๐๐ฉ๐ช๐ด ๐ค๐ข๐ฏ'๐ต ๐ฃ๐ฆ ๐ฉ๐ข๐ฑ๐ฑ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ.
[Harbinger Of Chaos], a first-rate novel that held its ranks since the day of its release. A world-building fantasy, with way too many protagonists to be considered a nuisance at one point. The initial chapters of the novel were all about the main protagonists' journey, followed by his sidekicks, who he found one by one, and nurtured to become warriors of their own realm. It had its own cliche moments, but the novel got better with every new chapter. And through the midway of his main goal, he had ended up meeting the Gemma of Psyche, the seventh forgotten Gem of the Asteriax.
Connaida Villantia. The Gemma who was born from the dreams and nightmares of the people.
After the Lisith Hour Trial, a massacre that engraved peoples' minds and souls alike with horrors of the day, the scene of gruesome deaths and wailing kept repeating inside their hearts without an end. Nourished from their bizarre and upsetting thoughts, Connaida was born. Formed like a small mass of foam, he was the seventh forgotten Gemma, one that existed five hundred years back. He was taken in by the Villantia spirits; dead who couldn't find their way back to ๐ฆ๐ญ๐ญ๐ข๐ช๐ฏ๐ข, the refuge of the rightful dead.
To avenge the people of Tymera, he took on the form of a human child, with blue eyes that glazed like crystals. Blue eyes that were laden with his innate Gem.
And the first step towards revenge was to get on the side of Zenlyns. And the first prey he had to scrunch over was Seraphina.
Anya bit on her nails, her head spinning. In the novel, she was tortured by Connaida for twelve days, repeating endless nightmares and hallucinations inside her head she couldn't break free from. It was sad, really. Even though Anya was a villainess in the original novel, she had still felt bad for her when she was reading through those scenes.
Hours of illusions, mocking her like oceans submerging like underneath, making her unable to breathe. Agonizing memories that she had once locked up, memories of the dead spirits that left the world unfairly, only sadness and grief as a feast for the mind; it was excruciating pain.
She wished someone would have killed her instead.
Anya sucked on her thumb, her nerves shooting up abruptly.
๐ ๐ข๐ฎ ๐จ๐ฐ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ฃ๐ฆ ๐ต๐ฐ๐ณ๐ต๐ถ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ง๐ฐ๐ณ ๐ต๐ธ๐ฆ๐ญ๐ท๐ฆ ๐ฅ๐ข๐บ๐ด. ๐๐ธ๐ฆ๐ญ๐ท๐ฆ ๐ฅ๐ข๐บ๐ด ๐ฐ๐ง ๐ถ๐ฏ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ฅ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ฉ๐ฐ๐ณ๐ณ๐ฐ๐ณ๐ด. ๐๐ธ๐ฆ๐ญ๐ท๐ฆ ๐ฅ๐ข๐บ๐ด ๐ฐ๐ง ๐ช๐ฏ๐ค๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ฑ๐ข๐ช๐ฏ. ๐๐ธ๐ฆ๐ญ๐ท๐ฆ ๐ฅ๐ข๐บ๐ด ๐ฃ๐ฆ๐ง๐ฐ๐ณ๐ฆ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฐ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ณ ๐ฑ๐ณ๐ฐ๐ต๐ข๐จ๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ช๐ด๐ต๐ด ๐ต๐ข๐ฌ๐ฆ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ช๐ณ ๐ต๐ช๐ฎ๐ฆ ๐ฅ๐ฆ๐ข๐ญ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ธ๐ช๐ต๐ฉ ๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ณ. ๐๐ฉ, ๐ฎ๐บ ๐จ-
๐๐ข๐ญ๐ฎ ๐ฅ๐ฐ๐ธ๐ฏ, Anya breathed again, trying to process why nothing was going her way. ๐๐ถ๐ด๐ต. ๐๐ข๐ญ๐ฎ. ๐๐ฐ๐ธ๐ฏ.
It was weird for her to meet one of the protagonists like this; over the week she had scribbled down every possible route to avoid each and every one of them. Including the female lead. It was a really easy job until she screwed it up minutes ago.
๐๐ฉ๐บ ๐ฅ๐ช๐ฅ๐ฏ'๐ต ๐ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ช๐ฏ๐ฌ ๐ฐ๐ง ๐๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ฏ๐ข๐ช๐ฅ๐ข? Anya screamed mentally. ๐๐ฐ๐ธ ๐ค๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ฆ ๐ ๐ง๐ฐ๐ณ๐จ๐ฐ๐ต ๐ข๐ฃ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ต ๐ฉ๐ช๐ฎ? ๐๐ฆ ๐ช๐ด ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ด๐ต ๐ท๐ช๐ญ๐ญ๐ข๐ช๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ด ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ต ๐ฐ๐ง ๐ข๐ญ๐ญ ๐ฐ๐ง ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฐ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ด. ๐๐ต ๐ต๐ฉ๐ช๐ด ๐ฑ๐ฐ๐ช๐ฏ๐ต, ๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ข๐ช๐ฏ'๐ต ๐ฆ๐ท๐ฆ๐ฏ ๐ข ๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ฐ.
๐๐ฆ'๐ด ๐ถ๐ด๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ฎ๐ฆ ๐ต๐ฐ๐ฐ. Everybody was, really. ๐๐ฆ'๐ด ๐ถ๐ด๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ฎ๐ฆ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐จ๐ฆ๐ต ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ท๐ฆ๐ฏ๐จ๐ฆ.
Connaida had the reigns over mind, spirit and soul. It made him strong, very strong. There were a few who he couldn't control, but that alone wasn't a weakness. He was born from the terrifying nightmares people held, hundreds of years later after the Gemma War. His mind swirled with the screams and laughs of the dead, reminding him of his existence, so he needed to avenge them. Honour the dead who died unfairly, and lead them to ellaina.
Anya's hand trembled, taking her back to the scene of the massacre.
๐๐ถ๐ฏ๐ฅ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ฅ๐ด ๐ฐ๐ง ๐ฑ๐ฆ๐ฐ๐ฑ๐ญ๐ฆ ๐ฃ๐ฆ๐ญ๐ญ๐ฐ๐ธ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ, ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ณ๐ฐ๐ต๐ต๐ฆ๐ฏ ๐ด๐ค๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ต ๐ฐ๐ง ๐ง๐ญ๐ฆ๐ด๐ฉ, ๐ฎ๐ถ๐ฅ๐ฅ๐ช๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ฃ๐ญ๐ฐ๐ฐ๐ฅ, ๐ง๐ช๐ณ๐ฆ ๐ญ๐ช๐ค๐ฌ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐๐บ๐ฎ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ข ๐ค๐ญ๐ฆ๐ข๐ฏ, ๐ณ๐ถ๐ฑ๐ต๐ถ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ณ๐ฐ๐ข๐ต๐ด, ๐ฃ๐ญ๐ฆ๐ฆ๐ฅ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ข๐ฅ๐ด, ๐ฃ๐ญ๐ช๐ด๐ต๐ฆ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ด๐ฌ๐ช๐ฏ๐ด, ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฅ๐ฆ๐ข๐ฅ ๐ฃ๐ฐ๐บ, ๐ด๐ต๐ข๐ช๐ฏ๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ฃ๐ญ๐ข๐ฅ๐ฆ, ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฎ๐ข๐ฏ-
Anya paused.
๐๐ฉ๐ฆ. ๐๐ข๐ฏ.
๐๐ฆ ๐ช๐ด ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ฆ, Anya's mind whirled. ๐๐ฆ ๐ช๐ด ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ข๐ด๐ฐ๐ฏ ๐ฃ๐ฆ๐ฉ๐ช๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ข๐ญ๐ญ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ช๐ด.
"Young Miss."
Anya snapped back to reality, her heart thrumming against her chest uncontrollably. A young Coni, looked up at her, tilting his head.
If Anya was in any better condition, she would have thought he was cute. But not anymore. Coni wasn't a young child, he was simply under the guise of a child. If he wanted, he could go back to being an adult, and end up massacring everyone. But that would permanently lock his powers away. Even though he was a Gemma, there were certain restraints he had to follow.
๐๐ฐ๐ณ ๐ฆ๐น๐ข๐ฎ๐ฑ๐ญ๐ฆ, Anya thought. ๐๐ฆ ๐ค๐ข๐ฏ'๐ต ๐ฉ๐ถ๐ณ๐ต ๐ฎ๐ฆ. ๐๐ฐ๐ต ๐บ๐ฆ๐ต.
Gemmas' couldn't harm a person who didn't have malicious intentions or those who were blessed by the Skies. They couldn't use their powers ignorantly unless it was to help someone. And Anya was totally out of that list.
Well, at least for now.
"Yes?" Anya smiled a perfect fake smile. "Um, is there anything you want?"
Coni gave her an eerie look, and for an instant, Anya thought she was looking at the real person behind the innocent mask he put on.
"N-nothing," he shook his head. "S-so...what j-job am I going to be doing?"
"Uh..." Anya had totally forgotten about that. The reason why she hired him was to get on the good side of the people, but she had ended up taking the wrong choice. The real Anya had also accepted Coni and had ended up bringing him to the dinner along with her. He would soon become her first person in hand, someone who she trusted so much. He was the first person she had talked to in a long time, making him her first friend.
Anya had taken care of him as if he were her younger brother. But it doesn't matter anymore, because she knows how it will turn out for her.
๐๐ถ๐ต ๐ธ๐ข๐ช๐ต, ๐ธ๐ข๐ด๐ฏ'๐ต ๐ต๐ฉ๐ช๐ด ๐ข๐ญ๐ด๐ฐ ๐ข๐ฏ ๐ฐ๐ฑ๐ฑ๐ฐ๐ณ๐ต๐ถ๐ฏ๐ช๐ต๐บ? Anya thought, her mind racing with a new idea. ๐๐ด ๐ญ๐ฐ๐ฏ๐จ ๐ข๐ด ๐ด๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ธ๐ข๐ด ๐ฐ๐ฏ ๐ฉ๐ช๐ด ๐จ๐ฐ๐ฐ๐ฅ ๐ญ๐ช๐ด๐ต, ๐ด๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ธ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ญ๐ฅ๐ฏ'๐ต ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ถ๐ฑ ๐ญ๐ช๐ฌ๐ฆ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ง๐ถ๐ต๐ถ๐ณ๐ฆ.
Though Coni's powers couldn't be used on people without killing intent, it was still possible. Because he had made it possible. In the original novel, when Coni first confronted Zenlyns, he had realized how powerless he was. In front of the transcendent power of the Zenlyn, he didn't hold a chance. His sister diety, Psyche, was a forgotten entity. And he was a Gemma born after a bloody massacre. His full power was something still locked away, even without the restraints.
After the Gemma war, a war between the six Gemmas and Psyche, she sealed her powers so that it doesn't fall into the hands of the other. To get back his innate magic, which was scattered across the continent, Coni had to spend days and months trying to locate the relics that held Psyche's power.
Which meant, Anya still had a chance to survive. If she helped him find out the locations, doesn't that mean he would trust her? She already knew where to find them, the novel had mentioned it very thoroughly. Though Coni's main motive was to avenge the Villantia, he had another one; to get back the glory of his sister deity.
The Gemma war was a one-sided war, a war meant to annihilate Psyche, who was the latest Gemma, and would rise to become the most powerful one. A prophecy that foretold the doom of the other Gemma clans would be fulfilled by the blood of Psyche, a fragment of her.
Over history, there were only six Gemmas. The birth of Psyche was unpredicted, almost like a curse, and without her, there wouldn't be a seventh Gemma. And without a new Gemma, there wouldn't be any threat to the other clans.
But five hundred years later, a foam that inherited a small part of Psyche's powers had been formed through a massacre, and Connaida was born.
Anya found this as a great opportunity. If she could help him, and in turn, get on his good side, it would mean a huge no-no to her sad future. The reason why Coni ended up torturing the real Anya was due to her villainess motives. Anya was once a good figure; an innocent, pitiful girl. Her reason for the change caused him to use his powers on her. And later when the Zenlyns' had found it out, they hadn't done anything, which was obvious.
But that was only a part of it. To confront the Zenlyns, he needs his powers. And to make that possible, he has to need Anya as well. Right now, he doesn't know of his locked away powers and will only know about it when he faces the ones blessed by the Skies.
They had similar goals. They both wanted to save Tymera from its disgrace, and take down the man behind all this. And for that to happen, they had to be on good terms.
๐'๐ญ๐ญ ๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ญ๐ฑ ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ ๐ข๐ท๐ฆ๐ฏ๐จ๐ฆ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐๐ช๐ญ๐ญ๐ข๐ฏ๐ต๐ช๐ข, Anya grinned. ๐๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ฃ๐ณ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ฃ๐ข๐ค๐ฌ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐จ๐ญ๐ฐ๐ณ๐บ ๐ฐ๐ง ๐๐ด๐บ๐ค๐ฉ๐ฆ.
"You don't have to do anything," Anya smiled again, though this time it was genuine. "You are a child, why would I make you work?"
Coni's eyes were hesitant, half-doubtful. "B-but--"
"Yes, I know," Anya waved him off. "I did say that I'll give you a job, but it's ridiculous to make a child work. Adults work, you know?"
"B-but t-hen..." he locked his gaze on her, almost like he was trying to pry her to give him a job. "W-what d-do I do t-then?"
"Ah, that," Anya smiled cheerfully. "Do you like cookies?"