#crownshattered

There wasn't any words that needed to be said for the Knave to know that there had been some changes within the Harbingers. Signora's spot had been vacated since her death in Inazuma while the number five spot had also been vacated. What bugged her most about the number five seat was that she made sure to know every member to determine if they would be welcomed in the house of the Hearth, she couldn't recall who occupied that seat. She doubted that the Tsaritsa would make such a blatant oversight.

She would just have to make sure to be wary of outsiders to the House of the Hearth with exception to the Traveler and Paimon, who were now welcomed within it's walls. Regardless of these changes, the Tsaritsa spoke about the fact that progress had been made toward each of the Gnosis just as well as it had been planned. Though wary about if such plans had included the potential incarceration of Lyney and Lynette, the Knave knew far better to make any such accusations against the Archon.

Each harbinger would report on their charges, starting with the higher numbers and then working up toward The Doctor and The Capitan. The announcement of no changes to their directives would be the finishing declaration by the Archon before the council was adjourned and each of the Harbingers free to converse or go to their work as they pleased.

Perhaps it was a little silly, but ever since Lia had agreed to marry him, there had been a lightness to his step that just hadn't been there before. Even now, as they stood in the middle of a dark alley war having taken down their targets, there was still something that made him feel as though he could almost fly - okay maybe that was extreme. But this was certainty better than the usual numb emptiness that usually came around this time of year.

"That was almost too easy - if I didn't know better I'd think father was going easy on us", he sighed, his daggers vanishing back into their hiding places as he quickly closed the distance and gave Lia a quick kiss, "Before we head back, let's grab something to eat first".

● — || Not that she's counting , because she would [ [ never ] ] keep a tally in her secret journal , but Sokka's started 153 , 567 random arguments over stupid things , and she's only started 12 .

It had been months now and, yeah, that name hadn't disappeared from his phone.

Neku could almost believe everything had been a sadistic fever dream. The Reaper's Game wasn't exactly a hot topic among his friends. He wasn't keen on raising the subject himself. It was in moments like these, all by himself, staring at his phone screen until it blacked out, that the surreal enormity of it all sunk into him.

He hadn't put this contact in his phone. He hadn't asked for anyone else to do it, either.

Partner ❤︎

Neku didn't need to ask himself who. He had decided not to ask himself how. But he really, really wanted to ask why. He didn't. But god dammit, did he want to.

It was jarring to look at, and it was haunting to watch his cursor blinking at him in the still-blank text box. It was even eerier in the moment, with nothing other than the street's neon leer to share the sidewalk. It was late. He should be going home.

... it was just ... he could send a message. He could call. Whenever he wanted, the line was open. He could put an end to the agonizing radio silence between them, just like that. He could. But ...

His cellphone hit the pavement, and, honestly, he didn't hear the calamitous noise it made. He could only hear the vibrating. The calling. And that someone on the other end was willing to wait however damn long it took for him to answer.

His voice stuck in his throat when finally it was against his ear. Maybe he shouldn't do this. Maybe he should hang up. Maybe he shouldn't invite that fucking bastard back into his life.

There wasn't any place safe from the advances of the Fire Nation. Though, the more desirable locations had larger forces assigned to their conquest and colonizing, the rest still were being pushed with the intention of forcing into submission.

Xiong, the captain of the vessel that had been assigned as a secondary attempt to conquer Kyoshi Island.

He had examined the areas, hearing word of a large beast that stalked the water. He had no intention of causing harm toward the creature, but wasn't going to hesitate to protect the ship and crew that were under his command.

Though as the vessel steadily drew close to the shore, it became apparent that the beast was either away or had no intention of attacking them.

"Sir, any idea why were we are able to proceed as close to the shore without incident? Other boats were attacked before getting to shallow water." One soldier asked looking over at him.

"Are you really going to complain about us not having a fight before making landfall at Kyoshi Island?" Xiong stated, almost baffled that it was being brought up as something to complain about.

"No sir." The soldier stated, shaking his head.

"Let's thank the spirits for the blessing that we weren't attacked. Put our focus on defeating the protectors of Kyoshi Island. Just cause I'm the captain doesn't mean that we get to be lax with our preparation." He had gotten a reputation for being talented, but also being lenient when fighting.

It was that leniency that kept him from rising higher in the ranks. Conversely, it was his talents that got him to his current post. Ozai had no intentions of having large number of men trying to follow Xiong's example, but at the same time didn't want to lose someone of his capabilities. Ozai was going to use him as much as he could, but was also waiting for news of failure.

Argh! There was only one source of power that could produce this strong of a reaction this quickly, yet it'd increased so quickly that he'd barely had time to protect himself from it, his eyes narrowing on the strange device that seemed to be emitting the energy. He could dimly hear Bennett talking by his side, but it felt as though his ears were ringing, each breath becoming more difficult to take. "R-run", he managed to gasp out, trying to summon at least some of his power in order to protect the teen by his side, only managing to infuse a small amount of anemo energy for protection, before the last of his strength gave out and he collapsed fully unconscious.