Waking up to warmth and the brightness of the sun hitting the backs of his eyelids isn’t what he expects. In all honesty, Zye is sure he would have been tossed into a dark and dank room with no windows. This, this, is the exact opposite.
If there’s a building intact, it’s nowhere he can see. It’s a barren and dusty place with not a soul in sight— no one living anyways. At least, not from where he lies on the ground.
Even a groan is impossible to get out.
There’s not a part of him that doesn’t hurt. It feels as though he’s run a marathon. Rolling over and off his wounded shoulder is the least he can do. The only problem is the fact that he’s greeted by the harsh rays of the sun beating down on him.
Regardless, he’s not restrained in any fashion. It has him wanting to shake his head. She’s either stupid or confident that he won’t get away. Not that he cares, it’ll work out in his favor if he can just get his limbs to listen to him.
Zye attempts to sit up first and foremost. Something he has to do with his left arm. Even that stings a bit. A feeling he ignores now that he can take in more of his surroundings than what was on the hard, stone ground.
He has zero idea where he is. No surprise there.
Plants are nowhere to be seen. All there is around him is sand. If he had to guess, it has to be some kind of ruins. A large building is off down a semi-buried path before him. At least, it would be if it wasn’t chipped, broken, and all around destroyed.
What looks to be a broken pillar is off to the side. Atop it sits a man flipping through a book. At first glance, he’s a human. From the reddish-brown hair mussed about his face to the cut-off jeans and bright pink t-shirt.
The tail isn’t.
It’s the same color as his hair with the plume of a tip a lighter brown. Long sweeps drag it back and forth through the sand covering a part of the stone path. It’s only visible because of the work his tail is making against it.
A lollipop balances between his lips. The man doesn’t glance at him whatsoever, completely enraptured with whatever he’s reading.
The most important part? There’s no sign of Vespera.
Zye scours the area in search of something— anything. He has to get out of here even if it means crawling. Besides, it’s not like he needs food or water. A desert isn’t all that scary at this point.
Still damp, but drying out thanks to the sun, he begins to move. Sand and dust stick to his clothes and skin as he turns over. Knees hit the ground as he crawls away from the man and towards a large hunk of stone wedged into the ground.
He keeps his right arm curled up against his chest. Putting pressure on it isn’t something he wants to try. Especially not when he doesn’t trust his own voice not to give him away.
The lack of foliage has him on edge. Not to mention the fact that the next thing he can hide behind will take him a good ten minutes to crawl to.
Plopping down behind this first stone, he leans against it. Upon closer inspection, it seems to be some kind of wall that’s been chipped and eroded away. Not that it matters— it covers him and allows him to rest a moment.
Zye immediately begins touching the choker in an effort to find that clasp. He knows he felt metal at the back. However, just as before, there’s no hinge or indent to pull or push on.
Nothing.
It doesn’t help that his fingers ache. The sand irritates his scratched fingertips. He huffs and allows his good arm to fall back down. Hand in his lap, he gently knocks his head against the wall.
He doesn’t understand what this is or how to get it off. Not having a lot of strength isn’t helping the matter either. All of it has a string of curses muttered under his breath until he hears it.
“Where did he go!?”
“I don’t know. He was right there a second ago.”
“You had one job. One! Now get looking, he…he can’t have gone far.”
“Seriously? I can’t track him with that thing you put on him.”
“Then use your damn eyes. Go, over there. I’ll cover this area.”
Panic.
A feeling he’s becoming far too intimate with as of late.
Crawling won’t do it this time. Using the stone, Zye rises to his feet. Ignoring the pain is something he’s gotten good at over the years. It comes in handy as he glances around the edge, makes sure neither are looking, and makes a break for the next stone.
It might have taken plenty of time on his hands and knees, but on his feet, he’s sailing.
At least, he does as long as he doesn’t yelp at how the sand scorches the bottoms of his feet with each step. He might as well be skating over molten lava with how they burn. Not that he has to deal with it for long.
He’s not sure what hits him and sends him onto the ground at first. All he does know is that it’s not sand but the solid stone beneath it that has his already hurt shoulder screaming in agony. It doesn’t help that he ends up biting the inside of his cheek as he lands.
The taste of blood covers his tongue while he stares up at his attacker.
Gone is the book in his hands only to be replaced by metal-plated gloves. He doesn’t look very enthused about this situation.
“Are you going to walk back or do I have to drag you? Please say you’ll walk. I really don’t like all of this physical stuff.”
Zye isn’t stupid. No, he knows he’s outmatched here in every way. Throwing a punch after rising to his feet would be suicide. Not to mention his eyes are burning from the sand getting in them.
The man grabs his wrist, the right one, and yanks hard for Zye to follow. White hot pain has him yielding and following the man back to where he started. Back to where Vespera is standing waiting.
“You could be a little gentler,” she scolds him.
“You didn’t say to. Besides, he’s fine. Should I restrain him this time?”
“I…” Vespera glances from the man, to Zye, and then back to him. “Yes.”
He’s not allowed to sit back down until the man has done as he’s ordered. The belt slips from the loops on his jeans only to be tightened around Zye’s wrists. Held behind his back and tight under the buckle, he’s guided over to where the man had been sitting.
As they walk, Zye shoots Vespera a glare. “The hell do you want with me anyway? Trying to get at Orion?”
“I have nothing against or for Orion. I’m keeping my end of the deal and all they asked for was you.”
“I’m— what? Who did?”
Vespera turns to the man. “I’ll keep an eye on him. Go inform your contact that I’m ready and secure the location we’ll be meeting at. Send me word when it’s ready and you can pretend you weren’t a part of this.”
“Thank you, I’ll be in touch.”
She waits for him to step through a portal. One that curls and flickers with the colors of a sunrise. It strikes Zye as odd. They’re the same ones that he saw when he left Noctis.
Vespera begins to pace back and forth. It’s all she can do to keep her mind from overloading— keep her emotions in check.
“You should know since you’re about to be in the lion’s den that the Dark Surge has an interest in you. For what or why, I don’t care. It doesn’t concern me further than this.”
“You’d stab your boss in the back just to get ahead?”
“No! I’m doing this for Celeste. I…I can’t see them hurt again. And then Iris…”
She stops pacing and gives Zye her back. Fists clench at her sides until her knuckles begin to grow white.
“I’m doing this to protect Celeste, all of us. I’ve been guaranteed a promise if I can hand you over. I’ll know who hurt Celeste. And then we can come and get you. I’ll make sure we do.”
Zye wets his lips. They’re cracked, and dry, and it feels like the bottom one is split open. It only adds to the irritation.
“You’re a naive idiot. Stupid at that if you think you can protect something all on your own because someone gave you the easy way out. Isn’t it a little convenient? All you’re going to do is piss Orion off.”
Vespera spins back around. The conviction in her eyes burns like the sun. He knows she believes what she’s doing will work. That she’s doing it for the right reasons.
Except good intentions pave the road to hell.
“No one will be able to trace this to me. And even if they do, we have a chance to infiltrate and destroy the Dark Surge right after. I have their promise—”
“A promise won’t save anyone!”
He’s not sure if the sting between his eyes is from the sand, how hard he hit the ground, or his locked memories trying to surface. He does know that the visceral response is shouted when he hadn’t intended to.
Vespera scoffs at him nonetheless. “Coming from a human that doesn’t even know how he died. Orion said—”
“Newsflash dumbass, you died too or you won’t be here. Whatever the fuck you lost, you’re gonna lose again by making deals with the devil.”
The jagged sickle flashes into her grip as she takes a step toward him.
“You can threaten me all you want. But you know more than I do. Why would anyone give up information like that just for me? Huh?”
Her hand clasps onto his wounded shoulder. She watches as he pinches one eye shut to try and muscle through the pain. Vespera levels a glare down at him with the tip of her blade steady beneath his chin.
“They only said to bring you alive. Remember that.”
Cowering down is the last thing he’d ever do. A stupid habit to have. A chink in his armor that he doesn’t care to fix. It’s why he looks up at her, stares into her heterochromatic eyes.
What he doesn’t know is how much she hates it. The honest and clear gaze he gives her is unnerving. Enough that she takes a step back and dismisses her blade. As she does, he spits at her feet.
Why she looks down, she’s not sure.
Slowly, she returns her gaze to his. The blood before her feet isn’t blue like he should have. It’s not even red like a mortal’s— something that she’s heard Orion mention.
This is orange.
“What…are you?”
A smirk crooks up one half of his mouth. “If you don’t know, then how the hell would I?”
Vespera turns and walks away, towards another square of chipped stone. He watches her gather up whatever she brought with her and bring it over to him. Setting it beside him, she shakes out a blanket before draping it over his head. It billows out around him
“I’m not sure how late we’ll be here. Weakened like that, you’re sensitive to climates again.”
“And?”
She doesn’t answer him. Instead, she grabs for a glass bottle and pours the contents onto a yellow rag. It absorbs almost all of the water she puts on it. The bottle clinks against the stone.
Zye watches as she wrings some of the water back down. The droplets hit the sand. They almost immediately dry up. If it wasn’t for the shadow they’re casting over the ground, he’s sure they would.
The cool, damp cloth touches his cheek and he flinches away.
“I know you won’t care, but I have nothing against you. I really didn’t want to hurt you.”
“Sure doesn’t feel like it.”
“If you could protect someone you love, wouldn’t you do whatever it took?”
“Not if they’d hate me for it. I’d rather not have them than have them look at me like I’m a monster for something I did.”
Vespera goes silent.
The second time she tries, he lets her. There’s no sense in objecting. It keeps her busy and quiet for a moment. She focuses on wiping his face. If anything, she’s careful not to touch the growing bruise near his right eyebrow.
Vespera balls it up and holds it to his shoulder. That has him trying to jolt away from her. A steady grip from her other hand keeps him where he is.
“I’m not very good at it, but I can try and heal it with the water I brought.”
“I don’t care. Do what you want.”
Zye tries not to care. It just happens to be something he’s incredibly bad at doing. He can’t help but care how she grabs the bottle and pours a little more water onto the rag. She focuses for a moment. To the point where he can swear her hand glows the tiniest amount.
Or he’s exhausted and already hallucinating.
“I…I am sorry.” She admits while setting it all back on the pillar beside him. “I thought I could knock you out before you noticed. Then by the time you’d wake up, we’d be rescuing you.”
Zye scoffs at that. “What? You think you’re some kind of master assassin? Ninja…did you have those in your world or am I saying something you don’t understand?”
“I was an assassin, yes. So believe me. If I had wanted to kill you, you’d have been dead long ago.”
“Well, next time you’re not allowed to cheat. I’ll beat your ass, professional or not.”
Laughter.
A beautiful little trill that has Zye looking up in time to see her free hand clasp over her mouth. Red sears over her cheeks as she spins around. The stars on her skirt tinkle as they come to a rest from the sudden movement.
“Huh…guess you are human. Monsters don’t laugh like that.” He huffs and lies down on his side. The blanket shifts and for a moment the light blinds him. “We’ll see who’s laughing next time we get into it.”
Vespera glances over her shoulder, scoffs, and grabs the edge of the blanket. She yanks it over his head so that he’s shielded from the sun.
Also so she doesn’t have to look at that grin on his face.
“Idiot. I just kidnapped you and you’re making fun of me.”
“I think I’m allowed to. That or you can tell me if I’m right. Did you die because you botched a job?”
Zye wishes he could see her. If he could, he’d see the way she lowers her gaze to her feet. A wave of sadness wells up in her eyes as her shoulders sink. She swallows hard to keep the waver out of her voice.
“You could say that. Now be quiet until we leave.”
It’s an easy demand to follow. Even more so as he can’t see anything aside from the pink blanket. It’s nearly see-through at points where the sun hits it. Yet, he closes his eyes and enjoys the empty darkness he’s greeted with.
The only kind he’s ever liked. It’s his and no monsters hiding in it.
A kind that’s quiet and relaxing despite the turmoil raging through him. Not that he can find it in himself to hate her. Angry with her, yes. But hate her? No. Never.
Zye tries to think of other things.
Only the comforting memories make the hair on his nape bristle. He can almost grasp the one that’s closest.
A night under the sky the opposite of what he has right now. A body that nestles against his own with a heavy weight on his chest. There’s a chuckle and eyes that seem to glow against the darkness. Eyes that twinkle like the brightest stars in the night sky.
________________________
38Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡijb8GKLJFF
“Do you have any other questions?”
Xerxes nods from where he sits on the couch. “Did…Why did you talk to me?”
“I, well, I was just interested is all.” She pauses at the feeling of a presence at her door. “Xerxes, promise me, don’t say a word.”
Another nod.
It’s all he’s been doing since she got back. He scoots further onto the couch and wishes he could melt into it. If anything, he’s grateful for the pants and shirt she got him instead. It’s made it easier considering how cold this place is.
That and the thick blanket he keeps over his shoulders.
The door swings open and Orion storms in. He doesn’t pay Xerxes any attention. Neither of them do the second that Orion is before her. Ilista hurries to meet him near the door. Anything to keep him as far from Xerxes as she can manage.
“Why didn’t you message?”
A look crosses his face. She knows exactly why he didn’t. He’s panicking. It’s the first time she’s been able to see it firsthand.
“I was already here.” He glances around her. “We need to leave. Once Zye is back I’ll wipe that one’s memory and send him home.”
“No, he needs to go back now. We can’t keep him here.”
“Ilista, I just said—”
“Even if he told someone, no one would believe him. Let him take the necklace with him and we can track him back down.”
Orion debates this for a short moment in his head. He doesn’t have time for this.
“Do what you want. Aster has a lead on several locations. Join us when you’re done. And I keep the necklace.”
Ilista doesn’t feel like she can let her shoulders slouch until Orion is back out the door. The fact that he didn’t use a portal right then and there tells her quite a bit. For some reason, Zye is important. There’s no way Orion simply cares this much.
“I’ll be right back!” she calls over her shoulder as she follows Orion out. She manages to skid out into the hall just as Orion is opening a portal. “Wait!”
Orion stops, glancing over his shoulder. “What is it now?”
“This isn’t the first time a Star of any kind has gone missing. It’s not abnormal they get defeated or lost and we don’t find out about it since there are so many of us. Why is he such a big deal? Is it because he doesn’t bleed like we do?”
His gaze shifts back to the portal. Two more steps toward it.
“It’s not blue. Not to mention he can’t use all his powers or remember the last year or so of his life. Or were you out making friends with him behind all our backs?”
“No.”
“Then why?”
“Just do as your told or the boy stays until I’m done.”
“Fine.”
She waits for him to shove his hands in his pockets and leave through the portal. From one frying pan and into another, she returns to her room to see the distraught look on Xerxes’s face.
“Zye? Why did he say Zye?”
“Xerxes, it’s alright. Just calm down.”
She begins walking to him, watching as he twists the sheet in his hands.
“N-no…he should be dead. But you’re dead. So he could also not be dead? Is it the same person? Ilista?”
Her hands cup at his face with thumbs brushing over his flushed cheeks. “It’s okay. I’ll tell you everything once this is over. Okay? But I need to get you home first. I don’t know if it’s safe for you to stay here while you’re still living.”
Slowly, he nods and she pulls her hands away. She can’t help petting the top of his head as she stands back up.
“Alright, ready to go home?”
“If I…if I do, will I never see you again after this?”
Ilista stills. She doesn’t want to lie to him. She also doesn’t want to stop seeing him, not really. She hasn’t felt a connection that made her feel alive like this since meeting Yue. Sure, Zye matters to her.
This is different.
Even if she knows she shouldn’t, she’s honest to a fault with him.
“No, if you want, I’ll come see you. As long as you don’t tell anyone about what you’ve seen okay?”
“Didn’t he say something about wiping my memory?”
“Don’t worry about that. I can handle him. You focus on staying safe until I get this settled alright?”
Xerxes stands as she steps away. “And you’ll tell me if that’s the same Zye I know?”
Ilista smiles and nods. “I’ll tell you everything. Now let’s go.”
Her hand stretches out toward him and he takes it without hesitation. Together, they walk into the portal she summons. The fluttering colors are what Xerxes tries to focus on as he steps from her room and back into his.
Except something is wrong.
Nothing is as he remembers leaving it. The things on his dresser are knocked over. Clothes spill out of drawers halfway yanked out. Even his sheets have practically been ripped off the bed.
Worse yet is the ajar door and the light that peaks through it.
He didn’t leave all his lights on.
“Ilista,” he whispers with worry shaking his voice.
She knows. She can feel something— someone— out there still. She lets go of his hand and reaches for the door. When he goes to follow, she signals for him to stay.
It’s too dangerous.
Out of the room, she summons her weapon into both hands before moving forward. There are not many places to hide in such a small apartment that seems to have been ransacked. Reaching the living room, she senses the movement before the person reveals themselves.
The man is terribly tall, even more so than her with dark lavender hair and mix-matched yellow and violet eyes. Her breath catches in her throat. She struggles to keep her voice down. There’s no way he’d be here on his own accord. She knows how deep he’s been in this mess to keep Yue safe.
Gray.
“Someone’s here,” he states in a deep monotone.
“Really?”
The person rushing around the corner isn’t anyone she’s seen before. Black slipons skid to a stop as he comes around Gray. His mouth is covered by a dark material extending from the long-sleeved shirt. From behind the legs clad in washed-out purple pants, is a long tail.
Ilista steals herself and stares into his blue and green eyes. “What’s a Dark Star doing here?”
“Ha? I could say the same! I know that stupid trade is a trap. So, tell me little Keeper, where did you hide my Zye, hm?”
The door nudges open behind her and she panics. She can’t turn her attention away from these two. Her eyes flicker up to Gray, silently pleading with him to help her.
“Daichi?”
“Oh?” The man smiles beneath the mask on his face. His bangs shit across his forehead as he laughs. “Isn’t this just hilarious! The so-called betters are off making friends with humans? Hiding and lying about others?”
Ilista hardens her stare. “Xerxes, go back in the room.”
“B-but—”
“And you. Surrender.”
“Hmm…I have a better idea. Let’s see how they like it when they lose one of their precious Keepers.”
Xerxes stares at Ilista’s back. He doesn’t want her to fight— she could get hurt. Especially not when her opponent is Daichi. He’s always scared Xerxes. Any time they met his nerves would be on the edge and hair standing up on the back of his neck.
Now he knows why.
The long brown tail with the dark plume at the end swishes behind his legs. In each hand, he wields an arrowhead. The end comes to a squared point with a cord through a hole between the two shapes.
The blue cord is about as long as he is tall. It has to be for it to extend to the other arrowhead as well. It goes taut as he slings one of them out toward Ilista.
Gray steps aside to avoid being hit. Ilista takes it head-on. She plans to knock it aside. There’s no way such a weak attack would be able to hit her.
She ignores that he’s not like her. He’s a Dark Star.
Daichi channels his magic along the length of the cord until it hits the arrowhead. It changes its direction at the last second, sailing to the side of her weapon.
A hit made. He yanks it back at an alarming speed.
Ilista spares a hand off her spear to rub a thumb over the cut on her cheek. Blue smears over her skin as she chuckles.
“Really? You think I haven’t seen a few parlor tricks in my day. Let me show you how a Star fights, little boy.”
Ilista takes a single step forward and aims her spear at him.
“Last chance. Surrender or I’m taking you in.”
She knows she’s the one at a disadvantage. Fighting in a small area with her weapon is going to be difficult. Ilista settles into an offensive stance before rushing forward when Daichi doesn’t answer.
A dodge to the right, away from the wall, to avoid his first attack. Except she knows it’s coming back and immediately drops down into a slide.
The spear twirls with the points catching him across his thighs. It rips through the material and stains it dark with blood.
Daichi hops back out of her range as she rises to her feet. The end of her spear knocks against a lamp, sending it shattering across the floor. She slashes at him again.
A cut on his bicep costs her his cord wrapping around the other end of her spear.
He tugs her closer. She yanks back toward her. A tug-of-war that she’s always going to win. She’s stronger and he knows it. It’ll only take one good pull to have him up close and within her reach.
Right as she does so, he loosens his grip on the cord and allows her to stumble backward. The second he has space, he’s rushing forward.
Ilista dismisses her weapon in that instant.
Daichi swipes at her. An obvious read that has her grabbing his wrist before he can even think about it. He catches the falling, now freed, cord and gives it a flick of his wrist.
The tip slices across her palm as she misjudges at first. Bloodied palm tightens around the cord at its base before flipping it around in her grasp. He can’t dare to pull away from her ironclad grip.
She jabs the weapon into the curve of the neck to shoulder.
“You bitch!”
He kicks at her leg thinking she’ll let go. Ilista muscles through it by projecting her shield to cover her form, focusing on that one spot. Something she can break through on his part by digging the weapon deeper into him before he dismisses it entirely.
What he doesn’t expect is for her to slam her head forward against his. The impact has him yelping and yanking away from her when, in fact, she lets him go.
“Being stubborn will only have that happen again.”
“Shut up!”
“Did no one train you properly? Or are you just that bad at this?”
He growls and calls for his weapons back. Stubborn and irritated, he stomps the ground. A burst of air surges forward and knocks into Ilista.
She doesn’t so much as flinch.
The bravado does the trick.
He’s unnerved and knows there’s no way he can beat a Keeper on his own. Worse yet when he notices Gray slinking off toward Xerxes instead of helping him fight her.
“Good job, get the wimp!”
Ilista can’t help but let her guard down. She knows Gray isn’t going to hurt Xerxes and yet she glances over her shoulder. Doing so allows Daichi to sling one arrowhead forward on a gust of wind.
She catches it around her spear once more. A glare levels at him as the other arrowhead sails by next.
Watching it pass her by is horrifying. Her reaction only allows her to grab at the taut end of the cord in an effort to yank it back. She can’t let either of them get hurt.
The power of wind he’s imbued onto it has it continuing.
It doesn’t go toward Xerxes at all. It wraps around the back of her with enough strength to coil along a prong of the spear.
Ilista grunts as her arm is pinned against her body. There’s only one thing to do and it’s to dismiss her spear. A chance she’ll have to take.
Daichi dashes toward her.
From behind her, Gray’s brows pinch together. He dashes away from Xerxes and to Ilista without fail. Gray grabs her shoulder, pushes her down, and pulls out his whip just in time. He flicks his wrist and catches one of Daichi’s arms with it.
The weapons are back in his grasp at the same time. His free hand stabs the arrowhead deep into Gray’s stomach. Grinning up at him, Daichi makes sure to twist it further.
“I always knew you were a traitor.”
“Gray!”
Daichi enhances the wind against his hand, jabbing it into Gray more than he would normally be able to. The shield about his body flickers and his weapon fades away.
Gray tries to ignore it. One hard hand reaches out, grasping onto Daichi. He can’t let him go.
He wishes he could have told Ilista not to goad him. Daichi is sloppy but he’s been trained to find weak points. And he’s very good at it.
Daichi pries Gray’s hand off. Ilista can’t grab for him yet.
The cord doesn’t vanish until Daichi has gotten behind them. It reappears in his grasp as he locks eyes with Xerxes.
No longer bound, Daichi races toward Xerxes. The man’s eyes widen as he realizes he’s the new target. Moving back toward the door isn’t a possibility. Not when he can’t dream of dodging the arrowhead slinging toward him.
Yet it doesn’t hit him.
It doesn’t need to.
Daichi is upon him and guiding the weapon with his power. It circles around Xerxes once before he grabs it. Slinking behind the shorter man, Daichi grabs both ends and chokes Xerxes with it. Pale fingers reach up in a desperate attempt to loosen the cord.
“Let him go!”
Ilista has to let Gray drop to his knees, clutching his wound to stop the orange blood from dripping to the floor. She steps toward Daichi and summons her spear.
“I mean it! I’ll kill you!”
He smirks at her. “Oh really? And what are you going to do? Stab him too?”
“Il…is…ta…”
The cord is biting into his skin. Blood is rushing elsewhere. His heart is thudding like thunder in his ears. His lungs are beginning to burn and he can’t get enough in to ease the ache.
Ilista can see the fear on his face. She doesn’t know what to do. Even moving her foot forward is painfully difficult. It’s stuck, glued to the floor out of despair.
If she does nothing, he dies.
If she does something, he will probably die.
“Please, let him go.”
“Sorry. I can’t be sure you won’t try to follow me. Besides, my darling could use fewer distractions when we meet again.”
For Ilista, time stops.
The cord loosens. She watches Xerxes suck in a deep breath, eager to ease the scalding pain in his chest. Only for him to gasp as a new type of agony blossoms through his torso. Quivering fingers reach up to try and pull Daichi’s hand away.
He doesn’t have to.
Daichi retreats and allows him to stand there on wobbling knees. The weapon vanishes as he steps back toward a portal he’s summoning behind him.
“Better enjoy it while he hangs in there.”
His wind magic hits up against Xerxes’s back, shoving him forward. While Ilista rushes to catch him, Daichi slips away. She lets her spear vanish in order to scoop the shorter man up into her arms.
Ilista’s knees hit the floor as she cradles him close. “Xerxes? Xerxes look at me.”
She focuses on his life force.
It’s draining so fast.
Much like the blood that’s staining down his shirt or the tears running down his face.
“Please…”
“I’m so sorry, this is my fault.”
“…don’t…to die…” he mumbles out around the blood choking him up.
Watching it dribble out the corner of his mouth is too much. She knows she shouldn’t. She doesn’t have “permission” to do it. She’s not even sure how.
And she doesn’t care.
Ilista bends over him and presses her forehead to his. Her hand lies atop the wound on his chest. She closes her eyes and forces her power to manifest.
Canines elongate until they’re fangs. A scattering of scales appears around her eyes. They match the ones on her palms. The purple scales shimmer with shades of pink and blue until she lets the light hit her back instead, keeping her face close to his.
“I’m so sorry. I don’t know what to do other than this.”
She can feel the call of what to do as if it was ingrained in her very soul. A hidden set of commands that she didn’t know she knew.
The whispers she lets out are in a language Xerxes doesn’t know. It sounds so distant and echoes through his mind. Yet he can’t grasp onto what it is as his consciousness begins to fade.
A glow highlights her body and then extends to Xerxes. It travels down into him before it all ends. As she lifts her hand off his chest a small orb of light follows it. She lies Xerxes down on the floor while cradling this ball to her chest.
From behind her, Gray is forcing himself to his feet. “What did you do?”
“I…I made him my Guardian. I couldn’t let him die, not like that. He can choose to leave and reincarnate later. For now,” she stands and notices how Gray is nearly doubled over, “I’m getting you both to Noctis.”
“I don’t—”
“You can at least receive some first aid from our waters and then go back to Solis. Please?”
He can’t deny her. Not with the hurt look etched into her sharp features. It makes her look tired and on the verge of tears.
“I’m sorry.”
She calls forth a portal and steps toward it. “No…you did what you thought was right. I thought he wouldn’t attack Xerxes either.”
They hurry through the swirling of blues and whites. Stepping into her room, Ilista hurries to her cleansing chamber. She throws the door open with Gray at her heels.
Shoes tap over the teal tile until she’s at the edge of the water. Gently, she bends down and sets the sphere of light into the cleansing pool. She notices Gray beside her beginning to slink inside with a hiss, clothes be damned.
“I know it’s cold, but bear with it.” She gestures to the horizontal rack off to the side. From it hangs various colored robes and towels. “Stay in until it stops bleeding.”
“Thank you.”
Ilista spins around, intending on leaving.
“There’s going to be a hand-off. Yue and I both have the coordinates.”
His words have her glancing over her shoulder. He’s just grateful she doesn’t ask how he has them.
“Daichi found out about it. As a favor, I was keeping him busy by leading him to where the fight happened.” He winces as the water begins to ease the wound closed yet doesn’t take the pain away. “When Daichi realized who lived there and found traces of Orion’s energy, he lost it.”
He holds out his hand. Water drips from his fingers as he waits for her. She sighs and claps her palm against his. She allows the link they have to show where the coordinates are. Of course, she’s always found it silly how the feeling of the place is how they track everything.
“Thank you. I’ll be back in case you want to wait for me.”
He nods and she hurries out. There’s already a presence at her door. One that she allows in.
Celeste stands there with a worried bottom lip tugged between her teeth. “Ilista…”
“I know. I’m going. Heal the soul in my chamber as well as anything you can do for Gray.”
“Please be safe, Ilista. I don’t know what we’d do without you.”
Celeste’s bangs shift as they watch Ilista rip another portal through the air.
“Don’t be. I can handle this. Besides, Orion and Aster are probably on their way there.”
“Yes. We received the information already.”
“Yue?”
“She’s fine.”
Ilista summons her spear. “Don’t worry. I have a friend to save and I plan to pay them back for what they did to you while I’m at it.”
ns 15.158.61.39da2
