Rogue Huntsman
Recovery
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Kit pushed Arex out the window as soon as GHOST unlocked it.
She wanted her to be fast. As fast as possible.
And that meant no bringing her along for the ride, despite being worried herself.
So the phoenix took off as soon as she could, clutching her scroll and holographic projector closely to her sides as she went.
She put up a hot heat barrier around her, forcing any air resistance down to an absolute minimum while riding the updraft into the clouds over Vale.
GHOST was already pinpointing the address on her scroll's map. It was on the coast. Easy to find and hard to miss.
Or it would've been if Arex's mind wasn't hazy and all over the place with worries and uncertainties.
Everything was unknown for her. The feed was cut off, everything was dark, all of Ray's sensors shut down.
She was flying blind and worried for her sister's life.
GHOST still had Prophet, who Arex last saw in the final frames of Ray's eyes. He was taking them to Ly's apartment.
And she was going to meet them there.
She didn't even care if she was going recklessly fast. She cut all upward wing beats as soon as she was in range, letting herself fall in a diving plummet toward the marble balcony down below.
She didn't cut her momentum until she was a few meters away, sliding down into a gentle glide to land softly onto her sneakers just on its glass railing. A light step took her off it to quickly land on the marble below, eyes scouting out the reflective windows across the side of the building in front of her.
But something glinted in the glimmering sheen of the sun, a small flash.
A piercing gunshot suddenly rang out as Arex's body froze up, back going rigid as she felt the bullet graze through her fluttering strands of hair right next to her ear.
It sliced through just a few stray ebony strands in its wake.
"I… may have forgotten to announce your arrival to Snow," GHOST mentioned apologetically.
It didn't feel very apologetic.
"Seyda! What the hell are you doing?!"
Arex stayed frozen on the balcony as someone yelled from inside, the feminine voice somehow piercing the wind up on the balcony edge just as loudly as the gunshot rang out.
Just a little muffled.
She still refused to move… c-considering that was definitely a warning shot.
A young woman pushed through the curtains covering the glass sliding doors leading inside. Her shoulder length blonde hair whipped in the sudden momentary rush of wind as her blue eyes locked with Arex's.
Arex's body only locked up further at that, voice squeaking out in just a small murmur. "L-Ly…? Why is someone shooting at me?"
Ly's gaze softened as she crossed the distance between them hurriedly. "Ignore her, she's just twitchy and wasn't expecting you here. Come in, please."
"Y-Yeah…" Arex slowly said, still hesitant to move. She'd only managed to take a step forward when Ly was close enough to tug her into moving. "Okay."
Eventually, she followed her inside, eyes quickly adjusting to the dimmer light of the open room she lightly stepped into.
The one that shot at her was by the sliding glass window, crouching to her right. Seyda, if Arex's frazzled mind could remember that correctly.
At least the girl's rifle was lowered now… She was the same age as Arex, too.
Reflective copper eyes looked at her apologetically, but Arex really didn't blame her for being jumpy.
Long, silvery-gray hair sifted in the breeze as Arex watched it flow to her upper back for a moment, but the moment passed when the girl stood up.
"Hey uh... sorry about that," she murmured. "It was just a warning shot, did I uh… hit you at all?"
Arex quickly shook her head slightly, a sudden wave of relief sweeping through the girl's features in front of her. "Not that I know of. Just a few strands of hair, I think."
Delicate fingers reached up to touch a few shortened strands of raven hair, their tips still warm, but nothing else was hit.
A sigh escaped from the girl as Seyda smiled slightly. "Oh good, I didn't want to scare you off too soon."
Too soon?
Ly cleared her throat, drawing Seyda's attention as the girl's long, spotted tail curled out from behind her.
Something Arex's eyes couldn't help but curiously snap to.
"Sey, go to the balcony and watch the street, you have a better eye than the rest of us." Ly placed her hand on Arex's shoulder gently. "I suspect you want to see the damage… follow me."
Damage… yes. But... Arex just wanted to see her sister.
She quietly followed behind Ly as she led her further into the room, Arex's eyes tracking across nothing else but the floor as she kept her gaze low.
Nothing around her was enough to draw her attention away from the single path in front of her. The one that led to Anoel.
That was all she wanted right now.
Ly led her through the hallway, soon stopping by the first door on the right and opening it. She paused before she entered through, freezing for a moment before turning back to Arex.
"You… might want to wait here for a moment, it's…" she sighed, the blue in her eyes intensifying for a split second, "it's a mess…"
"Is Ano in there?" Arex asked instead of answering, feeling like her eyes wouldn't ever leave Ly's face in fear of missing something. Ray took the heavier hit, from what the feed was showing. But Arex wanted to see her sister first… if she could.
"She's in my room, at the end of the hall. I just need to make sure Ray's okay. I won't be long," Ly replied courteously. "And if it's of any relief to you, she's alive and stable."
Arex's entire frame visibly relaxed at that, the wings she hadn't even realized she tucked away and wound back around her torso relieving their constricted tension on her chest.
It… suddenly felt like she could breathe again.
"It is," Arex replied softly, turning her gaze to the door down the hall with a quiet murmur. "I'm glad she's okay…"
Her eyes silently drifted back to Ly in the doorway as she took a shaky breath.
"R-Ray… Is he alright?"
Ly's eyes closed as she shook her head and turned back to look through the small gap in the door. "Inuba's doing what she can to remove the Dust in his chest… but I don't know if he'll be okay… I don't want to keep you from seeing her, but wait here for a moment, so I can check on Ray before coming with you."
Arex nodded tinily in understanding, drifting her eyes back down to lift the projector she was tightly holding onto.
GHOST hasn't said a word since she got here…
She was probably already seeing what was happening in the room.
"If you're worried, you can come in too," Ly invited quietly, "but it's down to you."
Arex's gaze drifted to Anoel's door again for a couple seconds longer, her hand dropping to quietly put the projector away and slide her scroll into her pocket along with it.
"Y-Yeah… I'll come in," Arex returned, bringing her gaze back to Ly's.
She'd see Anoel after. As soon as she was ready.
I've been chasing a damn ghost.
Every intersection, every corner, every backstreet alley, every damn crevice of every mountain I chase this thing into, it vanishes.
Typical.
It was a surge of energy. A unique source of energy. And I'd be damned if I let it get away.
Then again, it was being thoroughly certain that I not only followed it… but got just close enough to glimpse it before it vanished in a burst of golden light.
Then that light ran off to some other far-off territory.
And I followed.
First, it was Vale, then Mistral, and now Atlas. And yet, it still managed to thread itself through the air and evade me.
Wonderful. Remind me to bring a lightning rod the next time I go on a wild goose chase.
And now, it was so kind to lead me back to Beacon.
The streak of light surged down the hall, grazing around corners and through electrical circuits as I followed close behind, only to come to an immediate halt just outside my door.
My team's door.
A faint, trickle of energy flickered just inside.
The little spark of annoyance knew where I lived.
As soon as the door was unlocked, I pushed my way inside, the energy vanishing as soon as I cracked the door.
It left no path this time.
Way to send a message.
I let the door slowly close behind me as I turned my attention forward, catching the three-tail-ends of our kitsune staring out the open window.
Her ears were flat on her head, tails barely swaying, and she felt more… silent, than usual.
Something happened.
"You and Arex don't usually separate," I muttered, finally deciding to move as I made my way over to the bed assigned to me.
It was still pressed against Ano's.
"She's checking on Anoel. She's hurt."
I know… She was the one who told me to keep out of it.
But I swear to every indiscriminately inhumane, clandestine, arrogant, psychopathically insane or sociopathically abusive prick out there that I'll kill, maim, brand, and dismember anything that takes her away.
She didn't deserve to die.
I did.
"What are you doing back here? Don't you have… something to do?" Kit asked, turning away from the window to address me.
Eyes on your own damn problems, kitsune.
I just tracked a raging energy source to you. Now what does that have to say about its target of interest?
"I do have something to do," I stated evenly, turning from my bed to tilt my hat toward the door, then brought my gaze away from it to slowly scan the room. "I'm doing it."
"Doing… what?"
Trying to figure out this damn thing's objective.
"Waiting."
Her ears perked just slightly on her head as she tilted her curious gaze, fingers starting to play with the hem of her soft sweater.
Stop being so cute.
Stop it.
"I'll be here for a little while. So just ignore me."
"Okay."
"Brace yourself then, it's not pretty…"
She knew… she saw it happen.
Ly pushed the door open wider before stepping inside and standing by Inuba, the kitsune sitting with one hand on Ray's bloodied chest, the other hovering just above the gaping hole right below it.
The hole Arex still vividly remembered him dragging a spear out of.
I-It was… bigger than she realized.
"Status, Inuba?" Ly asked, staring down at her cousin with a veil of worry in her eyes.
Arex was afraid to step too far into the room… as if her presence would cause something bad.
But she managed just a few steps, nudging the door mostly closed behind her as she watched Ly step up to the bed.
It was… drenched in blood. His aura still wasn't stopping it.
"I've managed to halt his wound from producing more blood until I've removed the shards of Dust lodged in his body. As for the shards themselves…" Inuba's voice began to trail off as her ears drooped.
She looked concerned.
"They're proving difficult to remove given their nature of Aura Nullification. That, and whatever weapon caused this damage splintered upon impact, making the shards spread deep within his body."
The weapon was… designed to break apart once inside?
"Thankfully, the shard removal process has almost been completed. Once that is finished, I'll seal up the wound itself and his aura should flow normally again. He'll be just fine."
Ly nodded to her before turning back to Ray. "Once you have the shards, give them to Argent, he'll know what to do with them."
A heavy sigh escaped Lylac's lips as she shifted her stance, pulling out a card of lien. But her eyes stayed on Ray's motionless body.
"This is for your help too."
"That's quite a hefty amount…"
"You're saving his life, this isn't nearly enough…" Ly replied softly before she placed the card on the bedside table, turning to Arex and giving her a short glance.
It took a second to realize that glance was directed at her, numbly nodding her head to react to it. Arex's eyes were still on the bed.
Ly walked over to her and placed a hand on her left shoulder. "We'll leave them to it, there's nothing we can do here."
Arex just numbly nodded again, silently meeting Ly's gaze with a blank one of her own before she felt herself get ushered out the door.
Ly closed the door behind her as she continued to shuffle Arex out.
"You alright?" she asked, looking at Arex with a concerned gaze as she stepped in front of her.
Arex hesitantly broke that eye contact as soon as it formed, dry throat trying to swallow as she nodded. "Y-Yeah, I just… haven't seen that much blood in a while."
"It's never a pleasant sight… I know… but he's pulled through stuff like this before," Ly replied, placing a hand on Arex's cheek, gently rubbing it with her thumb. "C'mon, let's go see your sister. I've patched her up, but she still needs cleaning."
She was right… it was never a pleasant sight. It hurt even worse knowing that blood belonged to someone you knew…
Or cared about.
But it wasn't the smell or the blood itself that bothered her. It was just the… sheer amount of it… that really stuck.
It was just so much red. Red she hated seeing. Because the last time she saw that much, she lost the only two people who were closest to her.
"Okay." Arex's voice came out shaky, its breath lost before she could even find it as she slowly brought her gaze back to Ly's own.
She almost felt like she was in a daze.
Ly removed her hand from Arex's cheek and grasped the phoenix's hand instead, something Arex barely felt, as she pulled her down the hall until they stopped at a black door.
The older girl's empty hand nudged the door and pushed it open to allow Arex to enter, her hand slipping out of the phoenix's to let her walk freely.
Anoel was laid on the bed, wings outstretched and stripped of her bloodied clothing, leaving her in nothing but her underwear as an IV line dripped blood and a clear fluid into her left forearm.
She was breathing slowly, but steadily, a holographic image on the right wall displaying her steady heart rate along with other medical information.
By the bed stood the blue form of GHOST, smiling softly at Arex for a moment before returning her gaze to Anoel's sleeping form.
GHOST wasn't green anymore.
"I didn't know she needed blood…" Arex spoke softly, bringing her eyes down to see the small needle mark on Ly's arm. Those eyes slowly drifted back up as she gave the woman a small smile, a thankful one. But a concerned one. "I can give her as much as she needs… if she still needs it."
Ly returned her smile with one of her own. "There's no need, I have six other bags kept in the refrigerator. Goes without saying that she doesn't need nearly as much as Ray will though."
Arex softly nodded to that. She knew her blood was fully compatible with Anoel… but she didn't know if it was for Ray's. "I'm here if anyone needs it… I'm not going anywhere for awhile."
Arex's eyes drifted back to Anoel on the bed, her emotions feeling too numb to really display themselves.
Not like she wanted them to right now.
She didn't know if she wanted to be angry at Ano for getting into trouble… or cry at her for getting herself so hurt again.
She didn't even feel like breaking down, crying and yelling at Ano for making her feel this way again.
She never seemed to notice how much it hurt Arex… seeing her like this.
"I'm a universal donor, so I won't be sticking any needles in you anytime soon, sweetheart," Ly replied softly, taking a couple steps toward the bed to sit down at the foot.
The woman turned her gaze to GHOST for a moment. "Anything goes wrong in the other room, I want to be the first to know about it."
The AI nodded before her avatar faded away, Ly's gaze returning to Arex. "Feel free to sit down with her, I'm sure she'd appreciate it."
Arex would too…
The phoenix slowly made her way forward, her steps dead silent in the quiet ambiance of the room as she drifted her way around the bed and sat down at its edge.
Her eyes stayed on Ano's face, watching and feeling her shallow breathing quietly caress the air in her unconscious state.
"When you're ready, I'll go and grab some wet cloths so we can get that blood off her," Ly said tenderly. "I'm still making her have a bath when she wakes up though."
"Yeah…" Arex responded half-heartedly, eyes distractedly falling down to Ano's hand as she took a gentle hold of it between both of her own. "She'd appreciate that."
Ly nodded, her eyes staring at Ano's face. "I know she would."
It wasn't long before Arex felt Ly get up, the bed shifting ever so slightly before the woman walked off. She came back with the wet cloths a few moments later, a bowl of warm water carried carefully in her other hand as she made her way to Arex's side of the bed.
"We should start with the nasty cuts on her hips first, then just rub away any more that you see. The blood's dried now, so it should just come straight off," Ly instructed, shifting herself to sit closer to Anoel on the bed.
Arex had already done this too many times before, but she slowly nodded, taking one of the cloths set beside the bowl to dip it into the water.
Then she just silently let her hands get to work, numb mind being mindful of every tiny little thing she touched and did.
She hated it. She hated it so much that she could enter a mindless autopilot with things like this.
It wasn't right.
This wasn't something anyone should be forced to get used to.
But even in this mindless state… she was still afraid of hurting Anoel anymore than she already was.
So she took it slow.
It only took fifteen minutes to get all the blood off, but it felt so much longer than that when it was all done.
Ly rinsed her cloth again, leaving it in the bowl before she slowly stood up and placed the bowl down on the table beside the bed. "I'm going to grab a towel, I don't think she'd enjoy sleeping in bloody water any more than I would so I'll be just a second."
Arex left her own cloth to soak next to Ly's as she watched her approach the private bathroom door and reach for the handle. But as she touched it, a gunshot rang out through the apartment and she froze.
Arex felt too dull to really react to it, just drifting her gaze toward the direction it came from through the walls.
A small, irritable growl left Ly's throat as she retracted her arm and pinched the bridge of her nose.
"I'm going to put that girl in a cage in a minute," she grumbled as she approached the bedroom door. "What the hell is she shooting at now?"
Arex just hoped it wasn't the woman in the feed.
"I'll go see what's going on, you can stay here. Towels are on the rack in the bathroom, right as you open the door," Ly said, turning to Arex as she spoke. "I know you're not feeling 100% right now… but if you need anything, food, drink, just let me know. I'll be back in a minute."
Arex slowly pushed herself to her feet with a small nod, eyes still on the door before letting her gaze rest on Ly. "I can get her dried off in the meantime. And thank you… but I don't need anything right now."
"That's okay, sweetheart, I won't be long."
Ly then left, pulling the door closed as she did before muffled conversation filtered into the room.
Arex quietly listened for who else was here as she opened the door to the bathroom, finding the towel rack just inside. She dropped two onto the foot of the bed, sitting back down with just one in her hand as she silently started wiping away the tainted water still covering Ano's skin.
She was still on autopilot, even now. She'd long since memorized Anoel's body, even which parts of it bled most when sliced open.
So… seeing this many cuts on her flawless skin… it really scared her how Ano made it back without bleeding out in the rain.
It must've been close.
It had to have been.
"I see you met Seyda."
Ly's voice was quieted through the door as she spoke to whoever had just arrived, but Arex managed to catch it as she lightly ran the towel over Ano's arm.
An arm she always liked to cling to whenever she was scared or nervous.
But now she was afraid of seeing it break.
"Oh yeah, we had a nice cup of tea before she shot me in the head."
That was Dante's voice.
It didn't even register in Arex's mind until several seconds later that she could've been shot just like that earlier.
Straight through the head.
But the fact that she didn't care, even knowing that, really started to bother her.
"She's nervous and has a trigger finger, so I wouldn't worry about her doing anything else."
"Yeah, but if it was someone else, they'd be dead. So, here's me formally lodging a complaint about your trigger-happy co-worker or whatever."
"Save it for Ray, they work for him, not me. But that brings us to the important subject here."
There was a pause after Ly replied, and Arex was almost tempted to stop listening. But they were being so loud, it was impossible not to hear them through the walls.
"Did you do it?"
Arex heard Ly put emphasis on those last two words as she said them. Her tone of voice dropped an octave too.
Do what…?
Kill her?
"Like a bolt from the blue, the Midnight Huntsmen showed up and saved her ass before I could hit her with that technique I cooked up. He just… vanished along with her."
The Midnight Huntsmen…? Arex paused with her white towel for a moment as she furrowed her brow. She hadn't heard that name before.
A long-winded sigh left Ly's mouth before she responded.
"That… complicates things… You think they're working together?"
Arex's grip slowly grew loose on her towel as she transitioned to Ano's hip.
Where most of the real damage encircled her waist and torso.
"Not sure yet. Quinn seemed more surprised than anything, considering he showed up and retreated with her in tow. They might not have been working together previously, but who's to say they won't be from now on?"
"I am… she's not one to make friends. And if that thing showed up to rescue her, it could mean that he watched what was going on. There anything you can tell me about him?"
"I ran into him a few nights ago. He's as tough as Niro described, undoubtedly."
Niro…? Arex paused again and just listened this time.
It may have been ill for the mood, but she was tempted to laugh at the fact that Niro actually held a conversation with Dante.
Someone he hated.
But considering the fact that Niro told him how dangerous this figure was… as in Niro took Dante seriously for just long enough to warn him…
That… couldn't be a good thing. There's no scenario where that would ever bode well.
"I know he wasn't showing me his whole hand, but if he gets involved, we're gonna have a big problem on our hands considering I don't know how to take him down. Yet."
Ly sighed again, audibly inhaling before she spoke.
"Then I'll leave it to you to deal with him. As for Quinn, leave her to Sentinel. All of them have a personal vendetta against that bitch that they're more than happy to execute, Ray more so than any of them."
Yeah… Arex wouldn't mind jumping aboard that train either.
If she could actually hold her own in a fight, anyway.
"Hold on a minute, I'm not gonna just leave you to that Devil woman. I'm sorry, but I don't think you'd all manage too well. I mean, I can see Shades being a bit of a problem for her, but that's about it."
"And I'm not telling you to either. If you see her, you're more than welcome to drop her like a sack of shit, but it's very personal to them too, so don't hunt their glory. That's all."
"I get it, but if they make the same boneheaded move Ray and Anoel did they're going to get killed. Making it personal is what got the two of them in that fine mess. Understandable, but still boneheaded."
Ano had been waiting for a chance to go after the person who put Ly through that kind of traumatic childhood. Arex didn't blame her for what she did…
How could she?
But she didn't like how little people she told before doing it. She was always adamant about getting in the way for the sake of others.
That also meant keeping them in the dark while she moved forward on her own.
Even toward lethal danger.
Herself and Ly, most of all.
"Whether you believe it or not, they're not all that stupid. What you may not understand is that Ray was just as damaged as I was by her, which is why he went after her in the first place. Either way, I'm pretty sure it's safe to say that she's not done yet, which is something we all need to be mindful of."
"Trust me, I know that all too well. And can I get some pliers please? KittyKat's bullet is still lodged in my head, and I can't get it out with my fingers."
Ly sighed for the third time, clear exhaustion seeping into her breath. "Go to the kitchen, there's a toolbox in the cupboard under the sink. If you'll excuse me, I need to tend to Anoel and her sister."
Arex hadn't noticed the white towel in her hand had turned pink at some point during her mindless work, but it did.
It was damp, but not soaked through. She didn't know if that was a good thing.
Ano was mostly cleaned up now, at least.
"Which reminds me, I need to talk to Little Bird number 2. And the Tinman. Are they up?"
"You'll have to wait for that, I'm afraid. Arex isn't doing so well right now and Ray's out cold. You may end up waiting until morning. You're welcome to any food or drinks I have, as well as watching the scroll display in the living room if you're bored." Ly paused for a moment, and Arex could hear feet shuffling for a second. "And when you see Seyda, make sure to tell her to put her weapon down and go to sleep, I think she's had enough friendly fire for one night."
"I was gonna go set up countermeasures first anyway, so sure, will do."
"Alright, I'll let you know when either Arex or Ray is available to speak to." The bedroom door handle twitched slightly. "Speak to you in a bit."
Ly entered the room again, closing the door behind her before she took a deep breath and approached the bed, walking around the left-hand side and sitting down with a sigh.
Arex felt the woman's gaze fall on her as soon as she spun herself around and crossed her legs, a small smile making its way on her face as her eyes shifted into a mix of pink and blue.
She didn't have to make it look so fake.
"I see you got her all dried up."
Arex still loosely gripped the towel in her lap, not really caring if the water was seeping into her pants. "It didn't really take that long."
She kept quiet about the new arrival, but she figured Ly could've guessed that she heard everything through the door.
It wasn't like they were speaking quietly.
The older girl eyed Arex for a second before her eyes fell to Anoel and she moved her hand to tuck some of Ano's hair behind her ear.
"You heard that, didn't you?"
Arex just nodded. "It was hard not to."
Ly's eyes adopted a solid blue as they turned to face the younger phoenix.
"Unlike your sister, I won't lie to you, Arex…" she paused as she took a short, shaky breath. "Things aren't looking good right now. For a lot of us."
Her hand moved from Anoel's ear to her cheek, delicately brushing the back of her finger across its pale surface.
"I know you saw the feed, so I want to try to explain things to you as best I can. That woman you saw… she gave me and Ray a lot of hell when we were kids…"
Arex's grip on her towel tightened after so long of it feeling loose and numb, the material subconsciously reminding her that she was still holding it. But she didn't put it down… not yet. It gave her hands something to do.
Ano lied to her to protect her. She knew that.
But she hated it, too…
"It looks like she's still giving you hell," Arex spoke softly, watching the tender display before her with a small smile. "She's been waiting for her chance to go after her, you know."
"I saw it in her eyes when Quinn made herself known… I'm not stupid." Ly stared down at Anoel with a veil of concern. "She's going to jump at the opportunity to do it again too."
"She always does…" Arex muttered, turning her gaze up just far enough to look at Ly's face. "Especially if it's for you."
Ly nodded slowly, meeting Arex's gaze. "I wish she wouldn't though. She's already done enough for me as it is."
Arex just shook her head. "That's not how she sees it." Even Arex knew that.
"Not much can be done to change that either… apparently," Ly replied with a small chuckle. "She's just as stubborn as Ray is."
"Yeah… she won't change," Arex spoke softly, looking back to her sister on the bed. "I doubt she'd tell you why she got this way."
"Honestly, I'm not sure if I want to know… From what I can gather, you two haven't exactly had stellar upbringings either."
That didn't really surprise her.
Ly glanced between Arex and Anoel with the same soft gaze.
"It's nice to finally meet you again though. It's been a while… Once Ano starts talking about you, she never shuts up."
That did surprise her though, Arex's eyes turning back to Ly's own as she gave her a confused, but nervous look. "Is that a good thing or a bad thing?"
Ly's smile widened, "It's a good thing."
"O-Oh, okay…" Arex replied suddenly, starting to feel a little embarrassed at the prospect of that.
"She's always talking about how intelligent you are and how good your baking is. I even placed an order once, not long after you opened your bakery, actually."
Small dustings of pink filtered into Arex's cheeks as she heard that, drawing her legs up onto the bed after resting the towel down next to the bowl of water from earlier.
She quietly hid her face behind her knees and turned her gaze away.
"You did…?"
"Yeah, I had to order it through your sister, but we enjoyed the cakes." Ly's smile became warmer as she said that.
Arex's numbed nerves were seemingly coming back to her, now that things were calming down. "S-Sorry, I didn't know. But… I'm glad you two enjoyed it. I wasn't very good back then."
Ly waved her apology off. "Don't be sorry, I wasn't the most sociable of people then."
Neither was she.
"They were good though. Ray's always been picky with his food, so you have that to go by."
"I guess so…" Arex replied, finding it in herself to bring her gaze back to find Ly's again. "I didn't know you knew about my bakery so early on."
"I don't think your sister liked knowing someone that didn't have an abundance of knowledge on you or your interests. It was forced upon me, really," Ly replied, her eyes changing to a lighter pink hue. "Me and Ray were quite vagrant after we were free of Quinn. But I always tried to find the time to visit."
Arex's gaze softened as she smiled behind her legs, the arms she draped around them growing a little tighter as she got comfortable. "It sounds like her to do that… And your visits were all she talked about whenever she was with me at the bakery. She spent most of her free time either there or with me, just waiting for the moment you got back."
Ly nodded, turning back to Anoel. "Yeah… she never liked the fact that we were always moving around. I'm trying to change that though…"
Arex's eyes fell to the bed again. "I can tell."
She had her own apartment now. She at least knew Ly didn't used to have this.
"She hates the feeling of not knowing if someone's okay," Arex muttered distractedly. "She kinda chases after everything she can, whether that's to quell her growing fears or just settle her curiosity. It's… also what makes her so good at her job." Anoel never stopped craving information.
"She has a reputation for being a big, bad, scary info-broker, but I think we both know her for the softy she is," Ly replied, smile growing a little wider.
"Yeah… I've never known her as anything less than a big softy," Arex muttered with a soft smile too.
"She's gonna hate it when she wakes up to find us worrying about her, you know that, right?"
"I know…" Arex sighed. "But I do it anyway. Even if she doesn't like it."
"I'm just going to wind her up about it, give her a little piece of her own medicine. But that's what she gets for being stupid."
"That'll actually make her smile…" Which was good for her. "She hates any kind of conversation that's anything but lighthearted."
"Yep."
A knock at the door brought Ly's and Arex's attention to Seyda poking her head through. "I don't mean to interrupt anything, but Pyro and Knox brought this back."
The girl entered the room fully, tail brushing past the door frame as she lightly held a crimson sword in her hand, gently leaving it leaning against the wall before offering a small wave and leaving.
"That's Ano's…" Arex muttered, soft eyes widening a bit at the sight of the blade. Anoel never drew it unless she wanted to kill someone.
"I know… she'll be pissed if she lost that…" Ly replied distractedly, moving off the bed to walk over and pick the weapon up. "I'll leave this somewhere where it won't hurt anyone."
"Just leave it with the rest of her things. It won't be hurting anyone else right now," Arex said. If Ano's sheath wasn't broken or lost, it was probably brought back with her.
Ly turned to Arex with a nod before walking over to the small pile of things left in the corner of the room, by the wall with the hologram, dropping the sword on top of the items.
She then returned to the bed, pulling her legs up to mimic the position she was in before the interruption.
"I'll leave that for her to put away… I don't really want to get in the way of that business…" The woman muttered as her gaze fell to Ano again.
"It's Ano's business alone… she hates it when anyone else tries to get involved." But Arex wasn't honestly sure if it was actual business or just the burden she wouldn't let anyone else carry.
"Which is why I'll leave her to it when she wakes up."
"Yeah, when she does," Arex replied softly. "Does anyone know when that'll be?"
"Anoel, like my cousin, is too stubborn to leave unfinished business," Ly stated disdainfully. "I'm willing to bet she'll be awake by morning, then try to go and do something before I'm forced to tell her to sit down and rest."
She was always like that. "I should probably sleep somewhere nearby, unless you sleep with her and just cover for me. She'd probably want to find me once she's awake. See if I'm safe."
Ly shook her head. "You can sleep in here tonight, if I end up sleeping, I'll just take the couch. I think if she wakes up to see you in here, it'll give her the gratification she needs."
Arex could only sigh at that. "I hope so…"
Her gaze only grew softer as she turned it back to Ly's.
"I… left my partner back at Beacon. I don't know how Ano would feel with her there alone right now."
"I'm going to take a shot in the dark and assume Niro has that covered. He can be useful when he wants to be."
"I'm still worried… He's not always there, and he's not always reliable." Arex held her lips tightly together for a few seconds as she brought out her scroll, staring blankly at it before slowly sliding it open. "If he's there, I hope he sticks around for the night."
"If he knows what's good for him, he will be, considering I just patched the closest thing he has to a friend up," Ly replied with a little smile. "I have faith that he'll be reasonable about this."
"I hope you're right…" Arex murmured, starting to type a short message to Kit to fill her in.
'Here. They're safe and healing. Still asleep. Is Niro there with you?'
Arex set her scroll down after hitting send, bringing her eyes back to Anoel's softly breathing form on the bed.
"I think she'd be the only person he'd put himself forward for."
Ly hummed. "Well, since I did him a favor and fixed her for him, I hope he can hear me when I ask that he stays with your partner to return that favor."
Arex's scroll pinged after Ly finished talking, the phoenix bringing her gaze down to read what Kit sent.
'Stay safe. I'll be here. And Niro's with me. He says to tell Ly that he's not going anywhere.'
A small breath of relief left Arex's lips as she closed her scroll, leaving it to rest on the bed. "He's there. And he says he's not going anywhere."
"Thanks, kid," Ly replied shortly. "I guess that solves that problem. You should get some sleep though, you look exhausted."
"I'd say the same to you… since you did a lot of the work," Arex replied, turning her tired eyes back to Ly's. "But I can't call you kid."
"I was talking to Niro, sweetheart."
Arex immediately recoiled a little with a fluster, feeling embarrassed for messing that up.
"But no, chances are that I'll end up staying awake until I know when Ray's stable."
"Okay… I'll probably do the same for Ano. At least, as long as I can, anyway," Arex stated, letting her legs finally relax against the bed as she folded them beneath herself.
"Do what you have to, Arex," Ly replied with a nod, getting to her feet and walking toward the door. "You know where I am if you need me."
"I will… a-and thank you, Ly," Arex replied, turning an earnest gaze back to watch Ly open the door. "For what you're still doing for her."
Ly responded with a smile before she calmly left the room, closing the door behind her after dimming the lights.
Was tempted to name this chapter "Red", but I think I'll save that ambiguous title.
Arex is one of my favorite characters to write, so this showcased her nicely.
Other than that, I wanted to keep this AN short.
For now, Favorite and Follow.
I look forward to seeing REVIEWS for this. You'll be introduced to a LOT of concepts of mine. Feel free to give me your thoughts.
Cya XP