"Watch where you're going, boy.” He growled, but when he took a look at Eclipse’s face, a hint of recognition crossed his eyes.

  Eclipse's eyes widened to the utmost as the man's voice sent a shockwave through his mind. His breathing quickened - a rapid, panicked rhythm as memories surged up like a flood breaking through a dam. He stumbled back, falling to the ground as he clutched his head, trying to fend off the overwhelming tide of images.

  "Huh... huh... huh..." Eclipse panted, his vision blurring as the past crashed over him. The world around him faded, replaced by a cascade of memories, each more traumatising than the last.

  Red. Blood, so much blood. Then black, an impenetrable black mist that clouded his thoughts. He saw fleeting images, fragments of a life he had desperately tried to forget-his parents' faces twisted in anger as they beat him, debt collectors pounding on the door, and a dark, oppressive basement.

  A woman’s face flashed in his mind. Her features were obscured but familiar. Rosaria. The memory of her locking him in that basement resurfaced, but the details were fuzzy, as if his mind refused to fully process the horror of that day. It was a gap in his memory that he couldn’t fill in. Yet, more disturbing than anything else was the brief image of Douzian's smile, a smile that once brought him comfort but now only intensified his pain.

  Eclipse gripped his scalp, his fingers digging into his skin as if trying to physically hold the memories at bay. His teeth were clenched so tightly that his jaw ached, but he couldn't stop the images from flooding his mind. They were relentless and threatening to drown him in a sea of past traumas he was powerless to escape. The pain, the guilt, the fear. It all came rushing back and dragged him down into a pit of despair he had fought so hard to climb out of.

  The man glared at Eclipse, his eyes narrowing as he opened his mouth to speak. Just as he was about to say something, Chael stepped forward, flicking his coin up and down. "Ahaha, he's just a bit of a dozer! Must've not seen you, ahaha! We'll be on our way."

  Chael dragged Eclipse to his feet and put an arm over his shoulder and turned to walk away.

  Unbeknownst to Eclipse and Chael, Sage at this moment had a look of pure shock and horror on his face as he looked at Eclipse. Sweat trickled down his forehead, and his pupils shook violently. His lips quivered as if he had just seen a ghost.

  "Wait a minute," the man growled, his voice cutting through the air like a blade.

  Chael stopped flicking the coin and caught in midair and stared at it. It landed heads up, the oni with red eyes and a green gold mask staring back at him. Chael narrowed his eyes and turned, his right hand sliding toward the hilt of his blade. The atmosphere thickened and instantly became charged with a dangerous energy.

  Before anything could escalate, Sage jumped in front of Chael with a face drenched in sweat, "Relax, please. This man is with me and means no harm."

  Sage sighed, his voice strained as he tried to defuse the situation.

  The man’s eyes flicked over Sage and sized him up, the slightest glint of light flickering across his eyes.

  But before he could respond, another voice called out to him impatiently. "Hey, Kira! leave them alone! We've got things to do."

  The voice belonged to another man, a broad-shouldered man with long hair who had it tied back in a bun. His expression was cold and indifferent and he was dressed similar to the first, but his anima was even more menacing.

  Eclipse’s breath steadied, and he let out a heavy exhale. His eyes locked onto the second man and unsurprisingly, it was the second of the debt collectors who had come that day. Eclipse's expression hardened as he turned back to Chael and Sage. "Let's go."

  Chael followed Eclipse, his coin slipping back into his pocket as he let go of the odachi's hilt.

  Sage stood frozen for a moment, his nerves still on edge. He wiped the sweat from his brow, glancing back at the two men who were now conversing with each other in hushed tones. Eclipse shot him a brief glance and continued walking.

  Sage resumed leading the way through the labyrinth of tunnels. Eclipse followed closely behind with his mind a swirl of conflicting thoughts.

  Were they both part of the Haimos Chosen? Eclipse thought. his eyes narrowing as he thought back on the cloaks they wore. It was the same one that everyone in that plaza had been wearing. And they all wore a strange symbol of the skull of a goat with long spiralling horns stabbed into its own eye sockets, with a blade pierced through its skull.

  Didn't they recognize me?

  The memory of their brief encounter played over in his mind. The way the two men had looked at him with the almost imperceptible flicker of recognition in their eyes.

  They can't have forgotten me, right? Eclipse thought with a frown. They knew I was probably the last person to see that woman, their leader. They couldn’t have just forgotten after all these years. But why didn’t they say anything? Why didn’t they try to question me or hold onto me longer?

  His confusion deepened as he glanced over his shoulder. Those men weren’t following them. There was no sign of pursuit and no sense of lingering danger. Eclipse clenched his jaw, trying to shake off the unease that gnawed at him.

  Let’s just get this over with… he resolved and pushed the thoughts to the back of his mind.

  As they approached a sturdy wooden barrier at the end of the Haimos’ Chosen’s plaza, Sage moved forward to open it. The door creaked as it swung inward and revealed yet another tunnel stretching into the darkness. Without hesitation, they continued walking, their footsteps echoing softly in the small space.

  Chael cast a sideways glance at Eclipse. He didn’t know why Eclipse had reacted the way he did back there, but he could tell now wasn’t the time to ask, especially not in front of Sage. Instead, he gave Eclipse a concerned look, a silent ‘are you okay?’ in his eyes. Eclipse nodded back with a reassuring glance.

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  “You really saved us back there, Sage,” Chael said, breaking the silence. He noticed that Sage still had drops of sweat clinging to his face. “By the way, are you okay?

  You seemed pretty worked up during that situation.”

  Sage wiped his forehead with the back of his hand, offering a weak smile. “Oh, I’m fine. Thanks for asking. I just get a bit anxious around... you know, gory stuff like that.”

  That’s a lie.

  This sentence simultaneously formed in both Eclipse and Chael’s mind’s.

  Eclipse, who had been staring at the back of Sage’s head, narrowed his eyes. He couldn’t shake the feeling that there was more to Sage than that met the eye, but for now, he kept his suspicions to himself.

  After another twenty minutes of descending stairs, navigating twisting tunnels, and passing through heavy wooden doors, the three finally arrived at the end of a dimly lit passage. The air grew colder and carried a faint metallic scent. Ahead, another massive plaza spread out before them. It bathed in an eerie, green jade light emanating from lanterns. The light flickered off the jagged rocks that spiked out from the ground and casted long shadows that danced across the stone floor. Skulls, some small and others unsettlingly large, were arranged as decor.

  “This is one of Ghost’s areas,” Sage murmured as if he was trying to make sure his voice was low. “It’s known for being a place where people request all sorts of missions. Everything from assassinations to simple help jobs. We shouldn’t stay here too long, though. We don’t want to attract the wrong kind of attention.”

  The three pressed on, their footsteps echoing softly against the stone floor. As they walked deeper into the open area, Chael glanced around, intrigued by the strange decor. “This place is pretty cool, but how does Ghost operate it?”

  “This place is called the Ossuary of Contract,” Sage said, the directed his Sage to to the surroundings. Eclipse and Chael followed his gaze and spotted a few of the larger skulls sitting ominously among the rocks, “You see these big skulls all around here?”

  “What about them?” Chael asked.

  Sage voice dropped to a whisper. “Those skulls are special. If you write something on a piece of paper and place it in their mouths, they’ll start moving, chomping down the paper. It’s believed they somehow save the information and relay it to Ghost. That’s how people submit their assassination and mission requests. And when the job’s done, you pay the same way. Drop your coins in, and the skulls swallow them.”

  Eclipse raised an eyebrow. Not too far away, he could see a scrawny young man with slightly longer, unkempt hair in front of one of the skulls. He bent down to put a small note on its mouth, and immediately, an eerie glow emanated from the skulls eyes and the jaws snapped shuts. Eclipse stared hard at the young man, his face unreadable.

  “And what happens if someone doesn’t pay after the mission’s completed?” Chael asked.

  Sage shrugged. “There aren’t many who’ve tried that, but the rumours say those few are all dead.”

  The grim silence that followed was broken only by the hum of the jade lanterns and the distant murmur of voices echoing through the tunnels.

  As Eclipse’s gaze wandered across the eerie open area, someone caught his eye. A young woman of below-average height stood out amidst the grim surroundings. She had ashy- blonde hair that curled over her shoulders. Her eyes were hidden behind a strange, light brown half mask. She wore tight black pants, paired with it was long brown boots, a brown belt over her a bark brown tight corset, and a few more down her legs. She wore a white blouse with ruffles at the chest, and a dark, long-sleeved, high-collared coat. Everything about her seemed out of place, especially in a place like this.

  Eclipse couldn’t help but feel a sense of oddity about the girl. She didn’t resemble anyone he had encountered before, and an air of mystery clung to her

  As he observed, he noticed the girl was being escorted by three men, each more ridiculous than the last. One was short and stocky, another was tall and fat, and the last was tall and painfully skinny. They were leading the girl towards a door with all the seriousness of a military escort. But it didn’t last long.

  The skinny, tall man walked straight into a large door with a loud thud. He recoiled and clutched his face, while the other two men froze as they stared at him. A beat passed before the two remaining escorts sprang into action, but instead of helping the man with concern, they began stomping on him.

  "Ssthupid! What were you thinking, walking into a door?!" shouted the short man, with a lisp and a frustrated tone.

  The fat one joined in, his flabby limbs quaking as he yelled, "How did you not see that giant door?!"

  After a few moments of this, they both suddenly stopped and exchanged glances before the short man extended a hand to help the skinny man up.

  "Are you okay?" he asked.

  The skinny man rubbed his nose and accepted the hand.

  Eclipse stood there dumbfounded. His eyes widened in disbelief before he decided it was best to pretend he hadn’t seen anything at all. The girl, too, seemed just as baffled by her escorts’ bizarre behaviour. Her head tilted slightly in confusion.

  Besides Eclipse, Chael had been watching the entire scene unfold. He couldn’t suppress a snicker and soon enough he burst out laughing.

  Sage continued to lead the way in all seriousness through another tunnel connected to the open area. Eclipse and Chael continued walking, and Chael couldn’t stop shaking his head.

  The trio soon approached another open area full of buzz and chatter. It was a very crowded area.

  Sage handed each of them a pitch black mask which would cover their entire faces.

  “Put these on,” he instructed. “We’re entering a black market controlled by The Voss Syndicate. Everyone here prefers to stay anonymous.”

  Eclipse and Chael adjusted their masks as they followed Sage into the bustling area. The first thing they noticed was the expansive seating area, filled with people who weree engaged in quiet conversations. Above them, the walls were lined with rows of booths, each separated by curtains that only revealed the shifting shadows of the people inside.

  Sage’s voice cut through the noise, “The people sitting here are spectators. The real action takes place in those booths up there. Each booth is a private space where bidders can buy or sell items without anyone knowing who they are. It’s a level playing field, regardless of status or power.”

  As they walked through the sea of seats, they came into view of a stage at the front. On it stood a beautiful blonde girl with glasses, presenting various items for auction. Her voice was loud and clear as she introduced each item. It ranged from strange weapons, exotic animals and mysterious plants.

  Amongst the large amount of items being presented, only one caught Eclipse’s attention. It was a painting she displayed.

  For a moment, Eclipse’s heart skipped a beat. The painting was familiar. It was one he had seen before. It was a piece Douzian had created of mountains from a distance. Even from afar, Eclipse could faintly feel the might of those mountains, as though they’re right in front of him. Though the effect was a lot weaker than the Nine Lamentations of Conquered Worlds’, this was most definitely something only Duozian was capable of, somehow.

  Not far from the blonde auctioneer, Eclipse noticed a figure standing on his lonesome. He wore a billowing black and magenta pink robe that stood out boldly. A black fur collar added a touch of elegance to his appearance. His face was completely hidden behind a black mask which Eclipse had seen before. Two menacing horns protruded from the top, creating a dark silhouette against the bright robe. Where his eyes should have been, there was a faint, eerie red glow and there were two more eye slots under the ones where his eyes should have been with another two below them, and they, too, were glowing an eerie red. It was The Faceless, a man he had interacted with before in the past.

  Duozian’s painting, the presence of The Faceless, the two debt collectors he saw in the Haimos’ Chosen plaza and even Rosaria. For Eclipse, the Avyssos was not just a place of trading and criminal activity, but it was an abyss which seemed to have a disturbing lot of connections to his merciless past.