Kheelburg, Lebrad. (10 years ago).
A frightening altercation was taking place in the large, monotonously furnished master bedroom of a higher-class home located in the middle of one of Kheelburg's busiest streets.
The house was greyish-black, with many glass windows speckled throughout. The large, wooden door stood static in the middle. Down the long and narrow hallway, multiple rooms were on either side.
In the final room, at the end of the hallway, an argument shook the walls..
"Why did you go? You put our entire family at risk, do you know that?" A middle-aged man's voice shouted at the lady in front of him.
He was wearing a red and black flannel, and a stubble of a beard covered half of his pale face. His eyes were blue and piercing.
"I had to do it to become one of them. I was left with no other choice." The lady retorted quite calmly.
The man groaned at his partner's response and began to pace around the room, avoiding many broken items, like vases and drawers, in his path.
In the room next door, numerous ears were placed directly on the wall. "Brother, what's happening to Mommy and Daddy?" An alarmed infant, no older than three, asked her older brother.
Watching the anticipation mixed with fear plastered across his sister's face, five-year-old Diallo Haidar patted her head as a method of soothing.
He didn't know what to say in response.
"I don't know..." Diallo quivered at the thought of his parents splitting up. While his mother was always domineering and condescending, she never did anything that would harm their family. That is, until now.
The shouting continued.
"Carmel... They're going to come after us now. They're going to kill us all! Our entire family is put at risk because of your decision!" Maxhall Haidar, husband to Carmel and father of Diallo, Emilia, and Francine, was breaking into a cold sweat.
Carmel kept her tone, seemingly unbothered. "You can protect them." She didn't have an ounce of care for her children. "That is, if you finally put an end to this cowardly act."
Carmel ticked at her husband's refusal to engage in fights. Maxhall closed his fist and smacked the drawer beside him. The impact was so severe that it crumbled the furniture and sent a reverberation throughout the house.
In response, the pair heard a meek cry from the other room.
Emilia had yelped at the sudden impact.
Maxhall's eyes immediately softened once he heard his youngest daughter react to his impulse. "Carmel…" He felt the urge to leave the room and head over to Emilia and the rest of the children.
Carmel lacked concern for her daughter's cry. "Let them be."
Maxhall, while gritting his teeth, reluctantly decided to carry on with the discussion.
In the other room, Diallo covered Emilia's mouth with his hand. Francine, the second youngest daughter, felt tears run down her face.
"Francine..." Diallo, whose freckled face drooped down, approached his younger sister and wrapped his arms around her. Emilia snuggled in between them.
The trio remained silent as they waited for the confrontation to be over.
"Carmel, you don't know what I know. You haven't experienced what I've experienced. Once you're exposed to information about Him, they will come after you, after us!"
"I'm a Salient of Omniscience now, Maxhall. Quit your pathetic rambling and listen to me. There is nothing in this world that I do not know. Including the history surrounding Him." Carmel sighed while rolling her eyes.
Once a person became a Salient of Omniscience, no topic in the history of the world would ever leave their grasp.
She walked up to Maxhall and placed her hand on his shoulder. "I know about the Tyrants, the Unseen World, and the hidden Authority engulfed by Him."
Maxhall backed off and brought an index finger to his mouth in a plea. "Shush! Don't talk about Him. Do you know how long I've had to be purified to not be hunted anymore?"
Carmel sneered. "Yes."
"I even know who purified whom. Aliyah, right? A beautiful and divine angel, one blessed by Sylas himself. A Sanctifier."
She continued. "Your relationship must have been quite... intimate." She glared at Maxhall's worried eyes.
"I don't blame you, though. Who could control themselves when around the epitome of glamour?"
Maxhall stayed silent.
"It's laughable how you go by the assumption that you can hide things from me, Maxhall. You don't know what I've had to sacrifice in order to become a Salient."
The ritual to becoming a Salient of Omniscience was simple, yet almost impossible.
Carmel raised two fingers. "There were two ways I could have become a Salient. One being the common route. After calling for the Being of Intelligence, his Worthy, the Elf Lorquiel, I can plead to recite entry to the Chronicle of Everlasting Sagacity. But that way takes a while, all that hunting and pleading. I'm an impatient woman, right, Maxhall?" She smirked, not expecting a reply from her husband.
Maxhall didn't answer. He stayed silent and waited for her to finish. But in his mind, he was coming up with multiple theories as to why she wanted to become a Salient of Omniscience.
However, regarding some of the factors she mentioned, Maxhall was already aware of them: chronicles and supernatural beings.
Continuing, Carmel pointed at the second finger raised.
"The second method is one that not many users know of. After praying to the Elf again, I can offer a certain item of sacrifice that will allow me to jump from the rank of Instigator all the way to Persecutor. Obviously, that's the method I chose."
Maxhall looked at his wife, who wore black pants, a white cardigan, and gold earrings. Her hair was shaped up into a ponytail, while her face was much prettier than usual.
"But then again, the item of sacrifice had to be something paramount." She eyed Maxhall, who was sweating.
"What did you sacrifice?" He asked impatiently.
The trio in the room next door had slept well, all except for Diallo, who was not able to contain his anticipation.
Carmel stayed silent; the corners of her lips perked up ever so slightly. Maxhall felt his eyebrows plunge as he asked one more time.
"Carmel! What did you offer"?
She snickered, covering her mouth with a hand. Then, with a low and apathetic tone, Carmel removed the hand and gazed at Maxhall.
"You."