Death Upon the Dead

"What was that?" Nova said, bewildered. He glanced at Xerxes's skeleton-like fingers.

Xerxes could hear Nova and the others talking, but their voices sounded distant. His ears rang, and his vision was overwhelmed with white. He zoned out, his body seemingly disconnected from the room around him.

"Xerxes!" Lucas shook his body back and forth aggressively.

"Huh?" Xerxes abruptly jolted back to reality.

He looked up, startled, at the concerned and oddly curious faces crowded too close to him. He shifted uncomfortably, stepping backward to put some distance between them.

"What's going on?" he said, trying to make himself seem smaller.

"You tell us what's going on! You just electrocuted me out of nowhere!" Nova, feeling unjustly treated, spoke with frustration. His hand was still slightly shaking from the impact of the shock.

"Did I do that on purpose?" Xerxes avoided Nova's eyes while answering, making himself seem even more suspicious.

"What is it? Are you not feeling well?" Lucas demanded, grabbing Xerxes's chin and lifting his face forcing Xerxes to look at him.

Leave me alone, please...

Xerxes closed his eyes, unable to meet Lucas's gaze. He clenched and unclenched his fists, struggling to steady himself.

"You're just making it worse!" Kai interjected, leaping onto a chair to snatch Lucas's hand away.

"Can't you guys see his condition? He's sweating profusely, his heartbeat's irregular, and he clearly doesn't want to talk right now!" Kai pointed out, listing everything with an accusatory finger.

Alexa sighed, sitting back in her chair. "You scared the poor guy. Give him some space already."

Reluctantly, Lucas and Nova returned to their seats, though their concern lingered in their expressions.

Xerxes focused on his breathing, ignoring the murmurs behind his closed eyes. He inhaled deeply, held the breath for a moment, and exhaled slowly. When he opened his eyes, the room had settled, and everyone sat around the table as if nothing had happened.

"I have no idea what happened earlier," Xerxes declared calmly.

"....."

"Why are you all staring at me like that? I don't know what happened. Maybe it was just a random spark?

"A random spark, huh," Nova muttered, tucking his still-shaking hand under his arm.

"You," Alexa said, narrowing her gaze at Xerxes. "Have you awakened your system already?"

Have I? I wouldn't really know, but I don't believe I have...

"No, I haven't even seen the system's screen, much less received a notification of awakening," Xerxes firmly denied it.

"That makes sense. He has no reason to hide it—he's the team leader. What would he gain by keeping his powers secret?" Lucas reasoned, seemingly trying to convince himself.

Kai didn't comment. He gave Xerxes a knowing glare but let the matter drop.

"Let's put this matter aside for now. We have a long day tomorrow, and probably the worst and last one in this dungeon," said Xerxes.

***

With a new day comes new responsibilities, more unnecessary information, and a dreaded task that had been pushed to another day. For Xerxes, a new day was just one day closer to his natural or accidental death. With one less day to live, he felt inspired to live another day, with a fresh energy and anxiety. But everyone has bad days too, right?

I have a seriously bad feeling about today. It's definitely not just because I want to sleep in my bed right now. There's just something ominous...

"Sergeant, I've been thinking about it since last night," Sam said. "No matter what angle you look at it from, the husband is the most suspicious person in all of this."

Alexa, surprised by Sam's human-like deduction, came to meet him, shaking both of his hands with force. "That's right, Sam! You're smart. I see why Xerxes favors you!"

Sam's ear flushed pink from the sudden attention. "Favors me?! There must be a mistake here," he said doubtfully.

Nova returned from paying the coachman with a loud sigh. "There goes my last bit of money. I am officially broke for the first time in my life."

With everyone gathered at the front door of the house, Lucas knocked repeatedly until it finally swung open.

Mr. Pnycheon appeared even more disheveled than during previous visits. He had a wild appearance, bearing a bad odor on his body. He smiled, revealing his yellow teeth, not surprised at all.

"I hope you came knocking with some good news this time, gentlemen," he sarcastically called out, puffing out his breath in arrogance as he cleared the way for them to enter the house.

Passing the man one by one, Kai stuck close to Xerxes's side as they made their way over the liquor bottles scattered on the floor. Sam took in every little detail closely on the other side.

"I see a new face here," Mr. Pnycheon said, closing the front door and locking it firmly.

"Greetings, Mr. Pnycheon. My name is Sam. I am a junior working under Sergeant Xerxes's guidance," Sam politely made his way to him and held out his hand to shake.

"Is my house the only place available for your training?" the man scoffed, not bothering to shake the hand. He went straight to the sofa in the parlor, picked up a half-drunk bottle of alcohol, and started drinking from it, tilting his head back aggressively.

"Don't mind it, Sam. Just do your best to uncover any clues," Xerxes patted Sam's back sympathetically.

Sam dejectedly retracted his hand and nodded.

"Want me to give you a tour of the house myself today, gentlemen?" Mr. Pnycheon said, taking another big gulp. "Isn't it boring to look over the house for the third time by yourselves?" He got up, putting the bottle down on the wood next to the sofa.

"We'll be in your care then, Mr. Pnycheon," Xerxes didn't refuse such a generous offer.

Kai pulled Xerxes's coat to draw his attention. After gaining Xerxes's focus, he shook his head slightly to oppose the decision.

Isn't it too late to go back on my word now?

"Why? Is there a problem?" Xerxes got closer to Kai and whispered to him.

"I want to go in the basement without him overlooking us," Kai whispered back in Xerxes's ear.