Staring directly at the siblings' faces, Tom began thinking of a way to get out of there.
"Gianni... Jaiden... Alright, I'll ask. What do you want with me?"
Neither of them answered, continuing to walk seriously across the street toward the cathedral's sidewalk, where Tom stood waiting.
Damn it, why won't you answer?
The well-dressed duo's actions worked against Tom's plan, as he was trying to buy himself time to think of a better way to escape.
He was certain that as soon as they got close enough, they would transport him once again using spatial displacement, and Tom wanted to avoid that, because there was no guarantee he would be able to escape wherever the siblings intended to take him.
Holding the sack containing his purchases tightly, he moved one hand behind his back, intending to leave a mark behind, but stopped midway when a thought crossed his mind.
Can they see the marks I leave for teleportation?
That would explain how they knew I'd be here at the cathedral.
That hypothesis made Tom briefly reflect on why the two of them wore blindfolds over their eyes, even though it was obvious they could still see somehow.
Bringing his hand to his mouth to cough briefly, Tom remained still as Gianni and Jaiden finally stopped in front of him.
He simply gave a heavy nod as Jaiden placed a hand on his shoulder. The space around the three of them blurred, and moments later they appeared inside a living room with a rather modest table.
Several seconds passed in darkness before the tall man lit the candle on the table. Then, taking Tom's shopping bag from his hands, he set it aside in a corner before assuming a position almost like his sister's bodyguard.
The place wasn't particularly refined. In fact, it was rather simple, furnished with a wooden table and chairs, while the rest of the room lacked much decoration such as flower vases, tablecloths, or chandeliers.
The woman was the first to take the seat at the head of the table and gestured for the mercenary to do the same.
And he did.
"Now that I'm here, can you finally tell me what's going on?"
The silence was making him more nervous than the situation itself, so Tom deliberately broke it.
"Tom, how do you plan to discover Malivor's Superior? Do you even know his Critique?" she asked mockingly, glancing at the items Tom had purchased.
"I was still working on that before you two showed up out of nowhere."
He was still speaking when Jaiden went and returned once more, this time bringing a piece of paper and placing it in front of the woman at the table.
"Forget about Malivor. He's far too troublesome. Regardless, we're not here because of him. The focus is you."
She leaned slightly forward.
"You... are an extremely important piece in the wheels of fate, whom we serve. And I believe this is where you belong. Therefore..."
Gianni slid the paper across the table until it rested in front of Tom's hands.
"Read it." she ordered.
Looking down, Tom saw dozens of written lines. He neither intended nor could possibly read all of it in the brief instant he glanced at the paper before turning his attention back to Gianni.
"No."
"Jaiden." She extended a hand toward her brother, who opened his white formal vest and handed her his bronze dagger. She then placed it beside the paper.
Why does this scene feel so familiar?
"I'm telling you. Read it, then sign it."
It immediately became clear to Tom what was happening, because instead of offering him a quill or a fountain pen, she had offered him a dagger.
He was expected to sign the contract with his own blood, just as he had done a few weeks earlier when he joined Moonlight Squadron.
"But... I can't sign this. I'm already part of an organization." After touching the dagger, he politely declined the offer.
"I don't think I made myself clear enough, Tom. This wasn't an invitation!"
Gianni adjusted the position of her top hat.
"You are extremely important, and the Master wants you in the Deorder. You're not in a position to refuse. And as for Moonlight, forget about them. They're only keeping you around because of the 'value' of your key, or they have no idea what you're actually capable of and are simply keeping you nearby while they observe your potential."
Well... okay. Even if that's true, aren't you literally doing the exact same thing by trying to forcefully recruit me into the Deorder?
Even though the blindfold concealed her eyes, it was obvious Gianni was serious — and even somewhat irritated by Tom's hesitation and refusal.
He had reached an impasse.
Without any more marks available to leave the place, Tom was nearly giving in and signing the contract.
That might not have been such a serious issue before, but now that he was in Yunoahr, where magic was real, he had no idea what consequences might arise the moment he signed a contract that almost certainly possessed special properties.
And even though he was an Ascendant, and his reasoning told him the siblings were not, he regretted still being only on the First Step and having such weak powers. He was certain Gianni and Jaiden surpassed him in magical strength.
Shit.
Seeing no alternatives, Tom gripped the bronze dagger and dragged its sharp tip across the palm of his right hand, leaving behind a cut from which crimson liquid began to flow.
After hesitating for a moment, he dipped his thumb into his own blood and pressed it against the paper.
"Very good. Now we just need to—"
Gianni began smiling when she suddenly saw the young man sitting beside her twist his body violently.
Damn! Argh!
Tom cursed inwardly as he felt something like a sharp stab somewhere in his body, instinctively curling over.
Noticing the stunned reactions on Gianni's and Jaiden's faces, Tom seized the tiny fraction of a second of opportunity by blowing out the candle at the center of the table, plunging everyone into darkness.
Ignoring the pain that still lingered, Tom threw himself into motion, taking advantage of the darkness to move.
"No!" An irritated voice echoed through the darkness, accompanied by the hurried footsteps of the siblings searching for him.
Slipping behind a low dresser, Tom stopped for a second to get his bearings.
Although he had used the darkness to his advantage for a brief moment, he couldn't ignore the fact that he was in an unfamiliar place, whereas it was almost certainly familiar to the siblings dressed in formal attire.
Freeeek
Krrrr
The sounds of objects being moved, furniture scraping across the floor, and footsteps moving back and forth kept Tom constantly on edge.
"Can't you see him?!" Asked the tall man whose footsteps were noticeably heavier.
Gianni merely growled through her nose instead of answering with words.
Using the sound of their voices to estimate their positions, Tom cautiously peeked in their direction.
Everything was pitch-black until he immediately jerked his head back and held his breath.
Two glowing orange circles floated in the darkness, constantly shifting as they looked around.
At some point she had removed the blindfold covering her eyes.
She's using some kind of power to search for me in the dark. Alright... at least she doesn't seem able to see me while I'm behind objects. But I need to get out of here quickly, because they're definitely going to check this spot.
The living room wasn't especially large, but it wasn't particularly small either, meaning there were plenty of places to hide in the darkness.
Doors opened.
Shelves were searched.
Footsteps echoed back and forth.
Amid all of this, something caught Tom's attention.
Why don't they just light the candle again?
Moments earlier, Jaiden himself had fetched the contract and had also brought something like a match to light the candle. Yet for some reason, he hadn't repeated the process after Tom extinguished it while trying to escape.
Could it be...?
He reached a conclusion.
Maybe she isn't much of a fighter and doesn't want to stay alone with me in the dark while Jaiden goes to relight the candle. But if they both leave, I could escape. Although... that doesn't make sense either, since they could just teleport after me.
Feeling sweat running down his face, Tom decided to take another risk.
Slowly, he opened and closed his middle and index fingers twice.
"There!"
Gianni exclaimed almost immediately.
"Where?!"
Her brother asked.
The moment he heard footsteps approaching, Tom practically crawled, hoping to get away unseen.
Without making much noise, he moved behind another solid object — he didn't even know what it was himself.
And somehow, he wasn't spotted along the way.
"FAh! He left, but he was here. He left a mark. He can teleport back here whenever he wants."
Wow. She really can see the marks I leave.
At that moment, Tom concluded that Gianni's glowing eyes allowed her to perceive the marks he left for teleportation, but not him moving away from behind those same objects toward another hiding place.
So it wasn't night vision.
"Tom! Let's stop playing this game of cat and mouse. It'll only get worse for you. Come on, show yourself. We can even pretend none of this ever happened."
Her heavy breathing was almost as audible as her voice.
'orgive me, Gianni, but I can't believe a single word you say.
He was tempted to answer, but remained silent so as not to reveal his location.
"Did you check the hallway?" She asked.
With long strides, Jaiden headed in one direction, leaned his head around the corner to look both ways, then returned, shaking his head.
"Could he...? No."
Gianni continued grumbling while rummaging through everything in search of the fugitive.
Hearing their footsteps moving toward the opposite direction from what he had identified as the hallway thanks to the usually silent Jaiden, Tom slowly crouch-walked forward.
Only then did he notice a faint light coming from that direction.
He was almost there.
Pleearngh!
In the darkness, Tom bumped into something that fell and made a tremendous noise.
Now revealing his exact location, he abandoned all caution and sprinted until he rounded the hallway corner.
At the end of it was a window.
Looking through it, he confirmed they were inside an apartment, since they were much too high above the ground for it to be a house.
If I jump...
He was certain he'd break one or more bones if he jumped, and honestly, that would be acceptable given the situation.
However, he reconsidered, because he'd still have to escape Gianni and Jaiden afterward, which would be nearly impossible with a broken foot or leg.
Finally, Tom covered his mouth as though he were about to cough once more.
But this time, he whispered something — or rather, a phrase.
"Inrud Zelah!"
...
The two siblings rounded the hallway corner and exchanged puzzled glances, silently asking one another, "Where did he go?"
They had clearly seen him enter the hallway.
Gianni then looked behind them, her irises glowing orange, confirming that the mark he had left was still there.
...
Feeling his body being pulled, Tom soon found himself inside a room with no visible outer walls, filled with dense mist drifting through the air.
The only point of reference was a floating table.
Letting his exhausted body collapse, Tom sat down on the floor before speaking aloud, his voice echoing throughout the endless mysterious space.
"Veyrael!! I need your help!"