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pearlsephoni · 4 years

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Shinkane Week Day 6: Fantasy AU

Can also be read on AO3!

Rating: T

Fandom: Psycho-Pass (crossover w/ The Witcher)

Pairing: Shinkane (Kogami/Akane)

Characters: Shinya Kogami, Akane Tsunemori, Shuusei Kagari, Haruki Shirogane

Summary: When a contract leads the witcher Shinya Kogami to a rundown castle, the last person he expects to run into is a certain sorceress.

A/N: Content warning for references to sexual assault (Very distant and roundabout, but the references are there nonetheless). Further, less necessary author’s notes can be read on AO3.

“Ko.”

“Hm?”

“You said we were off to a castle.”

Kogami spared a glance at Kagari, and found him frowning up at the dilapidated castle in front of them. He already knew what the bard would say. “No, I said I was following a contract sent out by a lord.”

“Lords live in castles, right?”

“Kagari, you didn’t need to be here.”

“And miss out on lavish residence? In a castle?” Kagari sounded indignant, and Kogami imagined he looked it too, if he weren’t set on not sparing a glance to his companion.

“You’re more than welcome to leave,” he muttered, dismounting from Roach and handing the horse off to a stablehand. “I’m sure you have more exciting places to be.”

“No need to undersell yourself, Ko, I get all my best material from you!”

Kogami didn’t grace Kagari with a response. Not that the bard needed a response - he could find ways to keep talking when he wanted to. But as they made their way to the battered doors of the castle and were led through the dark, grimy halls, Kagari seemed perfectly willing to pipe down. He kept close to Kogami, who was able to see perfectly well in the dark, his cat-like eyes allowing him to see their servant guide even from a few feet away.

They were led to the grand hall, though “grand” seemed a bit generous. It was certainly cleaner than the rest of the castle, the windows allowing a bit of the late afternoon sunlight in. But it was one of the smaller throne rooms Kogami had been in, the distance from the doors to the thrones easily crossed in a few strides. He was still mindful to keep some distance between himself and the lord who lounged in his throne, looking awfully bored for someone who had sent out such an urgent request.

“Ah, Shinya Kogami, the Grey Wolf,” Lord Shirogane drawled, finally sitting up on his throne. “So good of you to join us.” He grinned at Kogami, who remained silent, his clenched jaw belying the respectful downcast of his eyes. “I suppose the rumors are true about you Witchers...awfully spare with your words, aren’t you?”

“We aren’t hired for our turn of tongue,” Kogami murmured, “...Your Grace.”

“That you aren’t.” Lord Shirogane’s eye fell on Kagari, the bard unabashedly taking in his surroundings. “And who is this?”

“Ah-”

“His assistant,” Kagari cheerfully answered, earning an annoyed look from Kogami that he was only too happy to ignore. “Just here to help out with his Witchering!”

“...I see.”

“Your Grace,” Kogami finally cut in, “the contract you sent out sounded urgent. The sooner you are able to tell me all you know, the sooner I will be able to clear out the problem for you.”

“Ah yes, our little problem.” The reminder of the contract seemed to sap Lord Shirogane of all urgency, making him wilt back into the repose he had been in when they arrived. “It would seem there’s a ghost disrupting the servants.”

“A...ghost?”

“Mm.” To his limited credit, Shirogane looked just as annoyed as Kogami felt over contracting a witcher for such a menial thing. “The whole lot of them have tried everything they could think of, all sorts of occult and religious rituals. I couldn’t be bothered to care about any of it, but their sightings have started interfering with their actual work.”

“Meaning…” Kogami did his best to choose his words carefully, something that was never his strong suit. “You sent out a contract on behalf of your servants?”

“I sent out a contract on behalf of saving what shreds of efficiency I had left in this place,” Shirogane snapped. “Nothing was getting done with them jumping at every shadow and noise.”

He was lying. That was as plain as anything to Kogami. The man wouldn’t send out a contract for a witcher just for the sake of his servants. If productivity were really the problem, he almost certainly would have turned to a more...martial punishment. No, Lord Shirogane must have seen the “ghost” himself, and the battle between his pride and his nerves had clearly ended unfavorably for him.

Still, as much as Kogami hated nobility, he had enough experience dealing with them to know that calling their bluff was rarely worth the satisfaction. “And, ah...have they told you anything about what their encounters were like? I need any information that can help me identify the creature.”

As he’d expected, Lord Shirogane was able to provide details that no servant would relate to a lord. Not the Kogami cared. All that mattered was that he was able to properly classify what the “ghost” was: a penitent. It explained the strange darkness that seemed to linger over the castle, and the random encounters that had paralyzed the castle’s occupants with fear.

One last question lingered for Kogami: what had caused one to appear? A penitent was a rare type of wraith to encounter, arising only to haunt those who had committed the gravest crimes. He didn’t need to know the crime in order to drive the wraith away, nor did he think he would get any further explanation from Lord Shirogane. But as he left the throne room, Kogami felt a visceral disrespect for the lord rising bitter in his throat.

Kagari, to his credit, had been surprisingly quiet for much of the exchange...suspiciously so, in fact. While Kogami made his way towards the cellar, all he could hear of the bard was his footsteps, his heeled boots gratingly loud in the dour castle. It was only when they were faced by the ethereal smoke creeping out of the cellar that he finally piped up.

“Wow, would you look at that? You know what, Ko, I think I’m feeling plenty inspired!”

“Oh, are you?”

“Absolutely! In fact, I think I’d better go and...act on that inspiration.”

“Well, don’t let me stop you.”

And so Kogami found himself alone in an old cellar, surrounded by dark smoke that seemed to get thicker the further he went. The smell of spectre oil wound through the tendrils of smoke as he applied it to his silver blade, ready to use it at any moment.

His ears were waiting for the suction of air that preceded a wraith’s arrival, or the eerie sound of its corrupted cries. What he didn’t expect to hear were the low, familiar tones of a certain sorceress.

“Hello, Kogami.”

He whirled around. He had smelled the lilacs and gooseberries, but he didn’t want to believe she could be here.

But there she was. Her black dress and cloak would have let her blend in with the shadows of the dark cellar, but she didn’t wear the hood, and her pale skin and brown hair looked almost eerily disembodied in the dim light. “Tsunemori...didn’t expect to see you here.”

“What exactly are you doing here?”

“Answering a contract, doing my job. What about you?”

“A contract?” Akane repeated, smoothly ignoring his question. Her face, usually open and kind in a way that was unusual for sorceresses, looked hardened somehow, and at Kogami’s words, her eyes narrowed in suspicion. It was a strange look on her, and it made Kogami nervous. “A contract for what?”

“Servants saw a wraith. Tsunemori, what’re you doing here?”

“Let’s say I’m here for the wraith as well. What did the servants hear, exactly?”

“Let’s not say you’re here for the wraith,” Kogami bit out, “Let’s say you tell me the truth. Why are you here, Tsunemori?”

“I am telling the truth,” Akane snapped. “I’m here for the wraith. I...I know who she is.”

“What?” They had been gravitating towards each other as they spoke, but at Akane’s revelation, Kogami suddenly stepped back. “How do you-?”

“She’s Yuki. Yuki Funahara. She was a servant girl who worked for Lord Shirogane, until...until he…” Her voice caught, and just like that, the hardness in her face melted away to reveal grief, raw and terrible. The pain on her face made Kogami reach out to her, instinctively wanting to smooth away the lines of grief, but it was her turn to step away. “She killed herself after what he did to her, and they didn’t give her a proper burial. I’m here to help her pass on in peace...and to ruin him.”

“Akane-”

“She was my friend. Before I left to become a sorceress, she was my best friend. She wanted so much from life, and instead…” Her voice was harsh around the edges, and again Kogami longed to run his hand down her throat and rub away the broken notes. “I could have killed him by now, but that would be too easy. I am going to make him feel a pain that will consume him, rob all his joy until he is left with the agony, make sure he feels a fraction of what he did to her. I won’t shorten his life, but I will make sure every moment he has left is filled with nothing but torment.”

The new information was surprising - it was hard for him to imagine the powerful sorceress coming from such a humble background, especially from a backwater town like this - but he couldn’t focus on that. Kogami was often called a wolf, but in that moment, Akane was the wild one. Her anger burned bright, her eyes shining clear with the justice she had planned, and he knew nothing he could say would stop her. And he didn’t want to stop her. “Do what you have to. But Akane, when our work is done, leave with me. Leave this place behind. Rest easy with your justice, and leave it to do its work.”

Whatever Akane had been expecting him to say, it wasn’t that. Her anger was momentarily replaced by surprise, then relief...and then, finally, she stepped close. Her hand was cold against his cheek, but that didn’t stop Kogami from leaning into her touch, his golden cat-eyes greedily drinking in the acceptance on her face. “Thank you, Shinya.”

Her kiss was short, just long enough for him to register the soft touch of her lips to his before they were gone. When his eyes fluttered open, she was standing just outside of his reach again. “Wait, where will you-”

“I’ll find you,” she answered, correctly guessing his half-formed question. A small smile quirked at her lips, filled with a strange mix of mischief and reassurance. “Better get to work, Kogami. I’ll see you soon.” She tugged her hood over her head, and in a blink, she was gone, the scent of her perfume the last trace of beauty in the dark cellar.

#shinkaneweek #shinkane week 2021 #shinkane #kouaka #psycho pass #psycho-pass #shinya kogami #kougami shinya #akane tsunemori #shuusei kagari #haruki shirogane #mine #my stuff #my fics #the witcher #psycho-pass fics #shinkane fics #pearl writes #pearl's stuff

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creative-frequency · 7 years

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Bad for Me Ch. 24: Powering Up

Word count: 3548 Pairings: Nyx x OC (Eve Leonis) Notes: Yeaass an update, finally! Things have been hectic and stressful and will continue to be, but I’m determined to finish this story. Hope you enjoy reading~

Previous Chapter

Bad for Me Masterlist

Eve took a deep breath and knocked on the captain’s door before entering. There were already two glaives at present – Nyx and Pelna turned their heads to see who had entered. Drautos stood up from behind his desk and paced around it, a distressed look on his face. Nyx was taken by surprise at Eve’s arrival, but he showed it only with a hint of frown.

“You sent for me, sir?” Eve said taking form. ‘Nyx and Pelna are here? Why?’

“Yes. At ease, Leonis,” Drautos said turning his attention to the other two glaives.

“Ulric, Khara. There have been rumors of a resistance force gathering in Lestallum with plans to infiltrate the power plant. They want to shut it down. The mission is to investigate the situation there and resolve it efficiently and quietly. The king wants you to make sure that the people won’t lose power in their homes.”

The two men nodded understanding of what their task was.

“There are known Imperial loyalists among them, so supposedly they are backed up by the Empire. Be careful.” Drautos’s tone was grave.

“Understood, sir,” Nyx and Pelna said.

The captain looked at Eve, who was wondering what her role in the mission would be.

“Leonis, I want you to go with them. I’m expecting great things from you and the experience won’t hurt before a real fight is ahead of us again,” Drautos said with an appreciative nod.

“Understood, sir,” Eve said.

“The mission details are listed on a file here,” Drautos took a thin file from his table and passed it to Pelna. “Remember: We want this to be solved quietly. The people have more than enough to fear from the war already. Any questions? No? Then dismissed.”

The trio left the captain’s office slightly disconcerted. Eve was of course eager to get on a mission again. Nyx was wondering how he could combine business and pleasure on the trip without compromising the mission or his relationship with Eve. Pelna was only preoccupied with practical details like what to pack.

“Is an hour enough for you guys to prepare?” Pelna asked. Nyx and Eve glanced at each other.

“Sure. The sooner we take off, the sooner we get there. It’s at least a two days ride, right?” Eve said, frantically thinking what to pack. There wasn’t time to try out any outfits, so she would just have to pack whatever was guaranteed to be useful and decent-looking. ‘I should just think what is really necessary and not what makes me look good in his eyes,’ she mentally scolded herself.

“I’ll get the car and come pick up you guys,” Nyx offered.

“No need, I’ll come with you,” Pelna said.

“Thanks, you know I live the furthest away from the HQ,” Eve said apologizing. ‘It’s really the time for me to get my own place from closer to the centrum… but that will have to wait until this mission is over.’ For a second her thoughts sidetracked to think about what it would be like to have her own place, when Nyx could come over any time without having to try to avoid her father.

“All right, don’t forget to change out of your gear,” Pelna reminded the other two before departing. Nyx gave an encouraging smile to Eve and totally platonically squeezed her shoulder before he hurried away too.

‘This is going to be a long trip,’ Eve thought her heart racing from Nyx’s touch.

The given hour had passed and Eve was sitting at the kitchen table, waiting for her ride. She had called Cor, who was naturally concerned for her. Eve had told him that she was going to be in Lestallum for at least a few days for a mission.

Cor hadn’t heard about Eve’s deployment, but he couldn’t argue with captain Drautos’s logic. The safety of his daughter came first, even though the said daughter repeatedly insisted on diving into danger. Cor always told Eve that she could quit the Kingsglaive whenever she wanted to and Eve didn’t even spare the energy to get angry with him about it. That was just how their father-daughter relationship was.

A black car pulled in front of the Leonis household. It was one of the same kinds of SUVs they had used for the hunting trip to the Chocobo Post. Eve grabbed her bags and hurried out. Pelna was driving and Nyx got out of the car to help Eve put her bags in the trunk. When the trunk hood was lifted up so that Pelna couldn’t see what was going on behind it, Nyx pulled Eve in for a quick, but sensual kiss.

“Don’t say anything,” he almost whispered and slammed the hood down. Eve tapped on her reddened cheeks as they climbed into the car and Pelna drove towards the West gate of Insomnia.

“Pass me file.” Eve reached to take the stack of papers from Nyx from the front seat. She riffled through them quickly before setting out to read them in detail.

‘Intercepted messages, old rebel base addresses, there’s barely anything useful here. We are nearly being sent on a wild chocobo chase. This threat to the Lestallum city council is the only real lead here–‘

Pelna interrupted Eve’s thoughts.

“What’d you think? Looks like we have our work cut out for us,” he asked and chuckled. Apparently nothing could ruin his cheerfulness.

“Mm… So isn’t there a police force in Lestallum that could solve this?” Eve wondered.

“If the threats are real, this is too big for them. And directly related to the war. Lestallum needs to stay neutral and uncompromised,” Nyx explained.

“Why would they want to shut down the power plant? It’s already under Imperial rule. That’s not very neutral,” Eve said confused and flipped to the second page.

“It provides electricity to half of the continent. Taking it out would efficiently force the king of Lucis to act. They are still his people,” Nyx said.

“Look at what a mere threat did,” Pelna said.

“I see you point,” Eve said biting her cheek, “What about the workers at EXENERIS Industries? Are they aware of this?”

“Not likely. You heard the captain, they want to keep this under the wraps.” Nyx turned so that he could see Eve and smirked, “I hope you packed your stealth panties.”

Eve blushed vigorously, making Pelna laugh when he saw her though the rear mirror.

“Shut up, Ulric,” she muttered and turned away to stare out of the window.

Hours later, Eve was dozing off in the backseat. Pelna was focused on driving and humming to the radio. Nyx was doing something with his phone, leaning away from Pelna.

Eve’s phone beeped cheerfully. She snatched it from her bag wondering who could be trying to reach her just when she was out of town. It was a text from Nyx. He was turned to look at her with a meaningful expression. Eve frowned and opened the message:

“Put your phone on mute.” She raised her eyebrows at Nyx, but he turned away as if nothing had happened.

“What?” Eve texted him. Pelna was still focused on the road, uninterested in the fact that his travelling companions were tinkering with their phones.

“We sleep in tents tonight.”

“I know???”

“Will you get cold?”

Eve blushed and put her phone away for a while. Nyx sighed in exasperation.

“I’ll manage,” Eve wrote after a while.

“It’s a long drive ahead. No telling when we get home. Can you manage without me until that?”

Eve wanted to kick Nyx’s seat for trying to warm her up by texting.

“We are on a mission and we are not alone.”

“Any ideas?” Nyx barely kept himself from grinning.

“What’s so funny? Another meme?” Pelna asked, trying to peek at Nyx’s phone screen.

“Nah, just read about how body heat is the best way to stay warm together in a cold environment,” Nyx said casually.

Eve shot a sour stare at him.

“P is a heavy sleeper. He won’t wake up to your moaning. Lucky you.”

“WE ARE ON A MISSION.” Eve’s cheeks were burning hot and she hoped that Pelna wouldn’t realize that.

“Sext you later, baby.”

Eve tossed her phone back into the bag and rubbed her temples. ‘Damn you Nyx.’ She couldn’t help but to imagine staying with Nyx in a same tent for a cold night. It would be really different than the last time. She decided to give Nyx the silent treatment if he would try to text her again in the car.

When the sun began its descent towards the horizon, the group started discussing about their preferences for a campsite. The desert would be a cold place to sleep in and the thought of her last night in a tent out there made Eve still shiver.

“There’s some shelter,” Nyx said peering through the windshield and nodding at a cliff some distance away from the road.

“Works for me,” Pelna said and glanced at the mirror to see if Eve had any objections.

“Finally time for food and walking,” Eve whined, “My butt is probably permanently flat from this sitting.”

“Still got a long drive ahead. We’ll need to camp tomorrow night too, before reaching Lestallum,” Nyx said, making Eve squeak.

Pelna drove the car slightly off-road, near some trees and bushes, so it wouldn’t be directly in view. They carried the camping supplies over at the ledge Nyx had pointed out from the car. The place was good for camping since rocks blocked most of the wind, making it relatively sheltered.

In hindsight, the spot was a bit too good.

The sun had fully set and stars were littering brightly the night sky when their camp was finally set up. Fire was crackling happily, stray embers floating in the air. Nyx sat in one of the foldable chairs, staring at the camp fire with glazed eyes. Pelna was preparing food for them and Eve was inside the tent putting on some more clothes as the air was getting chilly. Everything was peaceful and silent.

“Mm, I missed this. Who needs real food when you can have this?” Eve deadpanned and made a mocking yummy-sound with her mouth.

Pelna chuckled. “Well excuse me, Sweetbutt. Nobody is forcing you to eat it.”

“Sweetbutt..?” Nyx asked slowly and frowned. ‘Has he been checking her out?’

Eve snorted and began shoveling the soup into her mouth. Nyx gave her a blank stare.

They had almost finished eating when light snapping and gurgling sounds creeped closer to the camp. Each one of the three glaives was instantly on their feet with a dagger in hand.

“Daemons!” Eve hissed, turning around to hear where the sounds were coming from.

“Their cave must be nearby or why else would they approach a campfire?” Pelna said concerned.

Several pairs of light feet tapping against the ground danced just out of the light’s reach. Eve gripped her daggers tightly, knuckles white. Nyx moved to her side and Eve gave him a warning look, which he completely ignored.

“I think they’re goblins. Might be easiest to just take them out, so we can sleep in peace,” Pelna suggested. They saw shallow dark shapes running around the camp and glimpses of red magic sparkles.

“Yep, goblins,” Nyx noted. As soon he stepped closer to attack, the shadowy form tiptoed further away, out of his reach.

Pelna tried the same thing, but the goblin just snickered mischievously and danced away.

“Uh, what’s going on? Are they supposed to act like that?” Eve asked slowly. She had never seen real life daemons before and was not fond of the sight now either.

“Usually they just come at you like the mindless monsters they are,” Nyx said with furrowed brows.

“So we can dance all night or just chase them and be done with it?” Eve asked, trying to distinct the features on the dark forms.

“Pretty much. Let’s herd them in the same direction at least,” Nyx said and motioned for Eve to stand back, so they could form a line after the goblins were on the move.

“Be careful. You haven’t fought daemons earlier, right?” he continued in a lowered tone.

Eve decided that it wasn’t the time to enlighten Nyx about when the prince was attacked at his apartment.

“It’s gonna be okay! Let’s roll then,” Pelna exclaimed.

Nyx warped in first. A terrible screech pierced the air as his dagger plunged into the goblin’s flesh. Pelna and Eve could barely hit anything before all the tiny creatures had made themselves scarce. Obviously the goblins had not expected such a quick resistance and fled before the mightier-than-anticipated foes.

The three glaives warped after the pack, daggers mostly swinging at thin air. There weren’t many of the creatures, but still enough to give them a proper exercise at the chase.

“Just a few more!” Nyx shouted, bashing his dagger into a goblin that had tried to cast its magic on him.

“I hate”–Eve huffed and swung her weapon, hitting another creature’s head–“these fucking goblins!”

An electric zap trembled the air, when Pelna shot lighting at the last one of the daemons.

They looked around them. The daemon bodies were already desecrating into the ground in a pool of black goo and pinkish red sparkles.

Eve stared at her last kill with distain and wrinkled her nose. The body smelled like a volatile bog and vomit.

“You guys alright?” Nyx asked, his eyes darting all over Eve’s body in the darkness.

“Yeah, let’s head back,” she said and watched as the black pool absorbed into the ground and disappeared completely like it had not ever even existed.

None of them sheathed their weapons as they walked back to the camp. Adrenaline was still pumping high in their veins and they listened closely to any suspicious sounds coming from the environment.

The fire was still burning happily, creating an inviting circle of light around the camp – that was ruined.

All their bags had been emptied on the ground. Clothes, hygiene products, food, other supplies and a few weapons were scattered all over the area as if someone had been searching for something.

Eve jogged ahead of the guys to assess the damage.

“How can we be this stupid?” Nyx growled angrily and kicked the dirt.

“Look out for what is missing,” Eve said and began collecting her clothes, prioritizing her underwear, and loading them back into the bag. Minutes passed while re-packing their things. Nyx cursed quietly to himself.

“I don’t think anything is missing,” Pelna said looking puzzled.

They spent another moment picking up the rest of the stuff and tucking them back into their tents.

“Wait, my wallet is not here,” Nyx said after rifling through all the pockets in his backbag.

“Uh, you sure you just didn’t forget it?” Eve asked and set on to find hers.

“No, he’s right. Look guys,” Pelna said and pointed to the ripped pieces of paper money on the ground. It was Insomnian currency which held on value in the outlands of Lucis. Each one of them had taken some amount of gil with them, along with the money meant to cover mission costs such as hotel rooms and food.

“The stole our cash?” Nyx said incredulously.

“Ramuh’s beard, this is unbelievable,” Pelna said.

Eve gave up trying to find her wallet. It had been a silver purse with sparkly sequins. Maybe that explained why the goblins had taken the whole thing.

“We don’t need gil to have fun!” she said trying to cheer the men up.

“At least they didn’t steal our supplies,” Pelna sighed.

“What kinds of goblins steal money anyways?” Nyx shook his head in disbelief.

Eve was rifling through her pockets. “I’ve got 20– no, 40gil in cash. What about you guys?”

“My wallet is sprawled on the ground in pieces. See for yourself,” Pelna said defeated.

“The rebels will have to wait. We need money first to actually get to Lestallum,” Nyx recapped.

“There’s a Crow’s Nest in the next settlement. Let’s do a hunting bounty from there,” Eve suggested.

“I hope we have enough gas to get there,” Nyx said, but nodded in agreement.

With humiliation weighting heavy on their minds, the trio settled in for the night. Pelna and Nyx were sleeping on different sides in the tent, both of them browsing their phones in tired silence.

“Awake?” Nyx wrote a text to Eve. He was facing Pelna to make sure he couldn’t read the display.

Eve’s phone buzzed a second later. ’That’s Nyx asking if I’m asleep yet.’

Naturally, she was right and decided to mess around with Nyx, knowing that she was safe for now from his retribution, because they were not alone.

‘May the Six bless Pelna Khara,’ Eve thought as she was typing with a wicked grin:

“And cold. Wish you could come here to warm me.”

Nyx read her response and swallowed hard. ‘That minx.’

“Nice that you finally recognize my skills as heat radiator,” he typed back.

Eve bit back a giggle and typed: “You have many outstanding skills.”

“Did you need me for something else than my warmth?”

“There’s a perfect hole in my sleeping bag for you.”

Nyx’s eyes widened at the smutty flirt. He realized that Eve was teasing him on purpose.

“Sorry that I can’t provide, Sweetbutt. I’ll make it up to you.”

‘Sweetbutt? Is that a thing now? Really?’ Eve rolled her eyes even though there was no-one else at present to see it.

“Don’t worry. I can make it up for myself since I’m all alone here.”

Nyx was getting definitely flushed. He would have given a lot to switch tents right now and make Eve to act on her teasing words. Instead, he was left to squirm in his sleeping bag alone with his pants getting tighter.

“I’ll knock out P and come over.”

“Not a chance, hero. Sleep tight.”

Nyx almost snorted at Eve’s very deliberate choice of words.

“Can’t wait to get a piece of that Hydraen’s paradise.”

Eve bit her lower lip as she read Nyx’s last text. She decided not to answer anymore since the flirty texting would have probably gone on until one of them would just fall asleep. Besides the fact that it was fun to tease Nyx, she was arousing herself too and it was not fun to sleep in damp panties.

After a grumpy, quiet morning and almost a half day’s drive, the group arrived at Coernix Station in Alstor. They were glad to be out from the burning hot desert, though the weather didn’t change much with crossing the region border. Sun was still high in the sky with not a single cloud in sight.

“All of these hunts are pretty basic stuff,” Eve said reading the bounty list at the local Crow’s Nest Diner. “And basic stuff means the pay is not that good.”

“There are daemon ones, if you require more challenge,” Nyx leaned in to say into her ear, pretending to read the list over her shoulder.

“We don’t have time to wait until nightfall.” Eve shooed him away from sending shivers down her spine.

Pelna was only interested in the food menu and listened to the other two with very mild eagerness. Their setback on the previous evening had made him cranky. Apparently there was something that could kill the cheerfulness of Pelna Khara.

“Something quick then?” Nyx asked and inconspicuously rubbed Eve’s butt. She winced and slapped his arm off.

“Might be a good idea to split up and do more than one,” Eve proposed glaring at shamelessly smirking Nyx.

The restaurant owner had listened to their conversation with half-ear as he was wiping the tables.

“There is a big bounty up, if you’re interested. I just haven’t had time to write the flyer yet,” he said walking up to the glaives.

Nyx took a step back from Eve, letting her turn to look at the owner.

“Tell us more, please,” she said.

“You might have seen the catoblepas couple down in the lake, no?” The man rested his hands on his hips, wondering what kind of an odd hunting party he had before him.

Eve and Nyx nodded both thinking: ‘That would count as big.’

“They have a habit of driving out their grown-up offspring. This time the male calf put up a fight and they downed some nearby farms in their contesting. The farmers want the beast put down and hope the next one will be less aggressive.”

The three glaives looked at each other with slight worry. A grown-up catoblepas was the bigger than four average houses.

“You think we can take this? They are tough,” Pelna said.

“Not with daggers. It will require… other powers,” Eve said and wondered to what element a massive beast like that would be most susceptible.

“What’s the pay?” Nyx asked.

The restaurant owner crossed his arms. “Seven thousand gils and I’ll throw in some curatives if you do it today.”

Pelna let out a low whistle. Seven thousand was more than the sum they had gotten to cover the mission expenses. It was a lot of money.

“We’ll take it,” Nyx and Eve said at the same time.

Next Chapter

#ffxv fanfiction #ffxv oc #nyx ulric x oc #kingsglaive #ffxv #oc #final fantasy xv #nyx ulric #pelna khara #titus drautos #eve leonis #fanfiction #bad for me #my writings

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