#crowtwins

I imagine that one day as you’re cooking, they’re in the living room and Rafayel has your son’s hand enveloped in his own, guiding him as he paints.

It reminds you of that time in his studio in Greensprings after you promised to see the lanterns together

“What should we add next, kiddo?”

“Hmmm.” Your son taps the paintbrush on his chin, “What about some birds?”

“Heh, like the ones that stole your chips the other day?”

“It wasn’t the birds! It was you, papa!” he jabs the paintbrush at Rafayel’s chest

Rafayel lifts his hands up in surrender, “What do you mean? I’m innocent.” He chuckles as your son pouts at him

More often than not, the two of them are covered in paint, or whatever art supply they used. It ends up to be a whole load of washing for you >:(

Your son definitely loves the ocean just as much as his father.

When you were pregnant with him, he would kick in your belly whenever you were swimming or submerged in water.

As a toddler, he would kick his legs and squeal every time the waves washed over him

Rafayel would have his hands under your son’s arms, stabilising him so that the waves wouldn’t push him over

Now at six years old, he’s diving under, collecting shells and chasing fish,“Momma, look at this shell.” He lifts his small palm carrying a pink shell, his pearly whites beaming up at you as he smiled, “You can have it, momma, orrrrr, maybe I can make it into a paint with papa later.”

It’s late afternoon and your son is knocked out on the couch from spending the entire morning at the beach.

You and Rafayel get started on dinner

Rafayel comes up behind you, wrapping his arms around your waist. “Thank you.” He presses a kiss to your shoulder.

“Huh?” You pinch your brows and chuckle a little as he nuzzles your neck, “What for?”

He takes a deep breath, “I don’t know, just… For our son, for being my wife, I’m just happy, I guess.”

You chuckle lightly, “I’m happy too.” You turn around and pinch his cheek, “A little jealous that he takes after you so much, but happy.” you offer a bright smile.

Before Rafayel can lean in, his arms are jerked away from your waist

Your son is pulling at Rafayel’s arms, “No, papa! Momma is mine!” He’s leaning all the way back, using his entire weight as leverage to pry Rafayel’s body from yours, “Go away, papa!”

Rafayel scoffs, “Yours?” He raises an eyebrow, “Tsk.” He clicks his tongue and hauls your son over his shoulder, Your momma was mine first, you jellyfish!”

Rafayel's fingers jab at your son's sides, and the sound of your son’s laughter fills the kitchen “Hahaha, pa—haha-papa! Stop!” He’s got tears in his eyes but the biggest smile on his face.

“Nope!” Rafayel pops the ‘p’ and continues to tickle him, “I gotta show you who’s the big fish in this tank, pipsqueak.”

You shake your head and put an hand at your hip, the other one pointing the spatula at them, “Alright, enough, or both of you aren’t getting dinner.”

Sylus ❖· ────── · ·

Sylus has a daughter, a son, and another on the way!

He’d spoil them ROTTENNNNNN. I mean, he buys you dresses, gives you his black card to spend as much as you want, what more would he do for your children? Or rather, what wouldn’t he do for them?

He would definitely be the type to let your children learn how to do things on their own, even if they are clearly struggling. He lives by the ‘they’ll never learn if they don’t do it themselves.’ idea - he literally says "I prefer the cold and things that make me strong."

Although, he would yield after a little while when they’re clearly upset and wailing, but more often than not, with some gentle encouragement, he’d get them to figure out how to do it themselves - climbing thing, opening boxed, pulling out chairs, etc.

It gets a little troublesome since they become explorative - he often has to use his Evol to reign them back in. Although, the children squeal in delight when they’re lifted into the air and land in their father’s arms.

Mephisto is surprisingly gentle with your little ones, keeping his claws and beak out of range because it could hurt them, but also because they wouldn’t hesitate to grab it XD

Luke and Kieran are often on babysitting duty so that you and Sylus can go out - Honestly, this is why you have another baby on the way. ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)

Sylus would totally hum to your belly, always off-tune, but he definitely would.

ANYWAY

Today, you’re out on an errand and your baby boy is absolutely crying to bits so Sylus and your daughter are trying their best to calm him down

Sylus has your daughter on his shoulders as he changes your son’s diaper. Your daughter has her hands in his hair as she makes silly faces down at her brother to try and distract him from crying.

By the time you come home, it’s quite late and you find that they are all sprawled out in the middle of the living room floor, toys scattered about and a kids show playing in the background.

Your son is splayed out on Sylus chest while your daughter is on her stomach, across Sylus’ stomach XD

You chuckle a lightly at their positioning

The lack of sleep must have finally caught up to Sylus, huh? You think

As you come closer you realise that your son is awake - he’s cooing with a fist in his mouth, drooling all over Sylus’ shoulder.

With a little difficulty, you kneel down onto the floor to slip your son out from Sylus’ arms. Slow and steady… The last few times you’ve tried, Sylus’ eyes would snap open, on high alert -because who would dare try to take his precious angels.

Anyways, you decided that Sylus probably needs the sleep, especially since you’re pregnant again, he’s been so on edge

You cradle your son in one arm, and with the other, you run your hand through Sylus’ hair - which he subconsciously leans into.

Then, you lean down to place a light kiss on your daughter’s cheek, although leaning down has become a challenge in itself with your growing belly.

With the support of a nearby armchair, you stand yourself up.

You make your way over to the cushioned rocking chair in the corner of the room, cradling your son to your chest to feed him.

Just as he finishes, your daughter’s slowly sits up from where she was laying. She rubs at her eyes and blinks sleepily - a vibrant red, like her father’s, peeking through.

She looks around the room and gasps in delight when her eyes land on you, “Mama!”

She takes a few steps to you and then stops midway to look back at her father. She hurriedly grabs the throw blanket from the armchair and throws it across her father, uncaring of whether it covered him properly or not.

“Hi, mama.” She greets you as she climbs to sit in your lap

“Hi, sweetie.” You gently caress her face, “How was your day?”

“Mmm…” She quirks her lips, “Well, little bubba was crying a lot, like, a lot, a lot.”

You chuckle as she spreads her arms all the way apart.

“But I missed you." She nuzzles into your shoulder, "Daddy did too, he kept looking at the clock.”

Hehe, ever the observant girl your daughter was.

“Aww, I missed you, and daddy, and bubba as well.” You press little pecks to her face and nuzzle your nose with hers to which she giggles. Like tinkling bells in the wind.

Zayne ❖· ────── · ·

I feel like Zayne would have a son and a daughter. Your son would be quite a few years older than her though

Some days, Zayne would take them to work, subtly showing them off to his colleagues

Greyson never misses the opportunity to pinch their cheeks and ruffle their hair, “They both look like a mini Dr. Zayne."

Zayne may have all those awards and trophies lining his office walls, but his pride and joy will always be his children

He may not outwardly express it, but he absolutely cherishes them - reading them bedtime stories, tucking them in with the lightest kiss upon their foreheads

I imagine your son would be very studious, having read most of the books occupying the shelves of Zayne’s office. He would be quite curious, exploring the hospital and asking the doctors all sorts of questions that they themselves do not even have the answers to.

He would be your little gentleman, learning from his father, pulling out chairs and opening doors.

Your daughter would probably be a little shy, always having a fist clenched on her daddy’s clothes or holding onto his hands, or rather his fingers.

Her big brother wouldn’t hesitate to get her whatever she wanted or take her wherever she wishes - your family’s little princess

As much of a workaholic Zayne is, and as much as he wants to provide for you and your little family, he would have no problems lessening his hours to spend time with you and the children

It doesn’t matter how tired he is from a long day of endless surgeries, he would just as eagerly play with them in the living room

“Here, Dad, have a turn.”

“What is it?” Zayne removes his coat and drapes it over the couch’s armrest.

“Uncle Greyson bought it for us.” Your son leads Zayne over to the living room table.

“Uncle Greyson, huh?”

Your son brushes over the comment and continues to explain the little toy, “You have to take these plastic organs and bacteria out without touching the edges or else it beeps and his nose flashes a red light.”

Ever the steady-handed surgeon, Zayne takes them all out without a problem.

“Daddy,” your daughter clutches at the fabric of Zayne’s dress shirt. “I want to try.”

Zayne beckons her over to stand in front of him where he can support her little hands holding the plastic forceps

On the off chance that you are not with them, Zayne would get them sweet treats on the way home

“It’ll be our little secret.” Zayne whispers, with a finger pressed to his lips

your son and daughter giggle in their seats and happily gobble up spoonfuls of the dessert

It isn’t long before they all start having toothaches and receive a scolding from you

On family vacations, you all end up in a cabin up in the mountains of Snowcrest (at the request of your sweet little angels)

Zayne is more than happy to teach them how to snowboard,

Much to your surprise, as your daughter grew older, you found that she was quite proficient in snowboarding

But there used to be times where Zayne made them little tiaras and crowns of ice and built little ice castle with them using his Evol

Xavier ❖· ────── · ·

Sleeps as much as your newborn son, if not more, and your eldest son has inherited his father’s incredible appetite.

When you’re not at home, Xavier nearly burns the house down trying to make food for them, so once your son was old enough, he opted to learn how to cook - having his father as an assistant because, you know… they need supervision or something XD

Xavier would definitely read them bed time stories

His voice is so soft and mellow, they would fall asleep so quickly

Not much of a surprise considering that Xavier falls asleep at the drop of a hat

But on days when they have nightmares, Xavier would use his Evol to create little bunnies and flowers that float around in their bedroom

and when sleep finally overtook them, he would tuck their blankets around them and whisper,

“Sweet dreams, my little starlight.”

Most days, in your lounge, your younger son would be crawling all over Xavier as he laid on the floor.

“Arghh, the monster’s got me.” he would jokingly say.

Your older son would then come in with a cardboard sword, gently tapping his little brother on the back to slay the monster

Xavier cradles the young one in his arms, “And the hero has saved the day once again!” He lifts the infant up into the air and receives a toothless smile.

“Just like you and mommy!” Your son beams down at Xavier, sword and shield still poised, “You keep us safe from all the wanderers, right? I wanna be just like you and mommy.”

Xavier just smiles - the kind that crinkles the corners of his eyes, “Well, we better start training, huh?” Xavier ruffles your son’s hair.

Although he may not be as well-off as Sylus, he definitely would do his best to spoil them, bringing them to amusement parks, buying them little star lamps for their bedrooms, taking them to the arcade and playing kitty cards with them.

One time, you all went on a holiday to this guest house in the forest. When you asked him how he knew about this place he replied with:

“I befriended the uncle that runs this guesthouse while I went fishing that one time.”

Xavier would take them hiking, showing your sons the most scenic views in the forest

when night time came, all four of you were laying down on a blanket, gazing at the stars

Today, he’s taken you to a cherry blossom park. He’s got your eldest son on his shoulders, and your little one in a baby carrier at his front.

Your eldest son is reaching up trying to grasp at the pink petals some of which fall onto your youngest’s head.

Xavier quickly lets go of your hand, which he was holding, to brush them out of your baby’s face. (he’s using the other one to stabilise your son’s leg over his shoulder)

Just as quickly, he grasps your hand once more.

You squeeze his hand lightly, “Let me take the carrier from you, Xavier.”

“No, it’s okay.” He quickly refuses, “I want to carry them both. It won’t be long before they’ll be too big to do so.”

AHHHHAAA, I'm finally finished with exams, so I'll be able to write more often. Yahooooo ~(˘▾˘~)

But brooooo, the Lads with KIDSSSSS I CAN DIE HAPPY

-Seven

❖· ────── ·

A few weeks have gone by, and now visiting this little coffee shop on the outskirts of Bloomshore has very much become a part of your daily routine. You can no longer use your work as an excuse to visit the café because you’ve come to visit it even on your days off.

You’ve learnt a few things throughout the weeks:

This is the only cafe in Bloomshore open until 1:30 in the morning. Or maybe even later than that, you’ve never stayed past 1:30.

Sylus must be making a whole lot of money for him to be giving you desserts on the house with every drink you order (You’ve also learnt that it’s futile to protest)

#2 can’t be possible since his coffee shop isn’t exactly overflowing with customers. There must be something else.

There’s two boys - Luke and Kieran, you overheard - who visit every Friday to collect some packages from Sylus. You’ve convinced yourself that it’s just coffee beans, or 'something else'.

But on top of that there was another instance where you realised that there was more to Sylus than what meets the eye.

As usual, you were doing some paperwork and Sylus brought your drink and a choc chip muffin this time.

The sun has long since dipped below the horizon, you wouldn’t be surprised if it was already time for it to return to the sky.

At this point, only you and a few other customers are left in the café. Some, students glued to their laptops, and others, dozing off on the tables. Either way, it’s quite peaceful tonight and you’ve gotten through two thirds of the report for your last mission. Yehey!

But alas, all good things come to an end.

Your watch beeps just as the tv, previously playing music in the background, switches to an emergency broadcast.

“Attention all. Attention all.” The newscaster frowns a little, “This is an emergency message from the Hunter’s Association - Wanderers have been sighted in the Bloomshore district.” A map pops up on the screen right where the coffee shop is located. The newscaster points to it, “If you are in this area, seek shelter immediately.”

Just as the message repeats, your watch vibrates against your wrist. A similar map is displayed - a live update of where the wanderer is headed - right in your direction.

Overhead, you hear the whir of helicopter blades and the other customers begin scrambling towards the entrance.

You stand at the entrance stopping one customer from leaving, “Stop! Stay calm everyone.” You show your badge to the customers, “I’m from the HA. At the moment, it’s best if we stay in the cafe. Stay under the tables.”

“Screw that!” one of the customers yells and pushes past you.

“Sir! The wanderer is-” You turn to grasp at his arm but not long after he bumps into Sylus, who had come to your side from behind the counter.

He towers over the customer with a stance imposing and unfamiliar as compared to the sweet barista you know.

“I suggest, sir, that you listen to miss hunter over here before you lose your life.” He narrows his eyes at the customer who gulps but still has the audacity to reply.

“If.. If I’m going to die, it sure as hell won’t be here in a coffee shop.” He insists.

Sylus simply gestures to the door, “Be my guest.” He says with a taunting smirk.

You look at him incredulously, “Ugh, why would you-”

“What? I have to honour a man’s dying wish. I would also prefer not to have a death in my coffee shop.”

Just as he finishes the sentence, the small coffee shop rumbles with the roar of the wanderer. The customers scream and scramble in all directions.

You click your tongue and push past him to follow after the customers who ran out in fear.

He just smiles and turns on his heel to follow after you.

Too engrossed in protecting the civilians, you don’t realise that Sylus is trailing behind you taking care of any straggling wanderers coming from behind.

When you hear the shrieks of the wanderers from behind, you see Sylus throwing blow after blow to its body.

Much too smooth and calculated to simply be a barista.

❖· ────── ·

As if that day had never happened, you’re back in your usual spot at the café. At the time of the incident, you were the closest hunter to the scene so naturally, you were tasked with writing up the report.

With your laptop propped on your thighs, your fingers are gliding over your keyboard as you type up the report - noting the time of the incident, to the nature of the incident, to those involved.

Your fingers tap lightly at the keyboard, not enough to input any letters, but to rid yourself of your anxiety. Write too much and the HA will investigate this place, and unfortunately, the packages that you’ve convinced yourself were coffee beans are in fact not coffee beans, but bombs.

Writing as vaguely as possible, you work you lip between your teeth as you eye Sylus from the edge of you laptop. How much can you say without really saying anything at all?

Time flies by with every word you type and every sip of coffee you take. It’s bitter today, but that’s exactly what you need to stay up and finish this report.

Speaking of which… What time is it anyway?

You spare a glance at the clock at the bottom of your screen.

2:32 AM!

You jolt awake and look around the café. Every other table is void of its usual occupant and their belongings.

Sylus lifts his eyes to your figure, noticing your unease, but continues to clean the teacup in his hands, “Do you need something, sweetie? Another cup, maybe?”

You stand up to gather your things, “No. I’m sorry.” You stuff your laptop in your bag, “I didn’t realise how late it was, I-”

He only flashes you a smile, “I don’t mind.” He averts his gaze for a moment, “I have nothing scheduled for tonight, and… and I don’t mind the company.”

You’re frozen in place unsure if he was being courteous or if you were imposing.

Sensing the conflict in your head, he waves his hand and shakes his head, “Sit down,” He walks over to your table and picks up your empty cup, “I’ll make you another drink. You don’t seem to be finishing up any time soon anyways.”

“No, no.” You wave both of your hands in front of you, “I couldn’t. I’m already overstepping my bounds.”

“I insist, kitten.”

Hesitantly, you slot yourself back into the booth and say, “I don’t think I have it in me to finish that report today.” you scratch at your cheek.

“Then, at least stay until I’ve made you another drink.” He’s back behind the counter and shoots you another smile that has your stomach doing backflips, “What will it be, sweetheart?”

“Hot chocolate?” You tilt you head a little.

“Mmmm.” He hums, “Whatever my dearest customer wants, she gets. A warm cup of cocoa to stave of a snowy night, coming right up.” He chimes and the coffee machine whirs to life again.

Shortly after, as you’ve warmed your cold hands against the mug, Luke and Kieran waltz through the entrance.

You glance at the clock - 2:54 AM.

When your eyes return to the two boys, they seem just as shocked as you are that anyone else was still here.

You lift the mug up to acknowledge them and they simply smirk.

“Late night, miss hunter?” One of them says, you’re not quite sure who is who.

You simply hum in response and take another sip of the hot chocolate.

Luke and Kieran make their way to the back as usual, and before they return with the ‘coffee beans’, you’ve emptied your cup and left the shop.

When Sylus leads the twins out (only so they don’t harass you more than you can tolerate) he notices the empty table.

“A special drink for a special lady so late at night, boss man?” Kieran asks.

“Did we interrupt a romantic rendezvous in the middle of the night, boss man?” Luke wiggles his eyebrows.

Sylus merely shakes his head, “Get out of here before I send Mephisto to end the both of you.” He says as he clears your table. Although his voice is dripping in malice, his eyes are soft as he reads the little note you left.

Thank you for the hot chocolate. Sorry for staying so late, I’ll make it up to you. -MC

❖· ────── ·

It wasn’t for another ten days did you make it up to him. Not that anyone was counting…

You felt a little guilty albeit a little flattered by how sweetly he was treating you. But also confused…Does he like you? Is he being nice? Does he do this for others? Is it a ruse with underhanded motives?

Honestly, it’s all so confusing. From how sweetly he was treating you, to the shady deals going on in that dainty little coffee shop. You really don’t know what to believe anymore.

You thought maybe if you stopped visiting for a little while, everything would clear itself up. But the more you restrained yourself, the more thoughts of him surfaced.

With an exasperated huff, you convinced yourself that you were just having caffeine withdrawals and none of the other coffee shops in Linkon satisfied you like the small coffee shop at the edge of Bloomshore. Definitely, the coffee and not the barista… the coffee.

…

When you shuffle into the coffee shop, it busier than usual. So much so that Sylus hasn’t even realised that you’re here.

Why would he though? I’m just like any other customer getting a drink.

You let out a breath. For whatever reason, your traitorous heart is pounding away. By the time you get to the counter you heartbeat is in your ears and you can barely hear yourself say, “One house special, please.”

At your voice, Sylus’ head fwips up from where his hands were holding a milk jug to the coffee machine, “I though my little hunter was injured, or that I was too forward.” he sends you a smile that makes your heart race a little faster.

“Sorry, I was… I was busy.” You avert your gaze and begin to reach into you bag, “I do have something to give you. A little thank you gift, if you will.” You pass a little mug set over the counter.

He quickly wipes his hands on a dish cloth and receives your gift. He opens the set and smirks.

Your brows furrow, “What?” What could he possibly find amusing?

He looks into the mug and reads, “I love you a latte?”

“Huh?” You lean over the counter and grab the mug from his hands. Just as he read, the words “I love you a latte” are printed at the bottom of the mug.

You stare at it, baffled as heat rises to your cheeks “I-”

He chuckles, “This one says, ‘mugs and kisses’.” He looks back at you, “Are you trying to tell me something, sweetie.”

“No! I didn’t know they had those printed at the bottom! I just liked the designs at the front!” You’re leaning over the counter reaching for the mugs.

“You’re more forward than me it seems.”

“Just…just give them back to me, I can return them and get you something else.”

He pulls the both mugs further away from the counter and above his head, “I can’t. This your first gift to me, kitten.” He holds them to his chest, “It would be a waste to return them now.”

“No, Sylus, I’m serious.”

“And so am I.” He places the mugs on one of the shelves and turns back to you, “Now go sit down, I’ll bring your drink once it’s ready.”

With your head in your hands you take your usual seat.

❖· ────── ·

Your mind spent half the day replaying the events from this morning, so now you’re only a fifth of the way through your report.

You groan and plop your forehead on the table with a thud. You turn your head to the side and rest it atop your hands.

Most of the other customers have left for the night, and Sylus is finishing up, cleaning all his equipment.

Shortly after, he walks over with two take away cups in hand. He’s donned his long black coat and a scarf. “Come,” He says, “You need a break, let me take you somewhere.” He nods to the entrance.

You raise a brow at him, “You’re not taking me somewhere to kill me, are you?” You joke as you gather your things, “I know how to fight, you know?” you add with a chuckle.

“Oh? Shall I take you to spar then, miss hunter?” He says as he hands you the drinks.

With both of your hands occupied, he takes the opportunity to wrap his scarf around your neck. He ties it up and tidies the edges so that your neck is fully covered. Leaning back a little he admires his work with a chuckle and flicks your forehead.

“Hey!”

“Let’s go.” He guides you with a hand at the small of your back.

After a short walk, he opens the car door for you with his other hand at the roof of the car so you don’t bump your head.

You mumble a quick “Thank you.” and adjust yourself in the seat as he walks around to the driver’s side.

When the car rumbles to life and he begins to drive, you ask, “Are one of these for me?”

He gives you a quick glance and can’t resist teasing you with the way your eyes sparkle at the drinks.

“Of course, but you’ll have to guess which one.”

“Mmm.” You take a sip of one of the cups but shake your head as intense bitterness bites at your tongue, “Bleghh. How many shots did you put in this?”

He stifles a laugh with his hand, “Cute.” He mumbles.

…

When you exit the car, he guides you towards a bridge overlooking the city and the river.

in the middle of the bridge, he leads you to a railing and leans against it with his drink in his hands.

“You’re not going to jump, are you?” You tease.

He scoffs, but adjusts your scarf to cover your nose and ears that have gone red from the cold.

“Well, now how am I supposed to drink this cocoa with my mouth covered, Sylus?”

“I’m sure you’ll figure it out, kitten.”

I think this one turned out a little cuter than I expected, but I love it either way hahaha. I hope you enjoyed! ✧(˶ᵔ ᵕ ᵔ˶)

-Seven

❖· ────── · ·

Now at Onychinus' base, you realise just how much you've made this place your home.

As you're walking around the base, you pick up your throw blanket with little crows from the sofa; then the custom controller the twins got you from the games room. You've tucked your spare windbreaker from the coatroom over your arm. And in your drawer, you spot a piece of card paper - Sylus' birthday card.

One that you never gave him… because MC did it first. After all, she was the one who found out Sylus' actual birthday.

Although… You were more than content to celebrate it every day of April with the twins, but…

Anyway, you run your hand over the texture of the paper and tuck it back into the drawer.

You can leave this one behind. Maybe it'll reach it's rightful owner someday.

But… now, you've also realised just how much she's made this her home as well.

A mess of Pile It Up blocks here; a can of cat food for the stray cats there.

You shake your head and do one final walk around the base.

You come to a stop in front of Sylus' room.

With a deep sigh, you quickly place your belongings on a nearby table and open the door.

Just one more time… you say to yourself

Your eyes flit around the dark room. All black and red decor except… Colourful stuffies and meow badges lining his shelves.

You clench your hands and let out a shaky breath. You rush to leave the room pulling the door closed with a soft click.

Just as you're gathering your things, you hear voices from the hallway.

Your hand immediately goes to the holster on your waist.

"I told you so! The bossman was with miss hunter! Mephisto was there too, we didn’t need to worry."

Your body goes lax. It's just the twins.

"Oh hey! Y/N's here, Kieran."

Kieran comes from behind Luke after having locked the door, and you muster up the best smile you can.

"Hey." It comes out weaker than you'd like. Almost a whisper.

You clear your throat. They've got the worst timing, you think

"What's all this, sis?" Luke rhymes.

Kieran lets out a soft chuckle, "Yeah, you movin' out or something?"

You smile a little, just to ward away the tears that are building up in your eyes, "Yeah, I can't have all my stuff lying around." You lift your arms and motion to all your things, "The big boss scolded me last time, remember? Something about not leaving a trace, right?" You pretend to think and act like you hadn’t learnt your lesson, "Or was it just to keep the base tidy? Oh well."

Luke brings a hand up to his face and pretends to look around the place, "Hmm? I don’t know what you're talking about. I don’t see anything here. It’s squeaky clean."

You laugh and take a few steps to nudge him with your shoulder and he grins.

"Anyway, I can't stay for long," You say, "I just came to fetch these."

Their shoulders droop a little, "Aww."

You place your things back onto the table and open your arms to the boys.

Kieran comes first, "We just got here and you’re leaving already?”

“Yeah,” You say and squeeze your arms around him tighter, “I’m gonna go home.” You release him and move to Luke.

“But you are home,” Luke’s voice is muffled in your shoulder.

“My real home, dummy.” You release him and turn to your things, “I’m gonna sleep in my own bed for once, without having to hear the both of you yelling at video games.” You tease.

“You can’t even stay for a round of Interstellar Warfare? We want the spaceship upgrades to beat Boss.”

You shake your head as you gather your things, “Not even for a round, Luke, I’m sorry.”

When you turn around, they’re quiet… brooding little chicks; your little brothers.

“Oh,” You sigh and free up one of your arms, “I know, I know,” You coo, “Being away from your family - your big sister - will be too much.” you tease as you reach under Luke’s mask to pinch at his cheek.

He turns away with a “Tch.”

“We saw each other yesterday, and the day before! Why are you two pouting like this, hmm?” You ask

Maybe they felt that something was wrong. That something was changing. Maybe their hearts knew that they weren’t going to see you again after today.

But you’ve already made up your mind.

“Ok, I have to go.” You pat Kieran’s cheek over the mask, “Stay safe.”

You turn back to Luke, “And you,” you point to him, “Don’t cause too much trouble.” you pat his cheek too.

They just give you an exasperated sigh, but you can almost see their smiles behind the mask, “Of course, little boss.” They say in unison.

“Oh yeah, tell the big boss that I took that M-38 from the armoury, actually, wait, maybe don’t. He might get mad.” You wink and stick your tongue out.

They make a zipping motion above their mouths and you smile.

You walk towards the front door and they follow behind you like lost puppies. You never would have thought that they ever attempted to assassinate Sylus. It makes you chuckle at how close they’ve gotten.

As you exit, you turn around to say “Make sure you feed Mephisto all those nuts and bolts that mess up his gears!”

They smirk from the front door.

“I love you both!” You plop your things into the back seat and stick your head out, “Good bye…” you give them a soft wave and their smirks drop.

You just duck into your car and drive away.

Being away from your family really may be too much.

❖· ────── · ·

After that day, you took every effort to change your name, your appearance…everything. Not a single trace of who you were before.

I guess that’s one thing that you’ve learnt from Sylus.

You used to help track people down with him, having learnt and even executed each and every one of his methods yourself. So, fortunately, making a counter to them was easy.

Now days, you were living a quiet life tucked away in the country side with a big plot of land, a few animals and a garden.

But still, your heart wasn’t there.

Even with your new lover, something was missing.

…

Today, you’ve gone to visit the markets by the beach with your lover.

You’ve wandered off to look at the stalls while he stayed in line to order some food.

You didn’t have to worry about leaving him by himself. For once you were glad that you don’t have to constantly look over your shoulder.

You’ve done well to take that target off your back.

In the midst of it all, you’ve somehow wandered all the way to the seaside.

With the waves lapping at the shore; the sun high in the sky and the gulls calling from above.

It was a rare sight back in the N109 zone; Something as beautiful and serene as this.

But you’re glad… As much as you miss it, you’re glad.

You close your eyes and take a deep breath, salty air meeting your senses.

You hear footfalls behind you…your lover, you think.

Although a little heavier than usual… must be the sand.

“You’re a hard one to find, kitten.”

Chills.

All the way down your spine.

Your body whips around - all the years of training still very much engrained in your body.

“How…”

Your eyes are wide as Sylus stands in front of you.

Your breath hitches in your throat and your heart’s racing out of your ribs.

Nonchalantly, he swipes a finger across his lips, “Well, You happened to keep all your pin codes and passwords with some variety of 0418 or 1804 - My birthday.”

You swallow thickly. Is this what it’s like to be on the other end of Sylus’ wrath?

But he’s right, most of your passwords were some variety of his birthday. Some stubborn part of you not wanting to let go of your past and now it’s come back to bite you.

But you didn’t want to forget him. Never.

“And,” he continues, “You also sold that M-38…” He takes a step towards you, “The only one in the world.”

You curse in your head and take a step back to keep your distance. Careless.

“I’ll have to give it to you, it still took me longer than I would have like to find you.” He hand reaches for your wrist, “Why did you do it?”

Snapping back to reality at his touch, you push him away, “It doesn’t matter.” You shake your head, “Go back to Linkon or Onichynus - wherever you’re staying these days.”

“The twins miss you.”

You freeze at his words.

You’re so selfish.

“Mephisto won’t stop plucking out his feathers.”

Hurting your family like this.

“Stop.” You mumble.

To Sylus or to yourself, you don’t quite know.

From a distance, you hear your fake name being called by your lover.

It pulls you out of your daze and you turn to his voice to rid your mind of Sylus.

Sylus doesn’t miss the way your eyes soften when they reach the man across the beach.

“Who might that be, sweetie?”

You turn back to him with a cold hard glare, “Like. I . Said.” You enunciate every word, “It doesn’t matter.” You push at Sylus’ arm, “Go back.”

“No, no.” Sylus chuckles,” I would like to meet him. Is this the man you’re working for now?”

“Sylus.” You bite out a warning.

He meets your hard gaze but then smirks smugly and begins to walk towards your lover.

“Sylus!” You call out, trying and failing to catch his arm.

His strides are much bigger than yours.

“Sylus! Stop!” You just barely catch the back of his coat and tug at it.

“I insist. He must be a impressive man for you to have left Onichynus.”

You rush to get in front of him, “Sylus, stop! Please!” your voice breaks as you hold your hands out to block him. “Please, just stop.”

Sylus falters as he sees your eyes glisten with tears. He merely looks at you and you take the opportunity to speak.

“I cut myself off from you… and the twins. From Onichynus for a reason.” Your chest heaves as you speak, “It was the hardest decision I’ve ever made in my life - To leave my family - my heart -behind.” The wind bites at your wet cheeks but you continue, “So please. Please, just let me live peacefully.”

Sylus is wide-eyed at your confession and at your tear-streaked face. Almost as much as he was when you confessed your feelings to him.

Your lover calls your name once more and he’s jogging towards the two of you after seeing the altercation from a distance.

You take quick steps away from Sylus, leaving him frozen in his spot.

It takes all of your willpower not to look back at Sylus. You have to remind yourself that you’re looking ahead. To your future in front of you. You can’t go back no matter how much your heart yearns to.

Your lover meets you halfway and wraps an arm around your shoulders, “Are you okay, pumpkin?”

You nod despite the tears and wrap your arm around his waist, “Yeah… Yeah, I will be.”

“Who was that?” He asks taking a quick glance back at Sylus.

“I don’t know.”

"He seems to know you.”

“I don’t know him anymore.”

“Okay, okay.” He yields,” Let’s get you home, darling.”

So... How are we feeling? \ (•◡•) /

Let me know what you thought about it, I've never really written one where MC and reader and separate people, but I like the overall idea so I thought I may as well write it haha ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

-Seven

You do as you’re told and flick through the contents of the folder.

“Huh, the address is near the N109 zone?” You whisper.

Sylus has a safe house near there, I think.

It’ll be easier to complete the mission if you could crash there every now and then.

I’ll ask him when I have the chance.

There’s a few photos of the club tucked into the folder and from what you can see, it’s quite luxurious.

Entering the club shouldn’t be a problem with the brooch Sylus gave me. Hmmm. I might need to visit Jeremiah some time soon to forge another identity.

You sift through a few more pages and a photo catches your eye. It’s of a blonde woman with a hunter’s uniform and badge but stamped across the page is the word ‘TENEBRA’ in bold red lettering.

“Hmmm,” You hum as you read the sticky note attached, “If encountered, detain immediately? Who is this?”

What had she done to be labelled a Tenebra?

With that thought in mind, you think to your own situation.

Your involvement with Sylus is more than enough grounds to label you a Tenebra, but you brush that thought aside quickly.

“MC?”

Your head perks up from the sound of your name and you quickly press the folder to your chest, “Oh! Tara… Nero. I was just leaving to see you guys, actually.”

“About the case, right? Isn’t it interesting?” Tara grins, “But, yes we came here instead because Nero thinks that the Data Sector is too noisy.”

“They’re blabbing about all the time, it’s dizzying.” He retorts.

He pulls a nearby chair and motions for the two of you to come around, “Come, we’ve got work to do.”

The three of you discuss the case for a while until you ask, “Why am I being sent alone? Aren’t mission usually done in pairs?”

“Yes, well… Technically, it’s only an investigative mission, so the higher-ups don’t think we should waste resources on a mere investigation.” Nero makes quotation marks with his fingers. “You’ve got orders not to engage where possible.”

Tara leans forward to argue, “But even still, Fox’s Den is surrounded by no hunt zones! Isn’t it dangerous?”

“Yes, that’s true, and speaking of which…” He opens some tabs up on his laptop, “As I’m sure you’ve seen, you’ve been approved access to all no hunt zones surrounding the area.”

You nod, looking back at your watch and also the map that spread across the table.

“But that’s not the problem.” Nero continues, “The problem is getting into the club.”

You furrow your brows, “What?” You tilt you head, “Can’t I just go in as a client?”

He clicks his tongue, “They’ve got a very specific clientele.” He says and then draws a rectangle with his fingers, “Invite only.” He emphasises. “Did you think you could just waltz into the place?Everyday?”

You tense for a moment. I thought… with the brooch...

But you can’t tell them about the brooch; They’ll ask you how you got it. So you settle with, “I- well,” you scratch your temple, “I haven’t really thought that far yet.”

...

Your meeting with the two ended just as the sun dipped completely below the horizon

Somehow, they’ve got you a position as one of the hostesses.

You huff. You don’t know a thing about being a hostess.

To be fair, being a hostess would give you the widest variety of intel.

Never had you thought you’d be going undercover like this, but the job must be done, you suppose.

You harshly tug your helmet on and head to Sylus’ safe house on your 270HM.

If he says no, then you can just scout the area on the way back home. That way, the ride there wouldn’t have been for nothing.

“Oh! There you are, little miss hunter.”

You turn around at the voice of one of the twins. “Luke, Kieran?”

“Mephisto told us you’d be here.” Kieran says pointing to the sky where Mephisto circles above the three of you.

“Is Sylus-”

Luke responds before you can finish your question, “The boss has a important business deal, but,”

“You’re more than welcome to stay with us in the meantime.” Kieran finishes the sentence as he opens the gate.

You can almost see the grin behind his mask.

“How long will he be gone?” You ask as you walk with the twins into the house.

“It might not even be until tomorrow that you’ll see the boss.”

“If you’re lucky--” Luke starts

“--I’ve checked your luck index today, miss, you’re not.”

“Kieran!” You smack him on the shoulder

“Anyway,” Luke starts again, “As I was saying, if you’re lucky, he might be done by midnight.”

…

Well now, it’s way past midnight and the boys have convinced you to play card games as you wait. From old maid, to kitty cards, to Big 2.

Eventually, they pull out another deck of cards with haphazardly drawn crows. - “We’ve invented our own version!”

Your brows furrow.

“Crow Cards!” They say in unison.

You’re speechless. You shake your head with a chuckle, but oblige them regardless.

It isn’t long before Kieran has passed out on the couch and you can tell that Luke isn’t too far either.

“Luke, why don’t we get you and your brother to sleep?” You suggest.

“Yeah,” He yawns and give you a nod, “but Kieran can sleep here on the floor.” He snorts, but goes to haul him up anyways.

“I can use one of the spare rooms, right?” You ask

“Of course. The boss has even gotten spare clothes specifically for you in every house. They should just be in the closet of the en suite.” He points to one of the doors, “That one is your room.”

It didn’t take very long after your head hit the pillows that you drifted off into a shallow sleep

Just as the sunlight begins peaking through the horizon, Sylus enters into the safehouse

Mephisto is cawing at him incessantly.

“What has you so worked up?” He frowns.

“CAW!”

Sylus walks through to the main area and sees cards strewn across the floor.

He examines them, seeing the poorly drawn crows, and looks to Mephisto, “What?” Sylus raises an eyebrow at Mephisto, “You led me here because Luke and Kieran made you look like roadkill on these cards?”

Mephisto shakes his head and pecks the cards out of Sylus’ hand. He pitter-patters to the door of the en suite and lightly pecks at it

Sylus’ frown deepens but he follows after him.

And there you were - laying on your stomach atop the sheets.

He lets out a small chuckle, “Tsk tsk, kitten,” he shakes his head, “You’ll catch a cold at this rate.”

He gently turns you so he can lift you up into his arms.

With his Evol, he untucks the sheets and lays down with you in his arms.

You have your head on his chest and legs entangled with his own.

With all the movement, you lift your head blink your eyes open, “Hi.” You whisper.

“I didn’t expect to see you here, kitten.”

You plop your head back down onto his chest, “Yeah, I wanted-” you yawn, “I wanted to ask you something.”

“Oh? You’re asking me for a favour? How unusual.”

You only hum in response and close your eyes again.

For a moment, he thinks that seeing you in the sunrise makes the sunlight a little more bearable.

“What is it that you need, sweetie?” he asks, brushing his lips against the top of your head.

“The location of my mission is near this house.”

“And?” he shoots you a smug smile, “What is it exactly that you’re asking, Dove?”

You narrow your eyes at him, “I’m asking if I can stay here for a little while.”

He chuckles and gently swipes at the space between your brows, “Do you know what you look like right now?” he asks, “A kitten with a temper.”

You untangle yourself from his grasp, “Screw you.”

It quite futile since you end up in his arms once more.

“What mission is so important that the hunter’s association would send you into the N109 zone?” He asks.

“One,” You put your pointer finger up, “It's near the N109 zone. And two,” You lift another finger, “Apparently, there’s some shady trading of high-grade protocores.”

“Hah, when is there not?” He chuckles.

You quickly brush his question aside, “But you’ll let me stay, won’t you?” You pout for good measure.

“I never trade for a loss, dove.” He taps a finger on his temple. “What are you planning to give me in exchange?”

“Um…” You contemplate on the question. “I'll trade any protocores I find that I think may be of use to you?” Your intonation makes it sound more like a question than a statement.

“What makes you think that I don’t already have access to such protocores, sweetheart?” He shifts to lay on his side with his head propped up by his arm.

That’s true. What could you possibly offer to a man who already has everything in the palm of his hand?

You glance up at him, “Well, then… truthfully, there’s nothing I can give you.”

I guess he won’t let me stay after all.

One of the corners of his lips tilt upwards into a smirk, “There is…” he pauses as he procures a piece of paper with his Evol, “Something you can give me.”

You take the paper and frown as you read the contents, “Isn’t this that restaurant by the river? The one with the orchids?”

“Mmm.” He hums in agreement.

“What could I possibly give you there, Sylus?” You ask

He chuckles, “Well, it’s quite simple, really.” He leans forward to whisper in your ear, “I want you to stay with me… Until the moon is high above our heads”

His voice is so close to your ears that you have to turn away

“I want your time.”

A few days have gone by since your…encounter with Sylus.

Now you’re face-to-face with the owner of the club.

He has his hand grabbing the lower half of your face, turning it side to side.

You grit your teeth. Keep it together for the mission, MC. You say to yourself.

“She’ll fetch a hefty price from the clients, that’s for sure.” He chuckles

He almost throws you towards a woman who has a comb and spray bottle in hand.

“Another?” She asks

“Get her ready.” He says as he begins to walk towards the bar where the guests are, “I want her ready for service by the end of the week, Stella.”

The woman, Stella, as you’ve learned, rolls her eyes and grabs you by the arm.

She drags you across to one of the clothing racks and pulls various clothes up to your body. She takes some off, and others she returns.

Your eyes wander as you stay still, and for a brief moment, you see a blonde woman in a red dress, strutting towards the exit.

“Tenebra?” You mumble

“What?” Stella raises her brow.

“Huh? Oh, I was asking If I’ll need to wear a bra.” You gulp hoping she’ll believe your cover-up

She stares at you for a moment but then continues to find you a dress.

After a while, she’s finished with your make up and has given you a run-down of the rules.

“For tonight, you’ll be staying with me.” She says as she walks towards the exit

You scramble after her. You barely catch yourself from bumping into her as she abruptly turns around to address you.

“Keep close and don’t wander. Do you understand?”

You nod, “Yes.”

She wraps a red band across your wrist with ease, “This bracelet means that you’re off limits for the mean time.” She grips your wrist and squeezes, “So I suggest you keep it on your wrist even if your life depends on it. You won’t have this luxury for long.”

What have I gotten myself into?

You spend that night observing each and every one of the hostesses and clients.

Memorising faces, names, voices. Anything.

As the week ends, you’re back at the safe house trying to piece all the information you have so far.

You’re hunched over the coffee table with papers scattered about. Some of which you’ve scrunched up and have unintentionally made into Mephisto’s playthings.

You huff.

Everything looks normal, but clearly that’s not the case if HA has sent you here. They wouldn’t have sent you here if there wasn’t some concrete evidence of a covert operation.

Sylus stops cleaning his gun and smiles as you frown. The bastard.

You huff once more and rub your temples.

“You look as if you’re going into a grand battle.” He chuckles and leans back into the sofa.

“I feel like I’ve gotten nowhere!” You throw your hands into the air.

He carefully returns the gun to it’s case and settles himself on the floor next to you, “Talk to me.” He pulls the pen from your hands and spreads the papers across the table, “We can figure it out together.” He glances at you with the smallest of smiles.

A couple of weeks have gone by and you’ve gotten better at acting as a hostess.

You find that a lot of these clients have a very loose lips - ever so willing to give information with so little incentive

Today, you’re cozied up with a client, your legs in their lap, and an arm wrapped around one of theirs.

You grin internally as he continues to talk about all the protocores he could offer you.

“Oh?” You say sultrily, drawing circles on his arm.

YUCK

“Oh, I do, baby.”

EUUUGHHH

You’re trying your best to suppress a scowl.

“I could give you all -”

You glance up at him as he stops mid-sentence.

Your gaze shifts from his face to the mirror behind him where your eyes meet Sylus’s intense gaze.

What is he going here?

Sylus nonchalantly walks over to the two of you and the room has gone still.

“And who might this be, sweetie?” He glowers at the man, but his question is directed to you.

You open your mouth to reply, but the man beat you to it, “Mr Sylus, I’m-”

"I didn’t ask you.” He says sharply.

“Sylus, what are you doing here?” Your grip around the man loosens and you quickly shift your legs to plant your heels on the floor.

“Well… Sweetie.” He emphasises the endearment as he pulls you from the other man’s lap, “I’m here for you,” He pulls you to his chest

Without another word, he tugs you into one of the private rooms.

With the momentum, you fall to the loveseat in the middle of the room.

“Sylus!”

“When you said you had a mission here, I assumed you were going in as a client.” He locks the door and makes his way to you, “Not a hostess.” He narrows his eyes as he traps you between his outstretched arms on the loveseat.

“Why does it matter?” You glare back at him, “I’m still getting the information I need.”

“You realise that I could get you all that information in the blink of an eye, right?”

You know that. You do. He never lets you forget. Head of Onychinus. King of the N109 zone.

But what does that say about you?

Always relying on someone else to do things.

Always relying on Xavier on missions. Even Rafayel helped you at The Nest. Zayne’s always taking care of your health, and now Sylus, too.

When had you ever truly done anything yourself?

You grit your teeth, “Look.” You say as you muster up all your courage to glare at him, “I appreciate the help, but I’m not some dove that needs saving.” You push at his chest, “I can do this on my own.”

He yields as you push him until both of you are standing.

“I can’t just rely on you for everything,” You say.

Tenebra - the word plants itself at the forefront of your mind

His chest heaves as he looks at you, but he doesn’t speak.

“What am I supposed to say to the association?” You walk towards the door but look back at him with a soft smile, “They’ll label me a Tenebra for even breathing the same air as you, remember? We can’t have that now, can we?”

He takes a hold of your wrist. “You know I’d never let that happen.”

“Mmm.” You shake your head, “I know, but even then… I want to be able to proudly say that I was able to do a mission with my own strength.”

He doesn’t say anything, so you shrug your hand away from his hold.

“So,” You place you hand on the door knob, “Let me do this on my own, Sylus.”

As you leave, he deflates onto the loveseat with a sigh.

As much as it stings that you don’t want to rely on him, he understands what you’re trying to say.

You’ve gone many days without seeing Sylus, not even at the safe house.

At the host club, you return to your dressing room with the brightest smile, you’d think your face would split in half.

That drunk client spilled all the beans. They are smuggling protocores through this host club. He mentioned a warehouse south from here, in the no hunt zone. Luckily Jenna authorised your entry into that zone. You’ll have to check it out after you leave the club.

As you exit, your watch beeps, “Huh? Wanderers? This far from the no hunt zone?”

Your hands settle at the hilts of your hands guns strapped to either thigh.

With vigilant eyes, you scan your surroundings. Trees upon trees in every direction.

Taking soft and steady steps, you head deeper into the no hunt zone.

Eventually you see lights scattered throughout the tree line.

There’s a large building stood in the centre of the clearing.

As you walk closer, you hear voices. “The warehouse.” you whisper.

Then a truck whizzes past and you duck for fear of getting caught.

It drives far into the warehouse and you follow around to get a clearer view.

They seem like specs from this distance, but they’re unloading the protocores from the truck.

The impatient part of you screams to just sneak into the warehouse.

But that fire is quickly extinguished when you notice a few men patrolling the warehouse.

“I need to come back another time. With a plan.”

The next few days you observe the schedules and their protocol for receiving deliveries

You manage to sneak your way into one of the trucks as your shift ends at the host club.

In the truck, you’re shallowly breathing from the adrenaline coursing through your veins. You close your eyes to take a deep breath as the truck slows to a stop.

“This is the last one for today, boys. Let’s do this quick!” You hear a man shout.

Your hand comes up to press at your sternum. Your heart is beating right out of your chest so much so that blood is thumping in your ears.

“You think we’ve got some aether cores to sell today?”

“Tch, I wish.”

As their footsteps grow louder, you take a slow breath-

BEEP BEEP!

You gasp as your hunter’s watch detects wanderers nearby. You grasp at your wrist to dampen the noise. Hunching over, cradling your arm as it beeps again.

STOP! Please!

“What was that?”

What do I do? I’m going to get caught.

“Check it out.”

Think. Think.

From their footsteps, you can tell one of the men has walked into the truck.

THINK!

You don’t have a choice.

With a grunt, you charge at the man, shooting him in the chest, before hauling his body to cover yours as you exit the vehicle.

“INTRUDER!” the other man yells. “INTRUDER! LOCK EVERYTHING DOWN.”

Sirens blare as shots are fired in your direction. One lodges itself into your thigh. With a scream you dump the body shield and limp as best as you can out of the crossfire.

Another shot whizzes past the side of your arm. Another into your lower abdomen as you turn to shoot at them.

Before you make it to the forest, a loud roar shakes the ground and you stumble onto all fours.

A wanderer. A Hoarfrost Wyrmlord, you recognise.

It stomps it’s way towards the warehouse, likely drawn in by all the noise.

You scramble away as best as you can, but behind you are the men from the warehouse.

Your breaths have become rapid and shallow, “Where…”

The Wyrmlord locks onto you, blowing out gusts of air from it’s nostrils.

You begin shooting at the Wyrmlord but it looks unphased.

You duck for cover as it shoot icicles your way.

Protocores. You think. “You must have a shield somewhere.” you say as you peak over the metal pillar.

“You!” A foreign voice takes your attention.

The man has his gun pointed to you.

Swiftly, you kick your leg out in an attempt to disarm him, but he catches it and kicks at your other leg so that you land face first into the dirt.

For a few moments, you wrestle him until he’s got you in a choke hold.

You elbow him in his side and as his grip loosens you try to swing him over your shoulder.

But he uses the momentum to kick off of the pillar, and the action flings you backwards, and your back hits the ground with a thud.

You grunt and struggle to stand.

Before you can shoot him, a Harte Knave slashes through him.

Just as quickly, your bullets pierce though the Harte Knave and it disintegrates in dust.

Another roar shakes the ground as you and many others are pulled into a protofield.

“No!” You scream.

“Sylus!” You yell into the air.

Hoping, praying that he just might appear out of thin air.

...

“CAW!”

Meanwhile, Sylus is seated in another safehouse.

His leg is bouncing up and down.

You should have returned to the safe house hours ago, but there has been no notification of your arrival from the security system.

For every centimetre the moon rose into the sky, so did his worry.

“I appreciate the help, but I’m not some dove that needs saving.”

Your words echoed around in his mind for the past few hours.

“I can do this on my own.”

He knows that. You’re strong. He’s seen it.

“They’ll label me a Tenebra for even breathing the same air as you, remember?“

Tch.

“I can’t just rely on you for everything,”

But something was wrong.

His intuition never failed him.

“CAW! CAW!”

“Mephisto.” Sylus quickly stands and stretches his hand out for Mephisto to land on.

A holographic video pops up and Sylus sees you dropping the lifeless body and limping away into the tree line.

The screen flickers for a moment as you scream his name before you disappear into the protofield.

Even before the video ends, Sylus is rushing out to his motorcycle. He pulls up the coordinates from Mephisto’s previous location history and speeds away.

Why did I leave her by herself? Near the N109 zone nonetheless. I’m a fool.

In the protofield, the Wyrmlord is the last wanderer.

There are only a few other humans left and luckily, the Wyrmlord is beginning to stagger too.

You’ve managed to break it’s shields but you’re heavily wounded and the Wyrmlord has caused the temperature to drop so rapidly that it’s difficult to even pull the trigger.

Sylus… Please…

You know he can’t just appear into a protofield. But somehow his name on your lips gives you enough strength to continue the fight.

Out of desperation, you’ve managed to resonate with some of the Evolvers.

And with great effort, you and another Evolver deal the final blow to the Wyrmlord and you’re transported back to the warehouse.

Sirens are still blaring and the edges of your vision are fading.

“Sylus.” You whisper walking away from the warehouse.

You grunt as you slump against a sturdy tree.

The shards of ice that were lodged into your stomach have vanished along with the protofield and now your blood has begun to soak through your clothing.

With a few harsh tugs, you rip your sleeve off and press it against your wounds.

Everything hurts, but you try to slow your breathing.

Your watch beeps once more.

The adrenaline causes you to perk up at the thought of more wanderers.

WARNING! Critically low blood pressure - severe blood loss. Coordinates have been sent to the nearest Hunter’s Association field lab.

When you wake next, the room is too bright for your eyes to adjust.

You blink and raise a hand to your face to block the light.

Glancing around, you notice it’s like any other bedroom.

You groan as you sit up.

Looking down at yourself, you see the faint outline of multiple gauze pads from underneath your top.

You limp out of the room, using the wall to take most of your weight.

You flinch as you feel a tap on your shoulder, hands immediately going to where your guns would have been.

“Relax, Kitten.” Sylus says, with both his hands up in the air, “I’m just trying to help you.” He begins to lower his hands.

“Sylus…” You croak from the dryness of your throat.

You could do nothing but stare. Was this real?

You were hyperventilating a little, and he’s never really seen you so high-strung.

“You’re safe.” He says as he slowly cups the side of your face.

“Sylus… I…”

He lowers his forehead to yours and you visibly relax.

“You’re safe with me, sweetheart.” He repeats the phrase as he gathers you into his chest.

“I won’t let you go ever again.” He whispers. “Never again.”

I told you it was long XD. I had fun though. If you guys like it, I don't mind fully fleshing this out into chapters. I really enjoyed writing this one actually.

|| Masterlist ||

one of the other hunters use their evol to light your way

In the dim light, you squint, waiting for your eyes to adjust

It reveals rows and rows of multi-storey shelves lining the large room.

Your eyes can’t help but flicker to any- and everything in the room. You just can’t seem to shake off that feeling that there are eyes on you

But you brush it off - it’s probably because it’s dark and we know there are wanderers lurking here somewhere

As you go deeper into the building, you see figures sprawled out on the floor

People?

You walk a few paces ahead of your squad mates to get a closer look, They might be some of the workers. Are they hurt?

“Hey, MC! Don’t go too far ahead, we still don’t know where the wanderers are.”

You turn back to your squad mates, “I think there are people over there,” You point to the figures on the ground, “Can you see it? They might be some of the workers.”

They catch up to you and peer into the darkness, “Yeah, we should call for medical assistance.” one of them lift their wrist to access their watch.

As you get closer, you realise that they weren’t humans but rather the corpses of wanderers

Instantly, the hairs on your arms and nape stand on end

Upon seeing this, one of the members asks, “They haven’t sent anyone else to do the job, right?”

Another chuckles, “Maybe Xavier came and finished it off for us.”

Your brows furrow, “No…”

They turn to you for an explanation.

“He’s stuck at HQ, he needed to renew his hunter’s license but he hadn’t finished any of the paperwork. Jenna forbade him from taking on any missions.”

They look at one another, smiles quickly fading.

“Something - or someone - “ you emphasise, “has killed all of these wanderers.”

One of your squad members, dons a glove and kneels down next to one of the corpses, “Their protocores…” Her hand hovers over the centre of the wanderer, motioning to where the protocore is usually found, “They’ve been…pulled out.” She looks at you with concern written all over her features, “Forcefully.” She adds

Your brows pinch, “Let’s get out of here and contact HQ.” You make a quick decision, not wanting to continue with a mission that was potentially out of your team’s depth.

The others turn around to exit, but you stay back as the the girl gathers her things

From far away, a glimmer on one of the top shelves catches your eye - A silhouette moves just out of your view

It looked too human to be a wanderer, but how could anyone be up that high with no equipment in sight?

From behind you, a thud resonates around the building - one of your team mates has been shot down.

Your head whizzes to where the shot came from, and again, that humanoid silhouette shuffles just out of sight

As your eyes adjust more to the darkness, you see the figure is taking languid steps towards you

As it steps into the light, you see that he has a crossbow poised and aimed at you!

Swiftly, you aim at his chest, but the adrenaline makes your hand tremble - your shot misses, but it hits his crossbow.

The impact was enough for him to drop it, and it falls to the floor

From that high up, the fall was more than enough to shatter the weapon into pieces.

“Oh, come on.” The voice resounds in your ears as if he was right next to you.

As he tilts his head to the ceiling and whines, you use the opportunity to usher your team mates out, “GO!” You shout, “Get to the exit!” You say, waving them over towards you.

The voice speaks again, “I liked that one, you know!”

In a flash, the man’s on the ground, having dropped multiple stories without harm - the kind of scene you see in movies

“What…” You’re taken aback, steps faltering.

“Well, it doesn’t matter. Your friend over there,” He points to the one he shot down, “has left a pretty, little rifle, just for me.”

At this comment, dread spreads throughout your body

With a scream, one of your team mates has made a full sprint towards the exit.

But having stayed back with the other girl, you’re too far away to run from him now.

You scan your surroundings and on your left is a wooden table.

You flip it on its side and hide behind it for cover.

You know it won’t do much against a rifle, but it’s all you’ve got.

Peeking out from the table, you see him stretch his arm out towards the gun and it flies towards him and into his grasp.

A loud bang from the gunshot makes you duck for cover, and soon another one of your members has fallen to the floor, a few metres shy from the exit.

He laughs and imitates the thud of your squad member falling to the floor.

It sets your anger ablaze and with all the courage you could muster, you shoot at the man before ducking back behind the table.

It drew his attention to you, and for a split second, as his cold, dark eyes met yours, your body was numb, completely frozen in it’s spot.

His skin was pale - lighter than the indigo that most wanderers have, but it has the unmistakeable stone-like texture of a wanderer

Your vision goes dark for a moment, and you collapse onto the floor, knees buckling underneath you

He purposefully fires at the table and lets out a hearty laugh when you scream

How is this possible? Was he the one that killed all those wanderers? You heard of reports of self-aware wanderers but he was more than just self-aware, he was toying with you.

From behind the table you hear his footstep drawing near.

Faster.

and Faster.

The sounds draws closer.

You bolt out from behind the table with your twin pistols aimed in his direction, but in the split second that you do, he has telepathically pulled the table to cover your shots before flinging it in your direction

You scamper backwards and carelessly fire a few more rounds in an attempt to distract him as you compose yourself, but the bullets stop inches from his body and clatter to the ground

All the while, he is striding closer and closer and closer

Your breathing goes ragged and you aim at him, but your gun just clicks. clicks. clicks.

Out of ammo already?! It can’t be. Is he jamming it?

In a blink, he has gathered a dagger from his waist, spinning it along his fingers before swiping at you.

The metal met your warm flesh before you could even gasp.

Your body drops to the floor and everything goes dark

All you can hear is your squad mates’ screams amongst the wanderer’s wicked laughter.

Sylus ❖· ────── · ·

Was the first to find out

He had Mephisto tailing you in secret - He knows you would have scolded him if your colleagues caught even a glimpse of the crow

It wasn’t long after the first gunshot that Mephisto flew back to Sylus, but it was too late by the time they arrived at the factory

From your location, it seemed that you were on your way to Akso Hospital

...

The next morning, the news spread like a wildfire throughout Linkon - Your name having come up as one of the the casualties

“Last night, three hunters have unexpectedly lost their lives to what the Hunter’s Association are calling ‘An intelligent wanderer’. Another two are in critical condition, but are expected to make a full recovery…”

A few days later, Sylus has been mulling about in the base. He has so much anger directed at himself, but it was incredibly unreasonable anger

One that said why wasn’t he there with you? Why wasn’t he fast enough? Why didn’t he just let Mephisto tag along? Why hadn’t he finished that custom crow that he promised? Why? Why? Why?

With all these thoughts clouding his mind, Sylus spends more time in the boxing gym, needing something to relieve his restlessness

With all this anger, Luke and Kieran have begun to walk on eggshells around him. There was an unsettling tension whenever they were with Sylus

Whilst this atmosphere was great when making business deals in the N109 zone, it set them on edge.

When you were here, there were sides of the bossman that they had never seen. Ones, they realised, that only you were capable of bringing out.

Mephisto began acting differently too. He would be too quiet, not even a single caw. He would stay on his perch as if he was tied down and unable to fly.

It isn’t long before Sylus tried to distract himself by trying to “fix” Mephisto. He would give him upgrades or take out the ones that he had made specifically for you.

But recently, Mephisto is shut down, splayed out on the workstation with screws and bolts scattered around him

Sylus has lost the motivation to fix him. Always saying to himself that, maybe he will find the time to do it tomorrow.

OHHHH his sleep schedule would be so messed up… I mean, it already was since he was nocturnal, but now he wakes up at the most random times but more often than not, he finds himself sleeping as the moon took its place high in the sky

bro went back to default settings because of you

He would wake up in a cold sweat, or simply just cold.

His body was so used to your warmth, but now it’s gone… You’re gone.

When he wakes, his hand subconsciously reaches out to the space beside him, but it’s empty

Your presence was sapped away from the base, save for a few little trinkets you’d left - A Pile It Up block here, or a kitty badge there, a few plushies that lined Sylus’ shelves

His eyes drift to his nightstand where the sketch from the vendor at the New Year’s market was framed and regret spreads through him

he was always so hell bent on removing any trace from his bases, including yours, so now all that’s left are memories of you stored in useless trinkets

Had he become too overconfident in your Evol linkage? Why didn’t he think that it could be broken? Did your curse not apply in this lifetime?

Although, he had seen your death many times before, he had always been confident that fate would bring you together over and over again, but for once in his life he began to doubt that he would ever see you again

Zayne ❖· ────── · ·

Was at work when he found out.

It was late at night and he was the on-call surgeon for that day.

He was at the nurse’s station requesting an ECG to be done on one of his patients when a commotion happens at the front entrance

There’s a team of people pulling in a stretcher - He recognises their uniforms as the first responder’s team of the HA

Like clockwork, he gets ready to see what the situation is, asking the team what happened

“Gunshot wound, Dr. Zayne, it’s lodged in his—”

“Dr. Zayne!” someone calls out to him and he sees a few more stretchers being pulled into the emergency unit.

He quickly turns back to the man before, “Get him to operating room 1.” He motions to his right where the operating theatres were, before heading to the nurse that called him

When he looks down at the next stretcher, he see you with gauze pressed to your neck and another at your chest

His heart turns to ice at the sight

“—Knife wound — like her heart’s been pulled — Dr. — Dr Zayne!”

He snaps out of his trance, “Get her to OR 2. Now!”

He’s hurrying all available personnel into OR 2, He turns to one of the nurses, “Call the anaesthetist, I’ll operate on her first.”

The nurses stops him, “Sir, you can’t just play favou—”

Coldly, he turns to her, “I’m not. A wound to the neck and chest with this much bleeding could mean her artery has ruptured.”

Despite his steady words, the nurses can tell that he’s frantic. Truthfully, this is the most urgent that anyone has ever seen him.

In the operating room, the nurse is helping Zayne scrub in.

Moments later, another surgeon walks into the room with Yvonne.

“Dr. Zayne, unscrub and get out.” The older man orders.

Zayne looks at him incredulously, “I beg your pardon.”

“I’ll take over from here, son.”

Yvonne takes a few steps forward and tugs on his wrist, “Dr. Zayne, you’re not thinking straight right now. You’re not in any condition to operate on her.” Yvonne explains and begins nudging him out of the OR.

“No, I’m perfectly fine.” Zayne resists and Yvonne has to use all her weight to push him out.

Zayne moves back inch by inch, watching at the more senior surgeon begins donning his gown and gloves to operate on you.

“No, let me assist in the surgery!” His tone has raised and he struggling against Yvonne’s efforts to push him out.

“I can’t let you do that, doctor.” She and another doctor are blocking Zayne’s way, restraining his arms.

“At least, let me sit in! I need to see her.” Zayne pleads to Yvonne, “Please!”

Yvonne’s eyes melt with pity, but she shakes her head, “I can’t.” She pushes more, “You know it’s hospital policy not to operate on those you are close with. You could lose your license by going in there, Zayne!” She reasons with him.

It takes him a whole hour to settle down enough to not enter the OR. Nevertheless, he paces the hall, and when he sits he bounces his leg and bites his knuckles

…

The next time Zayne wakes, the sun has risen. He blinks to adjust to the bright lights, “Where is she?” He mumbles into the air.

“Dr. Zayne!” It’s Greyson this time.

“Where is she?” Zayne repeats

Greyson averts his gaze and solemnly shakes his head, “She… didn’t make it.”

Zayne bolts upright, “What?!” For a moment anger flickers wildly in his mind, “This is why I should have been the one to oper—”

“Dr. Zayne!” Greyson reprimands him, disregarding Zayne’s medical superiority over him.

…

For the next few days, Zayne finishes his rostered week of work.

Although, he is generally seen as cool, calm and collected, now, it’s more of an indifference. Almost as if he was only there physically whilst his mind was somewhere far away.

He would be more distracted, lost in thought. Sometimes it would seem as if he was frozen in time.

When he snaps back to reality. He’s in his offices and in his palm a jasmine made of ice.

He closes his fist and crushes the flower, a painful reminder of each of your deaths that he has experienced before.

Not long after, the usually hard-working Dr. Zayne uses up ALL of his annual leave to stay cooped up in his home.

When the staff hear of the news, they send a few gifts to him. They’ve never seen him so withdrawn.

He probably starts eating so terribly, either skipping meals or binging on sweets, because you’re not there to keep him in check

He probably gets sick, both from not taking care of himself, but also as a manifestation of his grief

When he gets really bad, he loses control of his Evol and he thinks that maybe soon, if it takes over completely, he could see you again.

Grayson visits a few times and mentions how Zayne’s patients are doing well and they’re thanking him for his good work

And as selfish as it sounds, all it does is make Zayne wonder, what’s the point?

He became a cardiac surgeon in this lifetime with the hope that he could help you with the Aether core in your heart, but what’s left if you’re no longer here?

Rafayel ❖· ────── · ·

We all know Rafayel hates waiting, and I imagine that you were meant to meet up with him after your mission

but…you never came

He had heard the news about the new wanderer, but he hadn’t stayed long enough to hear that you were one of the casualties. It never even crossed him mind.

so when the day comes for you to meet him, he’s at his studio waiting…waiting…waiting

at this point his phone is going off but he hasn’t bothered checking the notifications. It was probably from Thomas anyways.

but then he begins to think

what if one of those messages were from you? saying that you were busy or something and couldn’t meet with him

maybe she forgot…

I’ll message her now >:( poor bbg

Just as he pulls out his phone, the doorbell rings

his face lights up at the thought of you. He’ll forgive you this time, he guesses

Swinging the door open, he’s not met with the sight of your smile or your sheepish apology for being late, but his manager, Thomas

What a let-down

He blows a raspberry and sighs, turning away from Thomas to walk into the studio

He scratches his head, ready to have his ears fall off from Thomas’ nagging, but there’s only silence

And from the doorway, Thomas stands looking at the ground, mouth opening and closing

“What’s the problem? You look like a fish with your mouth like that.” Rafayel chuckles, but something at the back of his mind tells him something is wrong

Thomas doesn’t know how to break the news to Rafayel, he knows doing so would absolutely break him (keep in mind Thomas doesn’t know that MC reincarnated before)

“I… MC…” Thomas can’t seem to find the words to say, “Rafayel, she passed away in the hospital late last night.”

“Very funny.” Rafayel brushes it off with a scoff. He walks to the door and Thomas moves out of his way.

“She’s gotta be hiding here somewhere.” He looks to the left and right of the doorway, “You guys are just playing a prank on me, right?”

He looks back at Thomas whose expression hasn’t changed. He only shakes his head.

“You’re…joking, right?” He steps towards Thomas, “Right?!”

Thomas shakes his head once more and brings up the news repost on his phone

under the heading of casualties is your name.

the revelation knocks the air straight out of Rafayel’s lungs

…

Weeks after your passing, Rafayel has been cooped up in his studio painting and painting.

All of them clearly capturing your essence.

All of his painting were of you. I mean, they already were, but the sense of hurt and longing within them has returned

With all of the emotion tied to each piece, his works quickly become hits amongst the citizens

and as easy as it makes Thomas’ job, he can tell how much Rafayel is hurting.

He never thought there would come a day where he would want Rafayel to stop and slow down, but he knows that doing so would make it harder for Rafayel to cope with the situation.

All Rafayel can do is paint every last memory of you. Immortalising you in each and every canvas.

With each stroke of the brush, he thinks how long would he have to wait to see you again?

Xavier ❖· ────── · ·

Xavier would dive head-first trying to hunt that wanderer down.

Against all of the HA’s warning and threats to revoke his license as a hunter, he pursues the wanderer day and night.

The reason he travelled back in time and became a hunter was to stop the future of Philos from repeating itself, to stop you from being sacrificed for the Aether core in your heart.

So, similar to Zayne, even if he was still a hunter, there was no point if you weren’t here.

Nonetheless, he would spend days in his apartment tracking down every bit of information about the attack that night

He would pull some strings, asking Jeremiah for favours to fish for information amongst the higher ups

I feel that he would become so consumed by this that he would skip meals just to keep up-to-date with the whereabouts of that wanderer. This was unusual for someone who would often eat so heartily

When he passes out from exhaustion all that goes through his mind is resentment towards the HA for sending you out on that mission.

But he knows deep down that they couldn’t have anticipated a new and intelligent wanderer

That stupid paper work for that stupid hunter’s license! The stupid association!

You reminded him multiple times to get it done - “You know Jenna’s going to hunt you down, right?”

If he had listened to you earlier, he would at least have been able to go on that mission with you.

Maybe he should have just ignored the association and gone on that mission with you.

Why didn’t he? He could have protected you - would have traded his life to do so.

I’m willing to bet that Xavier would visit the N109 zone to get whatever information they had

He knows that Sylus wouldn’t just let this go

If he has to work with his “rival” to bring you justice, then he won’t hesitate.

Caleb!!! ❖· ────── · ·

Was contacted by Linkon City Hall with the notification of your death since you had him as one of your emergency contacts

At first he thought it was a joke

That they got the wrong hunter

Because you were skilled, your Evol was powerful

It couldn’t have been you

Sure, he had always worried since your job as a hunter wasn’t exactly the safest, but he never doubted your skill, and he had never doubted himself to be there for you as he promised

Being in Skyhaven, the news about the new wanderer came later than if he had been in Linkon like the others.

His position as Colonel forces him to put up a façade to lead his fleet

Caleb has been so accustomed to holding back his feelings, so he did the same with his grief

But when he goes to the city hall and then hand over your death certificate, it breaks him

I read a post recently that unlike the other boys, Caleb sees MC is the one, not a version of the one - so your death was something that he had never even fathomed

With the spare key that you had given him, he goes to your apartment in Linkon

Your scent hits him so heavily

He makes his way to the living room and just collapses onto the couch, tears falling uncontrollably

After a while he would compose himself - a small part of him thinking how much of a weakness this is and how ashamed he would be if you had seen him like this

BROOOO he probably took one of your blankets back to Skyhaven and just lays there with it in his room, uggghh i’m dead.

He tosses up the idea of using his status as Fleet Colonel to dig up some information on what happened and if this was connected to Ever or even the Fleet

… I imagine that he prematurely returned to the Fleet - convincing himself that he was strong enough

but in moments when he’s alone, all those emotions spill out and he has to quickly compose himself, discretely wiping the tears away.

His vulnerability is instantly sealed behind the iron wall that is the Farspace Fleet Colonel

He always ends up pinching his arm or palm whenever he thinks of you - it becomes a way to comfort himself

…

On his day off, he returns to Linkon

Clenching his teeth he walks through the gravestones, the bouquet of flowers almost crushed with the strength of his grip

Right next to Gran was your grave.

He quickly swipes the stray petals from previous bouquets away from your graves and sits between the two of you

For a moment he’s silent, unsure of what to say

Then he places a hand at your gravestone and greets you with a meek, “Hey, pip-squeak.”

That alone has the tears rushing down his cheeks, so he greets Gran as a way to turn away from you

Honestly, he doesn’t know what to do with himself anymore

He probably goes back and listens to your voice messages or rereads your texts

He remembers you when he dries his hair, when he cooks he subconsciously makes portions for two. Nowadays, he can’t bring himself to go back to Linkon because he sees you everywhere.

He has that photo of the two of you from his graduation and he stares at it for a while, reminiscing all the memories you had together, gently tracing your smiling face through the frame

Spending time away from you after that explosion at Bloomshore was torturous enough, but now, he has to do it for the rest of his life… and he doesn’t know how.

Girls, if it weren't for those meddling kids Sylus, I WOULD HAVE BEEN THE BIGGEST CALEB GIRLIE!!!

Let me tell you, I used to reread Caleb's chapters and the messages, etc. etc. especially when i read those chapters for the first time.

And then Sylus came, and boom... too little too late, Caleb (._.)

...

Caleb coming back from the dead: ദ്ദി(˵ •̀ ᴗ - ˵ )

Me having convinced myself that surely Infold wouldn't make him an LI: (ﾉಥ益ಥ）ﾉ ┻━┻

|| Masterlist ||

Anyways, I hope you enjoyed!

Edit: bros i just read some of the chapters in part 2 and like damn, caleb's so obsessive, like massive red flags??? Damn