Bro, I'm not an Undead!

Each time, it was as if she had been forced to swallow spoonfuls of a horrid reality mixed in a with a \'Screw you\' from the universe that kept her mood down in the slumps.r

Slowly, dark bags started to form under her eyes as she worked tirelessly, her frame shrinking as she barely ate and spent more and more time with her unconscious father in his bedroom. No one could pull away Stylla from this road she was treading.r

Not Skullius, not Silrat, not Ed, not even her own sister Terese who grew increasingly worried.r

It was a sad sight.r

Skullius knocked on the door to a lavish guestroom and waited a few seconds for a response. r

There was bout of silence with no reply for a while, until a sickly voice, raspy and full of reverse cheer whispered a hollow \'Come in.\'r

Skullius entered the room with the squeak of the door and found the view he expected.r

Beside a large bed where a handsome man lay enshrined in a pristine light created by clustered runes, the figure of Stylla could be seen staring unblinkingly onto it.r

Her red hair had long forgotten the taste of a comb and grown sick of the simple rinse of water as well as the uncaring drying from a towel. Her once fair skin was losing its healthy sheen and the rosy tinge of heat was lost from her face that looked as apathetic and pitiful as could be.r

One could rightfully ask if this truly was Stylla at all after comparing her now to what she had looked like before.r

"Stylla..." Skullius voiced with a serious visage.r

The red head didn\'t show a reaction.r

Skullius sighed.r

This presented the same thing he had grown to know from Stylla\'s new, gloomy mannerisms.r

She wasn\'t in the mood for small talk or any talk for that matter. r

But he could squeeze important stuff in.r

"Were you uh... were you able to get them all to meet with us?" Skullius asked.r

Stylla\'s body that had been hunched over in its seat sat up straight.r

"Yes. You\'ll be able to meet them after the matches tomorrow," Stylla replied without turning her head.r

"Great. You told them that we will meet at your Estate, right?" r

"...Sure."r

Skullius frowned.r

\'Hey, hey. What the flesh is that supposed to mean? It could mean anything. Sure, I did? Sure, I can set it up to that place instead? Sure, knock yourself out with a serrated bat?! What did it mean?!\' he raged internally.r

"Will you be coming?" the Hybrid Luman asked, though he suspected a damp answer already.r

As expected, Stylla grew silent for quite some time, probably to foreshadow that she was in fact, as Skullius guessed, not coming with him and Silrat.r

The Hybrid Luman sighed again.r

He had thought this would make Stylla get better, gradually. It was a huge undertaking and would require focus after all. Unfortunately, the opposite happened.r

Skullius had told Stylla back at her Estate that he wanted them to cooperate. To build something together. Something similar to what Replicus was doing but in partnership form.r

Stylla had agreed, which had led to him, her and Silrat brainstorming ideas over what kind of growth model to pursue.r

The general idea Skullius had pitched when he asked for them to actually cooperate instead of use each other through convoluted means was for him to invest in the Bryne Family. If he and Stylla worked together, they could raise the Family to its feet again.r

Skullius proposed this after revealing to Stylla that the Premium Age Royale wasn\'t as simple as it seemed, which forced her to take Skullius\' deal seriously.r

She eventually agreed and the three had gotten to trying to find ways to make the Bryne Family look attractive. Money, resources and exclusive objects of trade they could harness.r

So far, these had been achieved.r

Skullius had gone on a lot of exclusive missions for the Association along with handling his own private excursions.r

The combination of these had earned him close to 100,000 Plasma Coins between the mission rewards, taking criminal loot for himself and selling off rare Cluster beast and Cluster General carcasses!r

This amount was used to rebuild the Bryne Family main mansion and modify the Estate accordingly â€" improving the view as well as the infrastructure. Those from the previous batch of servants serving in the Bryne Family who stayed, refusing to abandon the Family for any amount of gold were rehired to maintain the expanded farms, the new mansion and the renovated compounds while a new batch, one made of able Foundation Stage experts was employed to head the auxiliary personnel.r

Silrat, with his information gathering sought and found Advancement Stage and a few Master Stage experts who were added to the total number of guards in the Family, after Skullius formed contracts with them of course.r

Resources such as armour, spatial storage, carriages, tools, clothing, livestock and more were procured by Silrat largely, while Skullius brought a bit more from his unexplored means.r

In a month and a half, the Bryne Family Estate had changed so much that the locals were surprised, a bit frightened even. The thick, but beautiful wall erected around it, making it seem like some kind of impenetrable fortress intimidated the inhabitants of the lands under the Bryne Family.r

All this said, Stylla\'s gloom was not fazed as even now when the most important phase of their growth plan was afoot, the red head refused to participate.r

"Why don\'t you want to come?" Skullius asked the forlorn Stylla.r

She heaved in a breath and finally turned to stare at the Hybrid Luman with lost eyes.r

"Haven\'t I done enough?" she said with a feeble voice.r

"Enough? When we\'re just getting started?"r

Stylla shook her head and gazed out the window.r

"I\'ve been thinking... Ever since Setkh left the Family to do whatever he wanted to do so long ago, I leapt at the chance to take the reins to the Family. Soon after, I discovered that the weight crushed me and I couldn\'t handle it alone. There was no reward there. Even after Setkh returned, I found that the small relief it gave that at least I wasn\'t alone, even if I didn\'t trust him, was never going to last," she said.r

"But here I am. Trying. I can\'t get rid of this anger in me. It\'s the only thing keeping me going. Setkh... I\'m trying to keep together everything he ruined for this Family but... can I even do it? Will this work with me at the helm again? I am too weak for this. I\'m nothing like father. I\'m afraid of making mistakes again and not seeing things I should be able to see if I\'m to run the Family. And... I can\'t stand with you tomorrow. I\'d rather stay in the shadows."r

Skullius leaned against the wall and tilted his head.r

Weakness? Anger? Mistakes?r

Really?r

This was what was keeping Stylla holed up and afraid to act?r

A nerve was struck.r

A chuckle came out of Skullius\' mouth, much to Stylla\'s surprise.r

The Hybrid Luman gazed at her with his white eyes.r

"If some of us could give up just because we made mistakes or were weak or angry, life would be a breeze, wouldn\'t it?" he said with a ridiculing tone that Stylla didn\'t miss.r

A flash of tamed fury ran through her eyes.r

"Right. Maybe that\'s why you should stand in for me. You\'re brave, bold and strong. You never doubt yourself. That is someone the Family needs right now," Stylla said, subduing her emotions.r

"So I should do all the work while you hide away in your own petty fears feeling sorry for yourself? Give me a break. You think by doing this you\'re proving that you know yourself and your limits but it\'s all just an excuse to give up," Skullius said with a sharp tone.r

Stylla\'s body trembled and she balled her hands into fists while rising from her seat.r

"My fears are petty? Oh, sure. You\'d know everything about that, right? Since you\'ve been to the Under and back and have been through the worst the world has to offer," she hissed weakly.r

"Maybe I have. In fact, I actually HAVE been to the worst of places and back. And you know what I can tell even without seeing with my eyes? A coward."r

Stylla opened her mouth to release a hot breath that carried a chunk of her frustrations. Her face turned red and she pointed at Skullius only to lower her hand and take another puff of the cool air to calm down.r

"Good then. I\'m a coward who doesn\'t know who she is and what the fuck she is supposed to be. But don\'t you speak to me as if you weren\'t an aimless, paranoid, dense little Mage when we first met. If it wasn\'t for Silrat, for Uncle Jac and me where the fuck would you be now? Stop acting tough... like... like you know who you are and where you\'re going with so much clarity that everyone else turns into an idiot before your oh so mighty view, Festos!"r

...r

This time.r

It was Skullius\' turn to twitch in a bit of rage.r

There was truth in what Stylla said and it stung quite a bit, forcing Skullius into thoughts he usually tried to avoid.r

Who was he...r

Where was he going...r