The beginning

Cala turned her upper half to face the back of his head. "How did you know about my master?"

Aelius responded with a laugh and opened a cellar door outside a pub. "Your clothing and mannerisms. You're not from the safe camp and you're not a Miser. Only a wealthy man could afford to dress his pupil like a maid these days."

"I won't allow you to use me as blackmail," Cala snapped. "Master Soren won't be fool enough to aid an enemy."

With a hand on her back, Aelius swung Cala onto the bed in a dark room and let her go. He walked to the furthest end of the room and pulled two tall, dingy glasses from a pile and filled them with a brown liquid from a keg. He came back to Cala and knelt in front of her, holding a glass out. "Women have this obscured vision that men are strong and honorable by nature when all we really are is selfish. We love things and owning things and having things we don't have to share. Suppose you're nothing more than a pupil and I am an enemy. Even if that's all, you're dressed in fine clothing. You're one of his favorite dolls and he'll want you back and I'm going to push him to the limit. Get exactly what he feels your life and company are worth. I hope you're wrong, love. If he refuses, you're worth nothing and something so unique should be treasured."

"Soren will think of the greater good," Cala quietly said. "Not the value of my life, but what's more important."

Seth lay flat on top of the inn keeper's roof all night, staring into the sky with his mask next to him. The air was clearer, but still stunk of human. He'd sniffed a few times and sighed when the smell made him sneeze. Can't sleep dammit, he thought after several hours. Cala's face came back to him mind, her two colored eyes and silver hair. No way... No way I'm going to be like her. I'm not someone dog... He rolled onto his side and squirmed to get comfortable.
The sound of people whispering woke him an hour later. He leaned over the edge to see a small gathering of people opening stands. Quietly, he jumped off the other side of the building and looked for Athen.

Aelius responded with a chuckle and set the extended glass next to him on the floor, then sat back and took a drink from his glass. "You said your name was Cala, right? Like calla lily. Calla Lily Thorn." He chuckled again and looked at the glass. "Have you ever seen a calla lily, Cala?"

"No, sir," Cala muttered sadly. "I don't know what a calla lily is."

"It's a flower. We don't have a lot of those anymore. Not many breeds." Holding out his palm, he worked his fingers together until they started to glow and form a lily. "Do you remember the world before the war? You could find these anywhere."

"Before the war..." Cala watched the flower curiously, reminded of a distant and forgot memory. "I only remember waking up in Soren's care. After the war."

The flower shattered into white sparks when Aelius closed his hand. He lowered it to his side, looking passed the ceiling and into a memory. "It's probably better that way. You're a nice girl, Cala. I'm sorry to have to mix you up in all of this." He stood and finished his drink, tossing the cup into a basin. "I have to be strict or I'll lose my grip on the people here. Maybe someday you'll forgive me." A grin flourished on his lips when he spoke the last sentence.

"If Bion comes and pays what you demand..." Cala looked at Aelius and away quickly. "Will you send me away with him?"

"That old dog? If he comes, he's going to try to kill me, not pay for your freedom," Aelius said, smirking. "Don't worry. I won't let him kill me and take you."

With furious rage, Bion threw the last Miser through the window and looked out where Cala and Aelius had disappeared. He snorted hard, shaking with anger. That wasn't any human... or Miser. Who was he? He turned abruptly and thundered down the stairs to the street. He chanted a few words in the shadows before stepping out in his new form.

Athen sat with a guard near the city edge, drinking warm whiskey from a flask and listening to the guard explain what happened during the war. Athen, slightly drunken, frowned at the ground and shook his head. "They blame Misers?" Athan asked to confirm.
"It was. It was the Dark Lord."
What would they do if they realized the Dark Lord was walking among them, respected? "Hmmm." Athen handed the flask back to the man and started walking towards the city.
"So, you're not... going to hunt the humans?" the guard asked hesitantly.
"I don't have time to waste on humans," Athen snapped, wiping his lips with his sleeve.
He sought out Seth and tossed a wooden sword to him. "Let's practice."

"With a sword?" Seth asked, twirling the stick. "I can't use one. Never touched one."

"That's why you're getting trained," Athen growled and took his own from his belt. "If you're going to find that girl, you're going to have to learn how to use one of these. You're useless without magic."

Seth returned the growl and clenched the sword. "Find her? I want to know why we're twin soul or whatever it's called. That's all. I want to go home and I build shit and that's it."

"That's never going to happen," Athen said evenly. "They'll hunt you, they'll dissect you, whatever it takes. They won't let a Dual Soul walk away. Back when I was mortal, you were God and Devils. Allah and Lucifer. The Messiah and the Antichrist. They gave you every title they could find. The girl's kidnapping was proof alone."

"I don't want stupid titles. I'll figure out a way to get rid of this!" Seth shouted, frustrated.

"You cannot deny your fate," Athen said as he lunged towards Seth and swung down at his face.

"I don't believe in that shit!" Seth groaned, trying to hold Athen's sword back with his. "It's just a crappy theology weak people came up with to accept their crappy lives!"

"Weak?" Athen chuckled and forced Seth to his knee. "It takes a lot more weakness to run than face the truth."

"It's weak to blindly accept things," Seth snarled, trying to escape. He threw himself backwards, his wrist aching. "Kallias and Five said it. They don't understand what we are. There's a chance we can fix this and go back to normal lives."

Five stretched in the window and cracked his back and neck. "Should find Rose," he mumbled and shoved his hands into his open jacket pockets. He checked out and caught a passing vendor, asking if they'd seen Soren.