Chapter Text
Rafayel sat on the beach, shoes thrown to the side, his feet digging into the sand. He sat hunched forward with his arms wrapped around his knees, chin resting atop. He wore a loose button up shirt and linen pants… a model of relaxation.
The waves ebbed and flowed before him, crashing rhythmically, and he closed his eyes, imagining if it were her heartbeat.
No calm was to be found for him… how could there be?
She had been gone for five days... his immortal bond.
How had he ever allowed her out of his reach? Obviously, keeping her within his sight had not been good enough.
Why had he been so determined to give them a slow, gentle, budding romance?
He should have swept her off her feet that day on the pier, when she’d been catching a fish for a young boy and warning Rafayel about Wanderers.
If only he had awakened the Sea God before the explosion. Then, he could have stolen her away to a remote island and thrashed away any vessel that dared to approach, the power of the sea and atmosphere combined.
He’d create violent storms and tidal waves to protect her from all outsiders. She could live safely within his cocoon for the rest of their days. He’d paint portraits of her every day and find ways to make every day exciting.
Except… she would hate that. He knew she would.
Rafayel closed his eyes in frustration, but a moment later, his phone was alerting him to an incoming call. He answered without even looking to see the caller.
“Yeah?” He answered quickly, eyebrows drawn.
“Hi there, Mr. Mo.” Sylus greeted richly, voice taunting in its cadence. The effect was somewhat lost due to the tinniness of his voice as it left the cell phone’s speaker.
“What do you have?” Rafayel replied curtly, not in the mood to play into his power games.
“The doctor’s car… we were able to trace it into Chansia City through the city’s traffic cameras.” Rafayel lifted himself off the sand, eyes narrowing out onto the horizon.
“Where did they stop?” His voice lilted dangerously.
“My network lost trace of them once they exited into the city. However… I just sent your assistant a list of known properties owned by Ever Group, their subsidiaries, and their subsidiaries’ subsidiaries. With some surveillance, we may be able to find your girl pretty quickly.”
Sylus had spoken flippantly. However, a flare of possessiveness mixed with pride swept through Rafayel, not only at the good news, but also Sylus’ acknowledgement of his claim over Y/N.
His girl.
“...Thank you.” Rafayel offered solemnly.
Sylus laughed cockily. “Don’t thank me yet, you haven’t seen my invoice.”
Rafayel smirked, a small glimmer of hope starting to grow. “I’m good for it.” He replied airily. “Let’s coordinate the surveillance. Call you back in fifteen.” Sylus hummed in agreement, and disconnected.
Rafayel looked back at the horizon one last time, and swore to himself that when he returned to this place again, she would be beside him.
My bride.
A few hours later, he was seated at The Nest. Xavier sat beside him, while Sylus sat across from them on the other side of the table.
Xavier was showing them the Hunter Association’s files on Ever Group, comparing their data against the list of properties provided by Sylus.
“We have a record of previous unique Wanderer activity in these five areas.” Xavier explained coolly, pointing to a map with circular boundaries marked around distinct areas to the north and south of the city. “The northern areas are more likely, since the exit they traveled onto would lead more directly to the north.”
Rafayel and Sylus nodded in agreement. “Where Wanderers play, Ever Group is never far away.” Sylus commented disdainfully, taking a sip from a lowball of whiskey.
“Comparing these areas with the list of properties associated with Ever Group, there’s two buildings that seem most likely.” Rafayel concluded, checking the spreadsheet that Thomas had provided to him.
Sylus pulled out his phone and quickly tapped away at the screen, then placed it down on the table. “My people are en route. We should have answers within the hour. In the meantime… another drink?”
The leader of Onychinus sent an inviting smile to Xavier, whose lip curled in distaste. “No thanks, I prefer to keep my wits.”
Sylus tilted his head in amusement, eyeing the Hunter’s white uniform. “So funny to have a member of the Hunter’s Association paying a visit to The Nest. Rafayel, you keep interesting friendships.”
Xavier leaned forward, hands folded atop the table, a challenge in his eyes as he glared back at the white-haired man.
“Every society requires balance.” Xavier replied coolly. “Sometimes, the top needs to watch the bottom, and other times, the bottom needs to watch the top. I have no need to… interfere with any ongoings here.”
Sylus’ grin curled upward, catlike in his movement. “I’m not a bottom, if that’s what you’re implying.”
Rafayel rolled his eyes, leaning back in his chair, arms crossed. His foot bounced impatiently against the floor. He disregarded the Hunter’s reply as he stared at the table. His body flooded with anticipation for the fight he knew lay ahead.
Soon.
Caleb swept a flyaway hair off of her forehead, and she swatted his hand down almost instantly.
“Aw, don’t be so mean.” He implored playfully.
She felt anything but playful.
It was morning, not that this meant anything. The facility never changed, nor were there any windows. Her version of stepping onto grass was the dirt that her male psych warden sometimes left when he walked around her prison chamber with his shoes on. No sunlight greeted her at the start of her day. She was just… here.
She’d barely slept the night before, paranoia of Caleb appearing mixing with sudden startles into awareness as her mind swarmed her with visions of herself drowning… dying … over, and over, and over.
‘Chipper’ was not a word that could be used to describe her.
Then, here comes Caleb, offering to personally walk her out of her prison cell for what he called a “short side quest” to the other side of the building (...lucky her) for who knows what. Not to mention, he’s trying to act like they’re two kids at camp.
“Why you? I want my psych wardens back.” She demanded, refusing to look at him.
“They’re off today.” He lied, smiling brightly at her.
“Caleb… I still trust you about as far as I can throw you. What’s this about?” She quizzed him in suspicion, rising from her crisscrossed seated position on her bed with ease.
Oh yeah, that was another thing. She was feeling better.
Like, a lot better… aside from the sleep deprivation, that is. The swelling had gone down completely. The bruising was gone. The stitches itched like hell and needed to be taken out.
That female pscyh warden… when she rubbed that cream on me. It did something. The logical conclusion? Definitely some sort of Lemurian-based ointment.
The thought of a product being used on her that was derived from the terrorization of Lemurians unnerved her. She didn’t even want to think about how the ointment came into being.
Especially because… well, maybe it had been through her own suffering.
“Nothing major. The researchers need to collect two vials of blood from you.” He held up two fingers, and tilted his head to smirk down at her.
“I’m not doing that. Unless you plan to force me, though… which seems to be your thing, lately.”
“Hey… I thought we were almost on the same page with everything, after last night.” He placed his raised hand over his heart, acting injured, gaze following hers as she started to turn away.
“I have no idea how you got that impression. Also, do you not remember how that conversation ended…?” Not to mention, how that day had begun.
He nodded in understanding. “You want to know what this is all about. I didn’t want to overwhelm you, Y/N. I hate seeing you so upset.”
Her lower eyelid twitched at his words. “Your actions do not match your words.”
“...Okay. I tell you what… you come with me to get these vials drawn, and I’ll tell you whatever else you want to know.”
Way to dance around explaining yourself.
“Or, you could just tell me now.”
“...Do we have a deal, or not?” He asked, voice holding an edge.
Whatever. It’s not like she had a real choice.
Also, this could be a good opportunity to get an understanding of this building’s layout. Now that her body felt in its prime again, it was time to start getting serious about escape routes.
Instead of replying, she simply walked in the direction of the door, waiting in her slippers with a bored expression.
Caleb came to stand beside the palm reader used to access the door, his height towering over her. “Wait…” He halted them suddenly, voice sounding unsure.
She raised an eyebrow, peering up at him.
He’d dressed more casually today, in jeans and a simple shirt with a jacket thrown over it. He began to take the jacket off. “Wear this, you look cold. I’ll tell someone to lower the cooling system in the building.”
“I’m good.” She replied dismissively, voice flat.
He silently threw the jacket over her shoulders anyways, the large piece of fabric sinking over her back, shoulders, and chest.
She frowned down, ready to shrug it off onto the floor, but noticed that… well, she had been cold.
… Aaaand , she hadn’t been provided a bra, either.
It’s hard to describe how it feels to be thankful to someone you’re mad at… and to love someone that you think you’re also beginning to hate. Y/N’s cheeks pinkened, and she kept her gaze forward.
“Are we going, or not?” She grumbled.
She could feel his gaze on her, but disregarded the urge to return it.
The door opened, and with a hand at her back (probably as a subtle reminder of his evol), they went into the hallway.
They turned left, and walked down the wide long hallway. They passed by various different doors, no labels providing explanations of their functions. I wonder what they’re keeping in there? More women with traumatic backstories?
Turning right, she was led to a single elevator that looked… rather dingy. This building, she was starting to realize, was extremely old. Definitely not anything she would expect Ever Group to own and manage.
They entered the elevator, and another palm reader was used to obtain authorization to use the control panel. She noticed that they were currently on the basement level.
“Two floors and a basement level.” Caleb confirmed, glancing sidelong at her as he punched the button for the second floor. “You’re totally obvious, scoping out the lay of the land. Such a good little Hunter the Association turned you into.”
She wanted to flip him off, but instead just shrugged noncommittally. “Yeah, and what of it?”
The elevator lurched as it began to move.
“Nothing. I just love it about you… I love you.”
Her eyes widened, and the elevator doors reopened onto the second floor. She stood frozen in place.
Why did he sound…
Caleb’s lips pressed together, amused at her reaction. There was no hint of shyness or mortification across his face… just…
… honesty.
“C’mon, pipsqueak.”
Why does he have to sound so… genuine?
A gentle push of his evol pressed her forward, and she clumsily followed him out of the elevator.
She stepped out into a large, outdated foyer with brown walls and beige carpet. Chairs that looked like they hadn’t been used in decades were lined in a few rows, as if it used to serve as a waiting area.
A semicircular desk was positioned next to the entryway to two hallways on either side, signage above each that read ‘Labs 1 - 4’ and ‘Labs 5 - 8’. Similar to the doors in the basement, each hallway was blocked off by doors - though these were semi-transparent - that had to be accessed via palm print.
“Good morning, sir.” An older man sat at the desk, bowing his head slightly at Caleb, and disregarding her, and her bedraggled appearance, altogether.
“Mornin’.” Caleb replied uncaringly.
“If this is what’s on the top floor, what’s on the lower floor?” Y/N asked, pretending to be unaffected by Caleb’s evol that continued to gently push her forward.
Another grin poked at the side of his lips. “ So nosy… a security checkpoint, personal offices, and an employee cafeteria. The food sucks, by the way, you’re not missing out on anything.” He pressed his hand into the scanner for the second hallway, ‘Labs 5 - 8’.
The doors whooshed open, and he prodded at her again.
They passed by various large entryways for different labs, and through the semi-translucent doorways, she could see the shapes of various researchers walking about. From what she could tell, they wore white lab coats, and those with longer hair having it pulled back into ponytails and buns. Quiet hums of conversation streamed from within the different labs.
Finally, they reached Laboratory 8, and Caleb’s face turned serious as he opened the doors to the lab. The lights had been off, but flickered on as they stepped inside. Two wide, long workspaces stretched in an open concept design on one side of the room, while the other side held a simple black chair that could be manipulated into lying flat. The chair was also fashioned with shackles that could hold a living subject in place. Other equipment was pushed to the side of the room, covered by draping sheets of plastic.
“Take a seat.” He offered, and she winced at him.
Undeterred, Caleb continued to wave her into the direction of the chair, his evol yet again shoving her forward. “Stop!” She snarled at him, but went to sit in the chair nonetheless.
Why fight the inevitable.
He went to a corner of the room, and came back pulling a rolling chair, and a medical tray with various tools on it. She watched, arms crossed, as he sat in his chair and snapped on sterile gloves.
“Wait… you’re doing this?” Concern laced her voice, and she began to sit up, but of course his evol held her in place.
“I thought you might feel more… comfortable if it was me, rather than some strangers. Don’t worry, I took some training, and even practiced on myself.” He rolled up one sleeve, showing her two small bandages near his inner elbow.
“And…” His purple hues flicked up to hers. “I don’t want anyone else touching you.”
She felt herself warm, and looked down at her lap. “When you say stuff like that, Caleb…” She wasn’t even sure why she was opening Pandora’s Box, but couldn’t seem to help herself.
“Surely you understand by now, don’t you? Or should I… kiss you again?” Caleb asked, flirtatious mockery in his tone. Her heart pounded in response. “It’s always been you, for me. My actions aren’t so nefarious… I am simply ensuring that we will be together forever .”
“Ensuring… how? You never finished explaining.” She complained, avoiding his gaze to look around the laboratory, her words latching onto the least romantically charged part of his response.
He sighed, and using his evol, gently brought her arm to rest upwards. “Relax.” He commanded her, as he began sanitizing her arm.
“You asked why I brought you here.” He stated, turning to prepare the needle for insertion. “Well… my biological parents are dead now… one of their employees turned on them, and killed them.” He informed her matter-of-factly.
“My parents… they were the ones who ordered the explosion on her house. They were the ones who killed Josephine.”
Y/N’s mouth dropped open, the box where she was compartmentalizing her grief threatening to burst at the seams. “They did… why?”
The timeline of this… so they had to have died after the explosion… that would have been in the last few days. This sounds more like a revenge that Caleb would exact.
“She was protecting you from them. Ever Group has been wanting you for a while now. You got on their radar after you joined the Hunter’s Association. Your resonate evol, and your protocore investigations, caught their eye.”
“S-so… you delivered me right into their hands?”
“Close your eyes, pipsqueak. I’m about to insert it.” Startled, she looked down, noticing that he held the needle at the ready, just above her skin. For some reason she couldn’t quite explain, she found herself obeying his instruction.
She murmured to soothe herself as she felt him stick the needle into her, using medical tape to secure it into place. The end of the needle connected to a thin tube that fed her blood into a glass blood collection vial.
“Good job.” He praised her. “And here’s what I want you to understand. I don’t have you here for Ever Group’s plans. I have you here for my ends.”
“...Which are?” She asked, voice tinged with annoyance.
“In the footage I showed you of the last experiment that started the Chronorift Catastrophe, you remember how it ended? With me trapped between the beams of the protocore energy and your aether core reacting to the attack as well as the Lemurian blood in your veins?”
She frowned into the darkness of her eyelids. “Yeah.”
“The video doesn’t quite show the full story. When the Wanderers attacked… they were attracted to you… but they were led by me.”
Her eyes snapped open, and she was surprised to see two glass vials filled with her blood. She felt his evol pressing on her, keeping her still in the chair.
“They recognized me… as their authority… their leader . You see, your aether core rejected the protocore power being sent into it… and you redirected that protocore power into me . Protocores are obtained from Wanderers when they die… it holds some sort of essence of them. That all got sent into my body. ”
She gasped, concern lacing with fear. “Oh my… Oh, Caleb.”
He removed the needle from her arm, and pressed gauze to it as he turned to retrieve a bandage. “I was so… enraged by what had happened to you. I was so determined to protect you, that the Wanderers obeyed my command and sieged the place. They killed everyone but you, me, and Josephine. Actually, they almost killed her too, but they could sense that I was partial to her and left her alive. That’s… the real story of how we escaped.”
He looked up at her, and smiled sadly. “There you go, crying again. That’s all I seem to be able to do to you, lately. I’ll try to change that.”
“Were you… okay after?”
He hummed, looking down. “To be honest… my mind has never seemed to work quite right after that. Josephine use to manufacture some sort of medicine that would make my… moods not quite so strong. Being infused by the essence of Wanderers makes one… a little impulsive, at times.”
A medicine that Josephine would manufacture… and she's dead now.
“Anyways, long story short… Ever Group has never given up on you. Right now, they only have you because I am allowing it.” He leaned closer to her. “These vials of blood are nothing more than a show of cooperation. I have my own internal team here that is working to perfect a method of recreating the healing force field your aether core can emit when it is reacting to Lemurian blood. I want to find a way that doesn’t involve… injecting you, or hurting you.”
Her mind was still stuck on the idea that Caleb really may not be in his right mind.
“I’m going to use the lure of immortality to take control of Chansia City, and Ever Group will rule this city with me at the lead. All our world cares about is who has the most money, anyways. The Wanderers will be used as a force to control this city, and I can even enlist my squadron at the DAA to patrol our airspace. You and I can live together immortally within the walls of our sanctuary. I’ll create a kingdom for us to rule together.”
Then we’ll take over the N109 Zone… and then Linkon City…
But she didn’t need to know that quite yet. He reached forward, smoothing the backs of his fingers down her cheek. It was as if he had just surprised her with a romantic getaway, or an expensive piece of jewelry.
Y/N was speechless, her mind spinning in so many different directions. She practically short circuited when he leaned forward, mouth aiming for hers, and she turned away in time for him to press against her cheek instead. He didn’t seem to mind, appreciating the softness of her skin underneath his sensitive lips.
He moved to her ear, and nipped at her earlobe. “Do you understand now?” He crooned into her ear seductively.
“U-um…” She stuttered. “I need to think about this. This is a lot of information. I don’t know… what to think right now. Can I go back to my room…?”
Caleb sighed, head dropping to the apex of her neck and shoulder. “It’s so hard to control myself…” He shuddered against her, his weight heavy.
“Well… f-figure it out.” She was pretty sure her face was as red as a tomato, if that was even possible.
Another sigh against her.
“Mmph… This is torture.” Caleb groaned.
You and me too, gege.
“We’re in.” Sylus announced, triumphant.
The underbelly of the N109 Zone had managed to confirm the exact location where Y/N was being held.
As soon as he’d had the address, Rafayel had been ready to attack head on. “Patience…” Sylus had cautioned, a hand raised.
“My team can hack into the cameras within the facility… We might be able to get eyes on her right now.”
Rafayel stilled, caught between the desire to stay and the need to rush to her side. He made eye contact with Xavier, whose face was pulled into a look of determination. Neither men wanted to stay there a second longer.
Thankfully, they didn’t have to wait too long.
Sylus opened his laptop, and after quickly typing back and forth with whoever he was coordinating with under his employ, turned the screen around to face them.
There were several cameras throughout the facility, which, based on the outside of the building, seemed to be a relatively small- to mid-sized structure. Definitely not a fortress in any way, shape, or form. Probably the strongest deterrent of direct attack was the man at the center of all this. Y/N’s brother figure… Caleb.
“There she is.” Rafayel and Xavier chimed together, as a familiar form was walked across multiple camera angles. She was being directed down a series of hallways, into an elevator, and into a small room with a bed and a couple other pieces of furniture.
“Ah, so this is her. The lady of the hour.” Sylus commented, leaning around to view the screen. “She’s cute, I get the frenzy now.”
Rafayel’s dagger flew past Sylus’ head before he could realize what he was doing.
“Ah, males can be so protective over their mates.” The white-haired man murmured indulgently, reaching up to touch the blood tingling at the tip of his ear, and licking the blood off his fingers.
“... Sorry.”
