Summary: A supposedly routine mission goes drastically wrong, and Kai-stern, Tetheus and Alfeegi end up getting drawn into a dangerous web of deceit and violence.
Author's notes: Believe it or not, I'm putting author's notes at the beginning and end of this fic. Huh. It makes sense to explain some of what inspired this at the end of the chapter, so as to not give the plot away too much right from the start. I'm also going to be pretty vague with the warnings, but this fic is going to end up with a high PG-13 rating for potential violence and other factors, so consider yourself forewarned. This fic is also a bit of an experiment in style for me. I love playing with how I structure a fic, but this is actually the first time I've tried this type of style in this fandom and with this kind of plot. Usually I reserve it for much shorter pieces. A big thanks to Akiswana and Fickle, neither of which this story would be even half-way decent without.
There are only two chapters to this, with a possible epilogue to come as well. Enjoy!
Dawn, chapter one.
He knows he has been drugged. The room spirals in shades of silver and grey, occasionally exploding in technicolor bursts that fade away the edges of his vision. He is not collapsed on the floor, nor slouched at the bar, his feet having found wings in the form of strong arms that help, hinder, trap. Fleeting thoughts flicker to the indignity of falling for a trick that is usually his own, yet those dazed thoughts cannot piece together enough fragmented pieces of his memory to figure out exactly how he was fooled. He is sure that each of his carefully sipped drinks was devoid of poison, that nothing laced the wine but water.
Although he is also sure that the sun has turned the path before him into a bejeweled walkway. His last shreds of common sense seem desperate to remind him that that is hardly possible, especially as it can't be past two in the morning, and wasn't he still within the pub only the barest of moments before?
And he has been drugged. Pied piper music leading him down his glittery street, being dragged through the shadowed backrooms of the bar, it matters hardly which. What does is that he is supposed to meet someone the next morning, and that the next morning is too far off.
Consciousness is already a task as opposed to a natural state of being.
The path and the bar blur into one, laughter flittering through air that has taken on a vaguely seasick feel. As his feet lose their ability of flight and collapse beneath him – and if this is a path of gold, it is one that feels oddly like carpet – he is swept up high into arms that nurture, protect, promise everything but.
It feels as though he's still falling, even though the grip he is in could not be any tighter or secure.
Up here, the laughter does not flitter, but drown.
As does Kai-stern, once the darkness finally wins dominance.
xxx
The town is dark and damp, and hardly to Alfeegi's liking. Summer visits here, supposedly, but there is nothing in these 'warmer' months that reminds him of Draqueen, which shines gold and green. Instead, there are dark streets and damp inns, and people who appear warm at first but who gaze for slightly too long and whose eyes stray quickly to pockets and bags. It is not a poor town, but as Kai-stern said when they had first arrived, with a knowing grin that held a touch of weariness, it is most certainly an opportunist one.
On some level Alfeegi can forgive that, just as he can forgive the way it takes almost half an hour to light the fire in his room. He can even almost, almost forgive the ridiculous expenses involved in renting three different rooms in three very different inns, as both Kai-stern and Tetheus argued rather convincingly that undercover work is unlikely to be all that successful if enough connections are made between the three of them for the villagers to correctly assume that they are not, in fact, three random, unimportant strangers. Well, Kai-stern argued rather convincingly. Tetheus just stood at the human's side, looking menacing, which held a certain level of argumentative weight to it, as well.
What Alfeegi finds somewhat less easy to forgive is the way he has been forced along on this little trip in the first place. Draqueen is where he finds his comfort and use, buried beneath papers and swamped by the incompetence of his fellow Officers. The only papers here have been used to start the damn fire, and he has found that stranded away from normality, the one who takes up the mantle of incompetence is himself.
There is a conspiracy to be had here, and there is no shortage of people to blame. Kai-stern, for suggesting that Alfeegi might find such an 'adventure' 'fun'. Tetheus, for not turning those menacing eyes on Kai-stern and instead allowing the other to have his way. Lord Lykouleon, who really, really should have known better, but who had lit up and commented on how fabulous it would be for Alfeegi to get out and have a bit of a working holiday, especially considering that it was impossible to convince Alfeegi to ever take a non-working one. And, as always, Ruwalk, who was suspiciously away at the time, making him a prime suspect in his absence. Alfeegi hasn't yet figured out how Ruwalk could possibly be involved, but with Ruwalk, anything is possible,
Alfeegi is discovering that the very worst thing is that this undercover stuff is actually rather … fun. Not that he will ever admit it to anyone, naturally, and especially not to all-knowing Kai-stern and all-eyes Tetheus. There is his pride to still consider, and a natural, fundamental normalcy that still needs to be maintained.
As the fire dies for the third time, flames smothered by moist air, even then his spirits do not dampen. Instead, he runs over in his mind his plans for the next day, re-stepping the quickest way to get to the meeting place that they all agreed on the day before. Alfeegi wanted to meet there at daybreak, before people flood the streets and curious eyes come into play, but Kai-stern looked at him with just a touch of disbelief before stating firmly that, considering that he will have only just finished his part of the mission then, there is no way they are meeting before noon. At the earliest.
Tetheus looked almost amused. Alfeegi never realized before how it was the silent ones who actually manage to be the most annoying in their opinions.
So, noon it is, beside the large oak tree that is at the northern end of a somewhat park, somewhat communal dumping ground towards the outskirts of the main business part of the town. Naturally, Alfeegi has been situated the furthest away.
Kai-stern better not turn up hung-over.
xxx
There are vines pinning down his wrists, the ivy tangling there before winding down his arms. Long tendrils slither across exposed skin, patting and exploring, a caress that mocks with its tenderness. Lovingly down past his elbows, possessively across his left collarbone, then his right. Softly, softly around his neck, and then not so softly, softly, but harsh and tight, crushing away his breath and smothering, smothering, choking …
… and then the vines are rope made of a biting twine, tying him to a bed instead of a forest floor, and he is choking not on leaves or ivy, but his own screams.
True consciousness comes back with a rush.
Kai-stern almost wishes for the ill effects of the drug.
When the screams manage to force an escape and air rushes desperately to his lungs, his mind allows itself to slowly start to comprehend the situation. Eyes that still see the world through a slight haze take in the knife imbedded in his upper thigh, watch as it is roughly dragged out, the segregated edges catching and clawing at flesh that is already in tatters.
He doesn't scream this time, even though the pain that burns through his body demands it.
A fireplace flickers somewhere to his right, bathing the room in an insipid light that has the faintest hint of orange to it. It is enough to highlight gleaming eyes that 'innocently' study the blood that stains the knife, just as it is enough to reveal that their owner is one of the men that Kai-stern shared a drink with earlier. There are others in his room, fragments of hushed conversation reaching his ears even as their forms evade his gaze, but at the moment they hardly matter. This one is their leader, and if Kai-stern is to escape, he must first discover what this man wants.
At the moment, all that he knows is that his capturer likes his martinis dry.
"If you are from Manara, the wound should kill you in about half an hour – blood loss is devastatingly quick like that," the man says it almost conversationally, as he sits down on the corner of the bed. "It would be a pity, really. That drug that was slipped into your drink cost a small fortune, and if death claims you, your body will only be worth small change on the black market here." What a pity. "Humans are rather … boring … in their fragility, wouldn't you agree?" Kai-stern doesn't bother with a response. "They bleed life so easily, and hold little real worth. They're not as interesting as, say, members of the Dragon Clan."
He doesn't flinch, doesn't allow any outward show of panic, even as those eyes study him intensely, just waiting for some form of reaction. Inwardly, his thoughts spiral momentarily out of control, before he desperately forces them from their erratic path. The mission is compromised. Tetheus and Alfeegi are compromised. Exactly how much information has been leaked, and how has it possibly been leaked?
Why has it been leaked? They were only after a simple demon.
His sanity refuses to allow him to think beyond what this means for his friends and the mission in general. Anything more specific, more self-orientated has no place here, where his thoughts are already clouded by a wash of pain.
They do not speak for the next half hour. They do not speak as one of the shadows moves forward, gaining form. The new figure drinks a bitter beer and brags about everything under the sun, although he says not a word as he roughly sews up Kai-stern's wound, the stitches tight enough to stem the bleeding, but lacking the professionalism to prevent scarring.
It is the least of Kai-stern's problems.
Their leader is looking decidedly predatory.
xxx
People often make the mistake of confusing quietness with subtlety. Quiet people, supposedly, are that way because they do not want the world to know so easily their thoughts, and that the few words they choose to speak are laced with hidden meanings and uncanny observations – ones that take great time to decipher fully.
Tetheus is known for his quietness. As his long, angry strides carry him down the main roads of Waquun, dark eyes dangerous in their intensity, only a fool would see even the slightest hint of subtlety.
He doubts that Alfeegi is all that happy to be woken up several hours before he needs to be, eyes fogged over with tiredness and clothes thrown on in a messed rush. Impatience flickers across Tetheus' usually neutral features as Alfeegi starts to first berate him, before breaking off mid-sentence.
"What are you doing here, anyway? I thought the plan was to meet up somewhere where it was unlikely for people to be able to connect us." Alfeegi's eyes narrow. "Let me guess. There's been a change in plans and no one thought to inform me. How typical. If-"
"Kai-stern has disappeared."
Alfeegi blinks once, confusion evident. Worry creeps into his voice as he ponders aloud that surely Kai-stern hasn't disappeared as such, but has simply gone to a different bar when Tetheus wasn't looking-
"And why were you keeping tabs on Kai-stern?" Alfeegi questions, connecting dots that may or may not exist. "Kai-stern said it would be best if we all kept our distance from each other…"
"I know exactly what Kai-stern said," is Tetheus' cold reply. "But as Security chief, the safety of you both is my responsibility. I have been 'keeping tabs' on you as well. Naturally." And Kai-stern is not in any of the bars, and he is not passed out in his room. Officially, Kai-stern agreed to meet him at dawn to make sure everything went smoothly, but Tetheus is not one who likes to leave things … unsupervised … for such lengths of time. "I know the last bar he was seen in, he hasn't been spotted anywhere else since."
"Is anyone there talking?" Quickly slipping into his jacket, Alfeegi is finally starting to get a sense for the urgency of the situation as sleep fades away.
"No." Tetheus pauses for just a second, before amending his statement. "Not yet."
Alfeegi's eyes widen just slightly at that, although Tetheus feels that it was perhaps his tone that startled the other so. Alfeegi rarely has to see Tetheus in action, and is far more used to the almost representative role Tetheus often played.
But this is hardly a game. Kai-stern has been missing for several hours.
If Kai-stern is dead, he swears that there will be hell to pay. And Tetheus has never been one for subtleties.
xxx
Kai-stern is not perfect. He has always known that there is a dangerous edge to the way he gathers information, and that wandering hands and welcoming gazes sometimes want to do more than just wander and watch. There have been times when he has slipped, misread a situation just slightly, and landed in situations that he likes to never think much of afterwards.
But he has only ever slipped twice, and not in hundreds of years.
Neither of them had ended like this.
Martini has a name, a foreign name that Kai-stern cannot place – Sivan. It's a pretty name that doesn't belong on such a man, who converses with nice words that are loaded with not so nice meanings.
"They say that those that belong to the Dragon Clan are far more difficult to break than all others." Soft voice, kind voice. "They also say that, because they're so hard to kill, that when they bleed, their blood has almost mythical properties."
"It seems they say many things," Kai-stern responds, tugging again just slightly at his bonds. "But they are things only a fool would believe."
"And yet, the Dragon Clan blood that feeds your veins has gifted you – a mere human – with immortality. Perhaps if you … offer up enough of it, that immortality could be shared."
Kai-stern isn't all that surprised to find he's dealing with someone who is, quite clearly, nuts.
The hand that plays gently around his wound is smooth and soft, aristocratic in touch even as it becomes increasingly primal in nature. In the inn, this man held himself like all others, dressed in rough clothes and without a hint of complexity or motive. Here, far away from a world that Kai-stern is familiar with, wealth and breeding drips not only from fine clothes and jeweled fingers, but from a refined dialect as well.
"But, Officer Kai-stern of Draqueen, I do not plan on collecting your blood." The hand drifts higher. "Although I am a collector, of sorts. I suppose you could say I have a taste for the rarer entities of life. There are few things rarer than a human playing the role of an immortal, wouldn't you say? It seems such a waste," Calm and friendly takes on a much more vicious edge, "but then, that is part of your appeal."
And Kai-stern is not perfect, but he is not stupid either.
He almost wishes he were.
To be continued.
Author's notes, part two: And this is where I explain a little bit the actual concept at work here ). This fic was inspired by a couple of things. One was the realisation that Kai-stern spends a lot of time on missions deliberately letting others get him drunk so that they think he's harmless/so they get drunk in turn, and say things that they perhaps might not of if they were sober. I suppose that in itself wasn't the realisation, but rather the fact that - especially for someone who is human, and technically more fragile than those he generally surrounds himself with - there is always the possibility that the whole drinking scenario could easily get out of hand very quickly if something didn't go according to plan, or if Kai-stern hadn't read the scene absolutely perfectly. Considering that Kai-stern travels alone and without any backup, he takes a hell of a lot of risks going into the situations he does.
The second inspiration, and the main reason why Alfeegi and Tetheus play a major role in this story, is how, in the manga, Tetheus just 'happened' to notice Kai-stern outside a bar, in a foreign city that they just both 'happened' to be in at the same time, and how Alfeegi's freaked out over discovering that Kai-stern's expenses included a bar tab in the same scene. It's not too much of a stretch to read both Tetheus' and Alfeegi's responses as being concern and worry, not merely 'co-incidence' and anger.