Inverse System

The whole room was filled with silence after Chloe asked that question. Emria tensed up, holding back tears. Rein looked away, also holding back tears, not answering her question.

"I did it," Core muttered, making Chloe glare at him.

"What'd you say..?" She said, filled with extreme anger.

"I'm the reason she died. Even though Rein doesn't blame me anymore… I still know the truth." Core spoke up, to which Chloe stood up.

"Y-you're kidding… There's no way she'd die… She's…" Chloe spoke in disbelief.

"You're right. She shouldn't have died. I should've died there along with my troops. I brought them into battle, yet I'm the only one who survived. If it weren't for this shitty curse of a Spring," he said regretfully.

Rein didn't say a word. Emria was now crying, she could never forget the moment Rein carried her away from Leona, neither could she forget any of the moments that followed.

Chloe approached Core and looked down on him, with Core having his head down, looking at the floor. She looked over at Rein, who was clearly holding in his feelings. He shook his head at her.

"Rein… tell me… Was he the reason Leona died?" She asked as she began tearing up.

"..." He didn't answer.

Chloe glanced back at Emria who was looking at her with tears in her eyes. She bit her lip and looked back at Core, who was still looking at the floor. Tears continued flowing down her cheeks as she clenched her fist.

Rein felt powerless in this situation. He couldn't move, talk, or look at anyone. He simply sat there, cowering as he watched the scene unfold before him.

"Why… If your group only kills criminals… Why'd you kill Leona..? She was the nicest person… she never had any prejudice towards me… she treated me with kindness, and always made me laugh…" Her voice was trembling uncontrollably, sniffling ever louder.

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She felt a familiar hand grab hold of hers, a small, tender one. She looked back, seeing Emria holding on to her tightly, shaking her head at her in negation. She broke down and hugged Emria tightly, the both of them crying until their tears dried out. Rein, still looking away from the group, was also crying. The two stood back up and sat back down at their couch, drying the last of their tears, with Rein's eye's showing unnoticeable red outlines from his weeps.

There was a long moment of silence after, which was broken by a trembling sigh from Chloe.

"Rein and Emria have both forgiven you, but, I'm sorry… I can't help but harbor some resentment…"

"Heh, It's fine. Can't fault you when I haven't even forgiven myself."

"Wait, you said cursed Spring? What'd you mean by that?" Asked Quint curiously as Chloe recomposed herself.

"Hm? Oh, you're… Yeah. It's the same as your sister," informed Core.

"What?! You know about her?"

"Yeah, more or less. I'll tell you guys about it later," he looked at Rein, telling him that he should continue his story.

"Yeah…" Rein also recomposed himself, putting his facade of confidence back on. "After Leona sacrificed herself to protect us, we went back to the village, where Core was still alive because of his Spring. I lashed out at him, cutting him up into pieces. His body continued to regenerate until I gave up. That's when we heard footsteps. They were coming from the direction that the villagers escaped from…"

Everyone in the room tensed up, knowing what he was going to say, but not wanting to believe it.

"They slaughtered them. Every single villager was killed and thrown into a body pile. The soldiers came to the village to check for any survivors, and that's when it happened. I awakened to my Spring. An ability that allows me to copy the inverse of a person's Spring. For example, when I copied Chloe's wind Spring, it became earth.

I slaughtered most of the soldiers, but then, the prince came. Chloe's brother. I don't know why he was so filled with rage at the time. He was acting on impulse, and he was irrational. The opposite of how he acted earlier today. We fought, ending with no clear winner.

After that, Core and his subordinate helped Emria and I escape and took us to a man named Voron Xilris, Saphrilla's dad. That was when Orthlys declared war against Econica, painting Core's subordinate and I as the perpetrators behind the attack, claiming that we were Econican spies because I was using an Econican army sword.

From there, I swore to exact my vengeance on those pieces of shit who started this war. I honed my power with Voron's support and met this annoying prick who lives in my mind. Clyde and Chloe have already met him, why don't you introduce yourself Versys."

A clear image popped up in the minds of everyone, it was a black-haired version of Rein.

"Heya! My name's Versys. I don't really know what I am, but I'm not a prick!" Versys exclaimed, tell them that he didn't know what he was to avoid further questions about Rein's power, as to not have him divulge further information about his System.

They all started laughing as Versys disappeared from their minds, everyone except Quint, who was still thinking about what Core said.

"What's wrong, Quint?" Asked Chloe.

"... Hey, Core. Mind explaining why you know my sister?" He frowned at him.

"Oh… Well, to tell you the truth, she was the main reason I came here. It happened to work perfectly that Rein was also here," Core professed.

"What? The main reason you're here is because of Xenia? The hell do you want from her?" He questioned slightly aggressively.

"Hmm… Look at it like this. Your sister has a Spring, correct?"

"Well… Yeah, it's a cursed one though," Quint answered.

"What's her Spring entail? In other words, her symptoms," asked Core.

"Well, she has extremely frail bones and muscles, which make her incredibly weak. Because of that, she can't stand, hold everyday objects, nor can she chew on her food," Quint explained with a painful expression on his face.

Core looked at Rein, who understood what he wanted. He nodded at him, to which Quint grew a confused expression.

"Anyways, it's getting late. We should all go and get some sleep," exclaimed Core as he stood up, and winked at Rein as he walked out of the door.

"Indeed. I will also be taking my leave. I thank you for the refreshments," Clyde stood up and followed Core down to their room. Reggie leaned into Quint's ear.

"Hey, didn't you say you promised to visit your sister with the princess after the tournament ended? Well, invite her to go tomorrow!" He whispered.

"Tch, fine."

Quint approached Chloe and asked her if she wanted to meet his sister tomorrow, to which she eagerly said yes. Quint left the room with Reggie, smiling ear to ear.

"Dude, cut it out with that smile. It's getting kinda creepy."

"But she said yes! Why wouldn't I be happy," he jubilantly expressed as they entered their room.

"All your doing is meeting your sister. It's nothing to be ecstatic about."

"You're coming with me, right?" Quint asked nervously.

"Huh? Hell no! Are you stupid or something? This is your chance, I'm not gonna freakin third wheel," Reggie declared as he lightly punched Quint on the back of the head.

"Ow, dude, your punches hurt."

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The next day…

"Hey… This was supposed to be just me and Chloe. Why the fuck are you guys here?! And you too Reggie?" Quint yelled as they stood outside of the hospital.

"Sorry man, I can't refuse the princess…" Reggie said as he averted his gaze from Quint.

"Chloe invited us. She said that we should come to meet her too. Though Core just tagged along," Rein explained.

"Yeah! Wait, why'd you look so disappointed Mr. Quint?" Emria asked cheekily.

"Indeed. Could you perhaps…" Saphrilla purposefully stopped herself, to which the two girls puffed a small laugh, covering their mouths. Quint growled to himself out of embarrassment.

"I'm sorry if we're intruding Quint. I didn't see any harm in bringing them along. If my actions have angered you then I deeply apologize," Chloe spoke, concerned.

"O-oh, no! Not at all! I'm totally fine with this!" He lied through his teeth, but he couldn't stop himself from blushing.

They all approached the front desk and got permission to visit. She was on the top floor, in room 3-24. They arrived at her room and stood outside of her door.

"Ok, listen here you bunch of idiots. If any of you do anything to disturb her, I'm kicking you right out. No touching her, no loud noises, no breathing in her direction, in fact, don't even get near her. She's my twin sister, so don't think she can't roast the shit out of you if you insult her. Not that I'd let you, since you'd be out the window if you talked shit. And—"

"Dude, we get it. Let us in already you sis-con," Core remarked jokingly.

Suddenly, Rein and Clyde felt a chill, their eyes widening. They rushed past Quint to the door.

"What the? I haven't finished laying the rules!!"

They threw the door open, seeing nobody in the room. Instead, they saw a symbol etched on the bed with ink as red as blood. It was a large urn vase with a skull in it, with a circle around it. Clyde's face grew unimaginable terror and rage after seeing the symbol.

"Crypt…" He uttered, as he trembled with anger.