Chapter 5: The Darkest Hour...

As the sun rose higher into the sky, people started leaving their houses and the streets gradually filled with people. Nadran garnered a bit of attention due to his haggard appearance, but in the end, he only received casual glances before people continued on their way. In this world, seeing someone that was heavily injured was all too common, and sympathy was in short supply.

Nadran didn't even notice, though, as he was completely focused on making it home as quickly as possible. In fact, he almost bumped into a couple people simply due to the fact that he didn't notice them, even when they were right in front of him.

He was so lost in his thoughts that when a familiar voice sounded in his ears, it was a full second before his brain registered the sound.

[No…] Nadran thought, his hands trembling. [No. No, no no no no NO!!!]

"Hey, purple-eyes, I'm talking to you. I asked you what you were doing to get beat up so early in the morning." Kalio looked mockingly at Nadran, reveling in the misery of the person he considered inferior. His cronies laughed at Nadran's discomfort, taking happiness from others' suffering.

Nadran turned and looked at Kalio with a dead look in his eyes. "Fell down some stairs," Nadran said in a monotone, then turned around and continued walking toward his house.

"Don't screw with me!" Kalio shouted, knowing it was a lie. He started moving forward, but a firm hand held him back.

A voice Nadran did not recognize emerged from behind him. "Hold on, Kalio. Perhaps…" it began, "your friend here found something good, but got injured in the process and doesn't feel like sharing what he found."

The words pierced into his mind like lances and caused Nadran to shudder involuntarily. He tried to hide it, but was unable to escape the notice of the keen eyes that were watching him.

"I thought so," the voice spoke again. "People are so easy to read when they're controlled by emotions."

Nadran gritted his teeth and looked back with a venomous glare. He saw a tall figure standing next to Kalio, a smirk on his face. He stood a good half foot taller than Kalio, but Nadran could clearly see resemblance between them. In addition, although it seemed impossible, the tall man looked even more arrogant and self-satisfied than Kalio. [Must be an older brother,] Nadran thought grimly.

Kalio's eyes shone with an avaricious glint. "Really, Tyval? Hm, sounds like purple-eyes needs to learn how to share."

"Ah, yes," Nadran muttered under his breath in a caustic voice laced with sarcasm. "Kalio Evegart, master of 'sharing.' Such an honorable figure."

"What was that?!" Kalio shouted, evidently having caught a bit of what was said – or, at the very least, the tone.

"Oh, nothing much," Nadran replied dryly, examining his fingernails. They actually looked pretty bad, with bits of blood and dirt still caked on them. "I was just saying that you're a terrible human being." [I already know that he's not letting me get away before he gets his hands on whatever I have. Might as well try to enrage him to the point where he might make a mistake and let me escape.]

Kalio's eyes nearly bulged out of his head as he trembled in disbelief and rage. [A pity,] Nadran thought. [It would have been nice if his eyes actually did bulge out of his thick skull. Oh well.]

"WHAT DID YOU SAY?!?!" Kalio screamed, garnering the attention of the entire street as veins throbbed in his forehead. He had never been insulted like this, and was unable to comprehend the fact that the person he had been bullying for years actually talked back to him.

"Oh no," Nadran said blandly to no one in particular. "I think I broke Kalio. He keeps asking me what I said over and over again. I thought I was speaking pretty clearly there. Oh, maybe he's going deaf?"

Kalio let out inhuman scream of rage, his face almost pure red. [You know,] Nadran thought, trying not to grin, [this is oddly cathartic. I should do this more often.]

Kalio suddenly began charging toward Nadran, raising his fist in preparation for a punch. [Oh wow,] Nadran thought in surprise. [I must have really got to him. He isn't even trying to use sigils. Does he really think that he can beat me in a hand-to-hand fight without sigils? He hasn't had to work a day in his life, his physical strength is pretty bad.]

The corner of Nadran's mouth curled upwards as he stood still, waiting for Kalio to approach. Despite being injured and exhausted, Nadran was still able to easily sidestep Kalio's clumsy punch, and he casually extended his leg as Kalio passed, tripping the bully and causing him to faceplant into the hard ground. Nadran smirked and began running off, quickly merging into the crowd of people surrounding the spectacle that had unfolded in the middle of the street.

Kalio crawled to his feet, looking around to see hundreds of people watching him. He immediately turned an even deeper shade of red at the realization that so many people had seen his humiliation at the hands of someone who was clearly heavily injured. "That purple-eyes," Kalio growled, his face betraying the hatred he felt. "If I ever get my hands on you, I'm going to rip you to pieces and feed you to the birds."

Meanwhile, Nadran was weaving his way through the crowd of people, finally making it out into the street. He began hurrying toward his house, worried that Kalio would come after him soon. [While that was immensely satisfying, that Kalio won't be forgiving me any time soon. He'll definitely be after me, so I guess I'll need to quickly grow stronger so that he won't be able to threaten me. Maybe I shouldn't have… no, keeping the lily safe is more important than some bully wanting me dead. This was the best outcome I could think of, given the situation.]

Nadran suddenly felt a hand clamp down on his shoulder and heard a voice speak out from behind him. "Well, aren't you the tricky one," they said calmly. "Since it seems my brother is totally incompetent, I guess I'll need to do this myself."

Nadran turned to see the face of Kalio's brother leering down at him. "Good night," Tyval said softly, then Nadran saw a fist flying toward his face before everything went black.

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Kalio suddenly realized his brother had disappeared off to who knows where, then frowned as his lackeys ran up to him and started acting concerned about him now that the confrontation was over. In less than a minute, Tyval returned, calmly walking over to where Kalio was standing.

"Let's go," Tyval said, walking slowly past Kalio.

"W-what about purple-eyes?" Kalio asked almost pleadingly.

"Don't worry. I got something good from him, you'll get to see him again soon," Tyval replied indifferently. "Besides, isn't it better to exact revenge with your own hands, as opposed to getting it handed to you for free?"

"Whatever," Kalio replied glumly. "As long as I get to kill him."

"Oh, you will. It's just that there is a much better stage for his end than here. Just wait a bit, and he will come to you."

----- ----- ----- ----- ----- ----- -----

Nadran groaned and opened his eyes to find himself lying in his bed. He looked around to see his mother, who jumped out of her chair and rushed over to his bed, hugging him. "Oh thank god, you're awake. I was so worried, and right after your father was injured…"

Nadran smiled apologetically. "Sorry for worrying you," he said. "What happened?"

"We found you lying on the ground in the middle of the street, bruised and bloodied. I should be the one asking YOU what happened," his mother replied, looking at him in concern.

"Uh, well, some stuff happened," Nadran replied vaguely, then his eyes widened and he sat up abruptly, almost bumping his head into his mother's. He quickly checked his pockets, only to find them empty. [It's gone…] Nadran thought as his spirits plummeted. [All that, and in the end, I wasn't able to bring the flower home.]

Nadran sighed, then froze as he realized something. [Wait, why did I keep the flower in my pocket? Why didn't I just put it in my storage sigil?! I'm so stupid! Stupid stupid STUPID!!!] Nadran berated himself for forgetting something so crucial in his exhaustion. [This is LITERALLY the reason I spent so much time learning the sigil in the first place. What's the point in having a storage sigil if I don't use it for something this important?! This is all my fault… now… now dad will…] Nadran buried his head in his hands as tears began spilling down his face.

His mother looked on in concern as she saw the rapidly changing emotions expressed on his face, leading into him hiding his face in his hands. "What's wrong?" she asked, worry clear in her expression.

Nadran sniffed, rubbing the tears off his face. "It's nothing," Nadran replied unconvincingly. "How's dad?"

"He's still… the same…" his mother responded quietly, unconsciously glancing at the next room over.

Nadran gritted his teeth. [If only I hadn't messed up, he could be healing by now!] He violently shook his head to clear the negative thoughts that were plaguing him. [No, I shouldn't think like that, I can't afford to think like that. I can't give up. I need to get the Lesser Blood Lily back. I know where it is – it's at Kalio's house. I just need to go there and take it back. There's no way I can fight Kalio's brother, though, and I'm not even a match for Kalio himself if he actually uses sigils. But that doesn't matter. If I can't fight them, I just need to make sure I don't get caught. I'm used to sneaking around places, I'll be fine.]

Nadran got up, stretching. It seemed that his injuries were mostly healed by now. [Internal energy really is helpful,] he thought as he looked out the window to see the sun was already setting.

[It seems like I've been out for the entire day,] Nadran mused. [Oh well, these things are always easier to do at night.]

At this point, Nadran's sister Sania walked in, having heard the sounds of conversation. "You're already up?" she asked in surprise. "You scared us, you know," she said while leaning against the doorframe, trying to maintain her normal casual demeanor despite her obvious concern.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Thanks for your worry though," he replied.

"Who said I was worried?" she retorted, smiling mischievously.

"Oh, my magical psychic powers said you were worried," Nadran replied with a smile as they both laughed. No matter what, it was always hard for him to stay upset when Sania was around.

Nadran left the room, grabbing a couple things he thought he might need as he did so. "Where you going?" Sania asked as she watched him.

"Just going to get something. I'll probably be back in a couple hours at most," Nadran said as he walked toward the door.

"Be careful," his mother warned as he left.

"Don't worry, I will be," Nadran replied as he walked out the door. [I don't want to cause them any more worry, I'll take care of this quickly and come back to heal dad!]

Nadran's eyes shone with determination as he walked out onto the street. He looked up, where the last light of day was fading from the sky, and smiled. [All right then, it's time to go! I do believe I have a mansion to rob.]