Dinna Mortez ran enthusiastically through the Deadhillow City.

She sprinted as fast as she could and stopped only when going further would intrude on the array-filled building.

When she arrived, the door was open, showing the weird set-up inside.

But she still didn't go in uninvited.

"Mmm, Sir?"

"Come in."

While entering, Dinna's heartbeat skyrocketed.

Her eyes began quickly scanning around.

The place was a mess and completely trashed.

But her discerning eyes could see through the ugliness layer and peak at the beauty hidden inside.

"Majestic."

"Look here. Come on. I don't have all day."

"Sorry, Sir. You called me, and I'm here."

She finally looked at Ben Higgs.

He wore formal clothing and held a hat against his chest as if awaiting something.

However, Dinna could sense the existence of some array inside the peculiar hat.

"It seems you eventually let it go?" Ben asked.

"That wasn't fair. I spent almost two years on it. I almost went crazy."

"Not my fault that you didn't trust yourself."

"I know. Thank you."

"That was an appetizer. So let's talk a bit about what to do next."

Dinna's excitement was through the roof, but she did not forget to focus on Ben's every word.

"After you untied those knots, what did you choose to do?"

"I've been working on developing my unique field. I even visited home and asked all they knew about our past."

"That is a good start. Knowing the past is needed to walk ahead and build a future. You can never have what was lost, but you can honor it. Since you know what you want, what I have next for you is all this." Ben declared as he pointed around.

"A non-functional piece. It's broken, and it's layered. But if you can extract my gift from this, you can keep it."

"Are you truly leaving this here for me?" She asked, bewildered.

"There are two things here for you to study. One is the support I needed to extract that unnamed poison from within myself. The second is a silly gift."

"Are you doing this again?"

"Don't be afraid. The gift is secondary."

"So it isn't secondary."

"Let's not play this kind of game. Just do whatever you want with this."

She couldn't believe it since this was way more than she had ever hoped.

After taking a deep breath, Dinna changed the subject, trying not to go crazy.

"My mother invited you to come to visit us."

"Maybe if you ever reach the top. Just forget it for now. Your clan should know, more than anyone, not to stir the pot."

"Can we at least know?"

"Does it matter? My connection doesn't matter since there is no relationship anymore."

"But you're still doing all this! Who would teach this to a stranger?"

"Me. Nice to meet you. My name is Ben Higgs."

"Why?" She asked, almost crying.

"We haven't forgotten." She added.

"Unfortunately, you can only move forward," Ben said, cold-toned.

"Don't look at the stars while longing for the past and randomly forget you're someone's prey. And if you're looking for a miracle, you found a factory of those already. So move forward and work for what you seek." He added.

"Why must we quiver in fear?"

"Because you're not strong enough. But you're special enough to serve as someone's firewood. So look around and don't blink. Remember what you fear, but also don't forget to trust yourself. And move forward."

Ben said those words as he began to walk out.

"Can I ask you one last thing?"

"You can, but I may not answer it," Ben replied as he turned around.

"What happened to our heirloom?"

'What happened to our heirloom?'

Ben heard two voices overlapping.

And in an instant, he felt like being sucked into the far past.

'Did father truly kill himself?'

A hazy vision began overlapping Dinna.

This shadow of a girl was almost identical to Dinna's appearance. So the overlap strengthened Ben's memory.

But they weren't the same. The main difference was that the girl was younger, crying, and holding into a crude box. But she was also filthy and had marks of being beaten up on her face and arms.

'How could he die? Not like this!'

Ben kept hearing shouts in his mind.

"Since you all finished, just pass me the bottle," Ben said aloud as he aimed for a bottle of purplish blood from the hand of the kid closest to him.

However, when he reached for it, there was nothing there. Yet, his hand still gripped the air like he was holding something.

And this image sent shivers down Dinna's spine.

But, ignoring her changes, Ben looked up while holding on to the non-existent bottle.

Ben opened the bottle and poured it out as if showering himself with the liquid inside.

His unfocused eyes looked at the roof. And there, he saw a clear night sky overlapping the array's drawings.

The shadowy girl asked something else. But her voice was overpowered by a numbing roar.

The hazy houses around were shaking.

The images of the few dozen people surrounding him stood there with terrified faces.

At this moment, Ben saw a shooting star and unconsciously made a wish.

"I hope that someday you don't need that heart to keep on beating."

Both overlapping figures flinched.

And the girl held the box in her hands even tighter.

"Listen, little girl. You are barely sixteen, and I know. I know it's hard. But move forward. Because your people need you, even if only a couple survives, they need you."

"And don't ask an impossible question. You can cry about your father when you are in a safe place. Now, we don't have the time."

Another numbing roar shook the whole place. Ben felt like he was experiencing an earthquake.

The fire a couple blocks away lightened up the night, and the yells of people dying were playing a symphony that Ben somehow enjoyed.

He wanted to keep hearing the screams of those people dying. He hated them.

'How many have you used? They were our people!'

"Oh, it's been a while, but that I counted. 621. Plus your father's heart. And the price was your heirloom. AND YOU FUCKING KNOW IT! SO WHY DO YOU ASK IT!"

A big explosion happened a couple of blocks away. The few dozen people around fell to the floor.

Their images became even vaguer.

It was hard to stay upright, but the two talking did.

'Why?'

"So that every time someone tries to bite your purple ass, one of you. Any of you can drink a spoon. And in one week, you can go and detonate yourself inside one of the chambers of Slet. AND THEY CAN DO NOTHING ABOUT IT! NOTHING!"

'But my father could be so much more.'

"He couldn't because my friend didn't choose to live alone. It was his loss. His idiotic choice."

The overlapped figures began crying.

"He could seek revenge, but he didn't. Not even the death of your mother shook his resolution."

"And you know what? He was a worthless friend! Sure, he killed one of the Cardinals of Slet, but I had to carry his dying body for two weeks straight! Only to have his eyes show regret! REGRET! Can you believe it? He asked me what we could do! He picked the plan, and he then showed regret! It was too late! Too fucking late!"

"But he didn't hesitate to leave me alone to discover how to get that shitty box in your hands. So, you see, do you hear the roars? Don't be afraid of the puppy, as he at least won't bite you!"

'Sorry!'

"DON'T BE! MOVE FORWARD! DON'T HESITATE! Oh shit, it's been quite calm suddenly, so it seems my time has come." Ben turned around suddenly towards the fire.

Despite his growing dread, he still tried to get a final glimpse of the complicated faces of the people he knew so well. However, the melting figures didn't allow him to see what he wanted.

Due to the vision weirdness, He wanted to move, but he couldn't.

And before he could think further, a gigantic wolf arrived and destroyed the houses to his right.

The starry sky cracked alongside the walls.

The houses all began to evaporate soon after.

But the vague people figures still moved to the left together, the girl in the front. They seemed ready to fight. Yet, they merely looked pitiful.

Ben didn't feel surprised by the house exploding, as if he expected it.

But all the complicated feelings over saturated his senses.

He wanted to look one last time at the girl, but at this moment, he felt another weird conflict. Where was she? At his front? Or at his left?

His hesitation was long enough that he couldn't do it, and he only felt the sharp teeth entering his chest.

Everything turned.

But the sudden movement woke him up completely, breaking the vision.

The fear fired up all of Ben's instincts.

His cold limbs tensed up.

As a result, he held the hat even tighter, almost crushing it while his hand trembled.

His eyes became hyper-focused as they looked around the room.

Faded tattoos appeared on his face, but they were gone again a split second later.

Ben relocated himself quickly and tried to calm down.

"You wanted to ask one last question?" He pieced together what he could.

But the stunned Dinna couldn't form those exact words again.

"Can you promise me you can come to visit us in 500 years?"

"Oh, do you think you can reach all your dreams by then?"

"I will."

"Maybe," Ben said as he turned around and left.

This time Dinna didn't interrupt him.

On the contrary, as soon as possible, Dinna closed the front door and began bailing inside.

---

Outside, Ben found a place to sit.

From one of his pockets, he took a small stone.

Even now, he was still holding the weird hat to his chest. However, his hands had finally stopped shaking. And fortunately, the array held itself together well, so the things inside were intact.

Sitting there, he waited for someone as he stabilized himself.