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Speedwagon

Dio Brando

Joseph Joestar

Caesar Zeppeli

Gyro Zeppeli

Diego Brando

Jonawagon

Tokyo Ghoul: 

Tsukiyama Shuu 

Resident Evil: 

Luis Serra

Leon Kennedy

Jack Krauser

Zeno Wesker 

The Wolf Among Us:

Bigby Wolf

House of Ashes: 

Grace stood beside him, hovering in place like a fluttering butterfly or timid mouse. Her eyes on the screen in front of her, taking in the information. Zeno had been going through pages of information regarding Elpis, the many names of those who tried and failed to obtain it for their own purpose. A single item that commanded the deaths of many.

Images of deceased faces flicked by. Names who were never known to the public, people swept under a rug to be forgotten about in the dust. A mass collection of those who sought the very power that Spencer had left behind.

As she stood there, Grace's eyes shifted along Zeno's hand and up to where his long coat sat on his shoulders. The heavy material shrouding the man like closed wings of a raven, a stark contrast to the white suit he wore beneath. Immaculate in every sense of the word. A single black tie sat in place but something beneath it caught her eye. A small glimmer of silver catching in the light of the computer screen. Thin but compact, a chain resting around the man's neck, hovering close to his heart given how the tie shifted it.

"What's that?" Grace's words slipped out before she could stop herself, a gnawing curiosity misplaced in such a dire situation as this. Zeno's hand stopped over the keyboard, his gaze fixed on the screen with a stare that would have destroyed the machine if it could.

The tiniest of shakes claimed his hand before he clenched his fist tightly, earning a small crack from his knuckles as his jaw set tight. "It is nothing." He left it at that but Grace saw it.

A silver band ring hung in the chain that pressed against his chest, as if refusing to be ignored. For a moment, Zeno felt that ring press against his chest despite the layers he wore, the weight of the simple small ring betrayed itself for him. A tightness that the ring held bound to his body. He couldn't bring himself to part from it, even if he wanted to.

Each time he held the ring in his hand, ready to cast it off into an abyss, he would hesitate. His body refused to listen to his command, and he would relinquish, letting the ring fall back in place around his neck.

"Tell me, Grace, do you know what the greatest weakness to all humans is?" His voice was even and cold, holding that same velvet smoothness he always had that could make many stop just to hear his voice. Grace shook her head at his question,

"Love." The way that word left Zeno's lip soaked in a venom that made Grace step back only a little. "A dreadful, wasted emotion that strips men of their strength. It rips away at your sense of logic, encouraging stupid, foolish things just to chase a fleeting moment."

Grace hesitated, "Have... Have you ever been in love, Zeno?"

Zeno refused to look at his. His tinted glasses did little to conceal the burning glow of his eyes. The flames of a scorching wildfire that poisoned his body sputtering as he recalled the very name he could never forget. His hand moved in a fluid, practised motion, pulling out a cigarette and setting it between his lips, lighting it in the same motion. The nicotine did little to actually soothe the ridged edges but he needed anything at this point.

"... Once."

Even now, Zeno could still remember her face. How could he ever forget her? She was nothing more than a face in a crowd in the beginning but soon became the very thing he sought after. The idea of seeing her smile brighten up a room became a drive that pushed him further than the yearning for power ever could.

The joy that would flood his chest at the time had been blinding. A rush that shot through him that he always found himself chasing. When she and him would hide in a storeroom like two teenagers, stealing sweet kisses before anyone found them. Zeno always wanted more, just one more kiss, just one more touch. Just one more minute with her. He felt powerful in a way that had nothing to do with his physical strength. How she looked at him as if he was her entire world and more.

For him, she surpassed the world. She was the very galaxy that surrounded his world, cradling him in a hold that would always welcome him. Her touch was warmer than the sun, a gentle sensation against his skin that could push away the stress and exhaustion that weighed heavy in his muscles from a long day at work.

She made him feel special. She made him feel something that he would chase to the ends of the Earth, following her into the jaws of Hell itself. The sweet promises of a world for them both. They had even thought of running away. Leave the Connections behind and disappear into the world. And Zeno was ready to run with her.

Now, the mere thought of her brought a surge of anger that would burn down cities. A deep-rooted rage that chewed away at Zeno, whittling him down to nothing but a pathetic man, clutching at a piece of metal he refused to part with. His heart was hers to have and she shattered it like fine, thin glass.

That sweetness turned bitter and sour on his tongue but he missed the feeling of her lips against his. On those lonely nights where he was by himself, his soul craving the phantom touches of her arms around him, whispering sweet words to him, that was when it hurt the most. His eyes burned behind his tinted glasses, not from the computer screen but from her haunting presence.

His hand came up to the ring hung around his neck, the last thing she had touched, sealing it with a kiss and a promise that she will always love him. The next day, she was gone. He didn't understand why she left, nor where she ran to. Any trace of her had vanished along with her except the single ring hung around his neck.

That changed when Zeno got a message, regarding a prisoner.

-

The cell block was as crude as it was cold. A place that hadn't seen life inside for many years, a hollow skeleton of what it once was. Abandoned spiderwebs draped the place, a coldness seeping through the stone that even the sun couldn't warm. This place was meant for the dead, a stain on the Earth that was once a city but now nothing more than ruined remains of a forgotten place.

Barely any light filtered through the cracked stone, encasing the place in a darkness that was almost a comfort. The light overheard gave a weak, pitiful flicker that caught your attention. Your head raised up a little at the hanging lightbulb before you heard the sound of steady footsteps. Not the kind that rushed but firm and calculated. A stride of a man who had time, who found rushing and chasing beneath him.

You didn't have to turn and look to know whose steps they belonged to. Your heart tightened at the sight of him, standing obscured by the darkness he clung to. A pair of glowing embers for eyes staring at you. Once, that look was everything to you.

"My sweetheart." You spoke softly, breaking the suffocating silence that hung between you. Zeno remained in place. His gaze was nothing more than a piercing stare that would make lesser men shrink in their place. But not you. You simply stared at him with that same look that made him fall in love with you in the first place.

How Zeno wished he could remove it from your face.

"You were expecting me then?" His voice put the coldness of the room to shame. In comparison, it was nothing more than a Spring morning while Zeno's voice was the chill of Winter itself. A biting tone that had no effect on you as you rose from the crooked seat in the cell and approached the bars as he did.

Zeno's eyes caught a glimpse of the ring you wore on your hand. The missing half of a matching set. His missing half.

"I had a feeling we would meet again someday, Zeno." You spoke softly, the same voice that both soothed and enraged his heart. "You look well." You looked as radiant as you did the last time he saw you. Time itself kept its hands off you, preserving you in the image he knew you as.

"Five years I spent by your side. Five years I devoted myself to you, and all that we had." Zeno spoke with measured steps, shrinking the space between you both until the only thing that separated you were the iron bars. His voice simmered with a venom that made his lips taste bitter. "And finally, when we had our chance to flee, you weren't there." The words hung in the air, your gaze shifting aside as something almost close to shame filled your eyes.

Under his piercing stare, you couldn't deny how beautiful the anger made him. "Why weren't you there?" The anger held in his voice was sharper than any knife in the world. But beneath that anger, deep below, she heard the soft beg. Though, you knew Zeno would never admit that he would beg. Then again, you knew him better than he knew himself at times.

"It's my nature, Zeno." The man looked almost offended by that answer, "Would you love me if I was anything but what I am?" Zeno turned away from you, as if that would stop how your gaze slipped through the layers of his defences, stripping him down just like before.

"I do not love you." A blatant lie Zeno told himself every day, hoping that if he repeated it enough times, it would be true. Five years and he was still waiting for it to take root. A soft hum left your lips, a single sound that pulled his attention back to you. The centre of his world.

"Zeno. You poor thing." Your words filled his head like a siren's call, pushing away the stoic, logical man he had spent years forging himself into. Yet, your voice alone pushed it all away. "You were created to be a man who was heartless, a replica of his greatness. Yet, you're not." You stood in front of him, your hand slowly sliding through the gaps of the bars. "You can hide it all you want, but you are not Wesker, Zeno. Unlike him, you have a heart."

Your hand moved and Zeno remained in place, his eyes switching between your face and hand in a manner that was almost skittish in a way. Then, the softest of gasps slipped his lips as your hand touched his skin. The touch he has been spitefully longing for. Your fingers pushed the cool metal of his black tinted glasses aside, allowing you to see him in his fullest. In that moment, the anger, the hatred, all of it melted away from Zeno with such intensity you could almost see it yourself. His eyes flickered back to yours, holding that softness that only you had ever seen.

Your name left his lips as a dying prayer.

His heart thrummed softly, a sound that was almost alien to him at this point. The pain, the ache, was gone by the touch of the woman who caused it.

"Even now, you're more human than you want to admit. No matter what you do, you experience emotions more than Wesker ever could. And that is what makes you special." Your hand slowly pulled away from his cheek and Zeno leaned forward, not wanting the feeling to go before he caught himself. Chasing after you like a dog for scraps of your attention, your touch.

Zeno straightened himself. He should pull his gun out and put a bullet between your eyes, cut away the rot and the source, and maybe his heart would heal finally. But he could never raise a hand to you. You already haunted him while alive, he didn't wish to have your death on his shoulders.

A discomfort stirred in his chest, the anger returning now that her touch was absent yet again. A drop of water couldn't end a raging fire, no matter how sweet the water was. He cast her one final look before turning on his heel to leave her in the silence once more.

"Zeno. Be honest with me." Her voice stopped him in his tracks, "Do you hate me?" The question hung heavily in the air. Zeno wanted to turn around and scream his rage at you. To have you feel but a shred of the pain you caused him to writhe in.

Yet, his heart only aches with that same ache he felt when he would take you into his arms after a long day of work.