Soft Spot → Sylus

The Eagle And The Crow

The moment you open your eyes, darkness greets you. It takes a moment for your eyes to adjust, but as soon as it does, you realize that you're no longer home. Instead of a warm bed, your body lays helplessly on the concrete ground, speckles of sands and dust sticking to your skin. The casual clothes which consist of a long pants and short sleeved shirt made of flannels can only do so much to keep you warm.

Racking your brain for answers, you remember the events that took place earlier. While laying in bed, nearly on the brink of sleep, a rift opened in the corner of the bedroom, and in came three figures, all covered from head to toe with dark navy fabric wrapped around their figure sloppily. You tried to resist, of course, but you were outnumbered. Not only that, but it seemed like they had something to weaken you and your Evol.

So, here you are, in what you can only guess is a protofield. Surprisingly, unlike a wanderer's protofield, it doesn't alert your senses. In fact, it almost soothes you, the strange aura emanating from this protofield — or, whoever abducts you might have drugged you, who knows.

Sitting upright, you glance around, navigating your surroundings. The protofield looks spacious with nearly no objects in sight, save for the multiple doors to your left and right. There's a total of 8 doors, 4 on each side. To where they lead, you're not sure. How big is this protofield anyways?

A steady clicking of what you think are heels echoes through the room. You glance at each of the doors respectively, waiting for someone to pop out anytime soon. The second door to your left opens up, revealing a slim figure in navy heels and striped navy-white suits, black hair pulled into a neat bun and her face fair, bare of any makeup with a small mole just under her lips.

"Mona," you glare, pushing yourself off your feet so to stand, coming face to face with the woman. "I never thought I'd employ the wife of Ever Science's leader, with such a cheap price too."

The woman cackles, baring her white teeth in an otherwise sweet smile, have you not known who she truly is. "Wife of Ever Science's leader? Darling, I am the leader of Ever Science," her voice is as sweet as you last talked with her, which was before she set your house ablaze. "That man got all the credit while he sent me to do the dirty work. But, I couldn't just leave - he might find someone to replace me. So, I offed him."

Did this woman just boldly declare herself as a murderer? It's not surprising, given what she did to your own family, but the fact that she blatantly talked about her offing her own husband sounded sickening to you. She must have a loose fuse in her head. Instead of responding, you let her spout her villainous dialogue as you stand your ground, facing her.

"You look tense, darling," Mona tilts her head, stepping closer to you. "I thought I've modified this protofield enough to make you relaxed."

"Modified?" you raise a brow, curious.

"Well, yes. Otherwise you'd feel threatened," she extends both her arms out, marveling at the barren room which she calls the modified protofield. "With the help of Ever Science and my materialization Evol, nothing is impossible to achieve. I made Skyhaven came true. At this point, I could even create Heaven and Hell."

"No doubt, you set my house on fire. That's already a simulation of hell," you cross your arms, leaning against one of your legs.

Mona laughs, like the maniac she is. "Oh, darling, you entertain me. I might have to keep you around after extracting enough blood out of you."

Your body visibly tenses. You would retort, but something tells you to be cautious. Aside from the fact that you feel as if your body is sedated, given the leisure, almost floating like feeling in your brain, you understand full well that Mona is capable of anything, if she really did create this protofield. You're a sheep trapped in a tiger's den. Maybe, you should play it cool for now — who knows, she might slip up and give you more info about the whereabouts of Theia's Aether Core.