STRANGULATE | Markicest

27 | A.W. MANOR

"It's acting," said Dark as they sat next to each other in the Dining Hall.

    He ate a small plate of fruit paired with a cocktail (which had someone's tears), continuing to walk Mark through the way of an Evolved.

    "What Xilef said was perfect," continued Dark. "Turn your fear into fuel."

    "I'm not that angry of a person, though," Mark muttered, poking at his food. He rested his elbow on the table, head tilted. "He just irritates me."

    Dark chuckled at that. "Do you know what his ability is?"

    Mark gave a small scoff, glancing up at Dark. "I don't really know anyone's," he answered. "I know Voxe controls the house, Ether's a healer... You do some weird—eye shit..."

    As he trailed off, Dark smiled, reaching for his cocktail and swirling the contents mindlessly. "Xilef has been my right-hand man even before Antinstine came to power," he said. Memories glittered in his eyes, but he pushed them aside. "The Aurist. Never one to question but to console."

    He leaned closer to Mark, smirking. "He told you to use your anger, because you're aura reeks of it." He took a sip of his drink, gazing at Mark through the corner of his eye as he did so. "We both wondered if you were an Evolved when we first saw you. Your aura—constantly shifting... never a single emotion or stance, but... evolving."

    Mark hummed at that. "Is that... how you guys found me? When I ran off that one night."

    Dark hesitated before nodding. He leaned back in his chair and crossed his legs, letting the glass rest in his fingers neatly.

    "Xilef told me how strong your aura was that night." He tilted his glass. "Red with passion, heat, fury... Then with blues and purples—your fear... Large as a wildfire."

    Mark gave a snort at that. "So I'm a special human," he said. "That it?"

    Dark breathed through his nose as he smiled, the red of his eyes calming. "You'll be more convincing an Evolved. Getting into the character of 'Viper' won't be as hard."

    "Will that really be my name?" laughed Mark. "Viper?"

    "It may sound funny to you, but for Evolveds, names like that are normal," said Dark. He set down his glass, turning in his seat to fully face Mark, then folded his hands in his lap. Mark straightened himself at the change of posture, raising a brow.

"Tell me more about your childhood," he said simply. "And then we'll find out who Viper really is."

Mark fell into a silence for a long moment, then took a deep breath, giving in.

"Well, uhm... we didn't have money as a kid—we were poor," he started. "So instead of playing with toys, I killed animals. Spent my time in the woods away from everyone else... It wasn't bad, but—it could've been better."

As he told his story, Dark listened, nodding along and finding how he could bend his words into something more akin to an Evolved.

———

Miles away in the Evolved City, on that same night, Antinstine's mansion was alive.

    Glittering and grand, standing prodigious with golden arches and crystal buttresses, so bright it could be mistaken for a star. Within the mansion, High Evolveds walked to and fro, shoes clicking on the pristine, almost mirror-like marble floors. Their chatter rose in a dull roar that echoed through the aged walls.

    Antinstine walked among the Evolveds, chin up and face drawn back. An Evolved taller than him approached, the horns jutting from his head in elegant arches.