A man and a woman walked together as if they weighed nothing, floating above the ground as though they were walking on water. Elena fixed her gaze on them and realized they were heading straight toward her.
The girl had strawberry-blonde hair and amber eyes. Freckles were scattered thickly across her cheeks and nose. Her warm olive-toned skin only added to her beauty. She wore an elegant red dress, one that seemed more suited for a party than for what was unfolding around them.
Unlike Tabitha's intensity, the girl's warm eyes and gentle smile made Elena feel that she possessed a kind soul.
Rash turned to Elena and said,
"Look… that redhead walking toward us."
Elena nodded silently.
Rash added with a soft smile,
"That's Siniata. She's on our team.
And behind her, that pale-skinned guy with brown hair and the black shirt… that's Khaiso. He'll be with us too."
Soon, both Siniata and Khaiso arrived.
Rash greeted them kindly,
"I believe you met Elena earlier this morning?"
Khaiso replied playfully, lightly punching Rash on the shoulder,
"Are you kidding?
Is there anyone in Azaveria who doesn't know her and her bold speech?"
Elena felt shy.
She wasn't used to this much attention,
nor to such blunt honesty.
"Oh God…" she thought,
"Why did I speak so loudly?
Why do they say the truth so openly?"
Rash continued,
"They recognized her before you even arrived."
Khaiso grinned and flexed slightly,
"Yeah, we saw the way she looked at us…
We knew instantly you knew her through us."
"Great…" Elena thought,
"As if things weren't awkward enough already…"
Siniata then said with concern,
"Elena, isn't it too soon for you to join the competitions?
This is your first day here.
Shouldn't you discover your abilities first?"
Rash quickly responded with seriousness,
"It's fine.
I'll take responsibility for protecting her.
Satisfying her curiosity matters more.
It's okay if we don't win the Light Orb."
Khaiso and Siniata exchanged glances.
Then Tabitha shared the vision she had seen earlier of Rash looking at Elena,
and the three of them smiled in silent understanding.
Khaiso sent a light-pulse message only they could understand:
"What are those looks? For once, I saw Rash give those eyes to someone."
Siniata added,
"Didn't you notice her markings?
Could it be a marriage mark?"
Tabitha replied firmly,
"What's with you, Siniata? Has your light begun to fade?
Have you ever seen Rash's mark?
So you can compare theirs?
His mark has never been visible."
Rash interrupted their quiet exchange with a sharp look, as if to say, You've been caught.
He said aloud,
"Enough. Focus.
You're chasing the Light Orb, and I'll guard Elena.
Tabitha, go first.
Then me and Elena.
Khaiso, follow us.
Siniata, take the rear."
At that moment, Siniata sent Rash a private pulse:
"If I didn't know you so well, I'd believe you were pretending.
But I know you… no matter how you try to hide it, you can't.
You know how rare the Light Orb is this time… getting it would be nearly impossible."
Then she said aloud,
"Just remember…
we're doing this for you."
Tabitha and Khaiso echoed together,
"She's right.
For you."
Rash smiled, realizing they had uncovered something growing within him.
They had known him since childhood… he couldn't hide anything from them.
He wondered silently,
"Maybe they're right…
This feeling I have…
In Azaveria, it only appears when two marriage marks perfectly match…
What I feel…
it's not normal."
Suddenly, a frightening silence fell over the entire place.
It was as if time itself had stopped,
like the universe was holding its breath for a rare cosmic event.
Elena felt an unexplained fear.
Without thinking, she moved behind Rash and clutched the back of his shirt tightly.
In a trembling voice, she asked,
"Rash… what is this?
What's this terrifying energy flooding the place?"
Rash signaled for her to be quiet and whispered calmly,
"They're coming…
Their energy always arrives first, announcing their presence."
His voice dropped even lower,
"They are… the Serathygas."
Elena's voice trembled,
"Who… are they?"
Whenever they enter a place, a severe chill spreads, as if everything freezes.
Even the air becomes heavy, and time itself seems to pause.
When all eyes turn toward them, space begins to distort in terrifying silence.
They are mysterious beings unlike anything else.
They possess no true bodies, appearing instead as shadows…
halos of darkness intertwined with light, a blend of transparency and blackness.
They belong to no place and no time.
There are always six of them, appearing across every era.
They vanish and return in strange ways.
No matter how closely you observe them, their faces are constantly changing.
Their eyes are not truly eyes… but resemble black holes.
Whoever looks into them feels their light being drawn inward.
They see nothing but deadly emptiness,
as if approaching the very edge of nonexistence.
Their voices come as whispers, directed only to those they choose.
They rarely speak… almost never.
And they always leave behind a lingering sense of waiting for something unknown.
They are extremely selfish…
so much so that they have described themselves as more selfish than selfishness itself.
If they ever attend an event—something nearly impossible
then know that it is an event of extraordinary importance in every sense.