#it's nice to use my coding skills outside of work for once

[maramagpie]

The youtube adblock blocker has reached me. Youtube will not let me watch videos without turning off my adblocker >:( However, I've found that embedded videos do not have this issue.

So I spent my lunch break today making a shitty video embedding generator page.

Fuck you youtube!

I'm not turning off my adblocker and I'm not paying you either

[dorkszn]

— letting you do their hair

— thomas j, alexander h, and phillip h x gn reader, john laurens x masc reader

+ black coded reader for thomas and john! modern-ish au!

PHILLIP H !

✩ he loves letting you do this hair. sometimes you don’t even have to ask, he’ll ask you.

✩ he only trust you and his parents to wash it and take care of it

✩ you style it a lot for him and eliza loves it

✩ tender headed as fuck

✩ if someone flirts with him in public, especially if they bring up his hair, he’ll just go on and on about you

✩ “oh my hair? yeah it’s nice, ain’t it? my (s/o) did it. Aren’t they so skilled?”

✩ you teach him how to braid his hair and style it the way you do so he can do them himself if there’s a time you’re not around

☆ watching your favorite shows 🤝 washing and drying his hair

THOMAS J !

☆ he is so protective of his hair. like he’s the only one allowed to touch it

☆ so obviously it took you a lot of begging and convincing but he eventually gave in

☆ he’ll make snarky comments and act like a baby when you first wash his hair or attempt to style it but a little pop with the comb gets him to shut up

☆ he almost fell asleep the first time you braided his hair, but he likes to pretend it never happened

☆ so embarrassed to ask you to wash his hair and you can’t help but tease him for it

☆ after a while, he had you braiding his hair once a week for an extra curl

☆ you guys have matching bonnets

☆ he will literally call James mid hair session and just start talking about the government with him

☆ he was very skeptical about your products but eventually they become the only thing he uses

ALEXANDER H !

☆ he was genuinely surprised when you asked him to do his hair

☆ he hadn’t had anyone to do it or take care of it for years, especially since his mother passed

☆ “you’d do that for me?” he’d question, genuine shock on his face

☆ and it takes all of both of you to not start crying when you do take care of his hair

☆ the first time you washed it for him was the most relaxed you’d ever seen him

☆ it was the most loved he’d felt for a while

☆ then there were times were you just played in his hair

☆ whether we was working or just watching tv, you were putting silly little styles in his hair. and it he loves it. he thinks it’s adorable.

☆ some mornings, he ask you to put his hair up for him or slick it back for him just so he can have the best start to his day

☆ his hair was very first thing he asked you to do when he came back from war

☆ scalp massages >>>

☆ they’re one of the only things that convince him to leave his office, just for a little bit

JOHN L !

☆ after he meets you, he refuses to do his hair unless you’re away on a trip

☆ he whines and pleads, making an excuses on “how you do so much better” and “how loved it makes him feel” while giving you kisses

☆ but if you’re truly tired, of course he’ll give you a break

☆ you came home once and found him wearing your bonnet/durag

☆ you also do most of his haircuts

☆ he doesn’t mind his hair growing out but he knows it’s getting too long when you start beating him while play fighting

☆ to him if you’re winning, his hair is messing with his vision and it’s a “handicap”

☆ definitely gets popped with the comb everytime you do his hair

“john, could you turn your head just a little bit?” you question, your frustration already growing. he couldn’t help but tease you constantly, it was in his nature. he slightly turns his head with a small smirk on his face, knowing he was pissing you off.

“john, don’t play with me right no—“ you cut off your words when john grabs you by the waist and pulls you in and onto his lap. his hand gripping the outside of your thigh to support you as you straddle his legs.

“this angle good enough for you?” he asks, giving you his typically stupid grin. you can’t help but softly smile as you look at him, your previous anger from before leaving.

“t’s fine, i guess.” you shrug before going back to attempting to cut his hair.

“see? why let anyone else do my hair when i can have you do it for free and get a lap dance at the same time?” he says nonchalantly, continuing to scroll on his phone. his free hand caress your thigh and slithering back to ass.

“john, i swear you’re going to wake up bald one day.”

[15writingducks]

The Manor Who's Maids Are Ghost C4

https://archiveofourown.org/works/63200743/chapters/163917937

Uzi jolted awake with her alarm blaring in her processor before she slapped herself to turn it off. She stared at the roof of the canopy before sluggishly rolling off her bed to get ready.

She grabbed a new dress and got changed regretfully. She walked over to the mirror to put the headband in, not wanting it lopsided. 

“Hey, Uzi? Are you up?” V called from the outside of the door. Uzi opened it and peeked her head out.

“Yeah, I’m ready, I guess…” Uzi shuffled slightly. V gave a soft smile.

“Alright, we’re going to the commons. It’s really the only place we can really get everyone together…” V sheepishly said as she stepped back.

Uzi walked out of her room and closed the door, hand lingered on the handle for a moment before Uzi faced V again. “Everyone?” Uzi questioned.

“Oh, there's about 26, nonono, 31 of us, me included.” V smiled as she led Uzi. Uzi simply followed. So, we got alphabet gang, and Doll, but who are the other 4? 

V stopped in front of a door and opened it, jestering Uzi to go in. She complied and went into the room. It looked like the rest of the manor, just more drones. Instead of the normal dark oak it was tan wood. There were small pods of chairs and couches around plenty of tables. Most pods looked like 3-4 drones could sit there. There were some nice deep blue rugs and dark oak tables with elegant carving. The couches and chairs were a nice tan color. Lamps were near them too, a nice golden base with a tan shade on it that casted a warm glow.

“You’ll meet your group over-r-r-r… There!” V pointed to a table that had a couch and 2 chairs that were arranged in a triangle pattern, the couch’s back facing Uzi. There was a drone in one of the chairs with a cowboy hat with a piece taken out of it. They waved to Uzi, She awkwardly waved back.

Before Uzi could go to him, J stormed by them to leave the room, grumbling about someone being late or something along those lines, Uzi didn’t care. She then walked to the new drone.

Uzi took her seat on the couch. “Hi?” Ah yes, lovely social skills Uzi, great job! You definitely shouldn’t try to drown! The new drone tipped his hat to her. He had light blue eyes and light brown hair.

“Howdy, Name’s Beau! You're, uh, Nori’s kid… uh, oh never heard your name…” his cheer melted into a sheepish embarrassment. Uzi gave him a very confused look.

“How do you know me?! I don’t recognize you?! But name’s Uzi.” She slightly glared at him.

“Uh, the office? I was the pill baby… Ma couldn’t make a body my code liked, so I kinda had to stay like that…” He rubbed the back of his head. “Who knew I had D-drone code too?” He gave an awkward smile.

“What?! You do?! That’s kinda cool!” Uzi immediately lit up. “What parts of you are? Any extra features? How did she work that in?” Uzi was practically jumping with enthusiasm, but masked it under an expression of slight curiosity.

“Heh, Arms are, got the extra eyes too, just hid ‘em under ma hat. I have no clue how she did it… and can’t really ask her…” His smile faded to a slightly saddened expression at the mention of his mom.

“Oh, uh… sorry…” Uzi rubbed the back of her head.

“[Uzi doorman? apologizing for once? Impossible.]” A familiar voice cut through, causing Uzi to jump.

“DOLL?! Why are you here?!” Uzi turned around to look at her, a small blush on her face. NONONONONONONONO Doll is sooooooo going to bully me for this. WhyWhyWhyWhyWhy. Uzi saw Doll in a maid outfit too, but still had the little button patch on her eye. Her other eye looked tired and done with life. Uzi instantly felt less embarrassed.

Doll’s eye just narrowed onto Uzi. “[Why are you here? Perhaps you have the answers? What makes you think I know?]” She didn’t move from her spot.

Uzi glared at Doll. “Well you normally know stuff. You said it yourself.”

“[You're still pathetic. Guess I shouldn’t expect that to change.]”

“At least I don't look like a train wreck.”

“[At least I could do better at any job they give us, unlike you.]”

“Really? How about you prove that with your new schedule.” J walked by, dropped 2 cards and  walked away.

“Well then, how about we review what you guys got?” Beau chipped in.

“[Fine by me]” Doll moved to the other chair while grabbing her card, tossing Uzi her’s.

Doll had the tasks of Serving food, Vacuuming, and Laundry. Uzi was given Dusting, Library work, and Yard work.

J walked by. “Are you done with reviewing your schedule now?” she asked as she tapped the table with her finger.

“Yes, J. We’re done.” Uzi said in a monotonous tone, glaring at J.

“You have 15 minutes until your shift starts, You both are assigned in the Right wing on the first floor.” J walked away.

“And she said words that make no sense.” Uzi said when J was gone.

“Oh I know where that is! I could show ya before we need to be workin.” Beau spoke up, smiling slightly.

“[That would be appreciated.]” Doll spoke as she got up, grabbing her card. Uzi followed suit as Beau did the same and started to lead the way.

“So this is probably the best one you guys coulda gotten, it’s the one closest to our rooms.” Beau walked through the door Uzi had come in early through, walked to the hallway to the comments, then turned away from them to another door. “This is the door for it, the only one that connects to it and thankfully directly.”

Beau walked through it, held it open for Doll and Uzi, then closed it. He then showed them all the rooms they’d need to go to, a quick rundown of what to do, and off to the next place.

Suddenly, a soft chime of a bell rang, signaling it was time to work. “Go! You only have one minute to get where you need to be!” and Beau quickly walked away, heading to wherever he was needed. Uzi and Doll went in different directions for their first tasks. Doll went into the kitchen area, and Uzi went to the closest to grab a duster, getting straight to work. This is going to be hell…

[---]

Sorry if things are worded weird, this was a chapter I rewrote.

Originally Uzi was supposed to sever food, and the manor would be more like a hotel of sorts? But I scrapped the idea.

[hillbilly---man]

Random Tumblr Ask Question:

What would you do if you went into your kitchen, and found a living clone of yourself?

Context: This person is YOU from this morning, but instead of doing the tasks you did, they were in the kitchen. For all other purposes, they're you. They're not an imposter, they have your memories etcetc.

This is such an interesting question!

I think after trying to figure out HOW it happened and also verifying somehow that it's real, the two of us would have to sit down together and figure out how we were going to work this out.

Putting it under a cut bc it got really long lmfao

Assuming that the other me is here to stay, we'd need to come up with some way of differentiating ourselves. It would be really arrogant to act as if I'm the original (I'm sure the other me feels the same way), so something like Jessica 1 & Jessica 2 wouldn't work. Maybe we color code ourselves?

We would have the logistical challenge of basically existing in two places at once. We only have one social security number, one car, one bed, one job, etc. Obviously I'd tell my friends and family about this, but it could get complicated when it comes to official things. We'd probably have to legally continue living as one person.

And share the bed, unfortunately. (There's a guest bed but it's not as nice as my bed lmao)

I'm tempted to be like.. "we can take turns going to work!" But it would be difficult. I have a hard enough time keeping track of shit at work as it is .. I don't need to be literally absent half the time too. Maybe we can take turns on a quarterly basis. One of us would probably spend time doing a side hustle of some sort while the other is at work. It couldn't be a full second job (with a schedule) unless the hours were outside of my own work hours; it might look suspicious/fraudulent. The additional income would help pay for the increased food/bills/etc.

On a ... More unfortunate note, we'd have to share medication. Most of what I take is no big deal. We'll let the one working in the office have the vyvanse. We'll supplement the prescription vitamins with OTC stuff. I guess we'd alternate doses of the MS medication (and other stuff) and cross our fingers that nothing bad happens from being under-medicated lol. We'll alternate MRIs and doctors appointments too. Hopefully nothing happens to one of us medically that makes our records inconsistent; if that happened I guess the affected one gets to keep going to that doctor

When it comes to social engagements, I think we'd have to take turns. I think I'm probably kind of dull sometimes and annoying at other times, so I wouldn't want to subject my friends to two of me at once. Not to mention that a lot of things cost money, and it's not always in my budget to pay double for stuff.

I guess we'd have to come up with some system of deciding whose turn it is for things. Coin flips, random number generators, tests of skill? Not only for events and stuff, but also for stuff like who gets to keep the cell phone and who has to buy another one. Who gets to keep the Tumblr account and who has to make a new one? I wouldn't mind y'all knowing, but sharing an account would probably get confusing and people might confuse us for a DID system (which to be clear isn't a bad thing, it just wouldn't be accurate)

Big decisions would have to be up for discussion. Are we applying for a new job? Are we trading the car in? Where should we move to? I imagine it would be kind of like being married, but to a more controlling extent than I think would be healthy in a marriage. We'd need to agree on tattoos, piercings, haircuts, hair dye...

Oh, we'd also have to start discussing our days and try to keep records so we can keep things straight

Actually, it might just be easier to buy a fake identity off the dark web or something. This is complicated

Thanks for the fascinating question to ponder!!

[zablionsea]

How You Can Beat Avalon Drake (SPOILER WARNING)

Avalon Drake is an incredibly tough foe, dealing around 14k damage per turn, able to freeze a couple of your monsters if it desires, and occasionally deal around 23k damage in one turn (in my experience). Its attacks are unrelenting, and it has around 1 million hit points. How do you defeat that?

I have a few team ideas, and I’ll list them from most effective to least. All monsters are at level 99.

First: a Mono-fire team. This seems to be consistent and does not require getting a useful helper. However, I am using a Skydragon (which can be a pain to get) and a Z-Box exclusive monster. Note that.

Leader: Flamestreak Dragon, Tempest – Its leader skill gives a 1.5x boost to HP and ATK of fire monsters on your team. While there is no Fire equivalent to Sea Armor (boosts Water monster HP and DEF by 1.5x), I find that the HP boost alone is enough to tank most hits completely fine. Recovery is also percentage based, it appears, so you get more HP recovered with Heart Orbs cleared. This makes enduring hits much easier. The attack boost is welcomed, especially when you don’t get a good partner for your attempt.

Hellfire Dragon, Inferno – It has great attack and solid defense. While Fire Boost - L could be a useful skill, it’s not useful enough to justify spending points on.

Empress of Serpents, Echidna – She’s here for one reason only: Menace. Menace delays a foe’s turn count by 2 at the cost of 5 skill points. When used on Avalon Drake, you get 3 turns before taking damage. I can pretty consistently earn back those five skill points (sometimes, it does take until getting hit for the gauge to fill from 4 to 5). It can be flaky sometimes, but the extra HP from Flame Rune lets you tank another hit without recovering.

Red Skydragon, El Dorado – In terms of stats, he’s basically a better Inferno, with great attack with solid HP and DEF. He is not here for his skill, and I would advise you not to use it because of how risky it is. If the game allows duplicate monsters on one team, you could just use another El Dorado instead of Inferno.

Wildfire Dragon, Gáe Bolg – For Orb changing to get more Fire Orbs while going through the dungeon. I avoid using Orb change while fighting Avalon Drake in case I fail to get enough skill points for Menace fast enough. Phoenix Knight, Homura works too. Homura has higher HP while Gáe Bolg has higher DEF. Higher HP is probably more useful with Flame Rune, but it’s a matter of personal preference.

Helper is basically irrelevant. With this build, as long as you recover whatever HP and skill points lost over 3 turns, you will defeat Avalon Drake eventually. Just clear any Heart Orbs you see.

If you’re keeping Gáe Bolg, Dragon Asura is fairly useful by boosting the attack of 3 party members. Elder Blaze, ChronoGenbu, Great Valkyrie (obtainable via helper code), Mighty Moai (both helper code and adventurer), Phoenix Knight Homura, or Siren are nice luxuries to have. Outside of the leader, Echidna, and an Orb change skill monster, the rest is flexible. You just need to make sure that your HP is above 30k to be safe to take any single hit. You’re very safe at 40k.

..........

Second is a team I believe I used to beat Avalon Drake for the first time: Mono Dark. I’m not sure if this is the exact build I used, but it seems reasonable.

Leader: Shadowslash Dragon, Eclipse – Lead skill doubles the attack of the team.

Cheat Witch – Change the World (lets you freely move orbs for 10 seconds) lets you build up big combos without relying on skyfall combos.

Night Skydragon, Elysium - Skydragons are strong. Need I say more? I think I also used his skill to get Perfect Defense when I thought I wouldn’t live an attack.

Nightmare Dragon, Kashmar - I don’t know why I included Kashmar besides I like it.

Doom Dragon, Diabolos - Orb change skill.

I think my strategy with this was to partner with Great Valkyrie, and once I reach the boss, I stop time try to hit as hard as possible to defeat it ASAP. I am not sure, though.

..........

For anyone interested in other options, there were 2 strategies that got really close. The first was a mono-Water team with an Abyss lead. It just couldn’t deal enough damage, and I slipped up enough and took too much damage. The second was another strategy with Echidna. I used a Ra or Great Valkyrie lead with some strong monsters. Echidna froze Avalon Drake while I messed around. Ra, given its stringent requirements for activation, required the Change the World skill to work (I am not good enough at this game lol), but that burned through skill points way too quickly. I didn’t have the HP to deal with a lack of Heart Orbs either.

I would guess that a mono-Light with Shemhaza lead might work well like the Fire one, and that might be easier for the main dungeon because nothing resists Light. Mono-Wood with a Garmut lead (HP and DEF boost) or Catoblepas (HP and ATK) could work too. Or your preferred team with a monster that reduces Wood damage (Horai is a good pick for this).

..........

This final battle is really difficult, but with the right team for the job, it can be done.

[shadowsif]

Shadows kiss

You reach for the shadows on the other side of the rooftops. It feels warm, inviting and you ask nicely from the part of your soul connected to them all to give you a hand and make you fly. As always it responds and wraps around your wrist and tugs. You feel like a black blanket wraps tightly around you and in a heartbeat you are standing on the roof, the parade going full swing underneath you.

It is the largest celebration you’ve ever seen. Might make sense as it is the first king that has graced these streets in a century but still you can not feel like it is a waste. You spot the future King, or is he one already, sitting on a golden carriage led by black horses. You squint your eyes and spy a gorgeous woman sitting next to him, the Queen.

The next thing you spot is the figure with a crossbow, aiming downward from the window across and down from you. Towards the newly crowned pair.

You are part of a mysterious order of Shadows. Once you were regarded as highly loyal and skilled group that reached where their Kings hand couldn't reach. From diplomatic espionage to making sure some secrets don't reach outside the castle walls. You were a kid brought in from the street, clever and talented, with a bright future in front of you. Or as bright a future can be for someone who uses and manipulates the shadows. Doing work for nobles, for your Order, racing your childhood best friend/rival on the rooftops has seemed like a perfect life compared to what fate had started you out with.

No king has sat on the throne for as long as you and anyone you know has been alive.

That is no longer true.

---------------

This is my first IF project and I’m trying to keep things light and nice. With enough action and angst to keep things interesting. There are four (4) romance options with a wiggle room for a polyamorous route if enough spoons/coding skills.

Rating will be 16+ (just in case)

The demo is almost done with a few passages to be written and a small bit of code to be wrangled into working order. As such if you’re in mood to be a beta tester or sensitivity reader I’d love to hear from you. <3

The King, Darin, M, early 30s

The king looks stoic, the smile that occasionally tugs at his face does not reach his eyes and while his shoulders are broad and proud, in private you can see the gloomy man. He works during the day and night, a kingdom on verge of collapse after centuries without competent governance. The recently ended civil war does complicate the matters even more. That he is the one responsible for it all, responsible for annihilating any dissent (some of them family members) for this peace. He is everything a King should be and you can choose to become his confidante (maybe more) as it seems there’s no one else he trusts, except for his Queen. Their relationship is friendly, like two childhood friends at time. Everyone knows a heir is due at some point, the peaks of their private life you have seen indicate that it’s far off to the future. King Darin has dark brown skin and darker hair, though streaks of silver have started to form despite his young age. His brown and black eyes seem to look into your soul and read it full. A pair of eyes to drown in if one is so inclined. While he’s sworn to not carry his battle axe any longer, you have no problem to believe that he still could swing it like he used to.

The Queen, Kallas, F, early 30s

A warm golden skin and hazel eyes the Queen Kallas stands of average height but seems to tower over people with tall crown of black hair on which a simple gold and pearly circlet sits. She favours gold in her eyes and jewelry, the colourful clothing speaking of her merchant background.

Before she was the Queen of the kingdom, she was the queen of the merchants. Her soldiers fought not with weapons but with contracts, wares and gold. She was jokingly known as the ‘Golden Queen’ and now she is one for real. Her regal look gives authority to her husband, as do hers and her contacts vaults of gold. Where her husband looks carved from stone at times, she smiles and praises when needed and cuts down the opponent when so necessary.

She has not risen, was not chosen as queen by anyone else’s merit but her own. She gifts those close to her generously but also demands much of them and most are happy to obey.

You are rarely alone with her, though if you ask she is more than willing to let you in to the other side of governing and the art of making deals. She seems to enjoy your little talks during a cup of strong cup of kaffe.

The childhood friend/rival, Hede, Gender selectable, same age as MC

Your childhood friend and rival depending on choices and chance during your trials. They are your counterpart on missions and in life. Tall, pale and with striking white hair and pale grey eyes their appearance would garner admiration and attention, if they would not shroud themselves in the shadows, cloaks, and the white mask of your order all the time.

Their choice of weapons are a pair of daggers, quick and quiet.

When spoken to in more intimate settings, when it’s just the two of you, Hede is as quick witted with their tongue and a passion for history and tales of old.

Even if you are more rivals than close knit friends you know you could put your life into their hands. You know them to be honorable and you did grow up together under the same creed. Even when they take it as their mission to annoy you.

The servant, Ora, NB, late 20s

Short of height they are the pillar behind the Kings household. A frown often mars their face as they are too busy to listen to gossip. Even if much of the gossip might revolve around them. When they have a moment to relax or someone is lucky enough to get Ora flustered enough and close enough to peer under dark auburn curls to see heated cheeks under dark grey eyes. Their skin is a warm tawny colour and freckled where the sun has kissed. Their uniform during the working hours, which seem to be all hours of the day, is matching to the royal colours: dark yellow and grey.

They served with the king during the heights of the civil war so why they are now his aide and the head of servant’s baffles many. They are as focused and driven as their King, though seem to be perfectly fine to retreat to the shadows with you anytime a spotlight might shine on them. They are a calm, unstoppable force that not even the missing arm seems to slow down when they set their mind to something. Might need your help with reaching the top shelves, though.

Demo

Updated 29.08.2022

[tomtenadia]

A Little Braver - 67

And here we are with another chapter.

Yes, the cover image is a big giveaway but who is the one who is pregnant?? Also in the chapter the team attend a fire in a theatre. Before Covid I used to work as Front of House at the theatre here in Aberdeen. Fire drills were a big part of the training and every six months we had to go through refresher course and also a proper drills. I had  to perform a few evacuations but luckily they were always false alarms. And that’s when it get tricky. I had to deal with my share of people not happy and not willing to leave the premises. So the rules was three warming, then leave them and report them to the firefighters. THIS is my beloved theatre and I used it an an inspiration for this chapter. Finally, Rowan does an IO: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intraosseous_infusion

Aelin and Rowan walked hand in hand to the firehouse. The day was beautiful but cold and the roads were still covered in the heavy snow that had been battering Orynth non stop. At the side of the road in front of the station there was a snowman that had been built by the team the previous week. His arms went around her shoulder “Our friend there needs a bit of touching up.”

“Well, you boys can have fun a bit later.”

They reached the changing rooms and joined the rest of the team that was arriving too.

“Good morning, team.”

The ones present greeted her back and Rowan waved at them all. 

“We will be on shift on Hogmanay, we have to think of a menu,” suggested Ress.

Aelin raised her hands “just let me know when the food is ready.”

“I can help cook,” offered Rowan who had been cooking from time to time with high praise for his skills from the group.

“Not just you,” Aelin glared at her team “let someone help you.”

“Of course, cap it will probably be me and Brullo.”

Aelin closed her locker and kissed Rowan on the cheek “I will see you around,” and marched outside the changing room.

Rowan had soon learned that Aelin was always busy, he just had no idea how much until he started working at the firehouse. Some days they saw each others only in passing and during meals.

He finished wearing his uniform, closed the locker and walked to the ambulance and realised that neither Lys nor Elide were there yet so he started doing stock checks as both had taught him.

Lysandra had let Elide be in charge more often and allowed him to run some calls always with them at his side. He had loved it. 

He grabbed an inventory sheet and started doing his job.

Elide arrived ten minutes later “Morning Rowan, hard at work already?”

“I thought I’d get a head start.”

The woman smiled “is Lys here yet?”

Rowan shook his head and Elide took out her phone to text her.

“Looks like second shift left the ambulance all ready to go.”

“Good, let me have a quick look.”

He passed her the sheet. They still would double check things for him. Both ladies had explained that it was not for a lack of trust but something they were meant to be doing during the first few months of training. Rowan had not been offended. As instructor he would check all of his students pre- flight checks. After years being an instructor it was nice being a student once more.

“Rowan, can I ask you something?”

He nodded and Elide sat on the bench in the ambulance “Lorcan, I think he is struggling dealing with civilian life and at night sometimes he sleeps very fitfully. I am worried.”

Rowan nodded. He and Lorcan had a chat and he was aware that he was struggling too and his friend had been ranting about the slowness and disorganisation of the civilian world. They had discussed how to dress. Lorcan had only known uniforms since the age of nineteen. Now he was forty three and had no idea what was the correct dress code for a meeting. He felt weird at the fact that people did not finish the sentence with yes, sir and a few times he had the instinct to salute. Rowan had taken upon him the mission to teach his friend how to relax.

“I know, we spoke and I have been helping him. This is a lot for him. When he phoned me and confessed he quit I could not believe him,” he added “Lorcan comes from a military family. The male line of his family is military. Structure and rigid rules is all he has ever known.”

Elide sighed. Lorcan had tried to explain that to her.

“Even you are something new. Feelings… emotions, that is something Lorcan rarely considered,” he took her hand “He loves you, we spoke a lot when he was on deployment and you were his favourite subject.”

“How do I help him?”

“Patience and support. Don’t take it personally if he snaps. It’s probably because someone had decided to go to lunch on a whim instead of going when told so. Or a meeting late and not having received at least confirmation in triplicate copies.”

“Why it was not this hard for you to be a civilian again?”

Rowan chuckled “there are things that annoy me greatly but…” he paused “don’t be mad for what I am about to say. I had friends and then I was married. Lorcan was quite alone,” another sigh “did he ever tell you about his family?”

Elide shook her head.

“His dad was quite high up in the military and ran the house like an airbase. When Lorcan was twelve, his mother realised she could not take it anymore and filed for divorce. The battle for custody was brutal and they had no idea how much it had affected Lorcan,” he told her “when high school was over he signed up for the military just to stay away from his parents. He became closed off and the military took out of him the little spark of joy he had left.”

“I did not know…”

“All of this he is going through is new territory from him. It will be difficult.”

“I want to help.”

“Then talk to him,” his hand went on her shoulder.

In that instant Lysandra  arrived running “sorry I am late. I need to speak with Aelin and I will be back.”

Elide nodded at her friend rushed state. That was not common in Lys.

The dark-haired woman walked quickly to Aelin’s office and knocked. Once the voice told her to go in she did so.

“Hello you,”

“I am late, I am sorry I had… a crazy morning,” she sat down on the chair in front of Aelin while the blonde woman stood and moved in front of the desk leaning against it “did something happen?”

“Kinda…. Yes…” Lysandra was nervous, something that Aelin had rarely seen “I was at the doctor.”

“Are you okay?”

A huge grin spread on Lysandra’s face “more than okay.”

“Okay… spit it out.”

“I am pregnant.”

Aelin froze and absorbed the confession her friend just made, then she threw herself in Lysandra’s arms “You are pregnant…” she pulled back “I thought you guys had placed the idea on hold for now.”

“We did,” she admitted quietly “after… after Gavriel’s death we, I, told Ae I wanted to try. Your cousin was over the moon.”

“Lys this is incredible. I am so excited for the two of you.”

“Thanks,” she nodded “I will have to talk to chief Harker. I might work until Rowan finishes his training period then ask to be transferred at the academy until maternity leave kicks in.”

“Sounds like a good plan.”

Lysandra wrangled her fingers nervously “I will probably not come back. I have been building up experience as an instructor as a plan b. Once I have the kid, firehouse life will not be good and with Ae and me on shifts, I can’t. At the academy I will have a regular schedule.”

Aelin smiled “I had a feeling…” she admitted “since you started teaching I had an inkling that you were paving your path to plan b.”

“I love this place…”

Aelin hugged her again “I know, but you have to do what works best for you.”

“You are not mad at me?”

“Why? Lys this is amazing and I have a feeling it will help Aedion too, to recover from his dad’s death. You both need it,” then she grinned widely “and you finally make me an aunt.”

Lysandra laughed “I will make sure you and Rowan babysit enough so you get used to kids for when you two finally decide to start reproducing.”

“Ansel will finally have her firehouse baby.”

“I need to talk with Chief Harker before I can tell everyone. At the moment only you and Ae know about it.”

“My mouth is sealed.”

“Thank you.” Lys stood “now let me go back, I left them in a rush.”

“Go.”

Lysandra disappeared and Aelin quickly texted Aedion Lys told me. I am so happy for you both.

Lysandra walked back to the ambulance and saw Elide and Rowan finishing to ready the vehicle for the shift.

“I am back.”

“What happened?” Asked Elide with apprehension.

“Just stuff I had to discuss with Aelin,” she lied and had a feeling that Elide did not buy it.

“Fine keep your secrets,” she gave him the paperwork for the day “Rowan and I got the rig all ready.”

“I have nothing left to teach you,” she added while going through the documents.

They closed the doors and walked to the common room which was empty since the team was probably around the station during all their start of shift checks. 

The morning had been quiet until dispatch alarm went off.

Aelin rushed at the front mustering her teams to their vehicles, she jumped in the engine “did I hear correctly? The King’s theatre is on fire?”

Nox nodded and started driving. Aelin swore, that was a smaller theatre but it was on those that she and Rowan frequented a lot due to its great schedule.

They arrived and quickly parked on the pavement in front of the theatre and saw that people were already evacuating. Good the staff was doing their job correctly. She jumped off the vehicle and ran to the Fire Marshal outside the building “What’s the situation?”

“The fire started on stage during the show. We have started the evacuation immediately and my fire champions for each level are now doing their sweeps, no one has come back yet with the all clear.”

Aelin nodded “Manon, take Luca and Ress and got to the upper circle, the topmost floor,” she turned “Nox, Ren you two do the dress circle, the middle floor,” she looked at the remaining members “Borte, Brullo and Wes, start with the stalls down stairs. Kyllian, I want you to sweep the foyers and toilets but first of all switch off the mains. Asterin, Ansel, with me backstage.” Aelin turned to the woman in charge “we need to get access to the stage and see where the fire originated.”

The woman removed her pass and gave it to Aelin “via the stalls, under the orchestra pit you have a door, it will take you backstage.”

They all geared up and proceeded inside amid the flow of public members still leaving the premises. All the evacuation doors at the side had been opened and that allowed the smoke to be released allowing some visibility. 

The fire curtain had done its job and had prevented the fire from spreading off stage.

She did a walk around and noticed that the fire had enveloped the whole side, curtains included. Aelin looked up and saw sparks coming from the light above. Damn, electrical fire “Asterin, Ansel let’s get a water line and some carbon dioxide extinguisher and a ladder.”

Over the radio she listened to her team sweeping the levels and dealing with people refusing to evacuate.

“Guys, drag them out, I don’t care.”

“Of course, cap but a guy punched Ress. He is drunk.”

“Manon, take the man down and talk to the manager and call PD.”

The three of them re entered the venue with their equipment. They saw the staff in the distance taking out the last few spectators. Good.

Aelin looked up and leaned the ladder against the walkway. There was probably a way to climb up there with the stairs but it would take too much time. She quickly climbed up “it will kill the electric fire then we can attack with water.”

Aelin threw a rope down to Ansel “tie the extinguisher here.” Ansel did as ordered and a moment later Aelin was grabbing the extinguisher and moved toward the origin point and worked on the fire. Asterin joined a moment later with her extinguisher. The electrical fire was put off efficiently and Ansel started the water immediately. Aelin looked down and now clear of fire she noticed a man “shit,” she kneeled at his side and noticed the burns on his upper body. The searched for a pulse and found it “Lys, I have a burn victim, breathing shallow and weak pulse.”

“Copy that, we are coming in.”

“It’s a height rescue.”

“Copy that.”

Asterin went back down to assist the paramedics.

Aelin looked down and saw the three of them coming in. Elide stopped when she realised where they were meant to go. She saw Lysandra speak to her and just her and Rowan climbed the tall ladder under Asterin’s supervision.

Rowan was the first one up and Lys right behind him. She peeled back and let them work.

Lysandra started with intubation and asked Rowan to try and place an IV.

She studied him get ready and was amazed at his skills. No one would guess that he had been a paramedic for only a month.

“Can’t find a vein in his upper body.” 

Lys looked at him “check the legs, they seem okay.”

Rowan looked at the legs and found them clear of burns.

“Good, go with a IO.”

Rowan looked at her in shock. He had only covered that in theory.

“I know you can do it, I am here but I am dealing with other problems so I need you to do this.”

Rowan nodded and rummaged through his jump bag and grabbed his tools. Then touched the leg and found the right spot as Lysandra had taught him.

The woman nodded and he drilled in the bone going through his head all the steps. Once he was done he proceeded inserting the IV.

“That was a text book IO,” she smiled at him.

“Aelin, we need a stoke basket to carry him down. He is stable now.”

Her friend shouted some order over the radio and a few minutes later they had Brullo running inside. Aelin was at the top of the ladder and threw him a rope which he tied at one side and she pulled the basket along the ladder.

At the top they placed the victim securely “Brullo, I will anchor myself the the balcony and the basket and let it slide down the ladder. I need you to climb up and pull it down as I let it slide very slowly.”

The man nodded and positioned himself on the ladder. Aelin secured herself and the basket and with Rowan’s help they moved the victim at the top of the ladder.

Very carefully she let the rope go one small bit at a time. It was painfully slow, and when the basket finally landed on the stage Ansel and Asterin helped Brullo to disengage all the ropes and lifted the basket on the gurney at Elide’s side.

Lysandra and Rowan arrived a moment later and the three ran away quickly followed by the three firefighters to help them carry the man via the stairs.

Aelin sat at the top of the balcony and looked at her damaged theatre. Ansel had put out the fire which luckily had spread only as far as the stage. Eventually she stood and climbed down, collected ropes and ladder and reached her team outside.

In front of the theatre her team was gathered and formed a cordon to stop people from re entering the venue while in a corner she spotted Manon and Ress talking with Nesryn and her partner.

Aelin walked to the manager “that’s the fire out. We found one of your technicians up in the walkway. It looks like it was an electric fire but I will have to do some investigation.” She explained, running her hand through her sweaty hair “I need to commend your staff for the excellent evacuation skills.”

“Thank you. We trained them quite regularly and I am sorry one of your men got attacked.”

“That will make our incident reports more fun,” she grinned “Is there a way for me to reach the walkway without climbing a ladder?”

The woman nodded “I’ll take you.”

They both walked back inside and Aelin was taken back at the top “stay just over there.”

Aelin moved near to the origin point and switched on her torch and started looking around and that’s when she felt a drop fall on her head. She illuminated the roof and saw a darker stain on the ceiling while another drop fell. She crouched and analysed the fallen lamp that had possibly caused the fire and noticed that the cable had signs of wire damage. Then she turned her head and spotted a pool of water and a few cables inside.

“There’s water damage in the roof,” and she illuminated the affected area “that is also were the main cables holding the lights are attached. I can see the roof peeling off from here. The water eroded the structure and eventually it crashed. While doing so, it pulled all the cables that, once free ended up in the puddle here,” and showed the woman the wet cables “and sparked the fire. The curtains were open and pulled aside and being fabric they just went up easily. The fire curtain being activated in a timely manner prevented the fire to spread in the stalls.”

“We had roof issues last year and got them fixed,” she sighed “apparently not as well as we were told.”

Aelin sighed “I love this theatre and this breaks my heart.”

“We’ll make sure it comes back better than ever.”

The two women returned outside and found theatre staff dealing with a displeased crowd with the help of her team.

Sometimes she hated people. The theatre had been on fire and a man almost died and all these idiots were thinking about were their belonging and a refund.

Aelin walked at the front “Everyone shut up,” she screamed “no one is going back inside to collect their belonging. We will do that and pass everything to the theatre staff and they will advise you how to proceed for collection.” One man bolted for the main door but Brullo stopped him promptly. The displeasure mounted and Aelin had a desire to unleash a hose on them just to shut them all up.

She let the manager deal with the angry crowd and walked to Ress and Manon “How is going here?”

“We finished our statement, cap.” Aelin nodded at Nesryn and then looked at Ress, whose cheekbone bore a cut and a bruise was starting to appear. The assailant was already cuffed and in the police car.

PD left and Aelin touched Ress’ face “he got you good.”

“The arsehole. He was totally wasted and when I told him to leave he started shouting saying that it was just a false alarm and he was waiting for the show to restart,” he explained “I told him twice then I grabbed his arm to drag him out and that’s when he punched me.”

“He went wild we had to call Nox to help us drag him downstairs.”

“Come on, let’s do overhaul, we have to collect all the belongings for the angry mob.”

“I hate people,” muttered Manon as they walked back inside the theatre.

Almost two hours later they arrived back at the station, the ambulance parked in its spot.

East team climbed down the vehicles and ran for the bathroom to freshen up.

Aelin walked back in the common room and saw Rowan cooking and it looked as if Luca had just joined in to help him.

“When did you come back?”

“Ages ago,” said Lys sipping on her iced tea.

“How’s the victim?”

“He’ll be shipped to the burn unit. His torso was the worst part. His safety helmet shielded his face in part.”

Aelin nodded and tilted her head to Rowan “you let him do a IO?”

“He has to learn and I was busy.”

“As long as you don’t get into trouble.”

Lysandra smiled “the doctor at the hospital actually complimented him.”

Aelin nodded at Lys and her friend nodded back in acknowledgement of their unspoken conversation. Lys was making sure that Rowan was trained as much as possible to become Elide’s second.

Then another nod and Aelin knew. Lysandra had spoken with Chief Harker. She was happy and in that instant Lysandra walked to the middle of the common room and called for attention.

“I have an announcement,” she shouted and smiled “We have a firehouse baby on the way.”

Chaos erupted and everyone rushed to Lysandra to hug her while Ansel ran around the room shouting firehouse baby.

Aelin was leaning against the wall and watched her team celebrate. They all deserved that moment of happiness. From across the room she saw Rowan smiling at her. Her hunch had been right.

“So, who won the bet?’ She asked from her spot. 

“Asterin is the one who got closer and said the end of November. Everyone else had summer or spring,” announced Nox who had been the one in charge of this betting pool.

Not long after Rowan announced lunch was ready and Ress took over and started distributing the food around while he sat down beside Aelin and kissed her forehead “our theatre is out of action,” he said quietly.

Aelin sighed heavily “I know, and probably for a while. It was a roof problem. Water leaked, damaged the structure and wires snapped and puff,” she squeezed his hand under the table “I am proud of you.”

His grin was beautiful.

In the afternoon Lorcan, Connall and Vaughan popped in for a visit and Elide walked quickly to her boyfriend stamping a kiss on his lips. Lorcan had eventually dropped the mask at least at the station. They had seen him with Elide enough that there was no point lying anymore.

“Hi guys,”

The four walked in the common room and were welcomed by the whole team. Rowan smiled wickedly at Lorcan when he saw him with an arm around her shoulder.

“You just missed lunch, but you can have coffee or tea.”

“Lor and I will take coffee, Vaughan is posh and takes tea.”

The group started laughing and Ren started preparing the drinks while the three sat down.

“Bored with civilian life already?” Asked Rowan while sipping his coffee.

“No, we just went to sign some documents to start with flight school.”

Ress’ ears perked up “Flight school? As you in you are going to flight school?”

Vaughan laughed “no, we are opening one.”

Ress raised his hand “once you are up and running you already have a customer. I want a PPL.”

“We have an eager bunny.”

“Are you kidding me?” The man was excited “I was not good enough for the airforce but I can do this,” he turned to Aelin “I am not bailing. But it will allow me to fly air ambulances as well. Apparently they have a chronic shortage of pilots. Of course all on my days off.”

Aelin smiled “look at you all, coming here and giving my firefighters a plan b.”

“Oh, we are not stealing your firefighters, captain, don’t worry,” added Vaughan while sipping his tea. The guys had started visiting the firehouse on odd occasions and the team had got accustomed to them. Lorcan was of course a guest ad honorem since he was dating Elide. From time to time they would also pop into south station and check on Fenrys. 

Rowan stared at her from the corner and smiled “As long as you let Vaughan and Con do all the teaching. Lor has little patience,” he grinned staring at his friend.

Lorcan, while holding his mug lifted his middle finger and the station burst out laughing now accustomed to their antics.

“Anyway, Ress, if you really want to do it, let us know and we will give you an amazing discount.”

“Rowan, you are not helping them teach?” The question had come from Asterin.

Aelin looked at him and saw his face turn dark. She knew Rowan still had the occasional itch to fly and remembered their discussion during the wildfires. She knew he missed flying but he had told her that he had no intention on joining his former team in their new adventure. He had confessed that he wanted to concentrate on his new career and just borrow a plane only when he felt the need to be in the skies once more. Aelin had a feeling that the idea of teaching was still a sore topic. He had loved to be an instructor while still in the airforce and losing that had been the hardest part of his breakup with the force.

“No, but I might go and fly when I feel the itch for it. I will leave the teaching to them.”

Aelin looked at Asterin and gave a look to tell her to drop the subject.

Later on in the afternoon, Aelin was in her office when someone knocked. She lifted her head from the paperwork and spotted Rowan “Come in.”

“You were, right,” he told her while sitting on the chair opposite to her. Aelin looked at him in a question.

“About Lys.”

She grinned “I had a feeling. Yes, they told us all they were waiting but no one believed them. Lys had always wanted kids and don’t get me started on Aedion.”

Rowan chuckled.

“And I was also right on her plan b. Lys has been building experience as an instructor just for this,” explained Aelin “Firehouse life is hard with kids, so she will become a teacher and have a regular life with decent hours.”

Rowan sighed “she is an incredible teacher and a skilled paramedic. I have learned so much from her already.”

“Keep learning, because you might get to stay here with Elide as her second,” she paused “I am not saying it will happen, Chief Harker assigns paramedics I have no say, but Lys will and I am sure she will do all she can to leave Elide with a partner she trusts and likes.”

Rowan looked outside the window “I know that I have been a paramedic for only a month, but I love this job deeply. All my life all I wanted to do was fly. I thought that my life began and ended with the airforce and my plane,” and deep sigh “but this job makes me happy in a way the airforce never did. I love it. Even on the tough days. Do you think…” a pause and his eyes fell on her “do you think this is how it was meant to be from the start? All the pain was a way for us to get to this point?”

Aelin stood and stopped before him, her hands carded in his long hair and kissed his forehead “I don’t know, buzzard. I always think that if the airbase had been in another area of Orynth, I’d never met you, and the thought pains me greatly,” another gentle kiss “but the cheesy romantic part in me wants to believe that we were meant to meet that day.” Aelin rolled her eyes “it was in the stars.”

Rowan laughed and wrapped his arms around her waist “did I ever tell you how I love you being mushy for once?”

She kissed his nose with tenderness “shh, I have a reputation.”

Rowan’s hand pulled her shirt off her trousers and tucked his hand underneath touching skin “Oh, yes… the naughty captain.” His voice gruff all of a sudden. 

“Rowan…” at her tone he stopped.

“I know, we are at work, dispatch alarm…” he kissed her again “I will ravish you as soon as we are back home.

Aelin stood and tucked her shirt back in her trousers and brushed her hand in his hair once more. She loved it. Since he had let it grow it had become her past time. His hair was always soft and always mused how it was possible that it was better than hers. She was jealous.

Rowan stood and kissed her one last time “I’ll let you work. I’ll go back annoying Lorcan.”

“You are mean.”

The grin he gave before leaving the office was one of the most stunning thing she ever saw.

TAGS:

@rowaelinismyotp​ @swankii-art-teacher​ @courtofjurdan​ @whimsicallyreading​ @bruiseonthefaceofhumanity​ @acreativelydifferentlove @mis-lil-red​ @thegreyj​ @sailorsassley​ @leiawritesstories​ @clairec79 @morganofthewildfire​ @sv0430​ @heartless--aromantic @autumnbabylon​ @rowanaelinn​ @backtobl4ck​ @susumaus98​ @gracie-rosee​ @mybloodrunsblue​ @tanvee1231 @avenrebekah​ @whoever-you-choose-to-love​ @theywillnotsingforme​ @universallytreepost @black-daisy-water​ @goddess-aelin​

[pen-observing]

request: how lucifer, mammon, satan, belphegor and diavolo react and find out about you having 'I now own your soul' under the terms and conditions of a webpage.

Lucifer:

While Lucifer is certainly busy all the time, and tries to balance it by having you in his study as he works, he can’t hide how tired he has actually been for the past 4 weeks.

All you know is that Diavolo has made the meetings more frequent and they are taking a toll on him

And since he means that much to you, regardless of if you wish to acknowledge it or not, you have to ask what is going on once he stands up and walks over to reach for another bottle from his shelf Lucifer does not drink that often and he certainly doesn’t try to avoid work by drinking.

Just what could be making him act this way?

“Lucifer, you have to tell me what is going on.”

He stands on his side of the desk just pouring another glass down.

Curse him for being elegant and showing his forearms while doing so!

And then he dares to look at you with full focus and furrowed eyebrows and he is about to say something and he looks like-

‘no. You are human.’

Fuck.

“Come on! You know I won’t tell anyone!”

He does trust you at least after so long.

"Very well. I will tell you since it has something to do with a human. If, by any chance, you spread the information, the price you pay will be a heavy one."

He can’t intimidate you that much but you know when he is serious.

"You see, recently, Diavolo has had more issues than ever with someone we like to call ‘code soul stealer"

“Uhn,, and that is?”

He takes a sip of his drink and holds the glass while looking at you.

“Apparently, a pesky human added ‘I now own your soul’ in their terms and conditions on a web page and some application. With this, they have stolen many souls and Diavolo has grown even more concerned these past few weeks since the page is just gaining popularity.”

Oh fuck, oh fuck. Thats you that he is calling a pesky human! You only did it as a joke because you saw a meme! It wasn’t supposed to make an enemy out of you to the prince of hell!

How are you supposed to tell Lucifer that? How will he react?

Maybe if you do tell him it will actually create more good than harm?

Or, you could hide it for the rest of your life and- no! The honest way with Lucifer is the best way. He trusts you enough so you have to trust him too!

“Lucifer...I am the pesky human you are referring to...”

He drops the glass. 

“I swear I had no idea souls were actually real and now I own a lot of them! O-On the good side I went viral 4 weeks ago so...oh, that is why you’ve been so busy....sorry.”

Lucifer says nothing.

He just falls into the chair in the most dramatic way you’ve ever seen.

He covers his face with both hands and groans into them loudly.

If you were not ‘code soul stealer’ you would laugh at him right now. But he has to figure out a way to protect you now.

Mammon:

You see, dating Mammon means that you two will bicker plenty.

However, it is usually silly stuff that you bicker about like; are gold or silver lines better on this cup of tea or not?

He just loves you too much to get into a serious argument with you.

However, Levi dragged you both to play a spy/heist game that just came out and Mammon cannot accept to lose such a challenge.

He is not proud that people call him thief, but he is proud and believes he has the skills to back up his many enrichment-plans

So the fact that you won against him for 3 times in a row is UNNACCEPTABLE under this dark, dark sky.

Mammon denies it all. ‘i went easy on you’; ‘I did it cuz you are happy when you win’ and ‘please, don’t you know who I am? I am THE Mammon!”

And while he is cute while bickering, sometimes it becomes unbearable.

So, you do what any normal human would: you challenge him by listing your biggest ‘heist’ ever.

“You don’t know who you are talking to! I have created a heist unlike any other! I have stolen a million souls so far! The DevilTV refers to me as – unstoppable soul collector!”

Levi left long ago so Mammon is standing there completely stunned with the stupidest look on his face so far. He kind of looks like a blowfish.

Still, he runs and puts a hand over your mouth and whispers:

“Don’t yell! We don’t want others to know that we run that business!”

Excuse him? Who is this –we- he speaks of?

“You will add your boyfriend to those plans, won’t you?”

Mammon will not let shock stand in the way of money or souls. You can explain to him how you managed that later but for now – just add him as your accomplice.

Satan:

You love your boyfriend.

You really, really do.

You love seeing him so excited and focused on finding clues to the newest Devildom mystery that you chose to let him have his fun by not telling him YOU were the one he was searching for.

And while you love him that much, you are about to ruin the whole game.

Why does he think it is appropriate to own 48 pairs of the same Sherlock Holmes outfit with THE UGLIEST MATCHING HATS YOU HAVE EVER LAID YOUR EYES ON.

First, he wore them in his ‘detective office’ only. Also known as the Lamentation house storage room for cleaning products. And that was fine, it was.

But then he started to wear them inside the house and in the garden. The saddest day was when a cat knocked the ugly hat off and ran away with it. Oh praise that cat! Praise the little paws!

However, he has gone too far.

He knows no bounds and shows no signs of stopping.

He started wearing the outfits OUTSIDE! In the middle of cobblestone paths of the main street while you were trying to have a nice date!

"Who knows where the soul snatching culprit could be hiding? I must wear this outfit everywhere to catch their clues. Trust me.”

That is it.

If one more iguana-looking-ass demon points their finger at you two and snickers as you walk past – he will have a rude wake up call.

How is it possible that he is trying to catch the culprit that is you but doesn’t pay any attention to you?

So, when you arrive home and he walks into the mop closet to add another unrelated photo to his crazy whiteboard as a clue – you tell him to sit down for a moment.

“Satan, honey, I have something to tell you about your soul snatching culprit.”

That definitely got his attention.

Finally! He is actually looking at you!

You lean down and gently kiss his head.

“I am the culprit you’re looking for. How does it feel to completely miss something right under your nose?”

He freezes up and throws a pen towards the whiteboard. It just bounces off and hits him in the back.

“You....you mean to tell me that,,, the biggest Devil Mystery TV phenomenon is ACTUALLY YOU?”

You are met with complete disbelief. Satan demands a detailed explanation on how you did it. He even tells you to use his whiteboard to retrace your steps!

...good luck...

Belphegor:

Will Belphegor ever actually publicly say that he has changed because of you? No.

Will he ever actually admit that to other brothers besides Beel when they’re talking in the late hours of the night in their room? Oh, absolutely not.

Will he tell you? Yes.

Yes but.. He will leave something out.

Sometimes Belphie looks at how you smile and remembers things that make him famous in this realm.

Yes, he is one of the most powerful demons and yes, he has a reputation of rebellion and the biggest steak of unattendance in RAD but

He is also a fairly famous scholar.

His papers and research are cited on the regular.

But when you smile and say a witty joke – he remembers that most of them focus around him proving just how dumb or naïve humans actually are.

But, you’re human and he hopes that you never see those.

Except that you do.

Because he is so famous it is no surprise that while looking for research papers to reference for your next assignment you saw his name while browsing through

And while you love him - you will not allow him to just diss the whole mankind.

So, you grab one of them from the library. Walk home, go to the attic while he is napping and open it up, putting it right on his face.

It takes a couple of seconds but he feels something is wrong and his hand reaches for it.

When he pulls it away, he is met with his thesis that was further developed from the seduction speech class assignment.

It sets it up as: ‘Seduction speech as a matter of blatant deception that humans always fall for but could never recreate.’

You are not even that mad at it to be honest.

But proving him wrong is always fun. And little does he know about your biggest secret ever.

“I will cut right to the chase and say – fix your bangs I want to see the way your eyes look when I tell you this!”

“I wonder who messed up my bangs with the academic paper in the first place?” is what he replies but his hand is already on his forehead.

“Whatever. Prepare to be amazed! I am the one the elders of the devildom are always ranting about on TV! Yes, I am the ‘pesky little human’ who is stealing away ‘edible’ souls! How is that for your thesis now? Is that not true deception?!”

He likes your smile still. You’re standing in front of the bed looking at him with sparkling eyes and clenched fists while striking a pose. It is silly really but he smiles.

Because you are.

And while he will ask you a bit more about that claim, he is just happy to know that maybe his next academic paper (which everyone eagerly awaits) will be tad more positive to your kind.

Diavolo:

You got an urgent call from Barbatos.

On the doorstep he told you that Diavolo needs you in his study.

What could you do that Barbatos can’t and will help Diavolo? Does such a thing even exist?

You walk inside of his office and are pretty sure Barbatos did not want to go inside because of the fact that a rat could be hiding under the mountain of papers that are all around the room.

Usually, Diavolo immediately stands up, lights up the room with his smile and stretches out his hands for a hug.

Now? He hears the doors open and looks at you with a weak smile while his head is resting on his elbows from behind the desk.

He has never looked worse.

“Barbatos said you called for me?”

You are unsure where to begin with this so you state a fact while thinking of questions to ask.

“He has? I have done no such thing?”

Great. Now both of you are confused.

“Can you tell me what is going on?”

Diavolo sighs and his smile is still nowhere to be seen.

“The elders have been so annoying lately. I understand that the biggest threat to the Devildom and everyone’s life here still has not been identified but there is nothing I can do except search!”

Just what threat is that? What could be making Diavolo so miserable?

“They keep comparing me to my father without actually offering any ways of fixing this!”

“I will try to offer some way if you tell me what the threat is!”

There you are, making a grand exclamation and promise while trying to avoid papers on the floor. Diavolo sighs again.

“A human is ruining our business! They somehow set up a page that allowed them to own souls by consent in some application under the terms and conditions. I mean, this has never happened before! Humans were never expected to think of that or have access to such means! And the name they used was fake. How am I supposed to find them and then burn them in the darkest pits of hell as the elders want me to?”

You stop trying to avoid the papers.

Did...did he just say darkest pits of hell? Did he just say the elders want YOU burned?!

How are you supposed to fix this? It was a fucking joke! You did not imagine this could ever happen!

“Diavolo you promised you would protect me no matter what, right?”

His eyes are serious when you say that. “Yes. I will. Is something amiss?”

“Diavolo.... I am the enemy your elders want to burn.. PLEASE DON’T LET THEM! MY SKIN JUST ADJUSTED TO THIS TEMPERATURE!”

Diavolo looks at you and laughs like never before. It is cute, it is childlike. His laugh finally lights up the room.

He thinks you are joking.

He thinks you are joking and abruptly stops once he realizes that you did not join in on the laugh.

You were just trying to crack a joke and make him feel better, right? There is no way that is true, right? But judging from your reaction he knows it is.

So, he grows serious once more.

He runs to embrace you.

“Please tell me you are willing to make a compromise because the elders do not care about how your skin adjusts to the temperature.”

[autisticandroids]

Okay so this was a while back but im preety sure you had mentioned an au of yours where dean is a serial killer and cas successfully stalks him but i don't think you talked about it more than that and i just really want to hear a bit more bc that idea sounds so tastefully fucked up

okay so. weeks later i finally end up answering this ask. it inspired this post btw. anyway spn is a show that's like. all about justifications, as i said in the post inspired by this ask. it's about having no choice and doing what you have to do. and like there is the phantasy embedded in it, a phantasy that is both indulged and punished. but most importantly it's justified. the monsters are super strong to show how brave our heroes are for fighting them, the main characters let out great wails of grief every time their lady loves are violently ripped from them (even though now they are free to do whatever they want), the narrative twists to show our heroes as correct whatever they do. the fantasy (of being allowed to enact violence, of being free from feminine "control," of being right) comes first. the material construction of the universe of supernatural comes afterward. whatever the fantasy is, the universe of supernatural will provide material conditions to justify its acting-out.

and what this means is that our protagonists, dean in particular, are constantly doing just horrific things, which in any other circumstance would be unconscionable. but the universe of supernatural provides justification for these acts. the point of my serial killer au which i think about so so so much is to ask the question: what if these justifications melted out from under their feet? what if dean was left holding nothing but a lie and the weight of everything he's done?

therefore, the premise of my au is such (under the cut because this baby is long):

john and mary winchester, in the mid seventies, joined a doomsday cult known as the men of letters. the men of letters were rather unusual for a doomsday cult, in that they believed that the apocalypse could be prevented by human behavior. this started as correct living, correct worship, yadda yadda, the kind of behavior and thought control that cults are known for, but with the justification of: if you don't do this, the world will end. eventually, this escalated to human sacrifice. the men of letters managed to untraceably kill two homeless people in the late seventies. but they eventually fell apart. however, a month after john and mary left the men of letters (mostly john's choice, mary still believed), mary died in a house fire. john took it as a sign from god that actually, the men of letters were right, and the world would end unless john himself did something about it. so he took some of the (intensely numerological) theology of the men of letters. and he worked out his own formula. and he applied it to the yellow pages. and started ritualistically killed people to prevent the apocalypse, with his two sons in the back of the car.

now, obviously, this is some kind of grief induced temporary madness on john's part, shaped by the mental abuse he suffered in the men of letters. but the thing is, once you've killed a couple of people to prevent the apocalypse. well. there's this thing called the sunk costs fallacy. john wasn't gonna question his own beliefs after that.

and he raised his boys to believe it, too, or at least he raised dean to. they didn't tell sam what they did until he was twelve, and sam didn't buy it, tried to call the cops on them several times but in the end, they always prevented him. eventually sam ran off to stanford, where he now lives under a cloud of guilt that he's too loyal to his family to rat them out.

john died a few years back of a heart attack, but dean is convinced it's because he messed up a ritual two weeks before it happened, so it pushed him further into this belief system.

dean's killings (and john's before him) are ritualistic and distinctive, obviously the same killer each time. but they happen anywhere in the united states, seemingly at random, there are inconsistent amounts of time between each one (sometimes as short as days, sometimes as long as years), and there is no particular victim profile. obviously, since our killers are following an arcane mathematical formula to make their choices for them, but the police don't know that.

castiel novak is an unemployed shut-in with a small inheritance which he's living off of, a cryptography degree, and an obsession with all things morbid. he spends most of his time on the reddit true crime forums, playing amateur sleuth. by complete chance, he happens to recognize one of the symbols frequently used in corpse displays by the so-called sioux falls satanic slaughterer (so named because the first time three of his victims were in the same part of the country, it so happened that they were all in sioux falls, south dakota. this was in the late eighties.) as being mostly only used by a little known cult group called the men of letters, which dissolved in the mid eighties.

he only notices this because, as a teen, he had a special interest in cults and fringe religious groups. the men of letters weren't a particularly notable or well known phenomenon; they were small, and a lot like every other cult that formed during the seventies cult boom. (no outsider ever heard about the human sacrifice; there were rumors, of course, but they were garbled, sensationalized, and mixed up with satanic panic fodder.)

(the men of letters' two sacrifices were nothing particularly romantic or fantastical. they first lured panhandler josie sands back to their compound with promises of food and a warm bed when she admitted she couldn't get a bed at a shelter, and was thinking of getting caught shoplifting just so she could be under a roof in the county jail. the men of letters' leader, a man who took on the name alistair, forced his inner circle to dress in the ceremonial black robes he had given them when he initiated them into his nearest and dearest, and which his wife had sewn out of old bed sheets and dyed black with home made oak gall dye. these robes still left black smudges on the wearer's skin occasionally if they sweated too much. josie was laid, bound, on the altar, a slapdash thing constructed over the course of two days from scrap plywood and a couple of milk crates. a rich red tablecloth purchased at macy's for $3.99 hid its ugliness and gave it grandeur. alistair attempted to kill the struggling miss sands by bringing a sharpened kitchen knife down on her bosom and piercing her heart, but, having never killed a human or even slaughtered an animal before, was unaware of the problem presented by the human ribcage. after rather ineffectually poking at the area beneath sands' bosom with his knife while she shrieked in pain and terror for about ninety seconds, alistair tried a different tack, and slit her throat, which worked just fine, and she bled out quite nicely. the second and final victim of the men of letters was a local vagrant named larry ganem, an older gentleman who walked with a limp. he was lured back to the compound in approximately the same manner as sands, but instead of being bound, he was fed stew laced with sleeping pills. even if alistair hadn't slit his throat, he wouldn't have woken up. it's actually arguable whether he was still alive at time of sacrifice; mary winchester (eight months into her first pregnancy), who, as a member of the inner circle, was in attendance, actually tried to take ganem's pulse as he lay on the altar (now covered by a different tablecloth; the red one had turned stiff with sands' blood and been subsequently burned) and found nothing, so it is entirely possibly only sands' death can be directly laid at alistair's feet, and ganem's is the fault of mrs. ellen harvelle, who prepared the laced stew. regardless, these two deaths are lessons in the nature of human evil: it is very rarely skilled, suave, or smooth. it's often slapdash, half-hearted, and just plain incompetent. but that makes it no less grisly. alistair may have begun to drink his own kool-aid, as it were, and escalated this far out of genuine belief that the apocalypse was coming and it was up to him to stop it, but it is far more likely that he sensed the imminent collapse of his little empire, and wanted to bind his subjects to him through the horrors of shared guilt, considering two lives a small price to pay for the continued loyalty of his inner circle. and the tactic worked: the men of letters didn't start to collapse in earnest until almost four years later. perhaps if alistair had continued the killings, the men of letters could have lasted for far longer, maybe even up until the present day. but it seems that alistair, a psychiatrist by training and unused to violence, simply didn't have the stomach for it. unlike, say, john winchester, who before his time with the men of letters had done a two year tour in vietnam, during which he had killed three living, thinking human beings with the american government's go-ahead.)

anyway. castiel is the first person, ever, to make the connection between the men of letters and the sioux falls satanic slaughterer. and once that connection is made, castiel begins to research the men of letters far more in-depth. and he notices something: the theology of the men of letters was intensely numerological, filled with patterns, significant numbers, and even spiritual equations.

castiel thinks of the seemingly random selection of the slaughterer's victims, and has an epiphany.

he cracks all his fingers, and gets coding.

six months. it takes castiel six months to discover an equation that could fit the slaughterer's pattern. it's complex, but also clearly based on several of the men of letters' holy numbers, and accounts for every single one of the killings. it also suggests that there should have been two or three more deaths scattered across the years, but more than likely those did happen, it's just that they weren't reported as part of the slaughterer's portfolio.

but much more importantly, castiel's model can also make predictions. there will be two killings, fifteen days apart, in a city seven hours' drive away, six weeks from now.

so castiel waits. and he books a hotel room. and two months later, he's waiting outside 217 oak street when a shadowy figure climbs up a tree and lets itself into the upstairs window.

dean winchester is feeling particularly all alone in the world when he breaks into maisey banks' home (217 oak street). his father has been dead for half a decade, and he hasn't spoken to his baby brother for twice that. it's not like this whole grizzly saving the world business makes him a lot of friends. so once he's done killing maisey (which is easy, she was ninety three and dying of cancer anyway. she doesn't even wake up when he slits her throat) and arranging her corpse in the appropriate manner, with prayers and sigils, he turns around. and sees a man standing behind him.

smiling slightly.

as he watches dean gut this old woman.

dean freezes.

the man takes a step forward.

"you're very attractive for a serial killer who's been operating since the eighties."

dean is silent.

"family business, is it?"

silence continues.

"i'm not here to report you to police. i'm just here to see if my algorithm worked right."

and dean finally breaks his silence: "what the hell is wrong with you?"

what's fun here is that dean knows (or rather "knows") that he isn't a serial killer. so he finds what cas is doing, this amoral serial killer stormchasing, morally repugnant. because cas has no way of knowing he isn't a regular serial killer.

there's also the fact that that cas proceeds to flirt with him. aggressively. and follows him back to his motel.

but the thing is that dean is all alone in the world. and as cas continues trailing him around, he starts getting, well, flattered. and feeling a little bit less alone.

it doesn't take very long before they fall into bed. even if cas is an amoral stalker with a fetish for what dean considers a distasteful yet necessary vocation.

so. they fall into bed. they fall in love. they make a little life together, in dean's big sexy car. dean tries to explain to cas that he's saving the world. that these people's lives are a necessary price to pay. and cas seems to listen.

of course, castiel doesn't believe a word of it. but he's found that he likes dean. really likes him. and he realizes that the collapse of dean's belief system would destroy him.

so he sets about becoming as complicit in it as possible.

even to the extent where, when dean is hit by a car and ends up into the hospital a day before one killing is meant to take place, castiel agrees to take on the job. (he doesn't actually kill anyone, obviously. but he does use his extensive skill with computers to create three fake newspaper articles which make it look like he has.)

but five years later, something goes wrong. really, really wrong. dean miscalculates the formula. and by the time he checks his work, the actual date of the next kill, as demanded by the formula, has passed. in fact, so have three others. and the world didn't end.

dean collapses. he hyperventilates. all those people. all those people. for no reason. all those people. all those people. all those people. all those people. all those people. all those people. all those people. all those people. all those people. all those people. all those people. all those people. all those people. all those people. all those people. all those people. all those people. all those people. all those people. all those people. all those people. all those people.

cas seems totally unfazed. dean stares at him in shock. but cas just takes dean in his arms, and whispers in his ear: "oh, dean, i never believed in the equation. i love you no matter what you've done."

and dean buries his face in cas' chest.

[tu-sugar-mami]

Tales of the side of the road: Day #1)

You're an overworked, sleep deprived, tired barista at a pretty strange coffee shop. You don't really complain, since the payment is good and you have a lot of free time, with the shop being pretty much empty and customers walking in only once in a while. The place is big, well equipped, somehow there's wifi, and you love doing what you do even if sometimes you wish you could go home. You could say the building is placed in the middle of nowhere, in a road connecting two barely populated and pretty hidden towns. The only other building anywhere in a few miles is the convenience store, an old and beaten up OxxO across the street, the cashier doesn't speak much though.

The owner is a bit... how to say it? Cryptic, to put it slightly, but that doesn't bother you at all, you barely see them, and now that you think of it perhaps the only time you spoke to them is when you were hired.

You've seen your fair share of weird stuff in three years of working here, and you even made friends with the local cult, although with a rocky start when they tried to sacrifice you to their deity. It turned out for the best, since you gained regulars that always came in with the freshest gossip. And yes, you may have gotten a small curse because of the first encounter, but hey, being occasionally possessed by a dark goddess do come handy when one of the diverse side effects is super strength and you have to lift heavy boxes of ingredients for the drinks. Because, let me tell you, the drinks you make are not regular stuff.

You specialize in a very complex form of beverages, with basic color code names, but with a flawless, delicious, magnificent taste. At least to those who are meant for.

You see, customers here are very unique, and many have tried to eat you several times before you made it clear that you were not on the menu. They learned to not underestimate your skills manouvering a broom.

Anyway, today is a specially slow day. Not even Gary —a cultist of the highest ranks, who loves his double shot 'blue' coffee— has passed by yet and you can't help but wonder what or who held him back. Though your inquiry doesn't last long, when you hear voices outside and the approach of hurried steps.

It's almost nightfall and it starts to get chilly when you get ready for yet another endless night shift. You find it odd that other people aside from Gary would swing by the shop at this hour, but well, it is your job to serve them after all, and so you tighten your apron and ready your notepad.

Like i've said before you've seen a lot of not so ordinary stuff, and when an uncommonly tall —and absolutely gorgeous— lady along with three younger, shorter women wearing at least 10 layers of cozy clothes walk in you're absolutely unfazed and instead welcome them with the brightest smile you can muster.

"Hi! Welcome to Itsy Bitchy Spider, home of the best coffee in all 24 miles around. What can i get for you today?" You say, bringing the women's attention to you.

The tall lady seems a little thrown off by your warm welcoming. Or by the weird name of the franchise, or perhaps because she wasn't expecting a fragile-looking human to be behind the counter, who knows, but she usher one of the younger girls —a brunette one, who wears a creepy but charming smile peeking from under a thick scarf— towards the counter and clears her throat. "Hello, yes, my daughter got into a little bit of a situation earlier and she has to clean herself up. We're on our way to a very important meeting and she has to be presentable."

It's only now when you notice that said daughter has bloodied clothes, and when she lifts her head you can see that there's blood dripping from her chin too. But again, not the weirdest.

"Sure ma'am," You say with a smile, wich has her giving you a curious look. "the bathroom is on that black door over there." You point and the girl goes on her way, almost skipping. Kind of adorable, you think, like a small child would be, except much older and dangerous. "So, is the cult holding a meeting? That'd explain why Gary hasn't come by." You say casually. The woman is about to answer when another uh, you suppose is a daughter too, suddenly points at the pastries countertop.

"What's that?" A redhead girl asks. She looks excited and genuinely curious about a colorful piece of a cake. You don't make them, and honestly you don't want to know what's in them, but you know they're suitable for any kind of customer that walks in, so you pull out a piece and arrange it on a plate, decorating it with red syrup, the red syrup.

"Try it, it's on the house." You wink at her while sliding the plate towards her and she looks at you like you just handed her a priceless jewel.

"Really?" She says, but is more a formality since she's already pulling the plate closer. "Look Bela! Look what i got!"

"No, Daniela you shouldn't eat that. Your tummy will hurt, you know this." The tall lady says as she grabs the plate and pull it out of Daniela's grasp, which is easy given her height. "We're sorry, but we can't take this. We have a very strict diet." She hands the plate back to you.

You smile and gently take the plate away, aware of the sad puppy eyes the redhead is giving you. You discreetly, almost as if it wasn't your intention, you put the plate within her reach and keep talking. You pretend not to notice when the girl sneakily grabs the plate and runs back to her sister to share her prize.

"Ma'am, i assure you it is perfectly safe. You're not from around here, are you? Well, let me get you acquainted with the place." Not wasting any time you quickly prepare a concoction of 'red' coffee and top it with regular whipped cream while the lady's gaze is fixed on every move. "Here, try this."

"Try what?" The dark haired girl has returned from the bathroom all freshened up and looks curiously to the tall glass you slide on the counter. "Oooh, that looks nice!"

"It is nice. It's one of the house's specials. We call it 'red coffee' though it's up to you discover if you like it."

"Cassandra, i don't think we should..." The lady seems hesitant, but when you rise the glass as close as you can to her face and she takes a whiff you can clearly see her pupils dilate. "What... is that?" She asks, breathless, as if she's just found something she craved for so long and didn't even know it.

You smirk, knowing that you guessed correctly about what would work on her. "Why don't you take a sip and find out?"

"Mother, i think you should give it a try." The blonde girl, the one who hadn't said a word since she first entered says. You notice that there's some cake frosting right on the corner of her smiling lips.

"Perhaps i should listen to you, Bela. Let's see, shall we?" The mother takes the glass from your hand, tiny in comparasion to hers, and she guides the brim of the cup to her red lips. She cautiously takes a sip and as soon as the liquid touches her tongue and she tastes, the drink is downed in seconds.

"So, what's the veredict? You like it?" You say as you put the lid on the last of another three cups of the same drink that you finished making while the cup on the lady's hand was being emptied, ready to hand over to the girls.

"It's exquisite..." She says, and you can see the awe on her face. "How?"

"Well, that's a secret, isn't it? You can come by whenever you like, we're open all day, every day." You look behind the four women and spot a grumpy looking man wearing sunglasses and a hat just outside in the parking lot. Odd when there's no sunlight to protect his eyes from, but you don't judge. "Looks like someone is looking for you." You point past them to the guy.

And sure enough:

"Alcina! Where the fuck are you? Miranda is waiting for us, we're late!"

The annoyed expression on the lady's —Alcina, now you know— face almost make you laugh, but you don't want to be disrespectful and instead you just cough a little. "Looks like we have to part ways." She says, putting the glass on the counter delicately. Her eyes are glued to your own and you can see fire in them. "For now."

The lady turns around and walks away with determination and elegance in her stride and behind her the daughters follow with the grace of young gazelles. One of them, the blonde girl turns her head enough to see you over her shoulder and waves goodbye. You wave back.

"Have a safe trip!" You say. Much, much later you'll call this 'day one', when Alcina first entered your life, but for now:

Alcina... The name feels sweet like honey in your mouth and you smile. You can't wait to see her again.

-------------

@thejennystuttle here it is the first one i finished. I got carried away, srry. Hope u like it?

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If you love my work, buy me a coffee?

[write-orflight]

Settle Down: Prologue

**Gif Not Mine**

Prev -  Next

Pairings: SpencerXReader (kinda enemies to lovers) 

Rating: M

Words: 2.5K

Warnings: None, will be smut in eventual chapters

Request: OPEN/CLOSED

Summary: Y/N and Spencer don’t get along but turn to each other for the one thing you need someone else for... A baby. You can plantonically start a family, right?

A.N: this is a bad bio but idk how else to put it. it’s a baby fic! I wouldn’t say this is enemies to lovers but they certainly don’t like each other at first so it kinda is. comment on this chap or message to be on the taglist. much love, Cia

                Prologue:  A Powerpoint, Really? 

If you had told 16 year old Y/N that she’d be working at the FBI, she would’ve called you batshit. 

Not only, did you not have any respect for authority or any inclination for rules in that matter, working for the FBI was never in the forefront of your mind. But when given the option of Jail or a full time job with benefits, it was fairly easy to make a choice. You remember the first day when you met your work partner and now best friend Penelope Garcia or specifically the day she caught you. 

You were waiting tables like you did every weekend to stay afloat. Today was unreasonably slow so you were just finding small things to do. That’s when she came in, an extremely brightly dressed woman, sat at the bar of the diner. 

“Hi, how can I help you?” You smile at the woman who looks up at you and smiles. 

“Yes, I’m looking for the Emerald City.” She says, smirking at you. Your face drops, you knew what she was talking about. 

When you started hacking it was only supposed to be a one time thing. You grew up poor, spent most of your life poor so when you saw your childhood home was set to be demolished to build a fancy new headquarters for Scotty Realins, an upcoming asshole tech CEO, without a cent going to your parents.  Something in you snapped. You had already been pretty decent at code and you flirted with a couple of guys in your STEM classes to learn how to hack so you would say you were pretty good at this point. So you hacked into the website and made sure all the Revenue for that day actually was wired to lower-income housing. At the end of the day, it was only a couple hundred thousand dollars but what was pennies to Scotty Realins changed some people's lives. 

So you started doing it more, to different companies under the pseudonym OZ. The money always went to different places that needed it whether it was paying the rent for a bunch of families or anonymous large donations to food banks or soup kitchens. You gained a bit of fame in the hacker community as a modern day Robin Hood. 

All good things come to an end though. And the end was standing in front of you in clunky, rainbow colored jewelry. 

“You don’t look like a cop.” you say, crossing your arms. 

“I’ll do you one better.” She says, pulling her FBI badge out, showing it to you briefly. You curse under your breath. “I’ve been following you for a while, OZ. Though I wasn’t expecting the man behind the curtain to be a woman. I will say, having my computers route back to a loop of “We’re not in Kansas anymore.” everytime I tried to track your IP was impressive. I couldn’t even be mad about it.” 

“Clearly not that impressive because you found me.” 

“Still took me longer than usual, which is saying a lot.” 

“This is a really long winded conversation if you’re just here to arrest me.” You say, taking off your apron. No use in keeping it on if you were going to be in handcuffs soon. 

“That’s because I’m not here to arrest you. I’m here to offer you a job, to work under me as a Tech Analyst in the Behavioral Analysis Unit of the FBI.” Penelope says. 

“And if I don’t want to?” 

“Then you’re going to want a lawyer and my very good handsome friend outside is going to arrest you. You’re smart and you have a chance to help people which is why you started hacking in the first place, right? Please don’t make me do that.” She looked at you pleadingly like she really cared and didn’t want you to go to prison. You didn’t say anything but something told you she’d been in the same boat as you before. 

“Hmmm…. I’m tired of waiting tables anyway.” 

So you uprooted your life and moved from Philadelphia to Quantico. Garcia took you under her wing and pretty soon the two of you functioned in her batcave like a well oiled machine. You could do without the constant gore that filled your screens but at the end of the day, you loved what you were doing and you wouldn’t change that for the world. 

The team was an added bonus, it was nice to have your own little found family. Garcia, of course, taking on the role as best friend mere days after your first meeting. You met Derek Morgan right after you agreed to take the job, he’d been there to arrest you and was very glad he wouldn’t have to do that. He told you often about how you reminded him of his sister and he regarded you in the role of younger sister from that day on. The next person you met had been Aaron Hotchner, your new boss. It took him a couple of weeks to warm up to you, you guessed he had a difficulty trusting new people and when he would call you guys for information he would always ask for Garcia instantly instead of you, not very trusting in your skills yet. Though that changed when you had been the one to track down the Unsub once. 

Rossi was easily won over when you told him about your Italian side of the family, specifically your grandmother who loved to cook and left you a lot of recipes. You and him often went back and forth in sharing dishes. Emily and JJ had also been easily won over with one bottle of tequila and a regrettable girls night. 

Then there was Dr. Spencer Reid.     

You had a lot of opinions on Dr. Reid, most of them weren’t good. It wasn’t like you hated him in fact, you’d consider him a friend but the two of you seemed to butt heads on well, everything. Both of you needing to be the smartest in the room and neither of you wanting to admit when you’re wrong will do that though. You still respected Spencer though, he was an extreme asset to the team and he was your best friend’s other best friend so you couldn’t really hate the guy. 

You also didn’t have to like him. 

So you had a good job, good friends, a nice house to live in. You were finally happy, content even. So why did it feel like something was missing? 

The something missing came in a stroller pushed by JJ the next week. 

The last case had been rough. Really rough. So while the team was on their way back you and Garcia hatched a plan for JJ to come visit from maternity leave and surprise everyone with the baby. While you guys were waiting for them to land, Garcia wanted to show JJ something she had gotten her godson so JJ asked if you could watch him and feed him until she got back, which you obviously agreed to. As you were feeding the child his bottle, and his ravioli sized fist wrapped around your finger you realized what had been missing. 

Fuck, you wanted a kid. 

---------------------------------------------------------------------

You told Garcia first, it slipped when she noticed how off you were being. You wanted to have a kid bad now and you knew you didn’t want to wait. Penny tried to convince you that you’d “find the right person” but let’s face it, with this job, long term relationships were few and far inbetween. Plus you didn’t need a man, you had a good job and insurance, you knew you could provide a child with a life full of love it deserved. So you made an appointment at a fertility clinic. As the doctor was talking to you about your options, you felt yourself feeling more and more down about your decision and that only increased as you looked in the book of sperm donors in front of you. You looked at too many serial killers daily that it made you uneasy, carrying a stranger's baby. Maybe Garcia was right and your best bet was to wait for ‘the right guy.’ Even though you really didn’t want to. 

You walked into work later, a little sullen. Heading immediately towards the coffee machine. Penelope, who had been at Derek’s desk, makes a beeline towards you.  

“So how’d it go?” She says, smiling. “Did you make an appointment to be baby-fied?” 

You sigh. “I couldn’t do it, Pen.” You say, frowning. “I just-- We see so much here that I don’t want to accidentally end up with a sociopath’s baby because I couldn’t wait.” 

“But you don’t want to wait, do you?” She says softly, empathizing with you. 

“No, I don’t.” You sigh again, finishing making your cup before walking back out into the bullpen. JJ had brought Henry again for the others to see on the slow paperwork day. You tried not to look bitter but it was like she was flaunting the one thing you couldn’t have, even if it was unintentional. You watched as she handed the baby to Spencer, who instantly smiled and made faces at the laughing baby. 

“Spencer is actually a surprisingly good godfather.” Garcia says, smiling at the exchange in front of you. “Kinda makes you wonder what he’d be like with his own baby geniuses.” She says before walking over to the group and scooping her godson out of Spencer’s arms, Spencer still held on to his fist with his pinky, smiling down at the child. 

“Yea…” You say, to no one in particular. 

You had an idea. A probably bad one. 

-------------------------------------------------------

You were sitting in the coffee shop, nervously fiddling on your laptop while waiting for Spencer. You were surprised he even agreed to meet with you for coffee though you were sure he was just doing it out of curiosity because you told him you had something important to talk about. You weren’t even sure if you were going about this the right way. Hey Spencer, I know we’re not even friends but how would you feel about fathering my child? God, this was going to be terrible. 

You looked up when you heard the tell-tale bell on the door indicating someone walking in. Spencer gave you a small wave before going to the counter to get a coffee. You took that time to nervously sip yours. Your heart was beating a mile a minute, it was now or never. 

“Hey.” Spencer says, when he finally gets to the table, coffee in hand. “Why are you all the way in the corner?” 

“This isn’t really a conversation I want overheard.” 

Spencer tilts his head confused at that. “So what is the conversation we’re supposed to be having. I asked Garcia but she seemed to also have no idea.” 

“Yea, I didn’t tell her on account of this maybe going extremely bad.” You say, before sighing and turning your laptop around so Spencer could see the Powerpoint screen you have on it. When he reads it,  he chokes on his coffee.

“A Powerpoint, really?” He chokes, still coughing around the coffee. “Y/N, what is this?” 

“This is Reasons Why You Should Make a Baby With me.” 

“Yea, I got that from the title, Y/N.” He says, still shocked. “Is this a joke?!” 

“I wish it was, Reid.”

“Can I at least ask why you thought a Powerpoint was the best way to ask?”   

“Because I felt you’d be more inclined to consider it if you knew I spent time on a presentation.” 

“That’s true.” He leans back, taking a sip of his coffee, gesturing for you to continue. You hit the next slide. 

“Ok, reason number one is we both want kids.” You say, looking at him. “Garcia told me the other day that you were talking about how much you wanted a kid and I also want a kid.”  

“I did tell Garcia that.” He muses. 

“Reason two, an offspring between us would probably result in another genius. As you know, you are smart.” 

“Yes.” 

“And I am smarter.” You say, Spencer opens his mouth to protest but you keep talking. “A child between us could probably be the next Einstein.” 

Spencer nods and you continue. “Reason three, I’d be a great mom.” 

“That’s a debatable fact.” 

“No, it’s not. You’ve seen me around kids, have I ever given an inclination that I wouldn’t be?” You ask, he shakes his head. “Plus, I happen to think you’d be a great father. Which brings me to Reason 4.” You say clicking through the next slide. “If you don’t want to be involved in raising that’s fine. I’m perfectly fine raising the child myself an--” 

“What?! No!” Spencer says, sitting up. “If I do agree to have this baby, which I’m not completely doing yet. I want to be involved, I want them to know I’m their father and that I didn’t abandon them because I know what that’s like.” He says, seriously. You nod, already knowing this about Spencer. 

“Reason 5: I’d be the perfect platonic co-parent, I won’t ask you for anything unless it’s pertaining to the child and if you decide that later down the road you want your own family, I’d be supportive and help you along the way.”

Spencer nods. “We’re never home enough for a baby.” 

“That’s where you’re wrong because I’ll be here. I mainly stay here anyway and if there’s ever a case where you need a tech analyst to fly out, Garcia’s already agreed to have it already be her when I floated the baby idea around last month.”  

Spencer hummed, silent for a second. “You really want a kid, huh?” 

“Yes.” You say. 

“So much so you’re asking me?” Spencer says, matter-of-factly. “A Coworker you barely speak to?”

Well, when he says it like that. 

“Yes. I’m asking because while we don’t get along the best you are still one of the most compassionate, understanding men I know. And I know that if I have to raise this kid with somebody, you would love them just as much as I would.” You say, Spencer nods at that. “So, please?” 

Spencer sighs. “When’s your next appointment? At the fertility clinic?” 

You didn’t even want to ask how he knew about that. “Next tuesday.” 

He nods. “I’m going with you.” He says, standing, pulling the strap of his messenger bag over his shoulder. “This isn’t a yes.” 

“It’s not a no, either.” You point out. 

“No, it’s not.” He says, leaving you behind in the coffee shop with a huge grin on your face.

Taglist: @moonshinerbynight​ @crimeshowtrash​

Message/reply to be tagged!!

[wpdarlingpan]

hello, just wanted to tell you how wonderful your work is, keep it up and keep rocking :) I was wondering if you could do a yandere Peter Parker x reader oneshot where the reader has powers and she's completely badass? But she kinda has self esteem issues and thinks her feelings aren't important. I'm sorry if I made you sad TvT

I will try my best! And thank you so much for the compliments ♡

Silent Shadow. That’s what she was. At least that’s what it was before the Avengers came. She was a assassin for a group called Hydra. Hydra was all she knew and that’s all she thought there was for her. She was there strongest asset, she was even able to rake down the Winter Soldier. She had beaten every hydra agent in a fight and she had many skills. You’d think she would just run away since she was able to overthrow them but Hydra made sure she would have no one to go to outside of them so they killed her parents and took her. She was alone. At least that was until she grew a relationship with her partner. A platonic one. She thought she had no one.

Until the day they showed up.

“Cap, how’s it looking out there? Need Code Green?” Bruce said from inside the quinjet.

“No, I think we are good Bruce. Tony is taking out the rest alongside Thor. Guess this base wasn’t as important.” Cap replied through the coms. It was true. It was a pretty easy mission, that was until they went towards the cells.

Bucky Barnes alongside Scarlet Witch and Quicksilver got rid of every Hydra Agent in the cells. At least the thought they did until they reach the very end cell with a complex lock. Bucky nodded at Wanda and she quickly used her powers to undo the lock.

Once inside they see a girl. She looked around 16 years old. Bucky froze.

Another assassin.

He knew her.

He rushed to the cyrochamber and opened it to the dismay of the team. They didn’t need another Hydra Soldier to deal with but he was not going to leave her in there. Steve walked into the room and saw him opening the chamber.

“What are you doing Buck?”

“I’m getting her out of here.” He spoke leaving no room for arguments.

“What if she’s dangerous?”

“I know her. She was my partner. She never wanted this. She always fought.”

“How do you know she will still fight?”

“I don’t.”

and finally it was open and he grabbed her then made his way back to the quinjet. The team that didn’t go to the cells were already there.

Tony was the first to notice Barnes carrying a girl.

“What do you got there?”

“...” Bucky didn’t respond. He wouldn’t explain back at the compound. He just wanted her to wake up. He wanted his little sister back.

Back at the compound

Her senses slowly came back to her and she woke up to her hand resting in somebody’s. She opened her eyes and saw.... Bucky! She lightly shook his hand making him shoot up.

“Doe!”

(I thought Doe would be a cute nickname since it forms from the only name they know which is Shadow.)

“Snowy!” She said happily. She was free. She was with her older brother. Everything would be okay.

And it was. For awhile. They took a blood test from her and found out she was Tony’s missing sister who was taken after the car crash with her parents. Her name was Y/N but some still called her Shadow or Doe in Bucky case. She didn’t blame Bucky but he sure blamed himself but he wouldn’t let himself cut her out of his life because of guilt. She developed relationships with the team. Tony and Bucky were her protective older brothers, Steve, Bruce, Clint and Thor were like uncles. Natasha was her aunt. Pietro and Wanda were like siblings. Then there was the day she met Peter. She had finally worked back up her courage and bravery, not to mention her cunningness. She was herself again, just more confident than before the accident. She walked around in stride, almost matching up to Natasha. She would work on her powers with Wanda and then make sure to spend time with her family.

He had come over to the tower after hearing about the new person at the tower from Tony. He had invited Peter to come over and meet his sister, Peter being addicted to pleasing his idol said of course and made his way over.

He was of course expecting a older woman since he knew Tony’s parents had died many many years ago, he was not prepared to see her.

Peter made his way up the elevator of the expensive tower after telling Jarvis what floor he wanted to be on. The elevator opened and there the team was in all their glory sitting on the couch waiting for him and the other guest to be ready.

“Hello Man of spider!” Thor boomed loudly as Peter stepped out of the elevator. Peter waved shyly at Thor and the others followed with their hellos. After a little more waiting Tony was impatient and called his sister to come down.

“Alright, Alright I’m coming! I didn’t even take that long! It would take longer to say your full title thing you like to say about yourself. Isn’t Genius, Billionaire Playboy, Kiss ass?” She smirked as she walked into the room. Peters eyes widened.

She was Tony Stark’s sister?

“Who’s did you want me to meet?” She questioned her brother as she smiled at him cheekily after forgetting the name of the person for the billionth time.

Tony rolled his eyes but he couldn’t stay mad at the sister who came back miraculously from the dead.

“Peter meet Y/N my little sister and Y/N meet Peter Parker aka Spider-boy.” Tony introduced and Peter stepped forwards almost in a daze and held out his when to shake formally.

“Nice to meet you.” Y/N said cheekily as he continued staring. He lightly shook his head and blushed embarrassedly.

“Nice to meet you too.”

She was more confident now away from hydra and he liked her personality.

And it truly was because that was the day that started his obsession with the one and the only

Y/N Stark.

He always came over to the tower to hang out with her as they had grown to be friends but Peter wanted more. Sometimes he came over and stalked her outside of the windows. Peter had hacked the tower from the inside to not detect him as Spider Man on the outside of the tower. Whenever he was in her room he’d touch everything he could and he secretly undid the latch to her window. He snuck into her room every night just to watch her sleep, watching as her chest raised and called from her steady breathing . He took pictures of her whenever he spied and had a secret collection of them filling his closest. He had even entered the room when the other Avengers had decided to run to the store for groceries dressed in their typical jacket, sunglasses, and baseball hats disguises. He cuddled into her blankets and breathed in her scene as he held into her pillow.

He was undeniably in love with Y/N Stark.

And he wanted her to be his.

His plan was soon put into action. He knew her schedules, wasn’t too hard she was required to stay at home as it was too dangerous because of Hydra.

One day he just got lucky, the team had to go out on a mission and she was required to stay home but Tony didn’t want her by herself so he called his trusted intern, Peter Parker. He was asked to go over to the tower to keep Y/N company and he immediately said yes.

And the day started off as usual for Y/N. She woke up and had breakfast, then sat by the tv watching her favorite show Once Upon A Time. She always like watching it because the character Jefferson reminded her of Bucky. She was halfway into episode 16 when Peter arrived in the Elevator.

“Hey Peter!” She called from the couch. She didn’t even look at him. It made him slightly mad. He should be her one and only. Not the stupid tv show.

“Hey Y/N.” He replied after he got over his anger.

“What do you want to do?” She questioned looking at him with a eyebrow raised.

“There are so many things I’d like to do.” He thought to himself but restrained from saying.

“It’s up to you.” He replied shortly continuing to think through his plan. He was confident it would go right if he followed each direction.

They went to the gym and she began to work on her powers while Peter watched her intently. He needed to know her powers if things were to go south with his plans. She first turned invisible then made force fields.

She continued to make the force fields bigger and Peter had to continue to back up to avoid getting hit with it. He began to get too far away. He also didn’t want her to thing that she could push him away like this.

“Y/N stop. You need to get food in you before you continue practicing. Your low on energy.” He faked looking concerned in order to manipulate her to feel bad. Of course she was usually defiant but she just wanted Peter to be happy. So she gave in.

“Alright.” He nodded in praise at her giving in. He knew how to get her now. She needed to please others. Probably a side effect from Hydra but it could be used to his advantage.

They then began baking... well more like Peter while she watched he made her sit down after he was worried about her burning herself. She needed to be taken care of. He also didn’t need her catching onto his plan, taking a pill out from his pocket and crushed it onto the cupcake he was going to give her. It looked like sugar. After being at hydra you’d think she would check her food before she ate. But she didn’t. She had to trust Peter of course. That’s what her brother wanted from her. She felt bad not being able to help around the tower. She felt as if she wasn’t contributing enough. Y/N thought it would help if she did what she thought was expected of her, not what she wanted. She wanted to bake. But if Peter didn’t want her to then she couldn’t deny it.

Then they watched tv but Peter hated it because again her attention was somewhere else. Halfway through Star Wars he turned off the tv and waited for it to work.

Just as he looked at her he could see her eyes be going to droop.

“Oh Y/N are you tired?” He questioned with fake concern.

“Oh, I am. Just a little bit. I slept well last night-“ she was cut off by a yawn. “I don’t know why I’m so tired. I’m sorry Peter. I knew you came over to hang out.”

“It’s fine Y/N. Just got to sleep.”

Just as he said that her eyes shut and he smiled victoriously. She was his. And she wasn’t ever going to leave.

He picked her up bridal style and took her into her room and sat her down on the bed while he changed into his Spider-Man uniform and packed her some clothes. They wouldn’t be coming back here. After packing clothes into a small back pack he picked her up once again and they went swinging out of the tower with Jarvis not even alerted because of Peter hacking it before to not detect his suit.

He arrived at a small house in the middle of the woods and carefully opened the door and brought her inside. Peter glanced around the rooms just in case then sat her in the bed, attaching a chain to her ancle. The clasp part of the chain had a little padding so it wasn’t hurting her but it did keep her there. He kissed her on the head and quickly changed out of his suit. Then got into the bed wearing boxers climbing in next to the sleeping girl. He wrapped a arm around her waist and sighed content.

She was finally his.

The Avengers got back to the tower and saw no one there. No struggle. Nothing.

Tony Lost his sister. Again.

Bucky lost his little sister. Again.

And

Peter had taken the love of his life to be all his.

At least until they check the tapes.

Sorry it’s taken me forever to write this. This was my first shot at a Yandere and I hope it’s good. Sorry if I should have done less back story and more Peter but I hope you like it. Anyways thank you for the suggestion. ♡

[lsvdw-blog]

Not a Minute More: Part 2

Pairing: Ethan Ramsey x f!MC

Word Count: 1.8k

Warnings; Rating: Mentions of a cyberattack, Angst; Teen+

Premise: MC's perspective on the day that rocks Ethan to his core and threatens to change his life.

Author’s Note: I was going to wait to post this, but I'm loving the flood of content we're getting rn, so I thought I'd hop on too. I cried writing this... I'm so sorry 😭. Part 1 here. I hope you enjoy and thank you for reading 💖

~ Monday, 8:20am ~

"Good morning, Mike!" Serena greets the security guard right inside the door.

"Hey! How are ya? How's that Dr. Ramsey?"

"We're both doing well, thanks! How about you and the family?" She asks as she puts her phone in a cubby and unplugs the Wi-Fi enabler from her laptop.

"It was the wife and I's anniversary this weekend! We went to Martha's vineyard and saw the most beautiful proposal! You and Dr. R gonna get going on that soon? Aly has been talking about going to y'alls wedding since she met ya!" Mike gives a playful wink.

"Oh, congratulations! That's wonderful and send Aly my best wishes. But you'll have to talk to E on that one," she laughs before opening the door to a stairwell that leads to a classified area.

After keying in her pin, the door clicks open. She grabs a static protection lab coat, walks through the entrance, and is met with a plethora of state-of-the-art equipment. Floor-to-ceiling grey switch panels, curved monitors as far as the eye can see, and countless probes, clips, and wires.

She walks over to a few familiar faces. “Good morning! How’s it going?”

“Nice of you to finally join us! Dr. Ramsey keep you this morning?” Isla, one of the engineers, jests.

“I saw your check-in on the monitor — you walked in two minutes before me!”

“Those diagnostic skills at work, I see,” Isla retorts and they both laugh.

Isla had become a fast and faithful friend since Serena joined the project. They bonded quickly over both being minorities in the world of science and supported each other in every work facet. They had lunch together everyday and gradually, their work bond grew into a personal friendship as well. They’ve become so close that Isla now also regularly spends time with the original Edenbrook gang.

“Alright, enough chit chat. Let’s get this show on the road.”

The team nods and responds, “Yes, Doctor.”

~ 12:00pm ~

Serena exits the classified area with some colleagues and they all make their way to retrieve their phones.

"No new patients. Stuck in meetings and doing paperwork. I miss you and wish you were here."

She immediately breaks out into a large grin after reading Ethan's text and hits the dial button.

"Hey, ready for lunch?" Carmen, one of the lead scientists, asks.

Serena nods and moves her phone slightly away from her ear. "Be there in a minute. You guys go ahead."

She waits for a few more rings. He’s probably busy, I’ll call again later. She hangs up and makes her way to the cafeteria.

~ 12:40pm ~

"We did all the necessary prep work this morning to begin testing after lunch. Everything is looking good. We can begin running our tests since everyone is here. Are we all ready to begin?"

"Yes."

The system engineers are sitting at connected computer stations, inputting the required credentials to start. The rest of the team is standing behind them, waiting and nervously watching the screens. After a couple minutes of tense silence with nothing but the clack clack clack of keyboard keys, Vincenzo, one of the lead engineers, speaks up.

"This is weird… we're having some trouble accessing the necessary data. Did someone put up a firewall?"

Everybody looks around at each other, shaking their heads and muttering "no."

"Isla, are you seeing this? Can you get through?"

Isla continues to type, not saying anything. After a few more seconds, she turns to look at Vincenzo with a concerned expression. "I don't recognize some of the items in our system."

Just as she finishes her sentence, everyone's attention is pulled abruptly to a wall monitor on the right as it starts showing nonsensical images and patterns. Two seconds later, an alarm goes off and a red warning light begins flashing within the building. Everyone's eyes go wide as realization dawns on them: they've been compromised and shelter-in-place has been activated.

~ 12:55pm ~

Everyone begins to evacuate the classified lab area, grabbing their phones on the way out, and peering through the one-way windows. They can occasionally hear Mike speaking rapidly into the phone with a 911 dispatcher, when he's not being drowned out by shouts from colleagues.

On the descent to the bunker, the tension is palpable. Individuals clutch onto each other, others try frantically to reach loved ones, and some are in complete disbelief and shock. As they all descend the five flights of the winding staircase to the basement, windows are no longer available, but the ceiling bulbs keep flickering on and off. Each time it happens, everyone stops in their tracks, ducks down on instinct, and picks up the pace when the lights come back on.

~ 1:15pm ~

The entrance to the Harvard labs bunker is protected by a vault door that has a counter system. When the system is in place, the door can be opened once for people to get in. Once it's been closed, it can only be opened when there's one person on either side working together — it's futile with only one person. The only other way it can be opened is by shutting down the counter system from the outside, with the correct override pin, which only a handful of the most trusted team members know.*

As the vault door comes into sight, the wheel on the outside is turned, and the door opens with a whoosh. People slowly start filing in and head towards the back. However, not everyone can stay in the safety of the bunker. In case of an emergency, the project they’re working on must be erased, to protect it from falling into the wrong hands. Certain people have been assigned particular instructions to delete specific portions.

Serena is one of them.

She's walking next to Isla and their arms are looped together. As Isla enters the bunker, Serena lets go of her arm, stopping at the threshold. Isla whips her head around.

"What are you doing?! Get in here!" She reaches for Serena’s arm.

Serena shakes her head. "I'm the only one currently here who knows the medical codes."

Isla's eyes are frantic in realization. "I'll go back with you! I'll be your lookout! You're not going alone!"

"You'll be safe here. This is my responsibility."

Serena reaches behind her neck and unclasps her gold necklace for the first time in 7 years. She grabs Isla's hand and places the jewelry into her palm, closing Isla's fingers around it.

Serena stares at their clasped hands. "In case anything happens," they both flinch at another flickering of lights. "Promise me that you'll get this to E."

Their eyes are locked now, having a silent battle: Isla begging her to stay and Serena finding the strength not to.

"Isla, promise me. Please." Serena squeezes Isla’s hand that much tighter.

Isla realizes that there's no use in fighting Serena. Risking her life to delete the project is part of the job. They all made a commitment and if the roles were reversed, Isla would be the one fighting to go back.

Isla slowly nods. "I promise, Serena. I promise. But do your best to keep yourself safe. Try and stay near the corners, away from any large equipment that could have aftershock effects, and—"

Serena shakes her slightly. "I know, Isla. We did take the same training," she smiles, trying to make a joke to lighten the mood, but Isla just stares gravely at her.

A booming sound rattles the building and Serena knows it's time to go. She gives Isla a quick hug, before pushing her backwards into the bunker. Before Isla has regained her footing, Serena has closed the bunker door with a resounding thud.

~ 1:30pm ~

On the way back to the classified area, Serena takes out her phone. Ethan hasn't returned her earlier call. Her heart is pounding and with trembling hands, she hits the call button on Ethan's contact card for the second time in less than two hours. After a few rings, his voice comes through.

"You've reached Dr. Ethan Ramsey. I apologize for missing your call. Leave a message and I'll get back to you."

Just as she’s about to start speaking, the lights go down for good. "Hey E," she tries her best to keep her voice from shaking. She puts the call on speaker, places the phone out in front of her, and turns the flashlight on. "I don't know when this will hit the news, but we're currently under cyberattack. I don't know from who or what, but they’ve already gotten into our mainframe and power supply. Everyone has sheltered-in-place and is awaiting further instructions." She takes a deep breath as she inches down a corridor.

"Everyone except me, Vincenzo, and Carmen. We’re the only three here right now trained to completely delete the project in the event something like this happened. I'm walking back to the lab as I speak."

Serena rounds a corner and the lab comes into view. Thinking about what she has to say next, silent tears stream down her face.

"Ethan, sweetheart, I need you to know that the last eight months by your side have been the absolute best eight months of my entire life. You are the light of my existence and mean everything to me." She lets out a deep breath. "I wish I could hear your voice right now… I'm really scared. But I made a commitment, so I need to go back in and finish the job. If something happens, know that you are unequivocally the love of my life and the one for me. I know we haven't talked about it yet, but know that I want to spend forever with you as your wife and have you be the father of my children." She sniffs and continues, "you would be a fantastic husband and dad."

She comes to a stop in front of the keypad located right outside the lab and swallows past the lump in her throat. "But if the universe has other plans for me, I'll be waiting for you and I can't wait to spend forever with you in the next life. This isn't how I wanted to tell you, but until next time, whenever that is, I love you so much, Ethan Jonah Ramsey, more than words could ever properly convey."

She ends the phone call with tear-filled eyes, stashes her phone on a nearby workbench, punches in her key, and enters the classified area one more time.

~~~~~~

*Disclaimer: I have no idea if Harvard labs has a bunker and if they do, what kind of door/system they utilize. This is all purely AU!

[starsstruck]

cloudbusting; part one.

a classic coffee shop story. harry is a painter that quickly becomes a regular at his neighbourhood cafe, and it just might have something to do with a certain barista. hazy opening shifts, paintings on walls, and new regulars.

pairing: harry x reader warnings: language words: 8.3k

art by holly warburton. (i have no vision for the mc of the fic, people in the images of paintings i use are purely because this is how i envision harry’s art to be !)

series masterlist | story tag

a/n: first part !! i am so excited (and slightly nervous) to start and share this story i really hope everyone enjoys <3. as always, please share if you can and i would love to hear your thoughts !

There was a lot you liked about the city, especially the city in the morning.

The walk you always made to work wasn’t too long, the day still early enough that there were only a handful of people out along with you. Some joggers, some dog walkers, some people heading to work and likely some heading home.

Grateful for the sun being up before you were, the July morning already heating up the early air of the day. Feet moving you quickly through the Brooklyn Heights neighbourhood, you walked the last few blocks that led you from your apartment to the coffee shop.

The one thing you didn’t like about the summer morning, was that the air was making your eyes itch.

It was that fresh morning haze, the one that held the night’s humidity and somehow the night’s pollen as well, having you rub your nose for what seemed like the thousandth time that morning.

The sky had turned a light blue, a warm glow just rising over the buildings as you crossed the road, your hand already in your bag to fish out your keys.

Grabbing the newspaper that was placed on the street by the door, tucking it under your arm, and unlocked the door to the café. Stepping inside and promptly closing and relocking the door behind you. The air inside was stuffy and hot as it always was in the summer especially after a lack of airflow all night.

Punching in the security code, haphazardly throwing your bag and keys on the counter before shrugging off your jacket, already finding yourself feeling too hot. It was always the same path you followed, every opening shift.

Turning off the alarm, dumping your things on the counter, moving further behind the counter to turn on the iPad where POS were made, before walking into the even hotter back room to turn on the sound system. One of your playlists was already queued, soon the sound of Lizzo blasting through the shop while you moved to prep and bake the pastries.

Your body worked on auto pilot, not even having to think that much; preheating ovens and unwrapping thawing croissants. The air conditioning was slowly settling in the large space, grabbing yourself a glass of iced water to help cool yourself down.

Opening didn’t take very long; it was just the food prep that took a bit longer and needed you to come in a slightly earlier than necessary.

The café would be opening in about twenty minutes, and all you had left to do was brew the drip coffee and dial the espresso. It was always simultaneously your favourite and least favourite part of opening.

It gave you your first taste of coffee of the day, but it also meant you had to take multiple sips thus drinking too much coffee at once in the morning. Scrunching your nose at the acidic taste of the first shot you pulled, promptly dumping it out in the sink and rinsing out your mouth with some water.

Every opening shift was the same, hands moving without your mind as you pulled a few more shots, adjusting the grind of your espresso.

Two minutes until opening; you flipped through the daily newspaper and easily found the crossword, taking out the section that contained it to put it aside.

Grabbing the sign that would sit outside in one hand, you unlocked the front door and placed it on the sidewalk by the door. Moving the patio furniture that was kept inside at night, laying it out along the side of the café across the windows.

Changing your playlist as the clock changed to 7:00, the soft sounds of Leif Vollbeckk filling the space. Grabbing your laptop from your bag, hoping for a slow morning as you pulled up order forms you needed to fill out for next weeks deliveries. Filling a glass with ice, deciding to finish off the rest of the cold brew –knowing there wouldn’t be enough to fill up a cup to sell to a customer.

“Morning!”

Smiling at the sound of the familiar voice, diverting your attention from the spreadsheets on the screen to see the older man walking up towards the counter.

“You’re here early today.” Grinning, you pushed yourself away from the counter and grabbed the crossword puzzle and a pen that were put aside earlier.

“I’m going for lunch with my son later,” Dani sat himself in the plushy chair he loved so much. “I still wanted to make sure I could come in for my coffee.”

Handing him the crossword that was always saved for him, knowing he loved to get to it first.

“Let me know when you want your coffee,” you hummed, hands resting on your hips.

“I’ll take it right away today.” He told you, as you watched him reach in the paper bag he brought with him, pulling out a bagel.

He often brought his own food. You really didn’t care that he didn’t patronize the café for its food, and only the coffee. He came in nearly every day, sometimes two times in a day and he was definitely one of your favourite faces to see walk through the doors.

“I brought you some breakfast.”

Another reason why you really didn’t care was that he often brought you a little treat along with his own. He was familiar with everyone who worked with you, constantly asking about the schedule and who would be working when so he knew who to expect. But you knew that you were his favourite, and he never forgot to tell you that.

“You didn’t have to,” you smiled, as he waved off your comment and handed you your own bagel. “Thank you.”

“I know how you are in the morning, always running out of time and forgetting to eat.”

Leaving it with him at his table, making the short distance to go back behind the counter to get his coffee ready.

“It’s going to be hot out today.”

You listened as Dani spoke to you in the empty coffee shop, making the obliged daily weather talk. “I know. It was far too hot in here already when I came in.”

The big windows that didn’t have blinds acted as heaters in the morning, the rising sun shinning through them and heated up the entire coffee shop. The air conditioning that was recently turned on was starting to help with the air flow, but it was still heavy and humid around you.

Your hands working on muscle memory alone as you twisted your arm, tamping the espresso and clicking the portafilter in on the machine. Grabbing the little scale you used to weigh out the water, still early in the day and tinkering with the grind of the espresso, making slight adjustments.

Steaming the milk until you felt it hot enough, knowing Dani liked it extra extra hot no matter the time of year. Tapping the air bubbles out until you were satisfied, filling the paper cup up only halfway, just the way Dani wanted it.

“For you,” walking back to the regular customer, placing his coffee in front of him and seating yourself in the empty seat beside him.

You watched as he took a sip of the coffee, smile on his face. “Excellent as always.”

It was mostly a joke amongst everyone, that Dani would always personally review everyone’s skill at making his drink. It still gave you little ego boost every time he commented on how well you made coffee.

“I’m glad,” you said, swirling the ice around your glass before taking a long sip. You sat together for a bit, eating your bagels together while Dani told you about how his grandkids were doing.

This was probably one of your favourite parts of your job, getting to know the regulars. It was always so nice when you saw them walk in with a big smile, asking how you were doing and how things were going in your life.

Dani was obviously by far your favourite. He sometimes brought in his kids and grandkids, a big order of coffee going around as he bought everyone their drinks. He had lost his wife a couple years back, telling you that ever since then he was always looking for a new routine, and you were so happy to be a part of his daily pattern.

Your conversation was interrupted as a couple and their child walked into the shop, recognizing them as regulars as well while they waved hello to you.

Making your way back to behind the counter, putting their orders through. You knew they lived in the neighbourhood; you often saw them around. It was endearing, how often they came in for a little breakfast and coffee together with their daughter who couldn’t be older than four.

Things were starting to pick up slightly, a few other people stopping by for a coffee and breakfast to go on their way to work. You kept darting your eyes over to the big window that faced the street, checking the time over and over knowing that you had a milk delivery coming in at any time.

“Are your croissants baked in house?”

“Yes,” you nodded, not technically lying. “We get them frozen from a bakery, and we proof and bake them here every morning.”

“So are they fresh?” The middle-aged man asked, eyes glancing over to where the food sat in the display case.

“Yes,” you repeated. “They were baked this morning.”

He nodded again, pausing for a second. “I’ll just take this.” He grabbed for a muffin that sat in front of him.

You only nodded, blowing out a quiet sigh from between your lips. Already finding your patience running a bit thin this morning. Really for no particular reason, other than it would finally be your day off tomorrow.

Putting his order through, grabbing the itemized receipt for yourself so you wouldn’t forget what his drink was and bagged up his muffin.

You heard the door open, glancing up to see someone else walk through the door. “Can you make mine right away?” The man who had just ordered glanced towards the door as well, seeing the other customer walk in. “I’m in a rush.”

Only nodding, narrowing your eyes at him slightly in annoyance. If anything, him telling you that he was in a rush made you want to make his drink even slower. Still, ever the good customer service employee, you pulled the shots you needed. Steaming the soy milk and making a bit of a messy design with the milk, not quite caring about how his latte turned out.

“Thanks, sweetheart.” You didn’t hide the wrinkle in your nose at the use of the pet name, the man not even noticing as he struggled to get the lid on, spilling a bit of the latte on the counter before he headed towards the door.

Plastering your fake smile on your face, going back to the till to take the order of the client who had been waiting. “Hi there, thank you for waiting.”

You glanced around the space by the register, knowing that the pen you liked the use was sitting on the counter somewhere. “What can I get for you today?”

“Do you have bulletproof coffee?” Deep accent pulling your attention away from the search for your pen, facing the man standing on the other side of the counter.

“Uh –” you paused and bit your lips together for a beat, trying not to show your distaste. “No, I’m sorry.”

“That’s too bad,” the customer hummed, craning his neck to look at the menu board that hung behind you.

Is it really though? You saw your pen tucked between two receipts on the counter next to you, gripping it between your index and middle finger.

“I think Garden Coffee might have it? They’re a couple block down.”

Pointing in general direction of the neighbouring coffeehouse, personally not finding a liking to their coffee. It was a very similar set up to where you worked, but in your opinion, they tried far too hard to mimic a trendy third wave coffee shop and came off highly pretentious.

“No, no that’s okay,” the guy smiled at you. “I’ll have an espresso. Are they doubles?”

Nodding, you put his order into the system. “All the espresso drinks come as doubles, but I can do a single if you’d like? Or a shorter shot.”

You were mindlessly flipping the pen between your fingers, eyes continuously darting out the window just knowing the milk delivery was about to arrive. “No, a double would be perfect.”

“Sounds good,” you said. “Was that going to be for here or to go?”

“Here,” he nodded, opening his wallet.

“And was that going to be all for you today?” Not even fully paying attention, speaking through every line you asked customers before finalizing their order.

“Yeah – thank you.”

Telling him his total, opening the till as you dug out his change.

“Any reason you don’t have bulletproof coffee?” He brought your attention over to him again while you double checked you had the right amount of change.

It’s gross. “It’s not very popular,” you told him truthfully. “We don’t get asked for it too often either. Plus,” you tried to hide your grimace at the thought. “It’s a bit of an odd order. Not many people like it.”

He laughed at that. “Guess it is a bit of a refined taste.”

You could only nod, refined not really being the word to come to mind but you weren’t going to tell him that. Heading over to the corner where the espresso machine sat, quickly going through the same motions all over again and waited for the little mug to fill.  

Taking a sip of your water as you watched the seconds pass on the machine, the slow and steady pour of the espresso landing right into the cup.

The man who had just ordered had wandered over to where orders were to be picked up, glancing around the space. “I’ve never been here before,” he was standing opposite of the espresso machine, half of him hidden behind it. “It’s a nice place.”

“Yeah, I like it,” you nodded, not glancing up at him to stop the espresso, tapping the little cup on the counter once the pour ended. You never knew what to say when people complimented the coffee shop, saying thank you seemed a bit odd since you weren’t the owner, but any other response always sounded the slightest bit off.

“Espresso for here,” you smiled, placing the little cup on a plate, spoon next to it and slid it over to the counter towards him. He was leaning closer to the wall, arms crossed over his chest and eyes slightly narrowed, likely observing the paintings that hung up on that wall.

Your name was called through the café, attention being pulled away to see Dani now standing, empty cup in hand.

“Bye!” He called, waiting for you to walk to his side of the counter as he handed back the pen that you had lent him. “I’ll see you tomorrow?”

“No,” you shook your head, watching a look of mock shock dawn Dani’s face. “Even I need a day off.”

“That’s true,” he laughed. “Get your rest, I’ll see you Saturday.”

Waving bye to him once again, attention turning to another patron that was waiting for you by the till. Another morning regular, putting their order through quickly and heading over to make it.

“How does one get their art up here?”

“Sorry?” You weren’t paying attention, small diversions all around you.

The incoming milk delivery being on the top of your list of things to think about; next to making the iced americano, cleaning up some milk you spilt, and the shrill cries coming from the toddler seated directly across from you.

“The art.” The guy who had asked about bulletproof coffee was still standing in the same spot, small mug in hand, by the series of paintings that covered the wall. “Who – I mean how could I get my art up there?”

It was a common question, but not one you could get into right away because it was just then that you saw the familiar logo on the white truck pull up across the street, signaling your milk delivery.

It was like this every week, but you hated when you were alone and this delivery came. Since it was one that you had to put away right away, and if customers came in they would get fussy because you had to be in the back, putting away all the dairy since it couldn’t exactly sit out for that long.

“Uh –” you smiled at the regular when you handed him his iced americano, turning to the other customer who had the question about the art. “Sorry, just a sec.”

Watching through the window as the delivery man made his way with a dolly packed with crates. Moving from behind the counter and taking the short walk to the front door, propping the door open for him.

Greeting him as you usually did, grabbing the order form from him to sign while he brought the dolly around the back, knowing where the milk went. Quickly signing your name at the bottom as you reviewed the order, shoving your pen back into your pocket to go fill up the back fridge with rows and rows of milk jugs.

The delivery man had already left, and you knew he was going to be coming back with more so you worked as quickly as possible, keeping an eye on the front counter to make sure there were no impatient customers waiting for you.

Stepping out of the back room, searching for the folder where you kept receipts and order forms from deliveries. Delivery man promptly returning, leaving another stack of crates for you before he headed off to use the restroom.

“Do you need a hand?”

“Jesus,” you couldn’t help the small curse at the unexpected voice and presence that made itself known next to you.

Accented voice pulling you out of your thoughts once again, seeing the bulletproof coffee man standing far too close to the inside where only staff were allowed in. Realizing he was offering to help with putting away the milk, you narrowed your eyes slightly at the odd offer of help.

“What…” you paused, fully taking in his appearance for the first time. He was young, probably around the same age as you. Brown hair that fell in floppy curls around his face, square jaw and bright eyes that completed his whole charming look.

“I’m good, thanks,” you took a step towards him, hoping he would get the hint and take a step outside of the space that was really just for staff. He seemed to catch on, watching you with a little smile playing on his lips.

“Sorry,” you found yourself apologizing, remembering he was waiting for an answer about the paintings. “I just have to –” sticking your thumb to point behind your shoulder, motioning to the dairy that was left to be put away. “I’m nearly done.”

“No worries, take your time.” He smiled, and you couldn’t help but feel the slightest bit watched as you walked through the narrow back room to where the fridge sat in the back, unloading the rest of your delivery.

Finishing up, waving goodbye to the delivery man you knew very well you’d see again in a week’s time as he wheeled away empty crates on his dolly.

Searching for where you last placed your coffee and half eaten bagel, grateful to not have seen a single new customer and you added some more ice to your now watered down cold brew.

Eyes flitting over to where the bulletproof coffee drinker stood by the counter where you had left him, seeing him currently glancing at the space around him. You yanked open the messy drawer next to the till, rifling through it while you looked for the business cards you knew you kept somewhere deep down.

“Here,” grabbing the attention of the man who was observing paintings on the other wall, leaving the inside from behind the counter, to the open floor of the café.

He turned around to face you, eyes dropping down to the card you extended out to him. “The art doesn’t go through us. This woman here,” you motioned to the card. “She runs it, in a few coffee shops actually.”

You had only met Janeen a handful of times – when the art got switched out and a couple other times when she came in for a coffee. She was probably in her late fifties, a painter herself.

“Some of the art up right now is actually hers,” you glanced around, pointing to a few you were fairly certain belonged to Janeen, all for sale.

“Great thank you.” He gripped the card between his fingers, eyebrow furrowing slightly as his eyes skimmed over the name and email on Janeen’s card. He really must be an artist. Catching what you assumed was dried paint on his hands, the deep blue swiped over his skin standing out.

“Do you know how I should like, submit art to her? Or if there’s a process or anything?”

“I don’t, sorry,” offering him a small sympathetic smile. “It’s out of our hands, best bet would be to talk to Janeen about it.”

“Is there a manger I could ask?” He was glancing behind you as if you weren’t working alone.

Narrowing your eyes at him, knowing it was an easy mistake and was not at all meant to be a rude comment towards you, but for some reason you found yourself so socially exhausted so early in the morning.

“I am the manger.”

It came out a bit harsher than intended, but you didn’t care too much by this point. You saw his eyes visibly widen, mouth part slightly. “Oh -” tripping over his words as he held your narrowed gaze. “Sorry, I… I didn’t mean anything –”

He was cut off, saved by the bell if you will, to a group of young women walking through the door which meant you had to excuse yourself and head back behind the counter.

Mind drifting as you took their orders, feeling slightly peeved with the way the conversation with the apparent artist went. You knew you shouldn’t take it personally, customer’s said things all the time that really shouldn’t be taken seriously.

But it was small things like that, that had your mind trickling down a drain of will I ever be taken seriously and what am I doing with my life.

You loved your job, for the most part at least, you really did. But there was always that little voice of doubt inside of you, telling you that you weren’t doing enough with your life.

And when someone seemed to doubt the things you accomplished in life, it left a bad taste in your mouth and an unhealthy train of thoughts bringing your mood down.

At its core, it was pretty dumb to be irked by a comment asking for the manager. It was obviously because as the manager, you felt like maybe your position wasn’t well deserved, or like it shouldn’t be what you’re doing.

After making two iced mochas, cleaning up the small mess of spilt chocolate on the counter before digging out the folder where order forms were a bit haphazardly placed. Deciding now was the best time as ever to start putting them in order.

Glancing at the clock, you saw it was just barely past 8:30. You realized you still had about six hours left on your shift. Your eyes quickly shifted around the shop, seeing mostly empty tables as most of the morning customers got their orders to go. There weren’t any dishes pilled up anywhere, not yet at least.

The man who had been asking you about the art seemed to be finally seated, hunched over a table in the corner with a little book in front of him, twirling a pencil between his fingers the same way you did. You felt a bit bad for snapping at him, but you didn’t feel like entertaining conversation with him again.

Heading to the back room again, deciding that soft indie guitar wasn’t really the mood anymore, you changed your playlist once again.

A soft sigh left your mouth again, already feeling done with this day. You don’t really know why you felt so on edge. It was likely because today was the last day before a day off, after working a long stretch of shifts without much of a break.

Hours trickled by, the day never really picking up with just a slow stream of customers coming in. It gave you time to finalize the upcoming weeks schedule, sending it out to the rest of the staff.

It was just before one o’clock when Aleena came in, bright smile on her face when she greeted you.

Aleena as by far your favourite co-worker. She was in her mid thirties and was an absolute sweetheart. She was, for lack of a better term, your work wife.

When the both of you worked together you were always on the same page, not having to talk to know what the other one was thinking. The two of you would take turns bringing each other lunch, or snacks, or just little treats for each other.

“How has today been?” Joining her in the back room, shooting a glance to the front to make sure no customers were coming in.

“Hey Leena! It’s been okay,” you shrugged, watching her hang up her purse. “Pretty slow, which is kind of nice. I’m just,” you blew out a sigh for what felt like the hundredth time. “Tired today. I don’t really feel like talking to customers.”

She offered you a sympathetic smile. “You’re off tomorrow, yeah? Hope you have the time to relax, and see your friends.”

“I am! I’m seeing Mae tomorrow, she managed to get the day off too.”

“That’ll be good! You know if its slow it’s okay if you want to leave early today.”

You had an hour left on your shift, a small overlap between workers. It was unusual, to have one person working alone all day. Usually one person opened and then was joined by another later in the day, and the two people would close together with some staff changes in the middle of the day.

But with a last minute shift change due to someone getting food poisoning, you spent all day alone and Aleena would be closing alone. You had offered to come back in later in the day to help her close, since it was a bit of a feat to do alone, but she has insistently refused and said you needed your time off.

“I think I might…” you smiled at her. “If you’re okay here! I doubt it’ll pick up, the sales today have been really low.”

“Of course,” she waved you off. “Go, go. I’ll be okay.”

Forever grateful for Aleena, wrapping her in a little side hug as you bid your goodbyes and promised you’d bring her some baked treats next time to thank her.

“Oh! And the schedule is out, and I’ve already done the ordering for next week so there’s nothing else to worry about. Take it easy today.”

Gathering up your things and making yourself some iced tea for the road, swinging your bag over your shoulder and dreaming of the next day and a half of putting your feet up, and seeing your friends, not giving the shop one more look now that you were off.

You were never really one for routines.

Rather, you weren’t really one to be setting routines, instead letting them work into place for you. In a sense, you still really didn’t a set routine, forever slightly disorganized.

Your weekly schedule was always a bit different, depending on the shifts you had. Sometimes it would be the same ones for weeks on end, being able to find a good groove with them.

But that never lasted. You didn’t mind though, always saying that you were just taking life as it came.

The one big consistency was the walk from your front door to behind the counter at work. No matter the time of day, it was always the same. Walking the steps down from your building and out to the street, sometimes taking your time and sometimes your pace quick.

And when you opened the door to work, you would head to the back room first, take a few seconds, and then face the rest of your day.

This Saturday was no different at all.

Waving hello to your, after the much needed day off, shutting the door to the staff room behind you for a second of peace before the long shift started.

“How’s the day been?” After taking a minute by yourself, you walked out and stopped to ask one of your coworkers, Erinne, about the sales so far.

“Busy,” she sighed, turning away from the till to face you. “Finally slowed down for a bit, but I’m sure it’ll be the same this afternoon.”

You only nodded, glancing around the space to see Aleena and another colleague, Noah, working on bar. They were cleaning up grounds that littered the counter and arranging milk in the small fridge underneath the bar.

Signs of a rush that hit the café, the quick clean up that was needed before another wave of people came in.  

“Well, I’m off.” Erinne said from next to you, clocking out of the system.

You didn’t have a single bad thing to say about any of your coworkers, or least you pretended that you didn’t. When you became manager, you knew that you were no longer able to gossip too much or talk about baristas you didn’t like.

Still, you couldn’t help but slightly dislike Erinne. She showed no sign of ever really listening to you, only doing half a job even when you reminded her to finish her duties.

“Have a good rest of your day,” you smiled to her, watching her reach for her phone that was in her back pocket as she headed to the back to grab her things.

Walking over to the back, greeting Aleena and Noah, promptly making yourself a drink to get a little caffeine boost. “How was your day off?”

“Really good,” you nodded, smacking your lips at the slightly bitter espresso, making a mental note to double check that later.

Filling in Aleena on your day off, before the conversation was ultimately interrupted by a group coming in. She went to the till, taking their orders while Noah stayed on bar to make the drinks. You saw them not needing that much help, no yet anyway, deciding to grab the dish bin to collect the emptied mugs you spotted left behind on tables.

Walking to the back of the shop first, finding a few mugs stacked and abandoned. Propping the dish bin against your hip, gathering up the dishes to be cleaned. Eyeing over seated customers, catching snippets of their conversations as you walked by.

Your eyes fell to a table tucked in the corner, recognizing the man who had been asking you about who to contact in relation the paintings on that hung on the wall. He had the same black book in front of him, pencils laid out around the table with one in hand, tapping it against the table.

He glanced up at you seemingly when you walked by, eyes flitting over to yours. He sent you a small smile as you bussed the table across from his, your eyes briefly leaving his to glance up to the front of the café, making sure the line wasn’t that long.

“I emailed Janeen.”

His voice pulled your attention back to him, as you picked up the buss bin again, not seeing any more dirty dishes that needed to be run through the dishwasher. He was obviously talking to you.

“That’s good,” you didn’t know what else to say.

He put down the pencil he was tapping against the table, closing the book in front of him. “I – I’m sorry about the other day –”

You were nearly embarrassed about snapping at him. Shrugging as your lips twitched to a little smile, gaze falling over the table in front of him. He had another espresso in front of him, this time over ice. “You don’t need to apologize.”

“I didn’t mean it like – you couldn’t be manager or anything. Just –” he motioned with his hands, as if replacing his words. “Looking to get some more exposure for my art.”

“Is a little coffee shop really the best exposure?”

“I mean,” he shrugged, sitting back in his chair. “I’ll take what I can get.”

“That’s fair.” Assuming the conversation was over, glancing back up to see Aleena taking someone’s order.

“How long have you been working here?”

“Hm? Over two years now.” Glancing back at him, hearing the door opening and most likely welcoming more paying customers.

“That’s a while,” he nodded, shifting in his chair again.

You nodded absentmindedly, seeing two large groups walk in the café, knowing you needed to head over to work behind the counter. “Sorry – I need to head back.”

“Of course,” he sat back again. “Sorry again.”

The sound of your name on his lips stopped you in your tracks. You turned back towards him, brow furrowed and mouth slightly gaped open.

“Heard a customer say your name last time,” he spoke before you could ask how he knew your name. “I’m Harry.”

“Nice to meet you,” words mumbled, quick nod in his direction before you were walking back towards the counter with your dish bin in hand.

It wasn’t uncommon, that customers would learn your name. No one wore nametags, so it gave a slight ounce of anonymity.

Obviously, regulars like Dani got to know you pretty well.

But it wasn’t all of them. Some customers would introduce themselves to you and ask for your name even though you swore you’d only seen them once, and some would come in everyday without the slightest inclination of wanting to get to know you.

Harry watched you walk away, disappearing to the back room before he heard a loud clang of dishes, assuming you set down the bin that you had been holding. He saw you reappear again, quickly walking over to the register and putting a hand on your coworkers’ shoulder, telling her something.

He looked around the coffee shop again, glancing at the paintings that decorated the walls. He had already taken his time to look at each and every one, nearly all of them by the same artist. They were all beach scenes, the talent of the artist very apparent in the way that they painted the reflections off the water.

Though the only one that really stood out to Harry was one depicting a sunset, bright oranges and reds filling the entire frame.

He glanced down to his own orange coloured pencil in hand, the haphazard shapes and scribbles that were on the page in front of him. He hadn’t made much progress as he tried to plan out his next series. All he knew is that he was currently very drawn to orange, tangerine to be exact, and that he wanted this next series to be big.

He still had yet to find it, the small idea that would start to form in the back of his mind that would grow into something huge. His inspiration usually came from little mundane ideas, liking to take his time to observe everything around him.

The warm glow from the sun cast through the windows, the harsh hiss of the steam wand from the espresso machine, the crumbs that fell around a child eating their croissant.

He took the last sip of his coffee, crunching the spare bits of ice that fell out of the cup and under his teeth.

Sketching random faces he saw around him, eyes moving all around the space. Gaze flitting over to where he saw you reappear for a very brief second, placing a now empty dish bin out for customers to fill, before spinning way and disappearing from his line of sight again.

The scuffed white floor wasn’t one that was particularly nice, per se, but it gave a feeling that this shop was lived in and well frequented. There was one wall that was all wood, with little shelves lined against it. Potted plants and random books placed on the shelves, next to a little sign that read “take a book, leave a book”.

He had no idea how he’d never seen this café. He must have passed it a few times at least, never really noticing it until the other morning when he walked a different route.

It was big and open, but still felt warm. The ambiance inside wasn’t stiff or off-putting, instead it was inviting and bright.

Even on a day like today, where the lineup at the register never really seemed to go away, there was a calmness in the air and not intensity or stress.

Which is why he came back a couple days later, bright and early on Monday morning. He realized it was a slight oversight on his part, getting there a bit too early, before the doors were even unlocked.

Seeing as he had about ten minutes to kill, deciding to take another walk around the block while he waited. Going down the street and walking past the shop, squinting lightly to gaze through the windows.

Harry saw you at the counter, gloved hands holding a knife as you carefully sliced a loaf, one he assumed to be banana bread. Your eyebrows were lightly drawn together, concentrating on the task at hand.

Amused to see you grab what appeared to be a thinner piece away from the others, breaking off a corner and popping it into your mouth. He didn’t realize he had stopped walking, until your attention diverted away from the cutting board in front of you and up out the window.

He immediately heated up as your eyes found his, embarrassed to be found watching you through the window. He was already certain he hadn’t made a great impression on you, and this wasn’t really helping his case.

Your lips moved in a small smile, eyes darting away from his for a beat. He followed your gaze, assuming you were looking up at the clock that hung on the wall.

The next time he glanced at you, you had placed the knife on the cutting board and were walking around the counter until you reach the door to his left.

“Were you waiting to come in, or?”

Propping the door open a bit, waiting as Harry walked the few needed steps over to you. “Yeah! I know you’re not open yet so –”

You moved aside, keeping the door open. “You can wait inside, if you’d like.”

“Thank you,” he said, after a slight pause. He was a bit shocked to have you inviting him in like this even with only a few minutes left until the shop opened.

“Yeah, no worries,” you closed the door behind him after he walked in. “Although,” you spoke again, already walking back to the counter. “I won’t serve you for another eight minutes.”

He could hear a small smile in your voice, even with your back turned to him. He only laughed in response, putting his bag down at the same table he sat at last time, secluded and tucked away in the corner and with the sun’s rays hitting the wall next to it.

Suddenly the music around him changed, mood going from loud and upbeat, to soft and soothing with what seemed like the volume being turned down quite a bit. Harry couldn’t see you form where he sat, but he heard the occasional tap turning on and whir of a coffee grinder.

He waited a bit longer, making sure it was past seven before he walked up to the register. You were standing in front of the espresso machine, swirling a little clear glass a couple times before you took a sip.

“Espresso this morning?”

You hadn’t moved from your spot, taking another little sip from the glass in hand.

“Please,” grabbing his wallet from his pocket, digging through for some folded bills. You walked the short distance to the till, standing in front of him with the counter separating the two of you.

Wordlessly grabbing the money from the counter, putting the order through and counting up the change. “Oh, keep the change.” He smiled, refusing your extended hand.

“Thank you,” you murmured, palm opening to let the coins fall into the tip jar in front of you.

He followed you, from opposite sides of the counter as you moved to the back where the espresso machine sat. “It might be a bit bitter,” your voice cut through the shop. “I’m still adjusting it a bit, so let me know if its no good.”

“Will do,” Harry nodded, hearing the whir of the grinder as you prepared his coffee. He didn’t know why he was suddenly finding himself so unsure of what to say to you, very aware of the emptiness of the shop.

A beat of silence passed, the only noise in the shop coming from the music blaring through the speakers. He’d never heard it before, quickly finding a liking to whatever you were playing.

“Have you heard from Janeen?”

The question took him aback slightly. “No, not yet anyway.”

You hummed from behind the counter, tapping the cup on the counter like you had last time, before placing it on a little plate and sliding it over to him. “I think they’re changing the current painting’s soon. She’ll for sure be in for that so I can ask her about it if you’d like.”

He beamed. “That would be great! Thank you.”

Getting a taste of the coffee you had just made him. “It’s good,” he nodded. “Not too bitter.”

Another moment of silence fell, and that would be when Harry should’ve grabbed his coffee and walked away but for some reason, he didn’t want to leave the counter just yet.

You broke the silence again. “You’re here really early for a sit-down coffee, and not a to go.”

“Is that odd?” Harry was curious of why you brought it up.

“I mean,” you only shrugged, moving from where you stood to do something behind the espresso machine he couldn’t quite see. “Not really but – usually early morning regulars who get coffee for here are above the age of sixty. At a minimum.”

Harry laughed, watching you fiddle with the blue mugs that sat on top of the machine. “I’m just up early I guess. I like the sunrise.”

You smiled in return, and Harry thought that maybe he hadn’t made that bad of an impression on you after all. He didn’t know why he was so suddenly drawn to this café, drawn to spending his free time here, but he warmed when you mirrored his grin.

But when he heard the door open behind him, and you moved to greet the customer that came in, he realized that it was simply your job to be nice to him.

“Someone’s here before me!”

Harry recognized the older man from the other day, the one who had called out your name when he said bye to you.

“I thought I got the first coffee of the day?”

You laughed, grabbing a cup from where they sat stacked. “You didn’t get the first, but you get the best.”

Moving to make Dani’s drink, pulling a shot and steaming the extra hot milk, bringing the cup over once the drink was made to where he sat at his usual table.

Harry had gone to sit back down, once again hunched over a black book with a pencil twirling between his fingers.

You took your time to fully notice his appearance. He loose fit blue jeans, with an off-white teeshirt that read something you didn’t quite catch, slightly tucked in. You had never fully noticed the tattoos that covered one of his arms before, only briefly catching glances of them but in this moment, they seemed to stand out even more.

His hair was falling over his forehead as he leant over the table, and you couldn’t help but admire the clear cut of this jaw that was apparent to you as you gazed at his profile. Your eyes fell back to his hands, fingers toying with a pencil. Even from slightly further back, you could see some green splotches of paint on his skin.

You were slightly curious to what he was doing.

Always a bit nosy, especially with customers that you recognized to come in more than once. Whether they were writing a novel, reading a book, working from home; you liked to see what people would come in to do.

Both you and Aleena loved to discuss the personal lives of regulars, mapping out your own stories for the lives your customers lived. Based off who they came in with and small tidbits they would share with you.

You liked to think that you were good at reading people, and that you could more or less understand people just based off small interactions.

It was obvious to you that Harry was going to become a new regular. He had already come in three times in the past five days.

You wished you weren’t working alone, because you found yourself needing to talk to someone about him. Although you knew nearly nothing about him. Only the fact that he for some reason liked bulletproof coffee, that he was an artist, and that he liked to wear vans.

Another thing you did know, was that making him his coffee was going to become part of your work routine.

He always ordered an espresso, sometimes over ice. From the few times that you walked past his table and stole quick glances at the sketchbook that he always carried, he seemed to be working on bright colourful sketches. Always using pencil crayons, and never pencils or pens.

He had become such a quick new regular, that even Dani was talking to him. The both of them often came in the earliest out of anyone else.

In the past three weeks, he had come in nearly every day that you were working. He usually came in bright and early, right after the doors were unlocked and would seat himself comfortably in the back.

On the days when you weren’t opening and would stay to close, he was already there and would leave sometime in the afternoon. A few times he came in later in the day, staying close to closing as the coffee shop emptied out.

He had kept asking you about Janeen, and if he could get his art up on the walls one day. You had seen her one day when he wasn’t there, briefly asking her about the process of how she decided about who’s art went where.

You knew that her little painting rotation ran in a few other shops around town. She said that she wasn’t looking for anything new for a bit, but she was keeping all the submissions she got on file.

“Did she say when she would start looking again?”

“No,” you shook your head, after repeating what Janeen had told you to Harry the next time you saw him. “Sorry. But I’m sure it shouldn’t be too long.”

Harry nodded, glancing down at the glass of water between his hands that he had gone up to grab, before you went up to him with the news from your talk with Janeen.

“Why isn’t it run through you guys?”

“What?”

“I mean,” Harry paused. “I’m just curious about how it works. Why is it Janeen who does all the art if she has nothing to do with this café?”

“Honestly I don’t know,” you told him truthfully. “The owner set it up with her, long before I started.”

“Oh okay,” he nodded. “It’s a neat thing, to have local art for sale like this.”

“It is,” you glanced at the art. “But honestly we don’t sell them very often. I think only two or three times in my time here I’ve seen one sold.”

That surprised Harry. “Really? I mean, I guess people don’t come for coffee to buy a painting. Still, it adds a nice atmosphere to the café.” He paused, watching your lips quirk up to a smile. “Would be nice to have my own art up, but…”

Your eyes narrowed on him slightly. “Can I see this art? That you so urgently need to put up in here?”

He tried to stop the beaming smile that was building, biting his lips together for a second. For once feeling like it wasn’t him incessantly asking you something or bugging you, this time you asking him something about himself.

“No,” he heard himself saying, watching your eyebrows jolt up in surprise.

“No?”

His smile was sly, idea forming. He quickly walked back to his table and ripped out a small piece of paper from his sketchbook. He turned back around, seeing you hadn’t moved from your spot by the register.

“Here,” he said once he returned to his side of the counter where he had left you. “I have a few pieces up in a show next week. It’s just for one night, at a little gallery downtown.”

Writing down the date of the show and the name of gallery, he handed the scrap paper over to you. “You should come.” 

[starr-fall-knight-rise]

HASO, “Perfect Timing.”

Alright everyone. I am beginning to realize that maybe expecting myself to write a story every week day with a job and trying to get into grad school and writing a second novel might be a bit..... excessive?

So I am going to try for three times a week. I hope you all stick around :)

And I hope you enjoy today’s story as well. 

Adam stood with his hands behind his back, feet spread to shoulder width. He would never have noticed by himself, but the men and women around him stood a little straighter and stepped a little faster under his watchful eye. Once upon a time they might have only hastened their work if he directly asked them too, but just his mere presence these days could send his crew scurrying to do their work. He hadn’t really changed anything about the way he commanded his men. He was firm when he needed to be but allowed for brevity when it would suit the situation.

However, a few years and some tough lessons was slowly shaping him into the kind of man who could command thousands, sharp posture, calm confidence, and a keen eye. 

But then again anyone who could appear professional while wearing high top heelies was a man to be reckoned with.

Sunny walked up next to him her pearlescent white armor glowing under the light as she leaned on the shade of her matching spear. Her head was held high like his. Where once she had been locked up, and defensive, she now stood with the calm confidence of someone who understood what control meant.

Together they had come a long way.

She tilted her head, “You really think he’s going to let you race this…. It’s a million dollar piece of military hardware, they don’t stand a chance.”

Adam didn’t move, hands still clasped behind his back as he  stared up at the F-90 Darkfire he was preparing for the race, “I wouldn’t be so sure…. I’ll be lucky to come in last place.”

Sunny frowned confused, “I saw those shuttles, they were junk shows.”

He lifted his head as the F-90 was rolled across the deck.

“This is a race, it isn’t combat. She was built for dogfights which means she is going to be heavier than the others. Wing tip to wing tip she is also going to be a little longer than the other shuttles and jets making maneuvering around obstacles more difficult. Sure she likely has a more powerful engine, but that can be as much of a detriment as it is a leg up.”  He gestured in the vague direction of the race course, “We are going to be racing through the planet’s smaller rocky ring. It has an unusual amount of larger, thick chunks which we are going to have to manuver around: the kind of conditions you might see in science fiction movies when they talk about an asteroid field. Asteroid fields are generally too far apart to cause any real issue, but here the rocks are dense, and my flying is going to have to be on pont, having a more powerful engine is going to make her more touchy, and my fitness on the controls is going to have to be absolute.”

Sunny tilted her head listening as he continued. She liked it when this side of him came out. There was something about the analytical, logical side of Adam she found….. Very appealing.

He walked forward to examine the jet himself, “Furthermore, I don’t know if you noticed, but there were a few jets there that weren’t exactly junk shows. A few of them were pretty top of the line, and most of them were built for racing. Lighter, sleeker, faster, and with more engine control than mine.

A lot of my maneuverability is lost out of the atmosphere. This isn’t about how well you can manipulate wind currents, this is going to be all about the very minute rotation of the rear and and wing engines. Their wings are smaller and closer in meaning they are going to rotate more easily than me.

She walked up with him and put a hand on his shoulder, “You forgot to fact in one thing.”

He frowned and looked up, “Oh, what did I miss.”

She smiled slightly, “The skill of the pilot, and I know for a fact that we have the best pilot this side of Andromeda. You can have the best plane in the world, but if you have a shit pilot, then a good pilot in a flying trash can has a chance of winning.”

He Smiled, “Thanks, I needed that.”

He stepped back, “Still it doesn't pay to be too cocky. I have a feeling these people have raced this before, they are going to know what they are dealing with, and I am going tinto this completely blind. This is a test to see if my instincts are better than their practice…. Who knows it could be a very close run thing.”

He moved forward to do an extra check on the outside of the ship despite having a whole team of people to do it for him. Adam had learned to delegate a lot of his responsibilities onto others to avoid burnout, but this was one thing he never left to other people. He came back after a thorough check of the ship and stopped next to her.

His head was tilted to one side as he looked at the machine sitting before him.

“It is missing something.”

Sunny turned her head to look at him, “What?”

He smiled, “Do we have anyone here who has experience with graffiti?”

***

Donavan Red met him when he entered the hanger, wearing his flight suit and holding his helmet under one arm. He had gone for some of his more simple equipment. Didn’t want to give the guy an excuse to blame his skill on technology.

Red looked him over.

“Nice suit, princess.”

Adam just smiled thinly looking around at the other pilots, “I see I might be under-dressed.”

To be far though, he wasn’t exactly sure what he would have described the dress code, if he had to put it on an invitation. 

The most apt description seemed to have been.

Dress for Pissing contest.

The men and women wore their uniforms in the same way NASCAR drivers might, covered in logos and patterns. Some of them were clearly custom ordered with personal designs on the backs or the helmets, some sporting flames, others cartoon animals, one guy was just covered in black and white skulls.

The affect up close was ok, but from a distance he just looked like an over excited dalmatian, or maybe some kind of flamboyant cow.

A few of them went for color themes, neon red on black. Neon green on blue.

Most of them tried to coordinate with the matching colors on their ship, each trying to outdo the next.

Red smirked.

The docking bay light began to blink red as the airlock was engaged, and the all turned to watch as the doors opened, and Adam’s jet rolled into the docking bay. She was simultaneously both very impressive and very not impressive. She was an instrument of war, and he rockets lined up on either side of her wings said as much. Adam had once considered her rather sleek in comparison to other jets of the day, but looking at her now in comparison with the racing planes and he couldn’t help but compare her to a pitbull or a bulldog next to greyhounds or whippets.

She rolled up slowly and Red raised an eyebrow.

“A whose guy huh?”

Adam smirked, “I don’t know, I kind of like it.”

They both looked up as the F-90 stopped in place, and along her side in delicate blue cursive script was the name Cinderella. The man who had done the graffiti  had even taken the time to add some stylized pink roses to the front and end of the word giving it a finished look.

Donavan seemed both amused and annoyed at the same time.

The men and women around him turned to look over ridicule dying on their lips as they saw the smirk on his face.

It was made pretty clear.

He was going to beat them, and when he beat them, he was going to have a princess logo on the side of his jet, never mind all of their cool paint jobs.

Donavan frowned but then turned to everyone, “Alright load up!.” Adam did as ordered, switching seats with the young pilot in the cockpit and strapping himself in. he adjusted his controls, did a quick once over, and then pulled some power from his engine.  There was going to be an overwhelming desire to go fast, but he knew that speed wasn’t going to win him this race.

The jets began lining up next to each other, and to his surprise, one of the sleek racing models sidled up next to him, and when he looked over, he saw Donovan Red cambering into the cockpit.

That didn’t exactly bode well, but what was there to do about it.

He felt cool oxygen spilling  onto his mouth and nose as the orange tinted visor dropped down over his eyes. He opted not to use the heads up display preferring to see everything around him as he was flying. 

They were all in a line now, and up ahead a large projection appeared on the docking bay doors.

Red lights began to blink as the docking bay was cleared of everyone except for the jets.

The image of a woman appeared on the screen before them.

It was one of the women he had seen before in her cut off jean shorts and tight tank top.

“Ladies and gentlemen start - your - ENGINES!”

All around him the room was filled with a roar as the group of people pushed their engines to an idle.

He could feel the jet underneath him as it thrummed and whined vibrating into his gloves and down into his skin.

His very bones could feel the trembling.

“The course is simple, one lap around the rocky interior ring of the planet. Rules are only this, no leaving the ring, no weapons, and no teams, every man for himself. If the race moderators see any of this, you will be thrown from the race.”

She smiled and leaned back to reveal two green flags in either hand.

She began to wave them.

“On your mark!”

He took a deep calming breath forcing his hand to relax.

“Get set.”

He felt his heart beating  hard against his ribcage, his stomach crawled up into his throat, and he felt the sudden and overwhelming need to pee.

“GO!”

THe airlock doors shot open faster than they should have been able, a clear sign someone had bypassed safety protocols. Caught off guard by this, Adam shot out of the gate slower than he would have liked. Already the racing  jets streaked ahead, their quicker sleeker designs looking right at home against the blackness of space.

He had to remind himself that in space, without wind resistance, sleek didn’t mean shit.

If he was good enough he could have piloted a brick to win.

He gave more joice to the engine and shot forward. He cut under one of his other opponents and then cythed up next to a second.

He was there for only a moment when he saw something coming in from his right.

Instincts had him move fast, and he turned horizontal  shooting upwards just as another jet tried to push him out. He was flying over the two of them now, and gave another burst shooting forward and past them.

This open stretch was the only time he was going to be able to use the power of his engine to his advantage, so he gave her a little more juice and shot forward catching up quickly with the racing models at the front. Two of them cut sideways attempting to block his path. He cursed, forced to fire his engines backwards so as not to go crashing into them. 

The ring was approaching quickly now, and he could see very clearly that they had not been kidding. The belt was dense, less mate out of fine sand, and instead made up of billions of rocks some the size of him, others the size of cars, and even some the size of large houses. It was the strangest sort of formation he had ever seen around a planet, and he wondered idly how they stayed in orbit.

The two jets ahead of him cut right and then left as a rock came barreling towards him.

He shouted and rolled to the side barely avoiding a head on collision, his instincts saving him where his active brain could not.

He snarled.

“Pull it together.”

There was no time to be thinking, there was only time for flying.

WIth a practiced hand he toggled a switch on the side of his thumb, and his helmet was suddenly filled with the sound of music and drums. His brain focused inward and stopped thinking. He shot over and then under rolling between rocks just inches away on either side. Off to his right the planet below was glowing with the light of it’s star, a lightning blue halo around it where the atmosphere glowed.

He cut the left dove down and then rolled up.

He could see the other jets ahead of him cutting in and out through the rocks. His breathing grew even, his body relaxed, his brain heard nothing but the beat of the music and saw nothing but the obstacles ahead of him.

One of the jets pulled up next to him from behind recklessly rolling around one of the rocks. They were racing wing tip to wing tip now.

They cut right and left under and over he rolled left they rolled right. They were shaky just hanging on, but his flying was smooth.

Up ahead one of the other jets lit up with glowing orange as a set of flares broke from it’s back end shatting against the debris behind it.  Rocks were thrown off their normal course and went smashing into each other turning the rock field ahead of them into a meat grinder. Adam shot forward and dived downward while rolling tight, behind him the racer was unable to replicate the move and a piece of rock caught their wing sending them spinning off to the side and out of the ring.

Adam dodged a piece of debris coming in from his left, flipped upside down and shot diving upward and then righting himself just under the jet up front.

He could see the leader now, and recognized it as Red himself .

The jet above him attempted to drop down and knock him out of position, but he gave a burst to the engine and shot forward.

The jet behind him punched downward and nearly collided into a rock before pulling back into the palace.

Adam took their place in second.

Red could see him coming.

Another set of flares was released.

He checked his forward momentum and rolled three or four times to his right. G forces tugged at his consciousness forcing blackness to the edge of his vision. He tightened the muscles of his chest and stomach forcing blood back up into his head as he breathed out in short controlled bursts.

A rock flew overhead, he cut low, bumped up and then executed a rolling turn over a massive rock pulling in behind red and just up to the right to avoid another burst of flares.

The two of them were fighting for the front now.

And red was good, he knew how to handle a jet, but so did Adam.

They roared past a field of rocks splitting apart as a massive chunk came between them. Adam roared forward, and panicked for a single moment as he saw an impenetrable wall of rock appear just before him. Then a crack appeared. He fired the forward engine and cut horizontal passing through an opening that left him only feet to spare. Rock rose up to meet him, and he rotated his engine up dropping vertically before cutting sideways and passing under a rock. Teeth gritted, he punched upward passing through a gap just as it closed behind him.

A yell of exertain escaped his lips as he pulled straight up cutting up the side of a massive mansion-sized rock before diving right back down into the thick of it.

Red was gone, he didn’t see him anymore.

Was he up front?

And then the sleek black jet dropped down from above cutting him off.

He cursed and swerved low past another rock forced to cut diagonal back into line.

He pulled up wing to wing with the men again.

They dove, they pulled up and they took a wide turn ac coordinated together as a military formation never more than four feet apart.

They were going faster than they probably should have reacted. second by second he rolled left Red went right. They both met in a dive rolling past each other, wings almost touching before cutting upwards mirroring each other in opposite directions. The sound of the music melded with the path of his flight.

They were racing side by side just as one of the other jets roared over them careening out of control in a desperate attempt t o reach front. They watched him dive pull up cut left, and then a rock rolled right into their path. The two of them barely had time to react as the rock hit their right wing and then sent them slamming into the next boulder. There was an eruption and a brief ball of fire as oxygen was consumed from inside the cockpit. Debris blossomed up around them in a miniature explosion.

Adam greeted his teeth, eyes wide .

What was once a race suddenly turned into a battlezone. He and Red dove together rolling around the debris desperately trying to avoid getting cut in two. At these speeds, one hit would be the death of them. His heart raced in his chest as he pulled forward cutting  in the triangle made by three boulders side by side. Red mirrored him below.

A chunk of metal shot towards him, and he toggled his right wing burst just in time, lowering his left side just in time for the chunk to go flying past him. He pulled up with a gasp as a massive chunk of rock cut up before him. Red shot below and he rolled over the top coming into second place.

Up ahead a mining barge ascended through the line of rocks.

Adam roared with exertion as he pulled up and leveled out shooting right under the attached arm of the barge. Red lights erupted over it’s hull in a proximity warning as he went just inches overhead.

The barge driver, clearly spooked twisted to the side and the arm of the barge rolled with it, catching a boulder and sending it flying towards the grouping next to it, there was a sudden explosion of rock and again he was forced to roll to the side. Up down, over and under, cything between lines of rock.

He was almost hit once, then twice.

He toggled the forward engines, slowing himself down and then shooting straight up before continuing forward.

The rocks around him were rolling unpredictably colliding and then exploding into smaller pieces. There was no way he was making it through that alive.

He was rolling diving spinning twisting, and then, he felt it…. Something he had only felt on occasion. The world around him went silent, everything seemed to slow, and he was filled with…. With a feeling. It was like light, bursting out from his chest, rolling up through his skin and into his head.

He entered a moment of perfect execution. He cut into a tight roll his wings cything through the minute gaps between debris with timing so perfect it shouldn't have been humanly possible. Rocks passed by him at hundreds of miles an hour inches away  from the glass of his canopy, one wrong move and he’d be dead. He cut through a gap that gave him inches on either side rolld right dove down, turned left, spun once and then twice, and made a completely vertical ascent. Rocks flew past him on his right and on his left.

Up ahead he could see a gap slowly closing before him. He opened up his engine and shot forward so fast everything was a blur.

The rocks collided behind him as they snapped shut, and he flew into the clear firing forward to slow himself, and then red was there too descending from above spinning and wobbling, almost out of control and careening directly towards a house sized boulder.

He panicked firing up and down at the same time and sending him into a spin.

He was heading directly towards the rock .

WIthout thinking Adam locked onto the rock, and fired. A rocket under his wing detached and shot forward exploding violently just in time for Red to pass through unharmed. Red jolted awkwardly and rolled to one side. Adam cut past under from right to left and rolled straight over red to avoid a rock.

There was a moment where the two of them were staring at each other through the clear canopy.

Eyes met for an instant, and Adam could see the wide eyed fear on the man’s face., Then Adam rolled ahead ducking under the last rock and then bursting out into space.

He let the F-90 have her moment, and completely opened the engine shooting forward and cutting through the finish line which flashed bright green. In that moment He was hit with such a sense of exhilaration and joy that he couldn't imagine anything better. Who needed drugs, who needed love, who needed any of that when you could fly.

Hed did a triumphant loop whooping the whole way.

Of course, a feeling like that can never last long and slowly began to fade away. THe reality of what he had just done was both terrifying and amazing to the point he felt his body begging to shake. The tension and fear he had been holding back exploded inside him just like that joy and he found his hands trembling on the joystick.

He let it overtake him. He had been like this since he was young and fighting it would only make things worse. Despite his shaking hands he flew back to the docking bay and landed his jet with the precision of a surgeon. Finally when the engine was off and the flood stable underneath him he slumped back in his seat shaking and racked with rolling tremors. He closed his eyes and breathed long and slow.

Behind him the others came limping in.

None of them were completely unscathed, at least one person was dead. His hands continued to shake as the airlock doors shut, and as soon as the room was pressurized, he opened the cockpit. As soon as it did, Sunny came running into the room and up the ladder. SHeleft her spear on the floor and helped him to climb out.  His legs were shaking and he almost fell if it weren’t for her support.

She knew him too well, sitting him down on the lowest step and kneeling next to him.

“Are you ok?”

He grinned at her, “That was…. Holy shit.”

He held up his hand to watch the shaking, “I’m having an earthquake.”

It was just then that Red jumped out of his jet onto the floor. He staggered when he did but pushed away the men who tried to help, “What the ever loving FUCK just happened. The field had NEVER been like that. Jaz DIED out there, what the FUCK.” 

The people milled around in confusion.

Red turned to him, eyes narrowing as he stalked over. Adam sighed and looked up as the man stopped to stand over him

“I’m sorry, I’ll get out of your hair.”

The man paused confused, “What?”

“I broke the rules. Means I forfeit.”

Red looked almost nonplussed, “What are you on about?”

Adam slowly took to his feet taking a few more deep wreaths to steady himself before drawing to his full height. He was stead now and looked down at Red with an unwavering gaze. He held out a hand, “I used weapons during the race, that was against the rules. These weren’t flares to move the rocks. I used a targeted missile during the race and that means I broke the rules.”

Red stared at him.

Then he snorted, “Damn the rules. You saved my ass.” he turned to look at his people, “I am more than man enough to acknowledge that.” HE turned back to Adam, “You saved my life you crazy bastard. I am not even sure how you are still alive ….. Because that flying…. That was….. Holy fuck.” He grinned and took Adam by the shoulder, “you shaking, man.” He held up his hand to show a tremor, “Me too, now let's go get some drinks and talk this out. I owe you after all.”

The two of them walked off through the forest of shaken pilots, “You are the kind of man I can see myself doing business with.”

[ao3komorii]

Truth in Darkness (Zed/Reader)

Saving uploading my Sett story for last since it’s in 2 parts, so Zed is up next! I really like the Zed comic, so this oneshot is set in the canon of the comic. I tried to make everything able to be understood without reading the comic, but I do recommend it because it’s a great comic. Also just to set expectations if the only thing you know about Zed is him in-game, he’s a lot less edgy in the comic. Also, smut at the end.

----

It was hard to remember your life before you came to Thanjuul Monastery at the age of six. You could vaguely remember your parents taking you to a festival, and your mother braiding your hair. But you couldn’t remember what their faces looked like, or what their voices sounded like. It almost felt like you had spent your whole life within the monastery walls.

You had known that your parents would go away sometimes, leaving you to stay at a neighbor’s house. That, and any other familiar routine in your life was not meant to last, shattered by the man in blue that had come to knock on your neighbor’s door to inform them that your parents had gotten in an accident. You would later find out that they had been slaughtered by a demon while on a mission.

Your parents had been members of the Kinkou Order; tasked with maintaining the balance between the spirit and natural worlds. They had kept you away from their work, which had only made it worse for you when you were forced to leave your home behind to be taken to the monastery that would become your new home.

Your first few days at the monastery you had done nothing but cry. You had lost all sense of home and familiarity, and had only been taken in by the Kinkou out of obligation to your parents. You were not particularly wanted, or welcome.

You quickly became desperate to be useful, not wanting to be discarded again. You eagerly took any job that was sent your way, often sweeping floors and washing laundry to earn your keep.

You admired the members of the Order, clad in blue robes, as they sought to maintain balance in the world. The more chores you did, the more you idolized those who lived the life you could only dream of. At night, tired from the day’s work, you would dream about becoming an official member of the Kinkou, but you knew that Master Kusho, the leader of the Kinkou and current Eye of Twilight, had the final say.

Master Kusho led the Order efficiently, and had a lot of sway in regards to new members. You had seen him around the monastery, but had never talked to him. You had seen him training his son Shen, enviously wishing for the same opportunity. But as the years went by, you had yet to speak one word to Master Kusho, let alone receive any training from him.

By the age of fourteen, you had resigned yourself to doing chores in the day and training by yourself at night, hoping that you would eventually get a chance to prove yourself to a master. But all your secret training got you was stinging cuts that burned the next day when you scrubbed the floors. Nobody would give a poor orphaned servant girl the chance to prove herself.

You had trudged back to your room one day, too tired to go and train after sweeping the entire grounds of the monastery, when you heard the sounds of a fight. You crept back into the hallway, peering out to see two boys your age sparring. You immediately recognized the figure of Master Kusho’s son as he kicked forward, but his opponent was another story.

You craned your neck, trying to get a good look at the face of the silver-haired boy as he tried to block Shen’s attacks. Only when he fell did you recognize him at last; you had seen the boy before, washing dishes in the kitchen as you had gone to deliver a scroll to the cook. You had made brief eye contact with him then, but neither of you had said a word. You knew that the cook wouldn’t have permitted it anyways; you had once witnessed him chewing out a young servant girl for breathing too loudly and weren’t willing to do anything to gain his ire.

You had thought that he was a mere servant like you, but here he was, training with the son of the leader of the Kinkou. You went to bed with hope in your heart that it would be your turn to be noticed next. That you would be able to serve the Kinkou’s cause just as your parents had.

But the next day passed with no offers of training. And then the next day. By the time that a week had passed with no changes to your life, you had cried yourself to sleep for the first time since you were a child.

But the next morning, you wiped away your tears, your resolve hardened. There was nothing you could do but double down on your own training. You had no way of knowing if or when an offer would come your way, but you intended to be worthy of being a master’s student.

You began to hear whispers around the monastery of the new student that Master Kusho had taken on and began to train alongside his own son. You watched as Master Kusho would take the two boys with him on missions, and train them when they were on monastery grounds. You especially liked watching the two boys spar, trying to emulate their moves in your own solo training.

You had to admit that training by yourself was not as effective as if you had a master. You stared at the tree you had been practicing on, breathing heavily. You knew that you would never get better with a tree as an opponent; unruly spirits wouldn’t stand still and wait for you to take them down. A real opponent would require you to adapt your moves and strategies on the fly, which seemed almost unfathomable to you at your current skill level.

You had been staring at a whorl in the tree, lost in thought, when you were startled by the rustling of a bush near you. Turning sharply around, you clasped your hands in front of your chest as your mind spun with potential excuses for why you had been out here. It wasn’t technically against the rules for you to train without a master, but the Kinkou lived by a strict code, and you would be devastated if this was used as a reason to kick you out of the monastery.

Your hastily-prepared excuses died on your lips as you met eyes with the boy with the short silver hair that you had watched train for months now. You both stared at each other as you tried to think of something to say, but the boy broke the silence first.

“I’ve seen you before,” he said, almost seeming startled by his own words as he hastily continued on. “You’re a servant at the monastery.”

The word servant clung to your skin like a rash, and you looked down in shame at the reminder of your position. No matter what you did, you would be nothing but a lowly servant to the Kinkou.

Ashamed and embarrassed, you kept your head down as you tried to walk by him, but were stopped in your tracks by his voice.

“Wait!”

You looked back at him, and were surprised to see resolve in his face as he stared intently at you. You looked at him in confused silence for a long moment before he snapped out of it and spoke up again.

“Your kicks are too low.”

How long had he been standing in the brush for? You froze up, feeling self-conscious about the results of all of your training.

The boy offered you a shy smile. “I can help you if you want.”

“What?”

He gestured with his head towards the open space that you had been practicing in. He walked over to stand in front of the tree you had been practicing your moves on with you reluctantly following behind him.

He nodded at you before facing the tree again, taking a moment to position himself before kicking forward, his foot gently impacting the bark of the tree. Turning back to you, he motioned you forward.

“You need to position your leg higher,” he said, lifting his own leg momentarily to demonstrate his point. “When you aim so low, your kick will have much less power.”

“Oh… I never knew that,” you replied softly.

“I can help you train,” the boy offered, and you stared at him in shock.

“You don’t have to…” you trailed off, not wanting to impose on him, not when he probably had better things to do than teach a hopeless servant girl how to fight.

“You don’t have a master,” he said with a frown. “I’m nowhere near as skilled as my master, but I was just like you before he took me as an apprentice. Let me help you.”

“I…” Your desire to improve yourself was battling with your learned shyness from years of being invisible to those at the monastery. You wanted desperately to accept his offer of help, and finally allowed yourself to be convinced as you observed the earnestness in his eyes. “…okay.”

The boy smiled, and you found yourself smiling back at him. In the whole time that you had been here, you had never had someone be so nice to you. It was an odd feeling, but a pleasant one.

The boy reached a hand out towards you, and you stared at it for a moment before taking it into your own.

“My name is Govos.”

Shyly telling him your own name in return, you rejoiced internally at finally grasping a chance to become good enough to be a true member of the Kinkou.

You still did all your chores, but now you had something to look forward to. Govos still had his own training to do, and would frequently leave the monastery with Shen and Master Kusho on missions, but he made time to train with you whenever he could. His kindness had brought color into your world at last, and you quickly began to see improvement in your combat prowess.

Govos would tell you about his experiences outside of the monastery, about bringing supplies to villages and soothing troubled natural spirits. The more you heard from him, the more you wanted to be out there in the world, serving the Kinkou Order in a more significant way. But at the same time, you knew that you weren’t good enough yet, and you didn’t want to appeal to a master and get rejected.

So you dedicated yourself to training, whether with Govos or by yourself. You found yourself more often than not waiting near the entrance to the monastery when you knew Govos would be returning, relaxing only when you saw his face. You tried not to worry while he was gone, but you knew that deep down, you were afraid that he would leave and not return like your parents had.

You had been busy with the laundry when the air at the monastery suddenly grew tense. Your stomach burst out in knots as you heard the hushed voices while you went about delivering laundry.

“…so many dead…”

“…the golden demon…”

What had happened? Who had died? You had yet to see Govos, Shen, or even Master Kusho. You worried the entire day, scared that you had lost your only friend. You had been making small mistakes all day, so you had ended up finishing your work way later than usual. By that point, the sun had gone down with no sign of Govos returning, and you were so overcome with worry that you now found yourself sitting in the grass near the monastery entrance. You tried to pretend that you were just meditating, but you couldn’t fool yourself. You would probably stay here all night waiting for Govos to return.

The longer into the night that you stared at the arches that denoted the entrance of the monastery, the more blurry they started to look. You desperately tried to stay awake, but your mental stress throughout the day had tired you out more than you cared to admit, and soon keeping your eyes open was a challenge that you couldn’t overcome.

You didn’t realize that you had fallen asleep until you were gently prodded awake, the light beyond your eyelids telling you it was now morning. Opening your eyes, you saw Govos right in front of you, looking concerned. As soon as he noticed you were awake, his face relaxed.

“You’re back…” you murmured sleepily, a relieved smile coming to your lips.

“Were you here all night waiting?” he asked.

You sat up straighter, your back sore from sleeping against a tree all night. “I heard people saying there were deaths… I didn’t know…” you trailed off, feeling embarrassed that you had worried over nothing.

“There were deaths,” Govos confirmed solemnly. “We came upon a town on fire. There were so many wounded. My master said it was the work of the golden demon.”

“The golden demon…” you echoed as your gaze was drawn down to his collar, where a distinctive pendant hung on a simple cord.

Govos looked down at what you were looking at before looking back at you with a small smile on his face. “Master Kusho gave it to me after we took care of the surviving villagers. He said… he said that I was worthy of being the next Eye of Twilight. He gave me a new name, one befitting a Kinkou.”

You gasped in amazement; when you had first come across Govos, you had been jealous of the opportunities he had been given. But as the time went by and you had gotten closer, your jealousy had morphed into admiration. Now you just felt proud to have such a talented person as your friend.

“A new name?” you probed curiously.

“Usan,” he answered with a small smile.

“Usan,” you repeated, largely to yourself. “It fits you.”

After the appearance of the golden demon, your world began to shift rapidly. Usan was gone way more frequently, chasing after the demon alongside Shen and Master Kusho. Every time they came back, they got more and more frustrated with each failure to capture the creature. It was hard for you to remember the last time you had seen Usan smile. You couldn’t imagine the horrors he had seen chasing the trail of the murderous beast, but all you knew now was that you were slowly losing your friend to his seemingly-unending quest.

You had no choice but to accept your relationship with Usan for what it was, accepting whatever level of contact that he offered. You found yourself going back to that tree in the forest like you used to for training when Usan was gone. You would have preferred to train with him, but the skills you had learned from him over the years served you well. You knew that you could never have come this far on your own. You would improve your skills until you were at a level where a master could not refuse to take you on.

It was years of work, frustration, and many deaths before the golden demon was captured. You almost couldn’t believe it when Usan told you that the demon they had been chasing was not a demon, but a man. Khada Jhin was a monster in human form, and great care was taken to lock him securely away from society, in a location only known by Master Kusho and his two students.

You were relieved that the monster was caught, but Usan was not satisfied.

“He shouldn’t have been taken alive,” Usan spoke bitterly during your first training session together after Jhin’s capture. “If he ever escapes…”

“He shouldn’t,” you replied softly, as you handed him one of the wooden daggers you used to train with. “Only you three know where he’s imprisoned.”

You didn’t want to say more and further spoil your precious time with Usan, so neither of you brought up the doctrine of the Kinkou. The Kinkou Order existed to preserve the balance between man and spirit. Sometimes it was necessary to end a spirit’s life to end their pain, but Jhin was no spirit, nor demon. He was human, and it was not the Kinkou way to be the judge nor executioner of man.

You admitted silently that you were also unsatisfied with the humane capture of someone who had taken so many lives, but you had no say and no power. You didn’t even have a master. The Kinkou Order would not change its long-held rules just because you disagreed with them. You would be foolish to even try.

The Kinkou was all you had, which was another factor in your reluctant acceptance of the code. Without this place, you would have had nothing and nobody. If they had not taken you in, you may not have survived. Now you could only hope that you would eventually have the chance to join their cause.

But as you devoted yourself more to the Kinkou, Usan drifted farther away. Your talks of his differing ideals happened more and more frequently. You could tell he was getting closer to the edge every day, but what lay over that edge you did not know.

You had fully grown up in the temple, now almost twenty-four years old. You had lived at the temple for nearly seventeen years now, and still had little to show for it.

The world was in chaos like nothing before. Noxus was restless, hungry for war, and had begun to make strikes against cities on the Ionian coast. It would not take long before their armies would march onward, and the battle would be at your front door.

But Master Kusho would not compromise the Kinkou doctrine. The war was not the concern of the Kinkou. Disputes between men must be solved by men, not Kinkou, as the code demanded.

The added tensions in Ionia from the Noxian invaders had been having unfortunate effects on the spirit world as well, many more spirits than usual becoming restless and demon attacks increasing. The Kinkou were busy, and you never thought that number would include you until you found yourself standing before a master who had stopped you while you were sweeping floors.

“You have been here a long time,” he remarked, and you nodded politely.

Other than Usan, nobody talked to you much, so this was highly unusual. You were on edge, unsure of what to say to this man that had acknowledged your existence out of nowhere. You stayed deathly silent, afraid that even breathing too loudly would cause him to send you away.

“You serve the Kinkou, yet have no master?” he asked, and you shook your head. “I have need of an apprentice. I am getting older, and the spirits are no less calm, not with war on the horizon.”

“You want me?” you said shakily, desperately hoping that you weren’t dreaming.

“Master Kusho has advised me that you would be a capable apprentice,” he added. “His son has talked quite highly of your skills.”

Shen had talked to his father about you? But you had never sparred with Shen… all of your training was done in the forest, away from prying eyes. But this was what you had wanted, happening at last. You could think about what had led up to this later.

“I would be honored to be your student!” you answered with a low bow.

Your new master let you go with your promise to meet him the next morning to go out on your very first mission. You tried not to skip away with how excited you were, knowing your master’s eyes were on your back as you walked away.

It almost didn’t feel real. You had wanted to be a true member of the Kinkou for so long that it was hard to believe that this was really happening. You fast-walked around the monastery, looking for the head of silver hair that belonged to your closest friend. You had almost given up on finding him when you saw Usan enter through the monastery gates.

You rushed over to him, failing to notice his dour mood in your excitement. He seemed surprised by your abrupt approach, staring silently at you as he waited for you to speak first.

“Usan, it happened!” you exclaimed. “A master asked me to be his student! I’m finally a true Kinkou!”

His face darkened immediately, leaving you confused. You really thought he would be happy for you. Why was he acting like this?

“…Usan?”

He let out a short breath, looking away from you for a brief moment before meeting your worried gaze with an anger in his eyes that you didn’t understand.

“I’m leaving the Kinkou.”

“What?” Your body felt numb and cold, like your soul had left your body. You had finally joined him as a member of the Kinkou Order and he was… leaving?

“In the temple, there is a box… the Tears of the Shadow,” he said, leaving you no less confused. You knew that the Kinkou kept many artifacts within the catacombs of the temple, but you had never heard of that one.

“The shadow magic in that box… it has the power to change the tide of this war. To drive back the Noxian invaders.”

You began to get a sinking feeling in your stomach that you knew how his story would end, and you were not made to wait for long.

“We have the means to stop the Noxians and end this war, but Kusho insists that any action from the Kinkou would corrupt the balance of the scales.”

You noticed that he didn’t refer to Kusho as master, but said nothing.

“He may not care if the people of Ionia die, but I do!” Usan growled angrily. “The ideals of the Kinkou are flawed, and all of Ionia will die if nothing changes. I have no choice but to leave the Order.”

“Usan, please –” you appealed desperately, grasping his sleeve, terrified to lose him.

Your vision was blurring as tears collected in your eyes, and you saw Usan’s angry eyes soften for a moment before he shook off your grip.

“I’m sorry.”

And then he left, and you sank down to the ground, unable to do anything but weep for your lost friend, and yet unable to muster the will to follow him. You didn’t have his courage; the Kinkou were all you had. You would be lost without them.

You had finally achieved your dream, and just wanted Usan to congratulate you, to make him proud… you had never imagined this would happen. You had achieved the dream you had dedicated your life to, but had lost the person you cared about more than anything. Your happiness had fled with Usan’s retreating figure, leaving you numb.

Eventually, there was a hand on your shoulder. You looked up with sore eyes to see Shen, his expression painted with sadness.

“Usan has left,” he said, and you shut your eyes as another sob left your mouth.

Shen helped you to your feet, supporting your stumbling weight as he led you through the monastery grounds and to his room. Closing the door behind you, he set about preparing some tea while you tried your best to stop crying.

Shen handed you a cup of tea, and you tried to keep your hands from shaking, holding the cup with two hands to keep it steady. Shen drank from his own cup, staying silent and giving you the time to compose your thoughts. Staring at his face, one thought rose to your lips before any other.

“Why did you tell your father I was skilled?”

You had to know. Even though in your heart, you knew that this was partly because you were desperate to talk about anything other than Usan’s departure from the Kinkou and from your life. If Shen noticed your switch of topic, he did not mention it.

“I have seen you train with Usan in the woods,” he replied softly. “You have been at the monastery for so long, and you possess too much skill to remain a servant when you have the ability to be more.”

“I never knew that you saw us…” you trailed off.

Shen was looking in your direction, but didn’t seem to be looking at you. “You remind me of how Usan used to be.”

You had thought that hearing his name would hurt, but the soft nostalgia in Shen’s voice just made you want to hear more. You wanted to know more about Usan from someone who had been by his side through things that you hadn’t, desperate to feel that Usan was still here with you, even just through your memories of him.

Shen seemed willing to reminisce with you, telling you stories of their travels with his father until late in the night. You were very engaged in his stories, but eventually your droopy eyelids won and you were unable to stay awake any longer.

You woke up the next morning in your own room. It seemed that Shen had carried you there after you had fallen asleep in his room.

Getting out of bed, you realized that you didn’t feel as bad as you thought that you would. Shen’s stories of the past had soothed your troubled heart. You still felt sad at the loss of Usan, but Shen’s kindness had made it a little easier to get up and face your day.

You were grateful for the mission with your new master, as it was an opportunity to further your skills, and it didn’t hurt that you were desperate to throw yourself into anything that would help you to forget the events of yesterday.

It hardly felt real as you left the grounds with your new master to deal with a troubled spirit south of the monastery. While you had trained your body over the years, you had very little exposure to the magic of the Kinkou. Training in Kinkou magic could only be passed down formally from master to student, and you threw yourself into the experience, eager to learn whatever your new master was willing to teach you.

The missions became more frequent as your skills advanced, and while your master was quiet, he seemed to be pleased with your progress. His actions spoke louder than words, the first time he let you take the lead on soothing a restless spirit showing you just how much he believed in your abilities.

Even back at the monastery, you didn’t allow yourself to spend too much time thinking about Usan. Shen was more than happy to spar with you, and now that you were an apprentice, you were able to train on the monastery grounds, no longer having to hide away in the forest to train in secret. You would be forever grateful to Shen; without him, you would have collapsed upon yourself with grief. You still had nights that you would dream of Usan, or times when you would see things and be reminded of him, but you could survive without his presence in your life.

It had been about a year since you had seen Usan. He hadn’t come back or even sent a single letter. You tried not to let it bother you, but deep down, you worried for your friend.

Ionia was in a state of constant turmoil. The Noxian invaders were ruthless, and could not be stopped. They had pushed beyond the shores of the island and marched forward, leaving death and destruction in their wake. Noxus was not a place of mercy, and thus far, any efforts to combat their invasion had been met with ferocious violence. Ionia was losing the war; that was an undeniable fact.

Your heart hurt more every time you heard further news of the casualties mounting higher, of the villages torched as the Noxian armies ravaged the land you had called home your whole life. But no matter how much you wanted to do something, you couldn’t. It was your duty to protect the balance between man and spirit. If you tried to interfere with the war, you would no longer be worthy to be Kinkou. You had to remember that the cause you were tasked with was more important, even as your heart wavered. You had made your choice, and you were too scared to throw away everything you had worked so hard for.

“It was incredible, Shen!” you told your friend the day after you had returned from a mission to solve a conflict between a water spirit and a nearby village. “I never knew how many types of spirits there are out there.”

Shen nodded, expression flat, but you knew him well enough to know that this was just how he was normally. Chasing Khada Jhin had changed him just as it had changed Usan. The playful and happy boy you had seen around the monastery when you were younger had become somber and serious as he fulfilled his Kinkou duties. With Usan gone, he would follow his father’s path and become the next Eye of Twilight. But neither of you had anticipated that Shen’s succession would come so soon, or so tragically.

You were both surprised by a young assistant’s cries for help as he ran towards you. A heavy seriousness overtook the atmosphere around you as the boy, crying and stumbling, made his way to you. You were at a loss for words, unsure of what could have caused the boy to act like he was fleeing for his life.

Shen stepped forward first to meet the boy. “Yushin, what has happened?”

Yushin sniffled loudly, wiping a hand across his eyes as he tried desperately to calm himself down. “Master Kusho, he… he…”

Your blood felt frozen in your veins; had something happened to Master Kusho? You quickly made your way to Shen’s side.

“It’s okay,” you consoled the boy as you leaned down towards him. “Just tell us what’s going on.”

Yushin nodded, swallowing nervously before speaking. “Mister Usan came to the temple. He wanted the shadow magic box, but Master Kusho said no.”

You had a bad feeling about where this story was going, but you didn’t dare interrupt, Shen staying deathly silent as well, his hands clenched tightly into fists.

“Master Kusho went to stop him and he… he killed Master!” Yushin wailed. “Some of the other masters are fighting them, but they’re so strong…”

Shen wasted not a second more, sprinting towards the temple at the top of the mountain. With one rushed nod to the boy, you followed right after Shen, hoping that you wouldn’t be too late.

You had hoped to see Usan again, but couldn’t have dreamed that it would be under these circumstances. You knew that Usan had wanted the Kinkou’s secret magic to be used against the invading Noxians; he had told you as much the last time you had seen him. But to kill Master Kusho in order to take the Tears of the Shadow… this new image of Usan was so different from the man you knew that you were having a hard time believing that what Yushin was saying was true.

But the scene at the temple extinguished any hope you had left in your heart. People were running down the stairs, fleeing for their lives, while others fought against men in grey and red outfits, grey masks concealing their faces. Looking at the masked men, you wondered if one of them was Usan.

But looking at the steps leading up to the temple, you realized that you had bigger problems. Masters and apprentices alike were fleeing, but not everyone was so lucky. Bodies dotted the stairs of those who had tried to fight and failed, and had lost their lives for their efforts.

You rushed to your fallen comrades, hoping to find someone still alive. Finding no pulse, you were forced to move onto the next person as fighting still raged on all around you. Just as you were feeling almost too despondent to go on, you finally found a pulse on the fifth person you had approached, one of the older apprentices that you vaguely remembered seeing around before. You immediately tapped into your magic, a soft yellow glow engulfing your hands as you began working to save this man’s life.

You didn’t know where Shen was, or what he was doing. You hoped that he would be okay, but you couldn’t look away from the man in front of you, afraid that any break in your concentration would result in this man losing his life. Shen would be okay, you knew he would.

Eventually, the sounds of fighting dulled as you worked, sweat breaking out on your arms and face from the physical and mental stress that you were under. After what felt like an eternity, your work finally paid off; the man’s wound had closed at last, and even though he had lost a lot of blood, he would pull through.

As soon as you pulled your hands back, it felt like the flow of time had started again. Your exhaustion caught up with you immediately and you nearly collapsed on the spot, breathing heavily from the energy you had exerted, leaving you feeling boneless.

Looking around, you felt like you had found yourself in the pits of hell. The stairs were peppered with bodies, the blood of the victims running down the stairs and staining them red. Sorrow was heavy in the air, the survivors still in disbelief.

The Kinkou had not been decimated; the loss of life, while sad, was not as great as it could have been. It looked like those who had run were not pursued, but those who had fought Usan and his men had been killed. They had come here for the box of ancient shadow magic, and had taken out anyone who stood in the way of their objective.

You were unsure of what to do next. Those who had lived were long gone, and with how much time and energy you had spent healing the one man, you knew that you would be of little use in recovering the stolen Kinkou artifact. You weren’t even fully confident in your ability to stand with how exhausted you were.

You didn’t know how long you kneeled beside the unconscious man, but you were startled into awareness by a hand on your shoulder. Craning your neck to look up, you saw the face of a man with short brown hair who you recognized as a member of the Order.

“He’s okay,” you said softly, looking down at the unconscious man’s bloody clothing. “I was able to heal him in time.”

“I will bring him back to the monastery,” the man replied, voice almost frighteningly steady. “You should go and rest.”

You looked back up at him in shock. “But the shadow magic… don’t we have to go get it back?”

He shook his head sternly. “That is not our decision to make. With Kusho dead, the duties of the Eye of Twilight fall to Shen now. For now, we must regroup and recover our strength, and then we will listen to Shen’s decision.”

Staring back down at your hands, you nodded. Reality was setting in on you at last; the leader of the Kinkou was dead, killed by the man you had once called your closest friend. And even if you wanted to, you did not possess the strength nor the skill to chase Usan and his men down. You weren’t even sure if you had the energy to walk down the long flight of stairs that led back down to the monastery.

Knowing your short conversation was done, the man picked up the unconscious man before you and then began to head down the stairs. You watched his back for a short moment before heaving yourself to your feet and beginning to stagger your way down the stairs.

You walked by the blood, by the bodies that still lay on the stairs, their spirits already long gone. You could only hope that they hadn’t suffered too greatly in their last moments. You forced yourself onwards; it would do nobody any good for you to collapse in a heap here, least of all you. You just wanted to collapse into your bed and try to sleep off the horror of the last hour.

You didn’t see Shen anywhere, unsure of where he had gone. But you knew that you would see him eventually. Shen was very strong, so you had no doubts that he had survived the attack. Although you were still struggling to believe that Master Kusho was truly dead. It hurt your head to try and make sense of all that had happened, and you found yourself unsure of what the immediate future would look like for the Kinkou Order.

Finally getting to the bottom of the stairs, you looked out at the road back to the monastery, the clamor reaching your ears easily despite the distance. Understandably, the Kinkou were in a panic, and you stopped in your tracks as you stared at the mess of people running around. For such a normally calm place, the commotion felt deeply unsettling. Deaths happened within the Kinkou, as dealing with demons and restless spirits was never completely risk-free, but to lose the head of the Kinkou in such a tragic and unexpected way had left the Kinkou on unsteady ground.

You would not be able to sleep with how loud the monastery was right now, even as tired as you were. You found your attention drawn instead to the forest just ahead of you, feeling drawn towards the small path between the trees that led to your old training spot. The spot where you and Usan had spent most of your time together.

Maybe going there would give you the peace that you desperately needed right now. The Usan that would kill Master Kusho and steal a relic seemed so foreign to the boy you had known for so long. Could a year have really changed him so much?

No, you thought as you walked down the grassy path, Usan had begun to change long before he had left. The hunt for Khada Jhin had changed him, and as much as you didn’t want him to leave the Kinkou, you knew that you had to let him go. But after today, you were at a loss, worried for your lost friend.

Even though he had killed Master Kusho, stolen a Kinkou artifact and slain your fellow Order members, you couldn’t help but want to see him. To ask him why he had done this. Even if it was a futile effort, you wanted to see him so badly.

Though it pained you to admit it, you felt like you had truly lost him for good today. You had been nursing a hope that one day he would return to the Kinkou, to you. But with this act, he would never be welcomed back. He was not just a deserter of the Kinkou, but now an enemy. Your soul cried as you forced yourself to keep walking as you were forced to accept the fact that you would never stand by Usan’s side again.

The clearing looked the same as it had a year ago. It felt strange to be here after so long. For a year, you had told yourself that coming back here would be too painful, but now it was the only place that you wanted to be. You just wanted to feel like your life was simple again, like how it had been when you and Usan had sparred here together in secret.

You approached the largest tree in the clearing, the one that you used to use as an opponent before you and Usan had started training together. You ran your hand over the little scratches and bumps on the bark of the tree, closing your eyes and allowing yourself to think of the past.

Your fingers hit an especially-jagged section of bark, and you opened your eyes, looking at the intricately-carved symbol before you. You traced the pattern of lines that made up the peace rune, mind drifting back to the day that Usan had showed you how to carve it. It had been carved almost ten years ago, but still held its shape perfectly. Even though you knew any magical effects from such a small rune wouldn’t go far, you couldn’t help but feel bitter that the peace rune had done no good today in regards to the attack on the temple.

You were about to take your hand off of the rune when you were startled by a larger hand being laid over yours from behind. Alarmed, you jolted backwards into a firm chest with a muted cry. The man behind you didn’t say a word, allowing you to rip your hand out from under his and spin around to face him. Raising your hand to strike out, you frozen in your tracks as you stared in shock at the man that stood before you.

You recognized him immediately, but that didn’t mean that his appearance hadn’t changed. It had only been a year, but he had grown broader than he used to be, his form taking up most of your field of vision. His hair was different too; when you had last seen him, it had been much longer than your own, wound in a tight braid. But now it had been cut short, bangs he hadn’t had before hanging down over his forehead.

You had thought that seeing Usan would scare you after what he had done. But looking at him now, all you could think about was how handsome he had become. Why had you never noticed before?

You stared at each other as you tried to get a read on what he was thinking. But his face was blank, as if he was too drained right now to show any emotion. You knew that you were nearly at that point yourself.

“Usan… why are you here?” you whispered, and he shook his head minutely, not breaking eye contact with you.

“I don’t use that name anymore,” he replied quietly. “I am now called Zed.”

Your tired brain took the information in slowly. It did make sense that he would stop using his Kinkou name, given that he had left the Order, but the new name left you with only more questions. But given that this was not the first time he had told you of a name change, you knew that there were more important queries that you wanted answers for first.

It was hard to force yourself to say the words, but you needed to know. “Did you really kill Master Kusho?”

He said nothing in reply, his stony gaze flitting away from you and telling you as much as his words could have. So it was true. You couldn’t help the anger that surged up within you as you stared at his face.

“How could you do this, Usan?” you questioned angrily. “He used to be your master, and you–”

“I did what I had to,” Zed interrupted you, voice sounding resolute as he stared down at you. “The Kinkou have the tools to win the war against Noxus, and they intended to squander them while innocent Ionians die. With this power, I can save our people!”

“He was Shen’s father!” you appealed emotionally. “And the leader of the Kinkou. Does that mean anything to you?”

“Not enough to let all of Ionia die,” Zed retorted, anger bleeding into his voice. “We needed the Tears of the Shadow, and I did what I had to in order to get it.”

Your head was spinning from his blunt words. He clearly didn’t regret killing his previous master, as long as it got him what he wanted. But if he had got what he wanted, then why was he here? Why had he come to you now after going a full year without seeing you even once?

“…why are you here?” you asked softly.

His face relaxed at last, most of the tension leaving his face as you stared at him, waiting for an answer. Your back was still against the tree, caged in by Zed’s body, but you weren’t afraid. Not of the boy you had known for most all of your life. But his reluctance to answer your question made you want to push his buttons, do whatever you had to do to get him to tell you what you wanted to know.

“Are you here to kill me too?” you asked him, careful to keep your voice neutral.

His brown eyes went wide, expression looking like you had slapped him. The hurt in his eyes made you feel bad for saying what you had, but you didn’t have a choice. You needed answers from him.

“…no,” he answered at last.

“Why not?” you pressed. “You killed Master Kusho. What makes my life any different to you?”

“You’ve always been different!” he growled lowly, and the emotion in his voice caught you off guard.

You didn’t know what to say to that, but he didn’t give you a chance to say anything as he leaned in towards you, flattening your back against the tree as he slotted his mouth against yours. He closed his eyes immediately, but yours remained open with shock. While you remained frozen, Zed’s tongue slipped into your mouth, and you found your eyes fluttering closed as you relaxed into the kiss at last.

You were panting softly as he finally pulled back from you, realizing with embarrassment just how much you had enjoyed kissing him, even knowing what he had done. The moment was not meant to last, as his next words felt like ice water being poured on your skin.

“I wanted you to join my order.”

“Your order…?” you replied shakily.

“The Noxian invaders have to be stopped, and I have created my own order that isn’t bound to archaic notions of balance. I intend to protect Ionia, no matter the cost,” he explained passionately, a fire burning in his eyes.

You knew your answer as soon as he had asked you to join him, the words feeling like they were tearing you in two.

“I can’t,” you spoke quietly, and Zed’s face fell as you continued. “The Kinkou have lost their leader. And even if I agree with your goal, you still killed Master Kusho.”

“I see,” he replied simply.

You looked down, unable to look at him any longer as guilt burned in your chest. You both knew that this moment had to end, as he had to return to his order, and you to yours. You knew it would be selfish to try and keep him here, no matter how much you didn’t want to lose him again.

“Please stay safe,” you implored him, voice wavering and eyes closing.

He didn’t reply, and even though you hadn’t heard a sound, you knew he was gone. Sinking to the ground, you leaned back against the tree, pulling your knees to your chest as you once again mourned the loss of your dearest friend.

You allowed yourself the moment of peace that you had come here seeking, only now you had even more on your mind. The silence around you now just felt suffocating, nothing around to distract you from the things you desperately didn’t want to confront within yourself.

It was with great dread that you had to acknowledge that Usan… that Zed wasn’t completely wrong in his ideals. You had been holding doubts in your heart ever since he had left the Kinkou.

Everything you had ever heard about Noxus made it impossible for you to not know of their brutality. They would kill anything and anyone in their pursuit to conquer other lands. There was no doubt that their invasion had cost many Ionian lives already.

You wanted to be devoutly Kinkou and stay dedicated to maintaining balance without distraction, but you couldn’t. You realized that now. You could no longer delude yourself into believing that the Kinkou notion of balance was always right and just.

The Kinkou had the power to help push the Noxians back, but refused to help the people of Ionia unless spirit and man were imbalanced. For the first time, you found yourself thinking that the Kinkou were wrong. After all, would there even be an Ionia for the Kinkou to operate in if Noxus conquered the land due to their refusal to help?

It was with a heavy heart that you realized that you could no longer be a member of the Kinkou, not after you had realized how deeply unsatisfied you had become with the doctrine. It was all that you had ever known, the only family that you could remember, but you would have to leave it all behind.

But at the same time, you could not join Zed and his shadow order. Even if you agreed with why he had killed Master Kusho, he had still taken an innocent life. You could not join forces with someone who almost acted no better than a Noxian, killing to take things that did not belong to him. You could only hope that Shen would forgive you for the decision you felt that you had no choice but to make.

You stayed around as a last service to the Kinkou. There were many injuries to be healed, and procedures to follow to formally declare Shen as the next Eye of Twilight. But beyond that, Shen needed you right now. His father had just died, and now responsibilities were being thrown at him left and right. He never uttered one word of complaint, but you knew that he was struggling.

It took months for the Kinkou to recover from the great loss it had been dealt, but eventually things began to return to normal. As Shen got used to his new role and the Kinkou adapted, you knew that your time was running out. You could not use the Kinkou as a crutch forever, and it was that thought that brought you to see Shen in his room.

“You wish to leave?” Shen asked knowingly before you had a chance to stay anything.

“How did you–”

“I have known you for many years,” Shen answered. “And you have been especially restless since Usan killed my father.”

Your eyes went wide with shock. You hadn’t expected him to talk about his father’s death so bluntly; you hadn’t mentioned it to him at all for fear of upsetting him, but here he was bringing it up on his own.

You hung your head in shame, Shen’s hand coming to rest on your shoulder. You slowly looked back up at him, finding a softer look on his face than you expected.

“Everyone has their own path. I cannot fault you if yours no longer lies with the Kinkou,” he said, nothing but respect in his expression.

“I’m sorry,” you said, the words coming out before you could stop them as the guilt that you felt bubbled up to the surface. You just felt so guilty for leaving after all the Kinkou and Shen had done for you.

“Stop worrying,” he said gently, but firmly. “The Kinkou will not end with your departure. You must do what is right for you. I have no right to stop you.”

You knew that was as nice of a goodbye as you could have gotten from the serious man. You knew this was what you needed to do, but it didn’t make it any less hard to leave your friend behind.

“Thank you,” you said, feeling choked with emotion as you leaned over to hug Shen, your arms not able to fully wrap around his large frame. Shen’s arms came up to awkwardly return your embrace, his hands on your back.

“I wish you luck, my friend.”

You had felt like a lost soul for a while as you had wandered to the north of Thanjuul in search of a new place to belong. You journeyed through towns, exploring the world outside the Kinkou that you had never experienced before. You were having a hard time shaking your feelings of being a fish out of water away, but now that you had seen Ionia as it was, you knew that you had made the right decision to leave the Kinkou.

Your search for belonging took you to Shon-Xan in Northern Ionia, to a village along the coast. You had been in town for only a day when a small band of Noxians decided to siege the small village, confident that their skill could best those in the peaceful village.

The screams had alerted you to trouble on the shores, and you had rushed to join the few capable men and women who attempted to drive the invaders back. You had experienced fighting demons and unruly spirits, but this was your first time fighting against other humans in a life-or-death situation. But even without that experience, you had been in training for many years, and it showed. The cocky Noxians were no match for you.

You drove the invaders back easily, not one of them escaping with their lives. You were initially conflicted taking the lives of other humans, but seeing innocent villagers barely escaping with their lives told you that you were doing the right thing. These people needed your help, and you were more than willing to provide it. This was it. You had found your meaning.

The village was smaller than others on the coast, so it was a lower-priority target for the Noxians, but that did not mean that you were entirely safe. Any invaders that tried to conquer the village were swiftly met with the blade of your daggers and the might of your Kinkou-learned magic.

As the invasion continued to rage across Ionia, you found yourself travelling to the more war-ravaged areas of Shon-Xan to help fight the Noxian armies that sought to conquer. The life of a wandering warrior was not easy, and you fell into an exhausted sleep more days than not, but it was worth it to you to protect the land that you had lived in all of your life.

It took years for the war to subside, the land ravaged and many lives lost in the conflict. You had lived with your focus narrowed on the war for so long that you found yourself again unsure of what to do at war’s end. Ionia was no longer at war, but there was now an internal conflict rising between those who wanted Ionia to go back to its pacifistic roots and those who wanted to unite Ionia as a militaristic power to ward off any potential invasions in the future. You wanted no part of the debate; you weren’t a leader, and didn’t intend to insert yourself into Ionian politics now.

You had been floundering when an acquaintance from your time in the war offered you the chance to travel with her from Shon-Xan to the Ionian island of Ralin to the east. You had started out doing small jobs in exchange for the money you needed to survive, but eventually your reputation as a war hero began to earn you more notice, and with that came more opportunities.

You found yourself drifting between the Ionian islands and the mainland as you took on various jobs. You exterminated deadly beasts, escorted important people to their destinations, recovered stolen items, and whatever other requests caught your attention.

When your life had gotten a little less hectic, you had made a decision to send a letter to Shen, hoping that he had survived the war and remained at the old Kinkou temple in Thanjuul. A return letter arriving for you a few weeks later was the relief that you needed; Shen was okay, and the Kinkou had survived. You were happy to hear from your old friend, and began to exchange letters when you had the time between jobs.

It was hard for you to believe sometimes that it had been ten years since you had been a member of the Kinkou, and since you had seen Shen or Usan. You had heard whispers of the operations of the shadow order that Usan had created, but had never run into them yourself. You still found yourself calling him Usan in your head; the name Zed just felt unnatural on your lips, like it was meant for a stranger, and not the man you had known for most of your life.

As much as it pained you to admit it, Zed was a stranger to you now. You hadn’t sought him out, and would have no idea what you would say to him now. It felt so foreign to you that you used to be able to talk to him for hours, but now not a word came to mind when you pondered what you would say if you ever saw him again.

Luckily, the opportunities you had to dwell on Zed were few and far between with how busy you had been lately. There had been an increase in bandit attacks lately, and you now found yourself walking along a path towards Kotha in the Ionian province of Zhyun. You had been pushing yourself too hard lately; the bandits sieging the nearby town of Thonx had taken you longer than you had thought to dispatch. You could only hope that there would be an inn in Kotha with an open room for the night.

It was due to your tiredness that you didn’t notice the trouble until it was too late. You had just approached the start of a short bridge over the Sotka River when you finally noticed the two figures standing on the bridge, and the screams of the man that they were dangling off the bridge by a rope.

You froze in place; you didn’t normally make a habit of intervening in gang situations unless you were asked to, but at the same time, you were now too close to avoid being seen as one of the people on the bridge turned towards you. It was too dark for you to see detail in the faces of the two people, and you slowly reached down to the dagger at your side as one of the figures began to approach you as the other continued to hold the rope.

You let out an annoyed exhale as you got into a battle stance. You really didn’t want to fight when you were already tired, but you had no choice. Gangsters didn’t tend to be lenient with witnesses to their crimes, but at the same time, you refused to die here for such a stupid reason.

You were more than ready when the man came within your striking range, flipping behind him and pressing one of your daggers to his neck.

“I have no interest in your business,” you hissed sternly. “I will continue on this path and you can continue whatever it is you were doing.”

The man stayed silent and still, which confused you until his companion on the bridge spoke up.

“Shen!” a woman’s voice cried out from the bridge, and your hand went lax, allowing the man in front of you to gently grasp your hand and remove the dagger from being pointed at his neck before turning to face you.

“…Shen?”

He was older, but his face had not changed beyond recognition. His hair was up in a topknot, the sides of his head shaved. The biggest change in him was his eyes; they were all-white, a product of his elevation to the Eye of Twilight. It was jarring to not see his brown eyes anymore, but he could clearly still see, as he recognized you as well, gently speaking your name in response.

“Shen!” you cried happily, feeling like you had been transported back to your past as you stared at his face. But just as quickly, concern began to bubble up in your mind. “What are you doing here?”

Shen’s expression hardened again, but he was interrupted before he could answer by the cries of the man dangling from the bridge.

“Please, I’ll tell you! Just let me up!” he shouted, struggling on the rope. Looking around the side of the bridge told you that he was being suspended just above circling carnivorous fish, and suddenly the desperation in his cries made more sense.

The man began to start listing odd names as the woman fished a scroll out of a waist bag and began to scribble on it. Sensing that it was better to leave her to what she was doing, you turned your focus back to Shen, one eyebrow raised as you waited for his explanation.

“Khada Jhin has escaped.”

What? You blinked, having a hard time processing Shen’s words. Khada Jhin had been in prison for so long, how could he have escaped now? He would have to have been helped by someone. But the only people who knew where Jhin had been imprisoned were Shen, Usan and Master Kusho. And with Master Kusho dead, and Shen on Jhin’s trail, that left only one possibility that twisted your stomach in knots.

“Usan came to inform me of Jhin’s escape,” Shen added.

“So it wasn’t…” you trailed off, but Shen understood where you had been going with your words.

“Zed may have informed the wrong person of Jhin’s location, but I do not believe that he freed Jhin himself,” he answered.

You felt immediately relieved, but hated yourself for it. You hated the way that you still wanted to believe the best in Usan, even after what he had done to Master Kusho. You wanted to believe that Usan was not capable of releasing one of the most prolific serial killers in Ionia back into the world. But if it wasn’t Usan, then who? What reason could someone have to free such a vicious monster from its cage?

Strangled cries drew your attention back to the bridge to see the woman pulling the rope back up, the dangling man desperately trying not to squirm too much and end up falling into the water. At last, he was pulled back up and onto the bridge, the woman severing the rope with a dagger.

“I hope that all your information is right, for your sake,” she told the man with very casual menace.

The man didn’t even reply, scrambling to his feet without bothering to properly remove the rope from his ankles, stumbling on rope as he ran off the bridge and away from the woman.

Grinning in satisfaction, the woman approached you and Shen, holding the scroll in her hand. Now that she was closer, you were able to get a better look at her. She was younger than you and Shen, her dark hair tied up with a green cloth that matched the rest of her outfit. Wispy tattoos swirled up one of her arms, and sharp kama blades hung at her side. You weren’t sure who she was; no memories of this girl came to mind.

“Got the list,” she told Shen, a satisfied smile on her face. “Men will tell you anything when you dangle them over man-eating fish!”

She was talking to Shen, but you noticed her curiously looking you over, just as you had been doing to her. Shen looked between you before stepping back up to allow you and the girl a better look at each other.

“This is my former student, Akali,” Shen introduced, Akali giving you a short wave, but remaining on her guard.

You offered her your name in return with a smile. You hadn’t known that Shen had taken on a student; he hadn’t mentioned her in any of his letters.

“She can be trusted, Akali,” Shen told her, aware of his student’s wariness. “She was once a member of the Kinkou.”

“Oh,” Akali replied with a nod. “And you told her about, uh…”

“Yes, I told her of Jhin’s escape,” Shen answered.

Akali’s demeanor shifted at once, a friendly smile gracing her face. “Alright, so no need for secrets then. You coming with us to hunt Jhin down or what?”

Shen looked sternly at his former apprentice. “She did not come here to be burdened with our cause.”

“Wait,” you interjected. You had already made up your mind the second he had mentioned Jhin’s escape. “I want to help. I just finished a job, and I won’t be able to relax with that monster on the loose.”

Shen’s face was blank, and you fixed him with a frown. “I haven’t just been sitting around all these years. Let me help you recapture Jhin.”

Akali was easier to sway as she made her way to your side, holding her paper out so you could get a look at the unusual names written on it. “Any of these names sound familiar to you? Jhin was on one of these ships this month, and we need to find out which one.”

You were surprised at the lead Shen and Akali had managed to procure on the so-called golden demon as you walked around a marketplace in Kotha asking for any information on a deadly incident on a ship where sixteen people were noted as being killed by a demon. As Khada Jhin always killed in units of four, there was no other conclusion to come to in regards to the culprit.

So far, you had very little luck with the traders at the marketplace. Many had heard of the deaths of Lord Jaetha and his family on that ship, but had no further information, simply expressing their horror or disbelief at the brutality of the incident. In short, you were getting nowhere fast. You could almost feel the leads on Jhin’s whereabouts escaping you like they were grains of sand between your fingers.

“Hey,” you spoke up after quite a while of remaining silent, Shen and Akali looking over at you. “I’ll go ask the merchants on the south side. We’ll never be done by sundown if we stay in a group.”

They accepted your reasoning fairly easily, and you split from them with a promise to meet again after you had finished your part of the information gathering. Wishing each other luck, you departed to the south, heading down the street at a normal pace before ducking into an alleyway at the next turn. You did intend to do your part in questioning the merchants, but you also had one other matter of business to attend to.

The war with Noxus had sharpened your senses, and your more recent work had honed them further. From the moment you had begun to question the merchants, you had been feeling eyes on your group. You had spent the next hour taking careful glances around, trying to pinpoint your apparent stalker, and had only just noticed a figure in maroon clothing that seemed to always be in the same area of the market as you were.

You could only take very quick glances at the person, not wanting to tip them off by being too obvious. Their robes covered their body, an adjoining headscarf covering their head. You couldn’t even tell if the figure was a man or a woman, or guess why they were following your group.

You didn’t seem to be their main focus, as you peeked your head out of the alleyway to see them continuing to follow behind Shen and Akali. As you stared at the figure, your thoughts began to turn to darker possibilities. Could this be Jhin himself? You had never seen what Jhin looked like, so you couldn’t be sure, but the figure was hiding themselves too well in the marketplace to be a petty thief. They had to be a professional of some kind, and you just hoped it wasn’t Jhin; the marketplace was crowded at this time of day, and there would be a lot of victims if Jhin was to set his sights on causing trouble here.

As you watched Shen and Akali continue down the isle of stalls, you formulated a plan. You walked down the alleyway, checking that it opened up to the next isle of shops before darting over to a stall selling colorful fabrics. Purchasing some cloth, you retreated back to the shadows of the alley.

You quickly wrapped the cloth around your head, allowing the excess fabric to hang over you like a poncho. If the person was following Shen and Akali, then they had also seen you. If you were going to be able to surprise them, then you would have to make sure that they didn’t see you coming.

You positioned yourself by the stall nearest to the alley, which happened to be a vendor of fine beads and crafted jewelry. You perused the vendor’s stock, keeping your real focus on the entrance to the isle, waiting for your target to arrive.

You watched as Shen and Akali entered into your scope of vision, unaware that they were being tailed. You waited a few minutes longer, and then there was no doubt in your mind as the figure in red entered the isle of stalls. There was no way that the figure’s movements could be a coincidence at this point, which solidified your resolve. You would not allow this person to hunt your friends, or the unsuspecting townspeople.

You asked the merchant about her beads, acting as if you were just an interested customer, all the while tracking the figure with your eyes. Shen and Akali went about their business, and you looked down to examine a jade bracelet, your hood falling over your eyes as they came to question the lady running the stall.

“I did hear tell of that,” the old woman answered. “Just awful. Lord Jaetha has always been good to the people here. I pray he found peace in death.”

“Alright, thanks for your time,” Akali replied, and you could easily hear the frustrated undertones in her voice. They must still have been having no luck.

Off they went to the last stall on the other side of the isle, and you looked over to see the figure much closer than they were before. From this distance, you could at least tell that it was a man from the way he was built. Not a good sign for your Jhin theory, but it gave you an idea on how to go about accosting the mysterious stranger.

If you tried to fight him here, you would attract too much attention to yourself, not to mention potentially endanger the people in the marketplace. This time, you would have to use a more covert approach; one that wouldn’t alert the man to what you actually were until you had confirmed his identity. If you acted as a simple escort, then you could suss out his identity while keeping yours to yourself until the moment was right.

Shen and Akali left the isle at last, and you finally broke away from the jewelry vendor to stand against a wall by the alleyway, intending to drag the man in there with you as soon as he got close enough. You got lucky, as the man was walking on your side of the isle, making your job much easier. You kept your breath steady, waiting for the perfect moment to strike.

As soon as his arm was within your range, you quickly grabbed his wrist, tugging him into the alleyway with you. Pressing him against the wall, you leaned your head up against his neck to avoid him seeing your face.

“You look lonely,” you said, purposefully speaking in a higher pitch than your normal voice. “I can keep you company… for a price.”

He didn’t seem to suspect anything was amiss as he gently pushed you away from him. “I’m not interested.”

That voice… you realized in an instant just how wrong you had been about the identity of your pursuer. You reached a hand up to remove his hood, desperate to confirm his identity, when you were stopped by his larger hand encircling your wrist to stop you in your attempt to reveal his face.

“Usan, please!” you cried out, and the man before you stiffened in surprise, his grip on your wrist softening enough for you to shake his fingers off and pull his hood back enough that you could see his face.

His hair was a little longer, and his eyes were a little darker, but there was no doubt that the man before you was Usan. Even ten years later, this man would never truly be a stranger to you. Seeing his face now, you realized just how much you had missed him. He still had that small scar running through one eyebrow, and was still a head taller than you at least. It wasn’t as if his scars or height could have changed since you had seen him, but you still found yourself surprised by how much his appearance had stayed the same.

You pulled your hand back from his hood at last with a wistful smile. “Sorry… I know your name isn’t Usan anymore.”

He stared down at you, and you noticed how weary he looked, like he had carried the weight of the world on his shoulders for too long. What had he been doing in the past ten years since you had seen him?

“Call me what you want,” he replied as he stared back at you.

He just looked so tired; it hurt your heart to see him like this. You could deny it all you wanted, but as you looked at Zed’s face, you knew that you had always carried a soft spot for him, no matter what he had done. It was why you could never truly turn your back on him; even now you found yourself wanting to comfort him, as badly as things had ended the last time you two had met.

You reached a hand up towards his face, placing it over his cheek. Zed seemed to welcome the contact, closing his eyes at your touch. You stayed like that for a moment, but a burst of chatter from the marketplace reminded you of why you were here.

“Zed… why are you following Shen?” you asked.

Zed’s brown eyes opened and the tender moment was lost as you pulled your hand back from his face.

“The only way to capture Jhin is if Shen and I join forces, but he refuses to work with me,” Zed explained, and you nodded.

“You can’t be too surprised by that after what happened,” you said sadly as you took a quick glance towards the end of the alleyway, where a child dashed in to retrieve a lost ball before running back out to play with his friends.

“No, I can’t blame him,” Zed answered with a sigh. “But Jhin is more than we can handle if we work separately. He’ll need my help to take Jhin down.”

You bit your lip, missing how Zed’s eyes followed the movement. You couldn’t deny that they were the only two people alive who had caught Jhin before, and had the best chance of catching him again. But even though you knew that, you also knew that you couldn’t convince Shen to work with the man that had killed his father.

You sighed, unsure if you were making the right decision or not. “I won’t tell him I saw you. But please be careful. I don’t want either of you to get hurt.”

Zed looked away from you. “Jhin is dangerous. I will do what I have to for him to be stopped.”

“Usan!” Your angry voice brought his eyes back to yours. “I don’t want you to die!”

He had nothing to say to that, which only annoyed you more. Did he have no care for his own life in all of this?

Turning on your heel, you promptly exited the alleyway, heading towards the south side of the market to fulfil your part of the information gathering. So much had changed, and still Usan was as stubborn and reckless as he had always been. You only hoped for his sake that he would snap out of it before he really got himself killed.

Two days later, you had travelled to the town of Nanthee in search of the town’s elder, who likely possessed important information on why Lord Jaetha and his family were targeted by Jhin. But the lead was not meant to be; the day before you arrived in town, the elder and three others had been brutally murdered. The killings being in a group of four, there was no room to believe that there was any culprit but Jhin behind the deaths.

You knew that Zed had to be somewhere nearby, but you hadn’t been able to sense him since the day you had confronted him at the marketplace. Almost as soon as you had stormed off, you had regretted losing your temper. The first time you had seen him in ten years and you had ruined it with your big mouth. You would have to hope that you hadn’t severed that link forever.

You followed behind Shen into the building where the elder had been killed, Akali waiting outside at Shen’s urging. This was your first exposure to Jhin’s work, and it was somehow even more gruesome than you had imagined.

Four bodies, broken and mangled, lay in the entryway of the room, as if they had been fleeing to safety as they were killed. Grotesque vines wound around their bodies, the flesh of their faces peeled back in a gruesome likeness of a flower. If this was only a fraction of what Jhin was capable of, then you feared for all of Ionia.

Shen approached the bodies with you close behind as you set about tending to the corpses. Their skin felt cold and stiff to the touch, as if you were dealing with broken puppets, not people who had been alive the day before. You couldn’t allow a maniac like this to be free. Jhin had to be stopped at all costs, or tragedies like this would continue to happen.

You found yourself glad to have experienced the brutal nature of war, because otherwise you likely wouldn’t have been able to stomach the gore that you were working with now. By the time you had finished burying the bodies, you were feeling weary in spirit, hoping that those people would be the last victims of the golden demon before he was caught. But it would not be easy to catch Jhin; you were too experienced to be that naïve about the reality of the situation.

“I hope we can stop him,” you said, speaking the first words that either you or Shen had spoken since you had buried the victims.

Shen looked over at you. “Behind his demonic cruelty, he is still a man. I intend to make sure he is imprisoned once more before anyone else dies.”

You looked forward to see a group of men in blue standing around just outside the building that you had been in. You had almost forgot; Shen had requested members of the Kinkou to accompany the investigation, and they were likely waiting for a debrief from their leader regarding the bodies of Jhin’s newest victims. It was easy to forget they were here with all that was going on, but you knew that Shen would want to speak with them.

“Take your time,” you told him. “I’ll go find Akali.”

You agreed to meet up afterwards, heading to go find Akali, who had wandered off somewhere. You found her fairly easily, wandering aimlessly around Nanthee.

“We finished with the bodies,” you told her.

She bit her lip. “Were they really as bad as Shen was saying?”

“Yes.” You didn’t feel the need to sugarcoat the truth with her. “We need to catch him before he can do that to anyone else.”

Your conversation was interrupted by a loud gong ringing through the port town. Looking over at Akali, she shrugged back at you. “Must be a ship leaving. They like to hit the gong four times when ships leave port.”

Sounded like a pretty typical port town custom to you. The gong rang out for the fourth time and then stopped, just as Akali had described. Just as you were about to suggest taking a walk around town to give Shen some time, something behind Akali caught your attention.

Loud explosions began to pierce the air along with screams that were abruptly cut off. Your eyes were drawn immediately to the lanterns that were strung up along all of the streets as you watched the lanterns down the road begin to detonate and explode.

“Akali, the lanterns are bombs!” you spoke hurriedly. “We need to run!”

Akali didn’t ask questions as the two of you began to sprint off the street and towards one of the large carved heads made of stone that were scattered around the town. You heard the explosions and felt the heat right behind you, but you didn’t stop running. You dove for the top of the stone head, Akali hot on your heels as you both ducked down and covered your heads as explosions continued to ring out all around you. You both stayed down on the ground until the explosions finally stopped, the town deathly quiet.

You stood up, dusting yourself off as you looked over to see Akali doing the same. “Are you okay?”

“I’ll live,” she groaned. “You?”

“I’m fine,” you replied. “We got out just in time. I can’t say the same for the townspeople though.”

“I’ll get him for this!” Akali promised angrily as some of Shen’s men joined you on the stone head.

“Hey, that ship!” Akali exclaimed, and you looked over at the port to see a ship sailing away. Akali turned to one of the Kinkou men. “Hey, where is that boat going?”

“To the port of Piltover,” the man answered, and you frowned.

“You think that Jhin…?”

“No doubt he’s on that ship,” she answered bitterly. “Who else would cause this much destruction and then run away like a coward?”

It was a bitter feeling, knowing that Jhin was within your grasp, only to escape across the sea after decimating most of the town. And you were still haunted by the knowledge that the person who had freed the demon was also out there somewhere. This whole affair was starting to reek of the Navori Brotherhood.

The Navori Brotherhood were the most fervent champions of the cause to unite Ionia and bring the land to military prominence. Their cause had only become more radical after the war, setting their sights on uniting Ionia under one rule… their rule. And they were willing to kill whoever they had to in order to achieve their goal.

It made so much sense. Your mind drifted back to a conversation days ago in the marketplace where a merchant had mentioned that Lord Jaetha had been firm in his opposition to the radical brotherhood. And then he and his family had all been killed.

Jhin was too chaotic to involve himself in Ionian politics… unless he owed a debt. He had to be acting at the command of the Navori Brotherhood; there was no other explanation for the targeted killings.

But while you knew the basic information about the brotherhood, that didn’t tell you much. It wasn’t as if there was anyone in Ionia who hadn’t heard of the Navori brotherhood. But any details that laid below the surface were scarce; you didn’t know the details of their operations, or even who their leader was. Or how they had learned of Jhin’s location, allowing them to free him.

There wasn’t a whole lot left of the town; buildings aflame, columns of smoke rising in the air. You didn’t notice many survivors, which was an unfortunate reflection of the careful planning that went into Jhin’s brutality. The only figures you noticed in the wreckage were Kinkou who roamed the wreckage, trying to find any survivors, with little luck.

Your attention was then drawn to the edge of the water as you noticed a silver-haired figure in red dragging a man in blue out of the water. You had forgotten all about Zed in the chaos, but there he was saving Shen from drowning.

Almost immediately, Shen was on his feet, sword drawn as he stood in a battle stance. You should have expected something like this to happen when the two men met again. No matter how much Zed wanted to work with Shen to capture Jhin, the wounds of their past were too hard for Shen to forgive.

As the two men fought, you found yourself scrambling down towards the beach, needing to get to them but unsure of what you would do when you got there. It took you much longer to get to them with all the fire and rubble in the way, but you pressed on.

Shen and Zed continued to fight as you made your way down, allowing you your first glimpse at Zed’s shadow magic as he disappeared into shadows and then reappeared elsewhere. You could tell that he had spent a long time mastering his shadow abilities, but Shen was no slouch in that regard either.

Shen fought fiercely, and despite Zed’s attempts to quell the fight, he was forced to defend himself. But Shen’s will was stronger, and your feet touched the sand just as Shen slammed Zed down into the ground. You approached the pair slowly, Shen now on his knees next to the unconscious Zed, tears in his eyes as he wept for the severed bond between them.

You were unable to speak up, your mouth feeling dry as you searched your mind for words that wouldn’t come. As you struggled with indecision, the remainder of the Kinkou that had come to Nanthee with you approached, and then Shen stood up at last.

You stared at him, but he wouldn’t meet your eyes as he instructed his men to bind Zed with chains and scrolls that nulled his magic. You weren’t sure what to think, but simply stood there as Shen announced his intentions to burn Zed’s shadow magic from his body and then throw him in prison. This certainly wasn’t the reunion you had expected, but at the same time, you could not stand in Shen’s way, not after what Zed had done to his father. You just wished that it didn’t have to hurt so much to see the former friends as fractured as they were.

After the bombing, it was decided that you would spend the night at the beach as it was getting dark and the burning rubble that was the town was still too treacherous to travel through. You helped to set up tents using supplies the Kinkou had brought along from their last camp that was just out of town. Along with the basic supplies, you watched as a wooden trailer was brought down the rocks, being pulled by two worax. The trailer was complete with high walls and a roof, and it didn’t take a lot of effort to guess what they planned to do with it.

You watched as two men picked up Zed’s unconscious body and brought him over to the trailer that had been set up away from the tents. While they chained Zed up by his wrists, his feet barely touching the floor, a third man set about pasting magic-nulling paper talismans inside and outside of the wooden trailer. It was a little hard for you to watch the scene, so you turned back to your work on the tents.

After you were done setting up camp, you began to assist the wounded, the sun having set long before you had finished. You were exhausted, but didn’t feel like you could sleep. By now, most of the Kinkou had retired to their respective tents, but you could only stare longingly at the wooden trailer that held Zed within it.

“You are not prohibited from seeing him.”

You inhaled sharply; you hadn’t noticed Shen approach you. You looked over at him to see his face looking impassive as usual. After you had stared at each other for a short moment, Shen turned to look at the makeshift jail cell.

“Usan is awake,” he told you. “I checked on him earlier.”

“…oh?” You tried not to sound too interested, but Shen easily saw through you.

“Usan is not connected to my past alone. It is not a betrayal for you to speak with him,” he insisted calmly.

“But I…” You struggled to finish your thought. You wanted to go see him, but you were nervous. With how your last conversation with him ended, would he even want to speak with you?

“Zed is hard to keep in one place. You will have no better chance than now,” Shen added.

He didn’t wait for you to reply, turning back to head towards his own tent. Even as nerves danced in your stomach, your feet began to take you closer to the innocuous-looking wooden trailer. The beach was so quiet that the sound of your breathing was all you could hear as you brought a hand up, intending to open the door, but lacking the courage to face him again.

You couldn’t throw this chance away. Shen was right; if you wanted to talk to Zed, then it would have to be now. It was certainly better to do it now when everyone else was sleeping and save yourself the unwanted attention from the Kinkou who slept just across the beach.

You couldn’t let yourself chicken out, grasping the door at last, pulling it open and climbing the single step up to enter into the trailer. You closed the door behind you, not wanting any lone Kinkou to see the door open and come to investigate.

You stiffened, hand still against the door as a weak laugh rang out from behind you. You slowly turned around, Zed waiting for you to look his way before speaking.

“I’ve been wondering when you would come,” he said, his voice dry and raspy.

There was no nice way to put it… he looked awful. Zed was chained to the ceiling of the trailer by his wrists, his shirt removed, allowing you a good look at the black tattoos that covered his shoulders and torso and gave him his shadow magic. Shen had clearly done a number on him in their fight; one of his eyes was swollen, the skin around it purple and bruised. His face and body were covered in cuts and bruises, and you knew the position that he forcibly found himself in now couldn’t possibly be comfortable for him.

You couldn’t free him, but you could ease his parched throat. Reaching into your bag, you pulled out your waterskin, approaching him and raising it to his mouth. He accepted the water, keeping his eyes on yours as he drank from it. You gave him all the water you had in the waterskin; you could get more to drink later, but he clearly couldn’t.

You found yourself distracted by a droplet of water that rolled down to his chin from his lips as you tried to think of what to say to him. Zed watched you, waiting for you to speak up first.

“You look bad,” you said at last, staring at his very obvious black eye.

He stared at you, expression flat. “That’s what you want to talk about?”

“It’s been a long time, Zed. I don’t know what to talk to you about after all these years,” you answered honestly. “We’re not the same people that we were when we were Kinkou.”

His eyes narrowed as you spoke. “You’re not Kinkou?”

Oh. You supposed that fact had yet to come up, but you had no reason to hide it from him. Even if he did hold any ill will towards you, he was securely chained and bound.

“I haven’t been a member of the Order in a long time. I left a few months after you attacked the temple,” you explained.

“But why would you…”

You sighed. “Because you were right. I couldn’t just abandon Ionia to soothe unruly nature spirits while Noxus was at our shores.”

He looked frustrated as he took the time to consider the new information. “You could have come to me.”

His voice was soft, but that didn’t make his words any less frustration for you. “How, Zed? I didn’t know where you went.”

“You could have left with me that day,” he insisted quietly.

You laughed humorlessly. “Did you forget that you asked me to come with you not even two hours after you killed Master Kusho?”

He didn’t reply, and you continued, the pent-up anger from wounds not fully healed becoming too much for you to hold back. “You left me without saying goodbye. For a whole year, I didn’t know if you were alive or dead, Usan! You didn’t even send one letter, and then you come back, kill Master Kusho and then try to pretend that we were like we used to be!”

You hastily wiped the few tears you felt pooling in your eyes with your sleeve. “You have Usan’s face, but I feel like I don’t know you anymore.”

You were getting too emotional. You were feeling entirely too exposed and vulnerable after your outburst, regretting lashing out at him almost immediately. Avoiding his eyes, you hastily retreated, exiting the trailer into the cold night air.

Running a hand through your hair as you tried to settle your nerves, you cursed your own actions. Your best chance to have a real talk with Zed and you had let your anger overtake you. As much as he was deserving of your ire, you should have kept your cool. You really needed to get a handle of your stubborn streak, you bitterly admitted.

You quietly crept into your tent, laying down under thin sheets and trying to sleep, but your thoughts kept drifting back to Zed. You were having trouble sleeping, but you weren’t strung up by your wrists. There was no way that sleep would come easily to Zed tonight, bound as he was. Your mind was troubled, but you didn’t have the physical impediments that were currently making it much more difficult for him to get any sleep.

You didn’t understand yourself; not even an hour ago you were yelling at Zed, but now you were feeling sorry for him. As much as you hated to admit it, your rationality all but abandoned you in the face of confronting your oldest friend. Maybe it was because you had known him for so long that you couldn’t fully condemn him now.

Some part of you had always felt something for him, and it was that part of you now that wanted to go back to that trailer and apologize for yelling at him. But your pride crushed any chance of that happening; you would see how you felt in the morning, and hope that you would have another chance to talk to him alone again. As you felt yourself slipping into sleep, you promised yourself that if that chance were to come, you wouldn’t allow your anger to rule you again.

The next day found you on the move, making your way out of the ruined town alongside the Kinkou. You had been silently walking at Shen’s side, your eyes looking ahead of you at Zed’s wooden cage. You hadn’t mentioned your conversation with Zed, and Shen hadn’t asked, not that you would know what to tell him anyways.

You were brought out of your thoughts by the sound of hoofbeats rapidly approaching. You looked to the side to see a rider in blue approaching you, or more specifically, approaching Shen. Shen stopped walking, signalling the rest of the Kinkou to do the same as the man on horseback came to a stop.

“A message for you from Akali,” the man said, removing a rolled-up scroll from his saddle bag and handing it down to Shen.

You had been wondering where Akali had gone, the last time you had seen her being after the town had been riddled with explosions.

Shen read the note quietly, re-folding it when he was done. After a nod from Shen, the messenger was on his way again, and you tried to catch Shen’s eye, your curiosity piqued.

Shen turned to you as he put the note in his pocket. “Akali has gone to Piltover in search of Jhin.”

“By herself?” you gasped. “That’s practically suicide!”

Shen’s serious expression told you that he agreed as he crossed his arms over his chest. “She is hasty, but she is not wrong. I must go to Piltover to find her before Jhin does.”

“…and Usan?” you asked as you both stared ahead at the wooden trailer.

Shen sighed. “Capturing Jhin is more important than my personal grudges. But if Zed wants to go after Jhin with me, he will have to do it my way. Jhin will be captured alive.”

You shook your head, knowing that Zed would not be happy about that, but it wasn’t like he had a choice in the matter. Shen needed Zed’s help, but it would be on his own terms. Shen was steadfast in his morals, and even Jhin would not cause him to falter.

“And you?” Shen asked. “Do you intend to travel with us to Piltover?”

You were flattered by the offer, and the underlying confidence Shen had in your skills, but you knew what you had to do.

“I can’t,” you answered. “It’s been bothering me… who freed Jhin?”

Shen’s eyebrows furrowed. “Zed keeps mentioning that. I can only wonder who it was he has told of Jhin’s location.”

“I need to find whoever freed Jhin,” you insisted. “Someone who would unleash that monster on Ionia… they’re as much of a danger as Jhin himself.”

“I wish you luck, my old friend,” Shen said after a moment of silence.

You smiled sadly. “You’ll probably need it more than me. Jhin is not an enemy to be taken lightly.”

“But not an enemy I can allow to continue to plague Ionia,” Shen added.

They would likely be leaving as soon as possible for Piltover, and you saw your window of opportunity closing. This wasn’t how you had intended to do things, but you had to go your own way, and didn’t want to leave any regrets behind.

“…before you free Zed, can I speak with him?” you asked quietly.

“I will go ready the horses,” Shen replied, giving you your answer implicitly.

You nodded as you both went your separate ways, and you noticed how the men guarding Zed’s prison seemed to all leave to busy themselves with other tasks as you approached the cart. You weren’t sure if you were embarrassed or grateful from Shen’s discretion, but for now, you intended not to waste this opportunity.

As much as you hated to think about it, you were both heading into very dangerous situations. You were going to be poking your nose where it didn’t belong, with people that would likely kill to protect their secrets, and Shen and Zed were going after the most brutal serial murderer in Ionia’s history. You knew there would be no sureties that you would all come back alive, which was all the more reason to bare yourself emotionally to Zed now.

You tucked some hair behind your ear, nerves creeping up on you as you were faced with the same wooden door from last night. The only difference between now and last night being that it was no longer dark, your eyes focussing on the patterns in the wood grain as you hesitated. Below all of his shadow magic and steely temperament, he was still the boy that had trained with you for years and given you the chance to be where you were now.

So why did you feel like a shy teenager confessing to a boy for the first time? You weren’t new to interacting with men; you had seduced men for your jobs before, and had met some men that you had liked as more than friends. But Usan was different to you, he had always been. You recalled him telling you the same thing ten years ago, right before he had kissed you.

You felt frozen with nerves, but you couldn’t keep Shen waiting. There was still a murderer on the loose, and Akali needed their help. You couldn’t waste everyone’s time with your indecision.

Zed looked the same as he had last night, save for his black eye, which was a deeper shade of purple than before. He stared at you as he stepped closer to him, trying to decide what to say with your limited time.

“…I missed you,” you said at last. “When you left the Kinkou, and for the past ten years.”

If this was potentially your last conversation with him, you would not let yourself get angry. You kept your voice calm, which seemed to surprise him. But you were determined that this time would be different to every other time you and Usan had parted; no matter what he had done, you would end this conversation with a smile on your face.

“I was bitter and dissatisfied,” he said, and you didn’t detect any anger in his voice. “And I made a selfish choice. You have every right to hate me for what I’ve done.”

“I know,” you replied. “But I can’t stay angry with you. You’ve done a lot of awful, stupid things, but you were also there for me when nobody else was.”

Zed sighed. “I saw a lot of myself in you back then. You wanted so desperately to serve the Kinkou that ignored your existence.”

You couldn’t help a laugh. “It was a little embarrassing to be a new apprentice in my early twenties when all of the other ones were eleven.”

“You never deserved that,” Zed growled with a frown and dark eyes. “The Kinkou were too stuck in their ways to appreciate the potential that you had.”

His unexpected defense of you warmed your heart. You had really missed talking with him like this, only wishing it could have happened under better conditions. But as you gazed at his face, feeling more at peace than you had in a long time, distant sounds of preparation from outside reminded you of your current situation.

“I intend to track down the person that freed Jhin,” you told him, watching closely as Zed’s jaw clenched ever so slightly. You wanted to know what the small change in his expression meant, but then his face went neutral again and you lost your opportunity to analyze him further.

Your nerve had never been higher, so you intended to make your move now. You moved closer to Zed, so close that you could feel his breath on your skin, his eyes brimming with intensity. You brought a hand up to his cheek, fingers trailing down a recent cut along his jaw. Zed didn’t flinch, unwilling to break his eyes away from yours.

“I know you’re going after Jhin,” you said, voice just above a whisper. “But I want you to make me a promise, Zed. If we both live through this, I want to see you without all of this. I don’t want you to leave me behind again.”

As you spoke, you leaned closer to Zed, now so close that your noses barely brushed. You didn’t miss the way he glanced down at your lips before looking back up to your eyes. Zed wasn’t stupid, he clearly understood your intentions, his eyes so dark with want that they were almost black.

“Well?” you prompted, fluttering your eyelashes playfully at him as you waited for a response from the bound man.

“Yes,” he said without delay. “I promi–”

You couldn’t wait any longer, holding his face still with one hand as you leaned in to kiss him. You were both so desperate for this, which was obvious by how quickly the kiss intensified. You were unable to help a moan, so quiet that only the two of you heard it, as Zed caught your tongue with his. Your head felt light as you continued to kiss, and you found yourself wishing that you had done this much sooner.

But Ionia needed you and Zed right now. As nice as this moment was, it had to end. It was with great frustration that you pulled away at last, nibbling gently on his lip as you went. His eyes opened at the same time as yours did, both of you breathing a little harder than you had before the kiss.

You sighed ruefully as you stepped back from him. “I’m holding you to that promise, Zed.”

You didn’t give him a chance to reply, turning and sauntering to the door, swinging your hips as you walked. You didn’t have to turn back to know his eyes were very likely on your ass, or at least you hoped that they would be for your effort to not be for naught.

Even knowing the danger that you would soon be walking into, you had a spring in your step as you climbed down the stairs and back down onto the dirt road you had been travelling on. Looking around, you saw Shen standing by a few horses and made your way over to him. Shen grabbed the reins of one of the horses, leading it up to you as soon as he noticed your approach.

“You got one for me too?” you asked, taking the proffered reins from him.

“We both have danger ahead in our paths,” he answered. “You may no longer be Kinkou, but you are still an important ally.”

His considerate nature made you smile. “I wish you luck, Shen. We’ll both need it.”

He nodded. “Jhin must be stopped, although I am under no delusion that this will be easy.”

You looked back over your shoulder at the lone wooden trailer. “Are you going to go and see him now?”

At Shen’s assent, you began to climb onto your horse. You felt like you had to leave before Zed was freed from his temporary cage; you knew that it would be harder to leave if you saw his face again. You would just have to hope that he would keep his promise and come find you after this was all over.

“Stay safe, Shen. I hope you can find Akali before she’s in under her head.”

Forcing a smile through your worry, you kicked your horse into motion and began to speed up the hill as Shen made his way over to Zed. You kept your focus on the road ahead of you, knowing you would need all of your focus on the arduous task you had assigned yourself.

Nothing was simple when you were dealing with the Navori Brotherhood. They were secretive, preferring to kill and intimidate from the shadows. For such a large and well-connected group, they left almost no tracks of their activities behind.

You had been travelling for weeks, following the tiniest hints that you were able to pick up, feeling like you were grasping at straws more often than not. Even with all your skill and experience, you were struggling to find the one clue that you needed to lead you to the person that had freed Jhin.

It was somewhat of a blow to your pride that your eventual lead came entirely by chance. You had taken to walking around towns at night, as that was when the brotherhood seemed to be most active. You had been unlucky that night, and had been heading back to your inn for the night when you finally got your lucky break.

“We know you’ve been supplying our opposition with coin. Did you think that the brotherhood wouldn’t discover your treachery?”

You froze in place as you made your way to the corner of the street that you were on, peering out from behind a wall to look upon the scene happening just around the corner. You observed men in all gray cornering a lone man against the dingy wall of an alleyway, the man against the wall stammering and shaking.

“I didn’t… I… I would never–”

“We don’t have time for your lies,” one of the men in gray hissed. “This is your only warning. You’ll be dead before we’ll have to ask again.”

The men wasted no more time, and you ducked back as they turned to head your way. You were narrowly able to hide behind an empty merchandise stand as the men passed by you, talking amongst themselves. Their voices were low and they passed by quickly, so you couldn’t hear much of what they were saying, but a brief mention of heading back to the base was enough to catch your interest.

You waited until they were most of the way down the street before you crept out of hiding and began to trail after them. They didn’t seem to be anyone of a higher position in the organization, judging by how easy it was to trail them without being noticed. They walked towards the south exit, looking like they were heading out of town.

As you followed behind them, you began to organize your thoughts on the local geography of this part of Zhyun. If you were right, then this path out of town led towards the city of Kashuri. You hadn’t been there for years, but couldn’t recall any increased presence of the brotherhood when you had been there before. You followed the men for another hour, grateful for the cover of night masking your movements.

You were surprised when the men diverted from the path to Kashuri, seemingly headed towards the rocky, mountainous coast. You had never had any reason to travel this way before, so you were walking in blind. It wouldn’t be hard for you to believe that there could be a Navori Brotherhood base in such a remote location; nobody would really have a reason to travel this way, and if they did, the menacing men in gray would have them turning and fleeing for their lives.

Another hour later found you freezing in your tracks as you watched the men approach the tent-lined rocky cliff. It was just early enough in the morning that there was some light rising on the horizon, allowing you to see just how many tents there were. The tents were composed of dull gray-green fabric tied around warped, gnarled tree trunks, so white that it almost looked like they were made of bone.

It was early in the morning, so there weren’t many people out and about, but the sheer number of tents set up along the coast gave you a good idea of their numbers. But the size of their operations was then the least of your concerns as you looked past the tents to see a tall structure rising out of the fog. It looked to be a natural structure, a temple carved from rock and supported by more of the bonelike trunks. You could only see the top of the temple, the lower section lost in dense, swirling fog.

You were tired, having been awake for nearly a full day by this point, but you knew that you had to make your move now. You couldn’t afford to wait and give the whole brotherhood time to wake up. The decision to free Jhin had to have come from the top of the brotherhood, and you were sure that you would find the person you were looking for in the mountain temple. You knew that it would not be easy to confront the leader of the Navori Brotherhood, but it would be even harder if the entire base were awake.

You waited until the men you were following had retreated into their respective tents before you began making your way around the tents and towards the patch of thick fog. As you got closer, you noticed some smaller towers bordering the main temple. You quickly dashed into the fog, staying low to avoid being seen by any potential guards in the smaller towers.

While the fog helped to conceal you, it also worked against you. The farther you walked in the fog, the more you began to suspect that it was unnatural in natural. You could barely see two feet in front of you, and were forced to navigate yourself solely by moving towards the temple that towered out of the fog, as it was the only thing you could see clearly.

The area was deathly silent, but that didn’t mean that you were alone here. You kept vigilant, one hand in front of you to give you warning in case there were any obstacles in your path. There had been nothing for a while, until your palm finally hit something solid.

Feeling along the surface, you realized that you had finally found yourself at the base of the rock that led to the temple. Looking upwards, you could just barely see the peak of the temple, the fog so thick around you that most of your vision was heavily obscured. You carefully began to circle the building, eventually coming upon a steep set of stairs that would take you to the top of the mountainous temple.

You started to ascend the stairs, the fog beginning to thin out the higher up you went. You still didn’t see anyone around, but that didn’t mean that you could let your guard down. As you emerged from the fog, you looked out at the too-peaceful scene before you.

The top of the mountain was quiet, and would have been almost serene if you didn’t know that it was manned by the most violent terrorist organization Ionia had known in many years. A stone path bordered by green grass led up to a short set of stairs leading up to the temple itself. The opening to the temple was a large archway, but it was too far away for you to see inside the temple from where you stood. Looking around, you saw wildflowers growing in small patches, as well as a gently flowing fountain made of rock.

The temple itself was in stark juxtaposition to the tranquil area that surrounded it, made up of rocky walls and large bone-white tree trunks that climbed the walls of the temple like ivy. You were entranced by the grim temple, but your fascination proved a weakness as you took a step forward, only to be grabbed from behind.

Instantly, your battle instincts took over as you unsheathed one of your daggers, stabbing it into the shoulder of the man who had grabbed you, pulling it back out and flipping away from him. The man cried and dropped to one knee, clutching at his heavily-bleeding shoulder. He was dressed like the other men, a lower-level member of the brotherhood most likely.

Almost immediately, you found yourself surrounded by men in gray from every direction. Cursing your luck, you got into your usual battle stance and got to work. You didn’t give the men the opportunity to attack first, darting out at the man closest to you and slashing at his neck, forcing him to back up or face losing his head. Your initiation seemed to spur the men into action, as they all began to advance on you, weapons at the ready.

They had a distinct numbers advantage on you, but that didn’t mean that you were helpless. The men seemed to rely on brute strength, and were all packed with muscle, which you were able to exploit with your speed as you darted around them, dodging attacks while getting jabs of your own in.

Soon, the stone walkway was painted with the blood of the men, but still more came at you. You were confident in your own skills, but you were well aware that you couldn’t hope to best the entire Navori Brotherhood, even on your best day. Your downfall came too quickly for your liking, a shuriken clipping your shoulder and startling you enough for you to make a slight positioning error, one that your foes pounced on immediately, grappling you and tackling you to the ground, each of your limbs held down by one of the men.

A man with a bloody cut on his cheek and a slash across his collarbone leaned down towards you. “And what would a girl like you be doin’ here?”

You didn’t like the way he said the word girl, but you didn’t intend to answer him either way. You glared at him, hoping that would send a clear enough message in the place of words.

“Well? Who wants to do it?” the man barked. “Ain’t no point in keepin’ her alive!”

You could do little but struggle vainly under the hold of the men, unable to move any more than a pinky finger. You looked around, desperately searching for anything that could help your current situation, but it was hard to see anything past the masses of men in gray. You had to be realistic about your chances of getting out of this, and things were not looking good.

You were considering your options when a voice rang out above the others from over the temple entrance.

“Stop!”

You assumed that the man who had called out was a higher rank than the group of men that surrounded you, because they froze immediately in place without question. Just who was it that had called out? You could hear the voice, but you couldn’t see the man, your vision blocked by the men that surrounded you.

“Bring her here!” the man demanded. “Our lord wants to see her!”

You were hauled to your feet and dragged towards the temple as you continued to try and access your options. You had no idea what this lord of theirs could want with you. The Navori Brotherhood did not waste time idly, so there had to be some reason for their leader to want to see you, but you couldn’t fathom what that reason could be. If they wanted to interrogate you, that could easily have been done by someone of lower rank. So why would the leader go to the trouble of meeting with you themself?

You didn’t bother resisting; there were too many men surrounding you to make escape easy, and besides, you couldn’t allow yourself to pass up this chance to discover the identity of the person that had ordered Jhin freed from his prison. So you went along with the men, unsure of what exactly it was that you were heading towards.

You were dragged through the large archway that led into the temple, finding yourself in an entryway of sorts, the walls bare except for the usual deathly white branches that wound their way up the walls. The room you were in was small and led to another room farther in, although all you could see in the room ahead of you was what looked to be the beginnings of a staircase.

When you arrived at the entrance to the next room, the men let go of you at last, tossing you into the room. You landed roughly on the floor, turning back to glare at the men who now stood in the way, blocking the exit. You were calculating your next move, but a call of your name from behind you stopped you in your tracks.

You turned slowly around, and were unable to believe your eyes. The room was large, the walls tall and gray, with branches hanging from the ceiling. The central focus in the room was a short staircase that led up to an ornate chair. The tops of the stairs were decorated with simple bowls on either side that burned brightly with fire. As ominous as the room was, it could not compare with the terror you felt as your attention was drawn to the figure that sat on the throne, staring smugly down at you.

“Master Kusho…?” you questioned, unable to keep the shock you felt out of your voice.

The man before you looked much older than you remembered him as and carried a sinister aura that wasn’t there before, but you had no doubt that you stood before Shen’s father and former leader of the Kinkou. You stared in disbelief as you tried to make sense of what you were looking at; Master Kusho was alive, there was no doubt of that. But how was this possible?

“But you died…” you stammered with incredulity.

Kusho looked unimpressed as he levelled a haughty look your way. “The dull question of a nobody. It is a wonder any master took you on.”

You bristled at the insult, still too in shock to form the words for a reply. You had presumed him dead, killed by Zed so long ago, only to find out that he was alive, and appeared to be the head of the Navori Brotherhood. But that meant…

“Why did you free Jhin?” you questioned angrily. “You were the head of the Kinkou… I thought you cared about Ionia!”

“You misunderstand,” Kusho sneered. “It is because I care for Ionia that I command the Navori Brotherhood now.”

“You care for power, not Ionia!” you yelled back at him, your anger building up as you stared at him, not seeing any hint of remorse in his smug visage.

“Power is what is required to unify Ionia,” Kusho replied dismissively. “If you are looking for someone to blame, then look to your precious Usan.”

Your breath hitched at the mention of Zed, and it did not go unnoticed by the man before you as his patronizing grin only grew wider at your plight. As you glared at him, your eyes were drawn to either side of his chair, where two tall, imposing statues of Kusho himself sat, almost looking as if they were also looking down on you with their stone eyes. You never could have imagined that the proud, pious Master Kusho could turn into the cruel, vicious man before you.

“Zed convinced me to fake my death, that day in Thanjuul. Then we were free to use the forbidden magics of the Kinkou, and the Kinkou could remain pure in its mission.”

He was explaining the events like it was a reasonable decision, like it was a decision that was easy for you to understand. But he was acting like the Kinkou was some unrelated party to him, and that pissed you off.

“And what about Shen? He thinks that his father is dead!” you retorted.

“Shen’s father is dead,” Kusho replied coldly. “He was never strong enough to be my son in the first place.”

How could he say that? Shen was still struggling with his father’s death, even all these years later, while Kusho didn’t even care. Your heart hurt for Shen; his father had deceived him without batting an eye, all in the name of power. And clearly Kusho wasn’t the only deceiver, nor the one who had come up with the idea to fake his death in the first place; that honor rested solely with Zed.

“But he never…” you trailed off, unable to stomach the fresh waves of betrayal that washed over you.

Kusho seemed to know where your thoughts were heading as he snorted smugly. “That fool swore to me on his honor that he would not reveal our deception. And it seems that Zed values his honor above you and Shen both. A pity.”

And here you thought that you had finally begun to get closer to Zed again. But all that time, he held this secret close to his chest. Every time you had confronted him about killing Kusho, he hadn’t denied it, continuing to let you believe the lie. And now that you knew what had become of Kusho, you weren’t convinced that everyone wouldn’t have been better off if he had actually died that day.

But even through the hurt you felt, you realized that he hadn’t properly answered the question that had brought you here.

You dared to step closer to the raised platform, and Kusho didn’t so much as flinch from his position atop his throne. “Why did you free Jhin?”

Kusho stood up at last, and with a quick hand motion, you were grabbed from behind by the men who had been at the door. You struggled, but your daggers had been taken from you in the previous fight, so you were left with few options and forced to watch Kusho move about the room.

He approached a short pillar that sat just behind his chair, picking up a small blue box that had sat there. Holding the box as if it was a treasure, he began to descend the stairs, walking towards you.

You thought that he had looked bad from his throne, but he looked even worse up close. He was thin, thinner than he had ever been before, the skin of his face stretched almost too thinly over his face. His eyes were a chilling shade of gray, the whites of his eyes now black, which you could only assume was a product of the forbidden shadow magic he had obviously consumed.

He came to a stop a few feet from you, the swirling black liquid in the box he held unnerving you. “Without the war, the people forget that they must be afraid. To unite Ionia under my rule, I must give this land something to fear.”

You couldn’t hold your tongue. “Jhin destroyed the entire port of Nanthee! Hundreds lost their lives for your twisted plans!”

“The lives of peasants do not concern me, and the people believe that Nanthee was destroyed by foreign foes. Just a few more attacks on the larger cities and then all of Ionia will bow to my leadership,” Kusho explained remorselessly.

“You would kill Ionia to unite it?” you replied lowly. “You’re sick. Truly sick.”

“You may yet see things from my point of view,” he said, not looking at you, but instead at his men. “Hold her still.”

A third man approached you, and for some reason stood just off to the side, allowing Kusho the room to stand before you.

“Zed is making his way here as we speak, and I have no use for a disobedient apprentice,” Kusho stated disdainfully, while your heart soared at the news that Zed was on his way. “You should never have come here. But now that you have, I will take the opportunity to break you.”

You couldn’t ask for clarification as the man that was on standby grabbed your face with both hands, forcing your jaw open as Kusho and his unsettling box got closer. You began to panic as Kusho started to tilt the box towards your open mouth, but try as you did, you were locked in place.

“We will see how you handle the magic of the ancients,” Kusho said cruelly. “I may have you replace Zed after I kill him… if you live.”

With that, Kusho began to pour the thick, repulsive black liquid down your throat. It looked like ink, and the taste burned your throat as you tried desperately to spit it out. Unfortunately, the men had no intention of letting you spill the liquid magic, as your mouth was forcibly closed, your throat pressed on until you were forced to swallow the unpalatable substance.

Immediately, the men let you go and you fell to the floor, your whole body burning with the worst pain you had ever felt. You wanted to try and throw up the liquid, but your strength was rapidly leaving you as your body began to convulse, your grip on consciousness weakening more and more by the second.

“Leave us,” you heard Kusho instruct his men. “I will handle Zed alone.”

You wanted to fight, to try and warn Zed of what he was walking into, but you found that you didn’t even have the strength to hold onto consciousness anymore as you felt your world fall into painful darkness.

If he was being honest, Zed would have promised you anything in that moment to get you to kiss him. While you had been friends for a long time in your youth, Zed had always had a hard time trying to decipher how you truly felt about him. When he had kissed you and been rejected, he had closed himself off to the possibility that you had any interest in being with him.

When he had left the Kinkou that day, he was too blinded by anger to pay much attention to how much he was hurting you. Thinking back on it, he felt like such an idiot. You had finally become a Kinkou apprentice, the thing you had wanted all your life, and he had abandoned you right after you told him. At the time, your announcement had stung him, a bitter reminder that even you were on the side of the Kinkou, and not him.

He was too young and foolish at the time to understand that you had not seen the horrors that he had. All you had known was the Kinkou base in Thanjuul, so it wasn’t fair of him to expect you to understand the negatives of the Kinkou doctrine like he did when you had never been given the opportunity to do so.

In the year he was gone, he wanted he see you, to send a letter, but he couldn’t bring himself to do either. He tried to justify his inaction with how busy he had been forming his shadow order and fighting against the Noxian invaders, but he couldn’t fool himself with his own excuses. Beyond his guise of being too busy, he knew that he was trying to hide the truth; that he thought that he didn’t deserve to see you after what he had done to you.

The war efforts were a good distraction, but not good enough to keep his thoughts entirely away from you. He had a full year to live with his regrets as he continued to stay away, at least until that day at the temple. He could not beat Noxus without the Kinkou’s box of ancient shadow magic, that much was obvious. And he would do whatever he had to do in order to get it.

That day, Kusho had followed him down into the catacombs of the temple, intent on convincing his former student to return to the Kinkou, but Zed was intent on the opposite. If Kusho were to fake his death and assume control of the Navori Brotherhood, then the Kinkou could still remain balanced, and Zed would be free to take the Tears of the Shadow with Kusho’s blessing. Zed knew that he was making himself an enemy of the Kinkou with his actions, but he would do anything to save Ionia, even if you and Shen believed that he had killed Master Kusho. After all, he had already done so much to hurt you, what was one more betrayal on top of the others?

He believed that he was doing the right thing, destroying any hope of a relationship with his former friends in order to protect Ionia. He was firm in his decision, and was staring out at the chaos of the temple, about to turn and leave the scene when he caught sight of you.

You looked weary, which was understandable given the trauma that Zed had inadvertently caused you. He was expecting you to walk back down to the monastery, but was surprised when you turned and began to make your way into the trees. The scene was so familiar to him that it spurned his feet into motion as he headed into the forest as well. Maybe it had been simple nostalgia that had him following you to the spot where you had trained together so many times, but Zed didn’t stop to question his own motives.

Zed knew that he had been too selfish, thinking that he could have the shadow magic in his grasp and you by his side. He had been desperate and stupid, thinking that his kiss could make you want to leave with him that day. As much as it hurt to have you believe he had killed his former master, he could not break his promise to Kusho. To get the power he needed, he would have to let you go.

In the ten years it had been since he had seen you, he was never fully able to keep you out of his mind. He wondered where you were, what you were doing, and in darker times, wondering if you had survived the war with Noxus at all. His shadow order, the Yanléi, had only grown in numbers, and he certainly had the power and influence to discover your whereabouts, alive or dead, but he never did.

Part of him wanted to bite the bullet and do whatever he had to do to find you and make sure that you were alive, if only for his own peace of mind. But if you were alive, then that invited many other concerns that he wasn’t sure he wanted to think about.

It was not against Kinkou doctrine for members of the Order to marry or have children. Children of the Kinkou usually went on to become Kinkou themselves, just as had been the case with Shen. Just as quickly as he allowed himself to think he may see you again, the excitement turned sour in his stomach as he pictured you with a husband and child, and then his curiosity all but abandoned him.

You weren’t his, it had been made quite clear to him the last time he had seen you that you didn’t want to be with him. It had been ten years; it was pitiful for him to be so concerned about where you were in life. He should just have been happy enough to know that you were alive, anything more than that wasn’t his concern.

He had almost convinced himself that you would remain out of his reach until that night on the bridge. He had been tailing Shen as his former friend investigated leads into Jhin’s whereabouts, and had been watching Shen’s former student dangle a man from a bridge when a figure began to approach the scene. What looked to Zed to be a monotonous exchange quickly attracted his attention when the stranger stepped into the light of the moon, revealing a face that he hadn’t seen since that moment in the forest ten years prior.

It was hard for him to believe that he had found you again, even days later in the market in Kotha as he watched your group question merchants. He had kept his focus on Shen, and that had been his downfall as you had cornered him in an alleyway, assumedly mistaking him for a spy.

In that short interaction, he was able to see just how much you had changed since he had last seen you. You were more confident than you ever had been, and he had found himself impressed that you had managed to trick him into believing that you were a simple courtesan when you had pushed him into the alleyway. When you had stormed out of the alley, frustrated with him, he couldn’t bring himself to follow after you.

The next few days, he found his eyes drawn to you, though he couldn’t bring himself to reveal himself and approach you. It wasn’t unthinkable that you would be helping Shen track down Jhin, but he was still surprised to see you. It almost felt like rubbing salt in his wounds to see that you were still as pretty as you had always been, and still as uninterested in him as ever. He supposed that this was his punishment for his deceptions, being stuck so close to his former friends while knowing they despised him.

He had been standing close by as you and Shen entered the elder’s residence to deal with the likely-grotesque bodies of Jhin’s victims. Knowing that he wouldn’t be able to get any closer, Zed busied himself with looking around the small port town for any signs of Jhin. As he walked around town, he began to notice something odd; along with the simple paper lanterns that were strung up on wires around the town, there were also large crimson lanterns that struck a sinister chord of familiarity within him.

Quickly climbing onto a nearby roof, he pulled one of the bulky lanterns towards him, pulling the top off to look inside. It was with a spark of irritation as Zed confirmed his suspicions; the lantern was a bomb. And there were hundreds of identical ones strung up all over the town.

Abandoning the lantern, Zed made his way to higher ground, scaling a higher rooftop as his eyes began to search the crowd. If the whole town was wired to explode, then there was no doubt that Jhin would have to be here somewhere. The lanterns were not just a flashy display; Jhin was testing the limits of what he could do, and likely intended to use the chaos to cover his escape. The lanterns lined every street, leading up to a docked boat at the end of the wooden dock.

Before Zed could consider a plan of attack, his gaze was drawn to a single figure in the crowd. An unremarkable figure in the eyes of the people milling about the street, but not in Zed’s eyes. It was Jhin, he was certain of it; his suspicions confirmed as he realized the man was staring back at him.

Without a thought to anything else, Zed dove down, shedding his disguise as he chased after Jhin, who had fled the moment that Zed had given chase. As he used his shadow dash to try and close the gap, he heard Shen’s voice behind him as his former friend angrily chased after him.

Zed tried to warn Shen about the bombs as he kept on Jhin’s tail, but his warnings fell on deaf ears; Shen was too distracted by his anger to stop and listen to Zed’s words. As they reached the end of the dock, their time ran out. Jhin gleefully proclaimed his victory as he boarded the departing ship, and then Zed realized he was exactly where Jhin wanted him to be.

The spark had been ignited, and explosions rang out as the lanterns began to detonate. Watching the town become engulfed in explosive blasts snapped Zed’s focus back to his own situation. The lanterns lined the entire dock, including the section above his and Shen’s heads. Without giving it a second thought, Zed threw himself at Shen, sending them both into the water below as colorful explosions detonated over their heads.

The ship that Jhin was on had set sail as the explosions decimated the town, and while it was slowly getting farther away, Zed knew it was still within range of his shadow step. If he used it now, he could catch up to Jhin and take him out like he desperately wanted to. But as he swam in place, he realized that Shen had yet to crest the surface of the water, so he instead dove under the water to grab his sinking friend, pulling him back with him onto the beach. Jhin had gotten away, but he wasn’t willing to let Shen die just to catch the golden demon.

As Zed watched the boat get farther and farther away, Shen rose, spirit blade in hand and ready to strike. The destruction around them; this was why he and Shen needed to work together. They would never catch Jhin working apart like this.

But once again, Zed’s words would fall on deaf ears. Shen was too angry as he insisted that the town had only been destroyed because Zed was there to be Jhin’s audience. Zed had tried to make Shen think about who Jhin was working for, hoping that his friend would seek out the truth that Zed’s honor bound him to conceal, but Shen would hear none of it.

As they fought, Zed thought of another option. They needed to work together, that was an absolute fact. But Shen was stubborn and bitter, though not without cause. His last chance to get Shen’s cooperation was to put the power in Shen’s hands. So as they fought, Zed put less effort into his strikes, and took more hits. As Shen’s last blow sent him into unconsciousness, Zed hoped that his capture would be the final push Shen needed to agree to join forces with him to take down Jhin.

Zed wasn’t surprised to wake up in a wooden cart, strung up by his wrists and shirtless. It wasn’t comfortable, but he had been in worse situations. Shen had been thorough; Zed could immediately feel that his connection to the shadows had been blocked by the paper talismans that had been pasted all over his wooden prison.

His mind could only be so occupied by Jhin before thoughts of you crept up. You had undoubtedly been in the town when it had exploded, but he didn’t consider for one second that you hadn’t made it out. The skill he had seen you demonstrate before told him all he needed to know about your capabilities. Then the question on his mind became whether or not you would visit him in his cell.

Your conversation from a few days prior had ended on a decidedly unfinished note, and while Zed wanted the opportunity to speak with you again, he wasn’t sure if or when that chance would come. He had only spoke with you for a moment, so he had no real way of knowing just how much your personality had changed since he had last seen you.

It was well into the night by the time you had finally come to see him. He was surprised when instead of saying anything, you had offered him your water, which he couldn’t refuse with how dry his throat felt. He tried to search your face for any insights on how you were feeling, but your face had remained stubbornly neutral. However, that hadn’t lasted long.

It was another bitter pain in his chest to discover that you hadn’t been Kinkou in a long time, but you still had no interest in being at his side. You had freely aired all your grievances with him, while he couldn’t muster any words in his defence. And why should he? Everything you said was indisputable; he knew he had let you down several times over, but hearing it from your lips made the sting of his past actions even more potent.

When you left, the air felt sour with regret. Zed sighed as he tried in vain to position himself so his arms would ache a little less. Your anger with him was justified, but even though he knew it was unlikely, he couldn’t help but find himself wanting to see your smile again, to talk with you like you used to when you were both younger.

You had come to see him again the next afternoon, and Zed found himself almost stunned by your change in demeanor. When he had expected more anger and hatred, you had given him a taste of how the two of you had been many years before. Zed found his guard lowering at last, at least until you announced your intentions to seek out the person who had freed Jhin from his cage.

He had been trying fruitlessly to lead Shen down that path, as then the truth could be uncovered without breaking his promise to Kusho, but he hadn’t anticipated you taking up the cause in Shen’s stead. He knew very well what lay at the end of your quest, but honor bound his tongue. Kusho was not a weak man in terms of both power and resources, and would spare no cost to maintain his rule over the brotherhood, as well as his closely-guarded secrets.

Zed himself intended to seek out Kusho after Jhin was captured, with or without Shen, but even with the skill you possessed, Zed was concerned. He knew Jhin was first priority, so he forced away any thoughts of abandoning his current cause to stay by your side, but that didn’t mean he felt good about letting you go down this road alone.

He found himself all too willing to agree to your request, and not just to get you to kiss him. He hadn’t thought that he would hear you ask him to come find you once this was all over, and even knowing that he was not the caliber of man that deserved your company, he had agreed. He had made the promise to you, and then you had kissed him. He had no choice but to watch as you left, the chains on his wrists feeling even more restrictive as they stopped him from pulling you back to him when all he wanted to do was kiss you just a bit longer.

Shen came soon after you had left, and the atmosphere in the small wooden room turned serious as talks turned to Jhin. But nothing was ever easy with the two former friends; Jhin needed to die, or else there would be a risk of this happening again. The only way Ionia could be safe was if the barely-human monster was somewhere that he couldn’t escape from, and death was a box that Zed was eager to put him in.

But Shen didn’t agree. The only way that they would work together would be if Zed agreed to capture Jhin alive. He was not Kinkou, and he didn’t agree with Shen’s pacifism, but he had no choice but to agree to Shen’s demands, because with the chains on his wrists and the magic-binding talismans surrounding him, he had no way to escape of his own power.

They were to set off to Piltover immediately, on the trail of not only Jhin, but Shen’s former apprentice, who was most likely rushing headfirst into danger beyond what she could imagine. When they arrived in Piltover, the first merchant Zed had asked had admitted to seeing Akali arrive a month prior, so they would have to work fast.

As they begun to follow Akali’s tracks, Zed tried again to entice Shen into investigating the person who had released Jhin and continued to fund his terrorism, but to no avail. He had pushed too hard on the subject, and Shen had become suspicious, accusing him of revealing Jhin’s location to someone. Zed had no choice but to drop the matter; no matter how much he wanted his friend to learn the truth, he could not force him on that path, and he could not tell him the truth himself and break his oath to Kusho.

Jhin’s trail led them to Piltover’s theatre district; it was only natural that someone as dramatic as Jhin insisted upon a literal stage as his battleground. Zed and Shen dashed down the isle of an empty, abandoned theatre, breaking through a window and finding themselves exactly where they needed to be.

They were high above Piltover, landing on an abandoned train track that now looked like something out of a nightmare. Gnarled trees sat atop monstrous works of machinery, each equipped with drills for arms and outfitted with several rocket launchers. Clearly a lot of work had gone into the planning of this scene; Jhin never did things half-heartedly, not when it concerned his art.

Jhin himself sat on an old mining cart, rifle in one hand as he stared in the direction of the two men. Hanging from one of the trees behind the golden demon was Akali, her wrists bound by rope that was tied to a thick branch of the tree. Zed couldn’t tell if Akali was conscious or not, but she seemed to be unharmed, at least for now.

Shen wasted no time, diving at Jhin with his divine blade despite Zed’s warning that this was clearly a trap. Zed readied himself for the likely fight to come as he watched Shen tear into Jhin, who burst into cogs and wires. A mechanical dummy dressed as its creator.

As Shen discovered the ruse, the sky lit up with explosions of color as Jhin descended from the sky on a raised platform, mechanical arms in the shape of opening flowers lowering at his side. Zed slinked in the shadows as Jhin began to taunt Shen, alluding to the great secret that Shen had yet to figure out for himself.

As Jhin aimed his pistol at Akali’s face, Zed struck, tossing a large shuriken out as Shen leaped up to cut the supports on Jhin’s platform. The flower-like metal appendages struck out, one pinning Zed to one of a tree as another knocked Shen to the ground. In his usual overconfidence, Jhin had dodged Zed’s shuriken as he made his way to Shen’s prone figure, gun at the ready. But Jhin had failed to account for one thing… Zed’s shuriken hadn’t been aimed at him.

Akali, her ropes cut free by the shuriken, charged at the masked killer, landing a strong punch to the surprised Jhin. Grabbing his gun, she knocked him down and took aim, only stopped by Shen’s shout. Where Akali backed off, Zed quickly took her place in front of the crazed artist, the hidden blade in his gauntlet raised high.

Zed demanded that Jhin tell them now he escaped his prison, who had freed him. Even if he could not tell Shen himself, he could still force the truth out of Jhin’s mouth.

But Zed’s last selfish attempt to have his old friend learn the truth regarding his father was doomed to fail. Jhin remained coy as he plainly refused to state who had freed him, clearly taking pleasure in denying Zed the information he desperately wanted Shen to hear.

“Think of it this way, Zed,” the artist spoke calmly. “I was set free, but now that means you’re free too.”

Zed’s frustration boiled over as he tossed Jhin to the ground at Shen’s feet. As irritated as it made him to admit, Jhin was right. By freeing Jhin, Kusho had shown Zed that he was no longer worthy of his loyalty. He knew that Kusho was ambitious, but Ionia would be recovering from Jhin’s antics for years to come, all for Kusho’s cruel need to gain more power. He would have to end this now, this confrontation had been coming for some time. Zed dove from the bridge, leaving Shen and Akali to deal with Jhin as he began his journey back to brotherhood headquarters in Zhyun.

As he approached the base camp of the Navori Brotherhood, Zed reflected harshly on his own decisions. He had gotten to where he was now by lying and betraying those closest to him. Shen’s friendship was out of his reach, and he could only blame himself. He deserved to have Shen believe that he had killed Kusho as a punishment for his selfishness. He still had a hard time believing that you wanted to see him, considering you were still under the belief that he had killed Kusho as well.

He didn’t see any sign of you as he snuck around the camp and began to scale the rocky mountain face that would take him to Kusho’s throne room. He could only hope that you hadn’t found your way to this place; you would remain ignorant of the truth, but you would be safe. Kusho was dangerous, but Zed did not go into fights that he knew he couldn’t win. He would kill Kusho, and then he would try to keep his promise to you, as much as he felt that he didn’t deserve your company or your kindness.

Zed climbed over the ledge, walking the familiar path to the stony temple that Kusho was usually found in. As he stepped into the temple, it felt like this part of his life, the part where he had been bound to the brotherhood, was coming to an end. He owed a lot to Kusho, but not enough to look the other way when his former master released mass murderers on Ionia in order to bend the people to his will. Zed had taken the shadow ichor to save Ionia, but Kusho had allowed himself to be corrupted by the draw of its power. It was probably for the best that Shen wasn’t by his side, remaining unburdened by the truth regarding his father.

“You may have evaded my army, but you cannot hide your presence from me, Zed,” Kusho spoke from his place atop his throne, eyes dark and sinister, no trace of the humanity he used to possess residing within their depths. Zed’s apprentice, Kayn, sat on the steps below Kusho, watching the situation unfold silently. “You did not tell Shen of our deception.”

“I gave you my word on my honor, Lord Kusho,” Zed answered, feeling dissatisfied.

“But you were trying to get Shen to investigate into who released Jhin?” Kusho pressed, which Zed could not deny. “And now you plan to call me a fiend? To tell me that I made the wrong decision when I released Jhin?”

Zed felt his anger rising at Kusho’s total lack of care for the loss of human life he had facilitated, for the potential loss of his own life, as well as Shen’s. Kusho was truly human in form only, his heart warped and black with his hunger for power.

“Jhin reduced Nanthee to ashes!” Zed shouted. “He tried to kill me, to kill your own son! If you intended to betray me, there are others assassins you could have chosen!”

Kusho waved a hand dismissively. “You were more my son than Shen ever was.”

“You were supposed to keep Ionia safe from the shadows,” Zed argued. “Not let our people die for your ambitions!”

Kusho stood up, looking down at Zed from beside one of the statues of himself. “Ionia forgets the horrors of war. They forget that they need my protection. I am simply reminding them of what fear tastes like. The word has already spread of the attack on Nanthee. A few more attacks and nobody will question my will.”

“I chose this path to do what I could not in the Kinkou!” Zed said as he thought of all he had lost to give himself to the shadows. You and Shen had been lost to him for so long, only for Kusho to betray what he thought had been their shared ideals for protecting Ionia. “By taking a life, I could save many more. But you do not place value on the lives of innocents any longer.”

“Nobodies and peasants will bow to me or they do not deserve my protection,” Kusho asserted haughtily.

“I was once a peasant and a nobody,” Zed argued, and Kusho only cackled cruelly in response.

“And you do not bend to my will, so you must be replaced,” Kusho sneered, turning his focus to the raven-haired young man that had continued to sit by silently. “Kayn, kill Zed and become the new master of the shadows.”

Kayn slowly stood up, large scythe in hand. Zed stood still, observing his friend and apprentice as dark shadows swirled around his form. Zed did not move to take a defensive stance as Kayn began to descend the stairs and approach him. He knew that there were many things that could happen in the next moment, but he chose to keep his faith in Kayn and remain still.

“Many of our order wait outside,” Kayn drawled darkly. “They have no loyalty to you, and intend to serve me and Lord Kusho. They have no honor…”

As Kayn spoke, he turned, standing at Zed’s side and smirking up at Kusho, his scythe held proudly at his side. In that moment, Zed knew his faith was not misplaced, not this time.

“…but I know who my master is. And he taught me honor,” Kayn finished, turning to address Zed directly. “What should I do about the traitors to our Order that wait outside?”

“Kill them,” Zed said simply, and that was all that Kayn needed to hear.

“I’ll wait for you outside,” Kayn replied, leaving the room as Zed prepared himself for the fight to come, staring down Kusho as he would a corrupted nature spirit that needed to be put down.

“Your student is more obedient than mine ever were,” Kusho growled darkly as he ripped off his top, exposing the dark tattoos crafted from shadow magic that covered his torso and arms. “But thankfully, I have one other promising apprentice.”

Kusho reached a hand over to a short string, pulling it down as Zed watched, unsure of where this was heading. The pulled string caused a curtain at the back of the room to raise, a curtain that Zed couldn’t recall seeing on any of his previous visits to this place. And as the curtain rose, he immediately knew why that was.

Your prone body laid in the far corner of the room, and it was immediately obvious to Zed what had happened to you. You were unmoving, dark shadows swirling around your body as jet black veins ran along any patch of exposed skin Zed could see, large vine-like veins of shadow crawling up your cheeks and over your eyes. You had to be alive; the shadows would have abandoned your form otherwise as the shadows had no interest in the dead. But from what he could tell, you were close to death’s door, the shadow ichor clearly too much for your body to handle.

Kusho stared down at your dying form with visible smugness. “Did I give her too much? I have no need of an apprentice that can’t handle that much of the shadow ichor.”

“You…” Zed growled. It wasn’t too late to save you, to purge the shadows from your body, but he knew that if he went to you, Kusho would strike him down, and then you were both dead. He would have to go through Kusho to get to you, and if Kusho’s cruel laughter was anything to go by, he was very aware of Zed’s predicament.

“You left her behind all those years ago, but now she’ll have the shadows for company… if she survives,” Kusho sneered, raising the box of shadow ichor to his own mouth and taking a long drink of it.

Immediately, the sheer amount of shadow magic in his body reacted with the excess ichor he was consuming and Kusho’s pale skin turned a sickly blue-gray as four wing-like appendages burst out of his back. Kusho didn’t waste a second more, opening his mouth and spewing out a rush of shadow magic that Zed quickly jumped to the side to dodge. If Zed had any doubts of his former master’s remaining humanity, they had all been answered as he gazed at the monster before him. He would have to make this quick if he had any hope of saving your life.

“You were a weakling,” Kusho growled as he sent more shadow blasts at Zed. “So desperate for approval. You even cried when I gave you the name Usan.”

“You used me!” Zed retorted as he dove out of the path of Kusho’s shadow tendrils, only to find himself surrounded by faces that were all too familiar.

Figures made of Kusho’s shadows surrounded him, bringing him back to the moments that Kusho sought to portray on the faces of Zed’s memories. His mother’s crying face when she came to the temple all those years ago to beg him to come home, Shen’s stern face when he had seen Zed not as a friend, but as his father’s killer, and right in front of him was you, ten years younger than you were now, your expression twisted with despair. The face you had made the day he had told you he was leaving the Kinkou. Your sad, disappointed gaze stuck on him, guilt twisting his insides as he continued to evade Kusho’s attacks.

He sliced through the shadow figures that surrounded him with his hidden blades, the images dissipating into the air. The image of your face did not weaken Zed as Kusho had likely assumed it would; it had only reminded him of just what he was fighting for. You, the real you, depended on him right now as you desperately clung to life. If there was any time to make up for his past mistakes with you, it was now.

“She wanted to be with you, and you could have had her,” Kusho stated in mocking concern. “But you chose to kill and deceive, because you wanted power, just like I want it. You cannot escape your true desires, Zed.”

Zed continued to evade Kusho’s dramatic attacks, emboldening his former master further. “Why have you not attacked me, Zed?” Kusho questioned arrogantly. “Your pitiful honor will not allow you to strike me?”

Zed had been biding his time, waiting patiently as Kusho flashily displayed his powers, but with every move, Kusho’s weakness became clearer. Hardening his resolve, Zed summoned his own shadow clones at last, copies of himself appearing all around the shadow beast that was Kusho.

“Your powers are weakening already,” Zed stated plainly. “You have had these powers for months, but I have spent many years mastering the shadows.”

Kusho caught on to Zed’s assertion with an angered howl, but Zed did not falter.

“I wanted this power, so I let you use me. But you are not my master any longer, and you are not my equal. You should have never thought that you could hope to match me.”

As he finished speaking, Zed dove forward, his numerous shadow clones doing the same as Kusho’s corrupted flesh was pierced from every direction. As he struck the killing blow, Zed was very aware that this was it. He was free of Kusho’s will, but he had also become guilty of the crime that Shen had always believed that he had committed. Any last hopes of reconciliation between them died as Kusho’s body hit the floor, now just looking like a frail old man as the shadows left him.

He could mourn Kusho later; he had a much more pressing issue at the moment. Zed sprinted over to you, noting with bitterness that you looked even worse than you had minutes ago. Your skin was turning black as shadow, and your body felt cold under his touch. He would need to act fast.

Zed began to press down on your chest before pressing his mouth to yours to give you air. He desperately repeated the process for almost a minute before he saw any results. You began to sputter, barely conscious, and he held your body on your side as you began to throw up the inky black shadow magic you had been forced to ingest. As more of the ichor splattered on the floor, the shadows on your skin began to recede as color returned to your skin. At last, you passed out again, exhausted by the ordeal, but alive.

Heaving a sigh of relief, Zed wiped your mouth and chin with a ripped portion of the curtain before gently picking you up in his arms. He spared a glance towards the downed Kusho as he headed to the doorway, but was silent as he passed. The temple lit up in flames as Zed exited, likely a tactic of Kusho’s upon his death.

Kayn was waiting diligently for his master, corpses littering the ground around him. As soon as he saw Zed with you in his arms, Kayn stood up, approaching his master.

“I took out the ones out here, but thousands more are on their way,” Kayn told him before his gaze dropped down to look at you. “Is she okay?”

Zed looked down at you as well; your skin looked better than it had, but he knew that he couldn’t have gotten all of the shadow ichor out of your body. It would be up to you to pull through now, but he knew that he had to get you to safety before he could assess you further.

“She took in a lot of the shadows,” Zed answered simply. “But she’s breathing.”

Kayn frowned, looking torn. “I’m sorry I didn’t stop Kusho. You’d never mentioned her to me so I didn’t know she was important to you.”

Zed shook his head as the two men began their descent from the mountain. “You had no way of knowing. And if you had tried to stop him, Kusho would have seen through our deception.”

Kayn scoffed in annoyance. “That jackass really thought I intended to turn on you.”

“You could have,” Zed admitted. He had told Kayn to get close to Kusho in his stead, knowing that Kusho intended to betray him and take members of his shadow order to do so. Zed trusted Kayn more than any other within his order, but he also knew what the allure of power could make people do.

Kayn did not share Zed’s doubts, looking almost offended by the idea that he could ever betray his master. “You found me when I had been left to die. If you hadn’t taken me in, I would have had nothing. My loyalty and respect is earned, not bought by old fools with undeserved pride.”

Zed quietly considered Kayn’s words as the two walked down the steps that would lead them away from this place forever. They were truly against everyone now, so Kayn’s loyalty was needed now more than ever. The Kinkou, the Brotherhood, and the traitors to his order… they would all be out for his blood now. And now he had brought you into that danger with him. He doubted that you fully understood the danger you put yourself in by associating with him, the danger that would continue to plague you if you stayed by his side.

He sighed to himself. He would have to tell you everything when you woke up, he owed you that much. As much as he wanted you by his side, you deserved the right to make that choice after knowing the full situation. Even if it meant losing you again, Zed would not lie to you. But that would come later; first he had to get you somewhere safe if you had a chance at recovering from the ordeal you had suffered at Kusho’s hands.

You couldn’t breathe. The shadows filled your lungs, your throat… everywhere you had feeling in felt constricted with pain. Your surroundings all faded away, and it was getting hard to even think. The shadows crawled all over you, covering your eyes and ears. They removed all of your senses, demanding all of your attention.

You had no experience with shadow magic; the Kinkou magic you knew was no help in the face of the ancient dark magic. Eventually, your magic stopped responding to your calls as shadowy tendrils slithered over your face, pulsating in a rhythm that was beyond your understanding. You felt lost, unsure if you were conscious or not as you sunk further into the deep, inescapable darkness.

You felt like you were drowning with no way out when there was a sudden pressure on your chest. It wasn’t a comfortable feeling, but it shocked you out of the void you had been tumbling into. In the back of your mind, you realized that someone was by your side. You barely remembered where you were through the pain, leaving you no room to think about who had come to your side.

Your body was moved, leaving you feeling dizzy and nauseated, a familiar feeling in your throat pushing you to open your mouth as you began to retch. The ichor that had tasted awful going down somehow tasted even worse coming back up. Your throat burned from the effort as well as with the lingering effects of the shadow magic. After what felt like forever, your retching stopped. You still felt sick, but you didn’t feel like you were dying.

The shadows that had engulfed you began to recede at last, leaving your body feeling much less restrained. It was a great relief to feel your senses return to you at last, your world expanding out again as you were freed from the captive darkness. The shadows had fled from around your eyes, but you found that you lacked the energy to open them. You wanted to know what had happened and who had saved you, but you couldn’t find the strength, no matter how hard you tried. You wanted to stay awake, but it was no longer within your power to decide that for yourself. You were exhausted, physically and mentally, and you could put off unconsciousness no longer.

Before you were fully awake, your brain began to register the scene around you. You could hear birds chirping and feel a gentle breeze on your skin. You opened your eyes with a short yawn, reaching a hand up to cover your mouth as you surveyed your surroundings.

Your eyes went wide as you noticed just what it was that you had been resting on. Your head had been laying against soft black cloth, and upon opening your eyes, you found Zed’s face just above your own, his eyes closed in sleep. You found yourself staring at his face; the calm expression he carried in sleep was so foreign to how he was when he was awake.

Seeing his face reminded you of just how long it had been since that day where you had kissed him. The black eye Shen had given him had healed, and he looked a lot more at peace than you had ever seen him. As you shifted against him, you realized that he had one arm around you, his hand resting on your hip. Closing your eyes again, you allowed yourself to cuddle against Zed for a few minutes more before your nose couldn’t take it anymore. You weren’t sure how long you had been unconscious for, but the shadow ichor had done you no favors in the smell department.

You slowly began to remove yourself from Zed’s arms, not wanting to wake him up. Looking around, you found that you seemed to be in some sort of small clearing that was surrounded by trees. Zed had been leaning against a tree that bordered the clearing, but other than the two of you, you could see nobody else around. You would have to ask him what had happened when he woke up, but for now, you had bigger priorities.

Looking down at yourself, you grimaced. Your clothing was dirty, covered in dust and a too-hard black residue that must have been dried shadow ichor. Beyond that, your hair felt greasy and tangled.

You realized that you could faintly hear water nearby, and the opportunity was too tempting for you to pass up. You wouldn’t be long; it wouldn’t take too much time to go wash yourself and your clothes off. You didn’t want to wake Zed up anyways; given he had likely rescued you from Kusho, he deserved the rest. You could ask him what happened when he woke up.

Walking through the trees, you were relieved to find a small river that was deep enough to bathe in. Making your way to the water, you happily disrobed, eager to have a chance to feel clean again after all you had been through. The water wasn’t warm, but it wasn’t freezing, which was good enough for your current purpose.

Quickly stripping, you began to wash off your clothes first. The dirt and grass stains came out easy enough, but the shadow ichor was another story. You were able to lighten the dark stains with a lot of scrubbing, but it became clear to you that the ancient magic stains were not going anywhere. It was a shame; you had really liked that top, but you didn’t really want to walk around with the reminder of your ordeal staining your clothing.

After getting your clothing as clean as it could be with your current resources, you hung them up neatly on a tree branch before lowering yourself into the water. Despite its lack of warmth, the water felt heavenly on your grimy skin as you ducked under the water to clean your hair as well. You scrubbed at the patches of dirt on your skin, happy to watch the flecks of grime dissipate into the water.

It couldn’t have been that long since you had been at Kusho’s mercy, but it felt like the calm water was taking years of stress away from you. Then again, it could also be your reunion with Zed that was driving your mood up, especially after discovering that he hadn’t killed Master Kusho all those years ago. After all these years, you finally felt like you had gotten back the thing that had left you feeling like you were missing something.

While you wished that he had told you the truth, you understood why he hadn’t. But going forward, you hoped your relationship could become as close as it had once been again. Knowing Zed, he would require more persuasion with how much of a recluse he had been for so long. But he was clearly amicable to your kisses, and you slyly noted that you wouldn’t mind employing that particular tactic again. It wasn’t hard to admit to yourself that you weren’t satisfied just being his old friend like you had in the past.

As you were contemplating how to go about your plans to approach Zed, your quiet bath was interrupted by the sound of footsteps dashing across the grass. Standing up, you raised an arm to cover your breasts as you turned to face the intruder.

The footsteps stopped as you turned and saw Zed, whose concerned look morphed quickly into surprise as he took in your naked form. It looked like he had been searching around for you; you noted that the desperate look on his face was rather cute. And now that he was here, and you were already naked, the situation you had been hoping for had been dropped right in your lap, and you weren’t willing to let the opportunity pass you by.

Clenching the hand at your side into a fist, nails biting into the skin of your palm, you allowed the slight pain to motivate you into action as you let an inviting smile grace your lips. “Good morning.”

Zed looked taken aback by your forwardness, and it took everything in you to refrain from laughing at his expression. “You weren’t…”

“Sorry,” you apologized, wading to the edge of the river. “I needed a bath, but I didn’t want to wake you.”

Zed nodded, looking ready to turn back. “I’ll wait for you back–”

“Wait!” you called out, and he stopped, but didn’t turn back to face you. You didn’t plan on letting him escape that easily. “You’re here anyways… why not join me?”

Zed was still, a little too still, so you gave it one more shot. “Please?”

He sighed, finally turning to look at you. You didn’t want to scare him off, so you lowered yourself back down into the water before you lowered your arm from your breasts. He began to come closer, and you averted your eyes, staring at some shimmering rocks under the surface of the water as you listened to the sound of Zed disrobing. You were having a hard time wrapping your head around the fact that you and Zed were about to be fully unclothed; you were too old to let this get to you so much, but at the same time, you couldn’t help it.

Your thinking time was cut short as you heard Zed enter the water, ripples making their way to lap against your skin. As you heard him get closer, you found yourself unable to look his way, your cheeks likely red.

Zed didn’t stop until he was at your back, a shiver going down your spine as he leaned down, his mouth right at your ear. “Why won’t you look at me?” he asked, voice huskier than you had ever heard it before. “Isn’t this what you wanted?”

“I… it is,” you answered quietly.

“Then look at me,” he replied teasingly, and you didn’t resist as he gripped your shoulder, gently turning you around to face him.

You shouldn’t be acting like this. You had killed many people before, so why were you much more nervous now than you had been then? However, that nervousness faded the moment that you looked into Zed’s eyes, half-lidded and focussed on your lips. He looked more attractive than he ever had, and you let your eyes close as he quickly lowered his face to yours to press his lips against your own.

Zed took full advantage of his lack of restraints this time, one of his hands going to the back of your head while the other went down to your hip so he could pull you closer as he kissed you. Your slow reaction time left your arms caught between his own, which gave you the opportunity to place your own hands on his chest, fingers pressed against tight muscles and dark tattoos. Your previous experiences kissing him had not done him justice at all, because you were quickly beginning to feel dizzy from how much intensity he was putting into the kiss.

It also wasn’t helping your focus that being pulled as close to Zed as you had been was giving you just a little bit too much insight into how much he wanted this. You were enjoying his tongue in your mouth, but this had been a long time coming already and you were too impatient to allow things to move slowly. You found yourself wanting to overwhelm him, to see what he looked like when he lost himself fully in you.

You redoubled your efforts in the kiss, meeting a swipe of his tongue with a soft moan as you reached one hand beneath the water to wrap your hand around his hard cock. Zed stiffened at the contact, but didn’t pull away from you, although the responsiveness of his mouth against yours began to suffer when you started running your closed fist up and down his cock. Pleased with the response you were getting from him, you began to stroke him faster and faster, until he pulled away from the kiss at last with a low groan.

“You just can’t wait,” he chastised without malice.

“I’m tired of waiting,” you replied as you continued to stroke him, his eyes closing as he let out a deep breath. “I want you so badly, Zed.”

Zed inhaled sharply, as if your words had cut him, his eyes opening immediately, the intensity of his gaze stilling your hand and making you blush. You were the next one to be surprised as Zed’s hands went to the backs of your thighs, lifting you up and forcing you let go of his cock and grab onto him to keep yourself from falling back-first into the river. You yelped, wide eyes meeting his smug gaze as he began to wade towards the shore.

Once you were back on the grass, you were quickly laid on your back, Zed looking down at you, water dripping off his lower half. He knew that you couldn’t look away from him, and seemed pleased with the attention. You shivered as he ran a hand up your hip, trailing it up your body before closing his fingers around one breast. He began to massage your breast gently while his other hand went between your legs to rub against your clit, and the sensations were making it hard for you to focus on his words as you squirmed underneath him.

“I’ve wanted to see you like this for so long,” Zed admitted. “Are you sure that you want this?”

He was being so unfair, asking you questions while you were barely able to think. The best response you could give was a strained moan of his name, which brought a smirk to his lips as he leaned closer to you, removing his hand from your breast so he could support his own weight as he kissed you. He didn’t let up one bit with the circles he was making with his thumb on your clit, and you couldn’t do much more than moan under his touch, your hands around his neck and grasping at his hair.

“I want you, Usan. Only you, only ever you,” you sighed, staring up into his eyes, watching the way his breath hitched at your words, his eyes wide as if he couldn’t believe what you were saying. You noticed a flush to his cheeks, the sight only endearing him further to you.

“Stop,” he growled weakly in response. “If you keep talking like that, I won’t be able to hold back.”

“Please, Zed,” you whispered, and that was enough.

Your other leg was quickly wrapped around him as his cock sank into you, slowly at first and then faster when he noticed how easily you were taking him in. As he stilled, momentarily distracted by what he was feeling, you felt emboldened, grabbing the stunned Zed’s face and pulling him down so you could kiss him. Zed groaned into your mouth as you ground your hips up as much as you could, a sound that you were all too pleased to hear the usually-serious assassin make.

Zed pulled back from the kiss, panting lightly as he withdrew slightly from you, only to rock back in, the immediate prick of feelings causing you to let out a muted cry. Zed’s impatience was clear as he began to set a fast pace from the start as you tried to fight off the desire to close your eyes, desperate to watch Zed’s face as he stared down at you, eyes dark and hungry.

Soon, the pleasure you were feeling got too much to bear with your eyes open, and not a moment after your eyes were closed, you heard Zed’s voice, closer than he had been before, his lips against your ear as he continued to fuck you.

“I should have found you sooner,” he growled heatedly. “I should’ve had you like this… like I’ve always wanted.”

Zed moved down to suck at your neck, one hand shifting to move your legs higher up on his waist, the shift in angle causing his next thrust to hit even deeper against a spot you didn’t know you had. Combined with a well-timed drag of his teeth against your neck, you were so close to your peak that all you could do was clutch at Zed’s chest and biceps as you desperately moaned his name.

“I won’t let you get away again,” he promised. “I’ve only ever wanted you.”

Where had this Zed been hiding all of these years? The man he was now felt so foreign to everything you knew about your childhood friend, but at the same time, the sentiment behind his words hit such a familiar chord within you. You didn’t want to continue living job to job, with no meaningful companionship. You wanted to be with Zed just as much as he wanted to be with you, and you intended to tell him that as soon as you could form coherent sentences again.

But right now, you just wanted so badly to watch him get off, hoping he was as close as you were. Zed’s thrusts were getting slower, but deeper, and you took that as a sign that he was just as close as you. His cock continued to hit at the spot inside you that was above anything else, making you clench down hard on him, and with a deep groan, he repeated that same motion, watching you moan as your nails dug into his skin.

That was evidently enough for Zed as he stilled after one last push into you, his eyes closing as his jaw locked with tension. Just as you were starting to feel your own chances at orgasm escaping, Zed’s eyes opened, the heedy focus in them making you blush as he stared down at you.

Focussing on his face became difficult as Zed began to gently grind against you as his thumb rubbed at your clit, leaning down to kiss roughly at your neck as your pleasure climbed back up to a peak and you cried out. Zed made every effort to allow you to ride out your orgasm, rubbing slowly against you as he sucked on the side of your neck. You were left audibly panting when he pulled himself off of you at last to sit back on the grass, jerking his head to the side to try and move his sweaty bangs out of his face.

You sat up too, doing your best to ignore the unpleasantly messy feeling you had between your legs as you leaned into him, wrapping your arms around his back as you pressed your face into his neck, revelling in the closeness.

“I’m glad you kept your promise,” you said, voice muffled by his neck.

Zed sighed in response, his arms coming up to return the hug as he rested his chin on your head. “I wasn’t sure if I would. Not until I saw you laying in Kusho’s chamber, nearly dead. You make it hard to leave you alone.”

You were slightly disappointed, but not surprised as you pulled back enough for you to look him in the eyes. “You didn’t want to see me again?”

Zed frowned, looking down at the grass for a moment as you waited for his answer with a clawing unrest in your heart until he spoke up at last. “You deserve a better man than me at your side.”

Swallowing your frustration, you put a hand to his cheek, forcing him to face you. You could see regret in his eyes, as if they were swimming with the years of pain he had endured for the choices he had made. But now that you knew the truth at last, you would not allow him to leave you behind again.

“I’m pretty sure it’s my decision who I want to be with,” you replied teasingly. “You are a good man, whether you admit it to yourself or not.”

“What I’ve done… Shen will become your enemy,” he muttered.

“You let me handle my relationship with Shen,” you replied, frowning at his efforts to try and scare you away. You stared deeply into his eyes, stroking his cheek with your thumb and hoping he would accept what you were saying. “Zed, I love you.”

Zed blinked, his arms around you tightening as you watched his defeated expression melt into contemplation, but you didn’t intend to give him any time to think of more excuses.

“I want an answer, Zed,” you insisted. “I won’t let you go until you answer me, so I hope you’re comfortable.”

You saw a spark of life in his eyes at last as one of his eyebrows rose in a mock challenge. “You know that I can just use the shadows to escape?”

You narrowed your eyes at him, leaning closer, your breasts pressing against his chest. “If you even try–”

Zed smirked at your pouting expression, leaning down to kiss you. You refused to close your eyes, unwilling to allow him to distract you and make good on his teasing threats of escape. After a few seconds, he pulled back, a small smile on his lips.

“I suppose I can’t run away anymore, so I might as well accept it,” he said, your heart skipping a beat at the genuine emotion in his voice. He sighed, not looking at all upset to resign himself to his fate. “I’ve been in love with you for a long time.”

Satisfied with his answer, you closed your eyes as your mouths met again, happily accepting the passion he was putting into the kiss, his arms unwilling to let you go. It had been so long since you had felt a sense of belonging like you had when you had been with Zed when he was Govos, and when he had been Usan. But as you adjusted yourself against him, you realized that you had another problem to deal with. Reluctantly, you pulled back from the kiss, resting your forehead against Zed’s.

“I think we may need another bath,” you laughed. “Maybe several.”

Zed didn’t need any further hints as he picked you up, heading back towards the river, his footsteps only faltering minutely as you decided to press kisses to his neck as he walked. You were glad that your shadow magic-induced sleep had left you feeling well-rested, because you knew that your bath with Zed would likely leave you drained of all the energy you were currently feeling, although you were not complaining one bit.

“How long was I asleep for?” you asked as you pulled your shirt on over your head, relieved that it was at least marginally more dry than it had been when you had hung it on the tree branch.

“A day,” Zed answered as he fastened the straps on his gauntlets, flexing his arm to check that they were properly adjusted. “We’re a few hours away from one of my order’s bases.”

You finished adjusting your own clothing, leaning against a tree while you watched Zed put on the rest of his armor. His hair was dripping water droplets down his neck, and you watched as they rolled to the edge of his scarf, leaving small water stains in their wake.

“Thanks for saving me,” you said as Zed finished dressing himself. “I was too reckless. If you hadn’t been there…”

Zed looked like he had pondered that scenario himself, his gaze stony as he approached you, pulling you into him.

“But I was,” he replied simply.

You reached a hand up to lay on his chest, but jolted in surprise with a gasp when the hand faded into black smoke up to your wrist. Your panic reached Zed immediately as he pulled back to assess the situation, relaxing visibly when he noticed your vapored appendage.

“Calm down,” he said, the lack of any panic in his voice helping to bring your own level of stress down considerably.

You watched as he reached a hand up to yours, your hand returning to its normal solid state as he gently grasped your wrist, wisps of shadow dissipating into the air. When he let your wrist out of his grip, you waited for your hand to dissolve into smoke again, but to your great surprise, it stayed solid.

Zed spoke up again as you rotated your hand at the wrist, looking for anything unusual. “You threw up most of the ichor, but not all of it. It’s not surprising that you would develop some abilities from the amount you still have in your system.”

You were still a little panicked, and Zed gripped your hand, smiling at you with the patience of someone handling a small child. “You’re fine. I’ve had many years to master the shadows, I can teach you how to handle them.”

You let out a quiet laugh. “It’s been a long time since I’ve learned under you.”

“This time without having to hide away,” Zed added. “I can only hope the Kinkou will continue to evolve under Shen’s leadership.”

Hearing Shen’s name now felt bittersweet to you. He would not be so quick to forgive you for shacking up with his father’s murderer, and you couldn’t even tell him that it wasn’t true, because Zed had killed Master Kusho, even if it was many years after he had been believed to. You would shelve your worries about Shen for a later time; for now, you just wanted to sleep somewhere that wasn’t outside.

“You guys ready to go?”

You turned sharply at the new voice that came from behind you. A young man stood at the edge of the trees that bordered the clearing, only wearing clothing on his lower half, a large weapon slung on a harness over one shoulder. A spark of recognition ignited in your mind, a brief memory of seeing him in Kusho’s chamber sending your hand down to where your daggers would be, until you remembered that all of your weapons had been taken when you had been captured. A hand on your shoulder had you looking back to Zed, who shook his head at you, and you stood down, trusting his judgment.

“Thought I’d give ya some alone time,” the man said with a smirk as he walked over to you and Zed. “You seemed like you needed it.”

“Kayn…” Zed replied, sounding tired.

Kayn stopped in front of you, extending a hand towards you. “Name’s Kayn. So you’re Master’s girl?”

You took his hand, unable to help a laugh at his word choice. Looking over at Zed, you relished the awkward look on his face. Grinning happily, you turned back to Kayn.

“I suppose I am,” you answered, letting go of his hand.

“We should head out,” Zed interrupted, taking you by the hand and leaving Kayn to follow behind the two of you as you departed the forest.

Kayn was not one to be deterred, clearly, as he easily caught up to you, walking on your other side. The grin he sent your way was conspiratorial, and he didn’t leave you waiting long to find out what he was thinking behind that expression.

“So, do you have any embarrassing stories about Master Zed when he was young?” Kayn asked slyly, eyes darting to Zed and then back to you. “…did he ever wet the bed?”

Zed’s hand tensed in your grip, and you laughed at his student’s eager questioning. “Let me think…”

Before you could ponder the question, you felt a strange sensation in your hand that was in Zed’s grip, and were barely able to look down and see that your hand had turned to shadow again before your vision went black for a moment. When you regained your senses a second or two later, you found yourself and Zed at the top of the hill that you had been climbing.

Looking back down the hill, you saw Kayn at the bottom beside two figures made of shadow. You looked at Zed beside you, who seemed to be purposefully looking away from his apprentice who had been left alone at the bottom of the hill, your shadow clones as his only company.

“Zed, did you just–”

Your question was promptly cut off by a shout from the bottom of the hill.

“Master, you can’t just shadow dash her away from me!” Kayn shouted as he began to climb the hill. “I’ll find out eventually!”

With a quiet huff, Zed tugged on your hand, pulling you along the grassy path and away from the still-shouting Kayn. Glancing at Zed’s face, you smiled. You would have to think of a good story to tell him when Kayn finally caught up to you, provided Zed didn’t cheat and shadow dash the two of you farther away again.