Ignariel

The city greeted us in silence.

Not the silence of peace, but the silence of something recently emptied.

Shops stood open, shelves stocked, and bakeries still exhaled the scent of bread. But the people—if you could call them that—moved like wind-up dolls. Blinking in slow unison. Speaking in hushed, identical phrases. Faces blank. Emotions absent. It was a city lived in but not alive.

"You can probably grab a slice of bread here without paying," the Compass whispered connivingly in my head.

"Don't give me ideas. We're in the presence of two angels," I snapped.

"Come on. One wouldn't hurt," the Compass urged.

"Damn it," I thought as I sneaked over to grab a loaf of bread. But before I could get my hands on the loaf, something snapped at my wrist. Stillveil, scolding me before slithering back to Kazuha who flashes me a mischievous smile. I then pointed at the Compass clipped on my belt, which earned a chuckle from her. Gosh, that sweet, childish sound of her chuckle.

"Sorry," I said, marching up to her.

"That was for last night," she whispered mischievously.

"Last night?" I blinked. "What did I do?"

Kazuha leans in close, "For Sakura's kiss," She whispered before walking ahead with a smirk towards Sakura, leaving me frozen and blushing.

"Kazuha - 1 : Seren - 0." The Compass mocks.

"At least, I got kissed by two angels. How are things going with Stillveil?" I mocked back.

"Asshole." The Compass bites back.

"Seren -1 : Compass - 0." I mocked triumphantly.

"What is this city called anyway?" I asked as we passed a florist who offered us a bouquet of wilted lilies and said, without inflection, “May your truth be pure.”

“Creepy,” I muttered as I caught up with the two Fallen. The Compass hums in agreement.

Sakura flourished a hand, sand swirled around the wilted lilies before regaining their color and springing back to life — the florist however, gave no reaction whatsoever.

"Dazkora," Kazuha replied.

"The Stone City in the old tongue. Also known as the city between two mountains," Sakura added.

It was indeed, both of those things. A stone city with towering walls and spires dwarfed only by the mountain ranges it is situated in between.

"This was a major trading city as it held the only direct mountain pass between the central plains and the eastern coast," Kazuha began, "if you are going from the west, passing through Dazkora is the fastest way to get to the coast without encircling the Altarian mountain range to the south."

"And traveling around north means passing through the barbarian tribes," I remarked.

Sakura and Kazuha nodded.

"What's wrong with this city anyway?" I asked as we passed a group of children who are swaying eerily in a circle.

“This city is under a hymn,” Sakura said softly, her fingers tightening around the Temporal Vow. “A passive verse. Low-frequency sanctification.”

"I can feel it, like a dome cast all over the city," the Compass remarked grimly. "Scratch that, it's a sphere, reaching even below the city sewers."

I echoed the Compass's words to the two angels.

Kazuha narrowed her eyes. “I feel it. It permeates the space all around us. Like a blanket of purification over every mind.”

"More like a prison," Sakura remarked.

"Still better than a tomb," I replied, earning a smirk from Kazuha.

"Could be yours if you're not careful," the Compass interjected, which I chose to ignore.

As we walked deeper, the air grew colder. Paler. Even the shadows recoiled.

Then we saw it.

A Purity Wraith.

It stood at the end of the street, robes stitched from pages of scripture, face featureless but luminous with sickly devotion. And it was watching us. Eyeless, yet we knew, it was staring right at us.

I reached for the Compass.

But it didn’t attack.

Instead... it bowed?

Then it turned, and walked.

“That’s... new,” I said.

“It's a trap,” Kazuha said.

“Let’s spring it,” Sakura finished.

We followed.

The Wraith led us past rows of frozen people who turned in eerie synchrony to face us. Some mouthed prayers. Others wept soundlessly. None intervened. And still the Wraith walked.

"Broken Enlightened?" I asked. "But they don't look burned." I remarked.

"Probably due to their proximity to Ignariel," Sakura deduced.

"You think he's really here?" I asked.

"If Yunjin is here, Ignariel's here. Only one of our Counters can hold us in place." Kazuha replied, Stillveil wrapping slowly around her protectively.

The Wraith led us to a clearing, in the middle were wrought-iron gates tangled in ivy and flame-blistered thorns and surrounded by a tall weathered stone wall that looked charred as if burned from the inside. Behind them loomed a manor—not grand, but solemn. Like a place built not to impress, but to kneel with your lips kissing the dirt.