《Gray Hour: The Cursed Coin》 0:00 A coin flips, flips and falls on one side. Like that, fate is determined and life is lived in both mystery and ruins. A man wishes for something, and all he gets is what he is given. Another lives his life and gets both of what he wants and what is given. A time and place have to be perfect for one to move forward. If not, then they are stuck with what they got.This narrative has been purloined without the author''s approval. Report any appearances on Amazon. And that is the oldest tale in the book. The Edge of the Beginning It hurt. Her head hurt; her body was full of bruises, and someone was holding her tightly. Her hair was flying around as the wind got stronger. She wanted to move her legs, but she couldn''t find the strength in them. Breathing was hard and focusing on anything in front of her was harder. She had to blink a few times to realize where she was and that she wasn''t alone. She was on a rooftop. And he was with her. Suddenly, breathing got easier and her brain started to function. She could feel her face getting paler as the realization hit her hard, and tears slowly blurred her vision. Diana wanted to look at her watch to see time even though it was useless. She knew It was five minutes to twelve, and what was going to happen in the next five minutes was dreadful. "Babe." She felt a hand on my face. "Are you okay? Are you scared? Don''t worry, it will be fast, it will be all over before you think about it." His voice made chills run through her body. She shook her head as he pushed her backward. "Please no, Elliot," Diana begged, her voice was shaking, so was her body. "Let''s not do this." She knew what the answer was going to be, she knew how he was going to reply. She had seen this countless time, every time in a different place and setting. He looked puzzled and stopped pushing her. His eyes seemed to bore into hers, and she had no way of looking away as if she was hypnotized. "What are you talking about?" She couldn''t stop herself from getting hopeful. It was absurd and dumb, but maybe¡­ Maybe he would listen. "We can go to another country. We can pack our stuff and go away. Never see anyone anymore. There is no need for this, hmm?" This time, She was the one holding onto him, clenching his thin white shirt between her fingers. "They won''t catch us. They will never be able to,"Love this novel? Read it on Royal Road to ensure the author gets credit. His eyes slowly closed and opened again, startling her. There was no light there, no reaction, nothing. It was as if he had already given up on everything, and no words reached him. But she had to at least try. Try once again. "Didn''t we say it was us against the world?" she gave him the most convincing smile she could pull off in this situation, which apparently wasn''t much. Diana knew and memorized what would happen by heart, but that didn''t mean it didn''t crush her heart every time. "They will take you away from me. They will kill us and throw us away. They took everything away from me, but I won''t let them take you," He said chillingly, removing her hands off him and pushing her backward with more strength this time. She tried fighting, but she couldn''t. She tried choking up few words, but his eyes said it all. This was useless. Why did it tear out her heart every time? Why did it crush her? She was dumb. She was foolish. She could feel the change of the breeze when they reached the edge. She started sweating and feeling lightheaded. Yes, she had experienced this many times, but she couldn''t get used to it. "Come on now, they will be coming here soon." He ''helped'' her up the edge and they were both standing side by side this time. His hand was gripping hers roughly and this time a tear fell down. "Don''t cry, we will be together," He said with a smile. His gray eyes that she always loved didn''t seem so kind anymore; didn''t look as vibrant as she remembered. Maybe it was because of the lack of light or maybe because of hopelessness, but his eyes were so dark almost touching black. It all made her feel suffocated, and there was nothing she could do about it. She wanted to tell him that it will be alright and that they are together, but she knew nothing would reach him. He drove both of them into a corner. Diana was never prepared for the jump, but at that moment, she could feel everything go by so much slower. She could hear her heartbeat and his and the entire universe''s. It was surreal and terrifying. She didn''t know if her head was full of thoughts or if it was blank, but her headache only got worse. Her body felt both heavy and light against the wind, and she slowly started to faint. She wanted to look at Elli one last time to see his face, but when she turned her head in the midst of this all, her eyes caught the sight of her watch. It was five past twelve. Her Identity Everything began when she met Elliot for the first time. After that, things started heading south. She lived with him and died alongside him, only to find herself reborn in a scenario where death is waiting for her a few minutes later. Some deaths were caused by Elliot directly (for various reasons), others were not. But death was an absolute every time. It was both traumatizing, and heartbreaking, but it was a mystery that she would have given the universe half of her life to uncover it if her life wasn''t already taken. Voices seemed to switch from and to white noise, almost deafening her. She willed herself to open her eyes, but it was harder said than done. This was new to her. It had never happened this way before. Usually, she would find herself conscious in seconds, but it was different this time. It was as if someone had breathed her into her body, from her legs through her organs and up to her heart and brain, slowly possessing her and taking control over her limbs. Diana was being reborn again, but this time ¡ª for the first time ¡ª she felt whole. She ultimately opened her eyes, her vision clearing up as seconds went by, and she found herself in a bed that took half of the size of the room. There was nothing special to mention about this room ¡ª other than the fact that it was enormous ¡ª it was clean and minimalist. It was decorated in a way that it gave the feeling of both spaciousness and warmth. The walls were white, and the floor was covered in beige carpet. A small chandelier hung from the ceiling and the windows were covered with two layered ¡ª white and gray ¡ª curtains. It was extremely simple but at the same time, it conveyed a clear image of the owner. In the time it had taken her to look at the room, she was able to get her breath in control. She had noticed she was alone in the room and that it was very quiet. That had never happened. She had always woken up and found herself a step away from death.Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings. She caught the sight of a clock, and her body froze and slowly started shaking. She got up from the bed ¡ª noticing how stiff her legs were as if she hadn''t moved in a while ¡ª and ran toward the window, pulling it open. The sky was so high and mighty. It was clear of any signs of stars. The moon was facing her room, and it appeared to be so big, big enough that it felt as if it was going to swallow her or that if she just reached her hands out, she was going to touch it. And Diana just stood there. If anyone in the garden had looked up, they would have seen this breathtaking sight. A petite girl standing alone in her balcony, observing the moon, her gaze filled with disbelief, almost as if she was worshipping the moon in her head. The rays of lights that descended on her made her appear as if she was glowing. Her hair silently followed the rhythm of the wind, going one way then another. When she had finally came back to reality, she started fretting left and right in search of a calendar or anything of that sort, until she had found one. It was Sunday. She found herself on her knees, suddenly losing all power to move. The corners of her lips started rising slowly until she found herself laughing loudly. A maid outside of the door, that woke up feeling thirsty, heard that laughter and was startled. Did something happen? "Miss, are you alright?" Diana stopped laughing when she heard the knock on the door. Her head was bent down, surrounded by her silky hair and only her lips were seen. The smile turned suddenly into a straight line and she lifted her head. Her gaze was cold. Because the maid heard no answer, and the laughter had ceased, she felt there was something wrong. "Miss?" she knocked once and when she was going to do it once more, the door was suddenly pulled open. The maid was welcomed with the sight of her young lady, whose hair was messy and eyes were cold. She had opened her mouth to speak but was cut off, "I''m alright. It''s already this late, you should go to sleep." Her lady had said. Her voice was clear and fresh, giving off a feeling of fondness. If only it wasn''t for the fact that the voice didn''t match her miss''s gaze, she would have believed her. But the maid could do nothing other than nodding silently and going back to her room with a feeling that something was terribly wrong. Seeing the maid going back, Diana closed the door and stared silently at the mirror that hung nearby. Her face and body were the same this time - just like every time. And as memories slowly started to seep inside her mind, she discovered the name was also the same - Diana. It was the situation that was completely different. Because now, now Diana had a full twenty-four-hours chance to survive - not few seconds or minutes, no. A full day. The Three Patterns When Diana had first experienced being reborn, the moment she opened her eyes, she saw a knife stabbing her in the chest. At that moment, because of shock and disbelief, she wasn''t able to look at the killer''s face, and like that, she had died only seconds after waking up. This cycle had continued on for so long that she thought she was going crazy. A person could only die so many times, and she had experienced tragic deaths. The only way she could explain all this journey was that it was a nightmare embedded in other millions of nightmares. She would wake up from one to find herself in another and then sent to another and so on until she was sure that her sanity was going to break at any moment. If anything, she wanted her sanity to break, she wanted to go crazy because she knew that maybe then, the pain would slowly lessen. She had eventually noticed a pattern. Three patterns in fact. First, was that the time was slowly stretching backward, wherein the end she found herself with five minutes. Second, was that she was always killed exactly at 11:59 on a Sunday and completely died a minute later, just when the clock struck midnight. The third pattern was; she died with Elliot. It didn''t matter if he was the reason, if he was beside her or if neither of these things. But they had inevitably died together, and she always felt it in her bones even if they weren''t in the same place. Other than that she found out that her name and face ¡ª when she had time to see or remember them ¡ª were always the same. Her background was different each time, though. Her childhood, memories, and experiences were different, which ¡ª she hypothesized ¡ª evoked different deaths. But this was the first time she had a full 24 hours to live. And besides that, she was able to get the body''s whole memories - which she didn''t have the chance or the time to before. She also didn''t know for a fact, if she was living different lives in different times or just different bodies. She was completely oblivious to most things concerning her situation. This body - or should she say herself? - was a young lady from a wealthy family. Her family was one of the influential families that dominated the country Athe - a country known for its prosper technology advancement and blossoming population rates. Athe had three factions serving the royal family - each faction specialized in something. One in spirituality, one in health and medicine and finally one in attack and defense, the army. Each faction then had a council made of five members that represented their side and made decisions. It was the same exact country where Diana was originally from. She didn''t know if that was a pattern or not since she never got to this point in her head. The only thing that struck her as odd was that, when she was in her original body, she never heard about this body''s family name. Gray. The memory did come back to her eventually, and she realized why she never heard of this supposedly important family; they were the head of the spiritual faction alongside another family called Artios. Artios was the known head of the faction, that is talked about even in other nations, but Gray is the shadow of that family. They worked in the dark and would rather stay low-key, taking secret missions and less heard of rituals. In fact, they were so secretive that only other factions and leaders knew about the Gray family. When comparing the strengths of the two families, it could be said that both of them were on the same level. The only thing that had stuck in the back of her head was; there were a lot of ways to get killed this time. Revenge could be one of the reasons why anyone could kill her. There was also jealousy or inner conflicts between factions. The reasons were just endless and so were the possibilities because Diana could die from natural causes. And let''s not forget her fiance too.Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on Royal Road. Yes, for this body, Elliot was her fiance. Or at least soon-to-be fiance, since they still needed to announce it publicly. Which they were going to do today evening. But Diana couldn''t let that happen, that party had to be canceled. She couldn''t deal with the danger that came with holding this party. There would be N-amount of people in a small space and drinks and food going everywhere. Not mention the possibility of someone hiding something in her house. Even if there was going to be bodyguards implemented everywhere, one thing Diana was taught from her past experience was that if fate wanted something, it would happen. After all, both of the impossible and the possible could happen with the right conditions. She took her time to settle in her body. She wanted to make sure that she had considered most ¡ª if not every ¡ª possibilities. But first, she had to cancel the party. The only problem was that it was midnight now and everyone was asleep, but even then, she took out her phone and called Elliot. She couldn''t help but notice how her heart started to slowly beat faster but for various reasons from the past. This was their first conversation here, and she had to will herself to get rid of the chills that ran through her body as she remembered the conversations that she had with him over the past lives. If they could be even called that. She had to repeat to herself that Elliot was as much of a puppet as she was in all of this. But that didn''t mean she believed in him or that she removed him from her suspect list. She was many things, but stupid wasn''t one of them. Diana suspected he was probably sitting behind his desk, in one of the offices in his house. She had a vivid memory of sharing silent moments with him there. Him working through papers and agreements, and her working on her own projects. It felt weird. It was like seeing herself through a screen. "Hello?" his deep voice forced her back. It somehow startled her and she found herself frozen in her place. "Diana? Darling, are you okay?" His voice was incomparably sweeter than the last time she had heard him on the rooftop. She shook her head. It was better for her not to think about that right now. "Elliot," She said, she couldn''t help with how cold her voice sounded. "Are you free?" "Yes, sure. What''s wrong?" She could imagine him frowning. This was something that he both did in her original life and in this one. "I-" She genuinely didn''t know how to begin saying this. If she said ''let''s cancel all of this'' suddenly then he would get suspicious as to why she would want that, and if she gave a feeble excuse or even lied then, he would be able to catch that by just her voice. Elliot wasn''t simple-minded, especially this version of him. He was a businessman that took over his father''s company with calculative moves and well-thought-of plan. He was able to get the majority of the stockholders to stand by him and support him - not sure, though, if that was because he had blackmailed them to or for another reason. But no one could say he didn''t deserve to get that position. He was known all over the business world for his tactics and ability to convince and negotiate. But more importantly, Elliot could recognize a liar in a crowd. "I''m coming over." He hung up before she could say anything else, probably anxious from her long silence. She had wanted to tell him not to because that would alert her sleeping parents and the maids. Diana grimaced at her luck. She typically lived alone in her apartment while she went to and from work, but because of the supposed party, she decided to sleep in the house with her parents for convenience. Well, there was no use crying over spilled milk. She could find millions of excuses to why she brought Elliot over at this time. But she was anxious and her heart couldn''t stay calm. She kept looking at the time and would wince with each second that passed, understanding that she was wasting her precious time. But she wasn''t. She wrote down anyone or any way she suspected dying. She began with Elliot and slowly moved away from her family''s circle. But, she found it was harder said than done since she might as well write everybody''s name. But even so, it was still not enough because her parents didn''t share everything with her that went through the business. She wanted to ask her father''s secretary, James, but the time was too late to do that. He was probably the only one that would rather throw himself into the fire than hurt anyone from her family. That was probably because of how Diana''s father had supported him and his family through thick and thin. Whether that was financially or mentally. And her Father never shamed James for that. They had grown together as kids, one rich and one poor, but they slowly supported each other - each one in his own way. Her father had become such an important figure in James'' life that he could never imagine selling him out or introduce him to any possible danger. But James had one deadly fault. He adored Diana too much. The Manipulation Symphony #1 Diana knew she should feel a little guilty for using someone''s love for her gain, but she was desperate. A little part of her told her that he would forgive her. She had decided to detach her feelings from this. If she died again then all that would be left were regrets and pain. Therefore, she decided to shut her inner voice and plan things out perfectly. One thing about Diana was; she wasn''t a genius. She had gotten good marks before in school but that was only book smart, and when it came to real life struggles and tricks, she was that confident in herself. The only reason she was able to act calmly through this, was that she had gone through literal hell and she was scared of going through it again. She just couldn''t allow this chance to get away from her. After all, wasn''t this twenty-four hours a blessing? It didn''t take long for Elliot to arrive, at least when you compare that to what it typically would take to go from the city to the more secluded area where her family resident lay. She was watching the CCTV that her family had implemented around the resident, so she can quickly meet him before anyone noticed, not forgetting to tell the guards to not be alerted. She just didn''t want extra trouble. Her family was traditional, and that they wouldn''t like for Diana and Elliot to meet at night while everyone was asleep - even if they were meant to marry each other not long from now. Also because the party was later that day, they would prefer if they held out till they saw each other at the party - as if that would jinx their engagement. Oh, her family didn''t realize it had gone totally wrong long time ago. She saw his car pull over near the entrance, and she ran downstairs (quietly as she could) and opened the door before Elliot could ring the bell. Her messy sudden appearance startled Elliot. Not to mention that she jumped scared him; Diana was very organized and loved to stay clean, so to see her in this disheveled appearance was a first. As she caught him in surprise, Diana was able to compose herself and let the play start. "Elliot," She let a small whisper. Her eyes looking at him in total relief and vulnerability. They shone with untamed tears and the way she kept looking at him ¡ª as if he was the savior sent by God ¡ª all could make one want to protect and hug her into their arms until all problems disappeared. She then jumped into his arms and locked her arms around his waist, burying her head in his chest and breathing in heavily. This had startled Elliot way more than before and if any of his subordinates would have seen his expression, they would have thought someone had possessed their boss. But nobody could blame him, because Diana had never shown such reliance on him before, nevermind hugging him. She was like her family; conservative and traditional, which he admired and didn''t mind because he thought that that was part of her and he loved her whole person. He soon got himself together and hugged her back, feeling heavy as the thought of the potential reason for her to feel this scared. If something could shake her up to this point, then it had to be something extremely terrible. Elliot didn''t know the tens of changes that happened in Diana''s expression as she hid her face away from him. She was confused as to what to feel as she felt the warmth emitted out of his body, warming her up. But she couldn''t help but feel uncomfortable when scenes and flashes continued to pop up in her head every few seconds of how many times he had killed her, intentionally or not.If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. He started patting her back till she finally calmed down and then slowly pulled away from her to look at her face. Diana had fixed the expression back to utter desperation. She continued holding onto his shirt as if he was going to disappear any second and leave her alone in this mess. He looked just like her memory had served her but also completely different. Maybe it was because of the environment both of them had grown in, but he carried himself very well. His face was exactly the same as she remembered but his eyes had a sharp glint in them and it showed how much experience he had and how many obstacles he had run into. His shoulders were pulled back, and he stood tall, maybe even taller than she remembered, completely blocking the world away from her. And if she wasn''t in this situation or if none of this had happened to both of them, she wouldn''t have stopped herself from feeling secure. "Is everything alright?" he asked. Anyone can sense how worried he was from just listening to him. His hands went up to her shoulders to look at her directly. She nodded and looked down. She didn''t want him to notice her lies. She was still a little terrified of him. "Come on, tell me what''s wrong." he urged her. She slowly looked up and captured his hand, pulling him into the house, closing the door after them. Before the door was completely closed, she had looked at the camera held above the entrance and frowned. She needed to be careful. She walked him toward her bedroom, and it wasn''t until they were about to reach that she noticed how stiff he looked. She stopped in her tracks and stared at him questionably before a few memories started to appear inside her head. Diana almost wanted facepalm herself but held back. She totally forgot about Diana''s true personality (this body''s) and how she never let him inside her bedroom ¡ª at least not in her parents'' house ¡ª to avoid any accidents from happening. She could only give him an embarrassed smile and say, "I don''t want anyone to hear this." This seemed to convince him, and they continued on. When they had entered the room and closed the door, she looked down to their joined hands and took a deep breath. "I-I had a vision," Slowly realization had crossed Elliot''s face, and he became serious. Visions were extremely rare, it only happened within the Spiritual faction and even then one in millions would get a vision once in their lifetime. For Diana to get a vision, it was such an honor and a frightening thing to happen. Because visions only occurred when tragedies were about to ensue. Last vision that was heard of was before the biggest war in history had happened, decades ago. The one who had the vision was able to recount some details but not all and that only helped in saving some nations from chaos. It wasn''t known if he had been holding back or those were only the things he had been able to see, nonetheless, the country that discovered this was able to avoid being implemented in that war and got out with no scars. She pulled him closer and examined his gray eyes. "Please Elliot, we have to cancel the engagement party." She pleaded. "Please tell me everything from the beginning." Diana nodded and began telling him everything that she could, mixed up with some lies. She told him she saw both of them being killed in the party, not sure if someone else got hurt too. She mixed up some details that she made up, but made sure that she didn''t go into full details since that made the lie seem obvious, and she heard that visions weren''t that vivid anyway. Darkness shadowed Elliot''s expression. To think someone would actually think to kill his beloved or harm her in any way was unbelievable. No one would ever dare to do so, especially because they knew about how evil his mind worked sometimes. Elliot was skeptical for a second, because even though his death and hers were a significant matter, how did that affect a whole nation? But the more he thought about it, the more he understood how severe it was. If someone was out there to kill them, and Diana really had a vision about that ¡ª not forgetting how important their positions in society ¡ª then that definitely meant that the person who was going to kill them wasn''t simple, neither in skills nor in the mindset. So without further thinking, Elliot believed what she said and began brainstorming ideas. Seeing how calm and deep-in-thought he was, Diana let out a sigh in relief. He believed her. Elliot, the one, and only in the business world, that could make adults cry and crawl in fear, actually believed her vague lie. But she still couldn''t relax. Especially since the main suspect was right in front of her. The Manipulation Symphony #2 Diana couldn''t remember much from her first life or death. She didn''t know how exactly she died, or who killed her. That had struck her as weird since she could remember some of her deaths - not much of anything else ¡ª but was in the dark about her first and most important one ¡ª the one that started it all. What she did remember was the first time she had met him. How she introduced herself to him and slowly, but surely, started growing with him. The first time she had seen Elliot was in high school when she had moved cities. She had lived the majority of her life in the countryside because of her health, and was excited to experience the city life. She was both naive and pure. Two things that she could no longer describe herself as. He was a grade above her, so they didn''t share any classes together. She hadn''t encountered him until one time, both of their classes had decided to join Sports Day at the same time. He wasn''t hard to pick out from the crowd, not because he was drop-dead gorgeous and time moved slowly around him ¡ª like how they explain in movies and books ¡ª but because he carried himself differently than others. He had confidence and peacefulness around him as if he didn''t care if nobody came close to him or if he was alone. He was himself and he was proud of that. Not many people interacted with him, which was odd since they had their eyes following him, but nobody dared to step up and actually speak. He was the fire that attracted a lot of moths. And like everyone else, her eyes and attention stayed on him the whole day. Some of her new friends laughed at her but all of them understood. They all did the same thing when they first saw him. -- After a while of explaining everything to Elliot, he had told her that it was better to inform her parents and get them in this conversation. He didn''t forget to mention that the party would be canceled and that she didn''t have to be worried about that. He sat down in one of the couches in her room ¡ª she saw how his eyes kept darting to the bed, but was too afraid to move towards it ¡ª and started calling his most trusted bodyguards and some of his elite friends that knew how to help. When she voiced out that she didn''t really want a lot of people to know, because that meant more possibilities, he just said he trusted these people with his soul. In her hearts of hearts, she felt grateful that he showed this much attention and care about both of their lives. But she couldn''t stop herself from looking at him silently as he worked through getting more information and security as he can. Diana knew that her choice of trusting him could either make or break her whole plan, but it was a sacrifice she was willing to take. He was someone who was respected in many fields of the society, he knew more people than her and could arrange everything with a snap of a finger. She had entertained the thought of his enemies being the ones to kill them but quickly brushed it off, knowing he would have crushed anyone showing any signs danger toward him in the first place.Reading on Amazon or a pirate site? This novel is from Royal Road. Support the author by reading it there. If he could protect her from the world, then all she had to do was protect herself from him. Her heart ached a little from the thought, how sad and painful it was to actually think they had reached a point where she no longer trusted him or thought he was any good for her. But she steeled her heart in the end. This wasn''t a game, as much as fate liked to remind her otherwise, she needed to get her thoughts together and actually pass through the twenty-four hours without anything happening to her. But then, what would happen if she lived till tomorrow? Would this stop? Or would it just continue as sinister, if not worse? No, no. Diana needed to be more optimistic. They had stayed just like that until four am. She thought it wasn''t good for her parents to see him in their house first thing in the morning. "Elliot, If my parents see you in my room when they wake up¡­" She trailed, but her main point had reached him. He nodded and walked outside to sit in the living room. She looked at him warily. Did he really not understand that she was driving him away or was he acting as if he didn''t? She shrugged, he had already said he wanted to talk to her parents anyway. "Stay alert and investigate if anyone had done anything suspicious around the Gray family''s main branch," Elliot informed someone on the phone. "Don''t forget to get the data for the newest project the Su family was planning to do and check with Dan to get more information about what father and second cousin latest meetings were about." Su family? His dad? She was confused as to why her father-in-law would have anything to do with it. But she kept it to herself, she just needed to be patient. She looked at him as he was in all of his elements. He seemed to be focused and decisive when it came to planning. His reaction was both calm and collected. She didn''t notice until later that he was observing her quietly as well. His eyes met hers and she looked away instantly, only rising his suspicions. There was something wrong with his fiancee and that made him worry. He knew that it might be the stress, but he couldn''t get the idea, that there was something weird, out of his head. She seemed as if she was noticing him for the first time, looking at him and catching his every move. That wasn''t how she was usually, but he had to let this go for now since there was a more pressing issue coming their way and they needed to be a hundred percent ready. He tried gathering all his family''s recent records of questionable acts or anything that had any leads since he couldn''t trust them. They would do anything to get him in trouble or take away things that he cared about. He didn''t forget to acquire some information on her family side too, even though he loved his family-in-laws, he couldn''t merely throw his suspicion away, that included people that worked for them. The thing is, Gray family was so secretive that it was hard to pull anything out. Another thing he had to think about was the guests that were supposed to come to the party. If she saw a vision of them getting hurt in the party, then there had to be a link between all of these events. He wrecked his head left, right and center just to find any other possible outcomes and kept holding his phone to get reports from his subordinates and to give out orders. The sun started to rise and as housekeepers started working, they tried to quickly get their actions together. Why was the Su family''s young master here?! It made a lot of the older maids working in the mansion take a deep breath. They knew how the madam and master were going to react to this. They didn''t know whether or not to wake up the madam and hesitated over disturbing them since they had such a serious aura surrounding them. They found it weird how thoughtful their miss looked. She looked as if she was thinking about a serious issue, and even though no one was talking in the hall, they felt as if she was in such harmony with their future young master and that secretly made them happy. They decided to wait until the Madam woke up to report to her ¡ª knowing that she would wake up soon ¡ª and continued working around the house, leaving the couple alone. When both of the family heads woke up to the scene of their daughter engaging in such a deep conversation with their son-in-law, their faces darkened. The Manipulation Symphony #3 What was the meaning of this? Why and how did this young man enter their house while they were asleep? Elliot stood up and nodded respectively at his father-in-law. "Father," his act was appropriate ¡ª in fact, too appropriate ¡ª It was as if he wasn''t sitting in their house this early in the morning unannounced. Diana had a blank face for a second. Her family was right in front of her! How long had she wanted to meet them or had thought of them during her deaths? She always wanted to cry on her mom''s shoulder and tell her everything that was going on or even seek forgiveness for anything bad she had done. But look at them now; they were here standing proudly and looking better than ever. It took her a moment to get back to reality. She could see her father ready to question Elliot about his action before she intervened, "Father, let''s talk privately for a second. You too, mother." She could see her parents exchanging a wary glance before looking back at the young couple. Her mom kept her cool and nodded her head gently. "Let''s go to the study room and discuss." Everyone followed her up there. Even though the father kept looking at Elliot from the corner of his eyes, he didn''t say anything. The room was cold but Diana wasn''t sure if that was because of the atmosphere or the temperature in general. She gave Elliot the chance to speak about everything since he had better skills in convincing people and letting them take his side. See, all she had to do was to make him believe her, yet why was she feeling heavy-hearted? "You had a vision?" Her mom said after the long silence that followed the explanation. Her mom walked around the table, all regal and elegant in her wrap dress and pulled up hair. She looked so similar and different from her original mom that it gave her an odd feeling. It was like finding your parents had secret twins. Diana nodded her head, not trusting her voice. Her mom''s expression turned into pity and she embraced her softly, mumbling ''it is going to be okay'' to her. It was like she turned back to being five years old; the warmth that came from that embrace made her overwhelmed with emotions for a second. She wished she could cry and sob loudly while telling her mom the truth, hoping maybe she knew a solution to all of this. Her dad had a grave expression on as he asked Elliot. "So, you are telling me, someone is targeting my daughter, and there is a potential of homicide happening here?" As cold as her dad sounded, the tight clench of his hand and deep frown, told away how worried he was. "Yes, sir," The only sound that followed their brief conversation was her dad''s fingers tapping on the desk. He was looking at the floor, and his other hand was on his jaw, looking deep in thoughts. "Diana, Luna, let me and Elliot have a private conversation," He said finally. She replied fast, "No." All heads shot up to Diana''s direction. "Father, please. I want to be a part of this. This has to do with my life." She begged, knowing any less wouldn''t do with him, or at least that was what she gathered from the memories she had. Her father here was the type that made his mind from the get-go, he wouldn''t change it and if he changed it, it would be a one-time chance only. He was both decisive and ruthless at that too. Very similar to how Elliot was and that might have been why he accepted him into the family.This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it. Her dad glanced at her and then to her mom before nodding his head, allowing them to settle down on the sofas in the middle of the office. Only then did Diana notice how big and tidy the office looked. It was filled with books and documents. The tense atmosphere didn''t change, and she saw her dad pick up his phone and call someone. "James, come here," He only said this before hanging up. She really could see how similar he and Elliot were. She didn''t mind that her dad called James to join their conversation, as this made it easier for her to talk to him and get more information from him. She only hoped she would be able to have a few moments alone with him. Her mom kept glancing at her and Diana felt she knew the reason why. She gave off a different aura than the original Diana. The current her was colder and more calculative. The Diana in her memories was someone who gave off the feeling of comfort and peace as if being caressed by sunlight. As the family continued their discussion, her dad leaned forward and supported his elbows on his knees, looking grim. She had never seen him like that, yeah, he had looked cold and serious here and there, but now it was as if he switched on survival-mode. "I think we need to let the council in this time." Hearing that, Elliot snapped his head toward her dad looking surprised. "No." His immediate denial was out-of-place. "Reason?" Her dad asked. She noted Elliot clenching his hands hard. "You know what they would do." his voice was low, almost a whisper. "If they knew she had a vision, they wouldn''t leave her alone." Her father shook his head and gave a dry smile toward Elliot. "Don''t worry, I already knew that." Then he flicked his hand, and the small bells on his silver bracelet shook. Diana felt her ears ring unnaturally. It wasn''t a real sound, no. The sound was emitting from the inside of her head. An image was displayed on top of the coffee table in front of them. Diana, internally, was really shocked but tried her best not to show anything, since she was supposedly used to this. This was the very basic skill any high-ranked scholar in the spiritual council should have. Creating illusions and manipulating them. It was a form of art and a style for protection. The bracelet on his hand was given to him when he was formally acknowledged by the spiritual council as one of their members in terms of power and experience. He was the youngest one in history to ever be accepted in his twenties and that said a lot about him. For Diana, it was completely different. In her head, she saw a faint memory of her starting to learn the basics and the recitations she had to say while doing so. None of what she learned was as fluid and smooth as what her dad just did. This just showed how far they were in terms of skills. The image on the table showed the face of an elder, well, most of it anyway. His eyes were covered with a bandage and a cloak''s hood sat on his head. He had a faint smile on his lips, and Diana for a second didn''t know if it was sinister or kind. But, her instincts told her to be careful of him as he gave her an ominous feeling. "This is Bones. He has been a helper for our family for decades and is a master." Diana felt it wasn''t that simple. A master was someone really important in the spiritual community. "He has a special talent and will be able to tell us how to move forward," She started having a bad feeling about this, especially when she realized that if they put her in front of any professional, they might sense her lies. But again, even if she wasn''t sure of that, she was ready to gamble. The Manipulation Symphony #4 It was decided that she would be meeting Bone for a ''viewing''. That was the first time for Diana to hear such a thing, but apparently, lost souls or people with pressing spiritual matters - the vision, in her case - could file a request for an elder for a session. The session itself was called a ''viewing'' where the elder would be able to view your fate lines and your spiritual core. The core itself was divided into seven sections, each section breathed different thoughts and emotions into the owner. The more spiritual a person was, the more they had control over the core and were able to direct their inner beings into their own way, rather than being directed by them. It was safe to say, that reaching that level alone took years of studying oneself and one''s environment. Everything that had to do with the person - such as memories, emotions, people, places and even smells - could distract or disturb their inner peace. Only a few masters were able to reach such a degree where they were able to control themselves and ''view'' others. ''Viewing'' others meant that the masters had to have the ability to separate themselves from their own bodies and almost surround the person with their aura and senses. Only then, the master would be able to sense and feel where your fate might lie or feel the disturbance that had broken some lines that fate followed. Another thing that a master would need was your ''coin''. The moment a child would open their eyes to the world, they would be given a white coin that appeared to be almost translucent in the sun. It was so pure that it gave its own light in the darkness. Like every other coin, it had two sides but only one side would have a mark, symbol or a word on it and the other would be left blank. Whatever lied in those sides, it was fate. One fate was told, and the other hidden till the owner unlocks their second road in life. Both time and place had to be perfect for that to be achieved, and both sides can only be seen by the owner. Other people would only see blank surfaces. Diana had completely forgotten about such a thing. Not to mention what was happening lately, but because of how vague coins can be and how much distractions they could cause in someone''s life, most families chose to hide their coins away - locking them in temples - and lose any right of summoning them, preferring to live in complete oblivion than to seek something that no one knew how to unlock. That was exactly what Diana''s original family had done. They were firm believers and a part of the spiritual faction, so they let things go freely and locked away their supposed ''fates''. She suddenly wanted to really see it. Maybe, maybe there would be something there to help her because all of this had to have a reason. It couldn''t be a coincidence or an unfair punishment. There had to be more to the story than just repetitive deaths. The only problem was, this family had chosen to lock away their coins too. Diana was going to completely deny the chance of meeting Bone since she was afraid he would discover the fact that she didn''t have a vision. But, when she thought about having the chance to see her locked fate, even if vague, it was better than nothing. So, she had agreed.Unauthorized reproduction: this story has been taken without approval. Report sightings. The only one who seemed to be a bit hesitant was Elliot. He seemed unsure if he should trust an unknown master. It was weird to see him like this since his family was known to have the same firm beliefs as her family did. In the end, he only nodded his head and adorned a look of unease. "When will be the meeting?" She had asked. Her hands placed carefully in front of her, as her body sat straight on the couch. Diana had a faint memory that this wasn''t how she originally used to sit and that it used to be more relaxed, but she felt that this body was used to sit in such a way. She started to get confused, was this her body? Or not? It all felt weird as if she was having an out of body experience. She knew that this wasn''t completely her. Her name and body were the same, but the memories and life experiences themselves were different. But then, that meant that she wasn''t totally her right? The original her that lived in a middle-class family and ate and drank freely, was that the true her? She felt that she was digging herself a hole the more she kept on thinking. It was better to leave such matter be, for the time being. For now, she had to find a way to end this, whether she continued to live in this body or any other body, she didn''t mind. She just wanted to have one life and one death. What a simple wish. "I will send an immediate signal to Bone to get ready. Usually, it would take weeks since the council itself have to approve, but since it is a direct request from me, we can skip ahead few steps." Her mother glanced at him. "But, won''t that cause an issue between you and the elders?" Her dad shook his head. "This will be done discreetly. Bone comes from my family so it won''t be done through the system. You can consider it as asking for a favor," He said. "What would he be able to see exactly?" Diana tried her best to keep her tone calm, not showing how nervous she actually was. Her father shrugged. "It is different every time. Your fate is the one who shows itself, not the other way around. He might see glimpses of your past or your future, any place where the lines get blurry. He will try to find the connection between what might happen in your vision and somewhere in your life. An event or a person is enough for us to start with," Her father paused with a frown. He was looking at her dead in the eyes, and she suddenly felt as if he could see right through her, "But, if the person themselves don''t show their total acceptance of that, it could lead to some issues." She didn''t know if she should or shouldn''t ask what the issues might be. Her father continued before she could interfere, "We will start preparing from now, the viewing will happen in an hour." He looked at someone behind Diana. When she looked back, it was a maid. When did she come in? "Prepare the bath for the cleansing." Then he turned to Diana, "You will take a bath and cleanse your body before greeting the master." She could only nod her head. She glanced at Elliot. She wanted to talk to him and apparently, so did he. She knew that from how he kept gazing at her every now and then. She bowed her head and said, "Sure, father. But, can I speak with Elliot for a second?" He frowned but agreed. Her mother looked unamused. They could only talk by a corner in the room with her parents watching them. Diana didn''t know whether to laugh or cry. "Listen, darling," He whispered, his eyes looking directly at her. He was closer than she thought, and from the looks of it, closer than what her parents were comfortable with. "You need to be absolutely careful there." It was her turn to look wary. "Even if your father knew him, there is some stuff that can''t always be revealed," In other words, even if her father trusted Bone, that didn''t mean he was completely harmless. How could he be harmless when he was able to stay under the radar from everyone and become a supposed master in the art of spirits? She completely agreed with him. It seemed like she couldn''t even trust her dad in this. The Hidden Master #1 The cleansing process had allowed Diana to enjoy a little bit of relaxing time, and she had enjoyed it more than intended to. Some of the pain and worries she carried with her dissipated amongst the aromas that surrounded her. She marveled at how petals created a barrier around her body and how pure the water was. It gave her a feeling of peace and serenity. She also watched as the waters slowly got darker and liquid started seeping out of her skin. "Your body is purifying," The silent maid behind her spoke when she saw her throwing a questioning look. "Don''t you feel lighter?" She did, she felt like a child. She felt as if she could just sprout wings out and fly any second now. The bath itself took half an hour to finish and by the end, the once pure water had turned to a dark shade of brown. The other half an hour was spent preparing her with clothes. She wore a simple white dress with no accessories and her hair was braided down her back. Two ladies with long modest dresses burned a few incense sticks and kept chanting mantras as they circled around her, and she suddenly started to feel wary. Her mom, who had been watching over the whole process, had a passive look on her face. Her expression told her nothing, and she didn''t know if she had ever seen her mother look blank like that. "You need to understand Diana," She whispered to her as they walked slowly toward a single antique door. It looked so out of place and Diana didn''t know if she ever noticed it or seen it before. Just from where did it come from? "You cannot speak in there," Her mom had her hands on her shoulders. She couldn''t see her face as her mom was standing behind her. "You have to carefully listen and remember that he can only accept as much of your mind as you give to him." Was Diana imagining or did it feel like her mother was hinting onto something? She felt her mother''s hand suddenly let go and saw the doors in front of her open. "Miss, please move along, and never look back." A maid bowed her head and instructed. Just what was she getting herself into? She never knew about any of this before and it hit her how much her family was hiding from her. It was a scary thought to think of, especially if she was trying to fight the unknown. She had done as instructed and moved along. The door had led to a tunnel that was dimly lit with candles on each side. It was too old and rusty to be anything made from this century and she felt as if she had just traveled into another world. After walking for a while, she realized that the tunnel connected the house to the main ritual circle where spiritual events and prayers were usually conducted privately between the members of the main branch of the Gray family - if the paintings that hung from the wall were any indications. She felt like she had a memory of reading something similar about this. She could hear the footsteps behind her as she walked in the front, and she felt her heart for the first time, calm down. She didn''t know what was happening but each step she took brought her comfort and safety. It felt as if she was embraced by love and clarity. She didn''t notice the incense that was lit up, the smoke around her that engulfed her body, mind and slowly started to seep in, and a mist started to seep out, similar but totally different from what happened in the bath. By that moment, she no longer could hear any sound, not from herself or others, and the long tunnel got blurrier as her vision started turning black.If you discover this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation. When she woke up again, she found herself on the ground. Her bones ached with pain and the floor underneath her was cold and hard. She pushed herself onto her elbows and then hands as she tried sitting up. That was when she finally noticed that she was in a hall - The Ritual Circle. A red lotus, that was drawn on the ground underneath her, circled around her. It was so vibrant to the point where she felt that her eyes were playing tricks on her and the lotus was burning. Above her, a chandelier made of gold and sparkled with blaze was swaying left and right by an unknown breeze, but it made no sound. She remembered seeing a photo of the hall - the body''s owner did - but not really the actual thing because even though she was the daughter of the head, she didn''t contribute anything to the family yet. As she inspected the engraved walls, with unknown gods and beings, with her eyes, she started hearing the sound of water dripping in the background. The sound was slow and calm, but there was no apparent source around her. She stood up steadily and walked slowly around the hall. She saw there was no door or windows, only a circular dome. But in the photo she saw, there were supposed to be three doors each led to a different ''dimension''. That meant she either wasn''t in the same hall she thought she was in, or someone was playing with her mind. "You are a bright one, my dear." She heard a voice behind her. Looking back was her first instinct but her body was frozen in place and her limbs remained useless. "Don''t be impatient now. You should slowly accept your fate." She heard a chuckle. "Oh but your fate... How messy," then she was able to move. She turned and stopped when she saw who was in front of her. An elder was wearing a red cloak, the same person she saw in the picture her dad had shown her - Bone. His cloak hood and bandages covered most of his face, so she couldn''t tell a lot about him, other than his tall stature. Then his smile. It was so sinister and mischievous. It looked too big and fake to be an actual genuine smile, and it only made chills run through her body. She had trusted her dad before, but the last few words Elliot had told her made her unsure of what to do. Observe for now. She told herself. "You aura and scent are totally different than before." He moved closer. She noticed he had a limp. "You aren''t letting me see much, tsk tsk," he said. "So serious, so foolish." He sounded as if he was telling a joke and laughing at it at the same time. "Show me more." He opened his arms and she suddenly felt her body relax and her heart actually stop for a second. Before she could freak out, she was on the floor, lying unmoving and saw a ball of shadow pushing itself away from her chest and flying above her, toward Bone. "There you are." he caressed the ball. "So mysterious." He dipped one of his fingers inside the strange cloud and made a circular motion. And then the pain started. She had let out a scream. She didn''t feel the pain in her bones, but rather in her head. It was as if someone was pulling her nerves away and then letting them go, playing with them as if they were just strings of an instrument. Her head rang with enormous pain, and she could barely open her eyes to look at anything around her. "Oh no my dear, you should be more willing." He put his whole fist inside the cloud and she felt her mind crash. Her throat was so sore from screaming but she couldn''t stop the pain from coming. She was thrashing on the ground, trying to find any way to make the pain any lesser. "Please, please, please," She begged. "Stop it please." Her head was held between her hands as she hugged herself in. "Your mother had warned you not to speak, but there you go breaking the rules¡­ again." She didn''t know what he did but she suddenly felt that she wasn''t where she thought she was. She lost herself for a second. She felt exactly the same as she had when she died previous times. Was she dying? "There it is. I finally found it." And with that, she felt the pressure and pain suddenly removed from her body. She found herself panting on the ground, with her dress clinging to her body from sweat. Her heart was beating so fast she could hear almost nothing but it. She turned to look at the man. He was holding a coin in his hand, "Look at your fate," He said. "How messy."