"Bel'Veth!" Kai'sa screamed the Void Empress's name. The Empress ignored Kai'sa's call as she slowly drifted into the distance, leaving Kai'sa to fend for herself in the collapsing cavern.
Kai'sa exerted all her strength to hold off the ever-increasing weight of the cavern rocks. She could feel her legs giving in, barely supporting the ever-increasing weight.
"Shit!" Kai'sa grunted before crumbling under the weight of the rocks, burying herself underneath. Every bone and muscle fibre within Kai'sa was crushed and mangled, sending waves of indescribable pain.
She tried breathing between the crushing weight and her mangled lungs, which only made her death agonising. Her eyelids felt heavy as her battered body started shutting down from the extensive damage.
'I-I guess this is it…,' Kai'sa groaned weakly, her body numbing to the pain. Darkness crept up on the edges of her vision, slowly consuming her field of vision.
.
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.
"...Kai'sa!" a distant and familiar voice called out, preventing her eyes from shutting.
A spark of light suddenly appeared within reaching distance, proving to be the source of the voice.
It called for Kai'sa, which made the latter let out a pained laugh.
"Even in death, you call out to me," Kai'sa grunted before reaching for the light. She could feel her body rejecting the will of her mind as every movement felt like a molten knife carving through her skin.
"Your selfishness knows no ends…," She heaved, grasping the light within her palms. Its radiant glow leaked out from the gaps in Kai'sa's fist, its brightness slowly consuming the darkness around her.
The immense glow made Kai'sa forcefully shut her eyes. It lasted a while, eventually growing dim enough for Kai'sa to creak open her eyes.
"Kai'sa!" The distant voice now sounded close, making Kai'sa turn towards that direction.
"Aswad?" Kai'sa muttered, barely recognising the man from her hazy vision. She tried moving around before her aching body screamed against her request.
'S-shit, that hurts…,' Kai'sa winced. Even though the pain was less than what she had experienced in her subconscious, it was enough to discourage any movement.
"Take it easy. You've barely recovered." Aswad said, concerned over the fact that Kai'sa was straining herself.
"I'm fine. How long have I been out?" Kai'sa asked as she receded to her resting position, comfortably analysing her new surroundings.
Bright white lights illuminated the light grey walls of the room. It only had a picture frame as the singular decorative piece, reserving the rest as practical necessities for the patient.
"About an hour," Aswad replied as he dispensed a glass of water from a machine.
"I never knew the village had such a place…," Kai'sa trailed off, her vision catching a familiar figure sitting on the foot of her bed.
"Good morning," Sarah greeted, waving at Kai'sa. The latter narrowed her eyes in confusion, turning to Aswad for an explanation.
"She's with us," Aswad cringed at the captain as she waved at Kai'sa.
"With us?" Kai'sa painfully enunciated each syllable, prompting Aswad to explain the situation to Kai'sa.
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"The village is safe…," Kai'sa concluded.
"Her crew is taking care of the wounded," Aswad said as he handed a glass of water to Kai'sa, who graciously accepted the offering.
"Well, you did most of the work out there," Sarah added.
"We only cleaned up the remains," She smiled at Kai'sa. The latter gazed at Sarah's azure orbs which were brimming with eagerness, giving away the follow-up.
"I appreciate your help, but I'm not joining your crew," Kai'sa shot down any ideas of an invitation before Sarah could offer it.
"Oh, come on," Sarah groaned, her shoulders sagged in disappointment.
"There must be something I can do to persuade you," Sarah implored, but Kai'sa was not budging.
"Just leave me and the village out of your business," Kai'sa asserted before slowly moving the glass to her mouth.
"There we go, the village!" Sarah had an epiphany.
"Why not my crew offer protection for the village? So you don't have to worry about it anymore?" She suggested.
"What?" Kai'sa narrowed her eyes at the ridiculous offer.
"Since you don't have to worry about protecting them anymore, you can join my crew with no worries," Sarah explained her master plan to Kai'sa.
"Didn't you hear anything that I've just said?" Kai'sa was exasperated, growing tired of the captain's persistence.
"It's a great deal if I'd say so myself," Sarah gloated, proud of her quick thinking.
"I fended them off by myself. There is no need for your help," Kai'sa retorted, remaining unimpressed by the proposal.
"You did. One, to be exact," Sarah said before signalling to her Exo suit. It hovered towards Kai'sa, displaying a hologram of multiple hostile forces heading their way.
"But how about 20 of them?" She added. Aswad leaned forward to peek at the display before the two glanced at one another.
'We're fucked…,' Aswad covered his mouth whilst Kai'sa gritted her teeth as they could recognise the severity of this issue.
"I can handle them if I am in the right condition-" Kai'sa's argument was interrupted by a throaty laugh from Sarah.
"Honey, the enemy doesn't care if you are in the right condition," Sarah said as she stood up and walked towards Kai'sa.
"If anything, they'll want you in this pitiful state," She said, leaning her face closely in front of Kai'sa, taunting the latter.
Kai'sa gritted her teeth in frustration, knowing that Sarah had just trapped her in a predicament.
"So, why not we make a deal?" Sarah proposed, finally grabbing Kai'sa's attention.
"I'll train the village and equip them with the means to defend themselves…," Sarah trailed off.
"In return," She gently tilted Kai'sa's chin up.
"You'll join my crew," She smiled. Kai'sa glared at the latter, which created an immense amount of tension between the two.
"Don't worry, they won't have to defend against the assault from the pirates…," Sarah elaborated, holding an unwavering gaze towards Kai'sa's violet eyes.
"They would have to defend against my crew," Sarah concluded.
"Who will deal with the pirates then?" Kai'sa countered.
"You will," Sarah grinned.
"After all, you will need to prove your worth to me, don't you?" Sarah said, confident in her ability to claim her prize.
A staredown between Kai'sa and Sarah ensued as neither wanted to give in.
Until a sudden beep from Exo interrupted the two, causing Sarah to break eye contact.
She observed the display on her Exo before turning back to face the two. "I'll leave you two to decide," Sarah said before tossing a device to Aswad.
"Use that device to find me once you've decided," Sarah said before slowly leaving the ward.
She halted right as the door hissed open and glanced back at Kai'sa. "I know you'll make the right choice, Angel," She winked at her before leaving the ward.
The door whirred shut, leaving the two to their own devices.
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The sound of frantic munching disrupted the tranquil atmosphere of the ward, with some curious patients glancing over to witness the ongoing commotion.
Aswad got the front-row seat as he watched Kai'sa devour multiple servings of food, witnessing the plate count pile up.
"Do you have no self-control? You glutton?", Bel'Veth grumbled. The complaint fell on deaf ears as Kai'sa continued shovelling food into her maw.
"Shut up. I know you're enjoying this too," Kai'sa retorted, garnering silence from Bel'Veth. Since the two shared the same body, they understood how famished their body was.
"Have you thought about the deal?" Aswad asked, making Kai'sa momentarily halt her feast.
"I don't even know where to begin," Kai'sa said before wiping her mouth. Aswad shared similar sentiments as he slowly set his meal down.
"We could start with her obsession with you," Aswad suggested, inciting a sigh from Kai'sa in response as she recounted her encounter with the enthusiastic captain.
"She just came to me after the battle and asked if I wanted to join her crew," Kai'sa recounted.
"That's it?" Aswad doubted. Kai'sa nodded in response, leaving out the detail of their scuffle.
"Is it because of your strength?" He hypothesised.
"Many have come after me for my strength," Kai'sa said, looking over at her hands.
"But she didn't seem to share that desire like the others," Her claws slowly unsheathed from her flesh, emitting a dim violet glow.
Aswad narrowed his eyes, noticing the sudden change of mood.
"Furthermore, she seemed pretty confident in winning me over," Kai'sa looked over to Aswad.
The air around them felt heavier, the eerie silence in the room amplified the thumps from Aswad's heart as it drummed against his ears.
"I wonder if she'd already persuaded you,"
"Kai'sa, I did not-" Aswad stood up to protest against the accusation.
"Even if she didn't, I could tell you were keen on this deal," Kai'sa concluded, retracting her claws.
Even though the air shifted back to normal, there was still lingering tension between Aswad and Kaisa.
A long silence ensued between the two as Aswad could feel guilt drowning his system, making him avert his gaze away from Kai'sa.
He took a while to compose himself before answering Kai'sa.
"I've never felt so useless…, angered by my inability to do anything," Aswad seethed as he recalled the awful memory of the pirates.
"A part of me felt grateful that you saved us, but the other felt as if I endangered your life," His voice reduced to a whisper, hanging his head down in guilt.
"I no longer want to burden you with this task of protecting us, Kai'sa," With disappointment laced in every syllable of Aswad's words, Kai'sa could only clench her fists at the pitiful sight of her comrade.
"I want to protect the village," Aswad stood before Kai'sa.
"And I want to do it with my strength," He declared. Kai'sa observed Aswad's body language before letting out a soft sigh.
"I've never felt as if you or the village burdened me," Kai'sa said, her tail slowly moving towards Aswad's hand.
"If anything, I'm in debt for all the hospitality you have provided for me," Aswad looked at Kai'sa with a confused expression as the tip of her tail slowly found its way into his palm.
"You've shown me your resolve," Kai'sa smiled as her tail nestled firmly onto Aswad's palm.
"So I won't convince you otherwise," Kai'sa concluded. Aswad's chest felt tight as he softly clutched Kai'sa's tail. He held it against his heart, forever grateful for her cooperation.
"Thank you, Kai'sa," Aswad said as Kai'sa's tail slowly slithered off his palm and back towards its owner.
"We should make our way towards Sarah…," Kai'sa trailed off as she looked down at her empty plate.
"Well, maybe right after another one," She said before calling for another meal.
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Author's Notes: Basileus here. This chapter took longer than expected to write and it was due to my internship starting. I will be pretty busy from now on so my writing rate would also decrease as a result, but updates should be around 2 months or so from now on. I hope this chapter was satisfactory and hope that you will be eagerly awaiting the next one.