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One Day At A Time; Planning (chap 5)

(Gore/Death warning this chapter!)

Year x438, July 22nd,

It was two days later when Rowan and his little group arrived in Colkirk, where Rowan suggested they lay low until they had a plan; since most everyone avoids Colkirk like the plague. Serena was against the idea but eventually agreed with Rowa, but unfortunately for them, it was a day and a half trip to Colkirk and they had a small hiccup when someone tried to snatch Rowan's wallet and they turned him into the guards; even though Rowan disagreed with this.

As the group approached the town, a thick mixture of mist and smoke began to surround them and Serena whined softly, "We're gonna get killed, this is such a bad idea." She began to look around quickly though, she could have sworn she heard a footstep, "What was that!?" She stopped walking and put her hand on the hilt of her weapon. A heavy sigh left Rowan as he stopped and turned to Serena,

"Just trust me, once you get through the thickness of it, it gets better." He said as he waved his hand in dismissal. Ares now sighed at Rowan, as Serena looked at him,

"That's not what I meant! Do you not know how dangerous this area is? There are reports constantly of people going missing around here and their bodies are always dumped a few miles away days later!" She huffed at his ignorance.

Rowan simply stared at her for a moment before speaking,

"My point still stands, trust me." He said with a shrug, as he turned to continue entering the mist before Serena grabbed his shoulder to pull him back,

"Why should I trust you? It's not like you can magically protect us from every murderer!" She huffed at him once again. This caused Rowan to stop and look at Serena's hand for a long moment, 'I could bite her right now. I really could.' He sighed and shrugged her hand off his shoulder,

"Just trust me. I promise no one here will murder you." He started to walk again as the rest of his trio followed, "I kinda know them." He shrugged a bit as Serena tripped on a brick and nearly fell. She caught herself though and continued to walk,

"Don't tell me you're one of them!" She gasped as Rowan rolled his eyes,

"You're being harsh. Most of these people do it in self-defense and are here because they have nowhere left in the world that will protect them, while others do it for the pure financial gain of robbing others and are here because it's an easy place for targets. Similar to the smallest group of 'them' except those guys are straight-up murderers. One is friendly, one can be bought, and another beaten into submission" He explained before giving Serena an irritated look, "Don't group them together. I lived here for two years once, it's obviously not great, but it can be pretty peaceful compared to the outside bullshit." He huffed softly.

Serena looked taken aback for a moment before nodding softly,

"I'm sorry, I didn't realize." She spoke in a soft voice, clearly regretting her words, as Rowan shot her a small smile,

"It's alright, most people don't know that either. Just..keep an open mind. It's a messy place." He said softly as they walked over a major wave of heat coming from a small crack in the earth that blew their hair back, and then the view was instantly better once they passed it.

As their vision cleared a bit, you could see an entire city covered in ash that felt almost too warm to be comfortable anymore while ash fell from the sky, and the whole thing looked abandoned based on the state of many of the buildings. There were sinkholes everywhere that led straight down to what looked to be a lava pit but was really an unstoppable pit of burning coal that had been alight for the last 500 years. Although some of the sinkholes had filled in by now because of other areas sinking, or because the whole area collapsed and filled in the hole, and very occasionally the kingdom would fill in the sinkholes with large amounts of soil; which was also an effort to try and stop the coal from burning, but it was never enough to stop it. There was no plant life either, everything was decayed and dry or all that was left was what once held it, and you couldn't see the sky anymore, it was entirely grey. Everything was grey, but many things had flashes of other colors where there were shoe and hand prints, or the occasional cartwheel imprints in the ground where the ash had been pushed away. There were abandoned ash-filled carts all over the place and even some construction equipment that had been long forgotten, as well as ash-covered building materials everywhere. Many buildings had collapsed or half-collapsed, although some of the seemingly newer ones were holding up much better, although many of them weren't finished. The whole place had a haunted feeling to it as the entire city seemed to be frozen in several different periods of time.

Serena let out a small gasp as she looked around and held a hand to her mouth, although Rowan wasn't sure if it was shock or horror; perhaps both? Meanwhile, Ares looked around with wide eyes as he took in the details of the once-great city. As they took in the details, Rowan stopped beside them and looked around at the place he once called home, 'Looks almost exactly the same, I guess they haven't done any more work here.', a small sigh left him as the smell of the ash truly hit him and memories of his time once here flooded in,

Rowan was much younger and had a smaller body frame while also having a rounder and softer face. He had an overall softer appearance and much longer hair that reached the middle of his back and had no color to it. There was a frown on his face as he jumped back and slid on the ash-covered ground before catching himself and standing up before materializing a metal bat; just a simple metal bat with a smaller handle grip. He panted heavily in a much higher-pitched voice as he stood up fully and readied himself for an attack. In front of him was a man easily twice his size smirking as he fixed his brass knuckles,

"C'mon little girl, you can't win against me. Just give up and let me have some fun with you~" He hummed before laughing softly as he made his way over to Rowan. A small angry groan left Rowan as he ran at the man before hitting him in the gut with the bat and sending him sliding back a few feet, then leaped back several feet as he slid to a stop and readied his bat again.

A noise similar to a growl left the man as he fixed his posture and put a hand over his stomach where the bat had hit it, "Watch yourself or I might just kill you instead! Now get over here!" He shouted before running at Rowan, who leaped over him and stepped on his head before turning and hitting the man in the head with the bat; he could feel resistance but the bat kept going for a moment before stopping entirely as Rowan let go and jumped away. The larger man dropped to the ground like a bag of rocks as a sigh of relief left Rowan and he began to make his way over to collect his bat. But as he realized what the resistance was, his blood ran cold; the bat had gone into the man's head and he could see brain matter, as well as bits of skull and lots of blood. It churned his stomach and he put a hand to his mouth as tears began to slide down his cheeks while he had to resist the urge to vomit. He could feel the blood starting to slide down his face and looked down to see his hands covered in blood and brain matter-

"Rowan?" Called Ares's voice from behind Rowan, snapping him out of his dissociative with a startle, causing Rowan to turn to him quickly as his eyes widened. Ares was looking at Rowan with concern as Serena seemed confused and worried about one of her new group members, as Ares stepped a bit closer,

"You're alright." He said softly. A small hum left Rowan as his mind cleared and he began to calm down, turning back to look at the city for a moment before speaking,

"You know, this place used to be the very first major city, and then kingdom in Oselia, before it caught on fire." He said quietly, causing Serena to look at him in surprise as Ares looked at him as well,

"Is that why there's such a large empty spot on maps? Is it really that big?" She asked softly, seeming both surprised and horrified by this. Rowan gave a solemn nod and glanced back at her,

"It was one of the biggest cities in Oselia, and is still one of the largest in history, But mostly forgotten about." He spoke in a soft and empty voice as he gazed at all of it.

That was cut short though as a couple people peeked out from various spots around them, although these people had horns, multiple eyes, or other unique features that made them stand out in this world, and therefore treated unfairly most of the time. Rowan gave a friendly smile and waved, "Hey, anyone here remember me? Little Row? I know I look different, but if you remember me, you know why." He called out in a friendly voice with a smile. A duo of small gasps left two girls to the right of them and Rowan quickly turned to look as he spotted two women whom he recognized instantly, 'Xillie and Fennala!' He thought as he smiled.

Behind the wall of a half-collapsed building were two elf women, one with short, thick, and wavy blonde hair and blue eyes with a petite inverted triangle body shape, although she was half a foot taller than the woman beside her. The woman beside her had reddish tan skin with a beauty mark above the upper left side of her lip and chestnut brown eyes. She also had dark brown hair that was in six braids that reached just past her hips, which were wider than the girl beside her as she had an hourglass shape. Even though both women were elves, the only thing they had in common was their pointed ears and their matching ankle-length grey tunics with an under-bust corset on top of that, which were both black.

The two women scrambled to climb over the wall as they held up the bottoms of their tunics a bit so they wouldn't tear the fabric, then rushed over to Rowan,

"Is that really you? You're so different!" Said the girl with blonde hair, causing Rowan to smile,

"Yeah, Xillie, it's me. I know I look different, but I've been on it for years now, plus other stuff." He laughed nervously as he rubbed his arm a bit. Before he could explain any more, both women hugged him tightly,

"Oh, it's so good to see you again!" Said the blonde as she pulled back, although the brunette lingered,

"It's been so long, Rowan." She said softly before letting go and stepping back as she shyly looked to the ground.

Serena stepped up beside Rowan to look at the women before glancing at Rowan as she crossed her arms; she didn't trust these women at all, 'There are so many undercover Wings members, what if one or both of them are one? They target places like this...but then again,' Serena turned her gaze to look at all the buildings, 'Almost no one comes here unless they have no other choice. I don't think even Lady Skel would risk her people with the rumors that are around here.' She thought to herself as she turned to look at the ash falling from the sky, although not directly up so none got in her eyes.

Meanwhile, Ares stepped up behind Rowan to peek over his shoulder to see the women's faces properly as he clasped his hands behind his back before looking away. Rowan simply smiled at the woman in front of him,

"I know it's been a while, life has been kinda crazy. Kinda had to restart entirely, so..here I am." He says as his smile turns more nervous. The two women shared a look of worry before looking at Rowan,

"I'm sorry Rowan." Sighed the brunette as she dropped her gaze, while the blonde smiled softly,

"We've got your back, most of the others are still around too, and they've got your back too. You've had all of ours." She said in a soft yet kind tone as her smile grew a bit, "Your friends are welcome too, any friend of yours, is a friend of ours." She hummed as the other woman nodded.

Rowan smiled and gave a nod to the women before looking to Serena and Ares, then back to the women,

"Meet Ares and Serena, Ares and Serena, meet Xillie and Fennala." He said with a hum as he introduced everyone to each other. Once the greetings settled, Xillie looked at Rowan and gave a small smile,

"Come with us, We'll take you to some shelter. It's not fun standing in the open for more than a little bit, the ash will ruin most colors of clothing and make your hair disgusting. Plus, it's better where the air crystals are." She explained as she turned and began to walk. Fennala looked at Rowan for a moment before quickly following after Xillie, causing Rowan to tilt his head and watch her for a moment before following.

Serena and Ares followed Rowan instantly and moved to both walk by his side, while Serena turned to him,

"Can we really trust them? Lady Skel has roots everywhere." She whispered to Rowan, who scoffed slightly,

"Yes, Serena. I saved their lives a few times, and they've helped save my ass a few times too. We used to be a trio around here. We're the three who originally brought in the air crystals to purify the air of enclosed spaces. It made a huge difference in people's health pretty quick." He explained with a small hum as he slipped his hands into his pants pockets, watching the two women in front of him lead them to shelter.

Meanwhile, the city around them came to life as people began talking and moving from place to place, although it wasn't a lot of people, there was chattering and a buzz of energy in the center of the city. As the women lead them to a large, incomplete concrete building, Serena could feel her anxiety bubbling up, 'What if he's wrong? What if this is all a trap?' She thought as her body began to tense up a bit,

"Calm down, Rena, they're just taking us home," Rowan spoke softly to her. This seemed to snap her out of her thoughts as she looked to Rowan and nodded softly then began to relax her muscles a bit, but she remained a bit tense as they approached. On the opposite side of Rowan was Ares, who was simply looking around at his surroundings as they walked, taking in every detail of every item in the area, which allowed him to make a mental map of the area.

As the group arrived at a large metal door with a spinning wheel as its handle, two men came out from both alleyways and held out knives,

"Hey girls~ We told you to be careful 'round here." Said one man with a scar across the center of his face dark hair and dark eyes. His scan was a light tan color and he was easily over six feet tall and built like an ox, while the man across from him was shorter, but much wider and had brown hair with blue eyes, along with a unibrow. His skin was a few shades paler than the other male's, but both held daggers that looked expensive and intricate, but the end of the blonde male was rusted. The blonde man grinned at the group,

"Now you've brought unwanted guests into our territory. I guess we'll just have to teach you all a lesson." He threatened as his grin turned wicked and dark. Xillie huffed at the men,

"C'mon Cody and Rory, we're just trying to go home. Our friends have had a long journey and don't want any trouble." She scooted closer to the door as she huffed once more and Fennala stepped behind her. The two men laughed though and stepped closer; as Rowan grabbed Ares's wrist to stop him from intervening, which stopped him instantly. Serena on the other hand looked ready to explode as her hand rested on the hilt of her rapier,

"Oh, but we do." Growled the man with the dark hair as he lifted his hand with the blade.

A small hum left Rowan, which caused both men to look at him and frown,

"I wouldn't do that if I were you." He said with a small smile, "Me and my friends just want to go inside and get some fresh air, so why don't you let us through?" He hummed his question as he glanced from one man then to the other. He continued to smile as the blonde man laughed again from his left,

"You think you scare us, small fry? We'll just cut you down first. You don't even have a weapon!" He smirked as he took a step towards Rowan. Once again, Rowan's hand flew to Ares's wrist to stop him in his tracks, and just as before Ares stopped and glared at the men as he waited for Rowan's 'okay'. A small laugh left Rowan this time as he slipped his hands out of his pockets and hummed as he materialized his scythe and shifted it in his hands,

"Oh I don't think I'll scare you, I think I'll have you begging for your life." He said with a smile before dashing at the blonde and slicing three of his fingers off, causing his dagger to fall to the ground, then he was back to where he had been standing. The blood on his scythe became one big drip and dropped onto the ground as the blonde man screamed and held his hand,

"What'd you do to him you brat!? How'd you move so fast?" Shouted the dark-haired male as he rushed at Rowan, who shot Ares a look as he went to react. Rowan ran at the man before throwing his scythe in the air and jumping n the air and placing both feet on the center of the man's ribs before putting the full force of his kick and weight into it, sending the man flying back into the ally with a shout of pain. Rowan dropped down onto the ground and bent his knees down to help with the impact, then raised his hand and caught it with one hand while he turned towards the blonde man,

"Ready to beg yet?" Hissed Rowan as he smiled a wicked smile at the man. The blonde cried out

"Rory, let's go! The little demon is back!" He shouted as he grabbed his dagger from the ground and took off down the alley, just as the other man, Rory, gathered himself up from the garbage cans he hit and stumbled into the darkness of the alleyways.

A small sigh left Rowan as he dematerialized his scythe flipped his hair slightly out of his face and began to walk back to his group,

"Ready to go inside?" He asked with a smile as he shoved his hands into his pockets. Ares was simply staring at Rowan quietly with slightly wide eyes, as Serena looked a bit disturbed,

"Was...all that necessary?" She asked slowly, as the other two women laughed nervously,

"Classic Row." Hummed Xillie, as Fennala nodded softly. A nervous laugh left Rowan now though at Serena's question,

"Well, no. Well- Actually-" He sighed and shifted a bit, "It's complicated. Normally, no. Here? They'll fight you to the death. They have little fear, but if you find it and bring it to the surface? They won't come near you ever again." He responded with a nervous smile as he glanced away while lowering his head a bit. There was a small pause before Serena spoke,

"I understand. Although I must admit... I was surprised to see you like that. It...was pretty fear-inducing." She explained slowly before looking back to the building, "But enough of this, my lungs burn, may we go inside now?" She asked the women, who nodded in sync before heading to the door.

As Rowan walked over, he noticed Ares still watching him and walked up to him and waved a hand in front of his face,

"You okay Ares? You seem a little surprised." He asked with a soft, yet nervous smile as Ares snapped out of it. When he did, his cheeks became a bit pink and he turned his head away,

"Yes, I'm fine. Let's go inside." He responded in a softer tone than normal though, causing Rowan to tilt his head a bit,

"If you're sure..." He said doubtfully as he watched Ares for a moment. When Ares showed no signs of stopping him, he turned and followed over to the door, which was now open,

"Hurry now, the ash is getting in!" Xillie rushed them as she waved her hand towards the door, causing the group to scurry inside the building.

Once inside, the room was mostly dark with vague outlines but felt rather spacious, only to become pitch black as the door closed. Within moments, the room lit up with a yellow glow and everyone turned their attention to Fennala, who had a large yellow crystal hovering just above her palm. The crystal rotated slowly and caused the walls to have a sparkling effect; showing the concrete walls that lead down a hallway, which had layers of fabric hanging as a makeshift door near the end of the hall. The ceilings were low, causing Ares to have to duck his head slightly as he stood there, and the floors were also concrete but there were no windows; at least, none that any light came through. The windows seemed to be metal shutters that were closed, not that they opened anymore anyway.

Serena was tense as the crystal began to glow and her head whipped over to the light Fennala held as she visibly began to relax. A small laugh left Rowan as he noticed Serena,

"You're fine, Rena. I wouldn't take us somewhere dangerous-, Okay, I would, but I would tell you first." He glanced to the side as Serena stared him down,

"Yeah, that makes me feel better," Serena muttered as she raised a hand and rubbed her temples with two fingers,

"Great! Then let's go. Before Ares gets a crick in his neck" A hum left Rowan as he looked to Xillie, who began to lead them down the hall. A sputtering response left Serena,

"I was being sarcastic don't take it seriously-," She started, only to realize the rest of the group was making their way down the hall and she was being left behind in the darkness, "Wait for me!" She called before quickly walking over to meet everyone.

The group of five stood in front of the makeshift fabric door for a moment before Xillie pushed the various fabrics to the side and began to go through them,

"Like this, and watch your feet!" She called out as she got to the other side of the cloth doors, leaving Fennala near the entrance as she held the light crystal in her hand,

"Go ahead. I'll go last." She said softly as she stepped to the side a bit and raised her hand slightly to allow the crystal to light up the 'door' better.

Rowan gave a small grin to Fennala as she did this and he made his way to the fabric to pull some open for Serena to go through,

"Thanks, Nala. Now, Serena, you're going first. Xillie is waiting on the other side." He said as he pulled the fabric further back. Immediately after he said this, Serena tensed and looked at Rowan,

"Do I have to? Can't Ares go first?" She seemed worried as she glanced at the cloth before looking back to Rowan, causing a heavy sigh to leave him,

"Fine, Ares, you're first." He muttered with a shake of his head. With that, Ares made his way to the fabric and began to push various pieces out of his way, until he seemed to disappear into the wall of fabric.

Rowan looked at Serena once more and she seemed to shrink back a bit before huffing,

"Fine, I'll go." She muttered angrily as she made her way over to the cloth and began to push her way through to the other side. Once she seemed to be through, Rowan turned to Fennala and gave a small smile,

"Our turn." He said before moving partially into the hanging fabric, then held up some Fennala could get through as well, "I'll hold it open for you, I don't want you to drop the crystal." He said with a hum. Fennala paused and stared at him for a long moment before nodding softly and making her way over to stand beside him. Rowan dropped the fabric that he was holding and moved to hold some more up, then looked down to Fennala and gave her a small grin, "Keep moving, I can't wait to breathe some air that doesn't make my lungs want to evacuate my body." He joked. This earned a small giggle from Fennala, who was standing beside him and looked up at him with a smile for a moment before continuing further into the fabric.

Once the two finally made their way through the fabric, Rowan's face lit up at seeing the room they were now in; the room itself was still concrete, but the walls were painted with various designs and there was a yellow light crystal in the ceiling corners, as well as a big baby blue one that was about two feet tall and was held in a stand in the center of the room. There were several furniture items, including four couches, three padded chairs, and a large table with ten seats that were all mismatched. The ground was covered in rugs, layered one after another to the point no concrete from the floor was visible. There were several other objects around the room such as books, blankets, board games, and packs of playing cards; multiple of which were on the coffee table in the middle of the couches. There was a metal door on the left wall and a hallway to the right, which was dimly lit.

Rowan began to look around the room to take in every detail, while Xillie was with Serena by the couches as the two were in conversation, and Ares was still looking around while waiting next to the entrance to the room. Ares looked to Rowan and Fennala as they came out and he turned to them, while Rowan took a deep breath before smiling softly, "Fresh air, hell yeah." He muttered to himself before turning to Fennala with a small grin, "You guys sure have upgraded this place since last time, I like the rugs." He said with a hum as he shrugged off his backpack and set it by the entrance; beside Ares's and Serena's bags. Fennala quickly looked away from Rowan as a soft smile made its way to her face,

"We took your advice to make it more homey, and we've been adding on since then." She replied softly. Another small hum left Rowan as he nodded a bit,

"Thanks for inviting us in, we kind of need a place to lay low for a few days." He laughed nervously and rubbed his arm a bit as Fennala paused to look at Rowan.

Xillie made her way over with Serena to join the conversation, and she raised an eyebrow at Rowan as he said this,

"What trouble did you get into?" She asked in a teasing tone, causing a small huff to leave Rowan,

"It's a long story, but let's just say the three of us are wanted by some people who won't hesitate to kill us if they get the chance." He explained before glancing away. Xillie and Fennala both stared at Rowan for a long moment before sharing a look with each other, then Xillie turned back to Rowan,

"Well, you three are welcome to stay here as long as you need. We've got the space here, and the air crystal is enough to sustain up to twelve people for an extended amount of time, so that's not a concern either." She hummed with a smile. A small nod came from Rowan as he looked to Ares and Serena, who both gave a nod in return to Rowan before he looked back to Xillie,

"Thanks, Xill. We'll take you up on that offer." He gave a small smile as Xillie nodded,

"No problem, Rowan. You all feel free to make yourselves at home." She hummed with a bright smile. Serena smiled softly in return to Xillie's smile,

"Thank you, Xillie and Fennala. I appreciate you allowing us to stay here." She spoke in a somewhat formal way, causing Xillie to laugh softly,

"No worries, Serena. No need to be so tense, we're all friends here." She hummed before making her way over to the couches and sitting down, as Fennala followed after her.

Rowan followed after the two, causing Serena and Ares to follow after Rowan, who sat on one of the two-person couches, while Xillie and Fennala sat on a larger three-person couch. Ares made his way to sit on the same couch as Rowan, while Serena sat by Xillie and Fennala. Rowan turned his attention towards Xillie and Fennala before speaking,

"Any chance you two have a map we could borrow? We gotta make a plan, and a map would help." He questioned with a small smile, 'Although I'm not sure where to even start with a plan.' He thought as Xillie nodded with a hum,

"Sure do, let me go get it." She replied before getting up off the couch. Xillie made her way to the metal door to the left of the room before opening it with a 'clunk', and then a quiet whine left the door as it opened enough for Xillie to go inside.

Serena watched Xillie for a moment before looking at Rowan and Ares,

"Either of you have any ideas for a plan?" She asked as she raised an eyebrow, causing the two males to share a look before both shook their heads,

"Honestly, I'm not good at that. Tell me what to do and I can do it though." Rowan gave a small grin to Serena, who sighed softly,

"As expected." She muttered.

As Xillie returned to the group, all eyes went to her as she pushed aside the items on the coffee table before laying out the map, then handed Rowan a charcoal pencil. A smile made its way to Rowan's face as he nodded at Xillie,

"Thanks, Xill." He said with a bit of a hum as he leaned forward and pulled the coffee table a bit closer. Both Ares and Serena sat forward a bit as well so they could view the map properly; which was a map of the Kingdom of Oburus. The major cities were labeled in larger letters while the smaller cities and towns had a smaller font, and in the lower left area of the map was Colkirk, although it was just a large grey area that took up 1/8 of the map, and it had no label.

The trio began to examine the map for a moment until Rowan looked to Xillie as she sat back on the couch, "Either of you know of any Wings bases around here?" He asked suddenly. Both women froze as Fennala looked as if she had seen a ghost, and Xillie shot up from her seat,

"You idiot! You're seriously going after Wings?! They'll kill you!" She shouted at him as she threw her hands up in frustration, "Do you have a death wish or something!?" She looked at Rowan and glared at him a bit. A small sigh left Rowan as he ran a hand through his hair, 'She's right, it's stupid to try. but...' he then looked to Xillie again,

"I know it's not smart, frankly, it's the worst idea I've ever had, but I'm not alone. Besides, they can't keep getting away with the things they've done and are continuing to do, and if I can fuck that up for them then I absolutely will." He replied in a matter-of-fact tone of voice as his gaze became firm and determined. Xillie paused as she stared at Rowan for a moment, completely taken back by his resolve to do such a thing, but her head whipped over to Fennala as she broke the silence,

"...Just don't die, Row." She spoke in a soft, evidently sad voice as she looked to the floor. This caused a grin to spread across Rowan's face,

"I'll do my best. I don't think these two plan to let me die any time soon, not till we're done at least." He said in a lightheaded tone, that smile still on his face as both Ares and Serena nodded in confirmation.

It was quiet for a moment before Xillie's sigh broke the silence and she pointed to an area on the map, just outside of the gray area of Colkirk to the north,

"Here. It's a smaller base but heavily guarded. Anyone who gets close doesn't come back." She spoke softly as Rowan circled that area on the map. Xillie turned to him with a sad and worried expression, "Be careful for once, please." She spoke in a softer tone now. Rowan looked to Xillie and gave a small grin,

"I will. As much as I can, anyways." He hummed before looking back to the map as Serena pulled the table closer to herself. She began to examine the map before raising her gaze to Rowan, while Xillie sat back down on the couch,

"Where are we right now? Roughly anyways." She asked as she nodded her head at the map. With a hum Rowan grabbed his charcoal pencil again before making a small circle near the center and slightly to the left in the grey area; which was quite the distance between that and the other circle,

"About here." He said as he glanced at Serena.

Serena leaned her hands on the table as she stared down at the map, then spoke after a moment of thinking, "Okay, tell me how you both feel about this plan; Tomorrow morning we make our way through Colkirk and make our way closer to the base, but we stay under the cover of the ash and smoke until the day we go to the base. When we get there, we need to find a way in without drawing too much attention to ourselves, after that, we can try to get information on Wings' next move so we can stop it. But the problem is, if no one comes back from this place, then it's likely to be heavily guarded, so we'll have to be extremely careful not to be captured or killed." She spoke confidently as she turned her gaze up to Rowan and Ares. After a moment of consideration, Rowan nodded softly,

"That sounds like a good plan. Better than anything I've been able to come up with so far. But what if we do some recon before we go. Like, check out the size of the building and try and see how many guards go in and out." He scratched his head a bit before looking to Serena, while Ares nodded softly,

"How would we do that without being caught?" Asked Ares in a quiet voice as he glanced between Serena and Rowan. Both of them paused before Rowan sighed and ran a hand through his hair,

"I'll do it. I should be quick enough to be able to get out of there without getting caught." He seemed unsure about this as he spoke, glancing away as he thought about the endless possibilities of what could happen, 'What if I do get caught? They'd kill me on the spot I'd bet. I'm on their shit list, they won't hesitate.' He felt his thoughts overwhelming him.

Ares's voice cut through Rowan's overwhelming thoughts and he was brought back to reality,

"I'll do it." He spoke in a firm voice as he looked to Rowan, then Serena before looking to the map, "...I have teleportation abilities. I..can only go places I've been before, but if things get bad I can get out of there rather quickly" He explained, although he seemed uncomfortable with all the eyes on him as he shifted in his seat. A smile began to spread across Rowan's face as he looked at Ares, 'He actually spoke up in a group, that's awesome. Wait, is that why he's so fast? He is teleporting? That explains a lot.' He was lost in thought until Serena spoke and brought him back to reality once more,

"That would be very helpful, Ares. Thank you." She smiled at Ares, who kept his gaze on the map on the table.

Rowan gave a little grin as he looked to Serena, then Ares,

"I guess we know our plan now. Most of it anyways." He hummed as Ares nodded softly before Serena nodded as well,

"Seems we do." She responded as she leaned back onto the couch and crossed her arms. Xillie spoke up after a moment,

"So you guys are really trying to stop Wings? That.. sounds like a suicide mission." She spoke in a soft and fearful voice as she looked at Rowan. With a nervous laugh, Rowan nodded softly,

"Yeah, it doesn't sound smart..but at this point, it's too late to turn back." He spoke softly as he felt a pang of pain in his heart, 'I can't let them get away with anything else. I can't let them take more people like Brooke, no one else needs to go through what I've gone through. No one else needs to die.' He found himself staring at the floor as he was lost in thought.

He was pulled out of it though as Fennala spoke to him,

"Rowan? I know Xillie said it but... be careful." She was using a softer voice than normal and it was laced with worry and fear as she looked at him with a fearful look. Rowan looked at Fennala and smiled at her,

"I will. Now, let's focus on something more positive; what should we do for lunch?" He grinned softly as Serena sighed at him and a small giggle left Fennala. Xillie shifted to sit up more and looked at Rowan,

"Well, we have a stew going in the kitchen. We used one of our big pots for leftovers, but we'd be happy to share. It's been going since early this morning." She said with a smile, earning a nod from Rowan as he smiled in return,

"Sounds good. What do you two think?" He asked as he looked between Ares and Serena. Ares gave a small nod of agreement while Serena nodded as well,

"Sure, that would be wonderful." She spoke in a soft and friendly voice as she gave the two women on the couch with her a little smile. With a hum, Xillie stood and turned to the group,

"I'll go get some bowls for everyone," She paused and looked to Fennala before continuing, "Can you help me Fennala?" She asked with a tilt of her head. Fennala gave a small nod before standing as well, and the two made their way down the hallway to the right of the room. It was quiet for a moment after their departure until there was the sound of a heavy metal door squeaking open, and then closing and making a 'clunk' noise as it latched.

Rowan turned his attention to the members of his group and gave a small smile,

"So, how are you both feeling about being here? I know Colkirk isn't ideal, but it's likely they won't find us here. Not easily anyways." He said as he ran a hand through his hair. His gaze flickered between Serena and Ares, but Serena was the first to speak,

"You're right that it's not ideal, especially because of the air quality, but I will say that this wasn't a terrible idea. Colkirk gives us a good base location to hide after doing dangerous things; like invading their bases." She responded as she shifted in her seat to cross her legs, "And your friends are quite kind, it's nice to see such kind women in such a harsh world." She smiled softly as she turned her gaze to the floor for a moment before looking back to Rowan as her expression turned serious, "We need to be careful coming around them too often, otherwise Wings might find them." She spoke in a firm voice.

Rowan paused for a moment, 'She's right. if I'm not careful they'll get dragged into this too, and neither could survive against Wings. Fuck...' He pulled himself out of his thoughts and nodded at Serena,

"You're right about that. If we make Colkirk our base, we should keep our base in another location, somewhere away from the main part of the city. That's our best bet to keep everyone here safe. I'd say we'd want to go north." He sighed softly as he scratched his head a bit. After a moment Rowan looked to Ares and dropped his hand from his hair, "What do you think of that, Ares? How are you feeling about all this?" He asked with a small head tilt.

Ares stared at Rowan for a moment as he began to piece together his words and figure out what he wanted to say, but he could feel both Rowan's and Serena's eyes on him and it was making him nervous. He glanced away from Rowan and took a silent breath, but when he turned back to Rowan and Rowan was softly smiling at him he felt his heart jump into his throat, 'Don't look at me like that!' He thought as he turned his gaze to the floor.

"Ares?" Called Serena, since there was a bit of a pause between the question and his answer, but Rowan immediately lifted his hand and waved it in dismissal at her,

"Give him a minute, sometimes he has to think about it." He said with a shrug as he leaned back on the couch. Rowan put his arm over the back of the couch and leaned back into the corner of the couch a bit to look at Ares, patiently waiting for the answer he was sure would come. Finally, he did,

"Well....I agree. Colkirk is a good place for a base, and keeping away from the general public would be wise as well...But, how do we do this? We'll have to spend a few days alone setting up the base to make it usable and breathable before we can even think about any missions." He spoke in his usual monotone voice as he raised his head and glanced between the two of them before focusing his gaze on the map in front of him.

A hum of agreement left Rowan as Serena nodded,

"Yes, that is true. Rowan, you would be in charge of helping find materials for the base; after all, neither of us has been here until now. Neither of us know where to start. Along with that, the three of us will have to find a building that has easy access, looks inconspicuous, and has little to no outside ventilation." She sighed as she leaned her head back on the couch and rubbed the bridge of her nose with her thumb and finger, "And at the same time, it needs to stick out to us so we can always find it, and it has to be sturdy enough to survive against the more powerful and magic holding members of Wings if they find us." She spoke clearly yet quietly. Serena found herself already overwhelmed with all they had to do and at a loss of how to even start.

"I think I know a place," Rowan called out suddenly, causing both of the members of his party to turn to look at him at the same time as Serena raised her head off the couch,

"You know a place?" Serena asked as she sat up more to give Rowan her full attention. As he nodded, both members stared at him before he gave a little grin,

"Oh, I should tell you about it, huh?" He chuckled softly before sitting up from his position on the couch and grabbing the charcoal pencil. Their eyes followed his movements as he pulled the map closer before making a small circle near the outer west edge, "It's around here. It's one of the taller buildings that was made before this place went up. Unless it has changed, the west burns the coldest and has the least amount of damage to the ground and buildings. It's at a higher level than the city surrounding it, meaning it has great viewpoints; but the ash falls more heavily here since the ash is heavier in the north and the west. The building itself is a good size, not the biggest around but it has multiple floors, multiple doorways, and even a few places we could turn into easy entrances that only we would know about. If it's anything like last time, the remaining doors are rusted shut, but I'm sure Ares could deal with them if we really needed." He finished as he gave a little grin to Ares, who quickly sat up before looking away from Rowan and focusing on the map on the table again.

Serena raised an eyebrow at them but dismissed the odd behavior before focusing on everything Rowan said,

"Alright, well, so long as it's as great as you say, it'll be perfect. Now, how are we going to get a large amount of supplies all the way to the other side of the city? It's not like we have anything to transport ourselves, let alone anything else." She sighed heavily as she covered her face with her hand, rubbing her forehead a bit, "Perhaps Xillie and Fennala know of a cart we could have? Or borrow at the least..but even then, that would be such a difficult journey." She sighed softly.

Meanwhile, Rowan turned his gaze to Ares and gave him a little grin, causing Ares to slowly turn to look at him as his expression slowly turned more confused and unsure of what Rowan was thinking,

"I got an idea." Rowan finally spoke, causing both members of his group to look at him. He paused for a moment before looking to Ares again, "Well, you have a special skill that might work for that. Especially because...we could just fly to the base." He said softly, watching as Ares's body went stiff and he glanced at Serena. Quickly sitting up, Rowan placed a hand on Ares's shoulder, "Ares, hey, it's okay. You know we can trust her. She's gonna find out sooner or later anyways, better to tell her yourself, isn't it?" He spoke in a calm and quiet voice as he gently held his hand on Ares's shoulder, 'I hope he's not upset with me about this. It's time she knows, especially before we raid that base.' Rowan's thoughts wandered for a moment, but he pulled it back and focused on Ares.

Ares had moved to clasp his hands tightly together as he stared at his shoes, his eyes darting around every now and again as various ideas, thoughts, and possibilities raced through his mind, and Serena just watched in confusion,

"What's this special skill?" She asked as her brows knit together and her gaze focused on Ares.

It was quiet for a moment before Ares spoke, although he never raised his gaze from the floor,

"I'm...I'm a dragon shifter. What Rowan is getting at, is that I can fly." He explained slowly like he was choosing his words carefully. Serena stared at Ares in shock for a moment before nodding softly as her expression relaxed into one of warmth,

"Thank you for telling me, Ares. Let's use that as our last resort, yeah?" She asked with a small smile. Ares slowly looked up from the ground to look at Serena for a moment before looking back to the ground and relaxing his clasped-together hands,

"...Yeah." He agreed quietly as he gave a small nod. After a pause, Rowan spoke up,

"Well, we can always see if anyone around here has a cart we could buy off them, so we can transport things easier." He recommended, causing both Serena and Ares to nod in agreement.

Suddenly the squeaking of a metal door could be heard, and the smell of stew began to waft into the room, causing Rowan's stomach to growl as he realized how hungry he was, 'Man, I didn't realize I needed to eat, I've been so focused on everything else I forgot to eat.' He thought with an internal sigh. But as the metal door shut and made another 'clunk' noise, he was brought back to reality and looked to the hallway as Xillie and Fennala entered the room. Xillie was holding a metal tray with three bowls on it, while Fennala held two bowls on a smaller metal tray. The two approached the group and Xillie smiled as she began to hand out the bowls of stew from her tray,

"There's more if anyone wants seconds after this." She said as she finished handing out the bowls, while a chorus of thanks left the trio. She set the tray down on the table as Fennala then placed her tray on top of that one, and handed Xillie a bowl of stew before taking her own bowl into her hands.

Rowan was the first to begin to eat, happily beginning to do so with a small hum, although the food was hot and he was burning his mouth a bit you wouldn't think so based on his facial expression, 'Man, I missed their cooking Fennala makes the best stews...' He thought to himself as he ate with a small smile. Ares followed Rowan's lead and began to eat, although he had no reaction to the temperature of the food either and simply enjoyed his bowl of stew with a neutral expression.

Meanwhile, the trio of women on the couch to the right of Ares and Rowan stared at the two in horror, "You guys...It's hot." Xillie said softly as she stared at them. Serena looked baffled as she looked at the two members of her team,

"I can feel the heat from the bowl...how are neither of you reacting at all?" She asked as she set her stew down on the coffee table, carefully avoiding the map. Ares was quiet for a moment before muttering,

"Immune to fire and heat." He immediately resumed eating, and all eyes were on Rowan; as they were satisfied with Ares's answer. Rowan swallowed a mouthful of stew and looked up at the women before giving a lopsided grin,

"I'm just stupid and don't care. It's not gonna kill me. And if it did, then so be it." He gave a small chuckle before returning to eating his stew.

A heavy sigh left Serena as she folded her arms and shook her head a bit, while Xillie shook her head beside her and shifted the bowl of stew to also rest on the table, beside Serena's. Fennala paused for a moment though as she watched Rowan with a small smile until Ares eyes darted up to meet hers and he stared at her quietly while eating. This caused her to quickly look away and set her bowl down on the table, near the corner as she looked to the floor, while Ares turned his gaze back to his food.

After a few minutes of quiet amongst everyone except Serena and Xillie, who were chatting about clothing choices here while Fennala listened, Rowan spoke up,

"Can I have more please, Nala?" He asked with a little lopsided smile. Fennala smiled softly in return before nodding and walking over to him and gently taking the bowl from his hands as he offered it up to her, their hands touching in the process; which caused Fennala to jump back a bit and nearly drop the bowl. Rowan quickly caught the bowl before handing it to her with a small smile, "Still clumsy I see." He teased, causing Fennala to shyly look away and give a small, nervous smile in response. She took the bowl and headed to the kitchen, the metal door clunking closed behind her.

Rowan looked to the others around him and noticed Ares had a slightly irritated expression, while Serena and Xillie were eating their stew and talking to each other about Colkirk; although it was mostly Xillie telling her about it and Serena comparing it to other places she has been. After a pause, Rowan looked back to Ares and gave a small smile, "What's up Ares? You're glaring your stew." He joked lightly with a smile. Ares glanced at Rowan before forcing his expression neutral, then shook his head a bit,

"It's nothing." He replied in his usual monotone voice, although it was quieter than usual. This caused Rowan to knit his brows together as he watched Ares quietly eat his remaining stew,

"Are you sure?" He asked once more, his worried gaze focused on Ares. A small hum left Ares as he nodded, then finished his stew before setting the bowl in his lap.

After a moment of watching him, Rowan nodded softly before looking up as he heard the loud clanking of the metal door opening and closing, then Fennala appeared in the hallway and made her way to Rowan; although she had two bowls in her hands. Once she got to Rowan, she handed him a bowl before offering one to Ares with a nervous smile, who stared at her quietly as he accepted the bowl. After a moment he gave a nod of thanks as Rowan quickly thanked Fennala before beginning to eat his stew again, while Fennala made her way back to the couch and began to eat her own stew; all while listening to the conversation between the other two women on the couch.

Rowan began to eat his new serving of stew as Ares set his empty bowl on the table before beginning to eat his second bowl. It was peacefully quiet, minus the chatter between the two women on the couch and the noises of spoons clanking against metal bowls. Once Rowan had finished his meal he set his bowl on the table, stacking it with Ares's bowl before looking at Ares with a small smile,

"You know, I'm proud of you for telling Serena about..y'know. I'm sorry for putting you on the spot though." He spoke softly and gave a nervous smile as he rubbed his arm a bit, "But, I know we can trust Serena. She wants to stop Wings just as much as I hate them, and she's a pretty accepting person so far." He said with a more relaxed and warm smile.

Ares had turned his gaze to Rowan as he spoke and felt a bit of heat rush to his cheeks at being praised, causing him to turn his head back to look at his stew as his hair fell into his face a bit from lowering his head a bit. It was quiet for a moment before Ares spoke softly,

"You're right, I should trust her more. She's had our backs so far.. and you're right about that part too. She wants to stop Wings more than anything, so she has no reason to betray us." He replied in a soft tone as he stirred his stew with his spoon. Rowan couldn't help but grin a bit at Ares's words and hummed softly in response,

"Right. I know trust isn't gained that easily, but try to trust her. Xill and Nala can be trusted too, but you just met them so I don't expect you to trust them much." He said with a lopsided smile. Ares glanced at Rowan before looking back to his stew, 'He keeps smiling at me. Why is it making my heart race every time? And..the way he's talking to me. He understands me. No one ever has except...mom.' He felt tugging at his heartstrings as his thoughts wandered, but he quickly brought them back before speaking, "...I'll do my best." A simple answer, but still an efficient one.

Rowan smiled softly and nodded at Ares as he leaned back on the couch,

"That's all I ask of anyone." He hummed with a small grin. He leaned back into the corner of the arm and back of the couch and looked to Ares as he put his arm over the back of the couch and his other arm supporting him on the arm of the couch, "Are you finished with your stew?" He asked with a head tilt, noticing Ares just staring at it. Ares seemed to jump a bit as Rowan asked if he was done before giving a small nod and moving to set his bowl on the table next to the other bowls, as Xillie's bowl joined theirs on the table. Fennala's was next, followed by Serena's moments after, and Xillie spoke up,

"I'm going to go wash these dishes. It's getting late though, would you all like some blankets and pillows to sleep for the night?" She asked as she stood up and straightened out her clothes before giving a smile. The trio all shared looks before Rowan nodded and gave a lopsided grin,

"That'd be great, Xill. Thanks." He hummed as he sat up a bit, while Serena nodded,

"Yes, thank you." She smiled warmly at Xillie. The smile was returned as Xillie then turned to Fennala,

"You able to help me, Fennala?" She asked with a small head tilt, while the other woman nodded softly before the two began to gather the dishes from dinner.

The two women made their way to the kitchen, obvious by the clunking of the door as it closed, and Serena began to take her hair down from the bun she had. She was now left with a ponytail of one large braid that reached past her knees, which she then began to unbraid before letting her hair down entirely; her hair now wavy and free of constraints. She looked between Rowan and Ares for a moment before speaking,

"You know, Rowan, this was actually an excellent idea. I'm sorry I doubted you at first. It's just..a bit much, coming here for the first time." She spoke softly with a sheepish smile.

Rowan gave a wave of dismissal at Serena as he gave a small shake of his head and smiled softly,

"No big deal, Rena. Colkirk is a bit much for anyone to take in at first, especially if you've heard the rumors about this place." He chuckled softly. A small hum of agreement and a nod left Serena,

"Yeah, I suppose that's true. I'm just grateful we have somewhere safe to sleep for the night. That's been harder to come by lately with how much Wings is pursuing us." She sighed softly as she ran a hand through her hair.

Rowan gave a sigh as well as he nodded a bit, then got a lopsided smile,

"Let's focus on how good today was. We found some allies, a possible home base location, our next mission, and we got a good ass stew to eat for dinner. I'd call today a win." He said as his smile turned into more of a grin. Serena nodded a bit before giving a soft smile in return,

"Yes, let's do that." She agreed in a soft tone before looking back as she heard the metal door to the kitchen open loudly once more. Meanwhile, Rowan looked to Ares, who was watching him with a very light pink hue dusting his pale cheeks. As he noticed this, Rowan tilted his head a bit and gave a lopsided grin,

"What's up, Ares?" He asked with a hum, while Ares seemed to nearly jump out of his seat before looking to the ground as he shifted in his seat, 'Damn it! I was staring again! What's wrong with me?' Ares scolded himself as he stared at the ground, his brows scrunching together slightly. Rowan tilted his head once more at Ares's behavior, but before he could ask about it further, Fennala approached with armfuls of blankets; which Serena rushed to stand up and help her with.

A small thanks left Fennala as she then handed Rowan two blankets and gave a small, shy smile,

"I don't know if you still get cold at night, but I thought I'd give you two blankets just in case you still do." She spoke in a soft voice as she glanced away. With a smile, Rowan sat up and accepted the blankets from her,

"Thanks, Nala. You're right, I'm surprised you remembered that though." He chuckled softly and set the folded blankets beside him on the arm of the couch. He was still sitting up and a bit close to Fennala, who seemed very aware of this while Rowan was not, and he gave her a lopsided grin, "Means a lot, so thanks." He hummed.

Fennala looked a bit red in the face as she stared down at Rowan from his sitting position on the couch before she quickly shook her head and gave a sheepish smile,

"No problem, Row." She spoke softly, using his old nickname. She paused before stepping back and smiling softly, "Goodnight, Rowan." She said softly before she began to leave, pausing as Rowan spoke back,

"Goodnight, Nala. Sleep well." He said before leaning back onto the back of the couch and yawning. Fennala made her way out and returned to the kitchen where Xillie was, judging by the familiar sound of the door opening and closing after she left.

Rowan leaned back into the couch and sighed softly as he laid his head back on the couch, looking to the ceiling,

"It's nice seeing them again. Some of the only friends I've ever had." He mumbled, then gave a nervous chuckle as he sat up and looked at the wall, "That came out way more depressing than I meant it to be." He spoke in a lighthearted tone. Serena gave a small shake of her head and smiled softly as she began to unzip her boots before emptying a knife in a holster out of her pocket, along with a few stray Wygen coming out of her pocket as well, "It's alright Rowan, you're just a little depressing sometimes in general, but we love you for it anyways." She lightly joked back.

A small chuckle rumbled from Rowan's throat as his half-lidded eyes were now back on the ceiling. He had moved his head to lean back against the couch once more and seemed to be drifting asleep, "Hmm. Loved, huh? Sounds nice. Any kind of love is nice..knowing you're cared about.." He mumbled more and more until he eventually just fell asleep.

Serena and Ares stared at Rowan with different expressions of surprise at his words; although Ares had more on his mind than he was leading on, 'He needs to never laugh like that again. My heart tried to come out of my throat, what the fuck was that? And.. his muttering.. does that mean he hasn't really had that in the past..? Maybe..that's why we get along so well.' He was watching Rowan with a slightly wide-eyed expression with a very faint blush on his cheeks before he quickly shook his head and looked to the ground.

Meanwhile, Serena had an expression of surprise laced with sadness as her own thoughts ran rampant in her head, 'I didn't mean to say love, we barely know each other...But I think if anyone hurt him I'd have to hurt them back, and he'd absolutely do the same for me. He DID the same for me, he saw me in trouble the first time we met and jumped in to help me without questions. That's just the person he is. Maybe I don't love him..but I sure as hell care about that idiot. Ares too, although he doesn't speak much but his care of Rowan and protection of myself have shown that he's kind. Along with the fact that he avoids landing any blows and simply dodges until his opponent is tired? He's a pacifist. A dragon shifter pacifist; that's not what you're told to think, but you can't believe everything you hear.' Her gaze shifted to Ares, who was staring at the ground still, 'He may love him though. Or, each other, maybe? Something is going on there but I'm not sure either of them have even noticed yet.' She sighed. A small smile came to Serena's face as she tuned back into the world and looked at Ares with a warm smile,

"Let's get to bed Ares, Rowan will scold us in the morning if we don't do so soon." She spoke softly in an attempt to not wake Rowan, although he was a heavy sleeper usually unless there was a sudden noise, they noticed; Talking never woke him, but coughing sure did.

Ares seemed to snap back to reality at Serena's voice before nodding softly,

"Yeah." That was all he said before he stood up, then paused and looked at Rowan. Serena found herself smiling softly, 'He wants to cover him up.' She thought with warmth in her chest as she gathered her own blankets for the night before moving the remaining blankets to the largest couch, where Ares would sleep. Meanwhile, Ares carefully stepped over to Rowan before gently grabbing the blankets off his lap, then began to unfold them and carefully laid them across Rowan's lap to ensure he stayed warm during the night; He also knew of Rowan being cold easily during the night. Rowan barely stirred while Ares did this caring motion towards him, simply humming softly and shifting before falling back to sleep again. Ares couldn't help but smile softly as he stared down at Rowan for a moment; His peaceful expression warming Ares once thought to be cold, and dead heart.

Ares shook his head a bit and stood up before making his way over to the largest couch with the blankets and took his boots off as he sat down on that couch. As his gaze raised to Rowan's sleeping form on the couch and noticed his head slip off the couch and he fixed it before falling asleep again. A small sigh left Ares as he stood up once more before heading over to Rowan and carefully began to take his boots off him. He glanced up occasionally to make sure he didn't wake Rowan, and once he completed this action he set them to the side with a sigh. He stood once more as he scooped Rowan's legs and shifted his upper body to quickly and carefully lay him on the couch, with the cushy armrest as his pillow. Rowan stirred a bit before muttering something unintelligible to Ares, then going to sleep once more, causing Ares to feel his heart stop in his chest.

Ares watched Rowan for a long moment as the heat slowly filled his cheeks, 'Gods he's cute. Wait- Oh, that's not good.' He quickly stood up straight before heading over to his couch and sitting down. He leaned his elbows against his knees and put his head in his hands as he felt his cheeks burn and his heart pound, 'Damn it! I have a crush on him! That's what this is! Oh, God's help me. I wasn't sure at first but I guess I decided! He can't find out. Not when we have important work to do, I don't want anything to distract any of us from our mission. Our goal.' He sighed heavily before running his hands through his hair and pulling his hair tie out of his hair; the one that held the majority of the front of his hair back.

As he raised his gaze he noticed Serena watching him with a smile and an expression he couldn't explain or understand, then she leaned over a bit and spoke softly,

"So, you realized finally?'" She spoke in a teasing tone, causing Ares's face to begin to burn as he huffed softly at her, turning away a bit. A very soft laugh left Serena as she tried to hold back her laughter, not wanting to wake Rowan for a multitude of reasons, "He has no idea, you know. He's a bit of an idiot sometimes when it comes to people's emotions. Fennala likes him too. Did you notice?" She asked in a whisper as she leaned towards Ares.

Ares paused before looking to Serena and nodding softly, his brows knitting together slightly as he muttered,

"Do...you think he likes her?" He barely spoke loud enough for her to hear, and she was sure that was the intention, Serena couldn't help but hold back a laugh before shaking her head,

"Nah, I think he likes her like a sister maybe. He treats her differently than me, but not by much. But I think that's also to accommodate her shy personality. But, don't worry. I think he likes you too." She smiled at Ares as she explained all this. Ares turned his head away a bit and unknowingly let out a breath of relief at her final words, only to sigh and drop his head as he scratched his head a bit. Serena could see his hesitation, "You..you're not going to tell him, are you? I mean, I guess I get it-" She started before Ares interrupted her for the first time ever,

"It's too dangerous." He said simply, sitting up slightly to clasp his hands together and stare down at them. A small sigh left Serena as she nodded,

"Fair enough. I won't stay anything. But if he asks?" She questioned as she looked back to him, causing Ares to pause before nodding softly,

"You can tell him." He spoke softly, feeling as if he was trusting her with his life again as he had done during previous battles. Although, he didn't quite 'need' the protection offered to him by both Serena and Rowan; he was strong on his own. He never had relied on anyone, but he knew they relied on him, and he cared for both of them so he would do his best to ensure neither got hurt.

Ares raised his gaze to Serena's just as she met his and began to speak,

"We have to make sure this doesn't get back to Lady Skel. She'll exploit it, and she already wants him dead." She spoke softly, yet firmly. But Ares simply nodded along before unclasping his hands and letting them hang as he sighed and looked to the floor,

"Yeah." He agreed quietly. Serena watched him for a moment before sighing,

"I don't think telling him would be such a bad idea, but I'll keep my promise. I won't say anything unless he asks." She offered Ares a small smile, who glanced in her direction and gave a small nod of acknowledgment towards her.

There was a pause of silence between the two before Serena spoke, breaking it, "Let's get some sleep Ares, there's plenty to do tomorrow." She said softly before laying down on her couch and getting comfortable so she could sleep. Ares simply gave a grunt of response and lingered in his position on the side of the couch for a minute or so before moving onto the couch to lie down.

He covered himself with the blanket and covered himself up to his hips, with the end tucked under his feet, then turned to face the couch and settled into it before falling asleep. Serena's sleep followed behind him soon after, once he had settled into 'bed' for the night, she found herself able to relax and sleep as well.

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"Lady Skel, the men tracking your 'little problem', lost them outside Colkirk. They were hesitant to step inside without your orders." Came the monotone and deep voice of a young man. The man himself had hair that was slightly longer, shaggy, and straight, while his eyes were a piercing red; similar to scarlet. Little of his face could be seen due to his mask, and the rest of his body remained hidden in the shadows against the large concrete walls, the moonlight just casting enough light inside some of the base that the hallways could be seen; while others were lit with torches that held purple flames, which gave little light beside a dim glow. Some simply had candles on tables on either or both ends of the hallway, while these held regular colored flames compared to the purple flamed torches, and most hallways had heavy wood doors to them.

But this room? This one was different. This room had windows in the ceiling above that allowed the moonlight to pour in and highlight the concrete throne centered in the back of the room. The throne itself looked rather plain, except for a long plush black pillow that was glued onto the seat of the chair and went up the back a bit, undoubtedly making it more comfortable for the user. Inside the room were four men in hooded robes standing at posts; two on either side of the throne, and two on either side of the large wood doors used to enter the room. On the center of the floor was a large moon carved into the stone, with the moon divided into three sections, with ancient symbols carved in a circle around the moon; and the moonlight was shining on this as well. The room had sparse decorations, but statues of knights lined the entranceway of the room; although many of them had inhuman features among their armor, such as tails and horns. Besides this, little other decor was in the room except for a few banners on the walls.

Lady Skel herself, the woman in black, wore her usual black cloak over her head as her long black dress sleeves covered her hands; one of them anyway, and the other was holding a book while she paced the room. She ceased her pacing and looked to the man who had dared to speak her name, but she let out a sigh of frustration at his words,

"No. Don't send anyone in." She said firmly as she loudly closed her book with one hand before setting it on the arm of her throne. She glided over to the throne as her black cloak slightly trailed on the ground behind her, then sat down on the edge. She rested both hands on either arm of the throne, looking at the male with a firm gaze,

"I know it's not my place, Lady Skel.. but couldn't they have gone inside?" He asked softly, with a hint of uncertainty in his voice, earning a heavy sigh from the woman on the throne. She raised one of her hands to her face and rubbed the bridge of her nose,

"No, Noir. With Rowan as their leader, they're likely to avoid such a place. Over the weeks we've been tracking him he's avoided it every time, why would he change that now? Besides, he's not an intelligent one. That's been proven over the series of attempts to eliminate him, but what he has is talent fighting." She sighed heavily in frustration and dropped her hand back onto the concrete her elbow rested against as she raised her gaze to the man.

He seemed undisturbed by her intense stare and harsh tone, and instead offered his thoughts,

"Perhaps they've taken a turn to the east and gone to Willowdale? That is the closest city to that hell pit." He offered his ideas before silencing himself as he noticed Lady Skel turn her head from him and lean back a bit as her head tilted strangely,

‘Colkrik is still burning? We lit that place up years ago! What's it been, nearly 1000 years now? Boy! There must be a lot of coal in that place. I wonder if anything still standing-' A deep dark voice echoed from within Lady Skel's head, but she cut it off before it could continue,

"Shut up!" She shouted, causing the man in the room to shift a bit as he seemed to jump a bit. He said nothing though and simply waited for her to sort things out within herself.

Lady Skel pinched the bridge of her nose as she rested her elbow on the armrest of the throne before taking a slow, deep breath. She then muttered, "Not now Sarg, We have business to attend to.", although her words were heard by the man in the room he reacted little besides a small quirk of his left brow. The voice within Lady Skel hummed softly, 'You are right. But, we must discuss this further tonight. I can't believe it's still burning!' Laughed the dark voice as its voice became multiple during the laugh at the end; a sound that would send a chill down the spine of most people, a dark and menacing aura behind the cheerful glee in his tone.

A heavy sigh left Lady Skel as she crossed one leg over the other and she continued to pinch the bridge of her nose as her facial features scrunched slightly in anger and frustration, "Focus." She snapped in an angry whisper. A laugh echoed within her skull, one that gave her a headache sometimes, 'Yes, yes, we shall focus on this conversation about the thorn in our side.' It hummed in its deep tone.

She raised her brightly glowing purple eyes to look at the man in the shadows, her entire focus on him finally, "Nior, I agree with your plan of Willowdale. We'll send eight of our level fives. Perhaps numbers can overwhelm them? Meanwhile," She sat up properly and her gaze became more intense as it focused on Nior, who flinched none as she focused on him; he was used to her intense stares by this point. He tilted his head at her though, wondering what her 'meanwhile' could possibly mean, until she spoke it, "I want you to go to base C, the one outside Cokirk. If reports are true and they are out they are out that way, and that base is in danger of them finding it. Although it's unlikely they'll survive much further than the first hallway, I would feel much more...comfortable, if you personally kept an eye on the place. One week, that's all I ask of you now. Easy enough job, yes? You have to do little more than watch the camera's in the security room, and defend it with your life should they make it close." Her voice was light in feeling and intense in feeling at the same time.

The importance of the job was clear to him, especially because she was bribing him in a way as well to convince him to agree; although truly, he wasn't sure he had a choice,

"Yes, Lady Skel. I'll remain there as long as you need." He spoke in a monotone voice, but there was a hint of determination behind it. He wouldn't let her down, he hadn't yet.

"Good. Thank you, Noir. You may leave now. Go rest in one of the spare chambers, should you need to." She smiled, but it had a wickedness to it that made Noir feel a bit sick to his stomach for a moment. Of course, he didn't show it, he simply gave a nod,

"Thank you, Lady Skel. But I would like the comfort of my own home and bed. I bid you farewell and goodnight." He nodded his head at her but lingered for a moment. Once Lady Skel turned her gaze away from him and sighed, he took that as his cue to leave and silently did so.

The room was almost silent for several minutes before Lady Skel let out a sigh once more,

"Alright, Sarg, what would you like to know?" Her voice rang out softly in the air as she leaned her back against the back of the throne, slumping slightly.

#oc fanfiction #oc fanfic #original story #fantasy #lgbtq story

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ribcages-and-bookpages · 7 months

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One day at a time: Mercy is a cruel thing (chap 4)

It was a cloudy day in Escrin as Ares and Rowan made their way into the small town and began to look for an inn. The two had been traveling together for another week with little incident, other than the occasional rude person they passed or met in shops who would comment on their appearances or some other factor about either one that this person did not like. Of course, Rowan responded by raising his middle finger and telling Ares not to worry about them, and no more came of it.

As the two spotted an inn nearby they began to approach it until they heard a crashing noise nearby and noticed debris fly down the street from around the corner. The two shared a look as people screamed and fled, then ran over and noticed a person with black and green hair that was pinned up in a bun and they had bangs that were above their eyebrows, as well as face-framing pieces on the sides. They wore a tank top, leather pants, a trench coat that was off their shoulders, and a pair of mid-calf length slightly platformed boots; and everything was black.

The person currently seemed to be controlling a green mist that was holding a woman with hair that was primarily navy blue but had pastel blue pieces that were randomly in her hair and her ends about a foot up from the bottom are also the pastel blue. Her hair was in two long braids and her bangs were messily covering her face as she struggled under the weight of the green mist. She had on a white short-sleeved blouse with a light brown leather vest that tied similarly like a corset in a front, as well as form-fitting cotton pants and knee-high boots the same color as her vest; but her blouse was torn up, as well as the pants. A rapier was on the ground near the woman, but the person controlling the mist wouldn't let her move,

"How do you know so much!? Who's giving you information?!" Shouted they shouted as they pushed their hand forward more as the green mist began to push harder on the woman and crawl further up the brick walls.

Before Ares could make a sarcastic remark about how he had no choice in helping, he turned to Rowan and realized he was only gone, causing a small sigh to leave Ares, 'Idiot.' He smiled softly, 'Here we go.' He forced the smile off his face and looked at Rowan. Rowan was running at the person controlling the mist from behind and once he got close enough he jumped up and planted his feet into their back, which sent them flying into the brick wall as the mist released the woman and she began to fall. Ares made his way over before leaping up and grabbing the girl, then landed a few feet away near Rowan, then set the woman down,

"It's about time you showed up." Huffed the woman as she spoke in a thick Scottish accent, causing Ares to turn to her confused as Rowan got up off the ground. Rowan then turned towards the woman before he put his hand on his hip and looked her up and down, then looked at her face,

"Am I supposed to know you?" He huffed back as he rolled his shoulder, only to look over to where the person he kicked was and noticed a new person had arrived at the scene; a man with scar-covered greyish purple skin and a lanky body, as well as deep purple wavy hair that reached past his chin and neon blue eyes that bore holes into Rowan's soul as the man stared at Rowan in rage. The man was holding the person that had been using the mist, who quickly got up and muttered 'thanks' before the two looked at each other, then ran at the group. The man ran for Rowan, while the mist user went for Ares and Rowan quickly reacted by summoning his scythe and using the blade to block a punch to the face from the man, which sent him flying back a bit as he landed on his backside. Rowan took a moment and blinked a few times before finally processing what happened, then noticed the man above him with his fist pulled back, then Rowan quickly dematerialized his scythe before rolling to the left as the man's fist hit the ground and went a few inches into the bricks, 'Okay, so don't let him touch me, got it.' Thought Rowan as he quickly got to his feet. He turned to face the man but was nearly met with another punch until a wall of ice came between them.

As Rowan looked over, he spotted the woman with blue hair with raised hands in their direction as she panted softly, 'Badass. Almost died and is still ready to fight, love that for her.' He took the chance to escape and quickly used the little bit of fairy magic he had to make himself lighter on his feet so he could cover more distance faster. He stood next to the woman's side and got into a ready stance as he conjured a baseball bat that held a smokey quartz gem in the butt end of the bat, "Thanks for the save. Who are these guys?" He said as he looked back at the man. The man broke his arm out of the ice and shook it off before turning to them with a head tilt,

"You know us pretty well, Rowan. Your girlfriend sure did too. Well, ex." He hummed a bit as a small sinister smile came to his face. Rowan felt his blood run cold before beginning to boil,

"Shut your mouth before I rip your jaw off!" He shouted at him as his grip on the bat tightened to the point of his knuckles going entirely white, while the man laughed softly,

"I'd love to see you try." His smile became bigger and his features seemed to distort a bit as the smile grew inhumanly large, "Come at me, boy. I'll show you a real fight." He hummed as he motioned his hand towards himself.

Rowan began to take a step towards him as rage surged through his veins and plagued his mind, 'He thinks he can talk about her!? I'll kill him! Painfully!', but suddenly went arm out in front of him and pushed him back, which snapped him back to reality as he turned his head to the left. He was expecting Ares, but it was the blue-haired woman, who was giving him a stern look,

"He's playing with you. He wants you to fight with rage, not logic, so he can kill you more easily. Ignore whatever he says." She said before grabbing her rapier from the holster on her hip and raising it. After a moment of processing, Rowan nodded softly and looked back to the man as he took a breath, then dematerialized the bat and materialized a katana in his right hand. The woman rushed into the fight and began chasing after the man as he dodged her attacks, while also trying to hit her, which she dodged as all. Once Rowan noticed the woman was keeping him busy, he took a slow breath and raised his hand above his head as he conjured three small swords above him, then dropped his hand as they floated behind him and above his head. He then joined the fight and used his fairy magic to become lighter again before going behind the man and attempting to slash him, but the man grabbed Rowan by the shirt and threw him at the woman.

Unfortunately for the man, two of the three small swords planted themselves in his arm and shoulder as Rowan and the woman hit the ground with a grunt and a yelp. The man scoffed before prying the knives out of his body, then threw them on the ground before huffing and turning towards the two. Rowan scrambled to sit up and grab his katana, while the woman panted softly as she grabbed her rapier and stood up,

"What do you want, Cadogan!? I know you didn't leave the base just because you wanted to sightsee! Is it because Amaya was assigned here?!" Shouted the woman at him as she stood up fully and readied her weapon. The man, Cadogan, scoffed and tilted his head to see her through his hair,

"How do you know my name? No one outside of Wings does, so how do you know? And leave Amaya out of this, you cunt!" He allowed a small growl to leave him as he watched their movements. The woman simply scoffed in return and watched him,

"I know more than you think, and let's just say some of your bases aren't very strong. Especially for all the important information they have, it's crazy, really." She spoke in a calm and even voice as she watched Cadogen carefully, although she was still breathing a little heavily.

An angry growl and snarl left Cadogen as he lunged at her, but at the same time, Rowan materialized a metal bat with a green shard in the butt of it and swung for Cadogen's head. As Rowan felt the bat connect he put as much strength as he could into the bat, while the gem glowed on the bottom and Cadogen flew backward dozens of feet. He hit a brick wall and slid down it as he attempted to recover, shaking his head a bit, while Rowan grinned at him,

"Man, I love the HR bat series. 6 is absolutely the best." He looked at the woman, who was watching him with a surprised expression; although it quickly turned neutral again when he looked at her. He hummed softly before looking back to Cadogan, who was still shaking his head and sitting up a bit until suddenly he looked up at Rowan and tilted his head as his wide eyes seemed to stare into Rowan's soul. A small chill went down Rowan's spine as he muttered, "Bleh, creepy fucker." He stuck his tongue out at Cadogan, who rose from his sitting position and a low growl came from him. It changed the aura around him and it began to sound distorted the longer it went on and that same chill went down Rowan's spine again as he glanced at the woman. She had her rapier ready, so Rowan dematerialized his bat and materialized his katana once more, 'Light weapons only. He's too fast for anything heavy. Gonna have to use my light feet to keep away...' He took a silent breath before focusing on Cadogan, "Let's go." He muttered to the woman.

Both Rowan and the woman stepped towards Cadogan before running at him and rapidly slashing at his body; although almost every attack was dodged. Suddenly, Cadogan grabbed the woman by the neck and threw her at a wall before grabbing Rowan by the neck as well, then grabbing his katana with his hand. Fear began to creep into Rowan's heart as the man's bright eyes seemed to stare into Rowan's soul and Rowan began to trash in an attempt to get away as he felt breathing become more and more difficult the longer he was hanging there. He then brought his feet up and put them on Cadogan's chest before he pushed enough for Cadogan to lose his grip. Rowan fell to the ground and panted softly as he scrambled away and over to a building with a ladder on the side, but chest as he reached it something hit the ladder and a bright green liquid began to drip down it and melt the metal of the ladder entirely. He quickly backed up and looked to Cadogan, who had a grin on his face; one that was too large to be seen as human and the fear began to take hold of Rowan even more.

Meanwhile, Ares had begun to battle Amaya, but he was mostly just dodging her attacks as she threw various attacks at him. None of them were landing, but most of them came close to slicing or hitting him, but he always seemed to dodge last second,

"Fight back damn it! Or at least let me hit you!" Amaya huffed as she brought both of her hands down in a slicing motion as two green blades sliced down where Ares was. When they hit the ground a cloud of debris and green mist filled the place where Ares had been, and once it cleared she realized he wasn't there, "Where did he-"

"Behind you." A monotone voice spoke from behind Amaya, causing them to turn around and end up faced with Ares staring down at her with a frown and a disapproving look. A yelp left them as they jumped back and sent a green mist wall at Ares in an attempt to bash him, but he leaped five feet in the air and dodged it. Amaya had fallen when she stumbled back and was sitting on the ground and watching Ares with wide eyes,

"What are you!? You're not human!" They huffed as she stood up and got into a fighting stance, ready for him to make a move to attack them.

Instead, Ares watched them as he landed on the ground and slipped his hands into his pants pockets,

"Why does it matter? All that matters is you can't win against me. You're not strong enough." He sighed softly as he looked at them with a sad look, "Why continue to fight? I would just end up killing you, and that's the last thing I want to do. Just leave, Rowan, and I won't bother you guys if you guys just leave us alone." He spoke in a soft voice, almost like he was begging. Which, he sort of was, but mostly for their own sake; and Rowan's. Amaya scoffed,

"Like I'd believe you! This is just a trick to wait for me to lower my guard so you can kill me, and I'm not stupid enough for that." They raised their hands into a fighting position as Ares sighed. They created two huge walls of mist and quickly closed them on Ares, who just stared at them before suddenly disappearing just as the walls collided, "What the-" They started, only to feel hands go onto their chin, then the left side of their head. Amaya froze and tried to turn to look at Ares, who was giving her a disappointed look,

"If I wanted you dead, you would be." He said with a small sigh before the pressure released from their head and he was gone. They began to look around before spotting him slightly to the side of them, with his hands back in his pockets. They stared at him before dropping to their knees and looking at the ground, "You don't understand, If I give up, she'll kill me." They spoke with complete and utter despair in their voice and a devastated expression on their face as she turned their gaze to the ground.

There was a long moment of silence between the two before Amaya suddenly snapped their head up and looked at Cadegan,

"Cadegan! SOS!" She shouted as Ares snapped his head over to see Cadegan and Rowan. Rowan was on the ground with a bruise on his face and his back against a wall as he panted and held a metal baseball bat. There were melted bricks around him and Cadegan had him cornered and was backing him further in, but his head snapped up when Amaya spoke and he glared at Ares. Ares though, already had a dark look on his face and teleported beside Cadegan before punching him in the jaw. Cadegan was knocked back and shook his head before hunching a bit and letting his arms hang as he peered at Ares through his hair,

"What are you...? You're not just a human, they can't move that fast. Or hit that hard..." He tilted his head the other way. Suddenly, the woman ran at Amara with her rapier out and Cadegan was on her trail in seconds. Ares turned to Rowan, who simply shook his head,

"Go help her. He's not human either, and nothing like a human. I'll explain later, but trust me on this." He carefully spoke as he panted in an attempt to make it easier for Ares to understand. In turn, Ares stared at him with hesitation before nodding and stepping towards Cadogan and the woman, then was gone in a flash. He appeared beside Cadogan then stuck his leg out and tripped the man, causing him to go tumbling and snarl as he attempted to grab Ares; who teleported away again and teleported to the side of Amaya,

"You could stop all of this, and no one else would get hurt." He readied himself as Cadogan was distracted by the woman as she rapidly slashed at him, while Cadogan dodged and attempted to hit her various times as she narrowly dodged. Ares turned his attention back to Amaya, "Rowan doesn't want any of this. He just wants to go back to his life, maybe you can convince Cadogan to pull back?" He looked at them as Amaya looked to the ground before closing her eyes and clenching her fists.

As a small shriek echoed through the air, all eyes landed on the woman as Cadogan had her pinned to the ground by the throat and hissed down at her,

"You're a nuisance!! Your time in Oselia is done!" He shouted as he raised his fist. But as soon as she had shrieked, Rowan had gotten up from where he had been and ran at Cadogan, just out of sight, and materialized the Oroxlis mace he had used in a previous battle and raised it above his head. But, just as he brought it down Cadogan spotted him and spun on his left knee before turning and punching Rowan in the side, which sent Rowan flying a few feet. He hit the ground with his side and rolled a few times before he stopped himself and wheezed a bit, 'Oh fuck, that's not good. Something broke, I think.' He attempted to sit up but dropped back down and wheezed again.

Cadogan stood and made his way over to Rowan before spitting green liquid on him and it quickly began to melt Rowan's leather jacket; which he quickly began to tear off his body,

"Fuck, fuck, fuck!" He shouted as it began to singe his skin before throwing the jacket onto the ground and wheezing softly as he turned to glare at Cadogan. He smirked at Rowan's glare and stepped towards him as he raised his fist, only to feel someone grab his wrist and turned to see Ares gripping it tightly as he glared at Cadogan with a hate-filled gaze. He spun around to kick Ares, who teleported behind Cadogan and punched him in the middle of his back, which forced Cadogan to stumble forward and onto his knees. Ares grabbed Rowan's mace off the ground and raised it above his head, only to hear someone shout,

"Stop!" Shouted Amaya as she raised her hands and stumbled to the side a bit, clearly exhausted from her previous battle. Ares raised a brow at her as the woman with blue hair approached Amaya from behind, but waited just out of sight to strike. Amaya panted softly and looked at Cadogan,

"Cadogan, let's stop this. They want no part of this, and I'm sure if we leave them peacefully, they'll allow us to leave with our lives. Maybe...we could go on the run together? C'mon! Just me and you!" They said with a tired smile as they stumbled to the other side. Cadogan frowned deeply as Ares slightly lowered the mace since he was hopeful of the fight ending, but when a scoff left Cadogen, Ares swung down the mace; only to miss as Cadogan dodged to the left and punched Ares in the right leg. A small grunt left Ares as he dropped to his right knee and Cadogan looked to Amaya,

"They've brainwashed you! They know everything and plan to take us down! Lady Skel knows it! Get your head out of the clouds!" He shouted at Amaya, who looked devastated,

"But Cadogan, I'm serious. Let's just go." They offered a smile, then lifted their hand to offer it to Cadogan to take, "Please?" She asked softly.

Cadogan watched her for a long moment as everyone seemed to hold their breath and wait for his response, but suddenly he was in front of Amaya and grabbed her by the neck before picking her up and holding her in the air by her neck,

"You dare turn on Lady Skel of your own volition?!" He shouted at her as she gasped for air and struggled against him. She attempted to create mist attacks, but everything kept falling as soon as it rose as she panicked and grasped at her neck. The group around him began to shout at him and Ares teleported over to stop him, but suddenly, Cadogan shoved his free hand into her chest as she screamed. It made a crunching and squelching noise before he pulled out her heart, and she went entirely limp as he then threw her body to the ground. He stared at the heart in his hand with a look of sadness before turning to rage as he turned to Rowan,

"This is your fault! I'll kill you for poisoning her mind! Everything was fine until you came along!" He shouted as he ran at Rowan as fast he could. Fear filled Rowan's face as he closed his eyes and raised his arms to shield his face, 'This is it.' He thought as he waited for the impact, but none came. Instead, he opened his eyes to find Ares standing in front of him with Cadogan's right arm twisted in his grasp as smoke came out of Ares's mouth and a low growl left him as his eyes seemed to glow red for a moment. Cadogan looked surprised for a moment, then shouted as Ares suddenly twisted his arm and a snapping sound echoed through the air as Cadogan's arm became deformed and bones were seen poking out. Cadogan punched Ares in the jaw with his free hand, which knocked him back a few feet as his boots slid on the bricks, and then Cadogan leaped up onto a building, "This isn't over! We'll keep sending stronger and stronger agents until you're dead! All of you!" He shouted before leaping off the roof and fleeing into the distance.

Rowan had dropped to his knees when Amaya was killed by Cadogan and sat there panting and feeling rage run through his veins, but he knew there was nothing he could do. The woman had tried to get there in time but by the time she realized he was turning against them entirely, it was too late. Ares was the most devastated though, after all, he had talked to them and caused their rebellion; so he heavily blamed himself for their death and dropped to his knees as he stared at their lifeless body. His eyes shifted down to the hole in their chest before going to her heart that lay just a few feet away, then closed his eyes and tried to hold himself together. A small cough left Rowan as he crawled over to Ares,

"Ares? We should get out of here." He said softly as he winced and moved to sit back on the ground. The woman made her way over with a sigh,

"Come with me, I have a room at the Inn here. They'll assume we left, so let's just lay low. " She said as she put her rapier in its holster and slightly limped over to them. Ares finally opened his eyes and looked at Rowan; who had a black eye and a bruise on that same cheek, as well as burn holes in his shirt that revealed red marks on his skin; likely burns from the acid. His arms were bruised as well, and Ares felt a surge of rage fill his body until he turned his gaze away and looked at the ground in front of him, 'Don't lose your temper now, Ares...Now isn't the time, Rowan is hurt.' He shifted and sat up.

Rowan watched Ares carefully to make sure he was okay, only to look confused as Ares knelt in front of him,

"Ares, what are you doing-?" He started to say, but was cut off halfway when Ares picked him up bridal style and a panicked noise left Rowan, "Woah woah woah!" He moved his hand onto Ares's chest and gripped his shirt. For a reason Ares couldn't understand, it made his insides twist around and his heart jump into his throat before he shifted Rowan in his arms and glanced at him,

"...You're hurt." He muttered as he turned to the woman, who nodded and headed over to where she could see the ditched bags from the men and gathered them before leading them to the inn. Meanwhile, Rowan was protesting,

"I can walk, Ares." He huffed at him, only to feel heat crawl up his neck as Ares huffed back louder and gave him an irritated look,

"I don't care." Muttered Ares as he followed after the woman. She then turned to them and gave a little smile,

"Sorry about everything so far. I'll explain more once we get there. Too many eyes and ears on the streets." She turned back to face where she was walking and Ares gave just a hum of acknowledgement.

Once they arrived at room twelve of the inn, the woman took out a key from inside the laced part of her vest and unlocked the door before going inside and turning on the light, then held the door open for Ares. He entered the room and noticed there were two large beds and glanced at her before setting Rowan in one of the chairs at the dining set in the room. A small whine of pain left Rowan as he held his side that had been punched by Cadogan and Ares frowned softly before kneeling in front of Rowan and giving him a concerned look. Rowan, on the other hand, felt heat rising to his cheeks at Ares's closeness and attention and huffed softly,

"I'm fine, like I told you. Just sore. Nothing I can't handle." He mumbled a bit as he looked away, causing an irritated sigh to leave Ares before he plopped down in the other chair beside Rowan. Meanwhile, the woman closed the door to the room and sat on the edge of the bed that seemed to be hers, since it had bags beside the bed,

"I'll start with my name first, I'm Serena...And I've been looking for you two. Well, mostly you, Rowan." She said with a nervous smile. However when she noticed Ares tense up she waved her hand in dismissal, "It's not like that, He knows a lot about Wings and is one of their highest-ranking threats, so I came to find out why." She said as she moved to rest her elbows on her knees, then interlaced her fingers and rested her chin on them, "So, Rowan, what'd you do to anger them so severely?" She raised an eyebrow.

Rowan and Ares shared a look for a moment before Rowan shifted in his seat a bit; while attempting to hide a wince as he did and glancing at Ares at the same time, then focused on her,

"I think before I answer anything, we need to know more about you. After all, you already seem to know who we are." He seemed to be choosing his words carefully as he spoke, although only Ares noticed. Serena nodded softly with a sigh before raising her head and dropping her hands down a bit before clasping them together entirely,

"Alright, fair enough. I suppose I should start with how I know you, hm?" She cracked a small, nervous smile as Rowan and Ares nodded. She sighed once again before looking to the side, "Long story short; I'm someone who's concerned with the future of this world, should Lady Skel continue on the path she's on. Her darkness is slowly spreading to every city in every kingdom. She's trying to make little moves to make big moves, but I noticed some time ago. Because they never commit more than one crime in one place at a time, they never put it together-" She paused and shook her head, "I rambled anyways, my apologies. I started infiltrating the bases to gather information on how big her operation truly is and among their files I found your name, Rowan." She turned her gaze back to Rowan. He shifted in his seat and hid a wince again,

"What did it say?" He asked with concern lacing his voice, causing Serena to break eye contact to look at the floor. She hesitated for a moment, then sighed before speaking,

"High-level threat; Eliminate on sight." She looked back to him as he muttered 'motherfucker' under his breath, then thoughts began to consume him, 'I mean sure I broke into a dozen bases and made them look like a joke, but I didn't know! Now they want me dead on sight!? Ugh! I just want to go bake some fucking bread! I miss the smell of freshly baked bread...' his gaze shifted to the floor.

It was silent for a long moment until Ares set a hand over Rowan's which caused him to be pulled from his thoughts and his body to jolt a bit. He yelped in pain and held his side, causing Ares to rise from his seat and stand in front of him with a stern look on his face,

"Off." He demanded, then went over to Rowan's bag that was near the other bed and dug through it before taking out a first aid kit. Rowan whined in protest at Ares before glancing at Serena and sighing as Ares went to get the first aid kit,

"You're going to see scars...just don't freak out if you figure out what they're from. Okay?" He said as he glanced at her again before looking to the floor. She nodded softly as her brows knit together in confusion and she shifted to sit back on the bed a bit; unsure what kind of scars they would be; large and deep? deformity scars? Her mind was racing with possibilities, but she spoke none of them.

Meanwhile, Rowan stripped off his shirt carefully, all while making noises of pain and occasionally holding his breath to keep from gasping in pain, then dropped his arms and allowed his shirt to fall to the floor. His body was littered with bright pink burns, along with blue and purple bruises, as well as a deep purple bruise on Rowan's side; where Cadogan punched him. Ares gave an angry huff and quickly knelt in front of Rowan, 'Damn it! I knew I shouldn't have believed him! Idiot always hides his pain.' Ares's brows knit together as he half-glared the first aid kit and began to take out burn ointment and bandages. Rowan was staring at the ground and watching Ares's movement, but wouldn't look at his face, 'He's mad. I should have told him I was hurt, but he gets so worried. Besides, now he probably feels bad for not noticing sooner. I suck.' A heavy sigh left Rowan.

Noticing the heaviness and tension between the two, Serena spoke,

"Well, I suppose I'll continue while you treat him." She said before looking to both of them with a pause to make sure it was alright; When Rowan gave a small nod, she continued, "I sought you out Rowan, because I need to know what made you such a big threat to them, and if that will benefit me in helping stop them." She said softly, almost as if she was unsure if she wanted to continue. Rowan's fist clenched slightly while Ares focused on Rowan's wounds and getting them treated, 'What the fuck is my life? First I go to help a chick in trouble and then some demonic ass mother fucker wrecks my day, almost kills the chick, then murders his own companion; and now come to find out I'm one of their highest level threats and they'll never leave me alone! And now I'm covered in burns and bruises !' He could feel himself spiraling and closed his eyes. He had begun to shake without realizing and Ares put a hand over Rowan's clenched fist and Rowan's eyes snapped open as he was met with the sympathetic and sad face of Ares, '...That's right. My light. I can't leave him to defend himself, they're after him now too. And her, they're hunting her now too. Wait, she mentioned stopping them!?' He suddenly looked up to Serena and unclenched his fist,

"You want to stop them?" He just about whispered. Serena nodded softly,

"Yes. They're plaguing this land. Lady Skel performs illegal magic experiments on those she 'takes in', and dumps their bodies if they don't make it; usually abandoned buildings in the bad ends of towns so no one does anything about it." She was harshly glaring at the ground as her face scrunched up and she leaned forward once more. She began to clasp her hands together and held them so tightly that her knuckles were completely white.

Rowan and Ares shared a look before Ares resumed his treatment on Rowan, who looked to Serena with a sympathetic look,

"You lost someone important to you, didn't you?" He asked in a soft tone, knowing it had to be a sensitive subject for her, based on her reaction, 'Whoever it was meant a lot to her. She's angry. I hope she's not going down the same path I did. I pulled myself out just in time before It was too late, she might not be so lucky.' He felt a weight drop onto his shoulders and watched her reaction carefully. Serena pressed her lips together and closed her eyes before sighing and giving a small nod and opening her eyes,

"They...They took her in with claims of good things, but then...they experimented on her with some sort of magic; I'm still figuring out what it is they're using to enhance people." She shook her head, "I got off subject, my bad. Uh," She took a breath as her hands began to shake, "The ones who don't survive, they dump them in the more dangerous parts of town...So nothing is done about it." She let out a shaky breath.

Rowan felt his heart ache for her as he listened to her story, after all, he knew exactly what it was like to lose someone close to you. He sighed softly,

"I know how you feel. It's disgusting how they treat people. Anyone who isn't with them is against them and has to die, according to them. This all started just because they came into the bakery and threw a mug of hot coffee at a woman, and I wouldn't stand for it." He raised a hand and rubbed his face, "These guys really suck." He muttered as Serena's gaze raised to Rowan,

"They need to be stopped. They're affecting every city, village, and not just in this kingdom." She said in a dark tone as she frowned deeply, "But why? I can't figure out why. No one will tell me, they kill themselves before they do." She sighed in irritation. A rush of memories hit Rowan as he remembered interrogating the man in the monkey mask, and he told them their goal,

"To kill Queen Madenhyrth." He spoke softly as the weight on his shoulders began to feel unbearably heavy and weighed his heart down as well, 'This is even more serious than I thought. They're not just bad guys, they're enemies to The Kingdom of Oburus and everyone in it.' As he met Serena's gaze, her face dropped into an expression of despair and shock.

Serena stood up and stared at Rowan as she pointed at him,

"How do you know that? Did they tell you? How come they told you? How haven't you told The Kingdom!?" She began to shout and throw her hands around as she talked, and Rowan noticed the water in the vase of the flowers on the table began to move around while she moved her hands around, 'Water manipulation? That ice earlier makes more sense now.' He blinked as he processed. Ares shot up from his kneeling position on the floor and turned to Serena as he glared at her; it was a warning to lower her tone. She understood and groaned in anger before sitting back on the bed and crossing both her arms and her legs as she glared at Rowan,

"Speak." She demanded. An irritated sigh left Rowan as he sat up slightly and winced,

"I didn't realize they were such a big deal. I knew they had a dozen bases or so, but not more than that. I mostly dealt with the ones in Blackburn. Besides, I didn't think those idiots could have such a strong organization behind them...But today is proof enough that they've got some strong guys hidden in their sleeves. And knowing what you know now? I...I wish I would have known." He sighed and rubbed his face.

Meanwhile, Ares was bandaging Rowan's burns very carefully and occasionally using his hands to direct parts of Rowan's body, and that's when he began to realize, 'Wait. I've been so focused on what's going on I didn't even notice he was touching me. Wait. He's touching me! He's being so gentle and his hands are so warm and-'

"Rowan." Huffed Serena from across the room as she shifted in her seat. He jumped a bit and sat up a bit more before hissing in pain,

"What?" He asked, glancing away nervously. She sighed in irritation before she dropped her arms from their crossed position and rested her palms on the bed,

"I said, what else do you know?" She sounded annoyed, and Rowan assumed she had said that before but he was too busy being overwhelmed by Ares and his own thoughts to notice her speak. He paused for a moment as he ran through everything,

"Well, not much else. I took out half of their branch in Blackburn, which was further destroyed by the kingdom when I turned in some of their general-ranking members and they were publicly executed. I also burned down a few of their buildings, so they couldn't rebuild there. I mostly focused on finding people, not information" He shrugged a bit and winced for a second. But as Serena stared at him with slightly wide eyes and Ares paused to stare up at him, he froze up a bit, "What? What did I say?" He panicked a bit as he tried to figure out what caused this reaction.

A heavy sigh left Serena as she shook her head,

"And you don't know why they're after you? You've already proved you can ruin their progress, and now you know what even I couldn't find out...But, how did you find it out? How did you find any of that out?" She asked as she sat up a bit more and looked at Rowan curiously. A nervous laugh left Rowan as he looked to the side, while his smile slowly turned into a frown and a darkened, sad look overtook his features,

"It's alright, pretend I didn't ask." Spoke to Serena in a soft tone. As Ares finished with the bandages he began to put away the rest of the first aid kit, then rose from his place on the ground before going and washing his hands. Rowan raised his head slightly to give Serena a nod of thanks,

"What do we do now? It's not like we have a living hostage or any proof. The royal army won't believe us, and won't act without cause." He sighed and dropped his gaze to the floor, 'That's what happened last time I tried to turn them in for something. I had no proof other than a dead body, and no evidence was found anywhere else. It's pointless.' He thought as he stared at the floor.

A scoff left Serena and caused Rowan to lift his head to look at her,

"I don't care what you do, but I'm stopping them. Any way I can." She crossed her arms and flipped her bangs out of her face. Right after though, Ares rounded the corner to the left while drying his hands and turned to Serena,

"But you're just a kid." He said plainly, while seeming confused at the same time and Serena immediately seemed to deflate a bit before huffing and turning away,

"So? It doesn't matter. I'll get it done. Even if I die in the end, I'll make sure all their secrets are revealed." She glared at the wall to the right of the room as she hunched her shoulders a bit.

Rowan felt something stir in him at hearing her, 'She'll die...But she won't give up either. She wants to save everyone. Could I even do something like that? That's terrifying...but...so is having to run for the rest of your life and never knowing when you're going to be attacked next.' He clenched both his fists as he stared at the ground, 'Could I do something like that? It can't be much scarier than being hunted. I...could join her. Ares will follow me though; can I really risk his life like that? He obviously has a choice, but I...I don't want to leave his side either. But...I could bring justice for Brooke, and save the kingdom from destruction....' He pondered as he stared at the floor until Ares called out,

"Rowan....?" He asked softly from across the room as he noticed Rowan's change in behavior. Meanwhile, Rowan's head snapped up, and looked at Serena,

"Let me help." He said in a firm and determined voice. At first, Ares looked surprised, then slightly outraged for a moment before his expression went entirely blank and he turned to lean on the wall while crossing his arms. Of course, Rowan noticed this and looked to Ares, "Ares, please don't be mad. Maybe you could come with, and we could all work together to bring them-"

"Why would I want to save the kingdom when it hates me so much?" Interrupted Ares as he looked up with a glare and looked to Rowan. A pang of pain and guilt hit Rowan's heart, 'I've never seen him genuinely angry like this...not at me.' He swallowed hard before piecing his thoughts together. A small breath left Rowan and he stood up carefully to make his way to Ares, while Ares's eyes widened and he went to help Rowan, but stopped when he was doing fine and looked to his face.

With their chests almost touching, Rowan looked up at Ares with a gentle look, before grabbing his hands,

"First off...Because they're never going to stop hunting you now. You're on their list..and they won't stop until you die." He sighed and looked to the side. After a moment though he looked back to Ares and smiled softly, "And second; because people just like you will see you as a hero, and then they'll see they can be the hero too." He hummed. Ares felt his heart stop in his chest and he listened carefully to Rowan as different waves of emotions hit him all at once as the world spun and he began to shake, which Rowan seemed to immediately notice,

"It's okay, you don't have to make a decision tonight." He hummed. He released Ares's hands and turned to Serena, "You either, both of you take the time to sleep on it. Even if we don't work together Serena, I'm sure you'll be seeing more of me." He gave her a little grin before very slightly limping over to his bag and getting out a fresh shirt. Once he had one he put it on carefully and then looked to the two of them, "Let's figure out sleeping arrangements and get ready for bed. It's late now and it's been a long day for all of us." He hummed as he leaned on the wall behind him to steady himself.

Meanwhile, the two snapped out of their thoughts and looked to Rowan before nodding softly,

"This bed on the right is mine, everything else is up to you two." Said Serena as she stood from her bed and went to her bag to gather clothes. Once she had the clothes she wanted, she then turned to them, "I'm showering, do either of you need to go to the bathroom first?" She held her clothes to her chest as she asked. Rowan shook his head a bit,

"I need to change clothes but it's whatever." He said with a shrug, hiding a wince as he did. 'I hope I didn't fracture a rib or something, that'd suck.' He internally sighed as his eyes dropped to the ground as Serena turned to Ares,

"What about you?" She tilted her head the slightest bit. A grunt left Ares as he shook his head a bit and moved away from the wall by the bathroom before setting the towel he used for his hands on the table. Serena nodded a bit before turning and going into the bathroom, then locking it and moments later the shower turned on.

Rowan made his way over to his bag and grabbed some shorts to sleep in, as well as a pack of wipes he carried on him to clean his face and things, then began to strip his shoes, socks, and pants off. This left him in a pair of dark blue boxers and his t-shirt as he sat on the edge of the bed and began to put his shorts on, only to sigh when he noticed the various dark bruises on his legs, but his eyes lingered on a scar on his right thigh for a moment. Across the room, Ares had sat down in one of the chairs at the table set up and was watching Rowan from the corner of his eye; at first, it was to check him out, but he began to feel worried as he noticed how many bruises Rowan had, and how injured he seemed, 'I need to keep him out of trouble. Something's wrong, and I doubt I'll convince him to go to a hospital...It's probably dangerous to anyways, with who's after us.' He turned his gaze to the floor, 'If he does with Serena...can I go with him? Do I really care enough about this shitty Kingdom? Can I even protect him if he goes?' He sighed very softly and closed his eyes, 'Who says I need to save the kingdom? Rowan. Rowan is my mission. Protecting him, and making sure he's happy again. He deserves it.' He turned his gaze to Rowan. Meanwhile, Rowan was struggling to get his shorts on and shakily stood up to pull them up before plopping back on the bed and beginning to roughly wipe his face with one of the wipes. Ares could feel a small smile make its way onto his face, 'Yeah. He deserves it. Besides, He promised to show me every city of Oburus, and he hasn't done that yet.' His gaze softened as he watched Rowan run his fingers through his hair.

However as Rowan noticed Ares staring, his face became slightly pink and he looked panicked,

"What? Did I miss a spot? Is my hair funny lookin'?" He quickly reached up and combed his hair with his fingers as Ares's smile grew slightly,

"I'll go. If she says yes." He said softly. Rowan stared at him for a moment as he blinked a few times before smiling, and springing up from the bed, only to cry out softly and drop down onto the bed as he held his side and laid back on the bed. He was softly hissing in pain as he held the area right where his stomach and lower rib were and Ares shot up from his seat and made his way over, "Rowan? What happened? Are you okay?" Ares quickly leaned his left hand on the bed as he hovered over Rowan a bit, "Show me, I need to check it out." He says in a softer voice. Rowan let out a slow breath and sighed,

"I'm fine now Ares, I just shouldn't have done that. I think I just fractured a rib is all." He smiled nervously as he began to sit up, ignoring his pounding heartbeat as Ares stood up as well. Then as Ares put a hand behind Rowan's back to help him up, he felt like he was going to explode and he closed his eyes for a moment,

"A fractured rib is not fine, Rowan." Huffed Ares as he finished helping up Rowan, who opened his eyes and turned his gaze away,

"Well, no, not technically. But I'll be fine, it's not the worst pain I've felt." He gave a small shrug and ignored the pain he felt when he took a deep breath while shrugging and looking away, 'I don't want him to worry about me, I guess I could tell him about how fast I feel, but that's a whole story I dont want to get into...Ugh, okay, fuck it. I'll just say I don't want to talk about it if he asks' He finally turned his gaze back to Ares and sighed. Ares tilted his head and waited for Rowan, knowing he had something to say,

"I'll heal fast, so don't worry, okay?" He smiled nervously as he rubbed his arm a bit, while Ares's brows knit together and he frowned,

"You're a human. No matter how fast you heal, a fractured bone will take weeks." He huffed again. Rowan shifted uncomfortably and Ares's eyebrows raised into an expression of surprise, "Unless...you're not human...?" He asked softly.

Rowan closed his eyes and let out a small breath before shaking his head,

"Well, not entirely, no. I'm uh, half fairy. That's why I'm so fast and you can never hear my footsteps; and increased healing speed. Among a few other things." He smiled nervously and shifted again as Ares stared at him with slightly wide eyes. Rowan cleared his throat awkwardly, "This is the part where you say something, Ares." He muttered as Ares returned his expression to normal, although he still looked a little surprised, and he nodded softly,

"Well, yeah, makes more sense now; but why didn't you tell me sooner?" He asked softly as he turned to Rowan entirely and frowned a bit. Rowan could feel guilt beginning to weigh on his heart and he turned his gaze to the floor,

"It leads to a subject I'd rather not talk about, so I avoid it." He spoke just above a whisper as he felt his heart ache; suddenly the smell of blood filled his nose and shouting filled his brain as everything around him went dark...But as he felt a hand over his own, he snapped back to reality and jumped nearly off the bed he quickly looked around until he spotted Ares looking at him with a worried expression,

"You back, Rowan? You checked out on me again." He muttered as he hesitantly moved his hand off Rowans.

A small exhale left Rowan as he realized he was holding his breath and gave Ares a small smile, although it didn't meet his eyes,

"I'm back. Sorry." His smile dropped. He turned his gaze to the floor as he sighed softly and ran a hand through his hair, "Uh, flashbacks." He glanced up at Ares before looking away again. A small hum left Ares as he moved over to his own bag of clothes,

"I figured as much. It happens a lot, you know." He spoke in a gentle tone as he glanced back to Rowan, who rubbed his face with his hand,

"Yeah, I know. I try not to but..."

"It just happens." Ares finished for him as he gave Rowan a small smile when he looked over. Rowan was surprised to hear Ares say that and felt himself almost become flustered at Ares' smile, as small as it was, but focused on talking,

"You..get it?" He asked slowly, it was as if he was unsure if wanted to ask.

There was a small pause before Ares nodded softly and looked away a bit,

"Yeah. It's like..one minute you're here, and the next...you're there, and living it all again." He sighed softly as he closed his eyes for a moment. Rowan opened his mouth to speak but felt the words die in the back of his throat as he closed his mouth again and watched Ares, 'He's been through hell too. I should have known, dragon shifters never have it easy. No one trusts them, no one likes them, no one wants them around....But I'm the same. If Serena knew what we both were...would she trust us? Will she turn on us too?' He could feel the weight on his heart increasing as his shoulders began to slouch, 'After all, I'm so fucked up mentally I'm a hindrance to battle. I could be gone all of the sudden for fucks sake! She really shouldn't trust me...neither should Ares.' Rowan could feel tears stinging his eyes as they began to form. He turned his head away and closed his eyes as he tried to calm down and began to take a few deep breaths,

"It gets better. It takes time, But it gets better." A soft voice rang out, pulling Rowan from the darkness of his own head as he opened his eyes and looked to Ares; who had moved to kneel in front of Rowan and was smiling softly at him. It was a very small smile, but the gentleness in his eyes was enough to make Rowan's heart lift as he felt a small smile slip onto his features,

"Yeah?" He mumbled as his voice cracked softly. A small hum left Ares as he nodded softly, then stood up and went across the room before turning away and beginning to change, so Rowan quickly turned his gaze to the floor, 'It gets better? Maybe he's right...I'm sure he's been through hell, and yet here he is. Smiling at me and reassuring me...someone who he thought was human until ten minutes ago' He felt a smile slip onto his face as he stared at the floor. Rowan glanced back to Ares as he was bending over to put his sleep pants on and Rowan felt his heart jump into his throat and his stomach do a flip at the same time while heat rushed through his body. He quickly looked back to the ground and closed his eyes as he took a breath,

'Man, He's fucking up my brain real bad.' Rowan opened his eyes and began to look over to Ares before forcing his eyes closed again, 'And I'm about ready to let him do a lot more than that.' He let out a quiet and somewhat shaky breath.

Suddenly, Rowan felt someone plop down beside him on the bed and felt himself nearly jump out of his skin and a quiet strangled shriek left him as he resisted the urge to shout in surprise. That's when he realized it was Ares and began to feel heat rapidly crawl up his neck, then up to his ears, and finally, his entire face began to burn,

"Oh hi-" He laughed nervously. Ares blinked a few times in confusion at Rowan's reaction before shifting to scoot slightly further away, 'Maybe I'm too close? Is that the problem?' Ares thought as he put distance between them. Once he settled, he looked to Rowan,

"What do you want to do about sleeping arrangements? I can always go rent us our own room." He says with a small shrug, but Rowan shook his head a bit,

"No it's okay, you can have the bed. I'll sleep on the floor. I don't mind it too much." He smiled and shifted to slowly stand up, "Besides, saving money on a room? Hell yeah. We spend a lot of money on rooms when we travel." He laughed softly before wincing and holding his side. Meanwhile, Ares frowned and Rowan's smile became more nervous as he glanced away, "What? No?" He asked as he shifted a bit.

Ares sighed in annoyance and stood up before pointing at the bed,

"You sleep there. You're injured." He demanded, and Rowan knew there was no arguing it, 'But I don't want him uncomfortable either!'

"Then share it with me." Rowan found himself blurting out before feeling the previously calmed heat in his cheeks burn deeply again as he opened his mouth to say 'I didn't mean that', But he couldn't. Silence filled the room as Ares stared at Rowan with slightly raised brows and the smallest blush dusting his cheeks before looking away and nodding softly. Rowan swallowed thickly as he noticed his mouth go dry and nodded softly, 'Oh my god. I have to share a bed with Ares now. I'm going to die. I'm going to actually die. If he touches me? I'll die. My soul will leave my body and I will die!' Rowan rambled internally as he made his way to the left side of the bed, only for Ares to appear in front of him and put a hand on his chest to gently push him back. Rowan felt his heart stop as Ares did this and turned his head up to look at him while trying to ignore the growing warm feeling that was taking over his body, "What now?" Rowan huffed softly.

After removing his hand from Rowan's chest, Ares stepped back a bit before looking away and huffing softly as he stared at the door. Rowan stared between Ares and the door for a moment before it clicked, 'He wants to sleep closer to the door so he can defend me and Serena. Oh my god, he's so cute. He can't say it either! This man is going to kill me.' A small smile made its way to Rowan's face before he nodded softly, "Alright, you get that side. Let's go to bed though, it's late and it's been a long day. I'm sure Serena won't mind." He smiled a bit more before carefully moving over to the right side of the bed and sitting on the edge. Meanwhile, Ares was watching Rowan with the smallest hint of a smile on his face before moving over to his side of the bed and sitting on the edge, then lying down with his back facing Rowan. Rowan, on the other hand, could feel the anxiety beginning to bubble up in his chest and shook his head a bit, 'You're fine, it's just Ares. He'll just sleep like a log like he always does.' He let out a silent breath to calm himself before lying down as well.

Although Rowan was sure his thoughts would race when he laid down, as soon as he pulled the blanket over his body and became comfortable he fell asleep, and it was Ares who lay awake with thoughts plaguing him.

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Lady Skel was standing in her bedroom as she looked at her various floor-to-wall bookshelves and attempted to find a book that interested her; although she had read a majority of them, so it was proving to be an impossible task,

"We need to get new books, Sarg. Perhaps it's time to donate some of these to a library and pick up some new ones. Don't you agree?" She hummed in a smooth voice as she placed the book she had grabbed moments ago back onto a shelf and folded her arms,

'I suppose it is time. Perhaps consider more books in the horror genre this time?' Came a voice from inside Lady Skel's head, causing a sigh to leave her, "No, Sarg. We bought a dozen the last time we went, and besides, don't we deal with enough blood and guts? I want romance. God's know I won't ever get that." She sighed once again as she turned to face the dimly lit room.

The room itself was made of stone, but had multiple green and blue tapestries on the walls to make it feel warmer, as well as a large green and gold carpet covering the majority of the stone floor. There were a few lit candles spread through the room, as well as a dozen not lit candles decorating the room and waiting to be lit. There was a large dark oak bed with black sheets and a blue colored comforter, while the bed had black curtains around it, although they were pulled back at the moment. There was a wardrobe to the left of the room along with a vanity beside it and on the right side of the room was a chair and table with a tall candle on the table. There were drops and puddles of wax on the table, and even some drips that had made their way onto the floor; but it wasn't from the current candle, which had just been lit. A record player was quietly playing classical music from across the room in the left corner by the door.

Quick and sharp knocks to the dark oak, windowless double doors caused Lady Skel to turn to face the doors before clasping her hands together, "Enter." She called, 'We're not getting romance, but we'll discuss this later.' huffed the internal voice as the door swung open. Cadogan entered with his arm in a sling and covered in bandages, and he looked upset, so a sigh left Lady Skel upon seeing him, "I assume you failed, Cadogan?" She shook her head softly before raising her gaze to him,

"That buddy of his isn't human. My guess is a shifter." Growled Cadogan as he tried his hardest not to shout at her, "They turned Amaya against us so I had to kill her. And now he has some random chick helping him! She knows my name!" He slammed his fist down on the record player, causing it to skip a few times before the needle lifted and it stopped spinning. Cadogan's facial expression switched from anger to fear in just moments as he looked at Lady Skel as her eyes began to glow a deep purple. Before Cadogan knew it, he was up against the wall and behind held off the ground by his throat and he quickly began to struggle and gag as he attempted to get down; but she was stronger than him and didn't budge

"Know your place, Cadogan!" Shouted a deep and inhuman voice as the walls of the bedroom chambers seemed to shake while the wall behind her hand cracked a bit and she released him. He coughed and gasped for air before looking up with a glare, but said nothing else yet; he was waiting to see if she was done talking.

A low growl left her as the glow in her eyes resumed to their normal bright purple and no longer the deep purple they had previously turned, then she huffed, "Don't raise your voice at me. I had no information about this, Lincoln failed to mention it and no one else has said anything either." She glared at him as she walked away from him. Lady Skel walked over to her fabric chair in the room and sat down in it before raising a finger and creating a dark purple flame with it, then lit the tall candle. She moved her finger from the candle before shaking the flame out and setting her hands into her lap as she folded them together,

"Cadogan, come sit. Tell me everything." She spoke in an eerily calm voice, one that made chills crawl up Cadogan's spine as he approached. She didn't turn her head to look at him and simply pointed to the stool at her vanity, "Bring that here." She continued to speak in the same calm voice as she waited for him to follow her directions. Cadogan did exactly as he was told and sat on the stool across from Lady Skel, although not close to her at all, then sat on the stool and set his hands in his lap; he felt as if he was a kid in grade school who got in trouble and his mom was called.

Once he was settled, Lady Skel spoke,

"Tell me everything, Cadogan." She said calmly as her glowing eyes looked at his face and he felt himself shifting uncomfortably under he gaze,

"Amaya was fighting some woman who recognized them when Rowan and his friend came. The three of them teamed up, and somehow got into Amaya's head that they should flee Wings and go on their own, running from us...so I killed them." He sighed heavily, "But that man, Rowan's new companion, He's strong. He's definitely something that's not human, and I think that bitch joined their team now. She just has a sword, she's quick but she was pretty beat up by the time I left." He raised his gaze to Lady Skels, "I wanted to come back to inform you of this for future missions to take him out." His voice became softer, as if he was afraid of her; which he was. She was one of the most powerful people he'd met, and she had a whole organization behind her, so he wouldn't dare get on her bad side; after all, everyone who does, dies.

She seemed to be in thought as her gaze turned towards the ground and began to form a new plan,

"Can I leave?" Asked Cadogan in that same quiet voice, only to feel his heart drop into his stomach as her eyes darted over to him and a deep frown made its way onto her face. She gave him a look of anger and disgust,

"No, we're not done yet. Did you kill Amaya? Who gave you the order to do so?" She spoke in an angry and dark voice as she stood from her seat before circling Cadogan, "You know you must be punished, don't you? You failed me in many ways." She spoke in a soft yet angry tone as she placed her hand on the back of his head and held it in place, "Hold still, or else she may kill you." She sighed as she pulled her hand back,

"Wait what do you mean-!?" Shouted Cadogan as he began to turn. But as he felt hands placed on either side of his head, he felt his eyes widen,

"Wait, Mel!" He shouted once more, only for it to turn into guggling noises as the woman behind him sent electricity into his brain and body,

"Hold still Cadogan, Unless you really want your brain fried." Hissed the woman from behind him, who was surrounded by shadows. He couldn't see her, but he knew her magic, and her hands; which were slender with long fingers and long black nails, and he had noticed it was her hands based on color as well; since her skin was a medium shade of brown.

Cadogan gurgled and seized as 'Mel' shocked him, until she lifted her hands off of him a few red sparks left her hands before fading away, and Cadogan fell to the floor, occasionally jerking from the high voltage that had just been sent through his body, but he was pretty much unconscious,

"Remember your place next time, Cadogan. This is a warning. Next time, I won't have her stop." Growled Lady Skel in an inhuman voice before she turned on her heel and exited, "I want him removed from my room before I return, I do not care who does it, as long as it is done." She said with a sigh as she closed the large wooden doors behind her and a small hum of agreement left the shadows.

Bonus content:

It was around 4 a.m. now as everyone in the hotel room slept silently, except Rowan, who was beginning to have a nightmare,

He was in a dark room, surrounded by the sickening and overwhelming smell of blood and he could hear screaming, "Brooke! Brooke! Where are you!?" He shouted as he ran in the direction of the screaming until it suddenly stopped as he tripped and fell to his knees. He felt panic bubbling up in his chest, "Brooke! Answer me!" He shouted again as he stood up, only to freeze as the lights came on. All he could see was carnage; body parts were thrown about the room, and entrails left a trail into another room. The walls were painted with blood, and the wood floor was barely noticeable under all the blood. Everything was destroyed; the couch was flipped while the coffee table was broken and in pieces and everything that could be flipped, was flipped. Everything that could be broken, was, including all of their bookshelves and nicknacks they had collected together over the years, but it didn't stop there. It was almost impossible to tell who it was that had been torn apart since there were so few intact body parts, but Rowan prayed it wasn't Brooke. However, that prayer was cut short as he spotted Brooke's decapitated head resting on the kitchen counter. She was bruised and had multiple wounds all over her face, while her hair was soaked in blood and knotty, but her eyes were still open and staring into his soul, "Brooke!" He cried out as he ran to her head-

Rowan awoke with a small gasp and looked around the room as he sat up a bit; or attempted to, until he realized he was being held down. Panic began to fill his body as he quickly looked to see what it was, only to notice a pale and muscular arm with dark red tattoos all over it, 'Wait, is that-' He slowly looked over to Ares. He was facing Rowan and had thrown an arm over him during the night and almost had his face buried into Rowan, who could feel a rush of heat hit his body as his heart began to pound harder; first from the nightmare, and now because of this. He took a few quiet, deep breaths as he tried to figure out what to do, 'Oh fuck, oh fuck. What do I do? Do I go back to sleep? Do I leave the bed? Do I move his arm? Oh my God, wait, he's cuddly!?' Rowan could feel heat crawl up his neck and spread into his face, then the rest of his body. But as he began to shift, Ares stirred and Rowan froze entirely as Ares slowly opened his eyes and hummed softly as he tried to fully open his eyes,

"Rowan...?" He mumbled softly as he shifted to sit up, only to realize his arm was over Rowan. Ares quickly threw his arm off Rowan, then began to roll off the bed as he accidentally slipped too far backwards; but Rowan grabbed both his arms and pulled him back onto the bed. Once he was safely back on the bed, Rowan let go and nervously smiled, 'Oh God, I hope my face isn't red. Maybe he can't see it in the dark?' He was trying to calm his pounding heart as Ares seemed to be recovering mentally.

Finally, after a moment, Ares gave Rowan a small, nervous smile,

"You keep the bed, I'll sleep in a chair." He whispered in an attempt to not wake up Serena, who shifted in her sleep, causing both men to go quiet and still as they watched her. Once she seemed to relax and fall back to sleep, Rowan nodded softly and handed Ares the pillow he had been previously lying on before pointing to the closet next to the bathroom,

"Blanket." He whispered, 'Don't wake her up, Don't wake her up! I don't want to have to explain!' He smiled nervously at Ares. Meanwhile, Ares just gave a small nod and took the pillow before getting up and going to the closet, then opened it as quietly as he could. He then grabbed a blanket and made his way to one of the chairs before sitting in it and attempting to get comfortable. Of course, Rowan felt bad, but he knew Ares would rather make Rowan bcomfortable than himself, 'He's sweet...' He thought as he laid back down in bed. He snuggled up into the blankets and pillow and soon fell back to sleep, still exhausted.

#oc fanfiction #oc fanfic #oc story #fantasy #original story #adventure #magic #romance

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