It didn’t take long for Vivieo find the abandoned bakery. The building stood at the end of a narrow, fotten street, sagging uhe weight of . Its faded sign now hung askew, its letters nearly illegible from years of wear. The faint smell of rot mixed with the stale st of old bread lingered in the air, a reminder of the building's former life.
Vivienne’s gaze flicked to the alley behind the bakery, where the shadows seemed to hold secrets, deep and long fotten. She moved quietly, her blood-slicked dress trailing behind her like a shroud, her footsteps barely a whisper on the cobblestones. She didn’t o check twice—the hidderance was exactly where Narek had described it, tucked away in the er, nearly invisible to the untrained eye.
Her fingers brushed over the rough surface of the wall, feeling for the loose panel. It took only a moment to locate it, her cws easily prying away the aged wood. Beh it, a small, weathered trapdoor appeared, almost as though it had been waiting for her. She smiled, the tension of her huling into a sharp, focused calm.
The creaking of the trapdoor echoed eerily in the alley as Vivienne pushed it open, revealing a steep, narrow staircase that desded into the bess below. A rush of cold, damp air seeped upward, carrying the musty, earthy st of decay and mold that g to the uy. The weight of turies seemed to hang in the air, as if the very walls had absorbed the fottes of those who had e before her.
She paused, listening ily for any sound that might betray life within the depths. But the silence was absolute, thid suffog. Not even the distant hum of the city above could pee this hollow pce. Vivienne’s lips curled into a slow, almost predatory smile. The uy awaited her, quiet and dark, like an old friend.
Without hesitation, she stepped down into the shadows, the heavy fabric of her blood-soaked dress trailing behind her. Renzia followed closely, her movements stiff but precise, her silence adding to the strange calm that permeated the space. The narrow passageway ahead was imperably dark, yet Vivienne moved with ease, as though the darkness itself held s from her.
Her eyes, bck as midnight, took in every detail with unnerving crity. The chipped stone walls, the ueps beh her feet, the faint traoss ging to the edges—each subtle detail was visible, as if the very darkness bent arouo reveal its secrets. She felt ation, no fear; the stillness was as much a part of her as the blood that stained her dress.
As she desded further, the air grew colder, heavier, almost oppressive. The space seemed to stret endlessly, as though the world above had long since been fotten in this subterranean maze. She could sense Renzia's unease, but the mannequin remained close, her presence a silent panion in the dark.
Viviehoughts drifted briefly to Skoll Rathik, the Aegis e, and the twisted underbelly of Serkoth that she was now desding into. There were answers down here, hiddeh yers of filth and time. She could feel them, faint whispers calling to her through the sile would be only a matter of time before the truth was uncovered. And when it was, she would e was torn apart, piece by piece.
Finally, her feet met the bottom, and the passage opened into a wider chamber. A soft, flickering light from nterns ahead revealed a dim, low-ceilinged room. The air smelled of damp stone and the remnants of old fires. She moved further into the chamber, her footsteps barely making a sound, as if the very grouh her was holding its breath.
Renzia stopped at the entrance, her stiff body unmoving. Vivienne gnced back over her shoulder, her gaze narrowing as she sidered the mannequin’s hesitation. But there was no time for questions now. Whatever lurked in the shadows ahead would have to wait.
With a goward the far end of the room, where several passageways branched off into deeper recesses of the uy, Vivienne’s lips curled into a sly smile. She had a feeling she was getting closer. The byrinth was vast, but nothing could remain hidden from her for long. And once she found what she was looking for, there would be no esg the storm she would unleash.
"Let’s see who’s hiding down here," she murmured softly, her voice barely more than a whisper as she stepped into the darkness, Renzia following close behind.
The uy stretched before Vivienne like a tangled web of shadows, twisting and turning with no clear dire. The air here was thick with the st of decay, but there was something else beh it—somethiric, faint, but undeniably there. A pulse. A rhythm, like the heartbeat of a fotten world. Vivienne’s senses fred, her bck eyes narrowing as she inhaled deeply. She could taste it in the air, just barely—aether, its presence a subtle vibration against the back of her mind.
“Do you sehat, Renzia?” she asked, her voice low but sharp iillness of the uy.
The mannequin did not respond, but Vivienne didn’t need an ahe way Renzia shifted uneasily, her wooden frame creaking slightly, told her the mannequi it too. The faint hum in the air seemed to thi as they moved deeper into the maze-like uy, winding through narrow corridors that led to abandoned, fotten rooms. The nterns hanging on the walls flickered weakly, casting long shadows that distorted the reality of the space. It was as though the very walls were shifting, alive in their silence.
Vivienne’s steps slowed as she reached the edge of one such chamber, a jagged cra the stone revealing an alcove beyond. She peered inside, sing the shadows for any signs of life, but there was nothing—no movement, no sounds beyond the distant drip of water eg through the byrinth.
She exhaled softly, her breath hanging in the air like smoke. It wasn’t enough. She needed something more tangible to follow. A clue. A sign.
She reached out, letting her senses expand into the very walls arouhe chill of stone brushing against her skin. Slowly, she allowed the taste of the aether to sharpen, her miending outward as though she were seeking something just beyond her grasp.
Then, she felt it—a pulse, faint and distant, like a spark in the darkness. A flicker of aether that wasn’t natural to this pce. It was too trated, too deliberate. Someone was down here. Someone alive.
“Found it,” she murmured to herself, a grin curling at the ers of her lips.
The pulse was faint, but it was enough to follow. Vivieurned, her gaze sharp, and began moving toward the source. Renzia fell in line behind her, her stiff movements a silent echo to Vivienne’s fluid, almost predatory pace. They passed through several more corridors, the aether growing slightly stronger with each step.
It wasn’t long before they reached a dead end, a simple wooden door half-buried in rubble. The aether was stronger here, almost tangible in the air. Someone—or something—was oher side.
Vivienne approached with a predatrace, her haing lightly on the door handle. She could feel the pulse intensify, as if the sour the other side was aware of her presence, drawing her closer. She gave a soft, almost imperceptible ugh. "Let’s see who’s been hiding in the shadows."
With a single, smooth motion, she opehe door, stepping into a dimly lit room. The aether fred as she ehid heavy like a storm about to break. The room was empty, save for an array of mismatched furniture and old crates scattered about. The fai outline of a was visible at the far end, but there was no oo be seen. No o...
A single, rusted ntern sat atop a table in the ter of the room, flickering weakly iillness. The light it cast was faint, but enough to reveal the signs of ret habitation—scraps of food, tattered bs, and a faint trail of blood leading toward a narrow passageway that snaked further into the uy.
Vivienne’s senses were alive with the energy of the aether, her heart quiing as she surveyed the se. Someone had been here retly. And whoever they were, they were close—very close. The blood, the aether, and the faint signs of life all pointed in one dire.
With a fluid motion, she stepped into the narrow passage, the air growing colder as she advahe pulse of aether was unmistakable now, like the heartbeat of something a and powerful, a thread that she was unwilling to let slip through her fingers. The hunt was on.
The passage narrowed further, the walls closing in like the ribs of some long-dead beast. The flickering ntern behind her faded into the gloom, leaving only the soft hiss of her breath and the subtle creak of Renzia’s movements to apany her. Vivienne’s senses sharpened with every step, her skin tingling as the aether ed around her like a sed skin.
The air grew heavier as she ventured deeper, the temperature dropping perceptibly with each turn. The pulse of the aether now reverberated through the walls, vibrating in her bones. Whoever—or whatever—was ahead of her had left a clear trail, almost as though they were calling her.
The passage twisted and turned in impossible angles, but Vivienne never faltered. She moved with the fidence of someone who knew she was being guided by forces beyond her uanding, each step an instinctive rea to the pull of the aether.
Renzia, ever the silent shadow, followed closely behind, her movements as meical and fluid as ever. Though Vivienne had long since bee aced to the mannequin’s presence, she still couldn't shake the sense of disfort that the creature’s gaze—or ck thereof—evoked.
It wasn’t long before Vivienne reached another small room, the air thick with the same aether she’d been trag. The room was dimly lit by a single, dying tor the wall, its light casting more shadows than it dispelled. The stone floor was covered in dust, but there were distinct marks on the ground—dragged shapes, a struggle. The unmistakable st of blood lingered in the air, sharp and coppery.
She stepped into the room with a soft hiss of breath, eyes sing for any sign of life. But the space was otherwise empty, save for an old chair overturned in the ter and a door tht, slightly ajar.
Without hesitation, Vivienne moved toward the door, her hand brushing against the cold wood. As she pushed it open, the pulse of aether surged stronger, almost overwhelming, but still faint—too faint to reveal its exact source. Whoever she was chasing was close, but elusive.
The room beyond was dim, cluttered with broken crates, torn fabrid pieces of what looked like discarded personal belongings. It was an abandoned safehouse, a pce hastily left behind. But more than that, it felt wrong. There was something about the way the air shifted here, a strange pressure building, as though the walls themselves were holding their breath.
Vivienne’s eyes narrowed as she stepped inside, every fiber of her being alert. This wasn’t just a pce e—it was a trap. She could feel the presehe lingering power that had been here not long ago.
A sudden scrape echoed from the far er of the room.
Vivienne’s hand shot to her side, her cws tingling with barely tained energy. Her gaze locked onto the shadow in the er. Renzia, for once, seemed almost poised for a, her stiff frame mirr Vivienne’s readiness.
From the shadows, a figure emerged—slow, deliberate. A man, his features hidden by a dark cloak, blood staining the hem. His footsteps were measured, almost too calcuted, as though he knew he was being hunted.
Vivienne's lips curled into a predatory smile, a cold, dangerous grin that reflected the excitement bubbling just beh her surface. "Well, well," she murmured, voice like silk over steel. "Seems we’ve found each other at st."
The man didn’t flinch, didn’t even look startled by her sudden presence. Instead, he took a step forward, lifting his in defiance. His eyes, pale and bloodshot, met hers with an iy that spoke of more than just fear—there was reition there. Reition of something he could not name.
"Did you think you could hide from me?" Vivienne’s voice dropped to a low, almost seductive murmur, her words ced with a dark amusement. "This pce reeks of your presehe stench of fear gs to the walls."
The man’s lips twitched, his expressioraying the fai hint of nervousness before a smile crept across his face. It was forced, but it carried the sting of defiance. "I didn’t hide, creature," he said, the word dripping with disdain, as if the mere idea of her was beh him. "I was waiting."
Vivienne’s eyes gleamed with malicious delight, and her cws clicked together in a slow, rhythmic cp, her smile widening with wicked glee. "Oh? I was expected! How nice. My hosts have even prepared another meal for me!"
The man’s grin faltered for a moment, and his posture stiffened, but he quickly recovered, his voice grating as he grunted, "So it was you that got to Laiken. No wonder we are on high alert."
Vivieilted her head to one side, her gaze growing unnervingly intehere was something animalisti her expression, something that suggested a hunger beyond mere sustenance. "I guess I should have been more discreet with her," she said, her voice slow, sav the words like a delicacy. "Or perhaps... eaten the rest of her." She allowed the pause to linger, a shadow of dark amusement curling at the edges of her lips. "Oh well."
The man’s eyes narrowed, a flicker of anger in his gaze, but it was quickly masked by the cold, practiced mask of resolve. He stepped back slightly, his hand instinctively moving to the on at his side. But Vivienne didn’t seem to notice—or perhaps, she simply didn’t care.
“You’re pying a dangerous game, creature,” he growled, his voice ced with a strange mixture of pt and caution. "Ohat you may not survive."
Vivienne’s ugh was light, almost melodic, but it held an edge of malice that made the air grow colder. "Survival is overrated," she said, her voice dripping with disdain. "I’m not here to survive, darling. I’m here to win."
She stepped forward, eaent deliberate and graceful, yet filled with an uling predatory energy. The man stiffened, his eyes flig between her and the shadowy figure behind him, the ohat had been waiting silently, hidden in the darkness. The tension in the room greable, thiing like smoke in the air.
Vivienne’s cws flexed, the sharp sound of the movement slig through the silence. "You think you stop me?" she purred, her eyes gleaming with hunger. "How cute. How very... human of you."
The figure in the shadows stepped forward then, the fai whisper of movemeraying their prese was a figure cloaked in deep bck, its features hidden, but there was an unmistakable energy around them—an aura that screamed of pourpose.
"That’s enough, Tharon," the figure said, their voice low and anding, a perfect trast to the nervoushat still lingered in the man’s tone. "You’ve done your part. Let her be."
Vivienne’s gaze so the figure in an instant, her eyes narrowing with a predator’s precision. "And who are you?" she asked, her voice colder now, a raze to the words. "Another of Aegis’s pawns, or someone who thinks they py with me?"
The figure stepped into the faint light, revealing a tall, slender frame, their face partially obscured by a hood, but their eyes—those eyes—glowed with an unnatural iy and their lupine ears betrayed their species. They didn’t answer immediately, but the way they held themselves, poised and trolled, spoke volumes.
Vivienne’s smile softened, but there was no warmth in it. "Ah, I see. Not a pawn after all. Iing."
The man, Tharon, shifted unfortably, his hand tightening around his on, but he didn’t make a move to draw it. The figure didn’t seem to notice, their attention fully on Vivienne.
"I wonder which family you belong to." Vivienne tinued, her voice purring with amusement.
The figure didn’t respond immediately, their glowing eyes narrowing ever so slightly. Vivienne could almost feel the power radiating from them, an uling aura that seemed to press in on her from all sides. The air was thick with tension, and she could sehe shift in the dynamic. They were no longer merely talking. Something was about to give.
Vivieilted her head, her smile growing just a little more dangerous. “You don’t speak much, do you? Or is that because you’re not ready to answer my questions?”
The figure’s lips parted slightly, a low growl slipping from them, though it was more of a warning than anything else. They took a step forward, their posture as graceful and deadly as a predator on the hunt. “You’re wasting time, creature,” they finally said, their voice cold and deep, with an uling calm that matched their anding presence. “Ask your questions, if you must.”
Vivienne’s eyes flicked to Tharon, his knuckles white as he gripped his bde, then back to the hooded figure. Her lips curled into a smirk, but the humor in her expression was u by the sharp gleam in her bck eyes. “You’re ected, aren’t you? To the Snty,” she drawled, her tone mog yet dangerous. “So tell me—what’s going on down here?”
The figure didn’t respond immediately, but Vivienne caught the briefest flicker in their glowing eyes—a fsh of annoyance, perhaps frustration—before they shifted bato the shadows, their movements deliberate and trolled. Their voice emerged, low and cold, slig through the tension like frost on a bde. “I don’t think you uand what you’re meddling with.”
Vivienne’s cws flexed, the sound sharp and deliberate, eg in the fined space. “I think you don’t uand who you’re speaking to,” she hissed, her voice dropping into a sinister growl. “I’m being nice right now. You don’t want to see how mean I get.”
The hooded lekiepped forward just enough for the dim light to catch the edge of the rapier they now brandished. The on gleamed unnaturally, its surface faintly pulsating with aheric glow that resohrough the air. Tharon, emboldened by the gesture, uhed his own bde—a heavy, cleaver-like o for brute force rather than finesse.
The tension saut like a b as Vivieilted her head, the dispy. Her smile didn’t waver; if anything, it widened. “Oh, is this supposed to impress me?” she teased, her voice ced with dark amusement. “A glowing stid a blunt toy? How quaint.” She sighed theatrically, her expression shifting to mock disappoi. “I was hoping for a little more cooperation, but I guess some lessoo be taught the hard way.”
Tharon bristled, his posture tensing as if preparing to strike, but it was the hooded figure who moved first. With a flick of their wrist, the rapier thrummed, sending a ripple of aetheriergy surging toward Vivie dahrough the air like a serpent, fast and precise.
Vivienne didn’t flinch. With preternatural speed, she sidestepped the attack, her cws raking the air where the energy dissipated. “Cute trick,” she purred, her voice dripping with mockery. “But you’ll have to do better than that.”
Tharon roared, charging forward with his heavy bde aimed for Vivienne’s midse. She darted backward, her movements fluid and eerily graceful, as though she were gliding rather than walking. Her cws sparked against his on as she parried his swings, the impact ringing through the room.
Behind her, Renzia stepped forward, her movements a strange mix of meical stiffness and uny fluidity. She reached up with her long, cloth-ed fingers and began to twist her own head. With a soft click, the head came free, revealing the hollow, empty cavity of her neck.
From within the opening, Renzia reached down and withdrew two enormous sewing needles, each as long as a rapier and gleaming wickedly in the dim aetheric glow of the room. The oversized ons seemed almost ically delicate in her grasp, but when she repced her head with an audible snap, her stance shifted. The mannequin’s unnatural presence radiated menace as she turo face the creatures advang from behind.
Renzia lu the onis, her sewing needles slig through the air with deadly precision. O leapt at her, and she sidestepped with an almost balletic grace, driving one needle through its head. The creature’s glowing form shuddered violently before colpsing into mist. Another lunged for her from the side, but Renzia twisted unnaturally, spinniorso pletely around to impale it mid-charge.
The fined room echoed with the sounds of battle: the hiss of Vivienne’s cws against steel, the guttural roars of the beasts, and the sharp whip of Renzia’s needles cutting through the air. She fought without hesitation or appareion, her wooden frame bending and t in ways that defied anatomy.
The hooded figure’s attention briefly flicked to Renzia as the mannequin carved her way through the advang beasts. “What in the Snty’s name is that?” they muttered uheir breath, their calm demeanor momentarily slipping.
Vivienne’s smirk widened. “Oh, her?” she said, dodging a swing from Tharon and sshing at his side. “Let’s just say she’s got… a fir for tail.”
The hooded figure joihe fray, their attacks precise and calcuted, f Vivieo daweewo oppos. Her smirk never faltered, even as the narrow space left little room for maneuvering. “Is this your best? Two against one, and you’re still struggling?” she taunted, her voice eg mogly.
But something shifted. A faint, otherworldly hum filled the air, and Vivienne’s grin faltered ever so slightly. From the shadows, new figures began to emerge—distorted shapes that barely resembled anything human. Their forms wavered, as though reality itself were rejeg them, ahey pressed forward, their glowing eyes fixed on Vivienne.
The creatures were humanoid in shape but wrong in every way. Limbs too long, joints bending in unnatural dires, and flesh that seemed to pulse with raw aether. Their presence was suffog, their movements ulingly deliberate as they surrounded her.
Vivienne’s ughter returned, sharp and wild. “Oh, this is much better! Yht friends!” She flexed her cws, her eyes alight with savage glee. “Let’s see how well they hold up.”
The room was cramped, its stone walls slick with densation and faintly glowing veins of aether running through them. The fined space amplified every sound—the guttural growls of the beasts, the scrape of metal against stone, and Vivienne’s sharp, mog ughter. Her cws raked the air as she darted around her oppos, the oppressive atmosphere of the room doing little to dampen her ferocity.
Tharon pressed forward, his heavy bde arg in a wide swing that sent sparks flying as it struck the wall where Vivienne had stood moments before. She ducked low, sliding across the slick floor with an unnatural grace. “Careful, darling,” she teased, her voice dripping with mockery. “You’ll bring the whole pce down on us.”
The beasts were relentless, their malformed bodies twisting unnaturally as they closed in from all sides. One lu Vivies elongated limbs filing. She pivoted, her cws slig through its torso with a siing squelch. Instead of colpsing, the creature staggered back, glowing ichor dripping from the wound as its form shimmered and reformed.
“Persistent little things,” Vivietered, her tone half-amused, half-irritated. Another beast lunged from her blind side, and she spun to intercept it, her cws tearing through its arm. The limb hit the ground with a wet thud, only for the beast to charge her again, seemingly unfazed by its loss.
Tharon growled as he adjusted his stance, his bde raised defensively. “We’ve got her surrounded,” he barked, gng toward the hooded figure for reassurance. “She ’t keep this up forever.”
The hooded lekine, calm and posed, stood he far wall, their glowing eyes fixed on Viviehey wielded their rapier like aension of their body, direg the beasts with precise, almost surgical movements. “Do not grow pt, Tharon,” they said, their voice smooth but carrying an edge of authority. “She’s more dangerous than you realize.”
Tharon’s jaw tightened, and he swung his bde in a wide arc to fend off another advang beast. “I handle her,” he muttered, though the tension in his voice betrayed his uainty.
Vivienne’s ughter rang out, sharp and unnervingly joyous. “Handle me?” she echoed, sidestepping atack from one of the beasts. “Oh, Tharon, you ftter yourself. This is barely keepiertained.”
The beasts surged forward in unison, their glowing forms pulsating with energy as they hemmed her in. One mao tto her arm, its glowing eyes log onto hers as it tightes grip. Vivienne hissed in frustration, twisting violently until she heard the satisfying crack of its joints. She tore herself free, her cws raking through its chest in the process. The beast dissolved into a mist of aether, but more pressed in to take its pce.
Behind her, Renzia fought with unnerviermination, her colossal sewing needles fshing in the dim light as they punctured and pierced. Her movements were an eerie bination of meical precision and wild ferocity. A beast lunged for her back, but she whirled, her needle plunging through its throat in a single, decisive strike.
The room became a cacophony of g ons and feral snarls. Tharon charged again, his heavy bde carving a brutal arc through the air. Vivienne sidestepped, her cws shing out ialiation, but he caught her strike on his bde, sparks flying from the impact. His strength was relentless, driving her closer to the advang horde.
“I’ll admit,” Vivienne growled, her toh mog and venomous, “this is a bit more fun than I expected.” She twisted away from atack, her grin widening as her cws scored a line across Tharon’s shoulder. “But it still won’t save you.”
The hooded lekine remai the periphery, their glowing eyes the battle with unnerving calm. “Hold her here,” they aheir voice devoid of emotion. “She doesn’t leave this room.”
Vivienne’s gaze so the figure, her smile sharpening. “You’re fident for someone who hasn’t even stepped in. But I guess that’s how it is when you let others bleed for you.”
They didn’t respond, but a faint shift in their posture spoke volumes.
Vivienne gnced briefly at Renzia, who was holding her own against the onsught of beasts, her movements almost elegant in their brutality. “Keep them busy,” Vivienne said softly, her tone ced with predatory focus.
Renzia didn’t respond with words—she didn’t o. Her head tilted slightly in aowledgment before she lu another beast, her needles gleaming like fangs in the dim light.
The air seemed to thrum with aetheriergy, the walls closing in as the beasts pressed forward with renewed aggression. Vivienne darted between them, her cws sshing through glowing forms, but for every one she felled, two more seemed to take its pce.
The hooded lekine raised their hand, and the beasts surged again, their glowing bodies filling the room with a suffog radiance.
Vivienne’s smirk faltered for the briefest moment as she realized the room was being a cage—too many eoo little spaaneuver. But her eyes gleamed with defiance.
“Fine,” she muttered, her voice low and dangerous. “Let’s see who breaks first.”
SupernovaSymphony
