Day 2: Year C-009

...

The clock silently struck two in the morning on Deity Capital's clock tower. Tiny footsteps could be heard scavenging the streets as the black fog was at its worst.

From the obsidian Castle's main balcony, Lucian Diamante's sunken eye glared at the city with contempt. His towering body was, for the first time, hunched over and defeated. His tied-down hair maintained less volume than usual, and his crown of branches appeared dull and devoid of life.

“... Sometimes, I cannot help but wonder why you asked me that question before you passed on. It proved to me you had adored her more than I, your biological son." Lucian's cold hands gripped the steel balcony. "If our paths converge at the gates of O’ Death, just as the Goddesses’ scriptures are told, I demand of you only two things. Your honesty and aid in pleading my case to the Goddess of Death, for you have forsakened me with the cruellest burden.”

As Lucian concluded his mumbling, the dim moonlight vanished from the skies above again. The fog was now at its prime, conveying that the assassins were at their most involved. A few moments later, a shadowy figure leapt behind Lucian and waited for his attention.

“...You have finally arrived from your killing assignment. Did you accomplish everything I asked for?”

The Head Priest questioned without turning his head.

“The lives of three revolutionists are no more. I tore out their hearts and fed them to the wolves, as requested.” The assassin with white locks sternly recounted. She slowly lifted her visor and mask, revealing her sandy skin, small freckles, and lonely sapphire eyes.

Lucian slowly turned around, clearly about to lose his composure. He loomed over the strange assassin and glared at her with his one orange eye.

“...And? What of the Priestess? Did you accomplish granting her a beautiful death and plant evidence against the choir boy, just as I commanded?”

The assassin remained silent, her paling visage desperately attempting to hide her fear, but her restless eyes told the whole story.

Lucian's cold, claw-like hands twitched at the silence.

“What did you do?!" Lucian seethed as he seized the assassin by the neck and raised her from the ground, "This killing assignment should have been effortless. She and the boy are the only staff present managing that run-down Temple.”

“That is ultimately false, Lord Diamante. Two other staff members aided in the escape-”

“YOU ALLOWED HER TO ESCAPE?!”

"The... Others are..." The assassin began to lose air, "...Searching. We. Know there are three. Members total assisting the Priestess. They seem. To be very. Loyal,"

Lucian, in a fit of madness, crushed the assassin's neck and fell to the ground in an anxious, agitated state. The assassin’s corpse limped over and turned into the exact noir fog seen at Verde Street's Temple.

“Two others, you say? In her documented reports, my steadfast consorts did not cite two hired staff members... Whether intentional or not, it would seem that witch Zanna evaded my scheme to kill her by surprise.”

A minute passed before another assassin, who appeared the same as the previous one, gracefully leapt onto the balcony. She glanced down in silence. Despite being alive, her eyes were devoid of any life.

“Listen well, killer. I keep you here solely for the reason that you are a loophole to our Goddesses' Life and Death system. I cannot be wholly blamed for the murders of my enemies, and your ability to transform into paper and my immediate fog regeneration abilities construct a cycle where you cannot die, even when fatally struck. We must annihilate my adversaries before I have no choice but to continue to lie to my Royal Guards,” Lucian grits his teeth and turns to his black fog, "Find that Priestess and kill her, or you will die without my guaranteed promise to you.”

"It will be done, Lord Diamante... Though I must add on a necessary detail-"

“Spit it out, my patience has run thin as fragile moth string-”

“The choir boy has caught onto our little trick. He recognized your black fog puppeteering and mentioned he witnessed a physical manifestation of my soul floating away as my body dissapeared."

“Is that so?” The Head Priest raised a concerned brow, recalling a memory Allucia had once told him. People who contacted demons of the cold seas used their magic to see the undead and enact treason against the Rulers and people of Grand Street. “...Then, continue the search with haste, I desire the execution of any persons roaming the streets at night.”

The assassin's eyes dilated as she folded herself into a paper plane and flew directly into the eerie fog.

She was on the hunt again.

The Head Priest adjusted his long, ebony robes and returned to his gloomy bedroom. He shut his noir curtains and immediately marched towards the lower levels of his Castle. His Guards remained ominously silent in their stationed positions as the young Head Priest headed towards the basement floor.

At first, the enclosure appeared as a miniature Temple fused with a library. The walls were made of grey scale bricks, paintings of the Royals were neatly hung, and rarer books were displayed on the chestnut shelves. No one was a witness besides the puppet-like Guards who never showed their faces.

Lucian crept past a bookshelf to enter a secret passageway. With his shiny sandstone eye being the only source of light, the Head Priest used his hand pressing against the dirt wall as a guide. After all, these walls lead to an unexpected catacomb.

I must follow the dirt walls to the left and avoid the bricked ones…

The Head Priest thought to himself with a smirk, relieved that he was the only one who knew this secret. Most folks would rationalize following the brick walls, as they had inviting decorations and a similar look to the main library. But little did those inferior fools know that it was the start of their death sentence to wander the catacombs.

At the end of a dirt path, a tiny box on the floor could be seen by Lucian's dim light from his eye. He rolled up his sleeve and put his hand inside the box. A few moments passed before the Head Priest felt a prick on his finger, which drew a tiny blood sample.

Lucian retreated his hand and watched the box glow a faint blue colour. The crowned ruler of Grand Island stepped inside the box and was pulled in by a tiny portal, disappearing without a trace.

…

The Head Priest opened his single weary eye and found himself in a large Gothic cathedral hidden miles underground, Lucian’s Castle.

The Head Priest nervously removed his crown of thorns, placed it on a white marble table, and focused his gaze ahead toward a giant woman’s head encased in a block of ice. Her body was still attached below, though it was out of sight. Her beautiful golden skin glistened from the warm torches within the room’s enclosure. Her long, thin locks of white were braided back, decorated with little bits of an unknown, fickle, yellow flower from beyond.

Lucian drowned out his concerns with Zanna, as he focused on the woman with a frigid yet beautiful expression.

“A mystery Mother, nor the previous rulers of Grand Island, could figure out. She is a titan akin to the Goddesses, though undeniably not one of them. Death bore locks of jet black, while Life’s were like spun, golden yarn... I cannot discern any further physical details, or if there even is a possibility to awaken whatever this woman may be.” The Head Priest’s eyes grew cold as he punched the ice block, “... Her existence brings me confusion and hatred. She could be a demon for all we know. I pray to our Goddesses above her soul is within the deepest pits of the unknown-”

“Your Excellence-”

Lucian swerved around, ready to strike with the intent to slaughter.

“It’s us! The Royal Guard!” The three soldiers cloaked in gold took a huge step back and saluted.

“Do not frighten me. What are you doing here?”

“One thousand pardons, your majesty. It is past your bedtime, and we insist you obtain as much sleep as you can. You still have your duties to uphold,”

“Correct. The news will require my permission to publish any new stories...Not to mention, I have to constantly speak out against any new laws attempting to be passed...” Lucian turned away from the knight with frustration, “...Tell me, Golden soldiers, what foods are on the menu for tomorrow’s brunch?”

“Your usual black tea, bitter blue cheese with freshly baked carbs and unsalted butter.”

“Excellent. Always be certain the menu, nor anything within these city walls, ever alters. Time shall remain unmoving within our Island. Priestesses shall continue to pray, schools uphold the same traditions, and continue to reject any non-traditional holiday inventions from the people.”

“Yes, Your Excellence.”

“Oh, and another inquiry from yours truly, are all our Royal Guards within their bases and kept safe away from this mysterious black fog?”

“Yes. Our head count’s attendance was perfect tonight, as usual.”

“Perfect. Let it be known, one day, I will discover the causation for this wretched black mist that plagues our streets. And I shall save the people from that wretched magic weakening mist.”

The Royal Guards silently saluted as Lucian left for his chambers, disgruntled and exhausted. Unexcited for the new day ahead.