"Humans"
Neva froze in place for a few moments, until a small memory came to her about a sentence she had read in the Emergents' book. Then she raised her head towards him, no fear showing on her face.
"Emergents don't need food to live, it's just a source of energy for them. And you only eat special fruits and foods."
The Thief laughed a little, then answered in a broken voice, like a child learning to speak.
"That's true... but when there is no food... humans are good nourishment."
"But why are you talking like that?"
"Actually... we have our own language... I think you know it... and to speak your language... I have to steal it from a person."
Neva still thought she was in some sort of game, and before she could continue her questions, the Thief spoke again.
"It seems our food has arrived."
He pointed with his hand towards the house, which had now become like a room from a palace, not a normal house. Neva turned her head towards the house, then looked back at the Thief.
"Will you perform the contract there?"
The Thief walked slowly towards the house, going ahead of Neva. Without turning back, he answered her.
"Exactly."
Both Neva and the Thief entered the house, and there was a dining table inside.
Neva sat silently in front of the table, with the Thief beside her.
The table looked like a royal feast,with silver plates and crystal glasses arranged perfectly, but there was no trace of food. Only emptiness filled the plates, as if the feast of spirits had ended before it began.
Neva didn't know if it was day or night,for this world had no sky. Only grey walls, pulsing with a faint glow.
Suddenly, the door opened with a slow creak.
A young woman entered,with golden yellow hair that shimmered like threads of sun, and deep blue eyes.
Neva recognized her immediately,even though her presence here made no sense.
"Elie..." she whispered, not knowing if this was even possible, but her heart felt comforted by her presence.
Elie didn't answer. She just moved forward with quiet steps, placed the plates in front of them: red roasted meat, hot bread giving off a strange smell, and glasses filled with a dark drink.
Neva stood up quickly and hugged her, then turned to the Thief, laughing innocently.
"This is Elie, well... you can consider her the mother who didn't give birth to me."
The Thief didn't reply. Then Neva continued.
"Can she eat with us?"
The Thief answered coldly.
"Sit down... Elie."
Elie sat down without saying a word. And deep inside, although Neva was happy with Elie's presence, she began to feel a growing fear within her.
Neva raised her eyes towards the Thief,but he wasn't looking at her. He was just watching the plates full of food.
In the real world, in that dark, unlucky basement, Orestos and his family had arrived and begun searching for Neva and Elie.
Orestes moved forward between the barrels and stone columns,accompanied by Elios and Mira.
Every step echoed as if it came from deep within the earth.
There, under the stairs, they found her.
Neva was lying on the ground,her eyelids closed, her breath shaky. And in front of her, in a metal cage, sat the Thief, asleep, while Elie was holding the little princess's hand.
Orestos quickly knelt, reaching out to check for a pulse. Neva's heart... was still beating, weak but there.
Then he moved to Elie.He placed his hand on her chest and waited.
Time seemed frozen.
After a long moment,he slowly pulled his hand back and stood up straight, his face pale. He turned to Mira and Eleus, his voice coming out weak.
"Elie... is dead."
Elios and his mother stood frozen, unable to find words to express what they felt. Elios was the first to snap out of the shock and yelled at his father.
"What are you doing? We can save Neva! Hold her hands, let's take Neva!"
His father shouted, his eyes filled with great sadness.
"Can't you see she has entered the Hidden Council? She is now making a contract with the manifestation who killed Elie!"
At that exact moment, in the Hidden Council, Neva was moving her fork over a piece of meat. She took a little into her mouth, and a childlike expression came over her.
"My god, this is so delicious."
The Thief laughed an evil laugh.
"I'm glad... you like it."
She looked at the Thief with surprised eyes, then spoke.
"You're strange."
Then she put another piece of meat into her mouth and spoke with her mouth full.
"Anyway, I read that one of the conditions for completing the contract is that you take something precious from me... So what will you take?"
The Thief remained silent. Then he slowly turned, his gaze directed towards Elie's body sitting with them. In reality, he was looking a little past her because he was blind.
In his broken voice,his words came out.
"I have...already taken something."
Neva froze.
She looked at the fork holding the piece of red meat.
She remembered what the Thief had said before:"The people I eat... offer themselves for me to eat."
Then she felt a terrible bitterness rush into her throat.
The fork fell from her hand and she started vomiting,trying to expel what had entered her stomach.
The atmosphere changed.
The Thief transformed before her eyes,his body shifting to take on Elie's features. But she was blind, her eyes white without pupils, and his voice became a distorted copy of the maid's voice:
"By eating the food with me... you have completed the contract."
Neva trembled, taking one step back, then another. Then she turned and ran with all her strength.
Behind her,a hysterical scream rose, tearing through the walls of the place:
"Welcome... to the world of the Oathbinders!"
Neva was running in the Hidden Council, but without any specific destination. She was just running. Her thoughts were confused, and all she wanted was for her head to quiet down.
The Council began to show a bright white color. Soon all that whiteness spread throughout the place.
As she ran, she tripped and fell. She squeezed her eyes shut and covered them.
"I want to get out of here… I want to get out of here."
And her thoughts began to fade, and Neva's thinking decreased little by little until all that whiteness turned to darkness in Neva's head.
"Mother… she's awake."