The Trio exited from the forest restaurant which gave them an enriching experience. The food and drinks were high quality in every way and rivaled some of the best food places in all of North Fiore. The waitresses were a delight as well and added to the experience. Even though Zeno and his two friends were in a tense atmosphere, good food, and drinks pierced right through it like a knife. They took a scenic route to get all the attention off Zeno so they could talk privately.

“Welcome to the Deadwoods, where not even an echo escapes these parts. So let us talk about the Bush in the cactus in the jungle, shall we? tell us about your alignment?” the two faes spoke one after another simultaneously to Zeno as they approached a large red closed gate deep behind the great tree. Zeno sighed and leaned back against a slanted tree.

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"I'll keep it short and sweet for you two. I am aligned with the winter court as your commander pointed out. Unlike you two natural-born fairies, I was once a human.” Zeno paused as he shook his head and stared at the two. He knew that revealing all the dirty truths to them would only be a problem but at the rate things were going, this seemed like the best option. Choosing to only reveal certain things would not lead to insubordination, at least that's what Zeno thought. “It was not my choice in the matter of things, just something that was meant to be I guess… Do not be mistaken, My heart and my allegiances do not fall parallel to one another” Zeno asserted his voice to a level that was no longer friendly. Feeling the need to display to the two fae that this matter was not an espionage act but just Zeno being true to himself and caring about the people who were once nice to him.

170

Darren and Vincent had no reason to mistrust Zeno but the truth of the matter far exceeded their personal feelings. Darren’s mind and heart were steadily filling up with frustration since the time of back at the base. The stakes placed on both him and Vincent from the general solely relied on Zeno, his long time friend. He knows Zeno is a fully capable person but fae from the unseelie are not to be trusted whatsoever. So what does this mean overall, he asked himself.

‘Is Zeno deceiving us? Why come here now of all times when we are plagued with issues, is it to take advantage of us using a friendly face? What if he is genuine with what he is saying? Is he still my friend? Why is Zeno with the unseelie? How long was he with them?’

So many questions and no answers to all these questions spurring around Darrens mind. These were all thoughts just aimed towards Zeno alone, more thoughts entered his cracked mind.

‘Is it worth risking everything you staked your life on for a traitor? What would I do if things didn't turn out well in the end? Is this the right call? What matters more, friendship or becoming a fairy?’

When looking toward Vincent for some sort of closure, he was met with a reflection of himself. Vincent had no answers for him and he had no answer for his best friend either. He was stuck in a spiral with only two exits with heavy prices. The stress of having everything occur one after another in such a short time period stacked, chipping away at his mental fortitude until reality became a blur

WC 281

The feeling of a hand gently falls onto Darren's shoulders, acting like a beacon of hope to guide him through his current ordeal. The whirling thoughts trapping him in a vortex slowly unraveling. Darren’s anguish was fizzling out like a fire in a downpour. Clarity had finally found the fae. Peace finds his mind by eliminating all voices echoing, a blanket wraps around him to give him safety, blackness covers his eyes  shielding him from the pulsating rays of pain. Darkness was all Darren knew now…Darkness is what became of the one once called Darren.

Vincent looked at his friend with a somber gaze before walking over to him and placing a hand on his shoulder in order to comfort him. The forest critters cries grew extremely loud as the dreadful silence grew. Zeno sighed and walked to the gate and pushed it open. A gentle bell flicked alerting the guards of a visitor.

“Wait, Zeno. Something is wrong with Darren” A panicked voice ushers out from the faes lips.

“N-NO! NOOO NOOO NOO NOOO!” Vincent vigorously shakes Darren while repeatedly screaming out.

Zeno along with the guards that approached him at the gate rushed over to the wailing fae.

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“Daarren!!” Vincent hysterically called out to his best friend whose body went limp. The fae pristine light skin quickly withered into a wrinkled black raisin texture. Massive amounts of mana vigorously leaked out from Darren's body, eroding him faster by the second. The light in his eyes had completely faded along with the white, all that remained was blackness.

Vincent being too hysterical was rendered useless while Zeno and the two guards eyes were glued to the two faes. Everybody was frozen like statues until Vincent pleaded for help.

“PLEASE HELP HIM, ZENO….” The sobering shattered voice of his friend woke Zeno from his state of shock. He scanned the surroundings and the state of Darren to try and piece anything together  in the moment. The mana spilling out from the fae was flowing in an unusual way. Deciding the best course of action was to activate his fae eyes and see why the mana was flowing upward.

Zeno's eyes lit up with a bright yellow and amber color, the mana infused into his eyes spiraled around one another until they sunk into his pupils. This allowed for his vision to be enhanced to a point where the essence of people's souls and even invisible creatures can be seen based on their mana source. Darrens soul was like a bursting flame that was quickly diminishing, the culprit behind this was a flying spirit hanging above him. This spirit wore a weird looking wooden mask that had giant painted eyes on them, its body resembled that of a normal humanoid being but its fingers were ball-tipped and had holes in them. These holes were absorbing the mana from his friend. Without uttering a word Zeno loudly clapped his hands together, the sound caught the attention of his peers and when they looked at Zeno they saw his eyes were glowing and the direction of his gaze was fixed above Darren and Vincent. Copying Zeno, the guards and Vincent activated their fae eyes and saw the spirit.

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“A-Aaahh!”
“ W-What is that thing!?”

Both the guards stumbled backwards from the sheer fright they had upon seeing the dark spirit.

‘There's no time to be scared shitless…and you call yourself guards. This thing could be the root cause or a cog in the wheel or whats plaguing the deep and ya are just whimpering!” Zeno lectured the guards without holding his tongue. His hands shook with anger in the process and could not focus to conjure a spell perfectly.

Whoosh!~

A strong gust of wind blew, blowing the dark spirit into a nearby tree.

Swish!~ Thunk! Thunk! Thunk!~

Three spears made of concentrated wind flew through the air at blinding speeds, impaling the spirits head, hand, and torso into the tree. The suction that was draining Darren’s mana immediately halted. Flying past Zeno at a similar speed to the spears thrown was Vincent. With spear in hand he stabbed the spirit with his magically imbued staff straight through its core.

A high pitch squeal bursts forth from the punctured mask of the spirit, mana from within its body rushes out from the penetrated area. Vincent yanks the spear out from its body causing the rest of the mana to rush out like water from a bursting dam.

Zeno and the guards quickly ran to Darren, carefully lifting him up and carrying him over to dirt soaked in mana. His body was slowly absorbing mana from the dirt and with it restored stability to his core. Though his core was stable it was still small and bright. Zeno recalled the fae from the cell whose flame was also small but it was vastly dim, this gave him some relief.

“One of you will get help from the village and the other will keep watch, okay?”

Before hearing their response Zeno got up and joined Vincent standing face to face with the dark spirit.
It was breathing very slowly, leaking mana continuously into the dirt.

“You had your fill, but no more. What's your purpose here and to attack one of us?”

“Hehe…hehehe…to…survive…more will…come..and feed on…you all…”
With one final exhale the dark spirit turns into a black stain on the tree causing the rest of the mana flooded from within it to flood out like dandelion spores.

Vincent stood quiet with his hair covering his eyes, squeezing his spear with enough force one would think it could snap it in half. Embracing his fellow fae, Zeno hugged him tightly.

“We will figure this out, for Darren and everybody else. I won't let these dark spirits get away with such acts”

Vincent grips loosens and begins to sob hysterically as numerous elves and fae rush over from the village ready to lend a hand to Darren.

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1594/1200 20% WC Reduction from Explorer Belt