A stroll along the Cainon road was not a trip any wise man would recommend. Aside from the strong winds that throw lightfooted people to the clouds, it was also home to a mysterious fog responsible for turning the most experienced explorers into lost children.

Unnoticed and unexpected, it creeps in around travellers and surrounds them with illusions reflected from their hearts. Some see family members, others see treasure chests of gold, but as for Sef, it was the same old disappointment. A long bearded old man seated at the edge of the road, with a huge straw hat on his head, and a wooden fishing rod in his hands.

“good morning Knox” he greeted, waving his hand to snatch the elder’s attention.

The old man blinked and yawned, but refused to look at Sef. His gaze was fixed forward, as if watching an event only his eyes could percieve. “hm, looks like she’s about to go out”

“Knox, it’s me Sef!”

“oh my, those curves...”

“stop peeping you stupid kid! I’m talking to you!”

Knox flinched and finally looked sideways. His wrinkled face soured to a frown, and his sunken eyes filled with disappointment. “oh it’s you, what do you want?

Sef drew a box in the air. “remember the thing I told you to keep no matter what? I want it back now”

“ha!” the old man scoffed. “and you think I’ll hand it over just like that? Let me remind you, I’m Equin Knox. The---”

“the phantom of Cainon road, the misleader of men, the long distance peeper of naked women. Yeah, yeah I know that already. Stop talking and give me my treasure”

Knox froze for five seconds before responding. “what was it again?”

“the glass box! The one I gave the first time we met!”

“oh right. Fine, give me your payment first”

Sef reached inside his pocket and tossed a small brown sack to the old man's feet. “that’s half of it. I’ll give you the other one after I get my hands on the box”

“what’s this?”

“south wall mushrooms. Their from the highest parts of the stairs so don’t worry about the poison”

“hm...” Knox drew three blood red mushrooms and dumped them in his mouth. He looked skeptical at first, but the more he chewed, the more his face brightened.

Sef grinned proudly. “they’re good huh?”

Knox gave a reluctant nod and returned his gaze to the clouds. “I still don’t know what box your yappin about. So just say stop when you see it”

“my, you really forgot? That hurts”

“it’s one of the oldest items here, what do you expect?”

Sef rolled his eyes and sat. “don’t you have anything we can drink here?”

“just wait, I’m sure something drinkable will pop up soon”

“pop up?”

Knox made a hoarse throaty noise and tapped his fishing rod three times. After a few seconds, items of various shapes, sizes and importance shot out of the clouds and landed in front of Sef. Human skulls, wine bottles, jewelry, everything a living person would want was thrown to his feet like garbage, and still, the one he asked was nowhere to be found.

“patience whitehead” Knox said. “your thing is probably burried pretty deep by now. It would take I while before it comes up”

“if that’s the case...” Sef picked up two goblets and relocated beside the old man. “how about we catch up? With those eyes of yours, I’m sure you have a lot of good stories to tell by now”

Knox opened a nearby bottle and poured well fermented liquid in the goblets. “I’m not sure if good’s the right word to describe them”

“ooh, they’re that bad?”

“more like disgusting”

Sef took a sip. “tell me about it”

Knox drained his cup and refilled. “I saw what you did to the guardian, wanna know how it got those wings?”

“yes, that’s been bugging me a bit”

“about a month ago, a number of black hooded men came and disturbed it. I thought they were just some dumb kids wanting to bring something home, but after seeing what they did, I got so disgusted that I didn’t even attack the two they sent to survey this road”

The hairs on Sef’s neck stood. “what did they do?”

“first they restrained the guardian and forced its mouth open. Then they brought in crucified men, skinned them alive, marinated them with some black goo and fed them to the poor monster one by one”

“and then?”

“the monster squirmed and broke free, then killed the men like the good guardian it was”

Sef drained his cup. “that’s it? What about the wings?”

Knox froze again, only this time, it was not because of old age but of child-like fear. “the wings came afterwards... after that man appeared”

“man who?”

“Parvanos”

It took all of Sef’s will to retain a straight face. It has been ages since he heard that name, and still, the rage it summoned inside him blazed like a fire lighted seconds ago. “so he finally showed up”

“I suggest you ask the Hallowers to relocate your cell, I’m sure that bastard’s bound to show up at your doorstep one of these days”

Right as Sef opened his mouth, a white blur bounced off Knox’s forhead and landed on his lap. It was a glass cube as big as a fist, with a moon flower petal frozen inside it.

“this thing...” Knox’s eyes widened. “you fool, you’re finally going to do it?”

Sef took the cube and got to his feet. “didn’t you see my new weapon? She’s quite something”

“tch” Knox looked away. “that’s a little girl you dragged into this mess. You ought to be ashamed of yourself”

“ooh, what’s this?” Sef teased. “is the mighty fogman finally showing his soft side?”

“I’m not sof---”

Sef dumped two more mushroom sacks on Knox’s face. “here’s my other payment, take it and shut up”

The old man beamed at the extra sack. “why are you giving me two?”

“I’m buying one more thing”

“fine, take anything you want”

Sef stripped to his undergarments. “don’t mind if I do”

Knox raised an eyebrow. “what are you doing?”

“Erze’s birthday is next month. I want to give her something unique, something she can only get from me”

“your body?”

“no you filthy old man, I want a piece of your pet!”

“what?!” Knox scooted away. “no! Nessa’s scale’s are not for sale!”

Sef picked up one of the mushroom sacks and dangled it infront of the old man. “you have three counts kid. One!”

“wait!”

“two!”

“I said wait!”

“th---”

“fine!” Knox threw his hands in the air. “dress up and sit still, I’ll draw her to the surface”

Sef waved his hand. “no need, I’ll get one myself”

“why are you making this hard for yourself?”

“if I don’t get it with my own hands, it doesn’t count as a gift”