with his dizzy eyes. Nothing was clear, just like the memories, faded in time. It was the same voice which he was hearing every single night. The voice, which was haunting his every single dream.

His eyes opened, again with a blurry vision. He saw the same women, dressed in white with silver-white hairs. The weather was calm and the sky was clear. The small waves in the ocean were making surfing, clashing sounds on the beach. He found himself lying in the sand, on the shore. The woman, Rivia, was sitting beside him, looking at the horizon in the ocean.

His vision was still unclear. He got up and sat on his knees. He looked towards Rivia and tried to pressure his eyes for clear vision. A spark ran inside his body, toes to head, and his strength reduced.

"Don't force yourself," Rivia said, in a low voice. "You won't be able to see me, not yet."

"Why."

"It's not the time yet." she said.

"Then, when is the right time."

"Soon," she said, "once the wish is fulfilled. Once the work is done."

William didn't say a word. He quietly sat beside her. Looked at her and then at the vast ocean, stretched out all around the land.

"Why is it this place, every time, when I meet you?" he asked. "The same sand, same shore, same weather and same scene repeats."

"Because...this is the only place where we can meet." she said, with a faint smile. "This is the sacred place, in the universal void. The place, where all different universes meet at the same point. The time flows differently here, or should I say, 'time freezes here'."

"So...the person I met," William said, "was it not the real you?"

"William, we don't have enough time to waste. " said Rivia. "Starting now, every second will count, every moment matters."

"Why do you always say these words to me?"

"I don't say these words to you." she said. "I say these to someone who's inside you."

"huh?"

"It's just my small attempt to wake them up."

As she completed her words, A spark ran throughout William's body and he was pulled away from the void. His eyes opened with a jolt.

A dream. He thought.

It was early dawn. It was dark as the sun was still hiding behind the mountains. He was still in his warm bed. Rita was sleeping in his arms, her arms wrapped around his belly. He realised her eyes were opened. She was just lying in his arms, calm and quiet.

"You didn't sleep?" he asked her.

"My eyes didn't close." she said, getting close to his face. "I wasn't very tired."

"So...about last night," He looked at Rita, "I don't know how okay that was--"

"It's okay," she interrupted, "I have always had the same feelings for you." she paused. "And you sure know how to satisfy a woman."

"ah...um.."

William awkwardly avoided saying anything to her statement. Rita saw him getting a little embarrassed and uncomfortable for a moment.

"I'm sorry if that sounds uncomfortable." she said, trying to calm him. "I didn't mean it in the wrong way--"

"Wait." William said in a low voice and abruptly got out of the bed. He wore his black shirt and calmly observed the room door.

"What happen..."

"shh..."

Rita was confused for some time until she felt the same what William felt. An unknown Qi, increasing in density, rapidly spreading around them. William went near the desk drawer and removed an object, wrapped in red cloth with a royal seal.

He, silently and cautiously, unwrapped the red cloth, removing a shiny, gold plated jade knife. The knife, which once was gifted to Rita by Charlotte.

He knew about the knife? Thought Rita.

William went close to the door and put his ears to the door. He looked back at Rita and pointed towards the clothes shelf. Rita, understanding the signal, got out of the bed and dressed up in her Elite class uniform.

I let my guards down. she thought. How could I be so careless?

William waved his hands, asking her to follow him. Reading the unknown QI he, without making any footsteps noise, walked outside the room. It was a decently long corridor and stairs at the end of it which leads to the ground floor. Switching on the lightbulbs was not the option. It would simply warn the infiltrators.

Rita used her wordless spell. Following the spell, a small light-blue coloured glowglobe was summoned. It was bright enough to light up a small area around them. Guided by Rita, the glowglobe floated forward and they followed it through the corridor. They walked down the stairs and William slowly opened the door, which leads to the ground floor--a kitchen and massive living room.

Not sooner had he opened the door, there were three strong firing sounds, a bullet came cutting through the air and passed from near William, kissing his cheeks. William quickly backed off, evading the gun shot and took cover behind the wall.

A battle Rifle? He thought and he looked towards Rita,

"What the hell is going on?" He said, in a low voice. "Who are these people?"

Are these people from the organisation Steve was talking about? Rita thought.

Rita looked down for some moment and looked back at him. She took a deep breath and moved a little forward.

"William," she said. "There's something you need to know."

"Huh."

"When I knocked you unconscious, Steve told me about the recently secretly formed illegal organisation."

"And what does it have to do with this situation?"

"Let me complete," Said Rita, "the organisation was formed of people who lost their loved ones in the capital town incident."

"Okay, now that explains." he looked at Rita. "These people think I'm responsible for it."

"Well, not totally."

While they were talking, there were more gunshots and the mirror on the wall was shattered into pieces. The glass crushed on the tiles making a loud shattering noise. William took his head back from the door and kept his silence.

William picked up a small block of wood from nearby and waited for a moment. After a while, he threw the wooden block in the air pointing towards the window. As the wooden piece flew in the air, there were more gunshots and the wooden piece was now nothing but small shattered pieces.

"Stop hiding like a coward, you devil." a shouting voice came from the dark.

What the hell? William thought. Where does this confidence come from?

"They are skilled shooters." said Rita, snapping him back from his thoughts.

"huh...what?"

"When you threw that wooden piece, there were some six-seven shots." she said. "none of them missed."

"Nice observation."

"And if my ears are good, they are two battle rifle users and three pistol users."

"That helps," Said William. "just read their QI and figure out their position. Make no noise and take them down."

"Precisely...but we need a plan--"

"Too late."

William, ignoring Rita's orders, walked outside the covers and submerged himself in the darkness of the night. His feets were quiet and every step was silent, like a tiger waiting for its prey. He moved forward and walked towards the small cover beside the Wardrobe.

The way this QI flows...only three men with pistols inside the living room. He told himself and observed the room with very minimal light present inside.

The windows are slightly opened, he thought. If I have to assume...three men with pistols in the living room. One man waiting outside the door with a battle rifle and one on the roof of the house opposite to us.

William walked outside the shadows and dashed towards the shelf. A man stood up pointing the gun on his shoulder, his face covered by black cloth. William, reading the situation, dodged the bullet and rushed closer. William grabbed his shivering hand and strongly hit his neck, knocking him unconscious.

His body fell down, William grabbed him and used it as a shield. Following William's lead Rita walked out of the covers and used her spell to cancel her QI. She dashed towards the other person, grabbing the wooden chair on her way. Not sooner had the man walked outside the cover, Rita smashed the chair on his head.

"Dude, that strength." William said in amusement.

"Sorcery."

"No killing," he shouted. "They're innocents."

"I didn't hear that." Rita said and she rushed towards the third infiltrator in the room. The third person walked out of the cover, backed off and pointed the gun at her. She, with her flexible body, dodged the bullet and the man didn't realise when she reached behind him, holding his head with her hands on both sides.

"Coming here to attack him was a mistake," she whispered in his ears with a sinister voice. Her hand moved, mercilessly twisting his head.

"Come on Rita!" William shouted. "For god's sake, I said no killing."

"So you want me to let them kill you?"

"They're not here to assassinate me."

While they were arguing about the situation, there appeared two more firing sounds and bullets came inside the house, shattering the window glasses. They both used their barrier spell and the bullets were crushed after hitting the field barrier.

~~

The night was calm, just like the calm before the storm. The crescent moon was shining bright in the darkness of the night. Two men, dressed in black with battle rifles were quietly waiting outside the beautiful house. Three of their companions were already inside the house.

Do we really have to do this? The man waiting on the roof thought. Was there really no other way?

Soon, his attention was grabbed by the sounds of gunshots and screams coming from the house. he looked at his other companion, who was waiting on the ground with other battle rifle and pointed him to check the situation from the window.

The other man, tightly grabbing his rifle, walked forward towards the house. He walked near the big window and tried to peep inside through a small gap within the curtains. Not sooner had he peeped inside the house, a strong red colored fist like spell creation came outside, breaking the window, smashing the man on the walls of the building opposite to the house.

Before the other man could realise the situation, the door of the house opened and Rita jumped, with her crimson red scythe, towards the man on the roof.

Before he could evade. The scythe stabbed his chest and crushed him on the side walls. Rita's house was situated on Zora Street. One of the main and biggest streets in the town. All the stores and houses were located on both sides of it. There was a big explosion, but to their surprise, none of the doors were opened.

'Shadow arts, the mirage dreams.' Rita thought. The village won't wake up until I want them to.

William walked outside the house, just to see that Rita had already slayed both of them. Their bodies, lying calm without souls. Frustration filled all over his face looking at how both of the people were killed for no reason.

"I said no killing, Rita."

"huh...did you say something?" Rita said, mocking him.

"Sarcasm?"

"No..."

"Now is that Sarcasm?"

"Oh come on William," she said.

"The only point is, there was no need to kill them," he replied. "They were not here to kill me."

Rita released the spell and her dark scythe, which was stabbed inside one of the men, disappeared. She climbed down the roof and walked towards William.

"And why do you think so?" she asked.

"Because back then, I willingly went forward in their range," he said. "But instead of aiming at my head, they aimed at my shoulders."

"What are you implying?"

"Rita, these people were able to infiltrate your house without us even knowing it. that shows how professionals they were." he explained. "I willingly gave them a chance to shoot me, but instead of getting my head, they chose to aim at my shoulder."

Hearing those words and looking at how desperate William was from the very beginning to convince her that they were innocent, Rita's face showed a change in her expressions. That night was the first time when Rita lost her control over her emotions, and acted mercilessly. She felt miserable, she felt like a monster.

William walked close to her and wrapped his arms over her, giving her a warm hug. His hug brought her back from her thoughts. She grabbed him tight, trying to calm herself.

"I...why did I do that?" she said, in a low voice. "You know I'm never like this."

"It's...it's okay, calm down--"

"No, it's not okay," she interrupted. "I just killed four humans without any mercy...like a monster."

While trying to calm Rita, William froze in his place as he sensed an unknown QI. A furious QI with fighting intent. William left the hug and grabbed Rita's arms and looked in her eyes.

"I know, that was a mistake," he said, "but right now is not the time. There are more people coming for us, we need to move."

"where will we go?"

"I don't know," he replied. "But we can't stay in one place. If they're sorcerers, they'll eventually find us."

After a short discussion, William and Rita moved away from Zora street. Zora village, being made of many small areas and crowded with houses, made it easy for them to not stay in one place. They ran from one place to another, from bigger main streets to smaller alleyways. Used disguise to hide their identities, avoided the fights but killed when there was no other option.

After running for a while, William slowed down and stopped in a small alleyway. It was a small, very narrow road. There were less chances for people to find them here.

"I know I said, we can't stay at one place," he said. "but...it's hard. How long are we running from them?"

"I don't know either," Rita replied. "but we need to keep moving."

"What if we go to my old house?" he asked. "No one would dare to enter that place after looking at those floating concrete pieces."

"The audacity, you even thought to go back in that house," she said, in a slightly louder voice. "What are you, huh? How can you be so obsessed with that house?"

"No! I'm just...we can stay safe there,"

A spark ran all over their body as they sensed the same furious QI, with fighting intent, approaching closer to them. Rita turned around, had a look at the narrow passage.

"No time to talk, we need to move," she said and she thought, ''The passage is narrow. If, even by small chance, they came from both sides. Running away will be really hard if not impossible.

William stood up from his place and they ran again. It's been some time since they were running. Their bodies were not exhausted yet, but how long would they hold this stamina, they had no idea.

While they were running for another potential cover, a door in the small alleyway quickly opened revealing Charles' face. He pointed at them and asked them to quickly come in before anyone saw them. They both walked inside and the door was closed.

~~

William realised that the randomly opened door was the back door of the coffee shop, Charles owned for the long time. They both rested themselves in the small guest room on the first floor of the shop. The door opened and Charles came in the room with a small stool for him to sit on.

"So...the thing is--"

"Oh, don't worry," Charles interrupted. "I know what's happening out there. The organisation and stuff."

"I'm sorry for troubling you at this time of night."

"Don't worry," said Charles. "My house will always welcome you, Make yourselves comfortable."

Rita looked around for a while and looked back at Charles.

"Charles, where is your wife?" she asked.

"Oh...ah...she's gone to her town."

"Oh, but...she was in town this morning," she asked. "Why did she leave all of a sudden?"

"Are you cross-questioning him?" Added William, looking towards Rita.

"No, I'm not," Rita said. "It's been a long time since we both talked to each other, so I was just curious."

"It's fine, William," said Charles, interrupting them both. "And about my wife, we received a message that her mother is not feeling well, so she was in a hurry."

There was a brief silence in the room and all three of them were quiet, trying to not make it look awkward.

"I'll make some tea for all." Charles said, breaking the silence. "I'll be back."

"oh...There was no need for that."

"You always know it's not optional, William." Charles replied and walked outside the house, towards his cafe's kitchen downstairs.

Rita and William both sat calmly in their comfy soft chairs. It was a decently big two bedroom house, a little smaller than Rita's and much smaller than William's big mansion. But it was gorgeously mentained. William ran his eyes around the living room. There were old paintings and wall hangings elegantly placed at an angle to give the was artistic look.

After waiting for a while, William stood up and went towards big window. He opened it and looked down.

"Charles?" he shouted. "Can you come up?"

No response.

"Charles?" he tried again. "You there my friend?"

Again, there was no response.

"What happened, William?" Rita asked.

William, ignoring Rita's question, walked towards the main living room door and tried to open it. The doorknob was turned but the door didn't move.

"The door is locked from outside." William said, looking towards Rita.

"what...why?"

"I don't know. And for some reason, Charles is not responding."

"Do you think those people kidnapped him?" Rita asked.

"I hope not."

While they were talking, William sensed the same intense QI near them. it was growing rapidly, approaching them. The QI was soon followed by the sounds of many footsteps getting closer and closer. They were coming upstairs.

"We are trapped inside," William said in panic. "Oh heavens...This can't be happening."

"William, calm down," Rita said and she stood up from her chair. She walked towards the window and looked at the road in front. "The window is not very high. We can easily jump down and run."

"Maybe..." William stood up and walked towards the window. "You first." he said.

Rita took a silent deep breath and climbed up the window frame. She looked at William, gave a small smile and jumped on the house on the other side of the road. Her reinforcement spell helped her cover a bigger distance in single jump.

She looked behind and asked William to jump. Not sooner had the William climbed the window frame. The door of the living room opened and a deep voice roared in the room.

"Stay wherever you are," said the deep, eerie voice. "don't you dare move."

Hearing the voice, William froze in his place. many people, dressed in black and covered in masks, came rushing inside the house, pointing their guns on his head. William climbed down from the window frame and raised his hands.

"Okay, I'm not moving." he quickly said. "I'm standing on my place and I was definitely alone in this house."

One of the men, which from the looks of it felt like the leader of the troop, walked forward. He lowered his gun and looked in William's eyes.

"Honored to finally meet you, William Von." he said.

"I appreciate that."

"I'm glad you're not panicked after looking at so many guns pointing at you," said the man.

"Well, when you kill the rank devil, the guns and knives just feel like child's play."

"Ha, ha...big talk!" the man smiled. "I really like people like you, William."

"So does that mean I can leave this place?" William smiled.

The man furiously turned around and landed a strong punch in William's stomach. There appeared a strong sound of impact and William fell to his knees in no time. The leader pointed towards the other man. Soon, two of the men walked forward and lifted William up, holding his arms like a prisoner.

How did that punch hit so hard? William thought. It even broked my field barrier.

The leader dragged the chair and put it in front of William. He rested himself on it, removed his mask revealing his face full of beard and a scar above his eye, on his forehead. His eerie eyes met William's.

"A punch, huh?" he smiled. "A fist infused with cursed energy. you should thank me that it was not on your chest."

William had a serious face as he looked at the unmasked man and the other masked people calmly standing behind him, holding their guns.

"If you want me, here I am." William said. "But if you got Charles, please leave him. He has nothing to do with this, he's totally innocent."

The unmasked man, leader of the troop, looked at William and started laughing. William was confused at his actions.

"You heard him people?" said the man. "He says his pathetic friend Charles is innocent. He has nothing to do with this."

As the man said, he laughed again and all the people standing behind did the same. The noises of laughter runged all over place and outside the window. The man looked back at William.

"Well, well, William." he paused. "You are here for a big surprise." the man said and he looked back. "people...bring him in."

Following their leader's orders, some men walked outside the room and brought a man with his face closed inside the black cloth. William looked at the man and his eyes went over his engagement ring.

William knew who the man was.

"Why did you trapped Charles," he shouted. "I said he's innocent."

"Patience, William," said the leader. "Have patience."

The black wrapped cloth was removed and Charles' face was revealed. He looked at William and quickly looked down. The leader looked back at William with his eerie eyes and pointed towards the door.

"Do you know William, why was that door locked from outside when we walked in." he asked.

William didn't respond.

"well let me introduce you two." the man said and he looked at Charles. "Charles, this is William...the cursed child, and should not exist among humans." he looked back at William. "And William, this is Charles...the person who helped me capture you."

A haunting smile appeared on leader's face as he revealed the truth. William looked at Charles with his shocked face.

"Tell me this bastard is lying, Charles." William said.

"n...no. He's not." Charles whispered, trying not to see in William's eyes.

William was shocked by his answer. His words felt like poisonous arrows stabbing him inside his heart. He wanted to scream, but his voice failed him.

"Charles, your wife must be waiting for you downstairs." the man said. "Leave William and me alone with my people."

Following his orders, Charles, without looking at william, silently walked outside the house leaving them alone. The unmasked man stood up from the place and walked towards the door.

"People, let's show him our place. Lock his hands and bring him behind me." Said the leader with a louder voice. "My daughter died because of you William, I'm going to take everything from you."