Chapter 56: Now tell me... Why you brought me here, Xenovia.

"Big sister! Wait for me!" The little boy ran after the teenage girl with white hair and a black dress, while she walked steadily without slowing down. She really seemed not to want his company, but the little boy kept pestering her as he followed her to a mansion slightly older than the others.

He looked at the mansion's entrance and trembled slightly with fear at how old it was. Cobwebs hung everywhere, and the pillars were covered in black dust, as if it hadn't been cleaned in years and had been abandoned.

"S-sister! D-don't go in there!" He trembled with fear as he watched his older sister enter the place, her black dress starting to get dirty with dust, turning the edges of her skirt gray as it brushed against the mansion's old wood. The boy clenched his fists tightly, glanced at the place, and took a deep breath to follow his sister inside.

"Calm down, it's just an abandoned mansion," he thought, mustering up courage and entering the foyer.

Passing through the shadowy entrance, the boy felt a shiver run down his spine. The mansion seemed even more frightening inside. The walls were lined with faded wallpaper, torn in several places, revealing dark, aged wood underneath. The furniture was covered in yellowed white sheets, and the air was thick with the smell of mold and decay that quickly irritated the boy's nose.

"Atichnn!" He sneezed, kicking up even more dust in the air. But quickly recovering, he called out again, "Big sister!" His voice echoed through the empty hall. The teenage girl with white hair didn't respond, continuing to advance down the main corridor, her steps echoing on the creaking wooden floorboards.

"Why are you like this?! Why are you doing this?" he asked, his voice still trembling with fear. His sister finally stopped and turned to him, her lilac eyes looking at him, making him even more afraid.

"You wouldn't understand," she said calmly, her cold tone hitting the boy brutally. "There are things you wouldn't understand," she remarked.

The boy swallowed hard but couldn't back down. He didn't want to be there, but he couldn't leave her alone, especially seeing the state of the place. He took more hesitant steps, watching as she began to descend a wooden staircase that seemed to be on the verge of collapsing at any moment due to the creaking sounds of the wood.

When his sister stepped on the last step leading to an underground door, a strange sound echoed through the mansion... A faint whisper, as if the walls were trying to say something. The boy looked around, searching for the source of the sound, but found nothing but darkness.

"Sister... did you hear that?" he asked, his voice trembling with fear as his body shivered. "I heard," she replied, without looking back. "I-I think we should go back..." he commented, but his sister ignored him and held firm, "This is why we're here," she said.

She was already at the beginning of the staircase, heading towards the narrow hallway with only one door at the end of it, her hands sliding along the walls, feeling the rough texture of the tattered wallpaper. Despite hesitating, the boy followed her, his little heart pounding in his chest. With each step, he felt the fear growing, but also a certain determination to accompany his sister.

Strax knew Xenovia was strong, but...

"I'm fine," she replied coldly, despite the visible pain. "Let's get out of here." Strax saw that... "Get out of here?! You almost died! I was worried about you! You idiotic sister!" He shouted at her, and even trembling, he pulled the girl, demonstrating a strength he didn't know he had.

Turning his back, he gestured. "Get on my back, I'll carry you." He said firmly, and the girl looked at him while holding her wound, "You're weak," She said coldly, and Strax ignored it. "Weakness is not being able to help my injured sister," He replied, without looking at her.

Xenovia's eyes opened in surprise, and then she agreed, letting her heavy and tired body rest on the back of her younger brother, who made a tough face due to the weight, but didn't retreat, slowly he... carried her to the main mansion...

"Xyn told me it was good to refurbish this place, it seems like your mother really liked it." Xenovia said, bringing Strax out of his thoughts. "And this is an important place for me," she murmured.

Strax read the message in front of him, "Xyn... the sword that carries the will of a Black Phoenix, how could I forget that day?"

[You unlocked sealed memories, you advanced in understanding yourself]

Strax read the message somewhat nervously. "Damn System... sealing my memories to control my life and do what it wants with them... I'll kill whoever created this crap," He thought.

*Come get me...*

A strange sound echoed in his ears as he began to enter... A faint whisper of a hoarse woman...

"Did you hear that?" Strax questioned, but Xenovia said nothing and continued to walk towards the mansion entrance... "You're being called by a sword," She said, without any hesitation, just speaking into the wind, and Strax looked at her.

"The voice you heard is probably the sword that chose you calling you," She concluded and opened the doors as he entered, seeing the scene that he could never forget... the same entrance, the same furniture, the same wallpaper...

"Wow," He murmured at the sight, how luxurious and beautiful that structure was, unlike before when it just seemed like a big abandoned mansion from a horror movie.

"I kept it exactly like the original construction," Xenovia said as she guided him to a guest room, where there was a table with tea prepared, two sofas facing each other with only the table separating them.

"Now tell me... Why did you bring me here, Xenovia?" Strax said, looking into her eyes.